What People Magazine is Reading This Week (Dec 12th 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 December 12th issue of People:

The Drop, by Michael Connelly. Little, Brown and Company, 2011. Print Length: 401 p. MYSTERY. Amazon customer rating: 4 stars (59 reviews). People's slant: "Master crime writing Connelly gives his favorite detective two cases to solve - and double the suspense." Kindle edition $12.99. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.

"Harry Bosch has been given three years before he must retire from the LAPD, and he wants cases more fiercely than ever. In one morning, he gets two. DNA from a 1989 rape and murder matches a 29-year-old convicted rapist. Was he an eight-year-old killer or has something gone terribly wrong in the new Regional Crime Lab? Then Bosch and his partner are called to a death scene fraught with internal politics. Councilman Irvin Irving's son jumped or was pushed from a window at the Chateau Marmont. Irving, Bosch's longtime nemesis, has demanded that Harry handle the investigation. Relentlessly pursuing both cases, Bosch makes two chilling discoveries..." - Publisher.

Prince Philip: The Turbulent Early Life of the Man Who Married Queen Elizabeth II , by Philip Eade. Henry Holt, 2011. Print Length: 377 p. BIOGRAPHY. Amazon customer rating: 4 stars (3 reviews). People's slant: "...after reading this engaging biography of Philip's early years, it's easy to see how the future Queen of England fell for him." Kindle edition $14.99. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.

"Before he met the young girl who became Queen Elizabeth II, Prince Philip had a tumultuous upbringing in Greece, France, Nazi Germany, and Britain. His mother, Princess Alice of Battenberg, was born deaf; she was committed to a psychiatric clinic when Philip was eight. His father, Prince Andrew of Greece, already traumatized by his exile from his home country, promptly shut up the family home and went off to live with his mistress, effectively leaving his young son an orphan. Remarkably, Philip emerged from his difficult childhood a character of singular vitality and dash - self-confident, opinionated, and devastatingly handsome. In this authoritative and wonderfully compelling book, acclaimed biographer Philip Eade brings to vivid life the storm-tossed early years of one of the most fascinating and mysterious members of the royal family." - Publisher.

The Angel Esmeralda, by Don DeLillo. Scribner, 2011. Print Length: 226 p. STORIES. Amazon customer rating: 3 stars (7 reviews). People's slant: "Behold and be dazzled." Kindle edition $10.99. Text-to-Speech: Disabled.

"From one of the greatest writers of our time, his first collection of short stories, written between 1979 and 2011, chronicling - and foretelling - three decades of American life Set in Greece, the Caribbean, Manhattan, a white-collar prison and outer space, these nine stories are a mesmerizing introduction to Don DeLillo’s iconic voice, from the rich, startling, jazz-infused rhythms of his early work to the spare, distilled, monastic language of the later stories. In Creation, a couple at the end of a cruise somewhere in the West Indies can’t get off the island—flights canceled, unconfirmed reservations, a dysfunctional economy. In Human Moments in World War III, two men orbiting the earth, charged with gathering intelligence and reporting to Colorado Command, hear the voices of American radio, from a half century earlier. In the title story, Sisters Edgar and Grace, nuns working the violent streets of the South Bronx, confirm the neighborhood’s miracle, the apparition of a dead child, Esmeralda." - 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.

What People Magazine is Reading This Week (Dec 5th 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 December 5th issue of People:

A Train in Winter, by Caroline Moorehead. Harper, 2011. Print Length: 611 p. NON-FICTION. Amazon customer rating: 4 stars (37 reviews). People's slant: "Moorehead's reverence for the women she profiles makes an otherwise grim story an inspiring and fascinating read." Kindle edition $14.99. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.

"They were teachers, students, chemists, writers, and housewives; a singer at the Paris Opera, a midwife, a dental surgeon. Strangers to each other, hailing from villages and cities from across France, these brave women were united in hatred and defiance of their Nazi occupiers. Eventually, the Gestapo hunted down 230 of these women and imprisoned them in a fort outside Paris. Separated from home and loved ones, these disparate individuals turned to one another, their common experience conquering divisions of age, education, profession, and class, as they found solace and strength in their deep affection and camaraderie. A Train in Winter draws on interviews with these women and their families; German, French, and Polish archives; and documents held by World War II resistance organizations to uncover a dark chapter of history that offers an inspiring portrait of ordinary people, of bravery and survival - and of the remarkable, enduring power of female friendship." - Publisher.

Imperfect Justice: Prosecuting Casey Anthony, by Jeff Ashton, with Liza Pulitzer. William Morrow, 2011. Print Length: 336 p. NON-FICTION. Amazon customer rating: 4 stars (92 reviews). People's slant: "...behind-the-scenes details of the trial that ended in Anthony's acquittal on changes that she murdered her toddler daughter." Kindle edition $12.99. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.

"It was the trial that stunned America, the verdict that shocked us all. On July 5, 2011, nearly three years after her initial arrest, Casey Anthony walked away, virtually scot-free, from one of the most sensational murder trials of all time. She'd been accused of killing her daughter, Caylee, but the trial only left behind more questions... In Imperfect Justice, prosecutor Jeff Ashton, one of the principal players in the case's drama, sheds light on those questions and much more, telling the behind-the-scenes story of the investigation, the trial, and the now-infamous verdict. Providing an inside account of the case, Ashton, a career prosecutor for the state of Florida, goes where the press and pundits have only speculated, detailing what really happened during the investigation, showing how the prosecution built their case, and explaining how a woman so shrouded in suspicion was proclaimed innocent." - Publisher.

The Prague Cemetery, by Umberto Eco. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2011. Print Length: 451 p. NOVEL. Amazon customer rating: 3 1/2 stars (24 reviews). People's slant: "...intricate mystery...Fans who persevere through the sometimes wearying rhetoric of hate will not be disappointed." Kindle edition $9.45. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.

"Nineteenth-century Europe - from Turin to Prague to Paris - abounds with the ghastly and the mysterious. Conspiracies rule history. Jesuits plot against Freemasons. Italian republicans strangle priests with their own intestines. French criminals plan bombings by day and celebrate Black Masses at night. Every nation has its own secret service, perpetrating forgeries, plots, and massacres. From the unification of Italy to the Paris Commune to the Dreyfus Affair to The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, Europe is in tumult and everyone needs a scapegoat. But what if, behind all of these conspiracies both real and imagined, lay one lone man? What if that evil genius created its most infamous document?" - Publisher.

Out of Oz by Gregory Maguire. William Morrow, 2011. Print Length: 592 p. FANTASY. Amazon customer rating: 3 1/2 stars (29 reviews). People's slant: "...sassy reimagining of Baum's world..." Kindle edition $12.99. Text-to-Speech: Enabled. This is the fourth and final book in the author's Wicked Years series. The first three volumes - all available in Kindle editions - include Wicked, Son of a Witch, and A Lion Among Men.

"Once peaceful and prosperous, the spectacular Land of Oz is knotted with social unrest: The Emerald City is mounting an invasion of Munchkinland, Glinda is under house arrest, and the Cowardly Lion is on the run from the law. And look who’s knocking at the door. It’s none other than Dorothy. Yes. That Dorothy. Yet amidst all this chaos, Elphaba’s granddaughter, the tiny green baby born at the close of Son of a Witch, has come of age. Now it is up to Rain to take up her broom - and her legacy - in an Oz wracked by war...a magical journey rife with revelations and reversals, reprisals and surprises - the hallmarks of the unique imagination of Gregory Maguire." - Publisher.

The Moment, by Douglas Kennedy. Atria Books, 2011. Print Length: 546 p. THRILLER. Amazon customer rating: 4 stars (20 reviews). People's slant: "A passionate love-story-cum-spy-thriller..." Kindle edition $9.99. Text-to-Speech: Disabled.

"Thomas Nesbitt is a divorced writer in the midst of a rueful middle age. Living a very private life in Maine, in touch only with his daughter and still trying to recover from the end of a long marriage, his solitude is disrupted one wintry morning by the arrival of a box that is postmarked Berlin. The name on the box - Dussmann - unsettles him completely, for it belongs to the woman with whom he had an intense love affair twenty-six years ago in Berlin at a time when the city was cleaved in two and personal and political allegiances were frequently haunted by the deep shadows of the Cold War..." - 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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What People Magazine is Reading This Week

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 November 28th issue of People:

V is for Vengeance, by Sue Grafton. Putnam, 2011. Print Length: 437 p. MYSTERY. Amazon customer rating: 4 1/2 stars (64 reviews). People's slant: "...it's Kinsey's show, and after three decades Grafton's iconic detective remains a quirky delight." Kindle edition $12.99. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.

"A woman with a murky past who kills herself - or was it murder? A dying old man cared for by the son he pummeled mercilessly. A lovely woman whose life is about to splinter into a thousand fragments. A professional shoplifting ring racking up millions in stolen goods. A brutal and unscrupulous gangster. A wandering husband, rich and powerful. A spoiled kid awash in gambling debt thinking he can beat the system. A lonely widower mourning the death of his lover, desperate for answers that may be worse than the pain of his loss. An elegant but ruthless businessman whose dealings are definitely outside the law: the spider at the center of the web. And Kinsey Millhone, whose thirty-eighth-birthday gift is a punch in the face that leaves her with two black eyes and a busted nose..." - Publisher.

The Sisters, by Nancy Jensen. St. Martin's Press, 2011. Print Length: 337 p. NOVEL. Amazon customer rating: 4 stars (25 reviews). People's slant: "Jensen's likable story argues for openness and forgiveness between sisters, for their own sake and for the health of their families." Kindle edition $11.99. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.

"Growing up in hardscrabble Kentucky in the 1920s, with their mother dead and their stepfather an ever-present threat, Bertie Fischer and her older sister Mabel have no one but each other - with perhaps a sweetheart for Bertie waiting in the wings. But on the day that Bertie receives her eighth-grade diploma, good intentions go terribly wrong. A choice made in desperate haste sets off a chain of misunderstandings that will divide the sisters and reverberate through three generations of women. What happens when nothing turns out as you planned?" - Publisher.

Catherine the Great: Portrait of a Woman, by Robert K. Massie. Random House, 2011. Print Length: 656 p. BIOGRAPHY. Amazon customer rating: 4 1/2 stars (43 reviews). People's slant: "Massie's latest will transport history lovers." Kindle edition $14.99. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.

"...another masterpiece of narrative biography, the extraordinary story of an obscure young German princess who traveled to Russia at fourteen and rose to become one of the most remarkable, powerful, and captivating women in history. Born into a minor noble family, Catherine transformed herself into Empress of Russia by sheer determination. Possessing a brilliant mind and an insatiable curiosity as a young woman, she devoured the works of Enlightenment philosophers and, when she reached the throne, attempted to use their principles to guide her rule of the vast and backward Russian empire. She knew or corresponded with the preeminent historical figures of her time: Voltaire, Diderot, Frederick the Great, Empress Maria Theresa of Austria, Marie Antoinette, and, surprisingly, the American naval hero, John Paul Jones.... The story is superbly told. All the special qualities that Robert K. Massie brought to Nicholas and Alexandra and Peter the Great are present here: historical accuracy, depth of understanding, felicity of style, mastery of detail, ability to shatter myth, and a rare genius for finding and expressing the human drama in extraordinary lives." - from the hardcover edition.

Briefly Mentioned: Cookbooks

The Food52 Cookbook, by Amanda Hesser and Merrill Stubbs. William Morrow, 2011. Print Length: 451 p. NONFICTION. Amazon customer rating: none yet. Kindle edition $16.99. Text-to-Speech: Enabled. Optimized for larger screens.

"...food writers and editors Amanda Hesser and Merrill Stubbs had a mission: to discover and celebrate the best home cooks in the country. Each week for fifty-two weeks, they ran recipe contests on their website, Food52.com, and the 140 winning recipes make up this book. These recipes prove the truth that great home cooking doesn’t have to be complicated or precious to be memorable. This book captures the community spirit that has made Food52 a success. It features Amanda’s and Merrill’s thoughts and tips on every recipe, plus behind-the-scenes photos, reader comments, and portraits of the contributors - putting you right in the kitchen with America’s most talented cooks." - Publisher.

Momofuku Milk Bar, by Christina Tosi. Foreword by David Chang. Clarkson Potter, 2011. Print Length: 256 p. NONFICTION. Amazon customer rating: 4 stars (16 reviews.) Kindle edition $18.99. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.
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"The highly anticipated complement to the New York Times bestselling Momofuku cookbook, Momofuku Milk Bar reveals the recipes for the innovative, addictive cookies, pies, cakes, ice creams, and more from the wildly popular bakery. It all started one day when Momofuku founder David Chang asked Christina to make a dessert for dinner that night. Just like that, the pastry program at Momofuku began, and Christina’s playful desserts helped the restaurants earn praise from the New York Times and the Michelin Guide and led to the opening of Milk Bar, which now draws fans from around the country and the world. With all the recipes for the bakery’s most beloved desserts - along with ones for savory baked goods that take a page from Chang’s Asian-flavored cuisine, such as Kimchi Croissants with Blue Cheese - and 100 color photographs, Momofuku Milk Bar makes baking irresistible off-beat treats at home both foolproof and fun." - from the hardcover edition.

Lidia's Italy in America, by Lidia Matticchio Bastianich, with Tanya Bastianich Manuali. Knopf, 2011. Print Length: 359 p. NONFICTION. Amazon customer rating: 4 1/2 stars (8 reviews). Kindle edition $18.99. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.

"After taking us on journeys into her own kitchen and into kitchens across Italy, Lidia Bastianich now invites us on a road trip into the heart of Italian American cooking today. Traveling around the United States, Lidia visits Italian American communities that created something new out of the recipes passed down from their ancestors. As she explores this utterly delectable and distinctive cuisine, Lidia shows us that every kitchen is different, every Italian community distinct, and little clues are buried in each dish: the Sicilian-style semolina bread and briny olives in New Orleans Muffuletta Sandwiches, the Neapolitan crust of New York pizza, and mushrooms (abundant in the United States, but scarce in Italy) stuffed with breadcrumbs, just as peppers or tomatoes are. Lidia shows us how this cuisine is an original American creation that redefines what we know as Italian food while always paying tribute to Italy...And of course, there are Lidia’s irresistible recipes." - 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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What People Magazine is Reading This Week (Nov 14th 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 November 14th issue of People:

Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (and Other Concerns), by Mindy Kaling. Crown Archetype, 2011. Print Length: 240 p. HUMOR. Amazon customer rating: 4 1/2 stars (27 reviews). People's slant: "...the Office star riffs on everything from being 'chubby for life' to her love of chest hair." Kindle edition $12.99. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.

"Mindy Kaling has lived many lives: the obedient child of immigrant professionals, a timid chubster afraid of her own bike, a Ben Affleck - impersonating Off-Broadway performer and playwright, and, finally, a comedy writer and actress prone to starting fights with her friends and coworkers with the sentence 'Can I just say one last thing about this, and then I swear I’ll shut up about it?' Perhaps you want to know what Mindy thinks makes a great best friend (someone who will fill your prescription in the middle of the night), or what makes a great guy (one who is aware of all elderly people in any room at any time and acts accordingly), or what is the perfect amount of fame (so famous you can never get convicted of murder in a court of law), or how to maintain a trim figure (you will not find that information in these pages). If so, you’ve come to the right book, mostly!" - Publisher.

An Invisible Thread, by Laura Schroff and Alex Tresniowski. Foreword by Valerie Salembier. Howard Books, 2011. Print Length: 272 p. NONFICTION. Amazon customer rating: 5 stars (7 reviews). People's slant: "...the story of Schroff's life-changing friendship with a homeless boy." Kindle edition $11.99. Text-to-Speech: Disabled.

"Excuse me lady, do you have any spare change? I am hungry. When Laura Schroff first met Maurice on a New York City street corner, she had no idea that she was standing on the brink of an incredible and unlikely friendship that would inevitably change both their lives. As one lunch at McDonald’s with Maurice turns into two, then into a weekly occurrence that is fast growing into an inexplicable connection, Laura learns heart-wrenching details about Maurice’s horrific childhood. Sprinkled throughout the book is also Laura’s own story of her turbulent childhood. Every now and then, something about Maurice's struggles reminds her of her past, how her father’s alcohol-induced rages shaped the person she became and, in a way, led her to Maurice. As their friendship grows, Laura offers Maurice simple experiences he comes to treasure: learning how to set a table, trimming a Christmas tree, visiting her nieces and nephew on Long Island, and even having homemade lunches to bring to school. It is the heartwarming story of a friendship that has spanned thirty years..." Publisher.

My Life, Deleted: A Memoir, by Scott Bolzan, Joan Bolzan and Caitlin Rother. HarperOne, 2011. Print Length: 304 p. MEMOIR. Amazon customer rating: 4 1/2 stars (18 reviews). Kindle edition $12.99. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.

"Scott Bolzan went to work on December 17, 2008, like any other Wednesday. By that afternoon, he'd lost every memory of his past. Awakening in a hospital with no memory of who he was or how he got there, the forty-six-year-old didn’t know that the petite blonde at his side was his wife of twenty-four years, Joan - or even what a wife was. He couldn’t remember the births of his two young-adult children, the daughter he’d lost, his time as an offensive lineman for the NFL’s Cleveland Browns, or his flourishing aviation career. Scott’s life and the lives of everyone who loved him were forever changed when he slipped, hit his head, and lost consciousness in his office bathroom, suffering one of the most severe cases of permanent retrograde amnesia on record. With heartrending honesty and no shortage of humor, the Bolzans share their remarkable journey as Scott navigates his way through a now-unfamiliar world. Both gut-wrenching and brimming with optimism, the Bolzans’ captivating story makes a powerful statement about commitment - and the possibility of finding extraordinary opportunity in life’s greatest challenges." - Publisher.

Truth and Consequences: Life Inside the Madoff Family, by Laurie Sandell. Little, Brown and Company, 2011. Print Length: 352 p. NONFICTION. Amazon customer rating: 2 1/2 stars (25 reviews). People's slant: "Since Andrew and Ruth cooperated with author Sandell, it's not surprising that the book portrays them sympathetically...Buy that or not, anyone curious about this fractured, once tight-knit family will find plenty of food for thought here." Kindle edition $12.99. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.

"In December 2008, the world watched as master financier Bernard L. Madoff was taken away from his posh Manhattan apartment in handcuffs, accused of swindling thousands of innocent victims - including friends and family - out of billions of dollars in the world's largest Ponzi scheme. Madoff went to jail; he will spend the rest of his life there. But what happened to his devoted wife and sons? The people closest to him, the public reasoned, must have known the truth behind his astounding success. Had they been tricked, too? With unprecedented access to the surviving family members-wife Ruth, son Andrew and his fiancée Catherine Hooper-journalist Laurie Sandell reveals the personal details behind the headlines. How did Andrew and Mark, the sons who'd spent their lives believing in and building their own families around their father's business first learn of the massive deception? How does a wife, who adored her husband since they were teenagers, begin to understand the ramifications of his actions? Muzzled by lawyers, vilified by the media and roundly condemned by the public, the Madoffs have chosen to keep their silence - until now. Ultimately, theirs is one of the most riveting stories of our time: a modern-day Greek tragedy about money, power, lies, family, truth and consequences." - 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.

What People Magazine is Reading This Week (Oct 31st 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 October 31st issue of People:

Holy Ghost Girl: A Memoir, by Donna M. Johnson. Gotham Books, 2011. Print Length: 278 p. MEMOIR. Amazon customer rating: 4 1/2 stars (10 reviews). People's slant: "Her tale reads like a divinely taut thriller, revealing a surreal world of faith, humor and heartbreak." Kindle edition $12.99. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.

"She was just three years old when her mother signed on as the organist of tent revivalist David Terrell, and before long, Donna Johnson was part of the hugely popular evangelical preacher's inner circle. At seventeen, she left the ministry for good, with a trove of stranger-than-fiction memories. A homecoming like no other, Holy Ghost Girl brings to life miracles, exorcisms, and faceoffs with the Ku Klux Klan. And that's just what went on under the tent. As Terrell became known worldwide during the 1960s and '70s, the caravan of broken-down cars and trucks that made up his ministry evolved into fleets of Mercedes and airplanes. The glories of the Word mixed with betrayals of the flesh and Donna's mother bore Terrell's children in one of the several secret households he maintained. Thousands of followers, dubbed Terrellites" by the press, left their homes to await the end of the world in cultlike communities. Jesus didn't show, but the IRS did...Recounted with deadpan observations and surreal detail, Holy Ghost Girl bypasses easy judgment to articulate a rich world in which the mystery of faith and human frailty share a surprising and humorous coexistence.

Sybil Exposed: The Extraordinary Story Behind the Famous Multiple Personality Case, by Debbie Nathan. Free Press, 2011. Print Length: 320 p. NONFICTION. Amazon customer rating: 3 stars (20 reviews). People's slant: "...a gripping history of crackpot psychiatry." Kindle edition $12.99. Text-to-Speech: Disabled.

"Sybil: a name that conjures up enduring fascination for legions of obsessed fans who followed the nonfiction blockbuster from 1973 and the TV movie based on it - starring Sally Field and Joanne Woodward - about a woman named Sybil with sixteen different personalities. Sybil became both a pop phenomenon and a revolutionary force in the psychotherapy industry. The book rocketed multiple personality disorder (MPD) into public consciousness and played a major role in having the diagnosis added to the psychiatric bible, Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. But what do we really know about how Sybil came to be? In her news-breaking book Sybil Exposed, journalist Debbie Nathan gives proof that the allegedly true story was largely fabricated. The actual identity of Sybil (Shirley Mason) has been available for some years, as has the idea that the book might have been exaggerated. But in Sybil Exposed, Nathan reveals what really powered the legend: a trio of women - the willing patient, her ambitious shrink, and the imaginative journalist who spun their story into bestseller gold." - Publisher.

1Q84, by Haruki Murakami. Translated by Jay Rubin and Philip Gabriel. Knopf, 2011. Print Length: 944 p. NOVEL. Amazon customer rating: 4 stars (4 reviews). People's slant: "If you haven't previously read Murakami - Japan's most popular novelist - this is a good introduction to his Lewis-Carroll-meets-Mister-Rogers style, a distinctive blend of the wild and the ordinary that can be as engaging as Wonderland itself." Kindle edition $14.99. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.

"The year is 1984 and the city is Tokyo. A young woman named Aomame follows a taxi driver’s enigmatic suggestion and begins to notice puzzling discrepancies in the world around her. She has entered, she realizes, a parallel existence, which she calls 1Q84... Meanwhile, an aspiring writer named Tengo takes on a suspect ghostwriting project. He becomes so wrapped up with the work and its unusual author that, soon, his previously placid life begins to come unraveled. As Aomame’s and Tengo’s narratives converge over the course of this single year, we learn of the profound and tangled connections that bind them ever closer: a beautiful, dyslexic teenage girl with a unique vision; a mysterious religious cult that instigated a shoot-out with the metropolitan police; a reclusive, wealthy dowager who runs a shelter for abused women; a hideously ugly private investigator; a mild-mannered yet ruthlessly efficient bodyguard; and a peculiarly insistent television-fee collector. A love story, a mystery, a fantasy, a novel of self-discovery, a dystopia to rival George Orwell’s - 1Q84 is Haruki Murakami’s most ambitious undertaking yet..." - from the hardcover edition.

Mentioned Briefly:

An Unbroken Bond: The Untold Story of How the 658 Cantor Fitzgerald Families Faced the Tragedy of 9/11 and Beyond, by Edie Lutnick. Foreword by Clarence B. Jones. Emergence Press, 2011. Print Length: 326 p. NONFICTION. Amazon customer rating: 5 stars (13 reviews). Kindle edition $9.99. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.

"On September 11th, 658 men and women at Cantor Fitzgerald found themselves trapped together in One World Trade Center. None would make it out alive. Among them was Edie Lutnick's brother Gary, whom she had raised when their parents died at an early age. This is the story of the victims, the families and how they came together bonded by a tragic fate. But the story doesn't end there. In the aftermath of the attacks, Edie answered the call from her other brother, Cantor Fitzgerald CEO Howard Lutnick, to create a fund for the firm's families who had lost loved ones. Over the past decade Edie and Howard have found themselves in a fight to not just give aid and comfort to the larger Cantor family, but also to honor the memory of countless victims. What they weren't expecting was to find a barrage of issues in their way from political jockeying to class biases. This is the powerful, sometimes infuriating and ultimately heartrending story of the mission to fulfill an important legacy, and give meaning to the lives of the victims of 9/11." - Publisher.

Searching for Beauty: The Life of Millicent Rogers, by Cherie Burns. St. Martin's Press, 2011. Print Length: 384 p. BIOGRAPHY. Amazon customer rating: 4 stars (8 reviews). Kindle edition $14.99. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.

"A fascinating portrait of the Standard Oil heiress and legendary American trendsetter Millicent Rogers. Nobody knew how to live the high life like Millicent Rogers. Born into luxury, she lived in a whirl of beautiful homes, European vacations, exquisite clothing and handsome men. In Searching for Beauty, Cherie Burns chronicles Rogers's glittering life from her days as a young girl afflicted with rheumatic fever to her debutante debut and her Taos finale. A rebellious icon of the age, she eloped with a penniless baron, danced tangos in European nightclubs, divorced, remarried and romanced, among others, Clark Gable. Her romantic conquests, though, paled in comparison to her triumph in the fashion world where she electrified the fashionistas by becoming the muse to designer Charles James, appearing in Vogue and Harper's Bazaar and - at the end of her life - retreating to Taos, New Mexico where she popularized Southwestern style." - 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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What People Magazine is Reading This Week (Oct 17th and 24th Issues)

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 October 17th and 24th issues of People:

The Night Strangers, by Chris Bohjalian. Crown, 2011. Print Length: 400 p. NOVEL. Amazon customer rating: 3 1/2 stars (48 reviews). People's slant: "This unsettling latest from master storyteller Bohjalian...will keep you up at night." Kindle edition $12.99. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.

"In a dusty corner of a basement in a rambling Victorian house in northern New Hampshire, a door has long been sealed shut with 39 six-inch-long carriage bolts. The home's new owners are Chip and Emily Linton and their twin ten-year-old daughters. Together they hope to rebuild their lives there after Chip, an airline pilot, has to ditch his 70-seat regional jet in Lake Champlain due to double engine failure. The body count? Thirty-nine. What follows is a riveting ghost story with all the hallmarks readers have come to expect from bestselling, award-winning novelist Chris Bohjalian: a palpable sense of place, meticulous research, an unerring sense of the demons that drive us, and characters we care about deeply. The difference this time? Some of those characters are dead." - Publisher.

The Sense of an Ending, by Julian Barnes. Knopf, 2011. Print Length: 176 p. NOVEL. Amazon customer rating: 4 stars (14 reviews). People's slant: "Barnes weaves a taut, suspenseful tale while raising fascinating questions about memory, accountability and the limits of self-knowledge." Kindle edition $11.99. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.

"This intense new novel follows a middle-aged man as he contends with a past he has never much thought about - until his closest childhood friends return with a vengeance, one of them from the grave, another maddeningly present. Tony Webster thought he’d left all this behind as he built a life for himself, and by now his marriage and family and career have fallen into an amicable divorce and retirement. But he is then presented with a mysterious legacy that obliges him to reconsider a variety of things he thought he’d understood all along, and to revise his estimation of his own nature and place in the world. " - from the hardcover edition. Shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize (2011).

It's Hard Not to Hate You, by Valerie Frankel. St. Martin's Press, 2011. Print Length: 256 p. MEMOIR. Amazon customer rating: 4 stars (34 reviews). People's slant: "In a breezy 242 pages, she turns The Secret on its head." Kindle edition $11.99. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.

"The hate in you has got to come out. After being advised to reduce stress by her doctor, humorist Valerie Frankel realized the biggest source of pressure in her life was maintaining an unflappable easy-going persona. After years of glossing over the negative, Frankel goes on a mission of emotional honesty, vowing to let herself feel and express all the toxic emotions she’d long suppressed or denied: jealousy, rage, greed, envy, impatience, regret. Frankel reveals her personal History of Hate, from mean girls in junior high, selfish boyfriends in her twenties and old professional rivals. Hate stomps through her current life, too, with snobby neighbors, rude cell phone talkers, scary doctors and helicopter moms. By the end of her authentic emotional experience, Frankel concludes that toxic emotions are actually good for you.Trying to ward off negativity was what had been causing Frankel’s career stagnation, as well as her health and personal problems." - Publisher.

The Dovekeepers, by Alice Hoffman. Scribner, 2011. Print length: 512 p. NOVEL. People's slant: "With her 29th and most ambitious book, Hoffman has ventured beyond magical realism to create first-rate historical fiction..." Amazon customer rating: 4 1/2 stars (23 reviews). Kindle edition $14.99. Text-to-Speech: Disabled.

"In 70 C.E., nine hundred Jews held out for months against armies of Romans on Masada, a mountain in the Judean desert. According to the ancient historian Josephus, two women and five children survived. Based on this tragic and iconic event, Hoffman’s novel is a spellbinding tale of four extraordinarily bold, resourceful, and sensuous women, each of whom has come to Masada by a different path. Yael’s mother died in childbirth, and her father, an expert assassin, never forgave her for that death. Revka, a village baker’s wife, watched the horrifically brutal murder of her daughter by Roman soldiers; she brings to Masada her young grandsons, rendered mute by what they have witnessed. Aziza is a warrior’s daughter, raised as a boy, a fearless rider and an expert marksman who finds passion with a fellow soldier. Shirah, born in Alexandria, is wise in the ways of ancient magic and medicine, a woman with uncanny insight and power. All are dovekeepers, and all are also keeping secrets - about who they are, where they come from, who fathered them, and whom they love." - 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.

What People Magazine is Reading This Week (Oct 10th 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 October 10th issue of People:

The Kitchen Counter Cooking School: How a Few Simple Lessons Transformed Nine Culinary Novices into Fearless Home Cooks, by Kathleen Flinn. Viking, 2011. Print Length: 304 p. NONFICTION. Amazon customer rating: 4 stars (2 reviews). People's slant: "...inspiring..." Kindle edition $12.99; Hardcover $16.05. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.

"After graduating from Le Cordon Bleu in Paris, writer Kathleen Flinn returned with no idea what to do next, until one day at a supermarket she watched a woman loading her cart with ultraprocessed foods. Flinn's 'chefternal' instinct kicked in: she persuaded the stranger to reload with fresh foods, offering her simple recipes for healthy, easy meals. The Kitchen Counter Cooking School includes practical, healthy tips that boost readers' culinary self-confidence, and strategies to get the most from their grocery dollar, and simple recipes that get readers cooking." - Publisher.

Mentioned Briefly: Books for Kids and Teens

Glow, by Amy Kathleen Ryan. St. Martin's Griffin, 2011. Print Length: 320 p. SCIENCE FICTION. Amazon customer rating: 4 stars (49 reviews). People's slant: "The opening salvo in a promising series." Kindle edition $9.99; Hardcover $10.98. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.

"The Empyrean is the only home 15-year-old Waverly has ever known. Part of the first generation to be successfully conceived in deep space, she and her boyfriend Kieran will be pioneers of New Earth. Waverly knows she must marry young in order to have children who can carry on the mission, and Kieran, the handsome captain-to-be, has everything Waverly could want in a husband. Everyone is sure he’s the best choice. Still, there’s a part of Waverly that wants more from life than marriage, and she is secretly intrigued by the shy, darkly brilliant Seth. Suddenly, Waverly’s dreams are interrupted by the inconceivable - a violent betrayal by the Empyrean's sister ship, the New Horizon. The New Horizon’s leaders are desperate to populate the new planet first, and will do anything to get what they need: young girls..." - Publisher

Wildwood, by Colin Meloy and Carson Ellis. Harper Collins, 2011. Print Length: 560 p. This title has complex layouts and has been optimized for reading on devices with larger screens such as Kindle DX, Kindle for PC/Mac, and Kindle for iPad. FANTASY/ADVENTURE. Amazon customer rating: 4 stars (34 reviews). People's slant: "...a book as quirky as his lyrics..." Kindle edition $9.99; Hardcover $10.98. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.

"Prue McKeel’s life is ordinary. At least until her baby brother is abducted by a murder of crows. And then things get really weird. You see, on every map of Portland, Oregon, there is a big splotch of green on the edge of the city labeled 'I.W.' This stands for 'Impassable Wilderness.' No one’s ever gone in - or at least returned to tell of it. And this is where the crows take her brother. So begins an adventure that will take Prue and her friend Curtis deep into the Impassable Wilderness. Wildwood is a spellbinding tale full of wonder, danger, and magic that juxtaposes the thrill of a secret world and modern city life. Original and fresh yet steeped in classic fantasy, this is a novel that could have only come from the imagination of Colin Meloy, celebrated for his inventive and fantastic storytelling as the lead singer of the Decemberists." - Publisher.

Dear Bully: Seventy Authors Tell Their Stories, edited by Megan Kelley Hall and Carrie Jones. HarperTeen, 2011. Print Length: 384 p. NONFICTION. Amazon customer rating: 4 stars (5 reviews). People's slant: "...empowering..." Kindle edition $8.99; Hardcover $10.45. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.

"You are not alone. Discover how Lauren Kate transformed the feeling of that one mean girl getting under her skin into her first novel, how Lauren Oliver learned to celebrate ambiguity in her classmates and in herself, and how R.L. Stine turned being the 'funny guy' into the best defense against the bullies in his class. Today’s top authors for teens come together to share their stories about bullying - as silent observers on the sidelines of high school, as victims, and as perpetrators - in a collection at turns moving and self-effacing, but always deeply personal." - 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.

What People Magazine is Reading This Week (Oct 3rd 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 October 3rd issue of People:

Hemingway's Boat: Everything He Loved in Life, and Lost, 1934-1961, by Paul Hendrikson. Knopf, 2011. Print Length: 544 p. BIOGRAPHY. Amazon customer rating: 5 stars (1 review). People's slant: "Stripping away the myths, Hendrickson uncovers a sympathetic figure..." Kindle edition $14.99; Hardcover $18.18. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.

"...a brilliantly conceived and illuminating reconsideration of a key period in the life of Ernest Hemingway that will forever change the way he is perceived and understood. Focusing on the years 1934 to 1961 - from Hemingway’s pinnacle as the reigning monarch of American letters until his suicide - Paul Hendrickson traces the writer’s exultations and despair around the one constant in his life during this time: his beloved boat, Pilar. We follow him from Key West to Paris, to New York, Africa, Cuba, and finally Idaho, as he wrestles with his best angels and worst demons. Whenever he could, he returned to his beloved fishing cruiser, to exult in the sea, to fight the biggest fish he could find, to drink, to entertain celebrities and friends and seduce women, to be with his children..." - Publisher.

There But For The, by Ali Smith. Pantheon, 2011. Print Length: 256 p. NOVEL. Amazon customer rating: 3 1/2 stars (3 reviews). People's slant: "...fascinating narratives about interconnected souls longing for deeper contact...There isn't a light read, but it's a deeply rewarding one." Kindle edition $12.99; Hardcover $13.99. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.

"At a dinner party in the posh London suburb of Greenwich, Miles Garth suddenly leaves the table midway through the meal, locks himself in an upstairs room, and refuses to leave. An eclectic group of neighbors and friends slowly gathers around the house, and Miles’s story is told from the points of view of four of them: Anna, a woman in her forties; Mark, a man in his sixties; May, a woman in her eighties; and a ten-year-old named Brooke. The thing is, none of these people knows Miles more than slightly. How much is it possible for us to know about a stranger? And what are the consequences of even the most casual, fleeting moments we share every day with one another?" - Publisher.

The Rogue: Searching for the Real Sarah Palin, by Joe McGinniss. Crown, 2011. Print Length: 336 p. BIOGRAPHY. Amazon customer rating: 4 stars (82 reviews). People's slant: "Love her or hate her, there's fuel here for both sides of the Sarah divide." Kindle edition $12.99; Hardcover $13.99. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.

"On Election Day 2008, McGinniss began his on-the-ground reporting that culminated, famously, in his moving next door to Sarah Palin in spring 2010... In all of his books, McGinniss has scrutinized the mysterious space between image and reality - how that space is created, negotiated, and/or manipulated. Now, with The Rogue, McGinniss combines his deep appreciation of the place Sarah Palin comes from with his uncanny ability to penetrate the façades of people in public life. The result is an extraordinary double narrative that alternately traces Palin’s curious rise to political prominence and worldwide celebrity status and recounts the author’s day-to-day experiences as he uncovers the messy reality beneath the glossy Palin myth." - Publisher.

Deer in the Headlights: My Life in Sarah Palin's Crosshairs, by Levi Johnston. Touchstone, 2011. Print Length: 304 p. MEMOIR. Amazon customer rating: 4 1/2 stars (9 reviews). Kindle edition $11.99; $14.79. Text-to-Speech: Disabled.
"Promising hockey player and Governor Palin’s almost son-in-law, Levi Johnston was eighteen when Palin became the vice presidential nominee. His unique place as Bristol’s live-in boyfriend provided him a true insider’s view of what was going on behind closed doors. And how Sarah’s public views were often at odds with her home values. It makes it all the more curious that Sarah eventually turned her anger directly on Levi, after losing her ticket to the White House. After being bullied, lied about, and outspent in the courts when he attempted to bond with his new son, Tripp, Levi Johnston now is ready to set the record straight." - Pubisher.
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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.

What People Magazine is Reading This Week (Sept 19th 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 September 19th issue of People:

The Dog Who Knew Too Much, by Spencer Quinn. Atria Books, 2011. Print Length: 320 p. MYSTERY. Amazon customer rating: 5 stars (11 reviews). People's slant: "Quinn's plot isn't as frisky as his four-legged gumshoe, but he ably sidesteps the saccharine in this charming tale." Kindle edition $11.99; Hardcover $13.89. Text-to-Speech: Disabled.

This is the fourth book in a series of mysteries featuring Chet the dog - who tells the story - and Bernie his private eye partner. What I love best about the Chet and Bernie books is that Chet is a real dog and the reader sees all the events in the story from a dog's point of view. The first book in the series is Dog on It , followed by Thereby Hangs a Tail and To Fetch a Thief.

"Bernie is invited to give the keynote speech at the Great Western Private Eye Convention, but it’s Chet that the bigshot P.I. in charge has secret plans for. Meanwhile Chet and Bernie are hired to find a kid who has gone missing from a wilderness camp in the high country. The boy’s mother thinks the boy’s father - her ex - has snatched the boy, but Chet makes a find that sends the case in a new and dangerous direction. As if that weren’t enough, matters get complicated at home when a stray puppy that looks suspiciously like Chet shows up. ... page-turning entertainment that’s not just for dog-lovers." - Publisher.

Trick of the Light, by Louise Penny. Minotaur Books, 2011. Print Length: 352 p. MYSTERY. Amazon customer rating: 5 stars (69 reviews). People's slant: "With her smart plot and fascinating, nuanced characters, Penny proves again that she is one of our finest writers." Kindle edition $12.99; Hardcover $14.44. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.

" Hearts are broken, Lillian Dyson carefully underlined in a book. Sweet relationships are dead. But now Lillian herself is dead. Found among the bleeding hearts and lilacs of Clara Morrow's garden in Three Pines, shattering the celebrations of Clara's solo show at the famed Musée in Montreal. Chief Inspector Gamache, the head of homicide at the Sûreté du Québec, is called to the tiny Quebec village and there he finds the art world gathered, and with it a world of shading and nuance, a world of shadow and light. Where nothing is as it seems. Behind every smile there lurks a sneer. Inside every sweet relationship there hides a broken heart. And even when facts are slowly exposed, it is no longer clear to Gamache and his team if what they've found is the truth, or simply a trick of the light." - Publisher.

Birds of Paradise, by Diana Abu-Jaber. W. W. Norton & Company, 2011. Print Length: 362 p. NOVEL. Amazon customer rating: 5 stars (6 reviews). People's slant: "As Katrina barrels ashore, the Muirs' absorbing story builds to a thoroughly satisfying climax." Kindle edition $10.39; Hardcover $15.26 Text-to-Speech: Disabled.

"In the tropical paradise that is Miami, Avis and Brian Muir are still haunted by the disappearance of their ineffably beautiful daughter, Felice, who ran away when she was thirteen. Now, after five years of modeling tattoos, skateboarding, clubbing, and sleeping in a squat house or on the beach, Felice is about to turn eighteen. Her family - Avis, an exquisitely talented pastry chef; Brian, a corporate real estate attorney; and her brother, Stanley, the proprietor of Freshly Grown, a trendy food market - will each be forced to confront their anguish, loss, and sense of betrayal. Meanwhile, Felice must reckon with the guilty secret that drove her away..." - Publisher.

Following Ezra: What One Father Learned About Gumby, Otters, Autism, and Love From His Extraordinary Son, by Tom Fields-Meyer. NAL, 2011. Print Length: 256 p. MEMOIR. Amazon customer rating: 5 stars (12 reviews). People's slant: "...an unexpectedly uplifting experience for the reader." Kindle edition $9.99; Paperback $10.20. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.

"A heartwarming and hopeful memoir of a father's experience raising his autistic son. When his son Ezra was diagnosed with autism, Tom Fields-Meyer knew little about parenting and even less about neurological disorders. This intimate memoir chronicles his remarkable experiences of learning and growth from the time Ezra was diagnosed at age three to his bar mitzvah at thirteen. In that time, Ezra evolves from a remote, peculiar toddler to an extraordinary young man, not cured, but connected - in his own unique way - to the world around him." - Publisher.

Goddess of Vengeance, by Jackie Collins. St. Martin's Press, 2011. Print Length: 528 p. NOVEL. Amazon customer rating: 4 stars (5 reviews). People's slant: "Voyeuristic and completely over-the-top, Goddess is junk food worth every empty calorie." Kindle edition $12.99; Hardcover $14.20. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.

"Lucky runs a high profile casino and hotel complex, The Keys in Vegas. Lennie, her movie star husband, is still writing and directing successful independent movies, while Max, her stubborn and gorgeous teenage daughter is about to celebrate her 18th birthday, and her son, Bobby, owns a string of hot clubs. Lucky has everything. Family. Love. Life. And everything is exactly what billionaire businessman Armand Jordan is determined to take from her one way or the other." - Publisher.

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern. Doubleday, 2011. Print Length: 400 p. Amazon customer rating: 4 stars (103 reviews). People's slant: '...dark and extravagantly imagined debut..." Kindle edition $12.99; Hardcover $14.03. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.

"The circus arrives without warning. No announcements precede it. It is simply there, when yesterday it was not. Within the black-and-white striped canvas tents is an utterly unique experience full of breathtaking amazements. It is called Le Cirque des Rêves, and it is only open at night. But behind the scenes, a fierce competition is underway - a duel between two young magicians, Celia and Marco, who have been trained since childhood expressly for this purpose by their mercurial instructors. Unbeknownst to them, this is a game in which only one can be left standing, and the circus is but the stage for a remarkable battle of imagination and will. Despite themselves, however, Celia and Marco tumble headfirst into love - a deep, magical love that makes the lights flicker and the room grow warm whenever they so much as brush hands..." - from the hardcover edition.

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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 dog and puppy pictures

What People Magazine is Reading This Week (Sept 12th 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 September 12th issue of People:

Blueprints for Building Better Girls, by Elissa Schappell. Simon & Schuster, 2011. Print Length: 304 p. SHORT STORIES. Amazon customer rating: 5 stars (1 review). People's slant: "...a hilarious, poignant achievement far greater than the sum of its parts." Kindle edition $10.99; Hardcover $14.87. Text-to-Speech: Disabled.

"...provocative, keenly observed, and wickedly smart work of fiction that maps America’s shifting cultural landscape from the late 1970s to the present day. In these eight darkly funny linked stories, Schappell delves into the lives of an eclectic cast of archetypal female characters - from the high school slut to the good girl, the struggling artist to the college party girl, the wife who yearns for a child to the reluctant mother - to explore the commonly shared but rarely spoken of experiences that build girls into women and women into wives and mothers." - Publisher.

What It Is Like to Go to War, by Karl Marlantes. Atlantic Monthly Press, 2011. Print Length: 272 p. MEMOIR. Amazon customer rating: 4 1/2 stars (33 reviews). People's slant: "...thoughtful, literate work of self-exorcism..." Kindle edition $8.82; Hardcover $15.00. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.

"In 1968, at the age of twenty-three, Karl Marlantes was dropped into the highland jungle of Vietnam, an inexperienced lieutenant in command of a platoon of forty Marines who would live or die by his decisions. Marlantes survived, but like many of his brothers in arms, he has spent the last forty years dealing with his war experience. In What It Is Like to Go to War, Marlantes takes a deeply personal and candid look at what it is like to experience the ordeal of combat, critically examining how we might better prepare our soldiers for war. Marlantes weaves riveting accounts of his combat experiences with thoughtful analysis, self-examination, and his readings - from Homer to The Mahabharata to Jung..." - Publisher.

Duty Free, by Moni Mohsin. Broadway, 2011. Print Length: 272 p. NOVEL. Amazon customer rating: 3 1/2 stars (8 reviews). People's slant: "The matchmaker wears Prada in this breezy romp through a certain stratum of modern Pakistan." Kindle edition $9.99; Paperback $10.07. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.

"Jane Austen's Emma, transported to the outrageous social melee of 21st-century Lahore. Our plucky heroine's cousin, Jonkers, has been dumped by his low-class, slutty secretary, and our heroine has been charged with finding him a suitable wife - a rich, fair, beautiful, old-family type. Quickly. But, between you, me and the four walls, who wants to marry poor, plain, hapless Jonkers? As our heroine social-climbs her way through weddings-sheddings, GTs (get togethers, of course) and ladies' lunches trying to find a suitable girl..., she discovers to her dismay that her cousin has his own ideas about his perfect mate. And secretly, she may even agree. Full of wit and wickedness and as clever as its heroine is clueless, Duty Free is a delightful romp through Pakistani high society - though, even as it makes you cry with laughter, it makes you wince at the gulf between our heroine's glitteringly shallow life and the country that is falling apart, day by day, around her..." - from the paperback edition.

Briefly Mentioned:

Slow Love: How I Lost My Job, Put on My Pajamas, and Found Happiness, by Dominique Browning. Plume (Penguin Publishing), 2011. Print Length: 288 p. MEMOIR. Amazon customer rating: 4 stars (41 reviews). Kindle edition $9.99; Hardcover $17.25. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.

"For over a decade, Dominique Browning was editor-in-chief of Condé Nast’s House & Garden. One Monday morning in November 2007, the magazine folded and she was told she had four days to pack up her office. Overnight, her driven, purpose-filled days vanished. With her children leaving home, and a long relationship ending, the structure of her days disappeared. She fell into a panic of loss - but found humor despite everything, discovering a deeper joy than any she had ever known. It was a life she had not sought, but one that offered pleasures and surprises she didn’t know she lacked. Slow Love is about wearing your pajamas to the farmer’s market, packing up a beloved home and downsizing to a more rural setting, making time to play the piano and go kayaking, picking up the Bible, reinventing yourself, and not cutting corners when it comes to love, muffins or gardening..." - Amazon.


Happy Chaos: From Punky to Parenting and My Perfectly Imperfect Adventures in Between, by Soleil Moon Frye. Dutton, 2011. Print Length: 304 p. NONFICTION. Amazon customer rating: 5 stars (35 reviews). Kindle edition $10.99; Hardcover $12.16. This book has complex layouts and has been optimized for reading on devices with larger screens such as Kindle DX, Kindle for PC/Mac, and Kindle for iPad. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.

"Enthusiastic, spunky, and positive, Punky Brewster was the quintessential eighties kid. Nearly thirty years later, Soleil Moon Frye - the adorable girl who played her on TV - is all grown up. Now she's a married mom of two, an entrepreneur who parlayed her successful kids' clothing line into a partnership with Target, and a social media whiz with millions of followers. Many of the same girls who watched Soleil on television are now grown up with children of their own, too, and they look to her as a go-to source for realistic, in-the-trenches parenting advice, inspiration, and fun. Happy Chaos invites those women into Soleil's world, and makes them revel in the chaos of their own lives, too.. Each chapter begins with a telling reminiscence before moving into insightful advice and fun stories about life with her husband and two adorable daughters. " - 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.