You Don't Have to be Rich by Jean Chatzky

I could say that the title says it all-- and it very nearly does-- but I will add a couple of things that make this one of my favorite finance books.

Jean Chatzky had been a "personal finance expert" for some time when 9/11 happened, and many people-- including herself-- began to wonder about what really makes us happy, and whether money has anything to do with it at all, after 9/11 happened. Happily, she had the resources to find out: she commissioned a money-and-happiness survey, the results of which she explicates in this book.

It turns out that, though not having enough money can make you sad, money beyond a certain point doesn't make you happier. Also, there was a list of financial habits which, if you kept several of them, can make a little money seem like a lot more. (The ones I can remember off the top of my head are paying bills as they come in rather than in one bill-paying session, and being organized enough that you can find the financial documents you need within about ten minutes of looking.)

Perhaps the most refreshing thing about this book is the fact that, while she does give some potential explanations for Why These Things Are So, she doesn't focus on them. She just focuses on how to help her readers have a relationship with money that doesn't cause them pain and does, to the extent it can, bring happiness.

Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder

This book - and this entire series - is a lovely portrait of life in the late 1800's - I am struck, each time I read it, with how much detail of daily life it has. Simply laid out to appeal to even a very young listening audience, I've found it good reading-aloud material for all ages. It's about a girl, but I've found boys to be as interested in the accounts of panthers and bears and household chores (making bullets, butchering pigs) as any girl I've ever known. And really worth re-reading. It is, technically, fiction; my best guess, given the level of detail, (and the difference between the earlier books, which she fully edited, and the last, published after she died, without said editing) that she smoothed over some of the difficulties of family life - but the everydayness of frontier life seems to be accurate (as would details of life in the late 1900's in any book someone my age would write, as the audience would spot discrepancies immediately). Delightful, excellent, and repeatedly re-visitable.

Le Petit Nicolas by Sempé

I first met this book, as so many who have read it did, in a class - I am happy to say it didn't ruin the experience for me. It is one of the most delightful books ever, simple enough to follow even with first-year french, with ideas complex enough to amuse adults who get dragged into reading them for whatever reason. The English translations are also very fun, but if you have even a smattering of French, I strongly recommend trying the original. The chapters are short, complete stories in themselves, and written as if from the viewpoint of a schoolboy (Nicolas) who constantly gets into trouble of one sort or another - along with all of his friends. Excellent for dusting off French from ages back, or for reading to children (in French or in English, whichever is appropriate).

Half Magic by Edward Eager

Another favorite from my childhood, this has been easier than some of the others (Andy Buckram's Tin Men) to find for my children to enjoy. Delightful for elementary age on up: Well-written, good to read aloud, and a lovely episodic plot with a delightful overarching storyline. Highly recommended.

Vegetable Heaven By Mollie Katzen

Another of my favorite cookbooks; probably my favorite recipes from it are "Firecracker Red beans," "Baked Pineapple Pilaf," and a mixed grain dish I forget the name of but that we all call 'birdseed,' because it's made mostly of millet - very tasty.

All-of-a-Kind Family by Sydney Taylor

This is a book - actually a series of books - about a Jewish family living in New York City in the early 1900's, right around the time of the first world war. When I first read it, I suppose it especially struck a note with me because this family - like the one I grew up in - is composed of five girls (though later in the series one baby brother is born). I think it also struck a note because while my family is not Jewish, we do practice our religion in ways that go beyond Sunday meetings- diet, customs, rituals, and holidays.
A beautiful piece of historical fiction; it is primarily a picture of family life, there mores and habits, and all the little things they do that are so ordinary to them and so surprising to us, a hundred years later. Beautifully written, excellent for reading aloud or for the elementary reader on up. Maybe I should note: a book that is good for reading aloud is one, to me, that is interesting enough for grown-ups, even if it was written for children.

A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson

I picked this book up from the local library a few years ago, shortly after it came out. Wonderful! For the first time ever, I really felt like I really understood the relationship between physics and astronomy. The arguments for and against human evolution - not over-simplified; and dozens of bits and pieces of stuff that just made lots of random science make sense as a cohesive whole. Very, very well done.