Rich (5/26): "A Year in Provence" by Peter Mayle.

A year in the French countryside. I'd get bored in about a month, I'd guess. No work, and the highlight of your week is that meal that you had to travel an hour and a half to get to. But, incredibly, Peter Mayle makes his first year in France sound like paradise without any sentimental, preachy rhetoric. In fact, we, the readers, don't know if he has a day job, nor do we know his wife's name. What he does describe is simply wonderful. Without gloating or winking, he enraptures the reader with tales as simple as their dining experience with the elderly couple who politely insist on what wine goes best with their meal. He recounts how his neighbors help him grow grapes and his angst at the contractors that are creating their own masterpiece of heating ductwork in his house. These small tales certainly have a French backdrop, but they are really about community and neighbors and hospitality. Simply delightful.