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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December 7, 1941: Books on Pearl Harbor for the Kindle

Today we remember a day that - like September 11 - changed everything. The attack on Pearl Harbor by the Imperial Japanese Navy brought the U.S. into the Second World War, reversed the currents of isolationism prevalent in the United States and was the impetus for a massive buildup of industrial might that made this country a world power and arsenal of WWII. There is a wealth of good books for the Kindle reader about events surrounding that day, including several just published and classics you may want to re-read:

Non-Fiction:

December 1941: 31 Days that Changed America and Saved the World, by Craig Shirley. Thomas Nelson, 2011. Print Length: 664 p. Amazon customer rating: 4 1/2 stars (22 reviews). Kindle edition $9.99. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.

"From December 1, 1941, until the morning of December 7, 1941, America was at peace and - with the exception of the stubborn and persistent high unemployment of the Great Depression - was a relatively happy country. By the afternoon of the December 7 attack on Pearl Harbor, America was a radically changed country, forever. Its isolationist impulses evaporated, and both major political parties became more or less internationalist. The month also introduced food and gas rationing, Victory Gardens, scrap drives, a military draft, and the conversion of Detroit into an 'arsenal of democracy.' From the moment of America's entry into World War II, people of all kinds, but mostly women looking for work, flooded into the city. Instant apartment buildings sprang up, as did eating and drinking salons, all to the advantage of the massive increase in spending generated by the federal government. December 1941 is a fascinating and meticulously researched look at the American home front - her people, faith, economy, government, and culture." - Publisher.

Pearl Harbor: FDR Leads the Nation Into War, by Steven M. Gillon. Basic Books, 2011. Print Length: 250 p. Amazon customer rating: none yet. Kindle edition $11.69. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.

"Franklin D. Roosevelt famously called December 7, 1941, 'a date which will live in infamy.' History would prove him correct; the events of that day - when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor - ended the Great Depression, changed the course of FDR’s presidency, and swept America into World War II. In Pearl Harbor, acclaimed historian Steven M. Gillon provides a vivid, minute-by-minute account of Roosevelt’s skillful leadership in the wake of the most devastating military assault in American history. FDR proved both decisive and deceptive, inspiring the nation while keeping the real facts of the attack a secret from congressional leaders and the public. Pearl Harbor explores the anxious and emotional events surrounding the attack on Pearl Harbor, showing how the president and the American public responded in the pivotal twenty-four hours that followed, a period in which America burst from precarious peace into total war." - Publisher.

Pearl Harbor Christmas: A World at War, December 1941, by Stanley Weintraub. Da Capo Press, 2011. Print Length: 227 p. Amazon customer rating: 5 stars (4 reviews). Kindle edition $9.89. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.

"Christmas 1941 came little more than two weeks after the attack on Pearl Harbor. The shock - in some cases overseas, elation - was worldwide. While Americans attempted to go about celebrating as usual, the reality of the just-declared war was on everybody’s mind. United States troops on Wake Island were battling a Japanese landing force and, in the Philippines, losing the fight to save Luzon. In Japan, the Pearl Harbor strike force returned to Hiroshima Bay and toasted its sweeping success. Across the Atlantic, much of Europe was frozen in grim Nazi occupation. Just three days before Christmas, Churchill surprised Roosevelt with an unprecedented trip to Washington, where they jointly lit the White House Christmas tree. As the two Allied leaders met to map out a winning wartime strategy, the most remarkable Christmas of the century played out across the globe." - Publisher.

Radioman: An Eyewitness Account of Pearl Harbor and World War II in the Pacific, by Carol Edgemon Hipperson. Thomas Dunne Books, 2008. Print Length: 304 p. Amazon customer rating: 4 1/2 stars (22 reviews). Kindle edition $12.99. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.

"...the biography of Ray Daves, a noncommissioned officer in the U.S. Navy and an eyewitness to World War II. It is based on the author’s handwritten notes from a series of interviews that began on the eighty-second birthday of the combat veteran and gives a first-person account of the world’s first battles between aircraft carriers. Ray Daves grew up on a small farm near Little Rock, Arkansas. Impatient with school and the prospect of becoming a farmer like his father, he joined the CCC and went from there to the navy, where he learned to use the radio to send messages, and soon found himself in the momentary peacefulness of Pearl Harbor. Most of America’s World War II veterans were not in uniform when the war began. Daves is one of the few who was. He could also tell what was happening on the bridge of the famous carrier Yorktown before it went down and of the secretive relationship between the Russian and American forces in Alaska at the time. A must-read for those looking for a personal, intimate account of the events of this tumultuous time in American history." - Publisher.

Attack on Pearl Harbor: Strategy, Combat, Myths, Deceptions, by Alan D. Zimm. Casemate Publishing, 2011. Print Length: 480 p. Amazon customer rating: 4 1/2 stars (16 reviews). Kindle edition $9.99. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.

"The December 7th, 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor has been portrayed by historians as a dazzling success, 'brilliantly conceived and meticulously planned.' With most American historians concentrating on command errors and the story of participants’ experiences, the Japanese attack operation has never been subjected to a comprehensive critical analysis of the military side of the operation. This book presents a detailed evaluation of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on the operational and tactical level [and] also addresses the body of folklore about the attack, supporting or challenging many contentious issues such as the skill level of the Japanese aircrew, whether midget submarines torpedoed Oklahoma and Arizona, as has been recently claimed, whether the Japanese ever really considered launching a third wave attack, and the consequences of a '3rd wave' attack against the Naval Shipyard and the fuel storage tanks if it had been executed." - Publisher.

Fiction:

Pearl Harbor: A Novel of December 8th, by William R. Forstchen and Newt Gingrich. Thomas Dunne Books, 2007. Print Length: 399 p. Amazon customer rating: 4 stars (102 reviews). Kindle edition $7.99. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.

"...bestselling authors Newt Gingrich and William R. Forstchen launch a new epic adventure by applying their imaginations and knowledge to the 'Date of Infamy ' - the attack on Pearl Harbor. Pearl Harbor covers the full spectrum of characters and events from that historic moment, from national leaders and admirals to the views of ordinary citizens caught in the chaos of war. From the chambers of the Emperor of Japan to the American White House, from the decks of aircraft carriers to the playing fields of the Japanese Naval Academy, this powerful story stretches from the nightmare slaughter of China in the 1930s to the lonely office of Commander James Watson, an American cryptographer, who suspects the impending catastrophic attack. Gingrich and Forstchen's now critically acclaimed approach, which they term 'active history,' examines how a change in but one decision might have profoundly altered American history. ...they pose the question of how the presence of but one more man within the Japanese attacking force could have transfigured the war..." - Publisher.

The Winds of War, by Herman Wouk. Back Bay Books, 2008. Print Length: 898 p. Amazon customer rating: 4 1/2 stars (127 reviews). Kindle edition $9.99. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.

"The story revolves around a mixture of real and fictional characters, all connected in some way to the extended family of Victor 'Pug' Henry, a middle-aged Naval Officer and confidant of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. The story begins six months before Germany's invasion of Poland, which launched the European portion of the war, and ends shortly after the attack on Pearl Harbor, when the United States and, by extension, the Henry family, enters the war as well." - Wikipedia.

December 6, by Martin Cruz Smith. Simon & Schuster, 2002. Print Length: 400 p. Amazon customer rating: 4 stars (87 reviews). Kindle edition $7.99. Text-to-Speech: Disabled.

"Set in the crazed, nationalistic Tokyo of late 1941, December 6 explores the coming world war through the other end of history's prism - a prism held here by an unforgettable rogue and lover, Harry Niles. In many ways, Niles should be as American as apple pie: raised by missionary parents, taught to respect his elders and be an honorable and upright Christian citizen dreaming of the good life on the sun-blessed shores of California. But Niles is also Japanese: reared in the aesthetics of Shinto and educated in the dance halls and backroom poker gatherings of Tokyo's shady underworld to steal, trick and run for his life. As a gaijin, a foreigner - especially one with a gift for the artful scam - he draws suspicion and disfavor from Japanese police. This potent mixture of stiff tradition and intrigue - not to mention his brazen love affair with a Japanese mistress who would rather kill Harry than lose him - fills Harry's final days in Tokyo with suspense and fear. Who is he really working for? Is he a spy? For America? For the emperor? Now, on the eve of Pearl Harbor, Harry himself must decide where his true allegiances lie..." - Pubisher.

From Here to Eternity, by James Jones. Open Road, 2011. Print Length: 866 p. Amazon customer rating: 4 1/2 stars (68 reviews). Kindle edition $8.99. Text-to-Speech: Enabled. Originally published in 1951.

"Diamond Head, Hawaii, 1941. Pvt. Robert E. Lee Prewitt is a champion welterweight and a fine bugler. But when he refuses to join the company's boxing team, he gets 'the treatment' that may break him or kill him. First Sgt. Milton Anthony Warden knows how to soldier better than almost anyone, yet he's risking his career to have an affair with the commanding officer's wife. Both Warden and Prewitt are bound by a common bond: the Army is their heart and blood . . .and, possibly, their death." - 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

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.
Annotation.

"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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Kindle Roulette Anyone?

There are more than one million e-books available in the Amazon Kindle Bookstore, an embarrassment of riches making it harder and harder to find good books - books that are worth all the hours you will spend reading them. What to do? Read book reviews. Request free samples. And, of course, (shameless plug) read The Kindle Reader.

But consider serendipity - the happy accident that happens now and then when you search for one book in the Amazon bookstore and (surprise!) the search leads you to another that you really enjoy reading. To create such a happy event, may I suggest a game of Kindle Roulette?

The game is simple. Think of an interesting and perhaps unusual word or phrase and search for it in the Kindle Bookstore. See how many books you find and pick out a few titles to research. I got started doing this after reading a Winston Churchill quotation about pigs. It reminded me of my youthful fondness for pigs and the small pig statue collection I had years ago. Churchill wrote: "I like pigs. Dogs look up to us. Cats look down on us. Pigs treat us as equals."

A search for "pigs" brings up 845 results in the Amazon Kindle bookstore - including a bunch that will appeal to the recreational reader. Try Kindle Roulette. You may discover some real treasures.

The Good Good Pig: The Extraordinary Life of Christopher Hogwood, by Sy Montgomery. Ballantine Books, 2006. Print Length: 272 p. Amazon customer rating: 4 1/2 stars (76 reviews). Kindle edition $11.99. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.

"A naturalist who spent months at a time living on her own among wild creatures in remote jungles, Sy Montgomery had always felt more comfortable with animals than with people. So she gladly opened her heart to a sick piglet who had been crowded away from nourishing meals by his stronger siblings. Yet Sy had no inkling that this piglet, later named Christopher Hogwood, would not only survive but flourish - and she soon found herself engaged with her small-town community in ways she had never dreamed possible. The Good Good Pig celebrates Christopher Hogwood in all his glory, from his inauspicious infancy to hog heaven in rural New Hampshire, where his boundless zest for life and his large, loving heart made him absolute monarch over a (mostly) peaceable kingdom. At first, his domain included only Sy’s cosseted hens and her beautiful border collie, Tess. Then the neighbors began fetching Christopher home from his unauthorized jaunts, the little girls next door started giving him warm, soapy baths, and the villagers brought him delicious leftovers. His intelligence and fame increased along with his girth. He was featured in USA Today and on several National Public Radio environmental programs. On election day, some voters even wrote in Christopher’s name on their ballots. Sy reveals what she and others learned from this generous soul..." - Publisher.

A Dissertation Upon Roast Pig & Other Essays, by Charles Lamb. Penguin, 2011. Print Length: 96 p. Amazon customer rating: none yet. Kindle edition $6.19. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.

"A rapturous appreciation of pork crackling, a touching description of hungry London chimney sweeps, a discussion of the strange pleasure of eating pineapple and a meditation on the delights of Christmas feasting are just some of the subjects of these personal, playful writings from early nineteenth-century essayist Charles Lamb. Exploring the joys of food and also our complicated social relationship with it, these essays are by turns sensuous, mischievous, lyrical and self-mocking. Filled with a sense of hunger, they are some of the most fascinating and nuanced works ever written about eating, drinking and appetite. Charles Lamb (1775-1834) was an English essayist best known for his humorous Essays of Elia from which the essay 'A Dissertation Upon Roast Pig' is taken." - Publisher.

The Guinea Pig Diaries: My Life as an Experiment, by A. J. Jacobs. Simon & Schuster, 2009. Print Length: 256 p. Amazon customer rating: 4 stars (66 reviews). Kindle edition $9.99. Text-to-Speech: Disabled.

"Bestselling author and human guinea pig A. J. Jacobs puts his life to the test and reports on the surprising and entertaining results. He goes undercover as a woman, lives by George Washington’s moral code, and impersonates a movie star. He practices 'radical honesty,' brushes his teeth with the world’s most rational toothpaste, and outsources every part of his life to India - including reading bedtime stories to his kids. And in a new adventure, Jacobs undergoes scientific testing to determine how he can put his wife through these and other life-altering experiments - one of which involves public nudity." - Publisher.

Five Little Pigs, by Agatha Christie. Harper Collins, 2004. Print Length: 240 p. Amazon customer rating: 4 1/2 stars (19 reviews). Kindle edition $6.99. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.

A classic mystery originally published in 1942 and featuring Christie's inimitable detective Hercule Poirot. "Beautiful Caroline Crale was convicted of poisoning her husband, yet there were five other suspects: Philip Blake (the stockbroker) who went to market; Meredith Blake (the amateur herbalist) who stayed at home; Elsa Greer (the three-time divorcee) who had roast beef; Cecilia Williams (the devoted governess) who had none; and Angela Warren (the disfigured sister) who cried 'wee wee wee' all the way home. It is sixteen years later, but Hercule Poirot just can't get that nursery rhyme out of his mind..." - Publisher.

Pigs in Heaven, by Barbara Kingsolver. Harper Collins, 2009. Print Length: 372 p. Amazon customer rating: 3 1/2 stars (193 reviews). Kindle edition $9.99. Text-to-Speech: Enabled. This is a sequel to Kingsolvers' The Bean Trees.

"Taylor Greer and her adopted Cherokee daughter Turtle, first met in The Bean Trees , will captivate readers anew in Kingsolver's assured and eloquent sequel, which mixes wit, wisdom and the expert skills of a born raconteur into a powerfully affecting narrative. Now six years old and still bearing psychological marks of the abuse that occured before she was rescued by Taylor, Turtle is discovered by formidable Indian lawyer Annawake Fourkiller, who insists that the child be returned to the Cherokee Nation. Taylor reacts by fleeing her Tucson home with Turtle to begin a precarious existence on the road...Kingsolver's intelligent consideration of issues of family and culture - both in her evocation of Native American society and in her depiction of the plight of a single mother - brims with insight and empathy." - Publishers Weekly.

Strange Histories: The Trial of the Pig, the Walking Dead, and other Matters of Fact from the Medieval and Renaissance Worlds, by Darren Oldridge. T & F Books, 2007. Print Length: 210 p. Amazon customer rating: 4 stars (8 reviews). Kindle edition $14.55 (or rent for $8.02). Text-to-Speech: Enabled.

"Strange Histories presents a serious account of some of the most extraordinary occurrences of European and North American history and explains how they made sense to people living at the time. From grisly anecdotes about ghosts, to stories of witches and werewolves, the book uses case studies from the Middle Ages and the early modern period and provides fascinating insights into the world-view of a vanished age. It shows how such occurences fitted in quite naturally with the 'common sense' of the time and offers explanations of these riveting and ultimately rational phenomena. What made reasonable, educated men and women behave in ways that seem utterly nonsensical to us today? This question and many more are answered in the fascinating book." - Publisher.

The Silver Pigs: A Marcus Didius Falco Mystery, by Lindsey Davis. Minotaur Books, 2006. Print Length: 352 p. Amazon customer rating: 4 1/2 stars (2 reviews). Kindle edition $9.99. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.

"When Marcus Didius Falco, a Roman 'informer' who has a nose for trouble that's sharper than most, encounters Sosia Camillina in the Forum, he senses immediately all is not right with the pretty girl. She confesses to him that she is fleeing for her life, and Falco makes the rash decision to rescue her - a decision he will come to regret. For Sosia bears a heavy burden: as heavy as a pile of stolen Imperial ingots, in fact. Matters just get more complicated when Falco meets Helena Justina, a Senator's daughter who is connected to the very same traitors he has sworn to expose. Soon Falco finds himself swept from the perilous back alleys of Ancient Rome to the silver mines of distant Britain - and up against a cabal of traitors with blood on their hands and no compunction whatsoever to do away with a snooping plebe like Falco..." - 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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New in Popular Science for the Kindle

"It is a good morning exercise for a research scientist to discard a pet hypothesis every day before breakfast. It keeps him young." - Konrad Lorenz.

Even Kindle readers who read for pleasure like to dip into the heady realm of science nonfiction now and then to keep up with what's happening in a world scientists are still uncovering. Recent additions to the Kindle popular science shelves include:

Make: Electronics: Learning Through Discovery, by Charles Platt. Make, 2011. Print length: 352 p. This title has complex layouts and has been optimized for reading on devices with larger screens. Amazon customer rating: 4 1/2 stars (50 reviews). Kindle edition $9.80. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.

"Want to learn the fundamentals of electronics in a fun, hands-on way? With Make: Electronics, you'll start working on real projects as soon as you crack open the book. Explore all of the key components and essential principles through a series of fascinating experiments. You'll build the circuits first, then learn the theory behind them! You'll start with the basics and then move on to more complicated projects. Go from switching circuits to integrated circuits, and from simple alarms to programmable microcontrollers. Step-by-step instructions and more than 500 full-color photographs and illustrations will help you use - and understand - electronics concepts and techniques." - Publisher.

Why Can't Elephants Jump?: And 113 Other Tantalizing Science Questions Answered, by the editors of New Scientist. Pegasus Books, 2011. Print length: 240 p. Amazon customer rating: none yet. Kindle edition $9.99. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.

"What’s the storage capacity of the human brain in gigabytes? Why is frozen milk yellow? Why do flamingos stand on one leg? And why can’t elephant’s jump? Is it because elephants are too large or heavy (after all, they say hippos and rhinos can play hopscotch)? Or is it because their knees face the wrong way? Or do they just wait until no one’s looking? This is popular science at its most absorbing and enjoyable." - Publisher.

Hedy's Folly: The Life and Breakthrough Inventions of Hedy Lamarr, the Most Beautiful Woman in the World, by Richard Rhodes. Doubleday, 2011. Print length: 272 p. Amazon customer rating: none yet. Kindle edition $13.99. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.

"What do Hedy Lamarr, avant-garde composer George Antheil, and your cell phone have in common? The answer is spread-spectrum radio: a revolutionary inven­tion based on the rapid switching of communications sig­nals among a spread of different frequencies. Without this technology, we would not have the digital comforts that we take for granted today. Unhappily married to a Nazi arms dealer, Lamarr fled to America at the start of World War II; she brought with her not only her theatrical talent but also a gift for technical innovation. An introduction to Antheil at a Hollywood dinner table culminated in a U.S. patent for a jam-proof radio guidance system for torpedoes - the unlikely duo’s gift to the U.S. war effort. What other book brings together 1920s Paris, player pianos, Nazi weaponry, and digital wireless into one satisfying whole? In its juxtaposition of Hollywood glamour with the reality of a brutal war, Hedy’s Folly is a riveting book about unlikely amateur inventors collaborating to change the world." - from the hardcover edition.

Island of Secrets, by Matthew Power. The Atavist, 2011. Print length: 42 p. Amazon customer rating: 4 stars (5 reviews). Kindle edition $1.99. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.

"If geologist, adventurer and risk-prone eccentric John Lane can prove the existence of the elusive tree kangaroo on the remote Pacific island of New Britain, he just might be able to save one of the last truly wild endangered forests on earth. But first he and his ragtag expedition party - college students, adventure-seeking biologists, disinterested local teenagers - will have to find the rare animal. Award-winning writer Matthew Power plunges into one of the world’s most foreboding jungles alongside Lane. It is a quest that’s equal parts noble, dangerous and wacky, in a place that’s truly off the map." - Publisher.

Who's in Charge?: Free Will and the Science of the Brain, by Michael S. Gazzaniga. Ecco, 2011. Print length: 275 p. Amazon customer rating: 4 1/2 stars (7 reviews). Kindle edition $14.99. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.

"The father of cognitive neuroscience and author of Human offers a provocative argument against the common belief that our lives are wholly determined by physical processes and we are therefore not responsible for our actions. Not so, argues the renowned neuroscientist Michael S. Gazzaniga in this thoughtful, provocative book... Who’s in Charge? proposes that the mind, which is somehow generated by the physical processes of the brain, 'constrains' the brain just as cars are constrained by the traffic they create. Writing with what Steven Pinker has called “his trademark wit and lack of pretension,” Gazzaniga shows how determinism immeasurably weakens our views of human responsibility; it allows a murderer to argue, in effect, “It wasn’t me who did it - it was my brain.” An extraordinary book that ranges across neuroscience, psychology, ethics, and the law with a light touch but profound implications..." - Publisher.

Mycophilia: Revelations from the Weird World of Mushrooms, by Eugenia Bone. Rodale, 2011. Print length: 368 p. Amazon customer rating: 4 1/2 stars (26 reviews). Kindle edition $9.99. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.

"An incredibly versatile cooking ingredient containing an abundance of vitamins, minerals, and possibly cancer-fighting properties, mushrooms are among the most expensive and sought-after foods on the planet. Yet when it comes to fungi, culinary uses are only the tip of the iceberg. Throughout history fungus has been prized for its diverse properties - medicinal, ecological, even recreational - and has spawned its own quirky subculture dedicated to exploring the weird biology and celebrating the unique role it plays on earth. In Mycophilia, accomplished food writer and cookbook author Eugenia Bone examines the role of fungi as exotic delicacy, curative, poison, and hallucinogen, and ultimately discovers that a greater understanding of fungi is key to facing many challenges of the 21st century. Engrossing, surprising, and packed with up-to-date science and cultural exploration..." - Publisher.

The Viral Storm: The Dawn of a New Pandemic Age, by Nathan Wolfe. Times Books, 2011. Print length: 320 p. Amazon customer rating: 4 1/2 stars (6 reviews). Kindle edition $12.99. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.

"...award-winning biologist Nathan Wolfe tells the story of how viruses and human beings have evolved side by side through history; how deadly viruses like HIV, swine flu, and bird flu almost wiped us out in the past; and why modern life has made our species vulnerable to the threat of a global pandemic. Wolfe's research missions to the jungles of Africa and the rain forests of Borneo have earned him the nickname 'the Indiana Jones of virus hunters,' and here Wolfe takes readers along on his groundbreaking and often dangerous research trips - to reveal the surprising origins of the most deadly diseases and to explain the role that viruses have played in human evolution." - 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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A Week of Entertainment: Kindle Books Reviewed in Entertainment Weekly

Each week Entertainment Weekly reviews a small selection of popular new books. Titles available for the Kindle reviewed in the November 25th and December 2nd issues include:

The Future of Us, by Jay Asher and Carolyn Mackler. Razorbill, 2011. Print length: 356 p. YA FICTION. EW's slant: "Think Back to the Future meets The Social Network in this inventive novel". Amazon customer rating: 4 stars (11 reviews). Kindle edition $10.99. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.

"It’s 1996, and Josh and Emma have been neighbors their whole lives. They’ve been best friends almost as long - up until last November when everything changed. Things have been awkward ever since, but when Josh’s family gets an America Online CD-ROM in the mail, his mom makes him bring it over so Emma can install it on her new computer. When they sign on, they’re automatically logged onto Facebook. But Facebook hasn’t been invented yet. Josh and Emma are looking at their profiles fifteen years in the future..." - http://www.carolynmackler.com/.

Legend, by Marie Lu. Putnam, 2011. Print length: 336 p. YA FICTION. EW's slant: "...fine writing and excellent execution." Amazon customer rating: none yet. Kindle edition $10.99. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.

"What was once the western United States is now home to the Republic, a nation perpetually at war with its neighbors. Born into an elite family in one of the Republic's wealthiest districts, fifteen-year-old June is a prodigy being groomed for success in the Republic's highest military circles. Born into the slums, fifteen-year-old Day is the country's most wanted criminal. But his motives may not be as malicious as they seem. From very different worlds, June and Day have no reason to cross paths - until the day June's brother, Metias, is murdered and Day becomes the prime suspect." - Publisher.

Shatter Me, by Tahereh Mafi. Harper Collins, 2011. Print length: 357 p. YA FICTION. EW's slant: "Another YA thriller, another possible future film, and it's easy to see why..." Amazon customer rating: 4 1/2 stars (80 reviews). Kindle edition $9.99. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.

"You can't touch me, I whisper. I'm lying, is what I don't tell him. He can touch me, is what I'll never tell him. But things happen when people touch me. Strange things. Bad things. No one knows why Juliette's touch is fatal, but The Reestablishment has plans for her. Plans to use her as a weapon. But Juliette has plans of her own. After a lifetime without freedom, she's finally discovering a strength to fight back for the very first time - and to find a future with the one boy she thought she'd lost forever." - Publisher.

Briefly Mentioned: Books About Food:

Serious Eats: A Comprehensive Guide to Making and Eating Delicious Food Wherever You Are, by Ed Levine. Clarkson Potter, 2011. Print length: 368 p. NONFICTION. Amazon customer rating: 4 stars (10 reviews). Kindle edition $16.99. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.

"Ed Levine...and his SeriousEats.com editors present their unique take on iconic foods made and served around the country. From house-cured, hand-cut corned beef sandwiches at Jake’s in Milwaukee to fried-to-order doughnuts at Shipley’s Do-Nuts in Houston; from fresh clam pizza at Zuppardi’s Pizzeria in West Haven, Connecticut, to Green Eggs and Ham at Huckleberry Bakery and Café in Los Angeles, Serious Eats is a veritable map of some of the best food they have eaten nationwide. Covering fast food, family-run restaurants, food trucks, and four-star dining establishments, all with zero snobbery, there is plenty here for every food lover, from coast to coast and everywhere in between. Featuring 400 of the Serious Eats team’s greatest food finds and 50 all-new recipes, this is your must-read manual for the pursuit of a tasty life." - from the paperback edition.

Culinary Reactions; The Everyday Chemistry of Cooking, by Simon Quellen Field. Chicago Review Press, 2011. Print length: 258 p. NONFICTION. Amazon customer rating: 4 1/2 stars (3 reviews). Kindle edition $8.99. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.

"Exploring the scientific principles behind everyday recipes, this informative blend of lab book and cookbook reveals that cooks are actually chemists. Following or modifying recipes is shown to be an experiment with acids and bases, emulsions and suspensions, gels and foams. This easy-to-follow primer includes recipes that demonstrate the scientific concepts, such as Whipped Creamsicle Topping (a foam), Cherry Dream Cheese (a protein gel), and Lemonade with Chameleon Eggs (an acid indicator). Also included in this fun, fact-filled companion are answers to various culinary curiosities, such as How does altering the ratio of flour, sugar, yeast, salt, butter, and water affect how high bread rises? and Why is whipped cream made with nitrous oxide rather than the more common carbon dioxide?" - Publisher.

The Culinarian: A Kitchen Desk Reference, by Barbara Ann Kipfer and Kyle B. Kipfer. Wiley, 2011. Print length: 640 p. NONFICTION. Amazon customer rating: 5 stars (1 review). Kindle edition $9.99. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.

"Have you ever wondered what the difference is between a yam and a sweet potato? Or gotten home from the farmers' market and thought, "Now what on earth do I do with fiddlehead ferns?" The Culinarian holds the answers to these and many more culinary conundrums, such as how to trim an artichoke or choose a ripe cantaloupe. This illuminating culinary dictionary includes clear, plain-English definitions for thousands of food terms from Absinthe to Zucchini, as well as tips on selecting, storing, and using every ingredient and piece of kitchen equipment imaginable. The ideal complement to your favorite cookbook...chock-full of captivating food trivia and history, plus information on measurements, yields and equivalents, and other useful tidbits." - from the back cover.
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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 21st 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 21st issue of People:

11/22/63, by Stephen King. Scribner, 2011. Print Length: 866 p. NOVEL. Amazon customer rating: 4 stars (123 reviews). People's slant: "At 849 pages, this is a mammoth but entertaining book..." Kindle edition $16.99. Text-to-Speech: Disabled.

"On November 22, 1963, three shots rang out in Dallas, President Kennedy died, and the world changed. What if you could change it back? Stephen King’s heart-stoppingly dramatic new novel is about a man who travels back in time to prevent the JFK assassination...Jake Epping is a thirty-five-year-old high school English teacher in Lisbon Falls, Maine, who makes extra money teaching adults in the GED program. He receives an essay from one of the students - a gruesome, harrowing first person story about the night 50 years ago when Harry Dunning’s father came home and killed his mother, his sister, and his brother with a hammer. Harry escaped with a smashed leg, as evidenced by his crooked walk. Not much later, Jake’s friend Al, who runs the local diner, divulges a secret: his storeroom is a portal to 1958. He enlists Jake on an insane—and insanely possible—mission to try to prevent the Kennedy assassination. So begins Jake’s new life as George Amberson and his new world of Elvis and JFK, of big American cars and sock hops, of a troubled loner named Lee Harvey Oswald..." - Publisher.

Shockaholic, by Carrie Fisher. Simon & Schuster, 2011. Print Length: 176 p. MEMOIR. Amazon customer rating: 4 stars (6 reviews). People's slant: "Fisher is a girl who knows how to tell a story." Kindle edition $9.99. Text-to-Speech: Disabled.

"It’s been a roller coaster of a few years for Carrie since her Tony- and Emmy-nominated, one-woman Broadway show and New York Times bestselling book Wishful Drinking. She not only lost her beloved father, but also her once-upon-a-very-brief-time stepmother, Elizabeth Taylor. And as if all that weren’t enough, she also managed to lose over forty pounds of unwanted flesh - not by sawing off a leg (though that did cross her zapped mind) but by doing what might be termed 'wishful shrinking,' all the while staying sober and sane-ish. And she wants to tell you, dear reader, all about it...and more." - Publisher.

God, If You're Not Up There, I'm F*cked: Tales of Stand-Up, Saturday Night Live, and Other Mind-Altering Mayhem, by Darrell Hammond. Harper, 2011. Print Length: 308 p. MEMOIR. Amazon customer rating: 5 stars (11 reviews). Kindle edition $12.99. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.

"From his harrowing childhood filled with physical and emotional abuse at the hands of his parents, to a lifetime of alcoholism and self-mutilation, psychiatric hospitalizations, and misdiagnoses, to the peak of fame and success as the longest-tenured cast member of Saturday Night Live, Darrell Hammond delves into the darkest corners of his life, both in front of and behind the camera, with brutal honesty and fierce comic wit. On the back of his hilarious dead-on impressions of Bill Clinton, Dick Cheney, Chris Matthews, and a hundred other prominent figures, Hammond was invited into the inner sanctums of the country's political leaders, including three presidents, all the while suffering debilitating and largely undiagnosed mental anguish...His long fight for sobriety, filled with heartbreaking relapses, was propelled by a desire to do right by his young daughter and to set the record straight about how he fell so low while achieving such heights." - Publisher.

Briefly Mentioned:

The New Kids, by Brooke Hauser. Free Press, 2011. Print Length: 320 p. NONFICTION. Amazon customer rating: 5 stars (9 reviews). Kindle edition $12.99. Text-to-Speech: Disabled.

"Some walked across deserts and mountains to get here. Others flew in on planes. One arrived after escaping in a suitcase. And some won’t say how they got here. These are 'the new kids': new to America and all the routines and rituals of an American high school, from lonely first days to prom. They attend the International High School at Prospect Heights in Brooklyn, which is like most high schools in some ways - its halls are filled with students gossiping, joking, flirting, and pushing the limits of the school’s dress code - but all of the students are recent immigrants learning English. Together, they come from more than forty-five countries and speak more than twenty-eight languages. A singular work of narrative journalism, The New Kids chronicles a year in the life of a remarkable group of these teenage newcomers - a multicultural mosaic that embodies what is truly amazing about America." - Publisher.

The Garner Files, by James Garner and Jon Winokur. Simon & Schuster, 2011. Print Length: 290 p. MEMOIR. Amazon customer rating: 4 stars (21 reviews). Kindle edition $9.99. Text-to-Speech: Disabled.

"After suffering physical abuse at the hands of his stepmother, Garner left home at fourteen. He became Oklahoma's first draftee of the Korean War and was awarded with two Purple Hearts before returning to the United States and settling in Los Angeles to become an actor. Working alongside some of the most renowned celebrities, including Julie Andrews, Marlon Brando, and Clint Eastwood, Garner became a star in his own right, despite struggles with stage fright and depression. In The Garner Files, this revered actor and quintessential self-made man recalls 'trying to decipher' William Wyler with Audrey Hepburn and Shirley MacLaine, breaking Doris Day's ribs, having a "heart-to-heart and eyeball-to-eyeball" with Steve McQueen, being 'a card-carrying liberal—and proud of it,' and much more." - Publisher.

The Gorilla Man and the Empress of Steak: A New Orleans Family Memoir, by Randy Fertel. University Press of Mississippi, 2011. Print Length: 288 p. MEMOIR. Amazon customer rating: 4 1/2 stars (10 reviews). Kindle edition $15.40. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.

"Ruth Fertel was a petite, smart, tough-as-nails blonde with a weakness for rogues, who founded the Ruth's Chris Steak House empire almost by accident. Rodney Fertel was a gold-plated, one-of-a-kind personality, a railbird-heir to wealth from a pawnshop of dubious repute just around the corner from where the teenage Louis Armstrong and his trumpet were discovered. When Fertel ran for mayor of New Orleans on a single campaign promise - buying a pair of gorillas for the zoo - he garnered a paltry 308 votes. Then he purchased the gorillas anyway! These colorful figures yoked together two worlds not often connected - lazy rice farms in the bayous and swinging urban streets where ethnicities jazzily collided. The Gorilla Man and the Empress of Steak is a New Orleans story, featuring the distinctive characters, color, food, and history of that city - before Hurricane Katrina and after. But it also is the universal story of family and the full magnitude of outsize follies leavened with equal measures of humor, rage, and rue." - 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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