Loran Smith, the "other voice" of the Georgia Bulldogs, takes you through a series of great one-pagers and one-liners with some of sports' most colorful figures from the 1950's - present (my personal favorite is Tommy Lasorda and the "TO NY" stamp on the forehead of arriving Italians into the US as the reason why so many Italians are named "Tony"). The perfect little book to keep on your beside table or any other quaint location in your home to catch a few laughs when you've got a few minutes to kill. Smith's southern prose and wit along with Davis' (of MAD Magazine fame) colorful drawings will keep you laughing until your wife tells you to turn out the light and go to bed.

Davis manages to transform a recipe book into a fascinating look into the biochemistry of food. Her books are the only comprehensive description I've ever found of practical nutrition, and this one is no exception. The technical information is made accessible and interesting, even for the general reader. The recipes are detailed, easy to use and often delicious when prepared to her instructions. Many of her ideas come from the great cooking traditions of the world. Her procedure for making soup stock, for example, is classically French a la Julia Child and just as practical. The difference here is that you'll know what makes soup stock incredibly delicious, highly nutritious and what your body does with it. Ever wonder why vegetables are easily overcooked? Davis explains the delicate enzymatic and structural changes that take place during cooking that can make broccoli either an appetizing green forest or a puddle of colorless goo. All of her main points are backed by journal research cited in bibliographical notes. Fascinating! Everyone should read these books!

Adele Davis' classic descriptions of vitamins, minerals and what they do should be on every one's shelf. She got it right and her classic books are the standard for getting and staying well. After all, body structure and chemistry have not changed and her suggestions and remedies WORK. It is a shame she is not still around to apply her expetise to some of today's tough health problems, but, she has left us with the basics to keep our bodies and immune systems tip top. This is a "go to first" book for many major health problems or to just "stay fit." Chances are, what ails you is a deficiency or combo of one. Just what are you deficient in? Check to see if the information works for you!!! The best part of the whole book is the Index. Use it well.

I am so tired of bad news, of discouraging information, of a prevailing feeling that we as a people, as families, as a country have little hope of surviving the pit falls around us. This book is written by real women, speaking the truth about the real issues we all face. Yet in their openness and honesty there is a sense of hope, commitment and true unconditional love. The message here is to do the right thing by those you love. It isn't instruction on how to be the perfect parent, or how to model yourself after those celebrities that our country is so enamoured with. It is about having the courage to do the hard work, honor your commitments and extend yourself to those you love. I am impressed and find myself motivated to attend to those relationships that I have perhaps overlooked.

My dad bought this book for me when he was in Germany when I was 5 years old. It was the first book that I actually read cover to cover in German. It's a great translation for a book, not like other books I've seen where the translation is totally off. If you like Garfield, and you can read German, buy this book!

Wistful and hilarious, this tale of the final week of a woman's second pregnancy is both a splendid snapshot of New York City in the early 70s, and a brilliant portrait of a marriage in a tenuous loving state. Davis' rollicking language and brilliant writing makes her early death all the more tragic...

Of all the dumb luck. Bliss Abernathy was stranded in the south Texas Big Bend with old foe Logan Campbell. A despicable, exasperating and altogether thrilling man who could bring her to a fever pitch in a matter of seconds. It was incomprehensible. Disastrous. Heaven. Your day has come! But Bliss had to remember she'd lost her heart to Logan once long ago. And she wouldn't be fooled again. Because once they were home safe and sound, everything would go back to normal...or would it? Switched at birth: Four strangers are about to discover the true bonds of brotherhood...with a little help-and love-from four terrific women!

The Little Drummer Boy by Ezra Jack Keats is a beautifully illustrated book with the words to the popular Christmas song. Each page contains only one or two lines of the song and so is perfect for younger children. The song is about a little boy who is told to bring a gift for the birth of Jesus, but he replies "Baby Jesus, I am a poor boy, too" and so he plays his drum for him instead. This is a simple story about giving from the heart. Singing the words is a perfect way to interest a reluctant child in books and also perfect to coax reluctant dads (or mums) to sing to their children. The music is written out at the end of the story if you aren't familiar with the tune but it would be easier to listen out for it at Christmas. This book is one the most requested in our household and, of course, we sing it all year long.

I have personally purchased more of these books than any other human being. I like to keep a stash of them because they are simultaneously poinant, poetic and full of wisdom. I find that the cadence of her speech remains as beautiful in translation. "The Little Virtues" is a timeless book that speaks to the wonders and concerns of today, although the stories it contains were written earlier in the mid-twentieth century.

I didn't look forward to trying this book---memoirs of childhood seldom do much for me---but there being so little Stendhal out there in translation, I couldn't overlook it. Well, long book tho it is, H.B. is very readable and a lot of fun for those who love Stendhal's style and persona. Chatty, honest, quirky (all those little maps!), skipping around madly, with the strange mix of irony and idealism that makes Stendhal so "modern," this is an enjoyable book for "the happy few." I doubt there are many books like it---Rousseau's confessions feel much more polished, & hence less "real," than Stendhal's book does. (Of course I'm agnostic on how honest S. really is---but it's a good book, true or not!)

Who would think that an unfinished autobiography could be so good? But despite its rough edges and the odd passage of interest only to the author, the Life of Henry Brulard is very good indeed, and as moving as The Red and the Black. Early in the Life, Stendhal describes the pleasure of reading Florentine goldsmith Benvenuto Cellini's memoirs, so fresh, he notes, that they seem to have been written yesterday. The same could be said for Stendhal's own autobiography.