I love books and I love Amazon and they probably love me.

I am sorry to see bookstores closing but I appreciate being able to shop from home.
One of my favorite bookstores in Dallas is Half Price Books... especially when they put out good coupons.
You just can't go wrong!

And I still like an actual book in my hands as opposed to an e-reader.

I seldom read fiction. I have perhaps close to 1,000 cookbooks (see... I told you I was addicted to cookbooks!) and this stack of books are the ones I have read most recently.

Love reading anything about Doctors Without Borders. Anyone who works with that organization and goes on assignment is my hero.
They put themselves in harm's way to treat anyone in need regardless of religion or politics and often times find themselves in war zones.
It is truly a humanitarian effort.
If you do not know about the work they do, you must check them out.

Also love photography books... not so much the technical aspects but rather photography books that tell something about the photographs.
I recently finished reading the William Albert Allard book. This book was recommended by a photographer friend and by the end of the book, I was in tears
as I looked at his photos of himself through the years and then reflected on the vast number of experiences he has had in his lifetime.
It felt so personal and I like that.

Also enjoy reading biographies of photographers. Very much liked the one on Diane Arbus
but found the one on Dorothea Lange to be very exhausting to read and nearly put it down a couple times without finishing it.
Usually if I like the first sentence or the first couple paragraphs... then I will like the book. It needs to grab me right at the beginning.

I also enjoy reading anything by Diane Ackerman. She writes mostly about nature and her writing is very poetic.
Her use of the English language is amazing and she can be both serious and funny and all the while you are learning something new.

This is one of the things that I learned from one of her books:
Did you know that the blue whale is the largest mammal?
Oh! But wait... there is more!
The blue whale has a penis that is 9 feet looooooooooooong! Honest!
And not only that, but it can control it's movement. Amazing but true!

Unfortunately, I tend to remember the totally crazy and useless bits of trivia.
So I told the nurses this story one day at work and everyone was laughing and the story went through the hospital like wild fire!
And then I told my boss and she was blushing as I told her but she went and told our director of nurses and she said... "Fay said THAT?"

Somehow, I just seem to get myself in trouble all the time!