Books and Beverages, sponsored by ALUW, was a great success.  Below is the list of the books that were recommended:
 

• Tsukiyama, Gail.  The Samurai's Garden.

   Story of a Chinese student in Japan.

• Bryson, Bill.  Notes from a Small Island.

   An American's journey in Great Britain.

• Wexler, Alice.  Mapping Fate:  A Memoir of Family, Risk, and Genetic    Research.

   Huntington's disease and it's effect on one family.  Ethical questions about genetic testing.

• Outwater, Alice.  Water, A natural resource.

   A history of what civilizations have done to water.  Another water book that was mentioned was Cadillac Desert about the politics   of water in the West.
 
• Hynes, James.  Publish and Perish.

   Three tales of tenure and terror.
 
• Bragg, Rick.  All Over But the Shoutin'.

   A Southern memoir by a successful journalist.
 
• Cather, Willa.  Shadow on the Rock.

   The founding of Montreal.
 
• Flinders, Carol.  Enduring Grace:  Seven women mystics.

 
• Lansing, Alfred.  Endurance.

   The Shackleton expedition in Antarctica.  Also, The Worst Journey in the World by Apsley Cherry-Garrard about the expedition.
 
• Kingsolver, Barbara.  Pigs in Heaven.

   A mother and daughter who is part Indian and a trip that changes lives.
 
• Manguel, Alberto.  History of Reading.

 Did you know that silent reading was unusual in early Western civilization?
 
• Russo, Richard.  Straight Man.

   Funny portrayal of academics.
 
• Golden, Arthur.  Memoirs of a Geisha.

 
• White, Bailey.  Sleeping at the Starlight Motel.

   NPR commentator.  Wonderful stories about the South.
 
• Straley, John. (mystery series in Alaska).  Includes The Woman Who Married a Bear, The Curious Eat Themselves, and The Music of What Happens.

   A parttime detective with no gun, a fear of flying and no driver's
   license.
 
• Malone, Michael.  Foolscap(an academic mystery) and Handling Sin.

 
• Quinn, Susan.  Marie Curie:  A life.

•  Meade, Margaret.  Blackberry Winter.

   Meade's autobiography of her early research life.