an eclectic list for someone who wants books with straightforward writing spanning a range of subjects that include homeschooling, cooking, and Americans who make a difference in foreign countries:

Kabul Beauty School: beneath the veil of Afghan women by Deborah Rodriguez

Women food and God: an unexpected path to almost everything by Geneen Roth

The other Boleyn girl: a novel by Philippa Gregory

The Freedom Writers diary: how a teacher and 150 teens used writing to change themselves and the world around them by the Freedom Writers with Erin Gruwell ; foreword by Zlata Filipovic

Love in a time of homeschooling: a mother and daughter's uncommon year by Laura Brodie

Lunch in Paris: a love story, with recipes by Elizabeth Bard

Mountains beyond mountains by Tracy Kidder

The wonder of girls: understanding the hidden nature of our daughters by Michael Gurian

The wonder of boys: what parents, mentors, and educators can do to shape boys into exceptional men by Michael Gurian