What People Magazine is Reading This Week (Jan 9th Issue)

For those Kindle readers who, like me, read for entertainment, scanning the book reviews in People magazine is good way to check out new people-related books - celebrity bios, popular novels, absorbing nonfiction - just hitting bookstore shelves. Featured in the January 9th issue of People:

The Leopard, by Jo Nesbo. Translated by Don Bartlett. Knopf, 2011. Print Length: 529 p. THRILLER. Amazon customer rating: 4 stars (46 reviews). People's slant: "...has plot twists and creepy surprises that will keep readers on tenterhooks..." Kindle edition $12.99. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.

"Two young women are found murdered in Oslo, both drowned in their own blood. Media coverage quickly reaches fever pitch: Could this be the work of a serial killer? The crime scenes offer no coherent clues, the police investigation is stalled, and the one man who might be able to help doesn’t want to be found. Traumatized by his last case, Inspector Harry Hole has lost himself in the squalor of Hong Kong’s opium dens. Yet when he is compelled, at last, to return to Norway - his father is dying - Harry’s buried instincts begin to take over. After a female MP is discovered brutally murdered, nothing can keep him from the investigation." - Publisher.

The Magic Room: A Story About the Love We Wish for Our Daughters , by Jeffrey Zaslow. Penguin Publishing, 2011. Print Length: 304 p. NON-FICTION. Amazon customer rating: 3 stars (1 review). People's slant: "...a tenderhearted portrait of a bridal store in a small Michigan town." Kindle edition $12.99. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.

"You may not have heard of Fowler, Michigan, much less Becker's Bridal. But for the thousands of women who have stepped inside, Becker's is the site of some of the most important moments of their lives - moments that speak to us all. Housed in a former bank, the boutique owners transformed the vault into a magic room, with soft church lighting, a circular pedestal, and mirrors that make lifelong dreams come true. Illuminating the poignant aspects of a woman's journey to the altar, The Magic Room tells the stories of memorable women on the brink of commitment." - Publisher.

The Impossible Dead, by Ian Rankin. Reagan Arthur Books, 2011. Print length: 401 p. MYSTERY. People's slant: "Rankin's characters and plot are as layered and satisfying as always." Amazon customer rating: 4 1/2 stars (13 reviews). Kindle edition $12.99. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.

"The Complaints: that's the name given to the Internal Affairs department who seek out dirty and compromised cops, the ones who've made deals with the devil. And sometimes The Complaints must travel. A major inquiry into a neighboring police force sees Malcolm Fox and his colleagues cast adrift, unsure of territory, protocol, or who they can trust. An entire station-house looks to have been compromised, but as Fox digs deeper he finds the trail leads him back in time to the suicide of a prominent politician and activist. There are secrets buried in the past, and reputations on the line." - Publisher.

The Journal of Best Practices, by David Finch. Scribner, 2012. Print Length: 240 p. MEMOIR. Amazon customer rating: none yet. Slated for publication on January 3, 2011. People's slant: "...a primer of sorts for all of us on how to be better partners." Kindle edition $11.99. Text-to-Speech: Disabled.

"At some point in nearly every marriage, a wife finds herself asking, What the @#!% is wrong with my husband?! In David Finch’s case, this turns out to be an apt question. Five years after he married Kristen, the love of his life, they learn that he has Asperger syndrome. The diagnosis explains David’s ever-growing list of quirks and compulsions, his lifelong propensity to quack and otherwise melt down in social exchanges, and his clinical-strength inflexibility. But it doesn’t make him any easier to live with. Determined to change, David sets out to understand Asperger syndrome and learn to be a better husband... [he] devotes himself to improving his marriage with an endearing yet hilarious zeal that involves excessive note-taking, performance reviews, and most of all, the Journal of Best Practices: a collection of hundreds of maxims and hard-won epiphanies that result from self-reflection both comic and painful. They include 'Don’t change the radio station when she’s singing along,' 'Apologies do not count when you shout them,' and 'Be her friend, first and always.' Guided by the Journal of Best Practices, David transforms himself over the course of two years from the world’s most trying husband to the husband who tries the hardest, the husband he’d always meant to be.

Briefly Mentioned

Love You Madly: The True Story of a Small-town Girl, the Young Men She Seduced, and the Murder of her Mother, by Michael Fleeman. St. Martin's True Crime, 2011. Print Length: 256 p. NON-FICTION. Amazon customer rating: 3 1/2 stars (3 reviews). Kindle edition $7.99. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.

"She posted it online: Just to let everyone know, my mother was murdered. But those simple words written by sixteen-year-old Rachelle Waterman couldn’t begin to describe the horror of the crime: Her mother’s body locked in a van. Doused in gasoline. Burned beyond recognition. Alaska troopers arrested two young men - both of whom had dated Rachelle and claimed to still love her. Investigators grilled Rachelle until she made shocking and apparently incriminating revelations. Was this obviously intelligent young woman really an abused child coerced by police - or a deceptive murderess?" - Publisher.

50 Things Every Young Lady Should Know: What to Do, What to Say, & How to Behave, by Kay West. Thomas Nelson, 2011. Print Length: 241 p. NON-FICTION. Amazon customer rating: 4 1/2 stars (27 reviews). Kindle edition $9.99. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.

"It's safe to say that young women in the 21st century are exposed to more educational opportunities than any generation of women in history. But sometimes what gets lost in between ballet and biology, AP classes and piano lessons, creative writing and cross country, are the basic rules of simple etiquette and guidelines for appropriate behavior. Progress is a good thing, but even an accomplished student, a gifted artist, or a brilliant young law clerk is at a disadvantage if she never learned to write a thank you note, understand a formal table setting, accept a compliment, make an apology, express sympathy, or respond to an invitation. This latest book in the GentleManners series was written especially for girls ages 8 to 14, to teach them the basic skills every young lady should have and every young lady's mother and grandmother want her to have." - Publisher.
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Note to readers: The book prices quoted here are the Amazon.com prices in effect at the time of the blog posting. Please follow the links to the individual book to check the current price.


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Murder is for the Birds: Mysteries for Birdwatchers

If mysteries are your genre of choice and if you are serious birder, a budding ornithologist, or just like to observe birds and their behavior, relax with one of these cozy mystery tales featuring birds and the people who watch them.

Death Shoots a Birdie, by Christine Goff. Berkley, 2007. Print Length: 224 p. Amazon customer rating: 4 stars (5 reviews). Kindle edition: $3.99. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.

"Rachel Wilder's first mistake was agreeing to dig up information on renowned birder Guy Saxby. Her second was involving her friend Dorothy MacBean. How could she have predicted the two would fall head-over-heels in love? Rachel's even more surprised when he becomes the prime suspect in the murder of his protege - whose startling expose would have upstaged his mentor's research on the painted bunting's prime habitat. But working to clear his name and unravel this mess, Rachel begins to wonder if - like the painted bunting - Saxby really did kill another male who was encroaching upon his turf..." - Publisher.

Falcon Finale, by Jan Dunlap. North Star Press, 2011. Print Length: 256 p. Amazon customer rating: 5 stars (1 review). Kindle edition: 256 p. $7.95. Text-to-Speech: Enabled. Lending: Enabled.

"Bob White is hoping to post a state record by sighting an elusive Gyrfalcon in Minnesota's Cottonwood County, but instead, finds himself flying to Flagstaff, Arizona, to help his sister track down her missing husband (aka Bob's best friend Alan Thunderhawk). As soon as he lands in the high mountain country, though, Bob finds more than he bargained for, including a twenty-year-old unsolved murder and a boy who claims to be Alan's son. Sifting his way through deception, land disputes, family secrets, and even an earthquake, Bob must strike a balance between suspicion and trust while he negotiates the tricky landscape of unearthing buried truths. Along the way, his birding expertise affords him close encounters with Arizona birds and possible murderers, but in order to solve the mystery and bring everyone home to Minnesota, Bob must first do something he's never done before not just find a killer, but figure out where the body is, too!" - Publisher.

A Nest in the Ashes, by Christine Goff. Berkley, 2002. Print Length: 228 p. Amazon customer rating: 4 stars (4 reviews). Kindle edition: $4.99. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.

"National Park Service ranger Eric Linenger has been asked to oversee a 'prescribed burn' of 1,000 acres of Rocky Mountain National Park. Although he knows the controlled fire is a necessity, it threatens the habitat of Green-Tailed Towhees and Virginia Warblers. His friends at EPOCH are strongly opposed, but it's Eric's job. Once lit, the flames quickly spread beyond the intended acreage—destroying a real estate development before finally being extinguished. The body of Eric's boss, Wayne Devlin, is found near the origin of the blaze - and it appears as if he deliberately intended the fire to rage out of control. As Eric investigates, he discovers that many people had reasons for ensuring the burn went all to blazes - including some of his friends..." - Author's website.

Waiting for Godwits, by Digby Maclaughlin. Bantry Books, 2010. Print Length: 317 p. Amazon customer rating: 5 stars (1 review). Kindle edition: $4.99. Text-to-Speech: Enabled. Lending: Enabled.

"Written with Digby Maclaughlin’s typical light-hearted style and wit, Waiting for Godwits nevertheless has its share of dark suspense as the retired American detective, Patrick McCluskey, aided by his beautiful English partner, Judith, a famous and exceptionally talented illustrator of birds, set about the task of discovering who, among the inhabitants of Chesley-Next-The-Sea on England’s windswept North Norfolk coast, hated church warden Peter Pettypaw enough to kill him in cold blood." - Publisher.

Murder on Warbler Weekend, by Jan Dunlap. North Star Press, 2009. Print Length: 193 p. Amazon customer rating: none yet. Kindle edition: $7.95. Text-to-Speech: Enabled. Lending: Enabled.

"For birder Bob White, May in Minnesota means three things: counseling high school students with spring fever, coaching the girls’ tenth grade softball team and finding every warbler species during spring migration. But when his mother discovers a body in the midst of a morning of birding, disturbing items get added to Bob’s seasonal list: murder, gambling addictions, shady politics, and controversial land deals, not to mention the possibility of wearing an orange jumpsuit while making license plates..." - Publisher.

The Real Macaw, by Donna Andrews. Minotaur Books, 2011. Print Length: 320 p. Amazon customer rating: 4 1/2 stars (19 reviews). Kindle edition $11.99. Text-to-Speech:

"During a 2 am feeding for her four-month-old twins, Meg Langslow hears an odd noise and goes downstairs to find her living room filled with dozens of animals - cats, dogs, hamsters, gerbils, rabbits, guinea pigs, and a stunningly foul-mouthed macaw. She soon learns that financial woes have caused the local animal shelter to repeal its no-kill policy. Her kindhearted father, her zoologist grandfather, and other like-minded citizens have stolen all the shelter’s animals, both as a gesture of protest and to protect them until the hated policy can be repealed. But the volunteer who was to transport the animals to new homes has been murdered. Was it the victim’s tangled love life that drove someone to murder? Or the dark secrets behind local politics? And will Meg ever succeed in finding homes for all the animals that have landed in her life?" - Publisher.
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Note to readers: The book prices quoted here are the Amazon.com prices in effect at the time of the blog posting. Please follow the links to the individual book to check the current price.

Current and Choice Nonfiction for the Kindle Reader

What I like about non-fiction is that it covers such a huge territory. The best non-fiction is also creative. - Tracy Kidder.

Nonfiction encompasses a wealth of reading possibilities - history, essays, memoirs, scientific research, travel guides, cookbooks - essentially everything that is based on fact, real events and real people. Recent nonfiction titles for the Kindle that you might have missed:

Beethoven's Shadow, by Jonathan Biss. RosettaBooks, 2011. Print Length: 56 p. Kindle Single. Amazon customer rating: 5 stars (2 reviews). Kindle edition $1.99. Text-to-Speech: Enabled. Lending: Enabled.

"On April 24th, 2007, Beethoven’s Sonata Opus 109 made me lose my mind. So Jonathan Biss opens this Single. He goes on to describe the complex and by no means all positive impact of the technology of the recording process on the experience of performing and listening to music. He also describes the legacy of generations of teachers. You are there when Leon Fleisher teaches Jonathan Biss just as Artur Schnabel taught Leon Fleisher before him. You experience the growth of a talented young musician as he becomes a fully mature artist. Most compelling of all, Jonathan Biss creates an almost spiritual introduction to the making and experiencing of music. He has, in effect, invited the reader into the world of the composer and the performer." - Publisher.

Love Your Kindle Fire: The ILMK Guide to Amazon's Entertablet, by Bufo Calvin. Bufo Calvin, 2011. Print Length: 120 p. Amazon customer rating: 4 1/2 stars (12 reviews). Kindle edition $2.99. Text-to-Speech: Enabled. Lending: Enabled.

Bufo Calvin, author of the insanely popular I Love My Kindle blog, gives you a thorough hands-on tour of the Kindle Fire and in the process answers many of the questions you may have about the device, such as how to set a password for your Kindle Fire, how to remove websites from your Carousel, how to use the Pulse app to get free blogs, and how to change your notification sound. Also includes app reviews, testing other sources for video besides Amazon, what you lose when you de-register and re-register your Kindle Fire, etc. Recently updated with about a month's worth of experience using the Kindle Fire.

Almost President: The Men Who Lost the Race but Changed the Nation, by Scott Farris. Lyons Press, 2011. Print Length: 352 p. Amazon customer rating: 4 stars (2 reviews). Kindle edition $9.99. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.

"As the 2012 presidential campaign begins, Almost President profiles a dozen men who have run for the American presidency and lost - but who, even in defeat, have had a greater impact on American history than many of those who have served as president. Scott Farris tells us the stories of legendary figures from Henry Clay to Stephen Douglas, William Jennings Bryan to Thomas Dewey. He also includes mini-profiles on every major candidate nominated for president who never reached the White House but who helped ensure the success of American democracy. Farris explains how Barry Goldwater achieved the party realignment that had eluded FDR, how George McGovern paved the way for Barack Obama, and how Ross Perot changed the way all presidential candidates campaign. There is Al Smith, the first Catholic nominee for president; and Adlai Stevenson, the candidate of the 'eggheads' who remains the beau ideal of a liberal statesman. Others covered by this book include Al Gore, John Kerry, and John McCain." - Publisher.

The Story of English in 100 Words, by David Crystal. Profile Books, 2011. Print Length: 320 p. Amazon customer rating: 5 stars (1 review). Kindle edition $9.99. Text-to-Speech:

"In this unique new history of the world's most ubiquitous language, linguistics expert David Crystal draws on words that best illustrate the huge variety of sources, influences and events that have helped to shape our vernacular since the first definitively English word was written down in the fifth century ('roe', in case you are wondering). Featuring Latinate and Celtic words, weasel words and nonce-words, ancient words ('loaf') to cutting edge ('twittersphere') and spanning the indispensable words that shape our tongue ('and', 'what') to the more fanciful ('fopdoodle'), Crystal takes us along the winding byways of language via the rude, the obscure and the downright surprising." - Publisher.

Enduring Cuba, by Zoë Brân. Lonely Planet, 2011. Print Length: 272 p. Amazon customer rating: 5 stars (5 reviews). Kindle edition $2.99. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.

"Zoë Brân has always been fascinated by the gap between the ideals of the world's socialist countries and the arduous hand-to-mouth struggles of the people who live in them. Seeking to understand the reality of Cuba today, Zoë travels the length of this beautiful island. Beneath the surface of music and dancing, cockfights and animal sacrifice, she finds a land of complex ambiguities: a fertile land where many hunger; an educated country with scant knowledge of the outside world; a nation exhausted by socialism but proud of its independence and history of revolutionary struggle. From Havana to the pastoral hinterland, Zoe talks with writers and artists, with expatriates, with committed revolutionaries and those desperate to escape abroad." - Publisher.

Man Seeks God: My Flirtations with the Divine, by Eric Weiner. Twelve, 2011. Print Length: 369 p. Amazon customer rating: 5 stars (5 reviews). Kindle edition $12.99. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.

"When a health scare puts him in the hospital, Eric Weiner - an agnostic by default - finds himself tangling with an unexpected question, posed to him by a well-meaning nurse. Have you found your God yet? Face to face with his own mortality, and spurred on by the question of what spiritual principles to impart to his young daughter, he decides to correct this omission, undertaking a worldwide exploration of religions and hoping to come, if he can, to a personal understanding of the divine. The journey that results is rich in insight, humor, and heart. Willing to do anything to better understand faith, and to find the god or gods that speak to him, he travels to Nepal, where he meditates with Tibetan lamas and a guy named Wayne. He sojourns to Turkey, where he whirls (not so well, as it turns out) with Sufi dervishes. He heads to China, where he attempts to unblock his chi; to Israel, where he studies Kabbalah, sans Madonna; and to Las Vegas, where he has a close encounter with Raelians (followers of the world's largest UFO-based religion). At each stop along the way, Weiner tackles our most pressing spiritual questions: Where do we come from? What happens when we die? How should we live our lives? Where do all the missing socks go?" - Publisher.

The Map of My Dead Pilots: The Dangerous Game of Flying in Alaska, by Colleen Mondor. Lyons Press, 2011. Print Length: 256 p. Amazon customer rating: 4 stars (1 review). Kindle edition $9.99. Text-to-Speech: Enabled. Lending: Enabled.

"Colleen Mondor spent four years running dispatch operations for a Fairbanks-based commuter and charter airline - and she knows all too well the gap between the romance and reality of small plane piloting in the wildest territory of the United States. From overloaded aircraft to wings covered in ice, from flying sled dogs and dead bodies, piloting in Alaska is about living hard and working harder. What Mondor witnessed day to day would make anyone’s hair stand on end. Ultimately, it is the pilots themselves - laced with ice and whiskey, death and camaraderie, silence and engine roar - who capture her imagination. In fine detail, Mondor reveals the technical side of flying, the history of Alaskan aviation, and a world that demands a close communion with extreme physical danger and emotional toughness." - Publisher.
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Note to readers: The book prices quoted here are the Amazon.com prices in effect at the time of the blog posting. Please follow the links to the individual book to check the current price.

Kindle Genre Watch: New in Science Fiction and Fantasy

Spend less time searching for new genre fiction and more time reading it as I watch for newly-released genre fiction in the Kindle Store so you don't have to. Outstanding new releases in fantasy and science fiction include:

Fantasy

Rise of Empire by Michael J. Sullivan. Orbit, 2011. Print Length: 817 p. Amazon customer rating: 4 1/2 stars (7 reviews). Kindle edition: $9.99. Text-to-Speech: Enabled. This is book two in the Riyria Revelations series, following Theft of Swords.

"Royce and Hadrian have been called upon to aid the struggling kingdom of Melengar as it alone stands in defiance against the newly formed empire. As war approaches a desperate gamble behind enemy lines is their only chance at forming an alliance with the Nationalists to the south. But Royce has plans of his own and uses this opportunity to discover if an ancient wizard is using Riyria as pawns in his own bid for power. To find the truth, Royce must unravel Hadrian's hidden past. What he discovers will lead them to the end of the known world on a journey rife with treachery and intrigue." - Publisher.

Side Jobs: Stories from the Dresden Files by Jim Butcher. Roc, 2011. Print Length: 444 p. Amazon customer rating: 4 1/2 stars (127 reviews). Kindle edition: $9.99. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.

"These are Butcher’s short pieces about Harry Dresden. (Previous novels featuring that character, which the author’s many fans will recall with pleasure, include Proven Guilty, 2006, and White Night, 2007). Most of these stories are reprints ('Something Borrowed,' 'It’s My Birthday, Too,' 'Day Off,' and 'Last Call' are included), but the collection offers some previously unpublished material. Butcher has not only given the genesis of each story but also indicates where each fits chronologically among the novels. Anyone who likes the Harry Dresden long works probably thinks it’s high time this collection came out. Enjoy, but be warned that there is a sequel to Changes (2010) in the collection." - Frieda Murray for Booklist.

Honor Among Thieves by David Chandler. Harper Voyager, 2011. Print Length: 553 p. Amazon customer rating: 4 1/2 stars (3 reviews). Kindle edition: $7.99. Text-to-Speech: Enabled. This is the concluding volume in the Ancient Blades trilogy, following Den of Thieves (now only $0.99 in the Amazon Kindle Bookstore) and A Thief in the Night.

"Armed with one of seven Ancient Blades, Malden was chosen by Fate to act as savior...and failed dismally. And now there is no stopping the barbarian hordes from invading and pillaging the kingdom of Skrae. Suddenly friends and former supporters alike covet the young hero’s magic while seeking his destruction - from the treacherous King and leaders of the City of Ness to the rogue knight Croy, who owes Malden his life. It will take more than Malden’s makeshift army of harlots and cutpurses to preserve a realm. Luckily the sorceress Cythera fights at his side, along with the ingenious,irascible dwarf Slag. And the wily thief still has a desperate and daring plan or two up his larcenous sleeve..." - Publisher.

Every Which Way But Dead by Kim Harrison. Harper Voyager, 2011. Print Length: 501 p. Amazon customer rating: 4 1/2 stars (157 reviews). Kindle edition: $1.99 (special price for a limited time). Bonus material includes a sneak peek at Kim Harrison's new novel - Perfect Blood - slated for publication in February 2012. Text-to-Speech: Enabled. This is book three in the author's The Hollows series, following Dead Witch Walking and The Good, the Bad, and the Undead.

"Some days, you just can't win. Witch and former bounty hunter Rachel Morgan's managed to escape her corrupt company, survive living with a vampire, start her own runner service, and face down a vampire master. But her vampire roommate Ivy is off the wagon, her human boyfriend Nick is out of town indefinitely and doesn't sound like he's coming back while the far-too-seductive vampire Kisten is looking way too tempting, and there's a turf war erupting in Cincinnati's underworld. And there's a greater evil still. To put the vampire master behind bars and save her family, Rachel made a desperate bargain and now there's hell to pay - literally." - Publisher.

Science Fiction

Star Wars: Shadow Games by Michael Reaves and Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoff. LucasBooks, 2011. Print Length: 368 p. Amazon customer rating: 4 1/2 stars (4 reviews). Kindle edition: $7.99. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.

"Javul Charn is the most famous pop star in the galaxy - and the runaway bride of a violent lieutenant in Black Sun, the crime syndicate commanded by Prince Xizor. Or so Javul says. Soon after Dash Rendar, broke and desperate, agrees to be Javul’s bodyguard, he realizes that openness is not her strong suit - and that murder is stalking her tour. Between the discovery of dead bodies in a cargo hold and an attack by an unidentified warship, Dash and co-pilot Eaden Vrill desperately try to understand who is terrorizing Javul’s tour and why. When Han Solo suddenly joins Javul’s road show, the stakes are raised even higher. Now Dash, who has a history with Han and an even worse history with Prince Xizor, follows his instincts, his discoveries, and Javul herself - straight into a world that may be too dangerous to survive." - Publisher.

Starswarm by Jerry Pournelle. First published in 1998, Starswarm is newly available in a Kindle edition. Print Length: 352 p. Amazon customer rating: Kindle edition: $5.99. Text-to-Speech: Enabled. Lending: Enabled.

"Living with his Uncle Mike at Starswarm Station on a planet called Paradise, Kip's best friend is Gwen who answers questions and seems to know everything. But Gwen is an implant in Kip's head, connected to an Artificial Intelligence at the planet's central computer, and Kip learns some secrets that put not only his and his Uncle Mike's lives in danger, but also threaten the existence of the aliens called centaurs and the starswarms, mysterious but highly intelligent organisms living in lakes and streams." - Author's blog.

Sisterhood of Dune by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson. Tor Books, 2012. Print Length: 497 p. Amazon customer rating: none yet. Kindle edition: $14.99. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.

"It is eighty-three years after the last of the thinking machines were destroyed in the Battle of Corrin, after Faykan Butler took the name of Corrino and established himself as the first Emperor of a new Imperium. The war hero Vorian Atreides has turned his back on politics and Salusa Secundus. The descendants of Abulurd Harkonnen Griffen and Valya have sworn vengeance against Vor, blaming him for the downfall of their fortunes. Raquella Berto-Anirul has formed the Bene Gesserit School on the jungle planet Rossak as the first Reverend Mother. The descendants of Aurelius Venport and Norma Cenva have built Venport Holdings, using mutated, spice-saturated Navigators who fly precursors of Heighliners. Gilbertus Albans, the ward of the hated Erasmus, is teaching humans to become Mentats...and hiding an unbelievable secret. The Butlerian movement, rabidly opposed to all forms of 'dangerous technology,' is led by Manford Torondo and his devoted Swordmaster, Anari Idaho. And it is this group, so many decades after the defeat of the thinking machines, which begins to sweep across the known universe in mobs, millions strong, destroying everything in its path..."

Methuselah's Children by Robert Heinlein. One of Heinlein's early novels, this science fiction classic was first published in 1958 and is newly available in a Kindle edition. Print Length: 192 p. Amazon customer rating: none yet. Kindle edition: $6.35. Text-to-Speech: Enabled. Lending: Enabled.

"Lazarus Long, member of a select group bred for generations to live far beyond normal human lifespans, helps his kind escape persecution after word leaks out and angry crowds accuse them of withholding the 'secret' of longevity. Lazarus and his companions set out on an interstellar journey and face many trials and strange cultures, like a futuristic Odysseus and his crew, before returning to Earth. This classic novel, set in Robert A. Heinlein’s Future History universe, introduces the author’s most beloved and widely quoted character." - Publisher.

Return to Dakistee by Thomas DePrima. Vinnia Publishing, 2011. Print Length: 306 p. Amazon customer rating: 4 1/2 stars (21 reviews). Kindle edition: $5.99. Text-to-Speech: Enabled. Lending: Enabled. This is book 8 in DePrima's A Galaxy Unknown Series that began with A Galaxy Unknown.

"The same archeological team who uncovered a secret underground bunker on Dakistee sixteen years earlier, when the planet was still named Mawcett, has discovered a new facility. They struggle for months to open the entrance, but the structure defies all their efforts. Admiral Jenetta Carver is besieged with mundane work. Although she would love to drop everything and head for Dakistee, she can't possibly get away. Fortunately, the battleship Hephaestus is in port, and the ship's third watch commander is available for a special assignment. Christa is far from thrilled with the prospect of giving up her seat on the bridge, even temporarily, but when an admiral says go, you go. It doesn't matter that the admiral is your sister. Christa expects to make a quick trip, with a speedy return to the Hephaestus, but as with Jenetta, assignments often tend to take unexpected side trips into unique and dangerous situations." - Publisher.
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Note to readers: The book prices quoted here are the Amazon.com prices in effect at the time of the blog posting. Please follow the links to the individual book to check the current price.



see more Lolcats and funny pictures, and check out our Socially Awkward Penguin lolz!

Humorous Christmas Stories for the Family Kindle

'Twas Christmas broach'd the mightiest ale; 'twas Christmas told the merriest tale; a Christmas gambol oft could cheer the poor man's heart through half the year. - Sir Walter Scott.

What to read on your shiny new Kindle reader should you find one under the tree? If you're in the Christmas spirit and are up for some humor, check out these holiday treats - some for adults and some to read to the kids in your life:

For Children:

Olivia Helps with Christmas, by Ian Falconer. Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 2010. Print Length: 58 pages. Kindle edition only available on Kindle Fire. Amazon customer rating: 4 1/2 stars (53 reviews). Kindle edition $12.99. Text-to-Speech: Disabled.

"Everyone's favorite Caldecott honor-winning porcine and #1 Kris Cringle enthusiast is helping to make the season brighter than ever. Christmas is coming, and Olivia is incredibly busy. She has to wait for Santa, make sure dad sets up the tree, wait for Santa, watch mom make the Christmas dinner, wait for Santa, oversee the care with which the stockings are hung and, of course, OPEN HER PRESENTS! Do you see how hard it is to be so helpful during the holidays!" - Publisher.

Stanley's Christmas Adventure, by Jeff Brown. Illustrated by Macky Pamintuan. Harper Collins, 2010. Print Length: 100 p. This title has complex layouts and has been optimized for reading on devices with larger screens. Amazon customer rating: 4 1/2 stars (5 reviews). Kindle edition $3.99. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.

"Who will save Christmas? Santa Claus is not his usual, jolly self. In fact, he's in a terrible mood. He doesn't believe that children appreciate Christmas anymore. This year, he has decided that he is not going to deliver any Christmas presents! Luckily, his daughter, Sarah Claus, knows who to call for help. The Lambchop family! But can they convince Santa that there are still good children in the world? Just leave it up to Stanley." - Publisher.

Fancy Nancy: Splendiferous Christmas, by Jane O'Connor. Illustrated by Robin Preiss Glasser. Harper Collins, 2011. Print Length: 32 p. Kindle edition only available on Kindle Fire. Amazon customer rating: 5 stars (55 reviews). Kindle edition $10.99. Text-to-Speech: Not enabled.

"Holiday season for Fancy Nancy means a decorated house, delectable goodies, and the opportunity to finally use the angel tree topper she bought last summer with her own money. The tree topper is everything the box promised: it spins, it flashes, it changes colors. But a fight with the dog results in a knocked-over tree and a broken topper. Grandpa to the rescue, and Nancy loves her homemade tree topper as much as the fancy one, which stretches credulity a bit. However, Christmas is the perfect time for all sorts of fancy doings, which the always-fun artwork makes abundantly and amusingly clear. Preschool-Grade 1. - Ilene Cooper for Booklist.

The Best Christmas Pageant Ever, by Barbara Robinson. Harper Collins, 2011. Print Length: 100 p. Amazon customer rating: 5 stars (141 reviews). Kindle edition $4.99. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.

"The Herdmans are the worst kids in the history of the world. They lie, steal, smoke cigars, swear, and hit little kids. So no one is prepared when this outlaw family invades church one Sunday and decides to take over the annual Christmas pageant. None of the Herdmans has ever heard the Christmas story before. Their interpretation of the tale - the Wise Men are a bunch of dirty spies and Herod needs a good beating - has a lot of people up in arms. But it will make this year's pageant the most unusual anyone has seen and, just possibly, the best one ever." - Publisher.
"One of the best Christmas books ever." - Publishers Weekly.

For Adults:

A Christmas Blizzard, by Garrison Keillor. Penguin, 2011. Print Length: 191 p. Amazon customer rating: 3 1/2 stars (27 reviews). Kindle edition $9.99. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.

"Snow is falling all across the Midwest as James Sparrow, a country- bumpkin-turned-energy-drink-tycoon, and his wife awaken in their sky-rise apartment overlooking Chicago. Even down with the stomach bug, Mrs. Sparrow yearns to see The Nutcracker while James yearns only to escape the faux-cheer, the bitter cold, the whole Christmas season. An urgent phone call from his hometown of Looseleaf, North Dakota, sends James into the midst of his lunatic relatives and a historic blizzard." - Publisher.

A Christmas Story: The Book That Inspired the Hilarious Classic Film, by Jean Shepherd. Broadway, 2010. Print Length: 144 p. Amazon customer rating: 4 1/2 stars (27 reviews). Kindle edition $10.99. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.
"The holiday film A Christmas Story, first released in 1983, has become a bona fide Christmas perennial, gaining in stature and fame with each succeeding year. Its affectionate, wacky, and wryly realistic portrayal of an American family’s typical Christmas joys and travails in small-town Depression-era Indiana has entered our imagination and our hearts. This edition of A Christmas Story gathers together in one hilarious volume the gems of autobiographical humor that Jean Shepherd drew upon to create this enduring film. Here is young Ralphie Parker’s shocking discovery that his decoder ring is really a device to promote Ovaltine; his mother and father’s pitched battle over the fate of a lascivious leg lamp; the unleashed and unnerving savagery of Ralphie’s duel in the show with the odious bullies Scut Farkas and Grover Dill; and, most crucially, Ralphie’s unstoppable campaign to get Santa - or anyone else - to give him a Red Ryder carbine action 200-shot range model air rifle. Who cares that the whole adult world is telling him, You’ll shoot your eye out, kid?" - from the hardcover edition.

Holidays on Ice, by David Sedaris. Little, Brown and Company, 2009. Originally published in 1997. Print Length: 188 p. Amazon customer rating: 3 1/2 stars (56 reviews). Kindle edition $8.99. Text-to-Speech: Disabled.

"David Sedaris's beloved holiday collection is new again with six more pieces, including a never before published story. Along with such favorites as the diaries of a Macy's elf and the annals of two very competitive families, are Sedaris's tales of tardy trick-or-treaters; the difficulties of explaining the Easter Bunny to the French; what to do when you've been locked out in a snowstorm; the puzzling Christmas traditions of other nations; what Halloween at the medical examiner's looks like; and a barnyard secret Santa scheme gone awry." - Publisher.

The Christmas Pig, by Kinky Friedman. Simon & Schuster, 2006. Print Length: 176 p. Amazon customer rating: 4 stars (13 reviews). Kindle edition $12.99. Text-to-Speech: Disabled.
"King Jonjo Mayo the First is in a bind. Every Christmas, he commissions an artist to paint a traditional nativity scene to be dramatically revealed after midnight mass. This year, though, the date is mere weeks away, and he still has not yet found his painter. The king decides to take a chance on a peculiar, mute boy whose artistic genius and clairvoyance are rumored throughout the kingdom. He sends three valiant, if begrudging, knights to seek out the boy in the remote countryside. Finally, they find Benjamin - and he is, indeed, peculiar. Nobody knows if the child is up to the task, but the king's Christmas tradition - and Benjamin himself - might just be saved by a Christmas miracle that comes in the form of a very special pig - who is rather peculiar herself." - Publisher.
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Note to readers: The book prices quoted here are the Amazon.com prices in effect at the time of the blog posting. Please follow the links to the individual book to check the current price.


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Genre Watch: New Mysteries and Thrillers for the Kindle Reader

Spend less time searching for good reads and more time reading as I watch for newly-released genre fiction in the Kindle Store so you don't have to. Outstanding new releases in mystery and suspense fiction include:

Double Booked for Death by Ali Brandon. Berkley, 2011. Print Length: 334 p. Amazon customer rating: 5 stars (2 reviews). Kindle edition $7.99. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.

"As the new owners of Pettistone's Fine Books, Darla Pettistone is determined to prove herself a worthy successor to her late great-aunt Dee...and equally determined to outwit Hamlet, the smarter-than-thou cat she inherited along with the shop. Darla's first store event is a real coup: the hottest bestselling author of the moment is holding a signing there. But when the author meets an untimely end during the event, it's ruled an accident - until Hamlet digs up a clue that seems to indicate otherwise..." - Publisher.

The Boy in the Suitcase, by Lene Kaaberbol and Agnete Friis. Soho Crime, 2011. Print Length: 321 p. Amazon customer rating: 4 stars (28 reviews). Kindle edition $9.12. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.

"Nina Borg, a Red Cross nurse, wife, and mother of two, is a compulsive do-gooder who can't say no when someone asks for help - even when she knows better. When her estranged friend Karin leaves her a key to a public locker in the Copenhagen train station, Nina gets suckered into her most dangerous project yet. Inside the locker is a suitcase, and inside the suitcase is a three-year-old boy: naked and drugged, but alive. Is the boy a victim of child trafficking? Can he be turned over to authorities, or will they only return him to whoever sold him? When Karin is discovered brutally murdered, Nina realizes that her life and the boy's are in jeopardy, too..." - Publisher.

The Moonlit Mind: A Tale of Suspense, by Dean Koontz. Kindle Single. Bantam, 2011. Print Length: 102 p. Amazon customer rating: 4 1/2 stars (14 reviews). Kindle edition $2.99. Text-to-Speech: Blank.

"Twelve-year-old Crispin has lived on the streets since he was nine - with only his wits and his daring to sustain him, and only his silent dog, Harley, to call his friend. Alone, drifting, and scavenging to survive is no life for a boy. But the life Crispin has left behind, and is still running scared from, is an unspeakable alternative...that may yet catch up with him." - Publisher.

Dead Man's Grip by Peter James. This is book seven in the author's Detective Superintendent Roy Grace series that began with Dead Simple. Minotaur Books, 2011. Print Length: 516 p. Amazon customer rating: 4 stars (19 reviews). Kindle edition $12.99. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.

"Carly Chase is still traumatized ten days after being in a fatal traffic accident that kills a teenage American student from Brighton University. Then she receives news that turns her entire world into a living nightmare. The drivers of the other two vehicles involved have been found tortured and murdered. Now Detective Superintendent Roy Grace of the Sussex Police force issues a stark and urgent warning to Carly: She could be next." - Publisher.

The Immortalists by Kyle Mills. Thomas & Mercer, 2011. Print Length: 333 p. Amazon customer rating: 4 stars (27 reviews). Kindle edition $5.99 Please note: this title is also available as a free loan from the Kindle Owners' Lending Library if you subscribe to Amazon Prime. Text-to-Speech: Enabled. Lending: Enabled.

"Brilliant microbiologist Richard Draman has the most personal of reasons to find a cure for the rare disease progeria. The ailment, which radically accelerates the aging process, has afflicted his eight-year-old daughter, Susie. Given the extremely modest numbers of its victims, research funding is always at a premium, but Draman has managed to hold things together at his lab near Baltimore. The precariousness of the Dramans' lives is exacerbated when Troy Chevalier, the widower of a scientific colleague, asks for help investigating his wife's death, officially ruled a suicide. Chevalier gives Draman a thumb drive with data she was working on, but Draman's first step to understand what's on it leads to his arrest for industrial espionage. Things only get worse from there as the threats escalate to violence aimed at Draman and his loved ones..." - Publishers Weekly.

She Can Run by Melinda Leigh. Montlake Romance, 2011. Print Length: 327 p. Amazon customer rating: 4 stars (31 reviews). Kindle edition $3.99. This title is also available as a free loan from the Kindle Owners' Lending Library if you subscribe to Amazon Prime. Text-to-Speech: Enabled. Lending: Enabled.

"Elizabeth was a young widow with two small children when she met Congressman Richard Baker. Handsome and wealthy, with a sparkling public image, Richard seemed like the perfect man to provide the security that Beth and her kids were craving. But when she uncovers a dangerous secret about her new husband, Beth realizes he will go to any lengths - even murder - to keep it. After barely escaping with her life, she and her children flee. They eventually make their way to a secluded estate in the Pennsylvania countryside, where Beth dares to hope she has found a safe place at last. Forced into retirement by an unexpected injury, Philadelphia homicide detective Jack O’Malley is mourning the loss of his career when his uncle abruptly dies, leaving Jack to dispose of his crumbling country house. Unbeknownst to him, his uncle engaged a caretaker just before his death, a mysterious woman with two children..." - Publisher.

The Last Word by Ellery Adams. A Books by the Bay mystery. Berkley, 2011. Print Length: 308 p. Amazon customer rating: Kindle edition $7.99. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.

"Olivia Limoges and the Bayside Book Writers are excited about Oyster Bay's newest resident: bestselling novelist Nick Plumley, who's come to work on his next book. But when Olivia stops by Plumley's rental she finds that he's been strangled to death. Her instincts tell her that something from the past came back to haunt him, but she never expects that the investigation could spell doom for one of her dearest friends..." - Publisher.
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Note to readers: The book prices quoted here are the Amazon.com prices in effect at the time of the blog posting. Please follow the links to the individual book to check the current price.


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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 227,000 books in the Amazon Kindle bookstore's "history" category, Kindle-owning history buffs will not run out of reading material any time soon. Outstanding among recent history titles are:

Founding Rivals: Madison vs. Monroe, The Bill of Rights, and The Election that Saved a Nation, by Chris DeRose. Regnery, 2011. Print Length: 322 p. Amazon customer rating: 5 stars (20 reviews). Kindle edition $13.42. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.

"In 1789, James Madison and James Monroe ran against each other for Congress - the only time that two future presidents have contested a congressional seat. But what was at stake was more than personal ambition. This was a race that determined the future of the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, the very definition of the United States of America. Friends and political allies for most of their lives, Madison was the Constitution’s principal author, Monroe one of its leading opponents. Monroe thought the Constitution gave the federal government too much power and failed to guarantee fundamental rights. Madison believed that without the Constitution, the United States would not survive. In Founding Rivals, DeRose, himself a political strategist who has fought campaigns in Madison and Monroe’s district, relives the campaign, retraces the candidates’ footsteps, and offers the first insightful, comprehensive history of this high-stakes political battle." - Publisher.

Pacific Crucible: War at Sea in the Pacific, 1941-1942, by Ian W. Toll. W. W. Norton, 2011. Print Length: 659 p. Amazon customer rating: 5 stars (12 reviews). Kindle edition $15.29. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.

"On the first Sunday in December 1941, an armada of Japanese warplanes appeared suddenly over Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, and devastated the U.S. Pacific Fleet. Six months later, in a sea fight north of the tiny atoll of Midway, four Japanese aircraft carriers were sent into the abyss. Pacific Crucible tells the epic tale of these first searing months of the Pacific war, when the U.S. Navy shook off the worst defeat in American military history and seized the strategic initiative. Ian W. Toll's dramatic narrative encompasses both the high command and the 'sailor's-eye' view from the lower deck. Relying predominantly on eyewitness accounts and primary sources, Pacific Crucible also spotlights recent scholarship that has revised our understanding of the conflict..." - Publisher.

The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich, by William L. Shirer. Rosetta Books, 2011. Originally published in 1960 and now available in a Kindle edition. Print Length: 1280 p. Amazon customer rating: 5 stars (7 reviews). Kindle edition $9.99. Text-to-Speech: Enabled. Lending: Enabled.

"When the Third Reich fell, it fell swiftly. The Nazis had little time to cover up their memos, their letters, or their diaries. William L. Shirer’s definitive book on the Third Reich uses these unique sources. Combined with his personal experience with the Nazis, living through the war as an international correspondent, The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich not only earned Shirer a National Book Award but is recognized as one of the most important and authoritative books about the Third Reich and Nazi Germany ever written. The diaries of propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels as well as evidence and other testimony gained at the Nuremberg Trials could not have found more artful hands. William Shirer (1904-1993) was originally a foreign correspondent for the Chicago Tribune and was the first journalist hired by Edward R. Murrow for what would become a team of journalists for CBS radio. Shirer distinguished himself and quickly became known for his broadcasts from Berlin during the rise of the Nazi dictatorship through the first year of World War II." - Publisher.

A Short History of England: The Glorious Story of a Rowdy Nation, by Simon Jenkins. Public Affairs, 2011. Print Length: 384 p. This title has complex layouts and has been optimized for reading on devices with larger screens. Amazon customer rating: none yet. Kindle edition $15.29. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.

"The heroes and villains, triumphs and disasters of English history are instantly familiar - from the Norman Conquest to Henry VIII, Queen Victoria to the two world wars. But to understand their full sig­nificance we need to know the whole story. A Short History of England sheds new light on all the key individuals and events in English histo­ry by bringing them together in an enlightening account of the country’s birth, rise to global promi­nence, and then partial eclipse. Written with flair and authority by Guardian columnist and London Times former editor Simon Jenkins, this is the definitive narrative of how today’s England came to be. Concise but comprehensive, with more than a hundred color illustrations, this beautiful single-volume history will be the standard work for years to come." - Pulisher.

Fatal Crossroads: The Untold Story of the Malmedy Massacre at the Battle of the Bulge, by Danny S. Parker. Da Capo Press, 2011. Print Length: 437 p. Amazon customer rating: 5 stars (1 review). Kindle edition $11.69. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.

"On December 17, 1944, during the Battle of the Bulge, more than eighty unarmed United States soldiers were shot down after having surrendered to an SS unit near the small crossroads town of Malmédy, Belgium. Although more than thirty men lived to tell of the massacre, exactly what took place that day remains mired in controversy. Was it just a 'battlefield incident' or rather a deliberate slaughter? Who gave the orders: infamous SS leader Jochen Peiper or someone else? Fatal Crossroads vividly reconstructs the critical events leading up to the atrocity - for the first time in all their revealing detail - as well as the aftermath. Danny S. Parker spent fifteen years researching original sources and interviewing more than one hundred witnesses to uncover the truth behind the Malmédy massacre, and the result is riveting." - Publisher.

Conquered into Liberty, by Eliot A. Cohen. Free Press, 2011. Print Length: 434 p. Amazon customer rating: 5 stars (4 reviews). Kindle edition $14.99. Text-to-Speech: Disabled.

"Americans often think of the Civil War as the conflict that consolidated the United States, including its military values and practices. But there was another, earlier, and more protracted struggle between 'North' and 'South,' beginning in the 1600s and lasting for more than two centuries, that shaped American geopolitics and military culture. Here, Eliot A. Cohen explains how the American way of war emerged from a lengthy struggle with an unlikely enemy: Canada. In Conquered into Liberty, Cohen describes how five peoples - the British, French, Americans, Canadians, and Indians - fought over the key to the North American continent: the corridor running from Albany to Montreal dominated by the Champlain valley and known to Native Americans as the 'Great Warpath.' He weaves together tactics and strategy, battle narratives, and statecraft, introducing readers to such fascinating but little-known figures as Justus Sherwood, loyalist spy; Jeduthan Baldwin, self-taught engineer; and La Corne St. Luc, ruthless partisan leader. And he reintroduces characters we thought we knew - an admirable Benedict Arnold, a traitorous Ethan Allen, and a devious George Washington." - Publisher.
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Note to readers: The book prices quoted here are the Amazon.com prices in effect at the time of the blog posting. Please follow the links to the individual book to check the current price.


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