Naperville Reads book changes how you think

Wow. I'm only about halfway through (page 137), but I'm having a hard time deciding whether I want to keep reading or start writing about what I'm reading.

But wait. What have I learned? Let me start with a story.

Both my neighbor and my pal, Susan Greenwood from the Naperville Public Library, suggested I read Daniel Pink's book, "A Whole New Mind."

It's the Naperville Reads adult selection this year, and I was happy to hear it was a non-fiction book. The topic, right-brainers, hits close to home, too. I knew I wanted to read it, just wasn't sure I'd find the time.

I bought the book, started reading it and couldn't put it down. Even more telling? The fact that just now when I made myself put it down, I did so because I wanted even more to make a list of the people I want to buy this book for.

Mostly, I want my 21-year-old son to read this book. But I also want my right-brain brother to read this book. I'm pretty sure, too, that my dad will enjoy it, so he's on the list. I'm running out of spare book-buying money, so maybe I'll just tell everyone else to read this book.

There you go. I'm telling you: Read this book.

"Now, Joni," you might be thinking -- especially if you've read my column for any number of years -- "you always tell us to read the Naperville Reads books."

Guilty.

But have I ever told you that one of those books might … well, it might not change your life, but it could. And it will at least change the way you look at a whole lot of things, not the least of which will be your toilet brush.

Here's another story that may not resonate with you until you read the book, but still.

Twenty-six years ago, when I moved to Denver the first time, my husband and I moved into our first house. We were renting and had just about nothing when we moved there after a short stay in a Texas apartment.

That's when I discovered Target. I don't know why, but I loved Target immediately. Everything I needed I found at Target and, for some reason, I just liked Target better than any other similar store. I was not sure why, but I was sure.

I lived in Denver and the Seattle area (also lots of Targets) for the next nine years or so, during which time my mother kept encouraging my husband and I to move "back home" to Chicago. Well, Mom, I said over and over, just half teasing, "I can't ever move there until Target does."

Coincidentally or not, Target came to Chicago in 1993. How do I know this? I moved back that year. When my brother drove out to see the lot that would eventually hold our new home, he called and told me, "There's a new Target on Route 59." Somehow, that one fact made me feel a lot better about moving back to the flatlands.

If you haven't read the book, much of what Target does and what has made it so successful parallels much of what Pink writes about. I promise, however, if you shop at Wal-Mart, you still need to read this book. Maybe more.

There are so many things I want to say about this book, I simply can't type fast enough or even think fast enough. I'll need bullets:

• I want to call my son and say, "See!!? You thought I was silly when I'd see things in the store and say, 'but it's cute' when I wanted something unique instead of something usual. This is the reason!"

• I want to hunt down every person who told me I shouldn't be a writer -- or the other people who said it was a good thing I was a good waitress since I wanted to be a writer. Ha! I'm going to have the last laugh this era!

• The great American Studies class in Indian Prairie Unit District 204 high schools is the perfect place for students who are practicing what Dan Pink writes about.

• I wish the Rainbow Project test he writes about would replace -- or at least complement -- the ACT and SAT immediately.

• I want each of you to read this book and then e-mail me.

Gotta go now. I still have to finish the book. See you at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Pfeiffer Hall, 310 E. Benton Ave., when Daniel Pink will talk about "A Whole New Mind."