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I just listened to Dad is Fat on audio. Read by author Jim Gaffigan, it is a laugh-out-loud collection of essays of what it is like to be the father of five kids and their adventures of living in New York City. The humor is universal and the love for his family comes through in each chapter.

This is a beautiful collection of essays by one my favorite authors, Ann Patchett. The essays range from a humorous recounting of driving a Winnebago through the Badlands to her sage advice for writers. Patchett's insights into her own life and the world around her are moving. This is a Story of a Happy Marriage is a truly enjoyable read.

Letter to My Daughter by Maya Angelou (2008)
Letter to My Daughter is a collection of 28 essays on life, faith, motherhood, kindness, and what it means to be human. The pieces are short but are wonderful words of wisdom and insight.

I am right with Angelou as she takes on popular culture and our acceptance of obscenity. She calls on us to improve our values to be a people of substance, and to require the same from our elected officials. I found this to be a very thought provoking read.

Read the reviews at Amazon.com, watch the author introduce her book, and visit the author's website.

The Soul of a Doctor: Harvard Medical Students Face Life and Death (2006)
This book of poignant stories show doctors (really, doctors-to-be) to be so human… conflicted, drawn in by the drama of life and death, and constantly learning from the situations they face daily. This is a must read, especially for doctors, others in the medical profession, and for all of us who at some time are their patients. The stories draw you in and make you hope that these medical students remember the “heart” lessons they learned as a medical students at Harvard and that the medical profession works to connect with the human side of their patients. This book is fascinating. Dr. Jerome Groopman, author of How Doctors Think, another of my favorite medical books, does the forward for this book.