Our author goes all Bahama Mama when traveling to Atlantis with her son

As it turns out, having a cute toddler with a penchant for high-fiving strangers is like toting around catnip. Apparently, my son saves his worst for when it’s just us, in private. In public, he was like a well-behaved movie star. He went straight to work at the airport, charming the sort of shop girls I had always assumed were beyond human emotion. Put him on a plane, I learned, and suddenly he’s the flight attendants’ favorite passenger. I’m not ashamed to say that we used him as a means to reel in extra snacks.

Go Away With … Rick Springfield

In his recently published memoir “Late, Late at Night” ($26, Touchstone), musician-actor Rick Springfield, 61, reveals a dark side that few fans knew about. He tried to commit suicide when he was 17, cheated multiple times on his wife of 26 years and underwent plastic surgery at the ripe old age of 23 in an attempt to look even more youthful than he already did. Springfield, who wrote the book without a co-author or a ghostwriter, exhibits a humorous and poignant touch as he examines the ebbs and flows of his career.

Go Away With … Jennifer Knapp

When Jennifer Knapp decides to take time off, she really goes for it. When the 36-year-old singer from Kansas wanted to reassess her life, she took seven years off and spent a good chunk of that time exploring Australia. She didn’t return to the United States until she was good and ready to start recording again. And she announced that she was gay.

Go Away With … Kolo’s Peter Dunn

As the co-founder and CEO of Kolo — a line of colorful photo albums designed to maintain archival-quality photos without breaking the bank — Peter Dunn loves to travel, even though one-third of his year is spent on the road for business. A resident of Connecticut, Dunn uses websites to hunt down good travel bargains when he goes away to places like Italy and Hong Kong.

“Bones” — Season 5

At first glance, “Bones” is a solid crime procedural. But as the series enters its fifth season, it’s clear that “Bones” really works as a romantic drama as well. Not romantic in the mushy sense, but in a way that makes viewers’ hearts skip a beat (from joy at seeing a good coupling, not from the shock of all the gory bodies being discovered, examined, and dissected).

Go Away With … Bruno Coulais

French composer Bruno Coulais is used to helping convey a film’s tone with his music. But for “Babies” — which focuses on four tiny, chubby and (for a while) bald stars — the 56-year-old Parisian, best known for the 2009 stop-motion film “Coraline,” had his work cut out for him. The documentary features no dialogue from its main stars, so Coulais’ compositions at times have to speak for the infants. “Babies” is now available on DVD.