Parliamentary Procedure - Redux

For those who doubted any part of my last post, here is a photo of a section of one of my book shelves.

Parliamentary Procedure

I have not written about this topic for a bit, but a recent incident has prompted me.

I am a little bit of a "process junkie" and have been from way back. Maybe it was growing up in a large family (I have seven younger brothers and sisters). It definitely comes from my father. He was active in local "affairs." At various times he was on the Board of Health, served on state associations related to that, and had been elected to the Town Meeting. [Aside: in New England, some of the larger towns, rather than having a Town Meeting where everyone gets to speak and vote, there is a Representative Town Meeting, where  people run, and are elected to represent a district. The town I grew up in is one such town. There were about 20 (or more) people from each of the 6 precincts who served on the Town Meeting. My father was one.]

Next to his chair, there was a book case (of course), and among the things in the book case were a couple of editions of Roberts Rules of Order, as well as Cushing's Manual.(Here is the Roberts web site, as well as the Wikipedia article. here is the Amazon link to the latest edition of Cushing, mine is older!) He would take me to the Town Meeting, and I got to sit in the audience. Before and after, he would explain some of the intricacies of what was going on. (Well, also at the "smoking break.") I have to believe, that learning about this at my father's knee, is part of what has given me my love of process.

Well, on to my most recent experience. A library user came up to the desk looking for Mason's Manual of Legislative Procedure. I had never hear of it, but sure enough, the library owns it -- two copies, actually, one in Reference, and one in our circulating collection. She wanted to make some copies, so I directed her to the machines. In a little bit, she was back.

She could not find what she wanted. I took a look in the index, for a moment or two I was stymied. But then I remembered some of my lessons from ALA's wonderful Parliamentarian, Eli Mina. I thought, "how would Eli express this question as a parliamentary one." That was just what I needed. I looked in a different part of the index, flipped to the page, and there was exactly what she was looking for.

After she left, I took a closer look at the book. Now, everyone knows, well at least refers, to Roberts Rules of Order, but there are others. Actually the American Library Association uses the Standard Code of Parliamentary Procedure edited by Alice Stugis (4th edition). Over my years of service, I became familiar with the 3rd and 4th editions under the tutelage of two different parliamentarians.

When I opened Mason's, there is an introduction which includes a list of ten "principles that govern procedure in group decision making." What a revelation! One of the headers after the listing of principles is "Principles are easier than rules to remember and apply." I guess that if I had been paying closer attention to Eli Mina, I would have realized that. It is how he operates. That and there is a principle of fairness to avoid the tyranny of the majority.

The next time I chat (in person or electronically) with Eli Mina, one of the things we will talk about is the principles and why Mason's does not have as much "traction" as a parliamentary guide. Hey, I will admit it. This is the kind of geeky stuff that I find fun. One of the joys of my service on ALA Council was in finding a number of other kindred spirits.

This post was written over a couple days. I scheduled it to post on December 7. That is an important day to me. The "date that will live in infamy" was my father's 15th birthday. If he had lived, he would have been 86. This can be a little bit of a tribute who someone who died way too young for my liking. He was 48 when he died in 1975. I was 21.

Passwords - Humor and a gripe

I picked this up from Stephen Abram (always has good "stuff"). It is about choosing a password. He picked it up from newsbiscuit.com which seems to be like the Onion, but British.

Their humorous post begins "Popular pet names Rover, Cheryl and Kate could be a thing of the past. Banks are now advising parents to think carefully before naming their child’s first pet. For security reasons, the chosen name should have at least eight characters, a capital letter and a digit."

Which gets to my gripe. It is a two part gripe. First is about passwords. If you are going to let me choose a password, let me choos it! Yes, tell me if it is strong or not, but don't require things like at least one capital letter, one special character, and one number ... and if you do, tell me BEFORE I try to create it the first time! My second gripe is this: If you want me to use my email to identify my account, DO NOT CALL IT A "USERNAME"!! A "username" is just that. The name of the user, and one which I can choose. (With an unusual last name, I don't have too much trouble getting what I want.) If you want me to use my email address, TELL ME THAT!!

OK, I'll get off my soapbox now!

Effect of What You Do

In the last two weeks, I have received some positive reinforcement for what I did years ago. It was nice. I am not naming names because neither of them gave me permission.

The first was someone who was in a library school class I spoke to back in my Connecticut days. I was a guest speaker (I did it many times) and talked about professional associations (ALA, CLA, NELA), about the cooperatives in the state, and what it was like to be a public library director. He now works in an academic library, but contacted me (and a number of others) to talk about some of the issues facing library administrators.

The second was someone I met when I interviewed for a job. As part of the casual conversation, I talked about how to get involved in ALA. It was fairly soon after I had served on the ALA Executive Board, and is something that I both care about, and know a little bit about. She took the advice and is now involved in several different parts of the Association.

You never know when you are in the process of "paying it forward." In both cases, they expressed their appreciation. It made for a great day!

Conversational twists and turns

I was in a work meeting today. All of the people in the meeting were colleagues whose commonality was that we deliver continuing education opportunities. We were talking about some of our experiences in delivering web sessions, and what participants think we can and cannot hear. The conversation, among a sub-set of us, took this series of interesting turns.

• Love that the web presentation software has a "Mute All" button. XXX is the Queen of Muting.
• Looks like they have really created a "cone of silence."
• Several of us commented that we enjoyed the old TV show Get Smart
• "You know, they really could make a shoe phone now..."
• But who wants to put their shoe up to their face....etc.
• What we need now is an "iFlop" -- You know, a flip flop with an iPad built in.

If Apple really does create an "iFlop," I am claiming credit!

Majority rules or Majority Rules!

ALA-Anaheim 2012 is now over. Just before the conference, I received an email from the ALA Parliamentarian (Eli Mina) not in that role, but in his "day job" role as a professional parliamentarian. First, you can find his web site here. If you are interested in group dynamics and in procedure, Eli has some great words of wisdom.

In his recent e-newsletter he had the following to say:

"Is the Majority Always Right?"

At a recent workshop, a newly elected municipal official said this: "A wise person taught me that, with a Council of seven members, the most important number is four. With four votes you can change policy. With four votes you can provide exceptional leadership. With four votes you are at liberty to govern however you wish. "

On the surface, this seems like good practical advice. After all, in parliamentary democracies, a fundamental principle of decision making is: The majority rules. In order to adopt a proposal or enforce a measure, a voting body requires that more members vote yes than vote no. If not, the proposal is defeated. With this in mind, the numbers are "the only thing that matters." Right? Not so. Something significant is missing.

Here is the problem: Have you ever observed an aggressive and impatient majority forcing its will on a helpless minority by cutting off debate prematurely? Ever witnessed a majority being stubbornly entrenched and unwilling to tolerate new data that might lead to enlightened and thoughtful decisions? In such cases, there may very well be enough votes in the affirmative, but this does not change the fact that the decision-making process is flawed, possibly leading to bad decisions that the majority may live to regret.

Yes, the numbers are important. But if the group focuses exclusively on the number of votes, it may end up making its collective decisions on the basis of ignorance, self interest, emotion, and loud and aggressive voices, instead of making them on the basis of objectivity, full knowledge, and a careful analysis of the issues at hand.

With numbers-based democracies, the end (getting enough votes) justifies the means, which may prompt some people to make pre-meeting deals on how they'll vote. On the other hand, with knowledge-based democracies, members refuse to commit their votes in advance of a meeting. Instead, they arrive at meetings with fully open minds, listen to everyone, and treat "minorities" as partners in decision-making.

With numbers-based democracies, assertive and persuasive advocates tend to prevail. With knowledge-based democracies, the people with the most relevant information and the most astute analysis are listened to. The group has a culture that promotes learning, inquiry and excellence in decision-making.

Ultimately, democracies that are primarily focused on the number of votes are more likely to produce flawed and risk-prone decisions. On the other hand, knowledge-based democracies are more likely to produce informed decisions that increase opportunities and minimize risks for the affected organizations.

Looking at this from another angle: Democratic decision-making bodies often use rules of order in meetings. The core premise should be that rules (relating to quorum, voting, motions, amendments, etc.) should be used as a means to an end and not as an end in themselves. Rules should advance knowledge-based decision-making, rather than manipulate the flow of a meeting and overpower minorities. A flawed proposal should not win solely because its advocates are capable of using rules to advance it. And a good proposal should not be defeated solely because its proponents do not know how to use the rules to pass it.

So, is the majority always right? Is four the most important number on a Council of seven? Only if the four have knowledge on their side; only if members come to meetings with open minds and are prepared to learn from the discussions; and only if the meeting environment is kept safe. Yes, the numbers are important, but they should be backed by objectivity and knowledge.

Sign up for his newsletters, buy his books. If you are in that kind of position, hire him. He is good. I am not being paid to say any of this, and if it were not true I would not say it.

Google SUCKS!!

I am pissed.

Google has decided that they do not like the interfaces that we use, and that we must change. Even if it is not broken, and that we do not want it.

For more months that than I can remember, they have been asking if I want the "new look." I tried it, decided I don't want it, and declined, and declined for month after month. They asked why, and I told them. Middle of the day today...I got the new look.

There is NO way to contact them and complain.

And then...I logged in here, and I have been thrust into a new interface which I never asked for, do not like, and I am pissed.

I am about to change everything to another provider!!

Google, notice to you: "Do no evil" does not mean, piss off your users...

Addition 4/23: The forwarding function for Gmail does not work as you would expect. I apparently does nothing but let you think you are forwarding you gmail to another account.

Random thoughts about travel and travel in Panama

I have been thinking about our most recent trip, and the past one.

On both trips, I had the experience of driving in a place I did not know well, where the road signs were in a language which is not my strength. It made me think about what it must be like for the tourists who visit the US. One good think is the movement towards a universal system of symbols for use on road signs. That was a plus. But then there are the "construction zone" signs. They are bad enough in English, but they are even harder in an unfamiliar language. I managed through a detour, but partly because the map function worked so well on my cell phone. (Yes, we had signed up for the international data plan to be activated.)

I most certainly appreciate some of the road signage that I used to take for granted. One of them is route numbers, and signs to cities. On our most recent adventure, I drove from Changuinola to David. The first part of the trip was on a fairly major road from Changuinola to Chirquiri Grande. On the way the road goes through and by several large-ish communities. Only once was there a road sign pointing to one of the towns (Almirante), to which we had already been, and wanted to get past.

Random thoughts about travel and travel in Panama

I have been thinking about our most recent trip, and the past one.

On both trips, I had the experience of driving in a place I did not know well, where the road signs were in a language which is not my strength. It made me think about what it must be like for the tourists who visit the US. One good think is the movement towards a universal system of symbols for use on road signs. That was a plus. But then there are the "construction zone" signs. They are bad enough in English, but they are even harder in an unfamiliar language. I managed through a detour, but partly because the map function worked so well on my cell phone. (Yes, we had signed up for the international data plan to be activated.)

I most certainly appreciate some of the road signage that I used to take for granted. One of them is route numbers, and signs to cities. On our most recent adventure, I drove from Changuinola to David. The first part of the trip was on a fairly major road from Changuinola to Chiriqui Grande. On the way the road goes through and by several large-ish communities. Only once was there a road sign pointing to one of the towns (Almirante), to which we had already been, and wanted to get past. I think the signpost at the one turning had been knocked over. But, not once was there a route number sign.

I made sure we were on the right road by asking at the gas station which, it turns out, was at the point where we needed to turn. (I did have a detailed map, but I was concerned.)

The road over the mountains (Chiriqui Grande to Chiriqui) was an adventure. It was two lanes, curving (sometimes without guard rails), and long, steep upgrades followed by the reverse. I was worried about getting through the Comarca Ngobe-Bugle (independent area governed by the indigenous people) before dark. On our trip leaving Bocas, one of our water taxi companions had mentioned possible disturbances after the President's speech that night.

More Panama - Week 2 (Part 4 of 4)

We headed out of Boquete bright and early. Because it was a weekday, there was, of course, construction. This time the only detour was right outside Boquete (starting right after the tourist agency building at the top of the hill as you leave town), and it was never more than 1/4 mile or so from the main road.

We had an uneventful trip into David, and stopped for a morning break before heading out on the Interamerican Highway (the local name for the Pan American Highway). I had our wonderful map out, and we tooled along the road.

At one point, we were slowed by a demonstration. There were a group of protesters walking along the road. They appeared to be Ngöbe-Buglé and were chanting and singing. All along our trip that day we saw some roadside gatherings, and places where the road had clearly been blocked at one point. The first group had a police escort. I will search some, but I am interested in understanding the reason for their upset.

One of my goals for this trip was to visit the Pacific beach. I had originally thought to go to the beach nearest David, but the beach was towards the Costa Rican border rather than towards Panama City, so I gave up that idea.

I looked at the map, and about an hour or so from David saw Playa Las Lajas marked on the map. We read the guide books (well, Miss R read while I drove), and since we had plenty of time, we decided to give it a go. We turned off the main road, and drove a few miles towards the ocean.

I noticed the change in the light, and the terrain as we got closer to the sea. I don't know if it is my imagination, but it sure seemed like the light was that on the Cape (or as you get close), and the trees were sparser, and it just felt like we were getting to the salt water.

All I can say is WOW! The area was definitely not upscale, but there was a very sandy access road which I pulled into (and was grateful again to have an SUV). We got out, and it was much warmer and nicer than in Boquete (cool in the mountains) and David. The beach went out for miles....and it went on in either direction for miles. And it was essentially deserted. (Look at the pictures!)

Here is the link to the set on Flickr. Playa Las Lajas photos are not the last 3, but the four before that.

We got back on the road, and drove. The Interamerican goes inland for a bit, and cuts across a peninsula with some hilly country. It was funny, at times it seemed like we could have been driving in the high desert country of New Mexico or West Texas, or the high plains of eastern Colorado.

After a while, we started to look for a place to stay for a couple days. The guide books recommended one place which was (unfortunately) full -- even mid-week! We wound up at a large resort near Playa Santa Clara. It was a fun couple of days, and then home.

Because I was driving, and the road signs were not even minimal, there are no photos from driving across the Panama Canal, or through Panama City. Suffice it to say, we got to the airport safely, and headed back home.

More Panama - Week 2 (Part 3 of this series)

We left David bright and early, and headed out of town. We had done this drive several times before on our prior trip, so we were not concerned about getting lost. They are doing road construction to improve the road, to replace some of the bridges, and to widen it to four lanes. It seemed like no big deal, until we got to a detour. My Spanish is "limited." (That may even be an exaggeration....I can read a few things, recognize key words, and often get a concept across. Road signs can be a challenge!) It took us far enough from the "main road" that I dragged out my trusty iPhone, and opened up the map/GPS application. I am glad I did, because otherwise, at the end of the detour, I would have headed off in the wrong direction. I think I mentioned that there are no route number signs, and very few directional signs!

We got to Boquete successfully, and found the place we were staying. We had to kill some time (having lunch, etc.) while our room was made ready. We reacquainted ourselves with the town.

Boquete is up in the mountains, and sits in a valley. The first day, it was sunny and warm, although breezy. Throughout our stay it was windy, and actually after the first day, it was mostly cloudy and rainy. We were staying on the other side of the river from the main town, and a little bit up the valley. We had a great view looking up towards Baru and the mountains. There are a couple photos in the Flickr set. (The last post in the series will have the link, I am still organizing the several hundred photos I took.)

After the weekend, we headed out, and that part of the trip will be the fourth post.

More Panama - Week 1 (Part 2)

While we were escaping Mardi Gras in New Orleans, Carnivale was happening in Bocas. Little did we know. As we walked through town to the water taxi, there were large costumed characters in the town square. There was dancing and gaiety. Bocas is part of the heart of Panama's Carnivale culture.

We were out on Red Frog Beach, most of what we saw were large crowds on the beach. (Many kids, it was a school holiday...) The day after Mardi Gras, we ran into one of our fellow travelers to the island from the airport. She had spent a day or so on Isla Bastimentos and then went to Bocas Town. She asked how we did with the power outages. They had happened two nights in a row, apparently, and in both cases at the height of the celebrations. Our reaction? What outages? The island we were on must have had its own power, because we did not notice it. It made us happy to have been where we were.

After a happy few days, it was time to go. We had not made any definite plans for after our stay at Red Frog Beach. I made a plane reservation for what I thought was the right day, and we took the water taxi back to Bocas town. Once we got there, we looked again, and discovered that the flight was for a week later! I called both airlines, and neither had ANY seats out for a week! Plan B....we took a water taxi ($5 each, 20 minute ride) to Almirante (a large banana and oil shipping port on the mainland) and then a cab to Changuinola ($20 ride to a big banana center) where we rented a car.

The drive was interesting. 2-lane, winding roads through the jungle and coast to Chiriqui Grande. That is where we turned to go through the mountains and over the continental divide. This road was also two-lane with the added "adventure" of having not only more curves than the coastal road (which had a bunch), but also some steep grades. Oh, and there were the potholes. Some were really large! Part of the road goes through the Ngöbe–Buglé Comarca (territory governed by the indigenous people).

On the water taxi, one of our fellow passengers was an ex-pat who mentioned that the President (of Panama) was talking on TV that night, and that if he did not say the right things, there could be road blockages, as there had been earlier in the year. This was an impetus to get to David that night.

It took about 5 hours, but we made it. We got a little lost in downtown David while looking for a hotel. Our only prior visits to the city had been "through trips" to and from the airport. We had a good night's sleep and headed to Boquete in the morning.

More Panama - Week 1 (Part one of maybe 4)

My new camera is great, but the tiny laptop is hard-ish to deal with many, many photos, so stay tuned.

We left New Orleans early on a Saturday morning (6 am flight, 4:15 cab pick up). Because we were traveling internationally, we could each check a bag for free (yay!). So we did. As we thought about this trip and the logistics, we realized that traditional luggage could be an impediment, so we packed in our backpacks. Ria's had not been used this way for a while (it still had an airline tag about a decade old). We got them out of storage, and packed. (I put my stuff in 2 gallon plastic zip bags -- just in case.)

The flight to Miami was uneventful. In addition to our checked luggage, R had her sling bag/purse, I had a day pack (computer, paperwork, travel books, etc.) and camera bag. We changed flights, walked the length of Terminal D, and the flight to Panama City was also uneventful.

Clearing immigration was no big deal (short lines), and to clear customs there, all, and I mean all, luggage is x-rayed (again). We had reservations at a mid-city hotel, the Hotel El Panama. It is in a central location, has a great pool, and was a great room! We walked some around the city, had dinner. In the morning (since we had an afternoon flight out..) we went to Casco Viejo. That is the oldest part of the currently Panama City. The guidebooks were right, it reminded us in many ways of the French Quarter! Narrow streets, slight decay, buildings with balconies, scenic views. It was Sunday morning so it was very quiet. There will be some great pics on Flickr later!

That afternoon, we taxied over to Albrook Airport. [Panama City has two airports: Tocumen (PTY) is the international airport, about 20 km south/east of the city; Albrook (PAC), a former US airbase, is along the Canal and serves domestic flights.] Since we were last there (in July), construction has moved along, and there are visible improvements. There are two airlines, Air Panama and Aeropelas.

Our flight to Bocas del Toro was more or less on time, but was very full. The flight was uneventful, and we got there and collected our luggage. That is when things began to fall apart. We were supposed to be met, and driven from the airport to the water taxi. No one was there. However there were two other groups (of three each) there, and an enterprising young man convinced us to walk with him the 3-4 blocks to the waterfront to get a water taxi. It was a hike, and we were glad to have backpacks rather than some other luggage. Some of the roads were unpaved, and we were definitely not in the "first world" any more. The water taxi was $5 each for a 20 or so minute ride over to the island where the resort was.

Once we got there, no one was at the dock. However, one of the owners of the resort was picking up some family (the seats in front of us on the flight, and the row next to us, too), and made sure we were picked up.

We were staying at Red Frog Beach villas. We rented a golf cart, and are glad we did. While the villas are near the beach, it is about a 1/2 mile trek along a dirt road to get there. It was very bumpy in the cart! The set up - for us- was interesting. The villa had 4 (or 5) bed rooms, each of which was rented out to someone different, a large living room, great kitchen, and a plunge pool. All three of the upstairs bed rooms were "en suite" and had balconies -- ours had two. The resort consists of many villas, all separate homes, essentially. There was no real common dining. We cooked once at home (after getting more groceries), but otherwise ate at the beach or at the restaurant by the hostel.

The beach was great, I already posted one photo for my Facebook friends. It had surf which reminded me of Surfside on Nantucket or at the southern Rhode Island shore. The only difference was that the water temp was about 80 degrees. Even without a lot of time in the sun, at 9 degrees above the equator, it did not take much for us to show the results.

We had a great, quiet several days.

As I think about this, I think that I will save the adventure of leaving for the next post, followed by our stay in David and Boquete for a third post, and the trip home for the final installment.

Are you ready for some

more Panama??

We are escaping the madness which is New Orleans at Mardi Gras, and going somewhere warm. (Yes, I know, my northern friends think that NOLA is warm, but at least a half dozen times this winter we have run the A/C and the heat on the same day.) Get ready for some pictures, and maybe a narrative. We are exploring more this time, so stay tuned for an ex post facto report (unless I get really ambitious).

Libraries Change Lives

I was sitting reading my accumulated blog feeds. I have a couple hundred in my reading list. Any where from 50 - 100 posts appear each day. Some are just one line, like the Library Link of the Day, or Awful Library Books, or Will Unwound.

One hit me like a ton of bricks today. It was from Eric Hellman. I have said before that the name of his blog is great: Go to Hellman. Eric is the brains behind Unglue It. But this post was not about publishing or technology. It was about one of his experiences at ALA Midwinter. He called it Libraries Happen. I would have called it Libraries Change Lives. (The latter was an ALA Presidential theme a few years ago.)

The emotionally powerful part of the story begins this way: "I had the fortune to witness a 'library' happening in its purest, most human form."

I encourage you to read it (rather than reposting it here). The end line is the clincher:

Whatever stripes it wears or what name it answers to, the simple act of letting a book bring joy and wonderment to a little girl will define what a library must be, no more, no less.

Thank you, Eric.

Books Read in 2011

End of the calendar year is often a time for reflection. This year it seems like I read less than usual (and I can't quite put my finger on why.) I have also listened to more radio and fewer books. A part of that my be related to the rearrangement of the collection at MPOW from an accession number arrangement to Dewey. Here is the list. (It is in reverse chronological order, since I just cut and pasted from the side bar where I keep track.) Note that this is a full year list, not a half year like some prior lists.

Books Read (paper)

1. The Chalk Girl by Carol O'Connell ARC
2. The Invisible Ones: A Novel by Stef Penney ARC
3. Grimus: a novel by Salman Rushdie
4. If Jack's in Love: A Novel by Stephen Wetta ARC
5. Lionheart by Sharon Kay Penman ARC
6. Too Far by Rich Shapero ARC
7. Broken Pieces: A Library Life, 1941-1978 by Michael Gorman
8. Delirious New Orleans: Maifesto for an Extraordinary American City by Stephen Verderber
9. The Quiet American by Graham Greene
10. The Weird Sisters: a novel by Eleanor Brown
11. The girls from Ames: a story of women and a forty-year friendship by Jeffrey Zaslow
12. Doing social media so it matters: a librarian's guide by Laura Solomon
13. Saving CeeCee Honeycutt: A Novel by Beth Hoffman
14. Mary Ann in Autumn by Armistead Maupin
15. Room: A novel by Emma Donoghue
16. The Glory Wind by Valerie Sherrard a review copy
17. The Rievers by William Faulkner

I had been planing to read Water for elephants by Sara Gruen in paper, but I wound up listening to it.

Read on the Nook

1. Sisterhood Everlasting by Ann Brashares
2. A Voice in the Box: My Life in Radio by Bob Edwards
3. Main Street Public Library: Community Places and Reading Spaces in the Rural Heartland, 1876-1956 by Wayne Wiegand
   Advance PDF copy for review in Public Libraries
   

Recorded books/Listening

Lots of NPR on both WWNO and WRKF
Neither station covers my whole trip. I also sometimes listen to NPR Now on Sirius XM

1. All the king's men by Robert Penn Warren, read by Michael Emerson
2. Play Dirty by Sandra Brown, read by Victor Slezak
3. Cream Puff Murder by Joanne Fluke, read by Suzanne Toren
4. Lies and the lying liars who tell them: [a fair and balanced look at the right] by Al Franken, read by the author
5. Car talk: doesn't anyone screen these calls?: calls about animals and cars
6. The Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan, read by Robert Whitfield
7. Various speaker disks to select a speaker for an upcoming even
8. 'Tis by Frank McCourt, read by the author
9. Islam : a short history by Karen Armstrong read by Richard M. Davidson
10. Water for elephants: a novel by Sara Gruen, read by David LeDoux and John Randolph Jones
11. Remarkable creatures by Tracy Chevalier, read by Charlotte Parry and Susan Lyons
12. The necklace: thirteen women and the experiment that formed their lives by Cheryl Jarvis, read by Pam Ward
13. Attack poodles and other media mutants: the looting of the news in a time of terror by James Wolcott read by Dennis Boutsikaris
14. Executive privilege by Phillip Margolin, read by Jonathan Davis
15. My year of meats by Ruth L. Ozeki, read by Anna Fields
16. Stonehenge: [a novel of 2000 BC] by Bernard Cornwell, read by Sean Barrett
17. My life as a fake by Peter Carey, read by Susan Lyons
18. Smoke by John Ed Bradley, read by Christopher Hurt