It took me a while to get into this but then it turned out to be very intriguing. Anyone who has traveled the world can relate to the culture shock of the author's trip to China as well as the minute details that become so poignant and extraordinary when you are far away from home. The author is traveling with a friend. They are both fresh out of collage and it is the 80s. The wear and tear that ensues on their friendship will make you say, "I have SO been there" when you have traveled with friends. However, this true story becomes highly amazing and strenuous as the author deals with helping her friend through what she thinks is homesickness.

The story revolves around the life of Wyatt Earp in Tombstone. The familiar characters of Doc Holliday and the Earp brothers. Life was hard in the west and Earp's sense of right helped bring order to the town. Earp is enamored with Josie, the girl of a rich man. She of course chooses Earp and the outlaws side with Benson, the power hungry ex-lover. The action moves along quickly and your sense of right by any means is proven. If you like Parker's Spenser series, you will like this book.

Danish-born, Jacob Riis, was an investigative reporter who was considered to be the inventor of modern photo journalism. He emigrated to New York City, experienced dire poverty, worked closely with Theodore Roosevelt who was serving as New York City’s Police Commissioner, exposed the horrible conditions in the tenement slums of the City, and made a name for himself. Written in the narrative non-fiction style, this is an engrossing read.

Jack Nicholson is exposed, warts and all, in this detailed account of the actor’s life, loves, and films. The book is well-written in the narrative non-fiction style. The reader will learn how Nicholson admired Brando and Sinatra, how he lived in the Laurel Canyon area surrounded by big name musicians and actors including Carole King, Joni Mitchell, and Marlon Brando, and about relationships with his children and ex-lovers.

This book is based on a commencement address the author gave at her alma mater, Sarah Lawrence College. It would be easy to dismiss this book as a typical commencement speech. It is typical in how it details some of the pivotal events and people who influenced and changed the author's life at Sarah Lawrence and beyond. The message is typical as it questions the future and as the author asks the predictable questions such as what and who will I become? But the book reaches deeper as the author describes some key characteristics that helped her to become not just a better writer, but a better human being. Her real life examples of how staring, listening (being unplugged from Ipods and cell phones), being still and not hurrying away from strangers has changed her life in ways that she never could have imagined. Her plea to us to notice details, chat and listen to the people around us is a positive and strong message of community. I love this message because none of us has gotten where we are today, alone. It is similar to the intention we develop as we practice yoga. This turning inward to know ourselves first as we do in our youth, later becomes a turning outward to embrace the people and world around us as we age. I really thought this book was terrific and hope that the students at Sara Lawrence appreciated it!

In “Don’t let’s go to the dogs tonight” Alexandra Fuller recounts her childhood in such war-torn countries as Zimbabwe and Zambia. She and her family moved to Africa when she was 2 due to her father’s jobs managing farms there. She has many tragic stories as 3 of her siblings died young and her mother slipped into a deep depression and later was diagnosed as manic depressive. But there are funny stories too such as the 3 day party after Alexandra’s wedding. We are constantly reminded of the danger of living in war zones. When Alexandra (or Bobo as she is called by her family) goes to school she is driven in a mine-proofed Land Rover and the family carries guns to protect themselves. Once she leaves Africa, she finds she misses it terribly and describes quite well the sounds and smells of the country.

You may not want to eat meat after reading this book. This is an expose and history of the fast food industry. In 1970 Americans spent 6 billion dollars on fast food. By 2000 that number had increased to 110 billion dollars. Almost every facet of American life has been franchised: Taco Bell, Gap, Starbucks, McDonalds, and other similar entities can be found everywhere on our interstate highway system and in urban and suburban areas. Schlosser details what constitutes a hamburger and makes you think twice about eating beef in particular

Who was Stalin? He was a choirboy, weatherman, published poet, seminarian, bank robber, politician, eight-time exile to Siberia, psychopath, lover, politician, newspaperman, boot-maker, mass murderer, intellectual, ruler of a vast country, and most intensely of all, a revolutionary. His story started in a small town in Georgia as the son of an alcoholic cobbler and an overbearing mother. He survived disease, fights, being run over by a carriage—twice, a society full of violence, and turbulent political times. His poor health allowed him to become an omnivorous reader, who concentrated on reading about politics, philosophy and history. Using many different aliases, he worked with or against most of the main political figures of the period including Trotsky and Lenin. Employing previously suppressed journals and papers as well as interviews with those who knew Stalin personally, Montefiore has written an amazing book with details of Stalin’s life before he ruled the USSR.