Let's face it: This isn't the sort of summer when you decide to finally take that trip to Italy. This is the sort of summer when you spend your vacation reading a good book in the backyard. Take a trip with your mind. Save some cash. You get the picture. Here are some new choices this week. ...more

June 29, 2008

"Her Last Death: A Memoir," by Susanna Sonnenberg (Scribner, $24) ...more

February 3, 2008

Dear President Bush: Early this morning, Tameka Evans boarded a plane, leaving us in Tampa. She is bound for two months of training in preparation for her March deployment to Tikrit, Iraq, as a member of the 345th Combat Support Hospital of the United States Army. To say we'll miss her is a great understatement. ...more

January 9, 2008

LAKE PLACID –– Dave Alden remembers his brother-in-law, Wendell, fondly, although he was only a child when his adopted sister married. It was partly because Wendell's life was a success story but more importantly he always made time for Dave. That mentoring of honesty and setting a good example made a lifetime impact. Born in Vermont, Alden retired in 1989 as a project engineer with Kennicott Copper. He and his wife, Marie, traveled the United States and Alaska for two years before the snowbirds decided to find a warm place in Florida to land. While zigzagging across the state, they discovered Lake Placid and fell in love with this town of murals and caladiums. Dave feels that their secret to being married 48 years –– besides luck –– is that they love each other and have the same goals. Marie was the type who wanted to help people and he was brought up the same way. ...more

December 31, 2007

AVON PARK — Walking through Avon Park Youth Academy, it's easy to forget you are surrounded by convicted felons. Teenage boys respond to questions with "Yes, ma'am" and "No, sir," they work together on projects and ask their instructors questions. But the fence topped by razor wire reminds the residents they are forced to be there. Right now the 200-bed facility is almost at capacity, with 196 residents from areas throughout the state who were placed there by the Department of Juvenile Justice. ...more

October 28, 2007