Curled Up With a Good Book and a Cup of Tea

Chelsea Handler is hilarious. I say that as someone who has just recently discovered her. I had heard of her television show but I don't have cable so I had never seen it. I had seen her books all over the place but never picked one up since I didn't know anything about her. But on a whim I thought they might be good summer reading so I picked up two of them - Are you There Vodka? It's Me, Chelsea and C helsea Chelsea Bang Bang . I am so glad I picked up the books. They are fast paced reads as I couldn't put either of them down, except for when I was laughing so hard, which was often. Each book is a collection of essays about Chelsea's life that are so funny, you'll find yourself thinking they can't possibly true because no one's life can be that crazy. In Are You There Vodka, It's Me Chelsea? she takes on such topics as going to prison, dating a red-head, dining in the dark, re-gifting, vacationing with her father and getting atta...

In his 1933 Thanksgiving Proclamation Franklin Roosevelt said "may we ask guidance in more surely learning the ancient truth that greed and selfishness and striving for undue riches can never bring lasting happiness or good to the individual or to his neighbours." Less Is More is a book that embraces this ideal. It encourages people to live simply, to live with less so that they may have more. Voluntary Simplicity involves spending less so that you can work less and in turn spend more time with family and building your community. This is what leads to happiness, not material wealth. The book is a collection of short essays by people involved in the Simplicity movement. The essays define simplicity, give solutions for the individual and discuss how policies need to be implemented at high levels to make a change. Voluntary Simplicity can not only bring individual happiness but help to create a healthy planet and a lasting economy. The book is great at showing that everyon...

If you saw the film Food, Inc. , you know that our food industry is in a lot of trouble. We are getting fatter, sicker and poorer. The time for change is now, and we as consumers need to start that change. The book Food, Inc. is a companion guide to the movie. You don't need to see the movie to read the book. And the book is definitely not just a repetition of what was in the movie. Rather it uses the movie as a starting point and delves deeper into the issues. It is a collection of essays written by many experts who were featured in the film. Most were written for the book, some are reprints from other sources. Topics covered include the industrialization of our food supply, the benefits of local eating, how organic food is going mainstream, the global impact of food industrialization and how we can declare independence from industrial food. There are many fabulous features to the book. After each essay there is a section that helps you as the reader learn what you can do...

Zadie Smith is a British author who has experienced great success in writing novels at a young age. She is also the writer of numerous essays and Changing My Mind is a collection of published and unpublished essays written for specific occasions. The first section, "Reading," is best read by the literary scholar. Those who do not have a deep understanding of British and European fiction may find themselves lost at times as to what she is saying. The second section, "Being," makes the book more accessible to every reader. The essay "One Week In Liberia" is a fascinating account of the country and the troubles it faces. "Speaking In Tongues" looks at the challenges faced by people who are members of more than one societal group and find themselves "double-voiced," attempting to speak for each group. The third section, "Seeing," is Smith's take on the entertainment industry. Her collection of movie reviews titled "...