Reading Recommendations:Promises to Keep, a novel by Jane GreenCallie Perry is a successful family photographer living in tony Bedford, New York. She adores her children, has great friends, and actually doesn't mind that her workaholic husband gets home at 9 p.m. every night, since it gives her some blissful quiet time to herself as well. And Callie is one of those people who can't help but light up every room she enters.Steffi is Callie's younger sister and unlike her irrefutably settled sibling, Steffi has never grown up. She's always been a free spirit, living in Manhattan and bouncing between jobs and boyfriends. At thirty she finally discovered that she's a natural chef and that people can actually make a living off their passions. But she will discover another side of herself, one that finds a simpler life in the country, with its steadier pleasures, surprisingly seductive.Lila Grossman is Callie's best friend and has finally met the man of her dreams. Ed has a wonderful son whom Lila adores, but there's a problem: a demanding ex-wife who hates everything about Lila and is determined to create a perennial crisis to keep attention firmly on her.And then there are Callie and Steffi's parents, Walter and Honor. Divorced for thirty years, they rarely speak to each other. They may share two grown up daughters, but its obvious they share little else.A novel about the hard choices we have to face about having to be your parents child long after you are grown up, and finally about the enduring nature of love.These past weeks we've reviewed two other Jane Green books, Another Piece of My Heart and Dune Road. Happy Reading!A Century of Wisdom Lessons from the Life of Alice Herz-Sommer, the World's Oldest Living Holocaust Survivor, Caroline Stoessinger.At 109 years old, the pianist Alice Herz-Sommer is an eyewitness to the entire last century and the first decade of this one. She has seen it all, surviving the Theresienstudt concentration camp, attending the trial of Adolf Eichmann in Jerusalem, and along the way coming into contact with some of the most fascinating historical figures of our time. As a child in Prague, she spent weekends and holidays in the company of Franz Kafka (whom she knew as "Uncle Franz"), and Gustar Mahler, Sigmund Freud, and Rainer Maria Rilke were friendly with her mother. When Alice moved to Israel after the war, Golda Meir attended her house concerts, as did Arthur Rubinstein, Leonard Bernstein, and Isaac Stern. Today Alice lives in London, where she still practices piano for hours every day. Despite her imprisonment in Theresienstadt and the murders of her mother, husband, and friends by the Nazis, and much later the premature death of her son, Alice has been victorious in her ability to live a life without bitterness. She credits music as the key to her survival, as well as her ability to acknowledge the humanity in each person, even her enemies.A remarkable and inspiring story of one woman's determination, in the face of some of the worst evil known to man to find goodness in life. A testament to the bonds of friendship, the power of music, and the importance of leading a life of material simplicity, intellectual curiosity, and never ending optimism.If the reader has plans for remodeling or putting in a Spring garden, do check out Beautiful No-Mow Yards, 50 amazing lawn alternatives, Evelyn J. HaddenNot only is this a beautiful (in color) selection of gorgeous yards, it's full of times, effort and resources to lavish on it.See you at Rylander!