• Paul Sturkey, Co-owner, Sturkey's Restaurant and Encore Cafe:

        The Soul of a Chef by Michael Ruhlman (Viking; $26.95)

        “It's basically about three different chefs' styles and careers. The first earns a master chef certification from the American Culinary Federation. The certification is important because it gives respect to the profession. Many African-Americans won't become chefs, because they associate it with being cooks on plantations during slavery.

        “The second learns by hard knocks and opens a restaurant. His experiences make me feel that I'm not alone when I wonder if I've made a terrible mistake ...

        “The third opened a restaurant in the Napa Valley.”

        • Dr. Richard Levy, Professor of Emergency Medicine, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine:

        Hearts in Atlantis by Stephen King (Simon & Schuster: $28).

        “It's a series of intertwined stories connected by common characters. It traces the lives of childhood friends from Vietnam to the present. It gives a bird's-eye view of what was going on in the minds of most of us from acceptance of what the government said, to questions, to those who fought and those who did not and how it affected us. The book has substance.”

        Prodigal Summer by Barbara Kingsolver (Harper Collins; $26)

        “It's a terrific, award-winning book written by a woman about a woman. Sometimes, that's not an easy read for a guy, but it hit home.

        “The story centers on a woman from an intellectual family who decides to take to the hills of Southeastern Kentucky and become a farmer's wife and her struggles.”

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