I'll Tell You a Tale, by J. Frank Dobie

Dobie was a professor at University of Texas for a considerable time. His short stories tell about the Texas and surrounding areas of the late 1800's. As you'd expect given the time frame, they're mostly about dealing with livestock and American Indians.

If your taste runs to that, I imagine you'd consider it a swell book.

Trust, by Francis Fukuyama

Although a touch dated, Trust, sub-titled "the social virtues and the creation of prosperity," seemed pretty insightful in its definition of high and low trust cultures and their accompanying social and business traditions.

A Woman in Jerusalem, by A. B. Yehoshua

I strongly recommend this unusual book. It starts with a woman killed in a suicide bombing and left unclaimed in the morgue, then works its way around to understanding who she was. The hero defines who he is as he probes the woman's life.

The Accident Man, by Tom Cain

In the Heathrow airport, between flights, this book was on display in paperback, at half-price. How can you go wrong with a throwaway novel at discount before boarding a nine hour flight?

The good news: it was a fine diversion. The bad news: it was completely appropriate to leave behind on the plane for the next desperate reader - there was no temptation at all to bring it home.

Protect and Defend, by Vince Flynn

Your basic action thriller. Good to read on a flight, and that's when I read it.

Lamb, by Christopher Moore

This terrific book was a gift from mis suegros. The full title is "Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal." I suppose I expected something goofy, given the title. Instead, I found a really well written, interesting and - to my surprise - even respectful (in its own way) novel.

Oh, and to be sure, it is a novel. As the author takes pains to remind his readers, "This story is not and never was meant to challenge anyone's faith; however, if one's faith can be shaken by stories in a humorous novel, one may have a bit more praying to do."

Travels with Charley, by John Steinbeck

The same NPR broadcast on books with dogs that led me to the less than fabulous "Foreign Affairs" also pointed me to "Travels with Charley." My good luck to have stuck with the theme long enough to enjoy this book. Yes, great. Yes, what do you expect, it is after all, Steinbeck.

Six Easy Pieces, by Richard Feynman

This book provides a taste of Fynman's lecture style. It comprises the six easiest chapters of his "Lectures on Physics."

I'm not sure I'd use the word easy to describe them. They are accessible, but for me, also fairly intense. I'd describe the book as one which requires access to unlimited espresso.

But I imagine it might have been really fun to be a physics student at CalTech during Feynman's tenure there (1952 - 1987).

A Complaint Free World, by Will Bowen

Read this book.

This is Norman Vincent Peale's "Power of Positive Thinking" restated in a very pragmatic and operational way.

Order your bracelets now, at acomplaintfreeworld.org

Influence, by Robert Cialdini

A must read. Explains why certain sales approaches work.