Admit it, you have a few guilty pleasures, right? Here is an entire book about just that subject: The Encyclopedia of Guilty Pleasures: 1001 Things You Hate to Love, by Sam Stall, Lou Harry, and Julia Spalding. One of those fun reads I enjoy because the short entries fit well during commericals, or when dinner is in the oven. From TV shows, to food, furniture, and people no one admits to enjoying, but somebody must because, well, they made it into this book! I'll admit to one just to get things started: sugar coated packing peanuts, AKA Peeps! ;-)

Here's something that appeared in the book listed above. Star Trek! I got hooked during summer reruns of the very first season and remembered it was NOT something you mentioned watching. (Boy, how that has changed)! A few years later, in college, it was the reason I met someone who is a friend to this day! The Star Trek Book: Strange New Worlds Boldly Explained, by Paul Ruditis, Sandford Galden-Stone, and Simon Hugo is one of those rather encyclopedic books from DK. There are entries on the characters (earth and alien), the various ships, and a time line of what happened when. Fun!

Do you remember, or, as a parent, have you used the phrase "Because I said so!" ? I know my mom did! Was what was said actually true? You know things like 'don't cross your eyes, they'll get stuck like that', or 'don't run with scissors.' Ken Jennings gathered together many such sayings in Because I Said So: the Truth Behind the Myths, Tales & Warnings Every Generation Passes Down to Its Kids and explains which are true and which are false.

I sort of stumbled onto this book while looking for something else: Vincent van Gogh The Starry Night, from the Museum of Modern Art. It's something you'd find in the Museum if you were to visit ... I'm sure there are lots them available about many famous paintings! This is a short biography of the artist as well as where he may have found inspiration for this painting, and how he got the results he did.

Reading Hermit With Dog