Jill Norgren writes: Here is an opportunity for grandparents and special friends looking for children?s and young adult books to hear straight from the mouths of young readers. This year I asked about gift suggestions from my granddaughters, 17, 13, and 10, as well as young friends 4 to 15 who live in Wisconsin, Missouri, Ohio, and New York City. I asked each of them, "which books did you most enjoy reading this past year that you think others your age would also enjoy?" Some of their favorites are new, but many are classics.

Val Castronovo writes: Girl's head, shoulder, garments and accessories stand out against a dark, solid background, which is blackened now but once was translucent green. The effect is rather like the effect of looking at this painting in an otherwise empty room ? just as everything is stripped away in the Oval Room so that our attention is laser-focused on Girl, so everything is stripped away in the background of the painting itself so that we zero in on the figure?s physiognomy and accoutrements, which signal mercantile wealth and prosperity.

While consumers can go online and compare the track records of nursing homes on a government web site, few such resources exist for assisted living. Twenty-two states still don?t post inspection records online, requiring residents to visit state offices to view them on paper or file public records requests. ProPublica set out to compile the key rules and regulations governing assisted living in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. See what they found.

Joan L. Cannon writes: John Galsworthy's descriptions of nature are ravishing, his limning of his characters clear enough for a crime sketch artist to draw them. This descriptive artistry and the revelatory dialogue show the reader within a hundred pages the contrasts and individuality of everyone who has anything to do with the advancing story of Soames and Irene, and also with the subplots enacted by other members of the Forsyte family. All are influenced by the motive principles of the Forsyte clan in general, Victorian society, and their admired Soames in particular.  

Neighbors had left a pumpkin outside to feed the rabbits that happened by. The seeds that weren?t eaten planted themselves and now were happily growing. The plot the pumpkins were growing in wasn?t ideal for the length of the vines but they were thriving nonetheless, a symbol of life?s determination to express itself. After Halloween, if you have a pumpkin you might want to use in a different way, one that nourishes and delights without the scary element to it, read on for more suggestions.  

Compared with eight years ago, online daters in 2013 are more likely to actually go out on dates with the people they meet on these sites. Some 66% of online daters have gone on a date with someone they met through an online dating site or app, up from 43% of online daters who had done so when we first asked this question in 2005. Moving beyond dates, one quarter of online daters (23%) say that they themselves have entered into a marriage or long-term relationship with someone they met through a dating site or app.

Amanda Ripley gives us a detailed, separate report on the experiences of each American child she followed who had studied abroad, including each one?s "take" on what made school in those countries so successful. The youngster?s comparisons are forthright and fascinating. So are Ms. Ripley?s conclusions and descriptions in The Smartest Kids in the World. Annie Choi?s wit is pointed but not savage. She uses humor in Shut Up You?re Welcome to underscore the essential, sustained importance of family, the collective umbilical cord that binds.

A UCLA study has uncovered a biological clock embedded in our genomes that may shed light on why our bodies age and how we can slow the process; the new research is the first to result in the development of an age-predictive tool that uses a previously unknown time-keeping mechanism in the body to accurately gauge the age of diverse human organs, tissues and cell types.

For teens, their parents and teachers, NIDA has upgraded its popular teen website to a responsive design model that automatically adjusts to fit the viewer?s screen for better viewing through smartphones and tablets. Through smartphones and tablets. Spanish language versions of easy to understand resources on drug abuse and addiction are now also available.

Roberta McReynolds writes: Since aging tends to go hand-in-hand with a gradually fading resistance to illness, it makes sense that the likelihood of getting shingles tends to strike people age 60 and over. In a cruel twist of fate, I developed the first symptoms of shingles just 23 days after my 60th birthday; merely weeks after I became old enough to obtain the shingles vaccine. Did my warranty just expire? Each day that passed the complex pain became more brutal and impossible to ignore; the ?electric shock treatments? intensified.  

Maggie Clark writes: A 2012 audit in St. Petersburg showed the number of dangerous side-impact collisions did decrease at intersections where the red-light cameras had been installed. However, rear-end collisions actually increased at those intersections, as more drivers stopped short to avoid violations. In addition to identifying drivers who run through a red light, the cameras tag those who fail to come to a full and complete stop before turning right on red.

As Swenson administered first aid and kept in radio contact with the helos he'd called for, Fabayo saw three insurgents moving from a house to within 50 meters of the Tactical Action Center. Fabayo made direct visual contact with one insurgent wearing fatigues, body armor and a helmet who began waving at him and demanding surrender. Fabayo called to Swenson about the insurgent's demands. The captain calmly put down his radio, halted the first aid and replied with a personal message by throwing a hand grenade.

Jill Norgren writes: Interwoven Globe is a large exhibition begging hours of a visitor's attention. Walk through it first without reading the explanatory signs. Once familiar visually with all that the exhibition has to offer, begin again, studying the signs and considering the objects as expressions of the global artistic exchanges made possible by the golden age of European maritime navigation.

We've reproduced the entire Scout Report for this week. It includes, among others, the links and description of Clemson Cooperative Extension; Research Electronic Data Capture (REDCap); Getty Research Journal; Engineering in the Modern World,Research and Education; Vicos: A Virtual Tour (Peru); Modeling And Simulation Tools For Education Reform; Willard E. Worden's San Francisco & Berkeley; PBS Learning Media; Abraham Lincoln, Slavery, and the Civil War: A Collection of Digitized Books; Before and After the Fire: Chicago in the 1860s, 1870s and 1880s.

"I'm told that when men meet women, they sometimes rate each other on a scale of 1 to 10. Of course, mathematicians are far too intelligent and sophisticated do this. We rate people on a scale of 0 to 1. Let's change the fairytale slightly so that the 100 frogs are now labelled with numbers drawn randomly from those that lie between 0 and 1, with the handsome prince having the highest number. What's the princess's best strategy now?"  

While standing in front of the empty spaces on the Museum walls where works were once hung, Calle asked curators, guards, conservators, and other Museum staff members what they remembered of the missing pieces. Calle used text from the interviews and the photographic images to create a visual meditation on absence and memory, as well as reflection on the emotional power works of art hold on their viewers.

Deep down, men may not bask in the glory of their successful wives or girlfriends. While this is not true of women, men?s subconscious self-esteem may be bruised when their spouse or girlfriend excels, says a study. The researchers found that it didn?t matter if the achievements or failures were social, intellectual or related to participants? own successes or failures ? men subconsciously still felt worse about themselves when their partner succeeded than when she failed.

New Jersey could become the 11th state with a minimum wage that increases automatically if voters approve a constitutional amendment this fall. More states are adopting minimum wages that are indexed to inflation or increases in the cost of living. Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, Ohio, Oregon, Vermont and Washington already have such policies, and in all of them except Vermont the moves were approved at the polls.

I?m in the kitchen preparing dinner. A pot of spaghetti is nearing its boil on the stove. I remove a colander from its place in a cabinet and set it in the sink. When the timer rings, signaling al dente, I lift the pot by its two handles and turn around to dump pasta and water into said colander. Alas, the pockmarked utensil has vanished. In his fancy step, while my back was turned, Tommy has removed the colander from the sink, placed it back in the cabinet, and exited. He has not done this to vex me; this I know. He just can?t help it.

People who are married when diagnosed with cancer live longer than those who are not, report researchers at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Brigham and Women's Hospital. Married patients also tended to have cancers diagnosed at an earlier stage ? when it is often more successfully treated ? and to receive more appropriate treatment.   September 23, 2013 Tags: BasicResearch, CopingWithCancer Paul Nguyen, MD People who are married when diagnosed with cancer live longer than those who are not, repo…

Miss Jane Marple of the Kentish village of St. Mary Mead, a blue-eyed, frail lady who dressed in a black lace cap and mittens, has had a broad and lasting appeal, aging along the way. Miss Marple first appeared in a series of short stories published in Britain's The Sketch magazine. In the beginning, Miss Marple is a gleeful gossip and not particularly nice. Over the years as social rules changed, so did mystery female series' characters.

Val Castronovo writes: The paintings from the war years are suffused with human suffering, violence and tumult, plus indescribable feelings of sadness, longing and loss. This exhibit clearly wants to persuade visitors that love has the power to heal and the power to triumph over trauma and evil ? even evil of the worst sort.

"This study establishes testosterone levels at which various physiological functions start to become impaired, which may help provide a rationale for determining which men should be treated with testosterone supplements ... This study establishes testosterone levels at which various physiological functions start to become impaired, which may help provide a rationale for determining which men should be treated with testosterone supplements."

Q: Does the law cut spending on Medicare? A: Medicare spending will continue to expand as increasing numbers of baby boomers reach 65. The law does cut the expected growth of Medicare spending by about $716 billion over the next decade. Those cuts are made by lowering reimbursements to nursing homes, hospitals, home health agencies and other providers. It also cuts payments to Medicare Advantage plans to bring those payments closer to what Medicare pays for care for beneficiaries enrolled in the traditional fee-for-service plan.