Customer Comments

This is a riveting book about how one family prepares their children for college by age twelve -- or younger! They usually have a college degree by the time their peers graduate high school. While it isn't for everyone, it's an amazing story about one extraordinary family.

This is my favorite movie. Akeelah is an underachiver student in South Central L.A. To keep from getting detention, she participates in the first ever school spelling bee. Her father loved Scrabble, and her years playing on the computer helped her win the school bee. But that is not all that is in store for Akeelah, but I don't want to give away the ending. A moving story that has me in tears every time I watch it. This will be a family favorite for years to come.

This is a documentary inside American fundamentalism where you actually get to follow the life of two kids who attended a "Jesus Camp". Everyone seemed pleased with the making of this movie. I grew up going to church camp each summer, and I must say this is an excellent inside look at what goes on during camp and beyond. This was nominated for an Academy Award, and once you view it, you will understand why. Depending on your convictions, you'll either think this is a wonderful way to get children involved or you'll find it truly frightening. An abolutely must see for anyone.

This is the essential travel guide of off-beat attractions. Where is the only Hindu holy site outside India? In West Virginia, of course! You will learn about two balls of twine competing to be the biggest. The Spam museum, the Tupperware museum, Bible bird attractions, a 1960s light up map of Pennsylvania, learn the history behind Wall Drug. Also, there's a listing for a frog in a coffin. Why is this frog so special? He was encased in a cornerstone for 30 years -- and survived! Of course, the book mentions your typical 'mystery spots' as well as "giant" items such as the world's largest ketchup bottle, large peanuts, and more. This is the stuff that was visited in the days before Interstates. This year when planning your vacation, be it far or near, plan on taking your child to one of these places, and their "What I did this summer" essay will be far from ordinary. Or visit one yourself and have something exciting to discuss around the water cooler!

Shawn Decker's memoir is laugh out loud funny. How he kept a sense of humor through his life is amazing. He was diagnosed as HIV positive when he was a child due to tainted blood products, kicked out of school because of his HIV status, but his mother fought to get him allowed to attend school. He was only expected to live two years, but he lived to graduate high school. He proves that what is thought to be impossible is always possible. As he calls her, his "wife partner" is not infected with the virus. They now are speakers to educate about HIV / AIDS. Decker's life is amazing is so many accounts, especially that he has kept such a good sense of humor through all he's experienced!

Body Clutter is written partly by Marla Cilley, better known as "Flylady". She began her fame in teaching people how to get their homes in order, getting things organized, and how to keep it that way with minimal work. Now she has tackled another area of life -- body "clutter". She talks about exercise, eating healthy, the dreaded scales, and more. She covers reasons to motivate us to get rid of our extra pounds, or as she calls it "Body Clutter". It's a book written by real people, not some fitness guru who emphasizes some strange diet. This book helps you find a way to lose your 'clutter' to work within whatever lifestyle you live!

Having traveled overseas multiple times, I am aware of how Americans are often uni-lingual. Seeing people in Europe being able to switch what language they were speaking at a moment's notice was impressive to me. I saw people go from speaking French to German to English within a minute. It's not that Europeans are smarter, the geography of Europe often makes it needed for them to learn multiple languages. I was skeptical when I picked up Farber's book, but he explains tricks to help you learn. He shares facinating facts about his own multi-lingustic skills. For instance, he learned Chinese to prove he wasn't dumb after doing miserably in high school Latin! By using his memory devices, I remember not only words he used as examples, but their meaning. I'm not sure when I'll need to say "plate" in Indonesian, but it's proof that there is something behind his methods!

A friend recommended I read Frankenstein. At first I was hesitant to begin, but soon I was enveloped within its pages. I can't think of any other word to describe Shelley. I was left spellbound by her work. I had empathy for both Frankenstein and his creation. Shelley did an outstanding job in character development. Both Frankenstein and the demon were so emotional. Don't be put off by the fact this is a "classic". If it were written today, it would be on the best seller list. There is little archaic language, and the story will grip you until its last page. You will, like I, carry this book around with you hoping for a few minutes you can read a few pages. Truly captivating!

This is an amazing book about how Nadia became a household word. She didn't even realize in 1976 what a big deal the Olympics were! This is the story of her life in Romania and her defection to America and her marriage to Bart Connor.

Just as Magdalena is about to marry Aaron, a relative arrives to the wedding. What is strange about this relative's appearance is the wedding guest arrived 20 after death in a 20 year old barrel of sauerkraut!

This is an excellent book set in Sydney Australia. Francesca is one of only 30 girls attending a (formerly) all boys school. Her mother is struggling with depression, and Francesca is having a hard time fitting in and enjoying her last year in high school.

This is a wonderful book about Fred Rogers and his "ministry" of children's television, his life, and how he became a beloved American icon.

A beautifully written book, this was a Newberry Medal recipient. This is the story of four 6th grade students who form an academic quiz team. Their teacher is as misfit as they are, and the five of them become friends.

Even though this is a children's book, I really enjoyed this and have recommended it to several people since I've read it. Nick renames a pen a "Frindle" and the word spreads. His teacher tries to put an end to the nonsense, but the word is spreading and everyone is calling a pen a "Frindle". There's a lovely unexpected ending as well.

This was such a good book, I read it straight through! Esquith encourages his students to do their best. His 6th graders were learning Shakespeare, economics, to play the guitar, algebra, and things I never learned in college! He is an inspiring teacher, and this book made me want to fill in some gaps in my education!

This is a great book about the trauma of becoming a woman from a little girl. It deals with new experiences, establishing boundries, their identity and to learn to conform to the feminine.

This is an excellent book about the world of competitive Scrabble. Fatsis doesn't just write about these people, but he becomes one of them and starts playing in tournaments. He gives a wonderful inside look at the people who know obscure words, know where to place words on the Scrabble board for the most points, and do anagrams in their spare time for fun!

A traveling preacher comes to town and 12 year old Pete is so mesmerized by him, Pete is ready to leave home to travel with the preacher and become an evangelist himself. But then the preacher becomes involved in a local scandal and . . .

Liftin writes a fun book by telling her life story in candy. She's obsessed with candy, and her book will bring back a lot of memories of candy from childhood.

Brooks grew up in Australia and had penpals from Sydney, America, France, and two from Israel. She grows up, her American penpal dies, and she later sets on a quest to find the others.

A true story of sex and racial scandal in Georgia. Was Dawn/Gordon an intersexual? What about her daughter? Secrets came out that were unknown even to her daughter until this book was being researched!

Gudgeon writes about lotteries and includes neat facts, including people who have sued because they haven't won! He also discusses taxes and fear winners have after finding themselves holding a winning ticket.

This is an amazing story about how a Clara hid all during World War II and NEVER was found or taken to a concentration camp.

A memoir of a girl who grew up with Munchausen by proxy. There was a lot of other abuse in the home, as well. A facinating read about an interesting topic.

Phoebe Lange finds a scrapbook owned by a great aunt with the same name. Struggling with issues in her life, she turns to the past for answers. A bump on the head and a concussion sends her into the past for those answers.

This was a facinating book about how one woman fell in love with a non-Amish man and left the Amish. It isn't as easy as it seems, because to leave you must leave all behind as you are seen as dead to the community you are leaving.

It doesn't matter if you've been around the world or are an armchair traveler, you'll enjoy this book. I loved how this book included so many places off the beaten path such as Lesotho, Budapest, and Nepal. It's a fun read about different cultures and travel experiences.

This is an excellent book about goal setting and how to decide what your goals are. This is a book on being positive, knowing what you want, and going for it!

"Conjunction Junction, what's your function?" This is the entire collection of Schoolhouse Rock songs, plus one more. These are fun for today's generation or for anyone who wants to remember the days of the 70s and 80s and sing along with your favorites like "I'm Just a Bill on Capitol Hill".

This is a documentary of some of the children who participated in the National Spelling Bee, how they prepared, and what their lives were like. A wonderful cross-section of the United States, and these kids will each charm you in their own way.

This is one of my favorite comedies. Set in Australia, Danny wonders if he ties enough helium balloons to his lawn chair, can he fly? He ends up in the Outback, but does he really want to return to the city?

This is a fun little book about Jimmy Carter's Christmas memories, from a boy growing up in Plains until he was President and spending Christmas at Camp David, to his post-presidential years helping build a house for some people in Plains. I know this is a book I'll enjoy again in the future, and will likely pack it with my Christmas items so I can enjoy it every Christmas.

Mary Alice is sent to live with her grandmother in a small town, very different from the Chicago city life to which Mary Alice has grown accustomed. Small-town happenings are quite different, and Mary Alice soon adjusts, which is hard because everyone in town is scared of her grandmother!

This is a wonderfully written children's book which is now considered a classic. It's about an Amish girl who is forced to attend public school, and her fear about "the first step away" which will draw her away from the Amish culture and beliefs.

With WWII over, what do you do with all the left over canned meats? Why, you market them towards American housewives, of course! This was a facinating read, and one that would entertain anyone who likes to read about cooking, marketing, psychology, or the 1950s. I loved reading about some of the worst recipes from the era, such as strawberry jello and pickles. Or all the things mayo was added into. There were times I wondered how people actually ate some of the stuff described, but I suppose someone did! I'm glad I live in a time where you don't have to worry about going to a church pot-luck and maybe getting pickles or mayo in your jello! :) Or visiting someone and getting half a cinnamon doughnut with strawberry jam on it, covered in cottage cheese!

When I say Eudora, most people likely think of the e-mail program called "Eudora". But I recently read a book by the program's namesake. Her writing is so vivid. I felt I was actually traveling down the road to Ohio with her and her family in their car. I cried when her father died. This is one of the few books I was required to read in college that I read again on my own, and it was worth every minute of re-reading!

This is a facinating movie about the lifecycle of penguins. The penguins are adorable, and science is thrown in. What more could a parent want?

It's far fetched, but it's a wonderfully spun yarn. There is an apartment building built with certain people in mind -- all of whom may be Westing's heirs. After Westing is murdered, there is a game to see who can solve the murder and become the sole heir of the Westing Estate.

I wasn't sure what to think about this book, but I found it facinating. Granted, I probably won't be fixing wasabi anytime soon, nor any of the other dishes that are mentioned, but the author does a great job of explaining some of the reasons that the Japanese don't have an obesity epidemic like the United States does. Some of the reason are quite obvious -- such as walking most everywhere you go. One thing she suggests is to serve each type of food in a different dish, and to get smaller plates. She said the looks of a meal are as importatnt as the food, and the different dishes add beauty. With the small plates and bowls she comments you can have seconds or thirds and still be eatting less on average as one average American plate. She also goes through the different foods that are important in the Japanese diet saying why they are so important and gives tips for cooking them if you are so inclined. There's plenty of recipes to help you out should you wish to do so. Also, she recommends eatting with chopsticks. I know this slows down eatting, and when you eat slower you often don't eat as fast. (Plus, some people find eatting with chopsticks pretty impressive.)

This was an excellent book about an addiction that isn't very thought about. Booth doesn't mean the average religious experience in any religion, but looks at it the extremes, such as donating so much money it would send a family into bankruptcy, preaching against things you secretly indulge in, etc. He notes that addiction to religion can happen in any religion, not just ones that would most likely come to mind.

This was an absolutely amazing book. I would say it's one of the best I've ever read. I could have done without the details of the inhumane treatment in some slaughterhouses, but it's amazing that a lady with autism has helped changed the meat industry. To be honest, I wasn't as interested in the part about her work as much as I was in the accounts of how she thinks, social interactions, etc.

Bryson is able to keep this book humorous yet it is serious at the same time. He visits a refugee camp in one of the biggest slums in the world, which amazingly has three of the best schools in Kenya. People will actually move to the slum so their children can attend these schools! His journey on a light aircraft was very funny!

Poppy Frasier doesn't like being a pastor's wife. She also has a skeleton in her closet. Her best friend's son dies in a frat hazing incidnet and several pastor's wives begin meeting for prayer. Eventually they decide to start a scholarship fund. The churches and the community start getting along better, but what about that skeleton in Poppy's closet? Read this book and find out!

The cultural revolution comes to China, and JiLi is 12 years old. Her family is looked down on, and life is made difficult for the entire family. She can have life easier for herself by turning in her family, but while things would be better for her, it would be worse for them.

This is a great book about the women who when they were growing up their dreams about their adult life needed to be limited to teacher, secretary, nurse, and mother. But when these girls hit college, a whole WORLD of opportunity awaited them, things they never would have immagined because they were no longer told "girls can't do that"!

This book gives a brief overview of 100 of the more frequently "banned" books. Some are religious tomes, some are children's book, some are political. How many have YOU read?

This is a great book about a boy growing up moving from station to station in Australia. His mother, like him, wants to settle at a "proper home", but his father doesn't. Can this marriage work out, and will their son be able to attend school someday?

Patrick White has won the Nobel Prize in Literature, and this book shows his talent. It reads beautifully, poetically, and tells the story of a man and woman from their wedding day until their death. It follows their children, and the symbolism of the nutmeg grater rings ever so strong at the end of the book. A beautifully written book which should be considered a classic in years to come.

This is a terriffic coming of age story set in Australia. Alibrandi feels pressure from the nuns, her family, her boyfriend, and of course, her upcoming exam to finish high school. This book has won numerous awards in Australia, and it's just as wonderful a read in the United States as it is in Australia!

This is a fun read. The author writes to a number of different companies with ridiculious questions and then asks for a t-shirt. He has published his letters and the responses to them in this book. It's an amazing read to see how people can be polite when asked things like why his dental floss was a couple inches shorter than stated on the package!

This is a wonderful book about life in pre WWI Hungary. Kate arrives to the countryside, and is very unmanagable. She gets into many scrapes and adventures, but eventually becomes a lady. This should be required reading in every elementary school. It's a memorable story which could be beloved by both children and adults if it were just more well known.

I bought this as a gift for a cousin's son but had to read it before I gave it to him. Elizabeth Honey creates some fun characters while tackling issues like spending too much time on the internet, mental illness, and being far away from home. It's a fun story.

This book will stay with you long after you finish it. The story of an Armenian girl during the 1915 massacres in Turkey. It's a chilling story that had me crying as I read it.

This is my favorite fiction book of all time. Five ladies in a church form a cookbook committee, and more is created than just a cookbook -- a special bond of friends. I felt as if I was friends with all of them, and this book was so good I read it all in one sitting.

This is a very sad, but true account of children who died trying to get home from school during a blizzard. Read this one with a box of tissues nearby!

The land Down Under has always enchanted me. This is a wonderful collection of stories of people who have traveled in Australia. With each tale, I was transported to a land with fierce animals and cute koalas and a land that takes their beer seriously. A wonderful bedside companion book for the stories aren't extremely long, and it makes for a nice relaxing read before drifting off to sleep and dreaming of a far-away land.

This is a facinating look at the food American children eat and what is -- and is not -- in that food. Every parent needs to read this book to help their child make wise food choices including having enough nutrients.

Americans are the fattest people on earth. How did we get to be that way? Is it merely that we're not doing as much physical labor as we used to? The answer may surprise you that some of the obesity is linked to the Nixon administration!

There's been a murder in Hernia, Pennsylvania. The Chief of Police is incompetent and it's up to Magdelena Yoder to solve the mystery of who killed Rev. Shrock by putting peanut butter in the chili at the church chili cook-off. A cozy mystery with delightful humor!

This is one of the quirkiest books I've ever read, but I was facinated by it and even hope to visit some of the sites. Beal took a summer and visited a number of religious roadside attractions from a folk art church, a rebuilding of Noah's Ark, Bible based theme parks, and even a rosary collection. This is not a religious book in and of itself, but it is a look at the people behind these oddities and why someone would want to erect the world's largest Ten Commandments. It's a facinating read!

There are "tons" of diet books on the market, but the way to lose is by eating healhty and moving more. In this book Jilian Michaels shows you how to put together a healthy eating plan as well as an exercise plan. I lost 30 pounds after reading this book!

I can't say enough wonderful things about this book of poetry. It's quite possible if I were to be stranded on a desert island and could only take one book with me, this would be the one I would take. My mother read to me from this as I was growing up, and I never thought a thing about learning Wordsworth as well as Mother Goose, to me they were all poetry. Now I savor this volume, and be it Poe or Browning, I have wonderful memories of childhood while I read the classics contained within the tome.

Silverstein is a genius when it comes to poetry. It's humorous, fun, and a great read for anyone!

Many children have guinea pigs as pets, but they also make great pets for adults. It doesn't matter if you're an adult guinea pig lover, or you child has a guinea pig, this book is an indespensible guide to taking care of these wonderful creatures. It is the only pet care book on guinea pigs I recommend, and I refer to it quite often myself!

This is a fun book where Rafkin takes us inside people's homes and lets us know what people are really like and the oddities that people keep -- such as a "tortise bride" or items made from seashells.

I couldn't put this book down. It's a coming of age story about a girl who's involved in a cult-like church. It's so masterfully written that I almost thought it was real, and it moved me to tears.

This is a collection of ghost stories from West Virginia, and they are quite scary, too! I used this book as a basis for ghost stories I told when we'd sit around in college. One of my friends always left the room because she said whenever she listened to a story from this book, she'd get too frightened! So if you want some scary ghost tales, this is the book for you!

We've all enjoyed reading Laura Ingalls Wilder's books, but now we can experience them through making some of the recipes in this cookbook. A great way to add experience into reading!

Set at the turn of the century, this is a fun and facinating look at small town life. There are neighbors who compete with one another as to who makes the best dessert, two little girls visit a brothel without realizing what it is, and where community means more than just the place you live, it's a way of life.

Everyone wants to get in on the online auction trend. This book is by a woman who did, the things she sold and how much she made. Some of the things may be surprising and may even be things passed by at some garage sales!

This is a facinating book about the reversal of handwriting analysis. What if you decide on the character traits you want, and you change your handwriting to reflect that? This book proposes that when you change your handwriting your life will naturally change to give you those character traits you desire!

This is the book you need if you want to improve your Scrabble game. Not only does it have lists, but it gives great tips on playing both offensively and defensively, as well as finding better words with the letters in your tray.

This is a horrifying, yet entertaining childhood memoir that makes the rest of us feel like we grew up in a functional family!

This is a touching book about some of the "forgotten" victims of the Holocaust. The man who went through concentration camps tells of absolutely horrible experiences which I've never read about in any other book about the Holocaust. Let us never forget. . .

This is an excellent book about the history of crossword puzzles, the people who play competitively and tips on creating your own crosswords. It includes the very first crossword known to exist, and famous ones the New York Times have run.

Everyone has enjoyed "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory", and this book tells about the man who created Charlie. What Roald Dahl did at the candy store is absolutely unforgetable! This is a must read for any Roald Dahl fan!

I couldn't put this book down. It was a great book about an outlandish family. My favorite part was during the funeral -- I won't give it away, you have to read it to find out what had me laughing hysterically!

One of the first, if not the first gothic romances. A true classic, and a great read.