This is a light hearted tale of an Australian couple that wins accommodations at many of the world’s finest hotels. The problem is they are quite low on cash and struggle to fit in to this new society. They deal with things such as whether or not to tell other hotel patrons they are staying free, how to avoid tipping, and where to wash clothes.

My only complaint was not seeing photos! – This book made me want to go online and search to see what the hotels looked like and to see images from their trip.

This is a delightful book packed with a lot of information. Grandin does a good job of explaining how she views animals and thus, how they view the world. She does this by comparing the autistic brain to that of an animal in some regards. She goes into great detail particularly with cows, horses, dogs, and cats.

Thanks to her autism she is very insightful and able to give readers a glimpse into her life and decisions she makes to help animals. She is also credited with creating humane slaughter houses, although her favorite animals are cows.

This isn’t a book that’s easily digested in one sitting, however it is a terrific collection of stories and accounts categorized into topics.

This book is an inspiration that does a great job of demonstrating just how much people can learn from animals and how selective bredding for certain traits adversely affects others.

This is a tale of the life of Daniel Tammet. It is interesting how he relays his feelings of growing up with Asperger’s Syndrome, a highly functioning form of autism.

He explains how he thinks in visual imagery and how numbers are second nature to him. I was very fascinated by the ease he has of learning languages (yes, he speaks 10 fluently).

While there are many aspects of his mind that other people would appreciate having, there are also aspects that people take forgranted such as social norms that Tammet struggles with.

One of my favorite parts of the book is when he talks about love. He is so intriguing!

This is an interesting take on elderly and retirement. Rothman is a former writer for David Letterman and he decides he wants to see what the fuss is about retirement.

He moves to Florida to live in Century Village – a retirement community and attempts to fit in. Along the way he meets some interesting characters and learns a lot about life, people, and how age doesn’t change people.

This is the tragic story of many families ripped apart by murder. Peterson appears to be a handsome and charismatic man with a dark side. His sister slowly comes to discover this throughout the book.

I’m not sure what is so intriging about this story – the young couple in love, the ‘golden boy’ not being as perfect as he seems, the mystery of it all, or some combination of all of these things.

This is a fascinating tale with dramatic twists and turns. If this case interested you this is a quick read. I still wish I knew what really happened that day and why this young mother to be and her baby had to die.

This is a sweet memoir of a gay man who takes over as parent for his niece Tiffany. Wintle is very open and honest, which I admire and appreciated. This is a great book for someone who is thrown into the role of parent or simply likes a tale of an unlikely couple learning from each other.

It’s a nice little tale of what it is like to be a foster parent… to fall in love with some children and feel empathy for others as they search to feel loved and secure.

This is a quick read that makes you consider reform in social systems and the struggles so many children face simply trying to get by in a world they didn’t ask to come to.

This is very insightful and informative on terrorism in the United States and around the world. There are many shocking details that the author writes about, after having infiltrated various radical Islamic groups.

Prepare to be shocked as to how many ‘charity’ fronts terrorist organizations use, as well as the networks in the US (and the issues of the lack of communication between the FBI and other groups doing research).

Highly insightful especially for current world issues.

This is a strange book. The author Michael Bergin (once the famed Calvin Klein underwear model) talks in detail about his rise to fame and becoming involved with Carolyn Bessette (later Mrs. JFK Jr.).

I got rather tired of reading about his ‘sexcapades’. He constantly talks about how he is a romantic and enjoys ‘making love’, then he tells you about each time he has sex with a new person. I also didn’t like the ‘I’ll call him….’making pseudonyms for everyone either.

Parts of the book made me feel like I was reading something from a high school drama, other parts are somewhat of a love story.

When I finished this book I really wondered what his current wife thinks. He gushes continually about Carolyn and how much he loved her. I am also not sure how I feel about the fact that neither JFK Jr. nor Carolyn are able to defend themselves.

Bergin has good intentions of ‘setting the record straight’ about his love and Bessette…something about it just misses the mark.

The book is a basic memoir… a homeless girl growing up finds her way to Harvard. There is not much of a mention of dogs at all in the book.

She explains how she tackles obstacles such as growing up in poverty, coping with going to a school known for being ‘elite’, wrestling, and finding her father.

It’s an ok book dealing with adversity, however I wouldn’t highly recommend it.