This I Believe: On Love

In these 60 short essays, men and women of all ages and backgrounds write about love: of a teacher, house, step family, the poor or needy, mountains, and even growing old. While "Love on Aisle Three" is about a small group that gathers round an adorable baby in a cart, several essays explore love not of a person or thing, but an activity like cooking or knitting. In "God Is In Her Hand," John Samuel Tieman writes, "Love is in the hand that crafts, sculpts, sews, caresses, soothes." The most moving pieces examine love tied to a difficult situation. In "The Courage to Let Go," Gale Workman's father, after taking care of her mother for months, finally allows himself to say goodbye. Originally started on Edward R. Murrow's 1950s radio show, this effort to get ordinary citizens to discuss their core values has produced essays that vary greatly in quality and suffer in this form from the absence of a human voice. Still, this anthology beautifully captures our need, and the sacrifices we make, for love. (Dec.) (Publishers Weekly, November 8, 2010)