If only we could all learn to share...

On this week's Realgoodwords we're learning how to share our toys with others. No really. Janelle Orsi is the co-author of the new book "Sharing Solution: How to Save Money, Simplify Your Life and Save Money". Janelle is a lawyer and in the book she offers ideas on how we can share with our neighbors, friends and families in all kinds of ways. Like:

-share tools....lawnmowers, saws, rototillers, washer & dryer, exercise equipment, you name it.
-share food.... agree to grow certain things and then trade with your community. Start a potluck club. Make lunch together at your workplace.
-share services....like babysitting - nannies, dog walkers

On the Sharing Solutions blog they talk about a way you can share your stuff online. See SwapTree for more information.

cool video from MN author Scott Muskin

books coming up on RGW

MN author Scott Muskin will be on Realgoodwords next week.. I'm enjoying reading his novel, "The Annunciations of Hank Meyerson, Mama's Boy and Scholar". It's making me laugh!

The Star Tribune said, "That's where the delight in Muskin's writing lies, in the lightning-quick shift from micro to macro and back again....You'll see yourself, and your loved ones, in his near pitch-perfect characters."

Also next week is author Rachel Simon (She wrote "Riding the Bus with My Sister") and her new book, "Building a Home With My Husband - A Journey Through the Renovation of Love". Author Daniel Gottlieb said, "This book is a treasure the likes of which I never expected. Rachel Simon is a great writer and has incredible skill. She is a wise soul." I'm hoping this one is a how-to book!

What are YOU reading?

Wednesdays with Willard

This week on Realgoodwords you'll hear about a couple of very different books....Duluth author and judge Mark Munger talks with me about his book "Mr. Environment: The Willard Munger Story". This is a comprehensive biography about one of the most influential legislators in Minnesota state history.

Former MN governor Arne Carlson said "He unleashed the notion that the legislature could listen to and use new ideas in the areas of the environment and conservation."

My other guest is Meg Waite Clayton. I'll talk with Meg about "The Wednesday Sisters: A Novel". It's the story of a group of young mothers who meet in the park weekly and start writing. We being the story in the late 1960's in California and see the changes in history through their eyes - the first man on the moon - the Vietnam War - the Women's Movement....

"This generous and inventive book is a delight to read, an evocation of the power of friendship to sustain, encourage, and embolden us" Karen Joy Fowler, author of "The Jane Austen Book Club"