For several years I have been writing a memoir of my travels around the world saving the day at "chip" makers in Asia, the U.S. and Europe. I finally got around to publishing it using CreateSpace.com.  I really love CreateSpace, they make publishing a real book super easy. All you have to do is create the document and the cover, then upload to CreateSpace. They print your paperbacks very cheaply right here in the USA. My 130 page 6" by 9" black and white paperback with color cover costs me $2.41 each. They also offer paid services from cover artists, proofreaders, editors, etc, or you can do everything yourself like I did and it costs you nothing. You can download templates for your book or create your own. Once published, your book goes up for sale on Amazon.com and can be automatically ported to Kindle for sale on Amazon's Kindle site. You can charge whatever you want, and sell it around the world with the royalties (35% or 70%, your choice) going straight into your bank account. If you have ever dreamed of writing a book I encourage you to try CreateSpace. I'm published and you can be too!

I'm going to admit it, I love Peggy Hill from Mike Judge's King Of The Hill. The 116th episode of King Of The Hill was entitled Are You There, God? It's Me, Margaret Hill. This very funny episode follows Peggy's short career as a nun. Desperate to get a job teaching Spanish full time, she pretends to be a nun so she can teach at a local Catholic school. In addition to teaching Spanish, Peggy has to teach Catholicism. She makes some major mistakes, such as informing a young girl worried about whether she will see her cat in heaven with:  "Well, I don't know where I heard this, but all dogs go to heaven, so I'm pretty sure cats do not." She finally quits when she realizes her fanciful suppositions about Catholicism might be damning her students to eternity in hell. Poor Peggy. 

If only she had bought a copy of The Complete Idiot's Guide to Understanding Catholicism by ​Bob O'Gorman and Mary Faulkner. This book covers everything you need to know about Catholicism, from Mass to why Catholics were treated so badly in early America. Did you know that John F. Kennedy was almost certain to lose his presidential bid simply because he was a Catholic? Reminds me of Mitt Romney's loss in 2012. We haven't come that far have we? This fascinating book explains many things that most people do not know about Catholicism and may keep you from making dreadful mistakes and faux pas. If you are dating a Catholic, have an in-law who is Catholic or just wondered what is so different about Catholics, you should give this book a try. There are 1.1 Billion Catholics in the world, chances are you know a few. Wouldn't it be nice to know what it's all about? At the Booknook in the Religion section for only $1.