Chocolate: a healthy passion 641.3374 Aaron

This book is more than a cookbook. It delves into the history and origins of chocolate, how and where it is cultivated and the uses of chocolate. Did you know that the Mayans and Aztecs used cacao beans as currency and priced items by how many cacao beans they cost? They also used chocolate as a healing potion. The authors devote an entire chapter to the latest research on the health benefits of chocolate. Chocolate and your immune system, eat chocolate to stay sharp, antioxidants and flavanols: it sounds as if you owe it to yourself to take a daily dose of chocolate!
Included in the recipes are unusual ones for facials and body scrub. This book makes me feel GOOD about eating chocolate!

Index Investing for Dummies 332.6327 Wild

Many books on managing money, investments and credit are being published to help people cope with the current financial uncertainty. This book covers the basics of defining your needs and goals and then goes on to describe index funds, their benefits, how they work, and how you can use them as a low cost, easy to manage savings strategy. The suggestions are clearly marked "Simple & Easy", "More Complex", and conservative to aggressive. The chapter on seeking advice from a professional is short and specific on questions to ask when you are looking for a financial advisor. A list of helpful web resources and a detailed index round out the clear advice in this investment manual.

100 Greatest Trips

This is a wonderful combination of photos and text that will give you many ideas for your next trip. Chapters cover the United States, the Caribbean & Bahamas, Mexico, Central and South America, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Africa & the Middle East, Asia, Australia & New Zealand & the South Pacific. Suggestions for culinary tours, shopping expeditions, driving vacations, beach escapes, outdoor adventures, cruises, art and cultural sites are included. With its lush photography and emphasis on unexplored sites this is very different from the usual travel guidebook.

Novel Destinations by Shannon McKenna Schmidt

This book is for travelers who want to visit places where authors worked and lived. There are itineraries featuring American authors Fitzgerald, Hemingway, and Twain which include many sites in the midwest. Follow in the footsteps of British authors Shakespeare, Dickens, Austen, the Brontes, Agatha Christie and Doyle's Sherlock Holmes. Also included are sites in France, Italy, Russia and the Czech Republic. Literary lodgings, pubs, cafes and book fairs are described. Steinbeck, Margaret Mitchell, Thoreau, Harper Lee, Laura Ingalls Wilder and many more are all listed in the index. Take a look, you may find your favorite author!

The Pact by Jodi Picoult

The title "The Pact" refers to a suicide pact between two seventeen year old friends, Emily and Christopher. The author examines what happened from the point of view of all the characters. The shock, disbelief, and pain of the parents is vividly portrayed as well as the gradual unfolding of the events as seen by Christopher. The author writes movingly and sustains psychological suspense until the end. In the process, the reader begins to ask questions and ponders the unknowns in relationships between parents and teens. Jodi Picoult can be counted on to examine a timely topic in a deeply emotional, heart-wrenching narrative.

LOVE MERCY by Earlene Fowler

Earlene Fowler is known for her Benni Harper Mysteries with each book's title being the name of a quilt block pattern. This book takes place in the same setting near San Celina, CA; however, the main characters in the Benni Harper series are peripheral characters here and this is not a murder mystery. I would characterize it as a "coming of age" novel. Teenager, Rett (Loretta Lynn) Johnson hitchhikes from Kentucky to Love's house to escape a traitorous boyfriend, her sister's pregnancy and her dysfunctional mother. Love Mercy Johnson is still coping with grief a year after her husband's death. Melinda LeBlanc is a refugee from a tragic relationship gone wrong in Las Vegas. There are no easy solutions for their problems, but as the story progressed I came to care about them and the decisions they must make. I'm hoping for a sequel. JES