A Girl's Guide to zzzzzz......

I have the zygot of an idea for a book. Before this idea can morph into even fetus stages, the librarian in me must do some research. Using myself as the first sample for what grabs attention on the bookstore [non-fiction] shelf, I admittedly gravitate towards sassy, savvy titles. For example, I'm more apt to flip through the pages of Thanking The Monkey: Rethinking the Way We Treat Animals, versus The Welfare of Animals: The Silent Majority. This is due strictly to the fun, catchy title even though both books deal with animal welfare and rights, and both books were recently published in 2008.

My zygot has the female reader in mind as its probable main demographic, 20-40 somethings, but could expand past that if I did it right. So, I was at a bookstore looking through the Health and Ftness, Self-Improvement, Christian Inspiration and Language sections. There are a massive amount of publications with Girl's Guide, or some variation on the theme, in the title. I mean a truly incredible amount. At what point does the public find diminishing returns on the novelity or inspiration of a Girl's Guide? A key term search of "Girl's Guide" on Amazon suggests over 17,000 titles; that's books only.

You can find anything from:

• A Girl's Guide to Modern European Philosophy
• The Girl's Guide to Being a Boss (Without Being a Bitch)
• The Girl's Guide to AD/HD (Don't Lose This Book)
• A Girl's Guide to Decoration
• A Girl's Guide to Hunting and Fishing (this is fiction, nevertheless)
• The Girl's Guide to Surfing

And those are just an inkling of what's an out there. If you tire of plain jane girl's guides, you have your pick of specialty girl's guides:

• The Fabulous Girl's Guide to Life
• The Lazy Girl's Guide to Success
• The Newly Non-Drinking Girl's Guide to Pregnancy
• The Fat Girl's Guide to Life
• The Bad Girl's Guide to Getting What You Want
• The Yarn Girl's Guide to Simple Knits
• A Modern Girl's Guide to Etiquette

This list could go on as well. There is a guide out there if I'm nice, Catholic, smart, single, geeky or countless other adjectives.

Here's two things that bother me about girl's guides. First, many of these books are geared for WOMEN. There is an entire girl's guide series published by American Girl Library (associated with the American Girl doll) to help our youngest ladies ease into a variety of situations. The recommend age ranges are appropriately 4-8 or 9-12. IMHO, these books are correctly titled. The rest of us might prefer a Woman's Guide or Ladies' Guide to the area of expertise proffered. Or, if those sound too matronly, then a MS. Guide to Giving Your Book A Proper Title.

Next, it's played out. After 10 minutes of browsing Amazon's Girl's Guide selection, I really wasn't interested in any of them any more. There seemed nothing new under the sun. These books did not feel savvy, sassy or sure to assist; just pithy. Until I saw this title:

For the less snarky version of likely helpful tween pub, please click here.