This book is about the power of literature to positively impact peoples' lives including convicts. This was an interesting social experiment. I give her the benefit of the doubt that she didn't just use these convicts as an excuse to write a book since she did some non-profit work in the past.

I'm not an existentialist but had to read this book to learn about its role in the development of that philosophy. It was a sad, pitiful story full of meaningless and despair. Just because others call it a 'Classic" doesn't make it right for me.

It's hard to not visualize the movie "Apocalypse Now" while reading but it's a classic for good reason full of rich language. My favorite quote is "The power of burning noble words."

A nostalgic look back at the Apollo space program and the men who took part in those missions. I liked the focus on the men during the missions rather than any technical and political aspects of space travel.

The subtitle gave away this tragic story but the tale was riveting and made me feel like I was there during the search. Eric Blehm weaved in so much of Randy Morgenson's personal journal that he brought him alive again.

I was amazed to learn how much influence that these two brothers had on our American "exceptionalism" foreign policy during the 1950's. Although their legacy is a footnote in U.S. History, you can find their fingerprints in our global engagements now.

I most enjoyed the camaraderie and conflicts of the fellow surfers in this articulate and hedonistic binge on surfing around the world. It's too heavy on the technical aspects of surfing but made up for it with honest and insightful reflections regarding how surfing waned as he grew older.

I most liked his honest reflections about instances in which his selfishness ruled the day but I was expecting more from this book. I wanted to be inspired by his experience and it just didn't happen.