Kindle Default Dictionaries

Attention Dictionary Aficionados. Amazon now has a page dedicated to Kindle Default Dictionaries. Although there are only seven dictionaries - English, Bible and Medical - there now, it's convenient to have them all in one place.

Kindle Genre Watch (29 Sep 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

Rosemary and Rue by Seanan McGuire. Daw. Kindle edition $6.39. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.
"Singer-songwriter McGuire adeptly infuses her debut with hardboiled sensibilities and a wide array of mythological influences, set against a moody San Francisco backdrop. October Toby Daye is half-human, half-faerie, a changeling PI with a foot in both worlds. After spending 14 years as a fish following a botched assignment, she's desperate to avoid magic, but the dying curse of a murdered elven lady forces her to investigate the killing, with the price of failure being Toby's own painful death. ...Well researched, sharply told, highly atmospheric and as brutal as any pulp detective tale, this promising start to a new urban fantasy series is sure to appeal to fans of Jim Butcher or Kim Harrison." - Publishers Weekly.

MYSTERIES/THRILLERS

Urge to Kill by John Lutz. Kensington Publishing. Kindle edition $0.00. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.
"Homicide detective Frank Quinn can't stay retired when a new breed of murdering madman is on the prowl. In a city terrorized by bloody brutality, Quinn and his team hunt a psychopath who lures beautiful women into a night of unbridled passion, then wakes them to a vicious, drawn-out death. Stumbling over a trail of horribly defiled bodies, Quinn can't seem to catch up to the killer-because the killer is about to catch up to him." - Amazon.

The Spire by Richard North Patterson. Henry Holt. Kindle edition $9.99. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.
"Mark Darrow grew up in a small Ohio town with no real advantages beyond his intelligence and athletic ability. But thanks to the intervention of Lionel Farr - a professor at Caldwell, the local college - Darrow became an excellent student and, later, a superb trial lawyer. Now Farr asks his still-youthful protégé for a life-altering favor. An embezzlement scandal has threatened Caldwell's very existence - would Darrow consider becoming its new president? Darrow accepts, but returning to his alma mater opens old wounds. Sixteen years ago, on the night of his greatest triumph as Caldwell's star quarterback, he discovered the body of a black female student named Angela Hall at the base of the Spire, the bell tower that dominates the leafy campus. His best friend, Steve Tillman, was charged with Angela's murder and ultimately sent to prison for life. But now, even as Darrow begins the daunting task of leading Caldwell, he discovers that the case against his friend left crucial questions unanswered..." - fantasticfiction.co.uk.

Hothouse Orchid by Stuart Woods. Putnam. Kindle edition $13.22. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.
"After Special Agent Holly Barker lets international terrorist Teddy Fay slip through her fingers for a second time, the CIA thinks she might want a long vacation, at least until Teddy is captured and the bad publicity has blown over. So Holly returns to her hometown of Orchid Beach, Florida, where she had been police chief for many years. But a very unpleasant surprise awaits her. Many years earlier, Holly and another female army officer had brought charges against their commanding officer for sexual harassment, attempted rape, and rape. Holly had managed to fight him off, but the other woman, a young lieutenant, had not. The officer in question was acquitted of all charges, and has also left the army - for a job as Orchid Beach's new police chief." - Amazon.
$9.99 or less alternative: Santa Fe Rules - an earlier Woods mystery.

Hardball by Sara Paretsky. Putnam. Kindle edition $12.60. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.
"Chicago's unique brand of ball is sixteen-inch slow pitch, played in leagues all over the city for more than a century. But in politics, in business, and in law enforcement, the game is hardball. When V. I. Warshawski is asked to find a man who's been missing for four decades, a search that she figured would be futile becomes lethal. Old skeletons from the city's racially charged history, as well as haunting family secrets - her own and those of the elderly sisters who hired her - rise up to brush her back from the plate with a vengeance. A young cousin whom she's never met arrives from Kansas City to work on a political campaign; a nun who marched with Martin Luther King Jr. dies without revealing crucial evidence; and on the city's South Side, people spit when she shows up. Afraid to learn that her adored father might have been a bent cop, V. I. still takes the investigation all the way to its frightening end." - Amazon.
$9.99 or less alternative: Sisters on the Case, an anthology of 25 short stories by a variety of women mystery writers including Paretsky.

ROMANCE

According to Jane by Marilyn Brant. Kensington. Kindle edition $0.00. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.
"It begins one day in sophomore English class, just as Ellie Barnett's teacher is assigning Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. From nowhere comes a quiet "tsk" of displeasure. The target: Sam Blaine, the cute bad boy who's teasing Ellie mercilessly, just as he has since kindergarten. Entirely unbidden, as Jane might say, the author's ghost has taken up residence in Ellie's mind, and seems determined to stay there. Jane's wise and witty advice guides Ellie through the hell of adolescence and beyond, serving as the voice she trusts, usually far more than her own. Years and boyfriends come and go - sometimes a little too quickly, sometimes not nearly fast enough. But Jane's counsel is constant, and on the subject of Sam, quite insistent. Stay away, Jane demands. He is your Mr. Wickham.

Tempt Me at Twlight by Lisa Kleypas. Minotaur Books. Kindle edition $9.99. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.
"Poppy Hathaway loves her unconventional family, though she longs for normalcy. Then fate leads to a meeting with Harry Rutledge, an enigmatic hotel owner and inventor with wealth, power, and a dangerous hidden life. When their flirtation compromises her own reputation, Poppy shocks everyone by accepting his proposal - only to find that her new husband offers his passion, but not his trust." - us.macmillan.com.

Silent Killer by Beverly Barton. Zebra. Kindle edition $4.47. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.
"Eighteen months after her husband’s unsolved murder, Cathy Cantrell has returned to her Alabama home, eager to build a new life for herself and her son. But pieces of her past are everywhere - including Jackson Perdue, the town’s deputy sheriff. The spate of recent deaths - each victim burned in the same horrifying manner - leave Jack and Cathy in no doubt that a serial killer is at work, one whose rage grows more vicious each day..." - www.beverlybarton.com.

Lord of Pleasure by Delilah Marvelle. Zebra. Kindle edition $3.19. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.
"It's been months since Lady Charlotte Chartwell's philandering husband met his untimely end at the hands of an angry mistress. But as miserable as he made Charlotte in life, his death proves to be an even harsher blow. For not a farthing of his fortune or estate have passed on to her, and as a ruined widow, she is destitute, penniless, and utterly without hope. Then, as Charlotte is considering the worst, a man steps into her carriage. His intentions are quite indecent at first, but the more he learns about her, the more an unfamiliar - and undesirable - emotion creeps over him. Could it be compassion? Never! For this is Alexander Baxendale, third Earl of Hawksford. He is known throughout the ton as the Lord of Pleasure, dedicated to passion, ruthless in his pursuit of sensual gratification. Yet never in all his exploits has he met a woman who could intrigue him as Charlotte does." - www.kensingtonbooks.com.

Easily Amused by Karen McQuestion. Kindle edition $1.79. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.
"Twenty-nine year-old Lola Watson has two best friends, a dream job editing a parenting magazine, and a charming old house inherited from a great-aunt she barely knew. Life would be perfect if only she could avoid her intrusive neighbors. And for that matter, she also wouldn't mind being happily married like her friend Piper, or even engaged like her younger sister Mindy. Lola's peaceful existence is shattered when high school buddy Hubert moves in with her after a break-up, her sister changes her wedding date to Lola's thirtieth birthday, and the nosy neighbors take Hubert under their wing. Life gets more complicated when Piper sets Lola up with a good-looking stranger who turns out to be the talk of her neighborhood - the mystery man from across the street."

Show No Fear by Marliss Melton. Forever. Kindle edition $5.59. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.
"Lucy Donovan always gets her man. As a fiercely independent CIA agent, she's survived hundreds of death-defying missions. But her latest may just get her killed. Weighed down with a secret she's desperate to keep, the last thing Lucy needs is to be sent undercover with a man who brings out the best and the worst in her. Navy SEAL Gus Atwater never turns down an assignment, even if it means working with the only woman he's ever loved and lost. So with a volatile mix of desire and distrust, Lucy and Gus confront their tangled past. Pretending to be man and wife is risky enough, but now the clock is running out. As their mission escalates from desperate to deadly, will Lucy's secret expose them both?" - Amazon.

SCIENCE FICTION

EVE: The Empyrean Age by Tony Gonzales. Tor. Kindle edition $9.99. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.
"A clone with no name or past awakens to a cruel existence, hunted mercilessly for crimes he may never know; yet he stands close to the pinnacle of power in New Eden. A disgraced ambassador is confronted by a mysterious woman who knows everything about him, and of the sinister plot against his government; his actions will one day unleash the vengeful wrath of an entire civilization. And among the downtrodden masses of a corporation-owned world, a man named Tibus Heth is about to launch a revolution that will change the course of history. The confluence of these dark events will lead humanity towards a tragic destiny..." - www.orionbooks.co.uk.

Transition by Iain M. Banks. Orbit. Kindle edition $9.99. Text-to-Speech: Disabled.
"...a hallucinatory thriller about what happened to Earth - and specifically, Europe - in the time 'between the fall of the Wall and the fall of the Towers.' In other words, during the feverish years between the demise of the Berlin Wall that marked the end of communism's hold over Europe and the demise of the Twin Towers in New York City that marked the beginning of the 'war on terror.' When a novel begins with such heavy-handed references, you worry that it's about to become cliched balderdash about How The World Is Changing. Luckily, that is not the case here. Though Transition is an intensely political novel, it is not about party politics or East vs. West or the end of the state...Instead, it is about a group of renegade dimension-hoppers who dare to take on a shady, multiverse-manipulating institution called variously the Concern or L'Expedience." - Annalee Newitz for io9.com.

Choice of the Cat by E. E. Knight. Book two of The Vampire Earth series that began with Way of the Wolf. Roc. Kindle edition $6.39. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.
"... alien overlords have conquered Earth and are hungrily harvesting human souls. Standing in their way are pockets of resistance that have vowed to fight back against impossible odds to reclaim the planet. Lieutenant David Valentine is a member of the Wolves, an elite regiment proficient in tracking down and killing the enemy Kur and their minions of vampiric Reapers and troll-like Grogs. But when a battle with the enemy goes horribly wrong and Valentine is unjustly threatened with a court-martial, he's forced to resign his position with the Wolves. Fate intervenes, and he is offered a position as a Cat, a select stealth warrior who usually works alone and is sent into the most dangerous situations. Together with the deadly (and beautiful) Smoke, a female Cat, Valentine is sent on a mission across the Great Plains Gulag to find out why enemy soldiers are wearing the symbol of the Twisted Cross. Fans of postapocalyptic fiction should thoroughly enjoy this captivating and highly original series..." - Paul Goat Allen

Minority Report by Philip K. Dick. Pantheon. Kindle edition $9.99. Text-to-Speech: Enabled. Movie Tie-In: Minority Report,directed by Steven Spielberg and starring Tom Cruise and Colin Farrell.
"In the world of The Minority Report, Commissioner John Anderton is the one to thank for the lack of crime. He is the originator of the Precrime System, which uses 'precogs' - people with the power to see into the future - to identify criminals before they can do any harm. Unfortunately for Anderton, his precogs perceive him as the next criminal. But Anderton knows he has never contemplated such a thing, and this knowledge proves the precogs are fallible. Now, whichever way he turns, Anderton is doomed - unless he can find the precogs's 'minority report' - the dissenting voice that represents his one hope of getting at the truth in time to save himself from his own system." - Amazon.

The Works of H. Beam Piper. Kindle edition $0.99. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.
Includes 32 science fiction works by H. Beam Piper - most of which are available at Project Gutenberg and other free e-book sites around the web. Fans of classic science fiction may, however, prefer the convenience of this omnibus collection.


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WESTERNS

Virgil Earp, Private Detective by J. R. Roberts. (The Gunsmith, 333). Jove. Kindle edition $4.79. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.
When Wyatt Earp's brother Virgil needs help with his private detective agency, he turns to Clint Adams. Soon the Gunsmith is convinced that Earp's latest lady client is anything but a straight shooter.


Slocum and the Medicine Man by Jake Logan. (Slocum, 367). Jove. Kindle edition $4.79. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.
When a young Mormon wife is kidnapped by an Apache medicine man, John Slocum follows their trail to the Sierra Madres - and encounters a very nasty surprise.

Hell Rides a Horse by Kurt Greystone and Remy Tahlis. Seven13 Productions. Kindle edition $7.99. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.
"The end of the world, as we know it, has come and an ancient evil has been awakened. In this bleak future, a gunfighter named Silas embarks on a journey to protect the one key that can prove to be human kind's redemption." - Amazon.

Whispering Smith by Frank H. Spearman. Kindle edition $1.00. Text-to-Speech: Enabled. Also available as a free download from Manybooks.net.
"Whispering Smith is just a plain story. It is a book of incident instead of introspection. When you read it you don't give a hang about soul struggles. What you wish to know is, is Smith going to get the drop on Du Sang in that fight to the death in the Williams Cache, or is he going to cash in before the bullets of that ruffian?" - Amazon.

Several Hollywood films have been based on this novel, the most memorable being the Alan Ladd vehicle Whispering Smith,also featuring Robert Preston, Brenda Marshall, Donald Crisp, and William Demarest.

Books They're Talking About: Kindle Books in the Media (27 Sep 09)

You've met the author on the Today Show, now read his book on the Kindle. Here's a selection of forthcoming Kindle books by authors scheduled for interviews on TV and radio programs. Books are arranged in chronological order by the date of the scheduled interview.

ON THE CBS TODAY SHOW (30 SEP 09):

Step Out on Nothing: How Faith and Family Helped Me Conquer Life's Challenges, by Byron Pitts. St Martin's Press. Kindle edition $9.99. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.
In Step Out on Nothing, Byron Pitts chronicles his astonishing story of overcoming a childhood filled with obstacles to achieve enormous success in life. Throughout Byron’s difficult youth - his parents separated when he was twelve and his mother worked two jobs to make ends meet - he suffered from a debilitating stutter. But Byron was keeping an even more embarrassing secret: He was also functionally illiterate. For a kid from inner-city Baltimore, it was a recipe for failure. Pitts turned struggle into strength and overcame both of his impediments. Along the way, a few key people "stepped out on nothing" to make a difference for him... After fifteen years in local television, he landed a job as a correspondent for CBS News in 1998, and went on to become an Emmy Award–winning journalist and a contributing correspondent for 60 Minutes. Not bad for a kid who couldn’t read. From a challenged youth to a reporting career that has covered 9/11 and Iraq, Pitts’s triumphant and uplifting story will resonate with anyone who has felt like giving up in the face of seemingly insurmountable hardships." - us.macmillan.com.

ON ABC'S 20/20 (09 OCT 09):

Not Lost Forever: My Story of Survival, by Carmina Salcido and Steve Jackson. HarperCollins. Kindle edition $14.29. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.
"Not Lost Forever is Carmen Salcido’s remarkable story of survival and healing following the 1986 murderous rampage by her father, Mexican immigrant Ramon Salcido in the wine country of Sonoma Valley, California. Left for dead at three years old - her throat brutally slashed - Carmen miraculously survived what is widely considered one of California’s most notorious crimes: the unthinkable attack that savagely destroyed seven innocent lives, including Carmen’s entire family. At once a harrowing true crime story and the inspirational first-person account of a young girl’s strength, heart, and determination in the nightmare’s aftermath, Not Lost Forever is a shocking and profoundly moving tale of perseverance and hope, and of a precious life regained." - www.harpercollins.com.

ON ABC'S GOOD MORNING AMERICA (09 OCT 09):

Finding It: And Satisfying My Hunger for Life without Opening the Fridge, by Valerie Bertinelli. Simon & Schuster. Kindle edition $14.30. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.
In this new, inspiring memoir from the beloved actress and author of the bestseller Losing It, Valerie tells the story of what happens after you change your life. It's not all peaches and cream, or even non-fat yogurt. ... Valerie comes face-to-face with hard questions of family, faith, and beachwear, and realizes that she's hungering for another transformation - to become better, not just thinner... Dieting fixes one problem, she discovers, but to maintain that weight loss, she has to work on everything else - all the reasons she got fat in the first place. Warm and friendly, honest and self-aware - like a talk with your BFF - Finding It tells of the common worries and frustrations, the funny and fabulous moments in Valerie's publicly private life. ...it is also the emotional story of family and the deep bonds and patterns that persist through generations: for as Valerie transitions to her latest role of motherhood with an increasingly independent son, she connects with her own mother in a profound new way." - Amazon.


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A Week of Entertainment: Books Reviewed in Entertainment Weekly 25 Sep 09

Each week Entertainment Weekly reviews a small selection of popular new books. Titles available for the Kindle reviewed in the September 25th issue include:


Spooner, by Peter Dexter. Grand Central Publishing. NOVEL. EW's slant: "...will make you laugh yourself into a fit one page and hold back tears the next..." Amazon customer rating: 4 stars (20 reviews). Kindle edition $14.25. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.
"What can you do when your twin brother, dead at birth, is your mother's favorite? This is only one of the burdens placed on young Warren Spooner, the hero of National Book Award–winner Dexter's calamitously funny and riotously tragic new novel. Spooner, who tends toward a life of criminal mischief, turns out to be a baseball phenom, but after an elbow injury puts an end to his pitching career, he ends up a newspaper reporter in Philadelphia, where he's so universally disliked that firing him is at the top of his editor's to-do list. Spooner eventually settles down, becomes a columnist and published novelist, and starts a family. He is dogged, though, by a combination of bad luck and bad judgment..." - Publishers Weekly.
$9.99 or less alternative: Dexter's earlier novel Train.

The Lost Symbol, by Dan Brown. Doubleday. NOVEL. EW's slant: "Sometimes it seems that authors, like their villains, don't know when to leave well enough alone." Amazon customer rating: 3 stars (435 reviews). Kindle edition $9.99. Text-to-Speech: Disabled.
"...the third Brown novel to involve the character of Harvard University symbologist Robert Langdon. ... The story takes place over a period of 12 hours in Washington, D.C., with a focus on Freemasonry. Langdon is summoned to give a lecture in National Statuary Hall at the United States Capitol, with the invitation apparently from his mentor, a 33rd degree Mason named Peter Solomon, who is the head of the Smithsonian Institution. However instead of an audience for his lecture, Langdon finds the severed right hand of Peter Solomon tattooed into a Hand of the Mysteries and pointing upwards, to the fresco The Apotheosis of Washington on the inside of the Capitol dome. Mal'akh has taken Peter hostage, and demands that Langdon unlock the Ancient Mysteries in return for Peter's life..." - Wikipedia.

Nocturnes, by Kazuo Ishiguro. Knopf. NOVEL. EW's slant: "...he has set the bar so high that you can't help but be underwhelmed by these five tales..." Amazon customer rating: 4 stars (8 reviews). Kindle edition $9.99. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.
"One of the most celebrated writers of our time gives us his first cycle of short fiction: five brilliantly etched, interconnected stories in which music is a vivid and essential character. A once-popular singer, desperate to make a comeback, turning from the one certainty in his life ... A man whose unerring taste in music is the only thing his closest friends value in him ... A struggling singer-songwriter unwittingly involved in the failing marriage of a couple he’s only just met ... A gifted, underappreciated jazz musician who lets himself believe that plastic surgery will help his career ...A young cellist whose tutor promises to “unwrap” his talent... An exploration of love, need, and the ineluctable force of the past, Nocturnes reveals these individuals to us with extraordinary precision and subtlety, and with the arresting psychological and emotional detail that has marked all of Kazuo Ishiguro’s acclaimed works of fiction." - Amazon.

The Possibility of Everything, by Hope Edelman. Ballantine Books. MEMOIR. EW's slant: "...a well-crafted tale of skepticism versus spirituality, occasionally weighed down by overdescriptive tangents about ancient Mayans." Amazon customer rating: 4 stars (20 reviews). Kindle edition $9.99. Text-to-Speech: Disabled.
"In the autumn of 2000, Hope Edelman was a woman adrift, questioning her marriage, her profession, and her place in the larger world. Feeling vulnerable and isolated, she was primed for change. Into her stagnant routine dropped Dodo, her three-year-old daughter Maya’s curiously disruptive imaginary friend. Confused and worried about how to handle Dodo’s apparent hold on their daughter, Edelman and her husband made the unlikely choice to take her to Maya healers in Belize, hoping that a shaman might help them banish Dodo - and, as they came to understand, all he represented–from their lives. An account of how an otherwise mainstream mother and wife finds herself making an extremely unorthodox choice, The Possibility of Everything chronicles the magical week in Central America that transformed Edelman from a person whose past had led her to believe only in the visible and the 'proven' to someone open to the idea of larger, unseen forces." - Amazon.

American on Purpose, by Craig Ferguson. HarperCollins. MEMOIR. EW's slant: "raw. funny new memoir..." Amazon customer rating: 4 1/2 stars (12 reviews). Kindle edition $12.16. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.
"...Craig Ferguson delivers a moving and achingly funny memoir of living the American dream as he journeys from the mean streets of Glasgow, Scotland, to the comedic promised land of Hollywood. Along the way he stumbles through several attempts to make his mark - as a punk rock musician, a construction worker, a bouncer, and, tragically, a modern dancer. To numb the pain of failure, Ferguson found comfort in drugs and alcohol, addictions that eventually led to an aborted suicide attempt... But his story has a happy ending: in 1993, the washed-up Ferguson washed up in the United States. Finally sober, Ferguson landed a breakthrough part on the hit sitcom The Drew Carey Show, a success that eventually led to his role as the host of CBS's The Late Late Show. By far Ferguson's greatest triumph was his decision to become a U.S. citizen, a milestone he achieved in early 2008, just before his command performance for the president at the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner. In American on Purpose, Craig Ferguson talks a red, white, and blue streak about everything our Founding Fathers feared." - Amazon.
$9.99 or less alternative: I'm Hosting as Fast as I Can, by Tom Bergeron.

History Thru the Lens of Fiction: New Historical Novels for the Kindle (23 Sep 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:

An Echo in the Bone by Diana Gabaldon. Book seven in the Outlander series. The earlier books are The books in order to date so far are: Outlander, Dragonfly in Amber, Voyager, Drums of Autumn, The Fiery Cross, and A Breath of Snow and Ashes. Delacorte Press. TIME FRAME: 18th century colonial America. Amazon customer rating: 4 stars (8 reviews). Kindle edition $16.50. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.
"...Gabaldon continues the extraordinary story of the eighteenth-century Scotsman Jamie Fraser and his twentieth-century time-traveling wife, Claire Randall. Jamie Fraser, former Jacobite and reluctant rebel, is already certain of three things about the American rebellion: The Americans will win, fighting on the side of victory is no guarantee of survival, and he’d rather die than have to face his illegitimate son - a young lieutenant in the British army - across the barrel of a gun. Claire Randall knows that the Americans will win, too, but not what the ultimate price may be. That price won’t include Jamie’s life or his happiness, though - not if she has anything to say about it. ...With stunning cameos of historical characters from Benedict Arnold to Benjamin Franklin, An Echo in the Bone is a soaring masterpiece of imagination, insight, character, and adventure - a novel that echoes in the mind long after the last page is turned. - Amazon.
Less expensive alternative: Earlier booksin the series. Outlander - the book that started it all - is currently selling in a $2.99 Kindle edition.

Walk Through Darkness, by David Anthony Durham. Anchor. TIME FRAME: Antebellum Maryland and Philadelphia. Amazon customer rating: 5 stars (17 reviews). Kindle edition $9.99. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.
"When he learns that his pregnant wife has been spirited off to a distant city, William responds as any man might - he drops everything to pursue her. But as a fugitive slave in Antebellum America, he must run a terrifying gauntlet, eluding the many who would re-enslave him while learning to trust the few who dare to aid him on his quest. Among those hunting William is Morrison, a Scot who as a young man fled the miseries of his homeland only to discover even more brutal realities in the New World. Bearing many scars, including the loss of his beloved brother, Morrison tracks William for reasons of his own, a personal agenda rooted in tragic events that have haunted him for decades. Following up on his award-winning debut, Gabriel's Story, David Anthony Durham presents another riveting tale, a brilliantly drawn portrait of America before the Civil War, and a provocative meditation on racial identity, freedom and equality." - Amazon.

The Invisible Mountain, by Carolina De Robertis. Knopf. TIME FRAME: Generational saga spanning the first 90 years of 20th century Uruguay. Amazon customer rating: 4 1/2 stars (14 reviews). Kindle edition $9.99. Text-to-Speech: Disabled.
"On the first day of the year 1900, a small town deep in the Uruguayan countryside gathers to witness a miracle - the mysterious reappearance of a lost infant, Pajarita - and unravel its portents for the century. Later, as a young woman in the capital city - Montevideo, brimming with growth and promise - Pajarita begins a lineage of fiercely independent women with her enamored husband, Ignazio, a young immigrant from Italy and the inheritor of both a talent for boat making and a latent, more sinister family trait. Their daughter, Eva, a fragile yet ferociously stubborn beauty intent on becoming a poet, overcomes an early, shattering betrayal to embark on a most unconventional path toward personal and artistic fulfillment. And Eva’s daughter, Salomé, awakening to both her sensuality and political convictions amid the violent turmoil of the late 1960s, finds herself dangerously attracted to a cadre of urban guerrilla rebels, despite the terrible consequences of such principled fearlessness." - Amazon.

The Fruit of Her Hands: The Story of Shira of Ashkenaz, by Michelle Cameron. Pocket. TIME FRAME: Europe during the Middle Ages. Amazon customer rating: 5 stars (7 reviews). Kindle edition $9.99. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.
"Based on the life of the author’s thirteenth-century ancestor, Meir ben Baruch of Rothenberg, a renowned Jewish scholar of medieval Europe, this is the richly dramatic fictional story of Rabbi Meir’s wife, Shira, a devout but rebellious woman who preserves her religious traditions as she and her family witness the rise of anti-Semitism in Europe. Raised by her widowed rabbi father and a Christian nursemaid in Normandy, Shira is a free-spirited, inquisitive girl whose love of learning shocks the community. Her life changes radically when her father remarries in the hope of gaining a male heir and Nicholas Donin, a handsome scholar with radical views, comes to study with her father." - www.michelle-cameron.com.

The French Mistress: A Novel of the Duchess of Portsmouth and King Charles II, by Susan Holloway Scott. New American Library. TIME FRAME: Restoration England. Amazon customer rating: 4 1/2 stars (8 reviews). Kindle edition $9.99. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.
"From the author of The King's Favorite - a new novel based on a dazzling and decadent true story of Restoration England. The daughter of a poor nobleman, Louise leaves the French countryside for the court of King Louis XIV, where she must not only please the tastes of the jaded king, but serve as a spy for France. With few friends, many rivals, and ever-shifting loyalties, Louise learns the perils of her new role. Yet she is too ambitious to be a pawn in the intrigues of others. With the promise of riches, power, and even the love of a king, Louise creates her own destiny in a dance of intrigue between two monarchs - and two countries." - nalauthors.com.

Cleopatra's Daughter, by Michelle Moran. Crown. TIME FRAME: Ancient Rome. Amazon customer rating: 4 1/2 stars (57 reviews). Kindle edition $9.99. Text-to-Speech: Disabled.
"The marriage of Marc Antony and Cleopatra is one of the greatest love stories of all time, a tale of unbridled passion with earth-shaking political consequences. Feared and hunted by the powers in Rome, the lovers choose to die by their own hands as the triumphant armies of Antony’s revengeful rival, Octavian, sweep into Egypt. Their three orphaned children are taken in chains to Rome; only two - the ten-year-old twins Selene and Alexander - survive the journey. Delivered to the household of Octavian’s sister, the siblings cling to each other and to the hope that they will return one day to their rightful place on the throne of Egypt. As they come of age, they are buffeted by the personal ambitions of Octavian’s family and court, by the ever-present threat of slave rebellion, and by the longings and desires deep within their own hearts. The fateful tale of Selene and Alexander is brought brilliantly to life in Cleopatra’s Daughter. Recounted in Selene’s youthful and engaging voice, it introduces a compelling cast of historical characters: Octavia, the emperor Octavian’s kind and compassionate sister, abandoned by Marc Antony for Cleopatra; Livia, Octavian's bitter and jealous wife; Marcellus, Octavian’s handsome, flirtatious nephew and heir apparent; Tiberius, Livia’s sardonic son and Marcellus’s great rival for power; and Juba, Octavian’s watchful aide, whose honored position at court has far-reaching effects on the lives of the young Egyptian royals ... " - Amazon.

Mary, by Janis Cooke Newman. MP Publishing. TIME FRAME: 19th century United States. Amazon customer rating: 4 1/2 stars (38 reviews). Kindle edition $6.99. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.
"Abraham Lincoln's widow was committed by her son in 1875; kept awake by the bedlam of her fellow inmates, she takes up a pen. Newman, author of the memoir The Russian Word for Snow, portrays Mary Todd Lincoln (1818-1882) as a proto-feminist: she seduces poor Illinois lawyer Lincoln; kick-starts his career; draws his attention to the slavery issue; corrects his elocution before the Lincoln-Douglas debates; and lobbies behind the scenes (she also has an affair). After the 1860 election, the narrative returns to accepted history, dominated by Mary's crushing misery after a son's death in 1862, her husband's assassination and another son's death in 1872, punctuated by lavish shopping expeditions and an occasional psychotic break. Not introspective and demonstrative, Mary presents a challenge for any historical novelist. Newman makes a good choice in telling the story through Mary's eyes and drawing readers into her perspective..." - Publishers Weekly.

Books They're Talking About: Kindle Books in the Media (21 Sep 09)

Here's a selection of forthcoming Kindle books by authors scheduled for interviews on TV and radio programs. Books are arranged in chronological order by the date of the scheduled interview.

ON NPR'S DIANE REHM SHOW (16 SEP 09):


The Future of Faith, by Harvey Cox. HarperCollins. Kindle edition $9.99. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.
"...legendary Harvard religion scholar Harvey Cox offers up a new interpretation of the history and future of religion. The author of When Jesus Came to Harvard and The Secular City, Cox explains why Christian beliefs and dogma are giving way to new grassroots movements rooted in social justice and spiritual experience." - Amazon.

ON COMEDY CENTRAL'S DAILY SHOW (21 SEP 09):

The Test of Our Times, by Tom Ridge. Thomas Dunne Books. Kindle edition $13.72. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.
"Ridge, the first secretary of homeland security, recalls the agency's creation and early history in a memoir of his time performing the most thankless yet rewarding job in America. The author was governor of Pennsylvania when President Bush tapped him to coordinate the federal domestic counterterrorism effort after September 11. In a massive reorganization, Congress consolidated 22 agencies - from the Coast Guard to the INS - under the Department of Homeland Security. Ridge acknowledges his missteps, laments the baleful effects of politics and turf on his department and decries unfavorable media coverage. He also endeavors, unconvincingly, to defend the work of the Transportation Security Administration and the color-coded terror alert system...Ridge concludes with a series of recommendations for his successors, including a national identification system, immigration reform, energy independence and a reorganization of DHS along regional lines. DHS remains a work in progress, and Ridge's singular perspective recommends his memoir to policy makers, students and concerned citizens." - Publishers Weekly.

ON OPRAH (23 SEP 09):

High on Arrival, by Mackenzie Phillips. Simon & Schuster. Kindle edition $14.29. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.
"Not long before her fiftieth birthday, Mackenzie Phillips walked into Los Angeles International Airport. She was on her way to a reunion of One Day at a Time, the hugely popular 70s sitcom on which she once starred as the loveable rebel Julie Cooper. Within minutes, Mackenzie was in handcuffs, arrested for possession of cocaine and heroin. Born into rock and roll royalty, Mackenzie grew up in an all-access kingdom of hippy freedom and heroin cool. It was a kingdom over which her father, the legendary John Phillips of The Mamas & the Papas, presided, often in absentia, a spellbinding, visionary phantom. When Mackenzie was a teenager, Hollywood and the world took notice of the charming, talented, precocious child actor after her star-making turn in American Graffiti. As a young woman she joined the nonstop party in the hedonistic pleasure dome her father created for himself and his fellow revelers, and a rapt TV audience watched as Julie Cooper wasted away before their eyes. By the time Mackenzie discovered how deep and dark her father's trip was going, it was too late. And as an adult, she has paid dearly for a lifetime of excess, working tirelessly to reconcile a wonderful, terrible past in which she succumbed to the power of addiction and the pull of her magnetic father. As her astounding, outrageous, and often tender life story unfolds, Phillips overcomes seemingly impossible obstacles again and again and journeys toward redemption and peace. By exposing the shadows and secrets of the past to the light of day, the star who turned up High on Arrival has finally come back down to earth - to stay." - books.simonandschuster.com.

ON ABC'S GOOD MORNING AMERICA (28 SEP 09):

Don't Say I Didn't Warn You: Kids, Carbs, and the Coming Hormonal Apocalypse, by Anita Renfroe. Hyperion. Kindle edition $9.99. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.
"When I first learned that I was pregnant, I thought this was going to be the most blessed, beautiful, rose-petals-at-my-feet-and-bluebirds-lighting-upon-my-forearm time of my life. Then I went for my first prenatal visit. Which starts with a weigh-in. From comedian Anita Renfroe, already beloved by women's groups and YouTube viewers across America, comes this hilarious and brazenly honest look at motherhood and middle age ... Using wit and honesty as her weapons of choice, Renfroe shares her deeply funny and relatable takes on everything from weddings to mammograms to every woman's never-ending quest for just one good photo of herself..." - Amazon.

ON ABC'S GOOD MORNING AMERICA (29 SEP 09):

The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind, by William Kamkwamba and Bryan Mealer. HarperCollins. Kindle edition $14.29. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.
"Discarded motor parts, PVC pipe, and an old bicycle wheel may be junk to most people, but in the inspired hands of William Kamkwamba, they are instruments of opportunity. Growing up amid famine and poverty in rural Malawi, wind was one of the few abundant resources available, and the inventive fourteen-year-old saw its energy as a way to power his dreams. 'With a windmill, we'd finally release ourselves from the troubles of darkness and hunger,' he realized. 'A windmill meant more than just power, it was freedom.' Despite the biting jeers of village skeptics, young William devoted himself to borrowed textbooks and salvage yards in pursuit of a device that could produce an 'electric wind.' The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind is an inspiring story of an indomitable will that refused to bend to doubt or circumstance. When the world seemed to be against him, William Kamkwamba set out to change it." - Dave Callanan.

ON COMEDY CENTRAL'S COLBERT REPORT (30 SEP 09):

The Greatest Show on Earth: The Evidence for Evolution, by Richard Dawkins. Free Press. Kindle edition $16.50. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.
"In 1859 Charles Darwin's masterpiece, On the Origin of Species, shook society to its core. Darwin was only too aware of the storm his theory of evolution would provoke. But he surely would have raised an incredulous eyebrow at the controversy still raging a century and a half later ... The Greatest Show on Earth is a stunning counterattack on advocates of 'Intelligent Design,' explaining the evidence for evolution while exposing the absurdities of the creationist argument. Dawkins sifts through rich layers of scientific evidence: from living examples of natural selection to clues in the fossil record; from natural clocks that mark the vast epochs wherein evolution ran its course to the intricacies of developing embryos; from plate tectonics to molecular genetics. Combining these elements and many more, he makes the airtight case that 'we find ourselves perched on one tiny twig in the midst of a blossoming and flourishing tree of life and it is no accident, but the direct consequence of evolution by non-random selection.' - books.simonandschuster.com.

A Week of Entertainment: Books Reviewed in Entertainment Weekly 18 Sep 09

Each week Entertainment Weekly reviews a small selection of popular new books. Titles available for the Kindle reviewed in the September 18th issue include:


The Guinea Pig Diaries: My Life as an Experiment, by A. J. Jacobs. Simon & Schuster. NONFICTION. EW's slant: "Whether he's posing as a celebrity, outsourcing his chores, or adhering strictly to the Bible, we love reading about the wacky lifestyle experiments of author - and ex-EW staff - A. J. Jacobs." Amazon customer rating: 5 stars (5 reviews). Kindle edition $9.99. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.
"Having already read the Encyclopedia Britannica from cover-to-cover (The Know-It-All) and spent a year living by every rule in the Bible (The Year of Living Biblically), Jacobs, a kind of latter-day George Plimpton, tests our patience and our funny bones once again with his smart-aleck, off-the-wall and uproarious experiments in living. No cross-dresser he, Jacobs lives a vicarious life as a beautiful woman, the experiment growing out of his role in persuading his son's nanny, Michelle - a stunning beauty - to participate in an online dating service. He signs her up for the site, creates a profile for her, sifts through her suitors and co-writes her e-mails. Pretending to be Michelle, he learns not only the regret of rejection (having to let some guys down), but he also predictably discovers that there's a lot of deceit, boasting and creepiness in Internet dating." - Publishers Weekly.

Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters, by Jane Austen and Ben H. Winters. Chronicle Books. PARODY. EW's slant: "Can it be that in the rush to turn a charming book novelty into a renewable resource, the whole Austen-and-monsters series has already jumped the shark?" Amazon customer rating: None yet. Kindle edition $8.79. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.
"...expands the original text of the beloved Jane Austen novel with all-new scenes of giant lobsters, rampaging octopi, two-headed sea serpents, and other biological monstrosities. As our story opens, the Dashwood sisters are evicted from their childhood home and sent to live on a mysterious island full of savage creatures and dark secrets. While sensible Elinor falls in love with Edward Ferrars, her romantic sister Marianne is courted by both the handsome Willoughby and the hideous man-monster Colonel Brandon. Can the Dashwood sisters triumph over meddlesome matriarchs and unscrupulous rogues to find true love? Or will they fall prey to the tentacles that are forever snapping at their heels?" - Amazon.

Where Men Win Glory: The Odyssey of Pat Tillman, by Jon Krakauer. Doubleday. BIOGRAPHY. Amazon customer rating: 2 1/2 stars (7reviews). Kindle edition $12.30 Text-to-Speech: Disabled.
"Like the men whose epic stories Jon Krakauer has told in his previous bestsellers, Pat Tillman was an irrepressible individualist and iconoclast. In May 2002, Tillman walked away from his $3.6 million NFL contract to enlist in the United States Army. He was deeply troubled by 9/11, and he felt a strong moral obligation to join the fight against al-Qaeda and the Taliban. Two years later, he died on a desolate hillside in southeastern Afghanistan...Though obvious to most of the two dozen soldiers on the scene that a ranger in Tillman’s own platoon had fired the fatal shots, the Army aggressively maneuvered to keep this information from Tillman’s wife, other family members, and the American public for five weeks following his death...Jon Krakauer draws on Tillman’s journals and letters, interviews with his wife and friends, conversations with the soldiers who served alongside him, and extensive research on the ground in Afghanistan to render an intricate mosaic of this driven, complex, and uncommonly compelling figure as well as the definitive account of the events and actions that led to his death." - Amazon.
$9.99 or less alternative: The Unforgiving Minute, by Craig M. Mullaney.

Homer & Langley, by E. L. Doctorow. Random House. NOVEL. EW's slant: "As ever, Doctorow is a wonderful prose stylist. But his vignettes have a generic survey-course quality..." Amazon customer rating: 3 1/2 stars (27 reviews). Kindle edition $9.99. Text-to-Speech: Disabled.
"Homer and Langley Collyer are brothers–the one blind and deeply intuitive, the other damaged into madness, or perhaps greatness, by mustard gas in the Great War. They live as recluses in their once grand Fifth Avenue mansion, scavenging the city streets for things they think they can use, hoarding the daily newspapers as research for Langley’s proposed dateless newspaper whose reportage will be as prophecy. Yet the epic events of the century play out in the lives of the two brothers - wars, political movements, technological advances - and even though they want nothing more than to shut out the world, history seems to pass through their cluttered house in the persons of immigrants, prostitutes, society women, government agents, gangsters, jazz musicians ... and their housebound lives are fraught with odyssean peril as they struggle to survive and create meaning for themselves. Brilliantly conceived, gorgeously written, this mesmerizing narrative, a free imaginative rendering of the lives of New York’s fabled Collyer brothers, is a family story with the resonance of myth..." - Amazon.

Officlal Book Club Selection: A Memoir According to Kathy Griffin, by Kathy Griffin. Ballantine Books. AUTOBIOGRAPHY. EW's slant: "Kathy Griffin's autobiography is everything you'd expect. What makes it a terrific read, though, is all the stuff you wouldn't expect..." Amazon customer rating: 4 1/2 stars (38 reviews). Kindle edition $9.99. Text-to-Speech: Disabled.
"...Kathy Griffin unplugged, uncensored, and unafraid to dish about what really happens on the road, away from the cameras, and at the star party after the show. (It’s also her big chance to score that coveted book club endorsement she’s always wanted. Are you there, Oprah? It’s me, Kathy.) Kathy Griffin has won Emmys for her reality show Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List, been nominated for a Grammy, worked and walked every red carpet known to man, and rung in the New Year with Anderson Cooper. But the legions of fans who pack Kathy’s sold-out comedy shows have heard only part of her remarkable story. Writing with her trademark wit, the feisty comic settles a few old scores, celebrates the friends and mentors who helped her claw her way to the top, and shares insider gossip about celebrity behavior—the good, the bad, and the very ugly." - Amazon.


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Kindle E-Books on the Cheap: A Weekly Selection (17 Sep 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 classic novels you may have missed by Aldous Huxley and Thomas Hardy, science fiction blending gaming culture, globalization and the hegemony of corporations with technological trends, historical fiction set in New Zealand, a 1954 short story by Philip K. Dick of Bladerunner fame, and an omnibus collection of 33 sci-fi novels for less than a buck.

Crome Yellow, by Aldous Huxley. NOVEL. Download site: Manybooks. Format: Kindle. Price: FREE.
"On vacation from school, Denis goes to stay at Crome, an English country house inhabited by several of Huxley's most outlandish characters - from Mr. Barbecue-Smith, who writes 1,500 publishable words an hour by 'getting in touch' with his 'subconscious,' to Henry Wimbush, who is obsessed with writing the definitive 'History of Crome'. Denis's stay proves to be a disaster after his weak attempts to attract the girl of his dreams, and endures the ridicule regarding his plan to write a novel about love and art. Lambasting the post-Victorian standards of morality, Crome Yellow is a witty masterpiece that, in F. Scott Fitzgerald's words, 'is too ironic to be called satire and too scornful to be called irony.' - www.online-literature.com.

Far From the Madding Crowd, by Thomas Hardy. NOVEL. Download site: Feedbooks. Format: Mobipocket/Kindle. Price: FREE.
When the beautiful and spirited Bathsheba Everdene inherits her own farm, she attracts three very different suitors; the seemingly commonplace man-of-the-soil Gabriel Oak, the dashing young soldier Francis Troy, and the respectable, middle-aged Farmer Boldwood. Her choice, and the tragedy it provokes, lie at the centre of Hardy's ambivalent story. This Thomas Hardy classic was listed 10th in the Guardian's list of the greatest love stories of all time.

MetaGame, by Sam Landstrom. SCIENCE FICTION. Download site: Amazon. Format: AZW (Kindle). Price: $.80.
"Life is a game, literally. Winners earn immortality, while losers are condemned to aging and death. D_Light, a gifted player, knows this all too well and he's willing to do anything to win - even kill. It is no wonder then that when given the chance to enter a MetaGame - an exclusive, high-stakes, anything goes contest - he's quick to jump at the opportunity. The MetaGame starts out well enough for D_Light, the first quest being to hunt down a dangerous fugitive, but through his own ambition, the tables turn and D_Light finds himself the renegade. This novel blends emerging political and cultural trends, such as gaming culture, globalization, and the ever-increasing hegemony of corporations, with technological trends, such as genetic engineering, artificial intelligence, and virtual reality. Emerging from this stew is an original world for you to explore through the point of view of its many "players".

Sentence of Marriage, by Shayne Parkinson. HISTORICAL FICTION. Download site: Smashwords. Format: Kindle. Price: FREE.
In 19th Century New Zealand, there are few choices for a farm girl like Amy. Her life seems mapped out for her by the time she is twelve. Amy dreams of an exciting life in the world beyond her narrow boundaries. But it is the two people who come to the farm from outside the valley who change her life forever, and Amy learns the high cost of making the wrong choice.

The Crystal Crypt, by Philip K. Dick. SCIENCE FICTION. Download site: Manybooks. Format: Kindle. First published in Planet Stories (Jan 1954). 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.

The Ultimate Science Fiction Anthology. Download site: Amazon. Format: AZW (Kindle). Price: $.99.
This is an omnibus collection of 33 science fiction novels - all available at no cost if searched for and downloaded individually. Or you may wish to grab them all for under a buck. Authors include Jules Verne, H. G. Wells, Edward Bellamy, Edgar Rice Burroughs, Lester del Rey, Harry Harrison, Murray Leinster, Andre Alice Norton, H. G. Wells, etc.
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And speaking of e-books on the cheap, if you are a connoisseur of Kindle classics - those classic works in the public domain usually available for free from sites like Project Gutenberg, manybooks.net, feedbooks and MobileRead, you can tell the world by wearing a Kindle Classics t-shirt. Or just keep it to yourself.

The Kindle Celebrates Agatha Christie Week (Sep 13 - 20)

You would be hard put to find a mystery fiction fan who hasn't read Agatha Christie, the self-styled "Duchess of Death" and author of a host of whodunits, including The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, the Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple books, and Death on the Nile - inspiration for the excellent film
of the same name starring Peter Ustinov, Maggie Smith, David Niven, and Bette Davis.

In her long career as novelist and playwright, Christie wrote some 80 novels and even today - decades years after her death - her books continue to sell in the millions of copies each year.

Born in 1890 in Torquay, Devon, England, she was tutored at home by her mother until, in her teens, she was dispatched to Paris to study music. She married twice - in 1914 to Archibald Christie, an officer in the Royal Air Corps and - after divorcing the unfaithful Christie - in 1930 to archaeologist Max Edgar Lucien Mallowan.

Christie served as a volunteer nurse during World War I, a position that is believed to have given her the knowledge of drugs and poisons useful to a mystery writer. Similarly, accompanying her second husband, the archaeologist, on digs in the Middle East aided her in writing books like Death on the Nile.

Interesting personal tidbits about Christie: She never wrote a mystery in which both of her most famous detectives (Miss Marple and Hercule Poirot) appeared, possibly because she didn't think they would like each other. She had an unsolved mystery in her own life. In 1926 she disappeared for eleven days and her disappearance resulted in a large manhunt. When she eventually reappeared, it was speculated that she had attempted to fake her own death in order to implicate her cheating husband. She claimed amnesia for the event.

If you like Agatha Christie, other authors you may want to explore are Dorothy L. Sayers, Margery Allingham, Ngaio Marsh, and P. D. James.

Only two Christie mysteries are in the public domain and available for free download to the Kindle: The Mysterious Affair at Styles, which marked the first appearance of Christie's famous detective Hercule Poirot, and The Secret Adversary, which chronicles the first case of young-adventurers-for-hire Tommy and Tuppence.

A SELECTION OF CHRISTIE MYSTERIES FOR THE KINDLE:

Murder on the Orient Express. HarperCollins. Kindle edition $4.79.
"Just after midnight, a snowstorm stops the Orient Express dead in its tracks in the middle of Yugoslavia. The luxurious train is surprisingly full for this time of year. But by morning there is one passenger less. A 'respectable American gentleman' lies dead in his compartment, stabbed a dozen times, his door locked from the inside - Hercule Poirot is also aboard, having arrived in the nick of time to claim a second-class compartment - and the most astounding case of his illustrious career." - Amazon.

Death on the Nile. HarperCollins. $4.79.
"Hercule Poirot is perhaps Agatha Christie's most interesting and endearing character; short, round, and slightly comical, Poirot has a razor-sharp mind and puts unlimited trust in his 'little grey cells.' Those little cells come through for him every time, enabling Poirot to solve some of the most baffling mysteries ever conceived. In Death on the Nile, Poirot, on vacation in Africa, meets the rich, beautiful Linnet Doyle and her new husband, Simon. As usual, all is not as it seems between the newlyweds, and when Linnet is found murdered, Poirot must sort through a boatload of suspects to find the killer before he (or she) strikes again." - Amazon.

The Body in the Library. HarperCollins. Kindle edition $4.79.
"The very-respectable Colonel and Mrs Bantry have awakened to discover the body of a young woman in their library. She is wearing evening dress and heavy make-up, which is now smeared across her cold cheeks. But who is she? How did she get there? And what is her connection with another dead girl, whose charred remains are later discovered in an abandoned quarry? The Bantrys turn to Miss Marple to solve the mystery." - Amazon.

The Murder of Roger Ackroyd. HarperCollins. Kindle edition $4.79.
"In the quiet village of King's Abbot a widow's suicide has stirred suspicion - and dreadful gossip. There are rumours that she murdered her first husband, that she was being blackmailed, and that her secret lover was Roger Ackroyd. Then, on the verge of discovering the blackmailer's identity, Ackroyd himself is murdered. Hercule Poirot, who has settled in King's Abbot for some peace and quiet and a little gardening, finds himself at the centre of the case - and up against a diabolically clever and devious killer." - Amazon.

And Then There Were None. HarperCollins. $4.79.
"Considered the best mystery novel ever written by many readers, And Then There Were None is the story of 10 strangers, each lured to Indian Island by a mysterious host. Once his guests have arrived, the host accuses each person of murder. Unable to leave the island, the guests begin to share their darkest secrets - until they begin to die." - Amazon.

RELATED WEB RESOURCES:

Amazon's Agatha Christie page.

What's Your Favorite Agatha Christie? - discussion on MobileRead.

Agatha Christie websites recommended in the Librarians' Internet Index.


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The Soul of a Dog (and Five Other New Kindle Books about the Pets in Our Lives)

Ever consider what pets must think of us? I mean, here we come back from a grocery store with the most amazing haul - chicken, pork, half a cow. They must think we're the greatest hunters on earth! - Anne Tyler in The Accidental Tourist.

Whether you have a beloved animal companion or - like me - are currently furry friend-impaired yet enjoy reading about other folks' cats and dogs, you may wish to add these recently-published Kindle titles for animal lovers to your Kindle e-library:

Soul of a Dog by Jon Katz. Amazon customer rating: 5 stars. Villard. Kindle edition $9.99. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.
"Do animals have souls? Some of our greatest thinkers - Aristotle, Plato, Thomas Aquinas - and countless animal lovers have been obsessed with this question for thousands of years. Now New York Times bestselling author Jon Katz looks for an answer and finds even more questions as he recounts the lives and stories of the residents of his celebrated Bedlam Farm... With his signature wisdom, humor, and clarity, Katz relates the stories of the animals he lives with and finds remarkable kinships at every turn. Whether it is Rose’s brilliant and methodical herding ability, Mother the cat’s keen mousing instincts, or Izzy’s canine compassion toward hospice patients, Katz is mesmerized to see in them individual personas and sparks of self-awareness. He marvels, too, at the distinctions between the species - our desire to change and our ability to edit and censor ourselves, and their capacity to live in the now..." - Amazon.

The Wolf in the Parlor by Jon Franklin. Amazon customer rating: 5 stars (2 reviews). Henry Holt and Co.. Kindle edition $9.99. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.
"Pulitzer Prize-winning science journalist Franklin...draws on a slew of disciplines...to formulate a challenging but enticingly plausible theory about the psychological leash binding humans and canines. His thesis: beginning about 12,000 years ago, as wild wolves evolved into follower wolves and were subsequently domesticated by early man, a kind of mind meld occurred. As this neurological attachment took shape, the dog shed 20% of its brain mass because, biologically, humans had agreed to do its thinking for it, while mankind lost 10% of its brain mass because dogs became our beast of emotional burden. Franklin buttresses his inventive assertion with a combination of absorbingly loquacious ruminations on the behavior of his own dog, Charlie, and a rigorous compilation of scientific facts rooted in a decade of study about the nature of wolves and dogs. As concepts of the canine go, Franklin's is notably audacious. And among a plethora of books on breeding, disciplining, loving and lamenting the loss of man's best friend, this thoughtful discourse is a best of breed." - Publishers Weekly.
"Read this book and it will change the way you see dogs, and people. Jon Franklin, the dean of science writers, is doing more than reporting here, he is making an argument, a surprising and learned one, about the evolution of modern society. It is a story of deep co-dependence, a theory informed by science, by love, and by a ripening personal appreciation of mutual need. And, oh yes, it may make you want to get a standard poodle" - Mark Bowden, author of Black Hawk Down.

Dogged Pursuit by Robert Rodi. Amazon customer rating: 5 stars (15 reviews). Hudson Street Press. Kindle edition $9.99. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.
"Best in Show meets Marley and Me in the hilarious (mis)adventures of an unlikely duo competing for glory on the pro dog circuit. An urban intellectual and a scruffy, disobedient Sheltie team up to conquer the Canine Agility pro-circuit in this hysterical account of the quest for glory in the competitive dog world. A cousin to the popular best-in-breed show, agility competitions resemble doggie boot camp: dogs scamper across teeter-totters, jump tires, and scoot down tunnels without leashed guidance from a human. Taking home ribbons requires a focused handler and a cooperative dog. Robert Rodi is a self-proclaimed Blue-stater who prefers fine wine and Italian literature (in Italian) to SUVs and suburban sprawl. His dog Dusty's scrawny build and skittish personality make him an unnatural competitor. Nevertheless, Rodi recounts a year filled with victories, failures, and hysterical personalities, and the loving bond between one man and his bug-eyed dog." - Amazon.

Homer's Odyssey: A Fearless Feline Tale, or How I Learned About Love and Life with a Blind Wonder Cat by Gwen Cooper. Amazon customer rating: 4 1/2 stars (76 reviews). Delacorte Press. Kindle edition $9.99. Text-to-Speech: Disabled.
"The last thing Gwen Cooper wanted was another cat. She already had two, not to mention a phenomenally underpaying job and a recently broken heart. Then Gwen’s veterinarian called with a story about a three-week-old eyeless kitten who’d been abandoned. It was love at first sight. Everyone warned that Homer would always be an 'underachiever,' never as playful or independent as other cats. But the kitten nobody believed in quickly grew into a three-pound dynamo, a tiny daredevil with a giant heart who eagerly made friends with every human who crossed his path. Homer scaled seven-foot bookcases with ease and leapt five feet into the air to catch flies in mid-buzz. He survived being trapped alone for days after 9/11 in an apartment near the World Trade Center, and even saved Gwen’s life when he chased off an intruder who broke into their home in the middle of the night. But it was Homer’s unswerving loyalty, his infinite capacity for love, and his joy in the face of all obstacles that inspired Gwen daily and transformed her life..." - Amazon.

A Big Little Life by Dean Koontz. Amazon customer rating: 4 1/2 stars (36 reviews). Hyperion. Kindle edition $9.99. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.
"Dean Koontz thought he had everything he needed. A novelist for nearly forty years, with more than twenty #1 New York Times bestsellers to his credit , his career was thriving. He had been married to his high school sweetheart, Gerda, since the age of twenty, and together they had forged a happy life for themselves in their Southern California home. It was the picture of peace and contentment. Then along came Trixie. Dean had been researching his novel Midnight - a book which includes a service dog named Moose - when he came across Canine Companions for Independence. Never having had a pet, the last thing he was looking to do was adopt a dog ... but that's what happened a few years later when a beautiful golden retriever named Trixie was retired from CCI service because of an elbow injury - and that put her in need of a home of her own. Once in Dean and Gerda's home, Trixie very quickly found a way into their hearts. A Big Little Life tells the story of unexpectedly falling in love with a dog in middle age. It details Trixie's life with Dean and Gerda, the tremendous impact she had on them, and the things she taught them along the way. A lively and joyful read, it presents Trixie in all her complicated glory - her smarts, her lack of vanity, and her uncanny knack for living in the present." - Amazon.

Ask the Animals: A Vet's-Eye View of Pets and the People They Love by Bruce R. Coston. Amazon customer rating: 5 stars (1 review). Thomas Dunne Books. Kindle edition $9.99. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.
"Veterinarian Coston writes warmly of his life as an animal doctor. With self-deprecation and humor, he tells the story of how he became a small-town veterinarian. Starting life as the animal-loving son of decidedly 'non-animal' parents, Coston describes how he realized his calling and managed to procure a few pets. After veterinary school, and with his new wife, he became an intern at a 24-hour animal hospital and really learned his trade, treating a hypoglycemic cat one minute and a lame chinchilla the next. A move to Virginia and an associate position in a thriving practice brought a new baby along with a headtrauma kitten, and the discovery that the impaired cat was the perfect babysitter for his new son. The final move to a small town when he opened his own practice gave Coston exactly what he wanted-the opportunity to use his skills to make people's beloved pets well. This worthy addition to the large genre of veterinary memoirs is among the cream of the post-Herriot crop." - Nancy Bent for Booklist.


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A Week of Entertainment: Books Reviewed in Entertainment Weekly 11 Sep 09

Each week Entertainment Weekly reviews a small selection of popular new books. Titles available for the Kindle reviewed in the September 11th issue include:


The Last Song, by Nicholas Sparks. Grand Central Publishing. NOVEL. EW's slant: "...fans of The Notebook, Message in a Bottle, etc. will gobble it up with glee..." Amazon customer rating: 5 stars (5 reviews). Kindle edition $9.99. Text-to-Speech: Disabled.
"Seventeen year old Veronica 'Ronnie' Miller's life was turned upside-down when her parents divorced and her father moved from New York City to Wilmington, North Carolina. Three years later, she remains angry and alientated from her parents, especially her father ... until her mother decides it would be in everyone's best interest if she spent the summer in Wilmington with him. Ronnie's father, a former concert pianist and teacher, is living a quiet life in the beach town, immersed in creating a work of art that will become the centerpiece of a local church. The tale that unfolds is an unforgettable story of love on many levels..." - Amazon.

The Meaning of Matthew, by Judy Shepard. Hudson Street Press. NONFICTION. EW's slant: "Shepard writes with unwavering honesty..." Amazon customer rating: None yet. Kindle edition $14.27. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.
"The mother of Matthew Shepard shares her story about her son's death and the choice she made to become an international gay rights activist. Today, the name Matthew Shepard is synonymous with gay rights, but before his grisly murder in 1998, Matthew was simply Judy Shepard's son. For the first time in book form, Judy Shepard speaks about her loss, sharing memories of Matthew, their life as a typical American family, and the pivotal event in the small college town that changed everything. The Meaning of Matthew follows the Shepard family in the days immediately after the crime, when Judy and her husband traveled to see their incapacitated son, kept alive by life support machines; how the Shepards learned of the incredible response from strangers all across America who held candlelit vigils and memorial services for their child; and finally, how they struggled to navigate the legal system as Matthew's murderers were on trial. Heart-wrenchingly honest, Judy Shepard confides with readers about how she handled the crippling loss of her child, why she became a gay rights activist, and the challenges and rewards of raising a gay child in America today..." - Amazon.
$9.99 or less alternative: Prayers for Bobby, by Leroy Aarons.

Dexter by Design, by Jeff Lindsay. Doubleday. NOVEL. EW's slant: "Dexter Morgan has come a long way since his debut in the 2004 novel Darkly Dreaming Dexter." Amazon customer rating: 4 stars (8 reviews). Kindle edition $9.99.
"The macabre, witty New York Times bestselling series (and inspiration for the #1 Showtime series, Dexter) continues as our darkly lovable killer matches wits with a sadistic artiste - who is creating bizarre murder tableaux of his own all over Miami. After his surprisingly glorious honeymoon in Paris, life is almost normal for Dexter Morgan. Married life seems to agree with him: he’s devoted to his bride, his stomach is full, and his homicidal hobbies are nicely under control. But old habits die hard - and Dexter’s work as a blood spatter analyst never fails to offer new temptations that appeal to his offbeat sense of justice - and his Dark Passenger still waits to hunt with him in the moonlight. The discovery of a corpse (artfully displayed as a sunbather relaxing on a Miami beach chair) naturally piques Dexter’s curiosity and Miami’s finest realize they’ve got a terrifying new serial killer on the loose. And Dexter, of course, is back in business." - Amazon.

The Kindle Explores DASH (Digital Access to Scholarship at Harvard)

With its larger footprint, the Kindle DX, makes reading PDF documents - a common format for scholarly publishing - more convenient for Kindle owners.

Other Kindle models can speak PDF too, after what is sometimes - not always - a simple conversion process. All of which makes the latest project of the Harvard Office for Scholarly Communication of interest to Kindle readers with a scholarly bent.

On September 8th, Harvard launched DASH (Digital Access to Scholarship at Harvard) - an open access repository of scholarly works in PDF format.

Still in beta, the site contains more than 1500 articles by Harvard-affiliated authors, divided into two "communities" - the Faculty of Arts and Sciences and the Harvard Law School.

You may search the repository or browse its offerings by department, author, title, keywords or issue date.

Although scholarly offerings in the fields of law and medicine predominate, I found several articles in language and history of interest to the casual reader. Some examples:

Circling the Spheres: A Dialogue, by Lawrence Buell.
"Presents a dialogue focusing on the notion of separate spheres in American literary history. Identification of women writers in the antebellum period; Examination of literary ethnography traditions; View on the development of African American studies."

Collecting and Researching in the History of Books, by Robert Darnton.

Downwardly Mobile for Conscience's Sake: Voluntary Simplicity from Thoreau to Lily Bart, by Lawrence Buell.

A Life of Learning, by Helen Vendler.

Note Taking as an Art of Transmission, by Ann Blair.

Reading Strategies for Coping with Information Overload, ca.1550-1700, by Ann Blair.
"...surveys some of the ways in which early modern scholars responded to what they perceived as an overabundance of books. In addition to owning more books and applying selective judgment as well as renewed diligence to their reading and note-taking, scholars devised shortcuts, sometimes based on medieval antecedents. These shortcuts included the use of the alphabetical index, whether printed or handmade, to read a book in parts, and the use of reference books, amanuenses, abbreviations, or the cutting and pasting from printed or manuscript sources to save time and effort in note-taking."

What Have We Learned Since 1989?, by Charles Maier.

Unfortunately, many of the articles cited in DASH are (at the request of their authors) not yet available as full-text downloads, but as the repository grows, it may become a good source of scholarly articles for Kindle readers.

Books They're Talking About: Kindle Books in the Media (9 Sep 09)

Here's a selection of forthcoming Kindle books by authors scheduled for interviews on TV and radio programs. Books are arranged in chronological order by the date of the scheduled interview.

ON MSBC'S MORNING JOE (10 SEP 09):

God Sleeps in Rwanda: A Journey of Transformation, by Joseph Sebarenzi. Atria Books. Kindle edition $9.99. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.
A harrowing tale of survival and reconciliation by a Tutsi who rose in government to be a member of Parliament before having to exile once again. Joseph Sebarenzi is the former speaker of the Rwandan parliament, a position he held from 1997 until 2000. In this role he represented his country all over the world, including as a speaker at the United Nations, the European Union Assembly in Belgium and France, the Inter-parlimentary Union in Egypt, and the U.N. Human Rights Commission in South Africa. The book's title is taken from the saying "God spends the day elsewhere, but He sleeps in Rwanda."

ON NBC'S TODAY SHOW (14 SEP 09):

The Superior Wife Syndrome: Why Women Do Everything So Well and Why - for the Sake of Our Marriages - We've Got to Stop, by Carin Rubenstein. Touchstone Books. Kindle edition $14.30. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.
"As women have risen in the work world, their marriages have been transformed, too. The wife has become the superior spouse; she is responsible for managing every aspect of the family's life, from financing the mortgage to picking what the kids wear to school. This book is for every wife who wonders why she's in charge of everything, while her husband lounges on the couch and watches the game. The Superior Wife Syndrome explains how she ended up like this and reveals how she can let go of her superiority and work her way back to marital equality. Bringing together personal stories of everyday couples and expert social analysis, psychologist Carin Rubenstein provides readers with an intelligent and groundbreaking look into a disturbing marital trend: In two out of three marriages, women are running the show while men take it easy. As a result, more and more women are rejecting marriage as a viable social institution." - Amazon.

ON ABC'S GOOD MORNING AMERICA (15 SEP 09):

Women Are Crazy, Men Are Stupid, by Jenny Lee and Howard J. Morris. Simon Spotlight Entertainment. Kindle edition $9.99. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.
"Since the dawn of time, when the first smitten caveboy tried to woo the object of his affections by shoving her into the mud, men have demonstrated that when it comes to women, they are profoundly stupid. And when it comes to men, women - no matter how intelligent or mature - are completely crazy. Based on this simple yet groundbreaking insight, comedy writers and real-life couple Howard J. Morris and Jenny Lee have devised a relationship guide that is refreshingly honest, completely hilarious, and surprisingly practical..." - Amazon.

ON NBC'S TODAY SHOW (15 SEP 09):

Wild Card, by Tiki & Ronde Barber. Paula Wiseman Books. Kindle edition $9.99. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.
"The eighth-grade season couldn't be going better for the Hidden Valley Eagles. The team is beginning to gel with their new head coach, and Tiki and Ronde and their teammates are counting on only wins with the play-offs in clear sight. But report card time spells trouble for the Eagles when Adam Costa, their ace kicker, is benched for academic probation. It's school policy: Without the grades, there's no playing time. Without exception. Ever. With only a few games left before the play-offs, the team's hopes are shot. Will the Eagles be shut out of play-off contention for the first time in seven years? Or can the team that plays together study together too? Inspired by the childhood of National Football League superstars Tiki and Ronde Barber, Wild Card is a story of teamwork and perseverance and what it takes to be a champion." - Amazon.

ON NBC'S TODAY SHOW (15 SEP 09):

I Only Roast the Ones I Love, by Jeffrey Ross. Simon Spotlight Entertainment. Kindle edition $9.99. Text-to-Speech: Enabled. Optimized for Kindle DX.
"Making fun of people is a way of life for Jeffrey Ross. Called 'an heir apparent to such old-school masters as Buddy Hackett and Rodney Dangerfield' by the New York Times, Ross has memorably and uproariously roasted some of our favorite celebrities, from older-than-dirt Cloris Leachman to dirty old Hugh Hefner, to the beautiful Pamela Anderson and the handsome Bea Arthur. He even claims to have saved Courtney Love's life with his own brutal brand of tough love. Through his funny and poignant stories, Jeffrey Ross shares the irreverent secrets every successful roastmaster should know, such as: if a roastmaster is going to dish it out, he better be able to take it, and how to use your roasting skills to meet members of the opposite sex. Ross also reveals some tips for toasting your friends and family as well as his secrets for writing roast jokes. One of the world's foremost practitioners of insult comedy, Ross explains how to organize an event, save yourself if you bomb, and prepare yourself to take a punch if necessary...A hilarious memoir and definitive how-to that will help you channel your own inner roastmaster, I Only Roast the Ones I Love will inspire you to go forth and carry a big schtick." - Amazon.