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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.