BiblioVault - Books about be

Heath Robinson

How to be a Perfect Husband

W. Heath Robinson & K.R.G. Browne

Bodleian Library Publishing, 2017

Heath Robinson (1872–1944) is Britain’s “Gadget King”—master of the art of creating madcap contraptions that made use of ropes, weights, and pulleys to perform relatively simple tasks. Although he trained as a painter and also worked as a book illustrator, Robinson developed his forte with drawings of gadgets that parodied the absurdities of modern life. A true cartoonist, Robinson had a way of getting at the heart of the matter while simultaneously satirizing it mercilessly. He became a household name in Britain, and his popularity continues today.

The cartoons in Heath Robinson: How to be a Perfect Husband provide sage advice for how to succeed in almost all aspects of married life—and, of course, it often features a complicated Robinsonian gadget. The perfect husband, for example, will take advantage of two simple attachments to the garden roller to tend the lawn and entertain the baby simultaneously. Likewise, he can peel onions with no fear of tears using a mirror and construct a cost-effective vacuum cleaner using items found around the house. Most importantly, he will devise a device to help him climb the stairs silently after a late night out with the boys.

A gently satirical collection, this book make a perfect gift for anyone looking to have a laugh at our complicated and increasingly mechanical modern life.

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How to be a Good Lover

Edited by the Bodleian Library

Bodleian Library Publishing, 2012

Across the centuries, few experiences in life rival the excitement and emotional intensity of falling in love. Yet from the moment we set eyes on a special someone, the path to their heart seems strewn with devastating pitfalls. What if the object of our affection hates the way we wear our hair, finds our kisses lacking, or resents our talk of former loves?How does one go about successfully wooing a future husband or wife? Fortunately, there are time-honored strategies to avoid these pitfalls and help us attract and keep the paramour of our dreams.

Written in the 1930s for would-be lovers from the British middle-class, How to be a Good Lover is a delightfully antiquated guide that takes readers of both sexes through all the stages of a relationship, from the initial meeting to courtship, engagement, and marriage. In addition to weighing in on the proper age gap, dating outside one’s class, and the etiquette of gifting, the book brims with age-old nuggets of advice that range from practicalities such as “don’t attempt kissing in a canoe unless you are both able to swim”and “don’t kiss your lover with your hat still on your head” to more substantial advice such as the admonishment to show respect to your potential partner’s parents.

Charmingly illustrated with line drawings from the period, How to be a Good Lover is by turns humorously old-fashioned and timeless, and it offers sage advice for all hoping to one day find love.

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How to be a Good Mother-in-Law

Edited by the Bodleian Library

Bodleian Library Publishing, 2013

“Do not march into the drawing-room and, having inspected it, say, “What a nice room, but —” “Do not look at your son steadfastly and then turn to his wife and tell her he is getting thin.” “When you wax eloquently on the way to keep soup hot, you are merely asking him to shout on the house tops that he prefers cold soup to mothers-in-law.” These are just a few of the words of wisdom on offer in How to be a Good Mother-in-Law, the latest in a series of delightful advice books that also includes How to be a Good Husband and How to be a Good Wife. While the station of mother-in-law is not one celebrated for its sympathy and is the subject of no shortage of off-color jokes, this slim guide shows that it is possible to achieve accord—even friendship—with the man or woman your son or daughter has chosen to marry.

Originally published in the 1930s, How to be a Good Mother-in-Law offers advice that ranges from the amusingly old-fashioned to the surprisingly still relevant today. Among the topics discussed are how not to behave on your son or daughter’s wedding day, how to visit the couple in their new home, how to interact with the grandchildren, and what degree of independence should be granted to married sons. For mothers-in-law considering living with the married couple, a chapter presents suggestions for how to negotiate this famously fraught situation. In another chapter called “Are They as Bad as They are Painted?,” the book reproduces a selection of tabloid tragedies, including the story of a mother-in-law that surprised a hapless couple by accompanying them on their honeymoon.

Whether you’re a new mother-in-law, a veteran to this much-maligned role, or a long-suffering spouse whose partner’s parent seems impossible to please—the pithy advice on-hand in How to be a Good Mother-in-Law will be warmly welcomed.

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How to be a Good Motorist

Edited by the Bodleian Library

Bodleian Library Publishing, 2013

The 1920s were the age of the automobile, with the availability for the first time of relatively affordable cars and the rise of Ford Motor Company in America and Morris Motors in the UK. However, the laws governing driving were for the most part yet to be written and the rules of the road were rudimentary to say the least. With a growing number of motorists in need of guidelines, How to be a Good Motorist provided all the information one needed to enjoy—safely—the open road, offering advice on how to handle such hazards as skidding, headlight glare, and livestock on the road.

Among the practical and unusual guidelines offered are what precautions one should take when another car approaches and which parts of a car’s engine can be fixed in a pinch with emery paper, copper wire, and insulating tape. Some of the observations, like the cautionary note that, when driving, one ought to “look on all other drivers as fools” are sure to strike a chord with many motorists today. Others, like the suggestion that “a good chauffeur will save his employer a great deal of expense” evoke the style of a glamorous bygone era. The book covers such topics as unscrupulous secondhand car dealers, simple maintenance, women drivers, and “dashboard delights.” (Spoiler: For a well-equipped dashboard, don’t forget the speedometer.) For those planning a longer journey, the book also advises on how to choose the most pleasant picnic site when on the road.

How to be a Good Motorist is the perfect gift for the new driver or anyone who longs for a simpler time before rush-hour traffic reports and roundabouts.

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How to be a Good Parent

Compiled by Jaqueline Mitchell

Bodleian Library Publishing, 2015

To keep children clean is something that should never be attempted. It cannot be done.

The mere provision of the vegetable is not sufficient; it must be actually eaten.

If there is room enough for somersaults, the child can be satisfied.

These are just a few of the words of wisdom on offer in How to be a Good Parent, the latest in a series of delightful advice books from the Bodleian Library that also includes How to be a Good Husband and How to be a Good Wife. As developmental psychology began to show promise, beleaguered parents were drawn to the nascent discipline with the sorts of questions that will be familiar to any parent: How does one tell a toddler “no” without triggering a tantrum? Are there circumstances in which it’s acceptable to extract good behavior with bribery?

How to be a Good Parent brings together bits from the best of advice books of the 1920s and ’30s, taking readers through all the challenges involved in raising a child. Among the topics discussed are good—and bad—behavior, how to dress one’s dear son or darling daughter, mealtime, and the dreaded morning and bedtime routines. A section on taking medicine offers sage advice: “Gargling is a useful accomplishment” (while perhaps not appropriate for the dinner table). In a section on playtime, parents tasked with planning their child’s birthday will warmly welcome the book’s advice to “let the children give their own parties!”

By turns humorously old-fashioned and timeless, How to be a Good Parent is a charmingly illustrated guide to what any parent can tell you is the world's most difficult job.

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How to be a Peer Research Consultant

A Guide for Librarians and Students

Maglen Epstein

Assoc of College & Research Libraries, 2022

Every student brings their own individual set of educational and personal experiences to a research project, and peer research consultants are uniquely able to reveal this “hidden curriculum” to the researchers they assist.

In seven highly readable chapters, How to Be a Peer Research Consultant provides focused support for anyone preparing undergraduate students to serve as peer research consultants, whether you refer to these student workers as research tutors, reference assistants, or research helpers. Inside you’ll find valuable training material to help student researchers develop metacognitive, transferable research skills and habits, as well as foundational topics like what research looks like in different disciplines, professionalism and privacy, ethics, the research process, inclusive research consultations, and common research assignments. It concludes with an appendix containing 30 activities, discussion questions, and written reflection prompts to complement the content covered in each chapter, designed to be easily printed or copied from the book.

How to Be a Peer Research Consultant can be read in its entirety to gather ideas and activities, or it can be distributed to each student as a training manual. It pays particular attention to the peer research consultant-student relationship and offers guidance on flexible approaches for supporting a wide range of research needs. The book is intended to be useful in a variety of higher education settings and is designed to be applicable to each institution’s unique library resources and holdings. Through mentoring and coaching, undergraduate students can feel confident in their ability to help their peers with research and may be inspired to continue this work as professional librarians in the future.

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What Does It Mean to be a Christian?

A Debate

John F. Crosby

St. Augustine's Press, 2016

This book presents a correspondence between two friends who disagree about how to answer the question, “What does it mean to be a Christian?” Crosby argues that Christians understand themselves as hearing a definitive word of revelation spoken by God and intended for all human beings. But Betty sees Christianity as one of several options, usually the preferred way for those born in the faith, but no more unique or special than Hinduism or Buddhism. It is a debate over the kind of initiative the Christian God takes, or does not take, toward human beings. Throughout the debate Crosby alleges that Betty’s God is a very finite god, an all-too-human god, and for that very reason is something different from the God venerated by Christians, while Betty maintains that his theism remains within the Christian orbit and is a much needed corrective to a religion with exclusivist tendencies.

The debate between the two friends is presented here in the form of a correspondence they conducted over a period of two years (and did not originally intend for publication). It has undergone very little editing and revision; the authors have wanted to preserve the spontaneous give and take of their exchange. Together they have produced a work of philosophical dialogue that is unusually fruitful in its ability to clarify some fundamental issues of religion.

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