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Non-Fiction

Why We Suck: A Feel Good Guide to Staying Fat, Loud, Lazy and Stupid by Dennis Leary. "'nuf said"

Wild (Oprah's Book Club 2.0 Digital Edition): From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail by Cheryl Strayed.  “It is fantastic. It’s a memoir about her 1100 mile solo hike on the Pacific Crest Trail, grieving her mother's death and her own divorce. It goes through her breaking down and building herself back up again on the trail. It is gritty and raw and you feel like you are walking the trail with her. Love it!”

Wine and War: the French, the Nazis and the Battle for France’s Greatest Treasure By Donald and Petie Kladstrup. “I heard this was really good about 2nd WW and germans stealing wine from the french -- and more...”

A Woman of No Importance by Sonia Purnell.  In 2011, I was helping my daughter find a subject for her sixth grade biography project, and we stumbled upon the American World War II spy, Virginia Hall.  As we read more, I wondered how it was possible I’d never heard of her. Hall’s story seemed made for Hollywood!  Well, she’s finally being plucked from the shadows.  In addition to this wonderful biography there are two others, and a feature film is in the works.  On paper, Hall was not a likely candidate for espionage.  Not only was she born in 1906 into a patrician Baltimore family, but she also lost part of her leg in a hunting accident. Nothing would stop her, though.  Despite her gender and her prosthetic leg (which she nicknamed “Cuthbert”), she became such a menace that the Gestapo named her the “most dangerous of all Allied spies.” In and out of occupied Paris and Lyon, she organized resistance fighters and safe houses, while outsmarting double agents, the (dreadful) Vichy, and the Nazis.  Her exploits included a hair-raising escape on foot over the Pyrenees, wooden leg and all (after which she went back for more).  She was courage, grit, determination and honor personified.  It will make your blood boil to read about the discrimination she faced when she returned to the CIA after the war, but at least she is getting her due.
 

Women Food and God: An Unexpected Path to Almost Everything by Geneen Roth. "I have been recommended this book by many friends, and have to admit that it's not really for me, as I've not suffered from an ill relationship with food. But I know many have, and many have received comfort and direction from this book, so I'm recommending it."

The World is Flat: A Brief History of the 21st Century by Thomas Friedman. “Friedman makes highly accessible an understanding of how the technological revolution is changing our world and how it is not driven by large, anonymous corporations, but by individuals and innovation.”

The Wreck of the Whaleship Essex. By Nathaniel Philbrook. "He lives in Nantucket and is a fabulous writer - I love all his work. This is the true story of a nantucket whaleship attacked by a whale in the 1800s and how the crew survived. It is the story moby dick was based on. Melville came to nantucket to interview the captain. Its a great read - and historical. Always nice to actually learn some history while enjoying the pure ecapism of reading a great book!"

Yeah Dave's Guide to Livin' the Moment: Getting to Ecstasy Through Wine, Chocolate and Your iPod Playlist by David Romanelli. (From Amazon:) "Yahoo! blogger and co-founder of a "progressive" Phoenix, Ariz. yoga studio, shares his Zen approach to happiness in this guide to the care and feeding of a live-the-moment lifestyle: 'Everyday, if you can enjoy one delicious moment...you will soon recognize a meaningful life is no further away than a box of chocolates... your walk to work, and a little... laughter.'"

A Year and Six Seconds: A Love Story by Isabel Gillies (from my mole inside the publishing world– on shelves 8/2/2011) “About the Book: At the heart of this sweetly humorous and incisive follow-up memoir to her bestsellingHappens Every Day: An All-Too-True Story is a Julia Child story Isabel's mother used to tell. While displaying a delicately rendered nest-like sugar basket for the camera, Julia fumbles her creation and sends it crashing to the floor. Briefly looking at the mess, Julia announces that the only thing to do is to start again, and she resolutely turns back to the stove to measure out more sugar. Thirty five, single mother of two, unemployed, broke, and on the heels of a shattering divorce, Isabel leaves the life she created in Ohio to move back into her parents' New York City apartment. Thus, in the spirit of Julia Child's message, Isabel dusts herself off and starts over, and in turn, learns to embrace love and life again.”

Yes, Please by Amy Poehler. “No review or explanation will do it justice.  Read this book.  Read it now.  It puts Bossypants to shame.  Even better is the audio version, because Amy reads it and is the awesomest of all things that are awesome.”  "We listened to this on a long car ride and were in hysterics. Maybe not a good idea if there are pre-teens or youngsters in the car.  If there are teenagers (as we had) just be ready to fast forward in places. She's so funny."

The Yoga Store Murder: The Shocking True Account of the Lululemon Athletica Killing by Dan Morse. "Bought this when it came out, and it sat on the shelf forever.  Read recently, and enjoyed the behind-the-scenes detective work of a murder story that happened close to home."

Zen Golf by Joseph Parent. “For the golf enthusiast.”