Most people will, at some point or another, either find themselves dressed in a tiny hospital gown or staring at someone else dressed in a tiny hospital gown. Whether from the perspective of a patient, a family member, or a medical professional, we all have a significant stake in the process of medical education. While numerous memoirs recount physicians' grueling experiences during residency, few focus on the even more formative portion of medical training: the third year of medical school-the clinical year. "Short White Coat" by author James Feinstein is the disarmingly honest, yet endearing and sometimes funny account of a medical student's humbling initiation into the world of patient care.

Ride in the back of the ambulance with author Sherry Jones Mayo. Share the innermost feelings of emergency services workers as they encounter trauma, tragedy, redemption, and even a little humor. Mayo has been an Emergency Medical Technician, Emergerncy Room Nurse, and an on- scene critical incident debriefer for Hurricane Katrina. Most people who have observed or experienced physical, mental or emotional crisis have single perspectives. "Confessions of a Trauma Junkie" allows readers to stand on both sides of the gurney; it details a progression from innocence to enlightened caregiver to burnout, glimpsing into each stage personally and professionally.

A civilian view of life in Iraq

"Addiction: What's Really Going On?" by author Barabara Sinor contains powerful true- life stories woven together to form a tapestry filled with pain, joy, defeat, and success. The entire book is molded around Deborah McCloskey's heartfelt desire for her clients to be free of drugs. Her counseling methods both endeared her as "the counselor to get" and locked her into a decade of searching for better ways to help those she felt were stuck on the merry- go-round of a methadone system. This book should be read by teachers, hospitals employees, college students, government officials, and our general adult population whether addicted, sober, or straight.

Author D.J. Rino's compulsive gambling made him feel so low he decided to name his book "Beneath Rock Bottom." He came to Las Vegas as an electrical specialist and should have prospered in the city's lucrative construction industry, but compulsive gambling soon became his downfall. Rino makes a point of detailing how normal his life was until he became a compulsive gambler. As he describes his childhood, teenage years, and service in the U.S. Air Force, he can find nowhere in his past a direct, dysfunctional or dramatic reason to trigger his gambling addiction.

Author Sharon Wallace detailed in the first book of her memoir, "A House Full of Whispers," the abuse she experienced at the hands of her stepfather, whom she termed "The Night Devil." Now in her second book, "Surviving a House Full of Whispers," she tells how she escaped the situation and how she sought help from other people, including Social Services, only to have no one believe her story. When love enters her life, Sharon appears to have been rescued from her past, but the trauma she experienced now affects her in her role as wife and mother, making her overprotective and controlling of her children. She also tries to make peace with her mother, and she deals with financial problems from her husband's illness and then her own health issues. Through it all, Sharon stays strong.

Author Janine Talty, today a successful osteopathic physician, as a child found herself bewildered by a world full of challenges that she could not understand. She felt isolated, unable to cope with the regular life issues that other children managed easily. She could not comprehend math or spelling-yet she could see energies that others could not see, and had levels of awareness than no-one around her possessed. Only as she grew into adulthood, painfully learning to cope with her challenges, did she realize she was an "indigo," one of a generation of people with unusual talents and abilities, yet who rarely fit neatly into societal roles. "Indigo Awakening" is the inspiring story of how she overcomes these challenges, finds her voice and identity, and discovers a channel for her healing abilities as an osteopathic physician. She speaks directly to the experience of fellow indigos, and shows them that some of their biggest challenges can be their most powerful gifts. She reveals that much of our personal physical suffering is actually clearing the way for human transformation, and that there is meaning and purpose to the events in our lives-even when we can't see this. "Indigo Awakening" is one of the first books to be written by an adult indigo, telling the experience of indigos from the inside out, and showing how their puzzling and painful experiences are paving the way for the emergence of a new way of being, in harmony with self, other, the world and the universe.

When Nancy Henderson's parents decided to become missionaries, she followed them, at age three, to Angola. After thirteen years in Africa, Nancy would feel it was home. But when the Angolan war broke out, she was forced to return to Tacoma, Washington. Finding she had nothing in common with typical American teenagers, she felt exiled and misunderstood. Her love and eventual heartache for her adopted home are expressed throughout her memoir in vivid details ranging from snatching flying ants from the air, to the first downpour of the rainy season, and midnight escapades in the moonlight. Anyone who wonders what it is like to live in another country will find "At Home Abroad: An American Girl in Africa" a phenomenal reading experience. It is an elegy for an Angola that no longer exists, as well as a dissection of what was wrong with that world. It is a tale of change, both external and internal. "At Home Abroad" is a beautifully written book about a time and place and home not likely to be forgotten.

In the 1990s, the Japanese stock market crashed. Banks closed and the country fell into a recession. Wayne Aponte, an African American, was working in Japan during this time. Despite the financial crisis, he chose to quit a job he disliked without having another line of employment in place. He had no idea how difficult the economic situation would become, or how hard it would be for him to find work. But rather than return to the United States, he decided to stick it out in Japan. "The Year of No Money in Tokyo" will interest a variety of readers, from economists and financiers, to those concerned with today's economy, students of Japanese culture, and those who enjoy an uplifting message about hope, human kindness and perseverance. Aponte becomes an example of endurance and success as he reinvents himself to survive. Not one to run from his troubles, Aponte continues to live in Tokyo today.

"Saved from Silence" is one woman's courageous and revealing story of abuse and recovery. Readers will come to understand that child abuse can happen to anyone-that a child molester may just as likely be the respectable parent next door as the wayward stranger. In fact, most abuse victims know their abusers well. Amanda Richardson's story reveals the heart-wrenching truth about abuse. By breaking the silence, her brave memoir will enlighten readers about abuse and provide courage to those who still suffer silently.