What People Magazine is Reading This Week (July 18th 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 July 18th issue of People:

Before I Go To Sleep, by S. J. Watson. Harper Collins, 2011. Print length: 368 p. THRILLER. People's slant: "You'll stay up late reading..." Amazon customer rating: 4 stars (225 reviews). Kindle edition $12.99; Hardcover $14.27. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.
"Every day Christine wakes up not knowing where she is. Her memories disappear every time she falls asleep. Her husband, Ben, is a stranger to her, and he's obligated to explain their life together on a daily basis - all the result of a mysterious accident that made Christine an amnesiac. With the encouragement of her doctor, Christine starts a journal to help jog her memory every day. One morning, she opens it and sees that she's written three unexpected and terrifying words: Don't trust Ben. One of the best debut literary thrillers in recent years, Before I Go to Sleep deserves to be one of the major blockbusters of the summer." - Miriam Landis for Amazon.com Review.

Witches of East End, by Melissa de la Cruz. Hyperion, 2011. Print length: 288 p. NOVEL. People's slant: "...a bubbling cauldron of mystery and romance..." Amazon customer rating: 3 1/2 stars (80 reviews). Kindle edition $9.99; Hardcover $13.25. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.

"The three Beauchamp women - Joanna and her daughters Freya and Ingrid - live in North Hampton, out on the tip of Long Island. Their beautiful, mist-shrouded town seems almost stuck in time, and all three women lead seemingly quiet, uneventful existences. But they are harboring a mighty secret - they are powerful witches banned from using their magic. For centuries, all three women have been forced to suppress their abilities. But then Freya, who is about to get married to the wealthy and mysterious Bran Gardiner, finds that her increasingly complicated romantic life makes it more difficult than ever to hide her secret...this is a page-turning, deliciously fun, magical summer read fraught with love affairs, witchcraft, and an unforgettable battle between good and evil." - Amazon.

Turn of Mind, by Alice LaPlante. Atlantic Monthly Press, 2011. Print length: 320 p. NOVEL. People's slant: Turn of Mind has been described as a mystery, but the police case is only one piece of LaPlante's lyrical mosaic..." Amazon customer rating:4 1/2 stars (47 reviews). Kindle edition $9.99; Hardcover $14.96. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.

"A stunning first novel, both literary and thriller, about a retired orthopedic surgeon with dementia, Turn of Mind has already received worldwide attention. With unmatched patience and a pulsating intensity, Alice LaPlante brings us deep into a brilliant woman’s deteriorating mind, where the impossibility of recognizing reality can be both a blessing and a curse. As the book opens, Dr. Jennifer White’s best friend, Amanda, who lived down the block, has been killed, and four fingers surgically removed from her hand. Dr. White is the prime suspect and she herself doesn’t know whether she did it..." - Amazon.

The Steal: A Cultural History of Shoplifting, by Rachel Shteir. The Penguin Press, 2011. Print Length: 272 p. NONFICTION. People's slant: "...intelligent, sometimes startling book..." Amazon customer rating: 4 1/2 stars (7 reviews). Kindle edition $12.99; Hardcover $17.07 Text-to-Speech: Enabled.

"...the first serious study of shoplifting, tracking the fascinating history of this ancient crime. Dismissed by academia and the mainstream media and largely misunderstood, shoplifting has become the territory of moralists, mischievous teenagers, tabloid television, and self-help gurus. But shoplifting incurs remarkable real-life costs for retailers and consumers. The crime tax - the amount every American family loses to shoplifting-related price inflation - is more than $400 a year. Shoplifting cost American retailers $11.7 billion in 2009. The theft of one $5.00 item from Whole Foods can require sales of hundreds of dollars to break even. In The Steal, Shteir guides us through a remarkable tour of all things shoplifting - we visit the Woodbury Commons Outlet Mall, where boosters run rampant, watch the surveillance footage from Winona Ryder's famed shopping trip, and learn the history of anti-theft technology. A groundbreaking study..." - Amazon.
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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.