The Arizona Healthcare Leadership Academy invites healthcare leaders to join participants for lunch to share their leadership story and lessons learned. In the last 4 years, there have been nearly 50 different leaders, many CNOs as well as COOs and CEOs!! This has been enormously successful. Not only do our emerging leaders enjoy meeting and connecting with successful top leaders in a friendly, professional setting, but they particularly enjoy the personal stories and anecdotes as well. Somehow, this personal, non-PowerPoint, conversation resonates with people. Equally so, we find our top leaders eager and willing to share their stories. They leave very busy jobs and great demands on their desk to have lunch and give a 20-minute talk. What impresses me the most is their authenticity. They are honest and share the good along with the bad. On a personal level, I also participate in the Global Nursing Exchange, held in La Paz, Mexico, soon to celebrate its 20th year. Founded by Phyllis Ethridge, MSN, RN, FAAN, this annual coming together of leaders challenges us to leave the conference classroom setting and board fishing boats, walk beaches, join poker games, play golf, and relax at pool side tables to gather, to laugh, have fun, and engage in good conversation. Some of my best conversations have been held at GNE. Can you recall in all the conferences you have been to, the conversations in the hall, at lunch, on a vendor sponsored boat trip up the river with a legendary leader and her mom or an upcoming leader with her baby? We all talk about nursing. (Note: The January-March 2004 issue of NAQ is completely devoted to the Global Nursing Exchange.) This vehicle for teaching and engaging our young leaders is replicated in 2 new Sigma Theta Tau books: Conversations With Leaders and Pivotal Moments in Nursing Volume II. Because these 2 books connect to us in a personal way of caring, this issue's book review section seems most appropriate.