Non-Fictional Traveling Bliss.

Eric Weiner is a former correspondent from National Public Radio who has covered a multitude of catastrophes and tragedies from countries throughout the globe, Iraq and Afghanistan included.

For this novel he decided to write a novel sharing the happiest places in the world:

"What if, I wondered, I spent a year traveling the globe, seeking out not the world's well-trodden trouble spots but, rather, its unheralded happy places?" he writes. "Places that possess, in spades, one or more of the ingredients that we consider essential to the hearty stew of happiness: money, pleasure, spirituality, family, and chocolate, among others."

Throughout his journey Weiner includes the insights of classical thinkers on happiness, augmented by hilarious one-liners. While reading this book the reader feels as though they are actually there through his descriptive, aesthetic, and humorous writing style. But, in order to find these happy places Weiner also had to travel through the boring, miserable, and unhappy places - and he shares with us his bad experiences in a light and comedic way.

Review from Powell's Books:
"Weiner's company wears surprisingly well. It takes a chapter or two to decide you like him, and another to realize that you like him a lot, but by the time the trip is over, you find yourself hoping that you'll hit the road together again someday. The Geography of Bliss is a journey too good to be rare. "

No time to read during finals? Think again.

If you have trouble studying you're in luck. In the spirit of finals week I decided to let you in on my most prized exam preparation possession, How to Study. My grandfather gave it to me as I was entering my freshman year of college and it's been on my desk ever since!

How to Study helps you organize and make the most out of your study time. It also provides tips on how to study for the classes that are usually very difficult if not impossible to study for like math and chemistry. It also helps you form study groups, provides note taking tips, and gives you tips to help you improve your writing and research skills! I often use it as a guide when I am writing research papers.

Good luck this week and I hope this book helps! -> How To Study

Summer Reading 101!

Summer is quickly approaching and soon enough we'll all be having fun in the sun with a cold drink, friends, and hopefully our favorite authors! Reading during the summer is a great way to keep our mind exercised over the long summer. By Fall we will be refreshed and ready to take on the long reading assignments given by professors.I am always so excited to visit Barnes and Noble come May 1st and now I hope I can spread this excitement to all of you with some great tips and advice to help you start your summer reading adventure!

Summer Reading 101:

1. Pick A Light and Fun Read
If your goal is to find a great beach read try and pick a light and fun book. One that won't require you to bring a pocket dictionary along in your beach bag. (This is where those Young Adult novels come in handy)

Suggestions:

Mystery: Just Take My Heart by Mary Higgins Clark
Romance: Twilight by Stephanie Meyer (if you haven't already you have to catch up to the rest of teen America!) or the latest from Sarah Dessen, Lock and Key
Chick Read : One Fifth Avenue - by Candice Bushnell author of Sex and The City

2. Catch Up On Some Classics
Summer is a great time to read some of the classics that have been around for centuries but you would never find the time otherwise.
Suggestions:
Great Romance: Gone With The Wind by Margaret Mitchell
Chilhood Classic: Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carol
Tragic Hero: Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte
Summer Fun: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain

3. Read About What You Love
Our hobbies are usually on hold during the busy school year but summer gives us some down time to read up on the things that interest us. Whether it be fashion, U.S. history, drawing, photography, or any other interest you may have - take a stroll around your local book store and pick up a great read on something that interests you!


4. See If It Comes On Audio
If your summer job has you tied down this summer or reading on the beach in the strong sun isn't your thing - check to see if the book you want comes as an audio. You can download them on iTunes and put them on your iPod and listen during your morning jog or go to Barnes and Noble and buy them on CD's and pop them into your CD player on your way to work!

5. Read Your Favorite Movies!
Most of our favorite films were originally novels. Find out if this is the case for some of your favorite movies! Some major films which were adapted from the novel are: The Notebook, Breakfast at Tiffany's, The Bourne Identity, Fight Club, and so much more!

No hurry off to your local book store...
Summer is just around the corner Happy Reading!

* Has this recession got you down? If you don't have one already get a membership to your local library. Libraries carry all the new books and you don't have to pay a dime!

Earth Day Reading!

Happy Earth Day everyone! In the spirit of the world wide celebration of our planet I have a great book suggestion for all of you! Many of Americans today view going green as some dramatic, EXPENSIVE, life change. You know... buying a hybrid car, changing all your light bulbs, buying solar panels - many of us just can't stop equating a "green life" with this -> $$$

BUT GUESS WHAT!? Going green is not always about the green in your wallet. There are simple ways to save our planet just by slightly altering your daily routine. This book will show you how...

The Green Book: The Everyday Guide to Saving
the Planet One Simple Step at a Time
by: Elizabeth Rogers, Thomas M. Kostigen, & William McDonough

This book will illustrate simple ways to help save our planet!

Some of the simple tips include:

• Don’t ask for ATM receipts. If everyone in the United States refused their receipts, it would save a roll of paper more than two billion feet long, or enough to circle the equator fifteen times!

• Turn off the tap while you brush your teeth. You’ll conserve up to five gallons of water per day. Throughout the entire United States, the daily savings could add up to more water than is consumed every day in all of New York City!

• Get a voice-mail service for your home phone. If all answering machines in U.S. homes were replaced by voice-mail services, the annual energy savings would total nearly two billion kilowatt hours. The resulting reduction in air pollution would be equivalent to removing 250,000 cars from the road for a year!

[Tips courtesy of BarnesAndNoble.com]

Have a Happy Earth Day everyone and remember going
green can be fun and it doesn't have to cost you a penny!

A story of our heroes.

"For some a hero wears a spandex suit and a cape. My heroes wear flack jackets, flight suits, and combat boots. This book is for them" - Oliver North

One of my best friends came home from Iraq on Friday and my roommates and I drove up to his base on Long Island to welcome him home. The American pride illuminated from the base from the thousands of American flags to the smiles on the faces of all the Marines who finally arrived home. It was a great day and it reminded me of a book my mother gave to me over the summer that I want to share with all of you.


Oliver ("Ollie") North is a combat-decorated Marine, the recipient of the Silver Star, the Bronze Star for valor, and two Purple Hearts for wounds in action. From 1983-1986 he served as the U.S. government's counter-terrorism coordinator on the National Security Council staff. President Ronald Reagan described him as "an American hero." He is a New York Times best-selling author, syndicated columnist, and host of the award-winning War Stories documentary series on the FOX News Channel.

In his most recent book, American Heroes, Oliver North takes us on his journey around the world and gives us the accounts of today's heroes, the men and women who are fighting the war against radical Islam. He ventured to the waters of the Persian Golf, the hills of Afghanistan, the deserts of Iraq, the jungles of the Philippines, and U.S. military bases across the globe and in the pages of this book we can find the stories of the brave men and women who are out risking their lives for our country. Many of the stories are in their own words because according to Ollie North, "no one can tell the story as well than those who lived it, this then is their first draft of the history they are making."

Interview with Ollie North:

My youthful adventure.

No matter how old I become, I do not think I will ever be able to pry myself away from the 'Young Adult' section of Barnes and Noble. There is a freshness about these novels that are lacking in other genres. Maybe it's all in the 'young' part. I don't mean those cheesy teen series, I mean the novels that explore young love, adventure, and heartbreak so in depth, the reader begins to feel every feeling the author is describing.

As I entered Barnes and Noble a few weeks ago I wasn't looking for anything heavy- since the book I just finished was Helter Skelter, the true story of the Manson murders written by the man who prosecuted them - clearly in need of some fluff as recovery. I made my way over to the 'Young Adult' section for something light and fun, but what I found was fun but definitely not light. Now we all know the saying, "don't judge a book by its cover", but to be completely honest... I never follow that rule. I judge by both the cover and the cover artwork. The name of this book caught my eye and so did the cover. Becoming Chloe, written over a photograph of bare feet hanging out the back of a red truck on an open road. I picked it up and saw that it was written by the same auther (Catherine Ryan Hyde) as the best-seller turned major motion picture Pay It Forward. So right then I was sold.

I finished the book in two days. Becoming Chloe does not fit the mold for one's average young adult novel. It is both heart-breaking and heart-warming, emotional, humorous, adventurous, and most of all it addresses many of the issues at hand in today's world.

Becoming Chloe is the story of Jordan, a 17-year old boy who has been kicked out of his home after his father learned of his homosexuality (a sub-plot in the novel) and takes shelter in the basement of an abandoned New York City apartment. Now, to me a 21 year old college student, seventeen seems so young, but Jordan's voice is not that of the typical seventeen year old. His voice is wise and compassionate, for he has been through more than most could imagine at seventeen. His independent life is quickly changed when he meets Chloe, an 18 year old girl with a serious emotional disorder. Jordan discovers her being raped in the alley way of his home, rescues her, and takes her into his care. After this they become inseparable. Jordan starts to realize that Chloe cannot be left alone. She has emotional fits, is severely depressed, and does not have the mind of a mature eighteen year old girl. Despite the fact that she is broken, she doesn't seem so outside of her fits, she seems innocent - as if she doesn't know much. Something has happened to her in her past that has made her this way.

One night Jordan discovers Chloe attempting to kill herself. He stops her and rushes her to a nearby clinic where she is examined by a psychiatrist who tells Jordan that Chloe's emotional disorders are serious. In a heartbreaking scene Chloe tells Jordan that she doesn't see any good in the world, therefore there is really no reason for her to be living in it. This is where Jordan finds the idea to take Chloe on a road-trip across the country in a last attempt to show her that the world can be a beautiful place.

I will stop here so not to spoil the ending but I definitely recommend this novel to anyone who loves a good adventure. Though the novel can get heavy and heartbreaking at times, tackling issues such as homophobia, mental illness, violence, homelessness, and abuse, the novel also tells a story of love, friendship, compassion, and adventure. Readers will fall in love with Jordan and his selflessness and Hyde writes in a way that takes the reader right on the road with Jordan and Chloe.


Click Here to purchase Becoming Chloe

"Leave the gun. Take the cannoli."

The Godfather was released in 1972 and since then it has continued to be a true classic American film. Little do many of us know that it was actually based on the book, The Godfather by Mario Puzo. This months issue of Vanity Fair features an article examining the controversy surrounding the novel and the obstacles movie makers endured to create the film.

Click here to read Vanity Fair's article:
The Godfather Wars