Bina Cady Kiyonaga writes a beautiful tale of being the wife of a man in the CIA.

As a somewhat unlikely match, Kiyonaga takes the reader through the journey of her marriage and the adventure of work related travels- from Hawaii to South America.

She does a great job of creating a personal memoir, while giving background history on events that affected her life through the late 1970s.

The final pages are quite touching and a perfect ending to an interesting book.

This was an interesting glimpse into the life of a model, who survived a horrible natural disaster and lost the love of her life. Sometimes it was a little too much information.

The book is a quick read, however there were parts that seemed almost juvenile. It was interesting to read about her culture and upbringing in the Czech Republic, particularly the bits about life in a communist country, when she was a child.

She does a nice job explaining the kindness of the Thai people and the devastation of the area. I wanted her to fight more to see the love of her life or find out what happened to him, however this was a place where the answers only come with time. She focuses a lot on energies, directed both internally and to others. This is part of the reason she believes she healed so fast.

I really felt for her ex Donaes, who seemed to get left in the dust after a 4 year relationship. I cannot imagine what she went through with all of the traumatic events.

This is an honest book written by a children’s ER doctor. I appreciated his realness and ability to show his emotion, as well as his philosophies on what it means to be a doctor.

Dr. Bonadio is a sensitive man that spends a fair amount of time considering the bond that parents have with their children. Many of these stories you hope for happy endings, however you are often left dangling (as is Dr. Bonadio), because he shares these brief encounters that simply don’t give all of the answers.

I find it very admirable that he was able to be so open. It takes a lot of courage and selflessness to be a forgotten hero, or to take the blame when things go awry.

The first story of Julia resounds through the book. The descriptions made me feel as if I was right there in the ER. Her mother and Dr. Bonadio share a connection, if only for a few fleeting moments.

I walk away from this book thinking about Julia, her mother, and the doctor. It’s a fascinating web that intertwines humanity and the strength and help that we are able to give one another.

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.