10 Best Personal Growth Books

Who's ready for a fresh start?!  These personal growth books constantly appear on at the top of everyone's list.  Listed in no particular order.

Think and Grow Rich 
By Napoleon Hill

Seven Habits of Highly Effective People
By Stephen Covey

The Magic of Thinking Big
By David Schwartz

How to win friends & Influence People
By Dale Carnegie

The Subtle art of not giving a F*ck
by Mark Manson

Man's Search for Meaning
By Viktor Frankl

The 4-hour Workweek
By Timothy Ferriss

How to Stop Worrying and Start Living
By Dale Carnegie

Blink 
by Malcolm Gladwell

You are a Badass
By Jen Sincero










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Kindness out of destruction

Sifting through boxes and bags of books, sometimes there is a certain book that will catch your eye and make you stop, sit and read.  This is one of those books.  Not because of the cover (not that eye catching) or the condition (very poor), but the title.  The day the world came to town 9/11 by Jim Defede.

Everyone remembers where they were on 9/11 and what they were doing.  At some point during the day, we all watched the news to see what the latest updates were.  The skies were quiet as all US airways were completely shut down.  But what about the people that were on those planes heading home?  According to this book, 38 planes were bound for the United States.  All 38 planes had to find someplace else to land.  where did they go?  Gander, Newfoundland.  Never heard of it?  Me neither so I looked it up.

  Gander, Newfoundland.   Population 11,000I can't even imagine what this small town was thinking when they got the call that 38 jetliners were headed to their airport.  Their reaction is truly amazing!  Looks to be a great book and definitely on my TBR list.  Let me know if you read it and what you thought!  

Books featuring strong female leads for International Women's Day 2018

Celebrating International's Women's Day here at Cottage Used Books!   March 8th marks a day to celebrate the achievements of Women everywhere.

There are so many great fiction books with strong female leads but here are 6 we chose from around the store

Hunger games  -  Who doesn't want to be Katniss!  With her tale of rebellion against an oppressive government, She is a great inspiration to young women leaders.

To Kill a Mockingbird - Told from the perspective of a young girl named Scout Finch.  The book breaks all the stereo typical roles of southern women.  Scout is a courageous, smart, and independent young girl.

Pride and Prejudice - The story is set back in the 1800's, this book focuses on a variety of different women. All women portrayed in this book are intelligent, strong minded and independent.  The Author, Jane Eyre, with her many amazing novels, is an inspiration to all women writers.

The Help - Strong female leads in the book!  From Skeeter who wants to be a writer, to the two African-American maids, Aibileen  and Minny, they join together to change the views of Women in their town and beyond. Truly inspiring.

Cinder - A great YA novel with a fairy tale spin.  Cinder is a cyborg who must save the earth from her evil step-mother!

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo -   A great thriller novel with Lisbeth in the lead!  A strong, spunky character with amazing survival skills.  













We also have many non-fiction Women's inspirational books!  Stop in and check out our motivational section to help you reach your dreams!

Bookmark Collecting

Collecting bookmarks  

With so many varieties, shapes and sizes, collecting these can be fun and they don't take up much space.  Your collection could focus on decorative, advertising, vintage, or even a specific type of material.  The possibilities are endless!

According to the Guinness world book of records, Frank Divendal has the largest bookmark collection of 103,009!  He has been collecting since 1982 and his organized system is pretty amazing.  He first sorts them by country and then by theme.

Some bookmarks can be worth quite a bit of money.  I found this set of 7 vintage like new strawberry shortcake bookmarks that went for over $100 on Ebay!  This 1903 coca-cola bookmark also sold for $100!

Here are a few websites we found that can help you get started on your collecting!

• https://www.ifobookmarks.org/ - This website seems to be the most popular with a blog, bookmark swap and more! 
• https://bookcollectorsnews.wordpress.com/2012/08/16/collecting-bookmarks/ - another great article on bookmark collecting in Australia
• http://lolasreviews.com/lolas-ramblings-my-bookmark-collection/  - Great idea of putting your bookmarks in photo albums!
• http://amzn.to/2GHYWdQ  - Amazon sells these sleeves as a great way to protect your bookmarks

Have you already started your collection?  Show us a picture in the comments!  We would love to see them!


Related links:
Unique Bookmarks
The history of the bookmark

History of the Bookmark

History of the Bookmark

Bookmarks have been around for centuries! The earliest bookmarks were used mostly for bibles or prayer books. These were ones that we are all familiar with even today.  They were made of a narrow silk ribbon and bound into the book at the top of the spine. They were made very delicate so they would not damage the delicate pages of the book.

In the 1880's they started producing bookmarks in paper and other materials.  During the war, they would often print messages promoting the war and  public service messages on bookmarks.

(Source:  https://worldwarzoogardener1939.wordpress.com/2015/09/22/saving-energy-and-salvage-in-wartime-advice-for-today-from-vicky-victory-the-hair-aid-warden/ )

Now a days,bookmarks are produced using many different types of materials including paper, wood, brass, leather, metals, plastic, cord and more.  The designs are endless and offer a way to really personalize the bookmark. 

Related Links:
Collecting Bookmarks
Unique Bookmarks