The Moment is a book comprised of short essays by a variety of people talking about a defining moment in their own lives. Submissions range from the hilarious and joyful to the disheartening to the stark and sobering, but without fail they are all fascinating, and you will see yourself reflected in these stories from others lives. There’s the girl who flew over her handlebars, later watching her mother pace the room while she gets stitches and realizing what motherhood means—that overwhelming love and concern. There’s the war journalist living with the guilt that he was unable to ferry a wounded man to safety, that being a reporter had overridden his ability to be human. There’s the dead mouse in the bottom of the trash can that prevented a woman from being there to get a call from her doctor. There’s the moment that a phone call came from another doctor, giving a diagnosis of cancer. There’s the first recognition of racism; that others are defining you by your skin colour or ethnic heritage. There’s the child on a family vacation, staring out the window, watching for an escaped prisoner on the lam that was just reported by a police stop and seeing something out there that he tells to no-one. There’s birth and death, growth and change, choices taken and deferred, but all these moments are life-changing and life-defining.

The writers are a mix; some are famous and some are not, and a few essays are in the form of a comic or a poem. Some make you smile, or even laugh; others are poignant, heart-breaking. All are real and honest, which gives them great appeal. They’re short—it’s easy to kick through 5 or 10 anytime you’ve got a minute or two to spare—but they’re well-written and thought-provoking. They’re even inspirational, although I feel that word’s been so overused I’m reluctant to use it.

In short, I really enjoyed The Moment. These brief but profound reads take you deep into someone else’s life, where you may recognize something of yourself as well. I highly recommend it. It would also make a great gift for pretty much anyone.

Elizabeth thinks that life has many defining moments, and she loves to hear about those in other people’s lives. Tell her about a defining moment in your own life at her blog Planet Nomad.

I wouldn’t have thought this would work, but it did. He might have been helped by the fact that he had a film crew along, although they didn’t get involved and weren’t allowed to help—he just wanted this journey documented. They definitely stay in the background, but I can’t help but wonder if that helped people take him seriously.

And along the way, Leon has some amazing adventures. People offer him rides, put him up overnight, buy him train tickets, and dump him on the side of highways. He “earns” his night in a frat house in Virginia by streaking to the middle of campus and kissing a statue; he has one woman toss him her keys and tell him that if he can find a way to Chicago, he can stay at her place—she won’t be home till the following day. He stays, for free, in a scary dive in New Mexico with blood on the door and drunken brawls going on next door, and he crosses downtown Indianapolis in the dark on his own, on his way to a Marriott hotel where an elderly woman he met on a train is waiting for him with a bag full of homemade cookies. He attends a party where the hostess wanders the rooms scantily-dressed with a sword over her head, looking for virgins willing to be sacrificed. He meets some honest, God-fearing Americans mid-country, who offer him rides and spare bedrooms, who take him home for barbecues and impromptu parties. He also meets a lot of people on the fringes, like Karen/Cinnamon/Barbara, who constantly changes her name and checks hotel rooms to see if they’ve been bugged by the CIA. Along the way he receives news that his blood-pressure is dangerously high and he’s borderline diabetic. He passes out in Las Vegas, only to come to in an ambulance.

He makes it to the Hollywood sign and a new lease on life. Honeycombed through the book’s chapters are the lessons he’s learning; about connections, community, and a desire to give back from the overflow of all that he’s received. Along the way, his future becomes clear; he decides to stay in LA and work in the film industry and he succeeds. He’s now TV producer and writer, and 3 seasons of Amazing Adventures of a Nobody were aired on the National Geographic Channel. Perhaps a slightly different outcome to Che Guevara’s life-changing trip through South America, but intriguing none-the-less.

Elizabeth can relate to the fact that travel can change your life, although her reaction to “The Motorcycle Diaries” was much less book-worthy. Read more at her blog Planet Nomad.

Benjamin Mee’s We Bought a Zoo fits perfectly in this latter category. Due to several changes in his family — namely an inheritance from his father’s death and not wanting his mother to grow old alone — Mee and some of his siblings ended up buying a plot of land that happened to contain a zoo.

Mee’s writing style is funny with flashes of the technical. Professionally he was trained as a psychologist making some of his observations about the humans and animals he works with very interesting. He has also done some science writing, so that factors into his style as well. I love a memoir that teaches me about interesting things as I’m reading.

The one downside is that it does read a little detached. He’s writing about his wife’s illness (in the movie she’s already passed away), and her death and his recovery, but if you’re not reading closely, you almost miss any reflection about that. But this is an upside as well. It allows the story to truly focus on the adventure and the strain (and even the danger) of buying a dilapidated zoo and readying it to reopen.

The most recent occasion of nocturnal fear was while walking the dog, Leon. I heard something big moving very slowly toward me. I hesitated, hoping that the idiot dog would pick up on it, and, ideally, challenge it and be eaten by it rather than me. But he remained oblivious, selfishly snuffling around the many animal scents rather than volunteering to sacrifice his life for me (page 203).

Benjamin and Leon the dog were both safe, as instead of being a puma in heat as he had worried, it was actually a neighbor’s cow “stalking me because it presumably thought that I was the farmer, breaking the habit of a lifetime by bringing it food at 3 a.m.”

Read my review of the movie over at 5 Minutes for Mom today. I loved this movie. Check out who I recommend this film for (and who I think should skip it). It’s a completely different take on the story than the book, definitely exploring more of the emotional side while still looking at the adventure and virtual impossibility of making this zoo work, but in spite of the many differences, it’s obvious that the idea is the same. I liked them both in different ways (but love the overall presentation of the movie).

I’m giving away my own very gently used copy of the book. I bought it at the airport and read it, but it’s ready for a new owner! Just leave a comment if you’d like to win, and I’ll announce the winner on the 12/21 giveaway post (U.S. shipping only, please). If you comment on the We Bought a Zoo movie review as well, I’ll count that comment as an extra entry for the book. The giveaway is closed.

Jennifer Donovan loves books and movies, for different reasons. She blogs at Snapshot about life with her family in Houston.

Yes, Russell Brand is known world-wide as a stand-up comedian and an actor, and I’m finding that folks either love him or hate him. Me? I have been brought to laughter many times when watching him on the screen. In my one brush with celebrity, I also blushed like a schoolgirl when I met Russell Brand late last winter and his hilarity was right in front of my face. (Literally very, very close to my face… read more here if you’d like.) In print form, I expected Brand to continue to crack me up with the recent release of Booky Wook 2: This Time It’s Personal in paperback. Much laughter ensued, that’s for sure.

Trust me when I say that the title doesn’t lie, for Brand let’s it all hang out in this memoir. As I haven’t read it, I cannot compare the content of this memoir to his first My Booky Wook, but I did have the feeling I was going to be exposed to a lot of personal details of Brand’s life when I picked this one up. No doubt about it, he writes very frequently about his wild lifestyle, and though the years chronicled here are drug-free for him, he’s still partying it up in lots of other ways. One might even suggest that his strongest addiction is to women and sex, and there’s a lot of that within these pages, though only a few passages offer any specifics, and even those are told more in a humorous than a “steamy” manner. (One particular passage near the end of the book managed to cause simultaneous guffawing and shuddering for me.)

Booky Wook 2 is undoubtedly told in Brand’s signature voice, causing no questioning about who actually wrote this celebrity memoir. Fans of Brand shouldn’t be surprised by the incredibly intelligent lexicon that comes so naturally in his writing, though it’s an odd experience to keep a dictionary nearby when reading a comedian’s memoir. I found myself appreciating his storytelling ability, even if I was shocked by the content of some of his stories. Only in the final pages does the future Mrs. Russell Brand, the fiery Katy Perry, make an appearance, and it’s quite a lovely way to bring these chapters of his life to an end, by indeed meeting his match.

Dawn occasionally indulges in some fluff reading when she’s not busy being a teacher or a mommy. When she can spare a moment or two, she blogs away at my thoughts exactly.

Imagine how validated I felt when I read about Jennifer Wilson’s struggles to jump into her new life in Croatia that she chose for her family and detailed in her memoir Running Away to Home: Our Family’s Journey to Croatia in Search of Who We Are, Where We Came From, and What Really Matters:

Closet shy. Huh. Jim had called it.

It’s not that I was a loner. It’s just that, over time, I’d come to prefer my own quiet company. I used to think this was because I had kids who peppered me with questions all day long and so I carved peace more than anything else. But I guess it was also tied to an emotional laziness I’d developed in my thirties. I’d never been a party girl. Then somewhere along the line, it got easier to curl up with a book than to go out and be social. Books had beginnings and endings clear-cut characters I could understand. In real life, my friends morphed into spouses or parents or committed singletons, and suddenly everyone seemed more sensitive and distant than when we were all in college together.

–Excerpt from the advanced copy of Running Away to Home, page 92

Ah yes. People are complicated. Books aren’t always. They offer an escape and they are definitely easy. I’m glad I’m not the only one who feels that way, but I’m also glad that one of the ways I can escape into books is reading about people like Jennifer Wilson’s brave experiences picking up and leaving America for Croatia for a year. It sometimes inspires me to put down the book and make a real connection or dream a real dream.

If you liked this insight that Jennifer Wilson offers, click through to my full review and giveaway of the book over at 5 Minutes for Mom. Leave a comment over there to win one of 3 copies of the book. If you leave a comment here about this On Reading post, you’ll also gain an extra entry in the contest. The winner will be announced in our Monday 5 Minutes for Books column over at 5 Minutes for Mom on November 7.

The giveaway is closed

So, do you agree with this? Since you’ve gotten older have you become more introverted? Do books have anything to do with that?

Jennifer Donovan reads and writes (reviews mostly). You can find her here managing 5 Minutes for Books and occasionally blogging at Snapshot.

After much research and soul-searching, they embark onto a journey towards international adoption. They find an agency, and are at first interested in Haiti, but due to that country’s lengthy adoption time, they switch to Ethiopia. Dina recounts in detail all the steps of the journey, the delays both necessary and unnecessary, the lapses in communication that cause mistrust and lots of stress to both her and Brian.

However, they persevere. Dina’s recounting of all the different facets of international adoption make this book a great resource to anyone who is considering walking the same path.

Dina hadn’t traveled much before going to Addis Ababa to pick up their daughter Aster. She was very nervous and had a difficult time dealing with all the lack of communication that led to her being told things would be one way, only to arrive and find things totally different. As someone who has lived overseas in developing countries, I wasn’t surprised that they found out, for example, that they were expected to make their own meals when they’d been told the guesthouse would provide them, or when they found out that their daughter’s birth mother was alive and well. She is very honest about her reactions, and I appreciated that. My favorite parts of the book are when they are in Ethiopia, meeting Aster for the first time.

Finding Aster is a great resource for those who want to learn more about an issue that is dominating headlines more and more. Dina advocates for ethical and moral practices, to ensure protection of our planet’s most vulnerable citizens.

Elizabeth is the only member of her family who has never been to Ethiopia. Learn more at her blog Planet Nomad.

Season to Taste: How I Lost My Sense of Smell and Found My Way is Birnbaum’s memoir detailing her struggle to come to terms with her new condition as an anosmic – one who has lost their sense of smell due to illness, blockages or head injury. She was told her ability to smell would likely never return.

Birnbaum was able to taste the basics – sour, sweet, salty and bitter, but could not distinguish any other nuances of food. “Ice cream was a thick and cold slush. Lattes were hot, sometimes even gelatinous liquid. I ate yogurt for its smooth chill and bread soaked in Tabasco sauce because I could feel the spiciness.” Despite what she had been told by the experts, her ability to smell returned slowly, each new aroma arriving with a bang. Soon she could detect all sorts of smells, but found she couldn’t identify the source.

Season to Taste includes information about the science of smell, a la Mary Roach — though without her wit and extensive footnotes — mixed in with details of Birnbaum’s recovery. She describes how scent molecules enter the nose and travel to the brain; how and why smell is linked to memory and emotion.

Birnbaum recounts her quest to find out more about smell. She visited Taste and Smell clinics, both as a patient and observing others; spent the day with a flavorist who uses chemicals to create the flavors in packaged foods; took classes in France to learn how to enhance her sense of smell. It was while in France she learned to use triggers to recognize scents she could smell but not name.

She slowly returned to cooking, starting with baking as it requires exact measurements and doesn’t need to be tasted along the way. As new smells returned she delved into cooking savory dishes, some more successfully than others. But Birnbaum ultimately chose a career as a journalist, perhaps an unexpected path in her life, but one that forecasts an auspicious future.

If you enjoy memoirs that include food and science, along with a journey of ups and downs, then Season to Taste is right up your alley.

Nancy has never given the sense of smell much thought before, but finds it fascinating. She can be found blogging at Life With My Boys and Books.

Frankel’s style is down-to-earth and she doesn’t mince words. I love her attempts at self-improvement, such as when a marriage counselor suggests that instead of yelling at her husband, she ask him questions, Jeopardy-style. “What is ‘You can be such a prick sometimes?’” she says. Before she knows it, she and her husband are laughing together, which is something they are both good at. When she tries to be calm and zen-like while dealing with an unexpectedly long layover, it doesn’t work—until she sees the humor of her situation and begins looking for other women on the verge of losing it, a game of “Where’s Wacko?” she plays with her kids. Another time, she tries to go an entire week without complaining at all. It’s a failure—she alienates friends, who were hoping for a nice long juicy chat, and she annoys her family. And she realizes that when the truly terrible things of life happen, like the year of her first husband’s illness and death, she didn’t complain at all, and instead focused on the good in life. But there’s something freeing about being melodramatic about small problems which mocks and minimizes them.

As Frankel works through her various “hated” things—other people’s bratty kids, her jealousy when other people effortlessly sail up the New York Times’ bestseller list, annoying habits of her husband—she discovers that expressing negative emotions can have a positive effect. She finds freedom in not trying to be perfect, in admitting when she is hurt by another’s actions. In learning not to avoid negative emotions, she finds a depth and richness to life. Although it’s a funny memoir about Frankel’s life and specifically some horrible people she’s known, it sneaks some life lessons in, some tidbits of valuable wisdom.

Best of all are the study questions. I have long wondered who, if anyone, answers those annoying essay questions supposedly for book clubs at the end of many books, obviously written by frustrated English graduate students who thinks we all want to natter on for hours about metaphor and symbolism, as if we didn’t get enough of that in college. But Frankel’s “subversive” reading questions are perfect. Sample for your enjoyment: “Have you ever felt out of emotional control? Do you wear a “poker face?” Does it look like Lady Gaga?”

It’s Hard Not to Hate You isn’t for everyone, but if you like wry humor you’ll enjoy this look at a healthy way to deal with all that life hands you.

We have a copy to give away to one of you (U.S. and Canadian shipping addresses eligible). Just leave a comment here if you’d like to win. We’ll announce the winner on October 19. This giveaway is now closed.

• The winner of our Scholastic/Kellogg’s giveaway is #24 Melissa N.
• The winner of Heiress is #17 Cyndi Wilson.
• The winner of The Adventures of Everyday Geniuses is #8 Staci A.

Don’t miss a thing: Check out our current giveaways. Subscribe to our feed or video reviews on YouTube. Follow us @5M4B on Twitter or on Facebook.

Elizabeth feels she should admit that she has already pretty much embraced her Inner Hater, especially when it comes to other drivers. And red lights. She is working to achieve patience at her blog Planet Nomad.