We took a rather long road trip recently, so we listened to the audio version of Bill Bryson's "In a Sunburned Country", which is all about Australia. I had read it before, but have found it worthy of another look (or listen, in this case). Bryson is an amusing and engaging writer, and this is a perfect blend of travelogue and history book. If you want to learn more about Australia, then this is the book for you.

Originally, this was loaned to me by Plaw, so I admit to a certain sentimental attachment to it, but that doesn't make it any less worthy.

On vacation, I read "The Memory-Keeper's Daughter" about a doctor who delivers his own twins in a snow storm, a boy and girl. Their daughter has Downs Syndrome, and, before his wife wakes from the anesthesia, he has his nurse bring the child to an institution and then tells his wife that their daughter has died. However, the nurse can't bring herself to leave the baby, and she runs away to raise her on her own. The book explores the consequences that occur from that one snowy night.

The story is beautifully told, and it is truly heartening to see how the attitudes towards Downs Syndrome have changed since the 1960s.