Sir Walter Scott probably said it best, “O, what a tangled web we weave when first we practice to deceive!”. No one wants to hurt the ones they love, but sometimes in our effort to protect those loved ones it seems necessary to engage in little white lies, or lies of omission, so as not to hurt their feelings or upset them. Justin Fisher learns just how damaging these “protective measures” can be when he returns to his childhood home after a few decades, to find that his parents are dead and buried and apparently, so is he! The gravestone beside those of his parents says Justin Fisher, beloved son, died at the age of three. What was to be a brief visit after a very long absence, turns into the realization that everything known and everything believed that formed the foundation of his life, has crumbled around him. Can Justin rebuild? Will his loved ones and those he never knew support him while he rebuilds his world?

Dianne Dixon writes a most intriguing story that will surely keep you flipping pages perhaps late into the night, while asking yourself if you’re really certain you and the people around you are really who you believe.

If I could do it all again, I would wait about 40 years to be born so that I could read The New Global Student during my summer vacation after 8th grade, and begin my high school years with a different outlook. Fortunately, for those of you who were born in the late 90s and beyond, and my high school friends who were having your kids in the mid to late 90s, you still have a chance.

If you cannot imagine 'bucking the system' to follow Maya Frost's recommendations/suggestions, read the book for the sheer joy of her humor and the 'dream of what could be'. No one will walk away from this book without having learned something new and without being changed. Before, during, or after reading the book, visit Ms. Frost's website (www.mayafrost.com) for more information about the students profiled in the book, as well as additional pointers, and to read what others have to say about the book and more importantly, the vision.

NO ONE should miss this eye-opening true-life adventure. Besides, the possibility of graduating college just a year or two after high school is well worth the price of the book and your time!

The main character, Angel, bakes cakes. Her cakes are far more than an edible pastry. Each cake she bakes celebrates an occasion that is laced with sadness and despair, as no one has gone untouched by the horrors of genocide Rwanda lived through. If that was not enough, Africa has been haunted further by the impact of the AIDS epidemic. Despite these conditions, Angel brings hope and healing with every cake she bakes. This is a book that cannot be put aside. It begs to be read, just as Angel’s cakes beg to be eaten. I’ll be looking forward to the next “slice” Gail Parkin cooks up!

We hear that, “Not to Decide is to Decide.” Thus, it would appear that we are always making decisions – one way or another.

But exactly what is involved in making decisions? What happens internally, in our bodies and our brains? And when we make a decision, is it because we have rationally considered all possibilities? Jonah Lehrer, author of How We Decide, is a neuroscientist with a talent for explaining the scientific side of human decision making in a way that non-scientific minds can understand and enjoy.

This book is highly readable, informative, and enjoyable, if you are fascinated by how the human mind works.

I chose this book for our book club to read this month December. This time of the year, there is an abundance of light holiday reads. This was one of them. The main character has been banned to train travel, and he has to make it from the east coast to the west coast in time to spend Christmas with his onagainoffagain girlfriend. However, it's his once in a lifetime girlfriend he runs into on the train. They just start getting to the point of reconciliation when someone unexpected boards the train. And then there is the question of to where everyone's shiny baubles and expensive accessories are disappearing. It's fun, it's light, and it's Christmasy. What more could you want from a December book?