The Kindle Reads One Story, The Magazine

One Story magazine is now available in a Kindle edition. Published monthly. $1.49 including free wireless delivery to your Kindle. One Story is a not-for-profit literary magazine featuring one great short story every three weeks. By publishing only one writer one time only, One Story editors strive to find and encourage new literary voices.

"In seven years, One Story has become one of the top literary magazines in the country. Of the 115 issues published between 2002 and 2008, 44 were selected as among the year's best by various anthologies and prizes, including Best American Short Stories, Best American Non-Required Reading, and The O. Henry Prize Stories. As The New York Times noted: 'At a time when literary writing seems like a dying art, when little magazines are folding left and right, when publishers bemoan the sinking bottom line, here lies a spot of hope...It is called One Story.'

The Kindle Edition of One Story contains the same content as the print edition. For your convenience, issues are automatically delivered wirelessly to your Kindle." - Amazon.

For more information, check out the One Story blog or follow @onestorymag on Twitter.

Savoring the Past: New Kindle Books for History Buffs

History is a kind of introduction to more interesting people than we can possibly meet in our restricted lives; let us not neglect the opportunity. - Dexter Perkins.

The American philosopher George Santayana is quoted as saying that those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it. With more than 27,000 books in the Amazon Kindle bookstore "history" category, Kindle-owning history buffs will not run out of reading material any time soon. Recent history nonfiction includes:


L.A. Noir: The Struggle for the Soul of American's Most Seductive City, by John Buntin. Harmony. Amazon customer rating:4 stars (32 reviews). Kindle edition $14.30. Text-to-Speech: Disabled.
"Midcentury Los Angeles. A city sold to the world as 'the white spot of America,' a land of sunshine and orange groves, wholesome Midwestern values and Hollywood stars, protected by the world’s most famous police force, the Dragnet-era LAPD. Behind this public image lies a hidden world of 'pleasure girls' and crooked cops, ruthless newspaper tycoons, corrupt politicians, and East Coast gangsters on the make. Into this underworld came two men - one L.A.’s most notorious gangster, the other its most famous police chief - each prepared to battle the other for the soul of the city." - Amazon.
$9.99 or less alternative: Hollywood's Celebrity Gangster, The Incredible Life and Times of Mickey Cohen, by Brad Lewis.

Tears in the Darkness: The Story of the Bataan Death March and Its Aftermath, by Michael Norman and Elizabeth M. Norman. Farrar, Straus and Giroux. Amazon customer rating: 4 1/2 stars (37 reviews). Kindle edition $9.99. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.
"The battle of Bataan in the Philippines in 1942 resulted in the Japanese taking about 75,000 American and Filipino prisoners of war, America's worst military defeat ever. The prisoners were transferred across the Philippines, and treated horrifically in the process, in what became known as the Bataan Death March. The authors conducted 400 interviews with survivors and have put together an exhaustive narrative. They focus chiefly on Ben Steele, who survived the Philippine battles, the march, and 41 months in the slave labor camps. As much as a military history, this is the biography of a Montana cowboy transformed by great events." - Edwin Burgess for Library Journal.

The Inheritance of Rome, by Chris Wickham. Viking. Amazon customer rating: 4 stars (1 review). Kindle edition $18.48. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.
"...Prizewinning historian Chris Wickham defies the conventional view of the Dark Ages in European history with a work of remarkable scope and rigorous yet accessible scholarship. Drawing on a wealth of new material and featuring a thoughtful synthesis of historical and archaeological approaches, Wickham argues that these centuries were critical in the formulation of European identity. Far from being a middle period between more significant epochs, this age has much to tell us in its own right about the progress of culture and the development of political thought. Sweeping in its breadth, Wickham's incisive history focuses on a world still profoundly shaped by Rome, which encompassed the remarkable Byzantine, Carolingian, and Ottonian empires, and peoples ranging from Goths, Franks, and Vandals to Arabs, Anglo- Saxons, and Vikings. Digging deep into each culture, Wickham constructs a vivid portrait of a vast and varied world stretching from Ireland to Constantinople, the Baltic to the Mediterranean..." - Amazon.
$9.99 or less alternative: Barbarians to Angels: The Dark Ages Reconsidered, by Peter S. Wells.

Major Farran's Hat: The Untold Story of the Struggle to Establish the Jewish State, by David Cesarani. Da Capo Press. Amazon customer rating: 4 stars (1 review). Kindle edition $13.73. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.
"In May 1947 a sixteen-year-old Jewish activist named Alexander Rubowitz was abducted in broad daylight from the streets of Jerusalem. At the abduction scene, a gray hat was found, purportedly belonging to Major Roy Farran, a decorated World War II officer who was in charge of British counterterrorism in Palestine. As evidence mounted against Farran, the Zionist underground swore vengeance. The episode precipitated a series of nail-biting twists and turns that had far-reaching consequences. An engaging mix of true crime and polemical narrative history, peopled by a cast of luminaries including Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery, Menachem Begin, and Golda Meir, Major Farran's Hat investigates shady violence, scandaluos cover-ups, and political expediency. It also explores why Britain lost Palestine, as well as how its counterinsurgency and diplomatic strategies collided so disastrously...David Cesarani, one of Britain’s leading historians, is Research Professor in History at Royal Holloway, London University, and author of the award-winning Becoming Eichmann: Rethinking the Life, Crimes, and Trial of a "Desk Murderer".He has published widely on Jewish history and the history of Zionism.
$9.99 or less alternative: Gideon's Spies: The Secret History of the Mossad, by Gordon Thomas.

The Politically Incorrect Guide to the 1960s, by Jonathan Leaf. Regnery Publishing. Amazon customer rating: 4 1/2 stars (12 reviews). Kindle edition $9.99. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.
"In this blast from the past, critically acclaimed playwright and journalist Jonathan Leaf reveals the politically incorrect truth about one of the most controversial decades in history: the 1960s. Did you know that the civil rights movement did little to improve the lives of average African Americans or that most Americans actively supported the Vietnam War and the draft? The Politically Incorrect Guide to the Sixties proves the anti Vietnam War sentiment and free love slogans that supposedly defined the decade were just a small part of the leftist counterculture." - Amazon.

The Age of Reagan: The Conservative Counterrevolution: 1980-1989, by Steven F. Hayward. Crown Forum. Amazon customer rating: 5 stars (2 reviews). Kindle edition $19.25. Text-to-Speech: Disabled.
"...From Steven F. Hayward, the critically acclaimed author of The Age of Reagan: The Fall of the Old Liberal Order, comes the first complete, true story of this misunderstood, controversial, and deeply consequential presidency. Hayward pierces the myths and media narratives, masterfully documenting exactly what transpired behind the scenes during Reagan’s landmark presidency and revealing his real legacy. What emerges is a compelling portrait of a man who arrived in office after thirty years of practical schooling in the ways of politics and power, possessing a clear vision of where he wanted to take the nation and a willingness to take firm charge of his own administration. His relentless drive to shrink government and lift the burdens of high taxation was born of a deep appreciation for the grander blessings of liberty. And it was this same outlook, extended to the world’s politically and economically enslaved nations, that shaped his foreign policy and lent his statecraft its great unifying power..." - randomhouse.com.
$9.99 or less alternative: Hayward's The Age of Reagan: The Fall of the Old Liberal Order: 1964-1980.

The Bonfire: The Seige and Burning of Atlanta, by Marc Wortman. Public Affairs. Amazon customer rating: 4 1/2 stars (3 reviews). Kindle edition $15.92. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.
"The destruction of Atlanta is an iconic moment in American history - it was the centerpiece of Gone with the Wind. But though the epic sieges of Leningrad, Stalingrad, and Berlin have all been explored in bestselling books, the one great American example has been treated only cursorily in more general histories. Marc Wortman remedies that conspicuous absence in grand fashion with The Bonfire, an absorbing narrative history told through the points of view of key participants both Confederate and Union. The Bonfire reveals an Atlanta of unexpected paradoxes: a new mercantile city dependent on the primitive institution of slavery; governed by a pro-Union mayor, James Calhoun, whose cousin was a famous defender of the South. When he surrendered the city to General Sherman after forty-four terrible days, Calhoun was accompanied by Bob Yancey, a black slave likely the son of Union advocate Daniel Webster. Atlanta was both the last of the medieval city sieges and the first modern urban devastation. From its ashes, a new South would arise.
$9.99 or less alternative: Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era, by James M. McPherson.

In the Graveyard of Empires: America's War in Afghanistan, by Seth G. Jones. Norton. Amazon customer rating: 4 1/2 stars (5 reviews). Kindle edition $9.99. Text-to-Speech:Enabled.
"Since 2001, RAND Corporation political scientist Jones...has been observing the reinvigorated insurgency in Afghanistan and weighing the potency of its threat to the country's future and American interests in the region. Jones finds the roots of the re-emergence in the expected areas: the deterioration of security after the ousting of the Taliban regime in 2002, the U.S.'s focus on Iraq as its foreign policy priority and Pakistan's role as a haven for insurgents. He revisits Afghan history, specifically the invasions by the British in the mid- and late-19th century and the Russians in the late-20th to rue how little the U.S. has learned from these two previous wars. He sheds light on why Pakistan - a consistent supporter of the Taliban - continues to be a key player in the region's future..." - Publishers Weekly.

Offbeat and Interesting: Three New Nonfiction Titles for the Kindle

Even if slinging tattoo ink, learning Hindi, or experiencing what it's like to be really cold aren't in your future plans, you may enjoy these experiences vicariously, reading these new nonfiction titles for the Kindle.

Tattoo Machine: Tall Tales, True Stories, and My Life in Ink by Jeff Johnson. Spiegel & Grau. Amazon customer rating: 4 1/2 stars (65 reviews). Kindle edition $9.99. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.
"...Johnson lifts the curtain on an art form that has undergone rebirth and illuminates a world where art, drama, and commerce come together in highly entertaining theater. A tattoo shop is no longer a den of social outcasts and degenerates - it’s a workshop where committed and schooled artists who paint on living canvases develop close bonds and bitter rivalries, where tattoo legends and innovators are equally revered, and where the potential for disaster lurks in every corner. Discussing everything from his days as an apprentice to some of the greatest inkers in the trade to the incredibly vivid nightly spectacular over which he presides, Jeff Johnson has written a sometimes riotous, sometimes harrowing, and always riveting memoir about what it means to be on the front lines of a global art revolution." - Amazon.

Cold: Adventures in the World's Frozen Places by Bill Streever. Little, Brown and Company. Amazon customer rating: 4 1/2 stars (7 reviews). Kindle edition $9.99. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.
"From avalanches to glaciers, from seals to snowflakes, and from Shackleton's expedition to 'The Year Without Summer,' Bill Streever journeys through history, myth, geography, and ecology in a year-long search for cold - real, icy, 40-below cold. In July he finds it while taking a dip in a 35-degree Arctic swimming hole; in September while excavating our planet's ancient and not so ancient ice ages; and in October while exploring hibernation habits in animals, from humans to wood frogs to bears. A scientist whose passion for cold runs red hot, Streever is a wondrous guide: he conjures woolly mammoth carcasses and the ice-age Clovis tribe from melting glaciers, and he evokes blizzards so wild readers may freeze - limb by vicarious limb." - Amazon.

Dreaming in Hindi by Katherine Russell Rich. Houghton Mifflin. Amazon customer rating: 4 stars (40 reviews). Kindle edition $13.73. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.
"Having miraculously survived a serious illness and now at an impasse in her career as a magazine editor, Rich spontaneously accepted a free-lance writing assignment to go to India, where she found herself thunderstruck by the place and the language. Before she knew it she was on her way to Udaipur, a city in the northwestern state of Rajasthan, in order to learn Hindi. In this inspirational memoir, Rich documents her experiences in India ranging from the bizarre to the frightening to the unexpectedly exhilarating using Hindi as the lens through which she is given a new perspective not only on India, but on the radical way the country and the language itself were changing her. Fascinated by the process, she went on to interview linguistics experts around the world, reporting back from the frontlines of the science wars on what happens in the brain when we learn a new language. Seamlessly combining Rich s courageous (and often hilarious) personal journey with wideranging reporting, Dreaming in Hindi offers an eye-opening account of what learning a new language can teach us about distant worlds and, ultimately, ourselves." - Amazon.
Less expensive alternative: Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman's Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia by Elizabeth Gilbert.

Kindle E-Books on the Cheap: A Weekly Selection (26 Aug 2009)

Once you've purchased an Amazon Kindle e-book reader, the wonderful world of public domain, Creative Commons and free e-book promotions opens up to you. In this weekly Kindle Reader feature, I point you to a few of the most interesting new free (or very cheap) e-books available for download from the web.

Free and inexpensive e-book selections for this week include science fiction by Philip K. Dick and Bradley Denton, a quintessential Wodehouse romp, four works of E. M. Forster, science fiction by Philip K. Dick, classic mystery stories with a touch of humor, and G. K. Chesterton's The Return of Don Quixote. Enjoy!

Buddy Holly is Alive and Well on Ganymede by Bradley Denton. SCIENCE FICTION. Download site: Manybooks. Format: Kindle (.AZW). Price: FREE.
"When televisions worldwide begin broadcasting a nonstop, noninterruptible live performance by Buddy Holly purporting to originate somewhere in the vicinity of Jupiter, Oliver Vale - the apparent object of the broadcasts - finds himself drafted for a mission so secret that even he is not sure of its purpose. (Campbell Award winner, 1992)." - Manybooks.net.

My Man Jeevesby P. G. Wodehouse. HUMOR. Download site: Amazon. Format: Kindle (.AZW). Price: FREE. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.
"Boswell and Johnson, Watson and Holmes . . . Wooster and Jeeves? Yes, another inseparable duo, this one linked by bonds of need and comedy. Here, we find the ever cool and capable gentleman's gentleman Jeeves pulling the hapless Bertie Wooster's fat from the fire time and again in classic style. A motley clutch of buffoons accompanies Jeeves's accounts of Wooster's misunderstandings, gaffes, and backfiring plans..." - AudioFile.

The Crystal Crypt by Philip K. Dick. SCIENCE FICTION. Download site: Feedbooks. Format: Mobipocket/Kindle. Price: FREE.
"Stark terror ruled the Inner-Flight ship on that last Mars-Terra run. For the black-clad Leiters were on the prowl ... and the grim red planet was not far behind." - Feedbooks.

4 Books by E. M. Forster. FICTION. Download site: Amazon. Format: Kindle (.AZW). Price: $0.99. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.
"Edward Morgan Forster...was an English novelist, short story writer, essayist and librettist. He is known best for his ironic and well-plotted novels examining class difference and hypocrisy and also the attitudes towards gender and homosexuality in early 20th-century British society. Forster's humanistic impulse toward understanding and sympathy may be aptly summed up in the epigraph to his 1910 novel Howards End: 'Only connect'." - Wikipedia. Forster is perhaps best known as the author of A Passage to India. This collection includes Howards End, The Longest Journey, A Room With A View, and Where Angels Fear to Tread.

The Adventures of Average Jonesby Samuel Hopkins Adams. CLASSIC MYSTERY STORIES. Download site: Amazon. Format: Kindle (.AZW). Price: $.99. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.
"This is a collection of eleven stories featuring the adventures of Adrian Van Reypen Egerton, or 'Average' Jones as his friends like to call him. He's a member of the very exclusive Cosmic Club, whose members are all experts in very diverse fields. Jones, who lives at the Club, uses his intelligence and remarkable sense of humor to solve very unusual crimes and cases which present themselves to him." - Amazon.

The Return of Don Quixote by G. K. Chesterton. FICTION. Download site: MobileRead. Format: .PRC. Price: FREE.
"Michael Herne is a librarian at Seawood Abbey, an estate owned by Lord Seawood. When Lord Seawood’s daughter and some of her friends want to put on a play called 'Blondel the Troubadour,' the librarian is asked to play the part of a medieval king. Herne not only takes his role seriously by thoroughly researching the Middle Ages, when the play is concluded, he refuses to take off the costume. He remains in character, much to the befuddlement and consternation of the other players. With this device, Chesterton achieves a wonderful effect in contrast to the typical snide modern commentary on the past: he creates an opportunity for the past to offer a commentary on the present. Herne looks at his old clothes, that is, the modern clothes he once wore, with embarrassment. The modern world is embarrassing. It takes a previous age to see that." - Dale Ahlquist for The American Chesterton Society.


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History Thru the Lens of Fiction: New Historical Novels for the Kindle (24 Aug 09)

Blending historical fact with fiction, a novel set in other times and places can transport you into the past more convincingly than a dry historical treatise - and entertain you in the bargain. What I look for in historical fiction are books by authors who, after reading the histories and doing the research, create stories based in the past that include characters I want to know better and a plot that keeps me turning pages - books like Peter Ackroyd's The Clerkenwell TalesBernard Cornwell's The Last Kingdomand Ken Follett's The Pillars of the Earth.

Now you can spend less time searching and more time reading as I watch for new historical fiction in the Kindle Storeso you don't have to. New on historical fiction shelves:

The White Queen, by Philippa Gregory. Touchstone. TIME FRAME: 15th century England. Amazon customer rating: 4 1/2 stars (13 reviews). Kindle edition $12.47. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.

"Brother turns on brother to win the ultimate prize, the throne of England, in this dazzling account of the wars of the Plantagenets. They are the claimants and kings who ruled England before the Tudors, and now Philippa Gregory brings them to life through the dramatic and intimate stories of the secret players: the indomitable women, starting with Elizabeth Woodville, the White Queen. The White Queen tells the story of a woman of extraordinary beauty and ambition who, catching the eye of the newly crowned boy king, marries him in secret and ascends to royalty. While Elizabeth rises to the demands of her exalted position and fights for the success of her family, her two sons become central figures in a mystery that has confounded historians for centuries: the missing princes in the Tower of London whose fate is still unknown. From her uniquely qualified perspective, Philippa Gregory explores this most famous unsolved mystery of English history, informed by impeccable research and framed by her inimitable storytelling skills." - Amazon.
Less expensive alternative: Figures in Silk, by Vanora Bennett.

The Virgin's Daughters, by Jeane Westin. NAL. TIME FRAME: 16th century England. Amazon customer rating: 5 stars (4 reviews). Kindle edition $9.99. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.

For background on the writing of The Virgin's Daughters, don't miss this interview with author Westin, courtesy of the Word Wenches.
"The story of Elizabeth I, as it's never been told before - through the eyes of two ladies-in-waiting closest to her. In a court filled with repressed sexual longing, scandal, and intrigue, Lady Katherine Grey is Elizabeth's most faithful servant. When the young queen is smitten by the dashing Robert Dudley, Katherine must choose between duty and desire - as her secret passion for a handsome earl threatens to turn Elizabeth against her. Once the queen becomes a bitter and capricious monarch, another lady-in-waiting, Mistress Mary Rogers, offers the queen comfort. But even Mary cannot remain impervious to the court's sexual tension - and as Elizabeth gives her doomed heart to the mercurial Earl of Essex, Mary is drawn to the queen's rakish godson-" - Amazon.

Noble House, by James Clavell. Dell. TIME FRAME: Hong Kong in the 1960s. Amazon customer rating: 4 1/2 stars (77 reviews). Kindle edition $7.19. Text-to-Speech: Disabled. First published in 1981.

"The setting is Hong Kong, 1963. The action spans scarcely more than a week, but these are days of high adventure: from kidnapping and murder to financial double-dealing and natural catastrophes–fire, flood, landslide. Yet they are days filled as well with all the mystery and romance of Hong Kong - the heart of Asia - rich in every trade...money, flesh, opium, power." - Amazon.

Four Freedoms, by John Crowley. HarperCollins. TIME FRAME: U.S. homefront during World War II. Amazon customer rating: 5 stars (3 reviews). Kindle edition $13.72. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.

"Although nominally about life at an American aircraft factory during World War II, Crowley’s complex and subtle novel is much grander. He explores the minds and hearts of people compelled by history to radically change their lives. Unaccountably optimistic Prosper Olander, orphaned as a child and crippled by a failed surgery, discovers that even he can find important work at a distant aircraft company in rural Oklahoma. Connie Wrobleski, frightened of nearly everything except her infant son, also travels to Oklahoma to reunite with her domineering husband, only to see him desert his family by enlisting. Prosper, Connie, and half a dozen other characters are developed in intricate detail and used as lenses on the massive relocation, dislocation, and societal change caused by the war." - Thomas Gaughan for Booklist.
Less expensive alternative: A Woman's Place, by Lynn Austin.

The Devil's Queen: A Novel of Catherine de Medici, by Jeanne Kalogridis. St. Martin's Press. TIME FRAME: 16th century France. Amazon customer rating: 4 stars (32 reviews). Kindle edition $13.72. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.

"Kalogridis puts a human face on one of the most reviled women in history. By portraying Catherine de Medici as a victim of circumstance who shrewdly did what was necessary to safeguard her birthright and the security of her family, she definitely provides a more sympathetic angle than usual. From her pampered Florentine childhood, to her imprisonment by rebel insurgents, to her arranged marriage to her beloved King Henri II of France, Catherine displays a cunning guile and a ruthless streak tempered by her great love for her husband and children. Interwoven into her life story and lending this fictional biography an almost mystical bent is her symbiotic relationship with Cosimio Ruggieri, a mysterious medieval psychic who plays an ever-expanding role in Catherine’s fortunes." Margaret Flanagan for Booklist.
Less expensive alternative: The Borgia Bride, the author's earlier historical novel set in 15th century Italy.

Woman from Shanghai, by Xianhui Yang. Publisher. TIME FRAME: China in the late 1950s. Amazon customer rating: 5 stars (1 review). Kindle edition $9.99. Text-to-Speech: Disabled.
"Between 1957 and 1960, nearly three thousand Chinese citizens were labeled 'Rightists' by the Communist Part and banished to Jianiangou in China’s northwestern desert region of Gansu to undergo 'reeducation' through hard labor. These exiles men and women were subjected to horrific conditions, and by 1961 the camp was closed because of the stench of death: of the rougly three thousand inmates, only about five hundred survived. In 1997, Xianhui Yang traveled to Gansu and spent the next five years interviewing more than one hundred survivors of the camp. In Woman from Shanghai he presents thirteen of their stories, which have been crafted into fiction in order to evade Chinese censorship but which lose none of their fierce power. These are tales of ordinary people facing extraordinary tribulations, time and again securing their humanity against those who were intent on taking it away." - Amazon.

A Week of Entertainment: Books Reviewed in Entertainment Weekly 21/28 Aug 09

Each week Entertainment Weekly reviews a small selection of popular new books. In this special fall movie preview issue, readers get short shrift. We hope that ET book reviewers will be back to work next week. Titles available for the Kindle reviewed in the August 21/28 double issue include:


The Law of Nines by Terry Goodkind. Putnam. NOVEL. EW's slant: "...an odd hybrid, a thriller with heavy doses of fantasy mixed in..." Amazon customer rating: 3 stars (7 reviews). Kindle edition $15.37. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.
"Turning twenty-seven may be terrifying for some, but for Alex, a struggling artist living in the midwestern United States, it is cataclysmic. Inheriting a huge expanse of land should have made him a rich and happy man; but something about this birthday, his name, and the beautiful woman whose life he just saved, has suddenly made him - and everyone he loves - into a target. A target for extreme and uncompromising violence... In Alex, Terry Goodkind brings to life a modern hero in a whole new kind of high-octane thriller." - Amazon.
$9.99 or less alternative: Goodkind's Wizard's First Rule or (staying in the mystery/thriller genre) Lee Child's Gone Tomorrow.

Born Round: The Secret History of a Full-Time Eater by Frank Bruni. Penguin. MEMOIR. EW's slant: "What's the big fat deal? Pass the breadsticks." Amazon customer rating: 4 1/2 stars (9 reviews). Kindle edition $12.46. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.
"How a man with a lifelong battle of the bulge landed the job as the restaurant critic for the New York Times, the most influential job in the food world, is only half the story (more like a third, really) in Frank Bruni's brave, brutally honest, often hilarious, and truly endearing memoir..." - Amazon.
$9.99 or less alternative: My Life in France by Julia Child.

Toast: The Story of a Boy's Hunger by Niguel Slater. Gotham. MEMOIR. EW's slant: "...about adolescence, loneliness and self-discovery, and how one boy learned to eat." Amazon customer rating: 4 stars (11 reviews). Kindle edition $9.99.
"...truly extraordinary story of a childhood remembered through food. In each chapter, as he takes readers on a tour of the contents of his family's pantry - rice pudding, tinned ham, cream soda, mince pies, lemon drops, bourbon biscuits - we are transported... His mother was a chops-and-peas sort of cook, exasperated by the highs and lows of a temperamental stove, a finicky little son, and the asthma that was to prove fatal. His father was a honey-and-crumpets man with an unpredictable temper. When Nigel's widowed father takes on a housekeeper with social aspirations and a talent in the kitchen, the following years become a heartbreaking cooking contest for his father's affections. But as he slowly loses the battle, Nigel finds a new outlet for his culinary talents, and we witness the birth of what was to become a lifelong passion for food. Nigel's likes and dislikes, aversions and sweet-toothed weaknesses, form a fascinating backdrop to this exceptionally moving memoir of childhood, adolescence, and sexual awakening... sure to delight both foodies and memoir readers ..." - Amazon.


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Kindle Genre Watch (20 Aug 09)

Genre fiction - as opposed to nonfiction, graphic novels and picture books - lends itself to enjoyable Kindle reading because when you pick up a book of fiction you don't necessarily expect it to be illustrated. Authors of mysteries, science fiction, fantasy, romance novels and westerns paint word pictures and their readers use their own imagination to picture the scene of the crime or the stare of a vampire or the track of an alien space craft hurtling towards earth.

Now you can spend less time searching for new genre fiction and more time reading it as I watch for newly-released genre fiction in the Kindle Storeso you don't have to. Recent genre fiction releases include:

FANTASY

Legacy by Cayla Kluver. AmazonEncore. Kindle edition $9.99. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.
"In an award-winning YA fantasy debut, 16-year-old novelist Cayla Kluver brings a magical touch to an unrelentingly suspenseful coming-of-age tale. Duty-bound to wed her father’s choice in successor to the throne, Princess Alera of Hytanica believes that she is being forced into the worst of all possible fates - a marriage to the arrogant and hot-tempered suitor, Steldor. When a mysterious boy from enemy Cokyri appears bearing secrets and an entirely different view of what's appropriate behavior for a young lady, Alera learns that her private desires threaten to destroy the kingdom. When Narian’s shocking past comes to light, Alera finds herself in a shadowy world of palace intrigue and ancient blood feuds, facing an uncertain future with dwindling options—and must learn to decide between right and wrong all alone..." - Amazon.

Hunting Ground by Patricia Briggs. (Alpha & Omega, Book 2). Ace. Kindle edition $6.39. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.
"Mated to werewolf Charles Cornick, the son-and enforcer-of the leader of the North American werewolves, Anna Latham now knows how dangerous being a werewolf is, especially when a werewolf who opposes Charles and his father is struck down. Charles's reputation makes him the prime suspect, and the penalty for the crime is execution. Now Anna and Charles must combine their talents to hunt down the real killer - or Charles will take the fall." - Amazon.

Vanished by Kat Richardson. Roc. Kindle edition $9.99. Text-to-Speech: Enabled. Vanished is Richardson's 4th Greywalker novel.
"Harper Blaine was your average small-time P.I. until she died - for two minutes. Now Harper is a Greywalker - walking the line between the living world and the paranormal realm. And she's discovering that her new abilities are landing her in all sorts of strange cases. But for Harper, her own case may prove the most difficult to solve. Why did she - as opposed to others with near-death experiences - become a Greywalker? When Harper digs into her own past, she unearths some unpleasant truths about her father's early death as well as a mysterious puzzle. Forced by some very demanding vampires to take on an investigation in London, she soon discovers her present troubles in England are entangled with her dark past back in Seattle - and her ultimate destiny as a Greywalker." - Amazon.

Treason's Shore by Sherwood Smith. (Inda, Book 4). Daw. Kindle edition $13.70. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.
"Inda, fresh from his triumph on the battlefield against the Venn, takes his place beside King Evred as Harskialdna, the King's Shield. But the Venn are far from defeated and only Inda's fame is strong enough to inspire all the squabbling kingdoms to unite and raise a force mighty enough to protect the strait and repel the enemy. Evred has also ordered Inda to take over the strait once the battle is won, but Inda, a former pirate, knows that this is a very bad idea. Now Inda must choose between obeying his liege - or committing treason." - Amazon.
$9.99 or less alternative: Inda, volume one in the series.

Norse Code by Greg Van Eekhout. Spectra. Kindle edition $6.39. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.
"Norse Code has bone crunching battles, ironic ravens, a resistance movement of dead Iowans, a great loner hero redeemed by the love of a spunky valkyrie in California during the apocalypse, and lots of wit. If that doesn't sound like fun to you, all I can say is, well, I'm sorry. Cause it is." - Maureen McHugh, author of China Mountain Zhang.

Bad Moon Rising by Sherrilyn Kenyon. (Dark-Hunter Novels, v. 12). St. Martin's Press. Kindle edition $9.99. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.
"Fang Kattalakis isn't just a wolf. He is the brother of two of the most powerful members of the Omegrion: the ruling council that enforces the laws of the Were-Hunters. And when war erupts among the lycanthropes, sides must be chosen. Enemies are forced into shaky alliances. And when the woman Fang loves is accused of betraying her people, her only hope is that Fang believes in her. Yet in order to save her, Fang must break the law of his people and the faith of his brothers. That breech could very well spell the end of both their races and change their world forever." - us.macmillan.com.

The Legend of Oescienne - The Finding by Jenna Elizabeth Johnson. Kindle edition $4.29. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.
"When the dragon Jaax receives word that a human infant has been found in the province of Oescienne, he doesn’t dare believe it. Humans have been extinct for centuries, trapped by a terrible curse and left to live out their existence in the form of dragons. Despite his doubts, however, Jaax assumes responsibility for the baby girl only to discover that what he has been seeking for so many years has finally been found...
Jahrra knows all about the legends and sagas of Oescienne, but never in her wildest dreams would she believe that she played a part in one of them. She’s far too busy dodging the bullies at school and seeking out new adventures with her friends to worry about what secrets her dragon mentor might be keeping from her, or that her every move is being watched by something living in the forest surrounding her home. But the secrets run deep, and as Jahrra fights to earn her place in this extraordinary world, she will begin to unravel the truth of it all: that she isn’t as safe as she thought she was..." - Amazon.

Vicious Circle by Linda Robertson. Pocket Ebooks. Kindle edition $6.39. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.
"....Being a witch doesn't pay the bills, but Persephone Alcmedi gets by between reading Tarot cards, writing her syndicated newspaper column, and kenneling werewolves in the basement when the moon is full - even if witches aren't supposed to mingle with wolves. She really reaches the end of her leash, though, when her grandmother gets kicked out of the nursing home and Seph finds herself in the doghouse about some things she's written. Then her werewolf friend Lorrie is murdered - and the high priestess of an important coven offers Seph big money to destroy the killer..." - Amazon.

Sea Glass by Maria V. Snyder. (Glass, book 2). Harlequin. Kindle edition $9.99. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.
"Student glass magician Opal Cowan's newfound ability to steal a magician's powers makes her too powerful. Ordered to house arrest, Opal dares defy her imprisonment, travelling to the Moon Clan's lands in search of Ulrick, the man she thinks she loves. Thinks because she is sure another man - now her prisoner - has switched souls with Ulrick. In hostile territory, without proof or allies, Opal isn't sure whom to trust. She can't forget Kade, the handsome Stormdancer who doesn't want to let her get close. And now everyone is after Opal's special powers for their own deadly gain." - Amazon.

MYSTERIES/THRILLERS

Vanished by Joseph Finder. St. Martin's Press. Kindle edition $12.22. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.
"Nick Heller is tough, smart, and stubborn. And in his line of work, it's essential. Trained in the Special Forces, Nick is a high-powered intelligence investigator - exposing secrets that powerful people would rather keep hidden. He's a guy you don't want to mess with. He's also the man you call when you need a problem fixed. Desperate, with nowhere else to run, Nick's nephew, Gabe makes that call one night..." - Amazon.
$9.99 or less alternative: All of Finder's other Kindle thrillersrun $9.99. or less.

Undone by Karin Slaughter. Delacorte Press. Kindle edition $9.99. Text-to-Speech: Disabled.
"In the trauma center of Atlanta’s busiest hospital, Sara Linton treats the city’s poor, wounded, and unlucky - and finds refuge from the tragedy that rocked her life in rural Grant County. Then, in one instant, Sara is thrust into a frantic police investigation, coming face-to-face with a tall driven detective and his quiet female partner...In her latest suspense masterpiece, Karin Slaughter weaves together the moving, powerful human stories of characters as real as they are complex and unforgettable. At the same time she has crafted a work of dazzling storytelling and spine-tingling mystery - as three people, each with their own wounds and their own secrets, are all that stands between a madman and his next crime." - randomhouse.com.

Rules of Vengeance by Christopher Reich. Doubleday. Kindle edition $9.99. Text-to-Speech: Disabled.
"Months after foiling an attack on a commercial jetliner, Doctors Without Borders physician Jonathan Ransom is working under an assumed name in a remote corner of Africa while his wife, Emma, desperate to escape the wrath of Division, the secret American intelligence agency she betrayed, has vanished into the netherworld of international espionage. Both look forward to sharing a stolen weekend in London - until an ambush on a convoy of limousines turns their romantic rendezvous into a terrorist bloodbath...
A riveting sequel to the New York Times bestseller Rules of Deceptionthat confirms Christopher Reich as the master of the espionage thriller." - Amazon.

Dying for Mercy by Mary Jane Clark. HarperCollins. Kindle edition $9.99. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.
"When death shatters the serenity of the exclusive moneyed enclave of Tuxedo Park, New York, Eliza Blake, cohost of the country's premier morning television show KEY to America, is on the scene. While attending a lavish gala at her friends' newly renovated estate, Pentimento, Eliza's host is found dead - a grotesque suicide that is the first act in a macabre and intricately conceived plan to expose the sins of the past involving some of the town's most revered citizens.
Determined to find out the truth, Eliza and her KEY News colleagues - producer Annabelle Murphy, cameraman B.J. D'Elia, and psychiatrist Margo Gonzalez - discover that Pentimento holds the key. Nestled in the park's sprawling architectural masterpieces, picturesque gardeners' cottages, and lush, rolling landscape, the glorious mansion is actually a giant 'puzzle house,' filled with ingenious clues hidden in its fireplaces, fountains, and frescoes that lead them from one suspicious locale to another - and, one by one, to the victims of a fiendish killer..." - harpercollins.com.

ROMANCE

A Duke of Her Own by Eloisa James. HarperCollins. Kindle edition $6.39. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.
"...Leopold Dautry, the notorious Duke of Villiers, must wed quickly and nobly-and his choices, alas, are few. The Duke of Montague's daughter, Eleanor, is exquisitely beautiful and fiercely intelligent. Villiers betroths himself to her without further ado. After all, no other woman really qualifies. Lisette, the outspoken daughter of the Duke of Gilner, cares nothing for clothing or decorum. She's engaged to another man, and doesn't give a fig for status or title. Half the ton believes Lisette mad - and Villiers is inclined to agree. Torn between logic and passion, between intelligence and imagination, Villiers finds himself drawn to the very edge of impropriety. But it is not until he's in a duel to the death, fighting for the reputation of the woman he loves, that Villiers finally realizes that the greatest risk may not be in the dueling field...But in the bedroom. And the heart." - Amazon.

Darkest Prison by Gena Showalter. HQN. Kindle edition $2.39. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.
"Once, Atlas, the Titan god of Strength, was the Greek goddess Nike's slave. Now, he is her master. And soon these sworn enemies destined to destroy one another will be forced to risk everything for a chance at love..." - Amazon.

The Bridegroom by Linda Lael Miller. HQN. Kindle edition $5.76. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.
"Undercover agent Gideon Yarbro is renowned for stopping outlaws almost before they commit a crime. But now he must stop a wedding - despite the bride's resistance. Lydia Fairmont will lose everything if she doesn't honor her betrothal to a heartless banker. Unless she marries someone else instead...whether it's a love match or not. Determined to honor his own decade-old promise to help Lydia, Gideon carries her off to Stone Creek and makes her his reluctant wife. Forget a honeymoon for 'show' - not with a vengeful ex-fiance on their trail and a hired gun on the loose. But there just might be hope for the marriage - and two hearts meant for each other." - Amazon.

SCIENCE FICTION

The Day Watch by Sergei Lukyanenko. (Watch, Book 2). Hyperion. Kindle edition $7.99. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.
"The second book in the internationally bestselling fantasy series, Day Watch begins where The Night Watch left off, set in a modern-day Moscow where the 1,000-year-old treaty between Light and Dark maintains its uneasy balance through careful vigilance from the Others. The forces of darkness keep an eye during the day, the Day Watch, while the agents of Light monitor the nighttime. Very senior Others called the Inquisitors are the impartial judges insisting on the essential compact. When a very potent artifact is stolen from them, the consequences are dire and drastic for all sides. Day Watch introduces the perspective of the Dark Ones, as it is told in part by a young witch who bolsters her evil power by leeching fear from children's nightmares as a counselor at a girls' summer camp. When she falls in love with a handsome young Light One, the balance is threatened and a death must be avenged. Day Watch is replete with the thrilling action and intricate plotting of the first tale, fuelled by cunning, cruelty, violence, and magic. It is a fast paced, darkly humorous, haunting world that will take root in the shadows of your mind and live there forever." - Amazon.

Twilight Watch by Sergei Lukyanenko. (Watch, Book 3). Hyperion. Kindle edition $7.99. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.
"Translated by Andrew Bromfield, Night Watch and Day Watch, the first two books in this remarkable series, established Sergei Lukyanenko as a breathtakingly bold talent. Part fantasy, part vampire story, and part detective potboiler, this is the most successful science fiction series of all time in Russia and a true international sensation...The world of Lukyanenko is as elaborate and imaginative as Tolkien or the best Asimov: Living among us are the 'Others,' an ancient race of humans with supernatural powers who swear allegiance to either the Dark or the Light. A thousand-year treaty has maintained the balance of power, and the two sides coexist in an uneasy truce. In Twilight Watch, the Others face their greatest threat yet. A renegade Other, his identity as yet unknown, has absconded with a fabled spell-book of untold power and appears bent on attacking the entire earth. Now forces of the Light and the Dark - the Night Watch and the Day Watch - must cooperate to stop him..." - Amazon.

The Sheriff of Yrnameer by Michael Rubens. Pantheon. Kindle edition $9.99. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.
"Meet Cole: hapless space rogue, part-time smuggler, on a path to being full-time dead. His sidekick just stole his girlfriend. The galaxy's most hideous and feared bounty hunter wants to lay eggs in his brain. And the luxury space yacht Cole just hijacked turns out of be filled with interstellar do-gooders, one especially loathsome stowaway, and a cargo of freeze-dried orphans. Reluctantly compelled to deliver these defenseless, fluidless children to safety, Cole gathers a misfit crew for a desperate journey to the far reaches of the galaxy. Their destination: the mysterious world of Yrnameer, the very last of the your-name-heres - planets without corporate sponsors. But little does Cole know that this legendary utopia is home to a murderous band of outlaws bent on destroying the planet's tiny, peaceful community...In the spirit of Douglas Adams and Terry Pratchett, The Sheriff of Yrnameer is sci-fi comedy at its best—mordant, raucously funny, and a thrilling page-turner." - Amazon.

The Sword of the Lady by S. M. Stirling. (The Emberverse series, Book 6). Roc. Kindle edition $14.27. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.
"Rudi Mackenzie has journeyed far across the land that was once the United States of America, hoping to find the source of the world-altering event that has come to be known as The Change. His final destination is Nantucket, an island overrun with forest, inhabited by a mere two hundred people who claim to have been transported there from out of time. Only one odd stone house remains standing. Within it, Rudi finds a beautifully made sword waiting for him—and once he takes it up, nothing will ever be the same…" - us.penguingroup.com.
$9.99 or less alternative: Stirling's alternate history The Sky People.

The Ultimate Science Fiction Collection (Volume 1) and The Ultimate Science Fiction Collection (Volume 2). Douglas Editions. Kindle edition $1.00 per volume. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.
Books and stories by John W. Campbell, Tom Godwin, Andre Alice Norton, H. Beam Piper, Mack Reynolds, and E. E. Smith - a total of 60 titles in two large editions with an active table of contents. Many - if not all - of these books are available elsewhere as free downloads, but you may prefer the convenience of inexpensive Whispernet delivery at $2.00 for the set.

WESTERNS

Sun Going Down by Jack Todd. Simon & Schuster. Kindle edition $9.99. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.
"Three generations of the Paint family struggle through 70 years of hardship and heartache on the Western plains in Todd's ambitious fiction debut. En route from Mississippi to the Dakota Territory at the height of the Civil War, Ebenezar Paint meets and marries twice-widowed Cora, a union that produces two strapping twin boys, Eli and Ezra. Ebenezer vainly chases riches; by 15, the boys are orphans and cowboys - and involved in a risky but profitable bit of horse stealing. Ezra remains a wanderer, while Eli settles down to become a wealthy rancher. The narrative eventually follows Eli's favorite daughter of his six children: Velma, who is brutalized by two of her three husbands, but whose estrangement from Eli causes her the most pain, and takes the story into the Depression era." - Publishers Weekly.

The Border Empire by Ralph Compton. Signet. Kindle edition $4.79. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.
Nathan Stone, the Gunfighter, lay dead in the street, a victim of the ruthless Sandlin gang. Behind him he leaves his guns and the son he hardly knew - a former lawman who is about to teach these killers just what it means to be his father's son.

Longarm and the Shotgun Man by Tabor Evans. (Longarm, 370). Jove. Kindle edition $4.79. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.
"On an undercover assignment riding shotgun for a robbery-plagued stagecoach line, Longarm has to outshoot and outmaneuver a vicious gang - in the deadliest showdown of his career." - Amazon.

The Kindle Reads NPR's Audience Picks of Best Beach Books Ever (part 2)

This is part two of the list of 100 best beach books chosen by the audiences of National Public Radio. See the previous Kindle Reader post for part one.

Kindle-worthy titles are listed below in bold type. Kindle holdouts are in italics and link to dead tree editions of the book. Of the 100 titles on the complete list, 68 are now available in Kindle editions.

51. Little Womenby Louisa May Alcott
52. The Standby Stephen King
53. She's Come Undoneby Wally Lamb
54. Dune by Frank Herbert
55. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows
56. Love in the Time of Choleraby Gabriel Garcia Marquez
57. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
58. Lolitaby Vladimir Nabokov
59. The Godfather by Mario Puzo
60. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith
61. Animal Dreams by Barbara Kingsolver
62. Jawsby Peter Benchley
63. Good in Bed by Jennifer Weiner
64. Angle of Repose by Wallace Stegner
65. Snow Falling on Cedarsby David Guterson
66. The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway
67. The Fountainheadby Ayn Rand
68. Breakfast of Champions by Kurt Vonnegut
69. Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut
70. The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler
71. The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway
72. The Hunt for Red October by Tom Clancy
73. Cold Sassy Tree by Olive Ann Burns
74. The Lord of the Flies by William Golding
75. Bonfire of the Vanities by Tom Wolfe
76. Wuthering Heightsby Emily Bronte
77. Outlander by Diana Gabaldon
78. The Shell Seekersby Rosamunde Pilcher
79. Prodigal Summer by Barbara Kingsolver
80. Eye of the Needleby Ken Follett
81. Cannery Row by John Steinbeck
82. The Pilot's Wife by Anita Shreve
83. All the Pretty Horsesby Cormac McCarthy
84. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson
85. The Little Princeby Antoine De Saint-Exupery
86. The Road by Cormac McCarthy
87. One for the Money by Janet Evanovich
88. Shogunby James Clavell
89. Dracula by Bram Stoker
90. The Unbearable Lightness of Beingby Milan Kundera
91. Presumed Innocent by Scott Turow
92. Franny and Zooeyby J.D. Salinger
93. The Secret Historyby Donna Tartt
94. Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris
95. Summer Sistersby Judy Blume
96. The Shining by Stephen King
97. How Stella Got Her Groove Back by Terry McMillan
98. Lamb by Christopher Moore
99. Sick Puppy by Carl Hiaasen
100.Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson


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The Kindle Reads NPR's Audience Picks of Best Beach Books Ever (part 1)

NPR recently polled its book-loving audience for their favorite beach reads. Their response was an eclectic mix of new and classic favorites.

I thought it would be interesting to see how many of these books - chosen by recreational readers rather than book critics - are available for our favorite reading device. As the list is long - one hundred titles - I'm dividing it into two parts, with the first part today and the second in the next Kindle Reader post.

Kindle-worthy titles are listed below in bold type. Kindle holdouts (don't get me started on J. K. Rowling!) are in italics and link to dead tree editions of the book. Of the first 50 titles on the list, 32 are available for the Kindle.

01. The Harry Potter seriesby J.K. Rowling
02. To Kill a Mockingbirdby Harper Lee
03. The Kite Runnerby Khaled Hosseini
04. Bridget Jones's Diaryby Helen Fielding
05. Pride and Prejudiceby Jane Austen
06. Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhoodby Rebecca Wells
07. The Great Gatsbyby F. Scott Fitzgerald
08. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxyby Douglas Adams
09. Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafeby Fannie Flagg
10. The Poisonwood Bibleby Barbara Kingsolver
11. The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
12. Life of Piby Yann Martel
13. The Joy Luck Clubby Amy Tan
14. The Hobbitby J.R.R. Tolkien
15. The Catcher in the Ryeby J.D. Salinger
16. Gone with the Windby Margaret Mitchell
17. Bel Cantoby Ann Patchett
18. The Lord of the Ringsby J.R.R. Tolkien
19. Middlesexby Jeffrey Eugenides
20. Water for Elephantsby Sara Gruen
21.The Adventures of Huckleberry Finnby Mark Twain
22. The Bean Treesby Barbara Kingsolver
23. The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agencyby Alexander McCall Smith
24. The World According to Garpby John Irving
25. Catch-22by Joseph Heller
26. The Prince of Tidesby Pat Conroy
27. Like Water for Chocolateby Laura Esquivel
28. The Princess Brideby William Goldman
29. The Accidental Touristby Anne Tyler
30. Twilightby Stephenie Meyer
31.A Confederacy of Duncesby John Kennedy Toole
32. East of Edenby John Steinbeck
33. The Red Tentby Anita Diamant
34. Beach Musicby Pat Conroy
35. One Hundred Years of Solitudeby Gabriel Garcia Marquez
36. Rebeccaby Daphne Du Maurier
37. Ender's Gameby Orson Scott Card
38. Lonesome Doveby Larry McMurtry
39. The Thorn Birdsby Colleen McCullough
40. The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clayby Michael Chabon
41. Pillars of the Earthby Ken Follett
42. Anna Kareninaby Leo Tolstoy
43. Interview with the Vampireby Anne Rice
44. Cold Mountainby Charles Frazier
45. Empire Fallsby Richard Russo
46. Under the Tuscan Sunby Frances Mayes
47. The Count of Monte Cristoby Alexandre Dumas
48. Even Cowgirls Get the Bluesby Tom Robbins
49. I Know This Much is Trueby Wally Lamb
50. Murder on the Orient Expressby Agatha Christie


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