The Legend of Sleepy Hollow - Washington Irving

I first came across The Legend of Sleep Hollow at summer camp when they would show the Disney animated cartoon of this book.  I had always thought Disney had caricaturized Icabod Crane because, you know, cartoons.  But after reading Washington Irving's actual words, I realized Disney pretty much got him dead on.  It's so weird.  This is a great short story and Irving does a wonderful job of painting the scenes.  I appreciate his creative use of words to produce each setting.  I would recommend reading this book in October as a fun Halloween preparation, though it could be read any time of year.

Neurotribes: The Legacy of Autism and the Future of Neurodiversity - Steve Silberman

I think everyone needs to read this book!  It is the most fascinating thing I've read all year.  We are inclined to think that autism is a recent problem, but this book thoroughly lays out all the compounding factors showing that is not the case.  From striking examples in the enlightenment period to the evolution of the definition of autism, it is so clear how this significant variation in thinking was swept under the rug for so long. 
Many years past, severely autistic people were left to die, or later institutionalized where they were often killed slowly.  Autism, in its current definition, didn't exists until only a few years ago and was previously labeled "childhood schizophrenia" or any one of a myriad of other disorders.  People classified as those disorders like Temple Grandin and her "brain damage" are still alive and influencing the public discussion today. 
So anytime to wacko anti-vaxxers start spouting that bullshit about how we are in the middle of an autism epidemic and there wasn't any autism a half century ago, know that they are flat wrong.  In fact, I think if the anti-vaxx crowd read this book, we'd have a lot fewer idiots in that camp. (I wish.)
The achievements of autistic people through the ages have been significantly under rated, from calculating the mass of earth to the internet and tech, their fingerprints are all over most of our greatest advances.  Ever wonder why it seems every great mind from the past was so damn eccentric? It's cause they were likely autistic.  Some of the most famous examples being Albert Einstein, Thomas Edison, and Nikola Tesla, and many more who hid in the shadows so well that you don't know their names today.
My favorite tidbit from this book is this analogy:  Just because a computer isn't running Windows doesn't mean it's not working. (comparing autistic thought to Linux or Apple iOS)

Dune: House Atreides - Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson

Definitely worth a read if you like the Dune series.  I love that teh authors are going back and filling in some of the backstory.  I liked Dune, though it was a little weird at times.  There were a few bits that had me going, "Wait, what?" And I saw one of those explained in this book.  It has been a good number of years since I read the original Dune.  I think I'd like to read through all these prequels and then the original again.  This is a weird saga, but worth the time to get through it.

Kitchen Confidential - Anthony Bourdain

This is a great book for everyone, foodie, aspiring chef, restaurant goer, person who eats, anyone.  While the narrative isn't linear, it does keep your attention while not becoming gratuitous with all the wildly inappropriate parts thrown together (which they likely would be if it were written in order).  The characters and stories are vibrant in a way only real-world stories can be.  It both scares and entices one to enter the food world. Bourdain's passion drips off every page.  I'm considering returning to the restaurant world part-time for some low-key job.  There's so much of it I haven't seen yet and want to learn.  (No busing a table isn't difficult, but in every simple task, there are tricks that you learn if you do it long enough, or if someone tells you. I'd like to learn all those.)

A Guide to Tea - Chris Cason

This is the perfect little primer for tea knowledge.  It's a short little book with beautiful pictures and a thorough background without getting bogged down in details.  Many of your basic 101 level questions are answered in this book.  I would recommend this book to anyone who likes tea.