The Miracle of Freedom: Seven Tipping Points that Saved the World

By Chris Stewart and Ted Stewart

How does the world manage to keep humanity, democracy, and culture alive?  The Stewart brothers examine points in history that, if events would have different, the world would have become a drastically different place.  The stories include the salvation of the kingdom of Judah, the victory of Greek democracy, and the conversion of Constantine to Christianity.

Simply told, but interesting. The Battle of Britain, for example, is interesting because if the Nazis would have kept up the air war, England would have been a goner.  Thank goodness European tyrants always try to take on Russia in the winter!  Spreads out the troops, saves the rest of Europe.

The Secret

By Rhonda Byrne

I'm only writing this down to remind myself never to pick up this book again... how do people get sucked into this drivel???  I know! The Secret is to write an insipid book, get Oprah to endorse it, and make millions!

Every Day

By David Leviathan

"A" wakes up in a different body every day.  Always has, and probably always will.  Then he wakes up in the body of Justin, and falls in love with Justin's girlfriend, Rhiannon.  After that, A brings nothing but problems for himself and others trying to see Rhiannon over and over, no matter what body A happens to inhabit.  Trouble ensues when one of the "bodies" claims on the internet to have been possessed by a devil.

Either I have finally grown out of teen-angst romance, or this was way too politically correct for me.  For me, the whole one-day-I'm-homosexual, one-day-I'm-a-druggie, blah blah blah, was silly.  The author tried too hard.  If he would have stuck more to the main storyline, it wouldn't have felt so forced.

Bloodborne

By Gregg Luke

Ubersmart Dr. Erin Cross sits in a deli, receiving mysterious, threatening text messages right before a man starts shooting the place up.  She escapes unharmed, thanks to Sean Flannery, a former Marine.  If the shooter meant to kill her, why did he kill himself instead?  Erin & Sean eventually go into hiding together, as Sean inexplicably tries to keep Erin alive.

Such a jumbled storyline.  While Erin & Sean are hiding in the Utah desert, a mad scientist is trying to unleash a strain of killer mosquitoes on a small island in Hawaii.  Convoluted bio-terrorism at its finest.

How We Decide

By Jonah Lehrer

Intuition? Gut feelings? Rational thought?  How we decide depends on what we are trying to decide.  Stock picks -- do your research. Buying a house -- happiness comes from the gut, but don't forget a home inspection! Most importantly, keep your skills and awareness sharp, so that when life throws you for a loop, your brain has already trained itself to react.