A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trai

This is much more than a travelogue of two neophyte hikers on the Appalachian Trail, and readers looking for a blow by blow account of the travails of Bill Bryson and his companion, Stephen Katz, will be disappointed. Hiking provides only a backdrop to a heartfelt discourse on the social condition of America, local history, the environment, and the complexities of friendship. The pretext for the book was Bryson's return to the United States after twenty years in Britain, and his interest in "rediscovering America" after such a lengthy absence.

The Witches' Ointment: The Secret History of Psychedelic Magic

This book was a very interesting book and it was extremely interesting.  The formulas and recipes were so interesting and fun to read about.  I can't believe how many different recipes were in this book.  I had so much fun trying to create them and see how well I could make them.

Clean Green Eats

Being raised in California I've always eaten healthy and after years my family is finally coming over to my side now but couldn't think of recipes where I'd have to cook healthy things to please more than just me. This wonderful book delivers with it's recipes and selections. Also the author encourages readers to add their own twists and adjustments to the recipes according to what the reader likes and does not pigeon hole you by making a strict outline of the recipe so you can also use these recipes as an outline to come up with your own favorites. Don't think it's just about Kale, there's meat recipes in there too. It's about eating healthy, not going Vegan.
If you read an ingredient that's foreign to you just Google it and you can see what others say about that ingredient to decide if you want to use it or not and substitute.

The Girl from the Garden

This was an amazing book about Jewish life and how much it different is around the world.  I love how in depth the author goes and how great the characters are and how interesting they are.  I would love to read so many more books written by her.  I love how much the author goes into details about everything going in this great book.

The Death House

This is a wonderfully creepy and realistic tale about a group of young people who have been isolated on account of being, “defective.” Each of the residents of the ‘Death House’ were randomly tested at school for an unnamed illness, which can strike the population up to the age of eighteen. The main character of this novel, Toby, was not concerned when he took the test at school – indeed most of his classmates were simply relieved to be missing various class tests. However, on returning home, Toby finds that he is being taken away from his family and isolated with the other ‘defectives’ in a large house, on an unknown island. Contact with the outside is prohibited and, within a short time, the youngsters have almost given up on any hope of visits or letters from home. Instead, life becomes a morning of lessons, given by desultory teachers, who do not seem to see the point of teaching the children, any more than they do of learning; plus a rota of various household tasks and a lot of filling in time.

Koko The Mighty

This is the second book in a series, and I need to read the first one right now. This is how the book starts. “Once upon a time in the year 2516, retired corporate mercenary Koko Martstellar believed she had quite the life. Running a bar and brothel operation on The Sixty Islands, the world’s most violently decadent South Pacific resort; honestly, who wouldn’t believe they had it good? Of course, when Koko’s piously phony boss tried to have her killed for an unspeakable crime she no longer recalled, the easy life for Koko deep-sixed pretty fast.”

That’s how the book STARTS, like a gravelly narrator on a 1970s TV series. From there, it just goes bonkers. It roars through action scene after action scene.

There’s so much to like here; for one, keep an eye out for the footnotes.

One more quote that I love: Koko is being interrogated and the bad guy asks her where she’s from.