Books They're Talking About: Kindle Books in the Media

Media interviews are a popular way for writers to introduce new books they hope will catch the viewer's eye and generate interest in their work. Here's a selection of forthcoming Kindle books by authors scheduled for interviews on TV and radio programs. Books are arranged in chronological order by the date of the scheduled interview.

On ABC's 20/20 (Nov 11, 2011) and on ABC's Good Morning America (Nov 15, 2011)

How I Got This Way, by Regis Philbin. It Books, 2011. Print Length: 336 p. Amazon customer rating: 5 stars (1 review). Kindle edition $12.99. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.
"Sure, he’s an excitable guy. Sure, he loves to complain. But Regis Philbin loves life...and with the wildly unpredictable one he’s led so far, who wouldn’t? After five decades in show business - and nearly 17,000 unforgettable hours on television - he has a lifetime’s worth of stories to share. In this entertaining memoir, the irrepressible Reege - consummate talk-show host, man-about-town, loving husband, father, and yes, obsessive sports fan - looks back at his years in show business. How I Got This Way is filled with stories of lessons learned - and elbows rubbed - with extraordinary, and often unsuspecting, teachers: David Letterman; Donald Trump; George Clooney; Howard Stern; Jack Nicholson; legendary Notre Dame coaches Frank Leahy, Ara Parseghian, and Lou Holtz; and, of course, longtime cohosts Kathie Lee Gifford and Kelly “Pippa” Ripa; as well as his own lovely wife, Joy..." - Publisher.

On ABC's Nightline (Nov 13, 2011)

Gabby, by Gabrielle Giffords and Mark Kelly. Scribner, 2011. Print Length: 320 p. Amazon customer rating: 4 1/2 stars (6 reviews). Kindle edition $12.99. Text-to-Speech: Disabled

"As individuals, congresswoman Fabrielle Giffords and her husband, astronaut Mark Kelly, showed Americans how optimism, an adventurous spirit, and a call to service can help change the world. As a couple, they became a national example of the healing power to be found in deeply shared love and courage. Their arrival in the world spotlight came under the worst of circumstances. On January 8, 2011, while meeting with her constituents in Tucson, Arizona, Gabby was the victim of an assassination attempt that left six people dead and thirteen wounded. Gabby was shot in the head; doctors called her survival 'miraculous.' As the nation grieved and sought to understand the attack, Gabby remained in private, focused on her against-all-odds recovery. Mark spent every possible moment by her side, as he also prepared for his final mission as commander of space shuttle Endeavour. Now, as Gabby’s health continues to improve, the couple is sharing their remarkable untold story. Gabby and Mark made a pledge to tell their account as honestly as possible, and they have done so in riveting detail." - http://www.simonandschuster.com/.

On NPR's Talk of the Nation (Nov 14, 2011)

Is That a Fish in Your Ear?: Translation and the Meaning of Everything, by David Bellos. Faber & Faber, 2011. Print Length: 385 p. Amazon customer rating: 5 stars (3 reviews). Kindle edition $12.99. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.

"Using translation as his lens, David Bellos shows how much we can learn about ourselves by exploring the ways we use translation, from the historical roots of written language to the stylistic choices of Ingmar Bergman, from the United Nations General Assembly to the significance of James Cameron’s Avatar. Is That a Fish in Your Ear? ranges across human experience to describe why translation sits deep within us all, and why we need it in so many situations, from the spread of religion to our appreciation of literature; indeed, Bellos claims that all writers are by definition translators. Written with joie de vivre, reveling both in misunderstanding and communication, littered with wonderful asides, it promises any reader new eyes through which to understand the world." - Publisher.
David Bellos is the director of the Program in Translation and Intercultural Communication and professor of French and Comparative Literature at Princeton University.

On Comedy Central's Daily Show (Nov 14, 2011)

Mighty Be Our Powers: How Sisterhood, Prayer, and Sex Changed a Nation at War, by Leymah Gbowee, with Caol Mithers. Beast Books, 2011. Print Length: 262 p. Amazon customer rating: 5 stars (5 reviews). Kindle edition $9.36. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.

"As a young woman, Leymah Gbowee was broken by the Liberian civil war, a brutal conflict that tore apart her life and claimed the lives of countless relatives and friends. Years of fighting destroyed her country - and shattered Gbowee’s girlhood hopes and dreams. As a young mother trapped in a nightmare of domestic abuse, she found the courage to turn her bitterness into action, propelled by her realization that it is women who suffer most during conflicts - and that the power of women working together can create an unstoppable force. In 2003, the passionate and charismatic Gbowee helped organize and then led the Liberian Mass Action for Peace, a coalition of Christian and Muslim women who sat in public protest, confronting Liberia’s ruthless president and rebel warlords, and even held a sex strike. Mighty Be Our Powers is the gripping chronicle of a journey from hopelessness to empowerment that will touch all who dream of a better world." - Publisher.

On NBC's Tonight Show (Nov 21, 2011)

Dairy of a Player: How My Musical Heroes Made a Guitar Man Out of Me , by Brad Paisley and David Wild. Howard Books, 2011. Print Length: 258 p. Amazon customer rating: 5 stars (10 reviews). Kindle edition $8.99. Text-to-Speech: Disabled.

"This book is the very personal story of how Brad Paisley came of age as a musician and a man. Focusing on what it means to play the guitar and how he found his voice through a series of guitars, the book will also share what he has learned about life along the way. Beginning with his own very personal love letter to the guitar and what the instrument has meant in his life as a way to find his voice in the world, the book then moves into a musical, but personal, diary. Brad tells the story of his own musical passion, while writing loving salutes and sharing memorable tales about all the great players in country, blues, and rock & roll who have inspired him over the years." - Publisher.

On CBS's 60 Minutes (Nov 27, 2011)

Onstage, Offstage, by Michael Bublé. Gallery Books, 2011. Print Length: 304 p. Amazon customer rating: none yet. Kindle edition $12.99. Optimized for larger screens. Text-to-Speech: Disabled.

"He’s sold more than 25 million records. His live shows fill the world’s biggest stadiums to capacity. He has captured hearts everywhere with his classic style. Now, for the first time ever, Grammy Award–winning singer Michael Bublé offers fans an all-access, behind-the-scenes glimpse at his private life, onstage and off.Pairing the singer’s own heartfelt words with hundreds of exclusive, never-before-seen photographs, this unique diary reveals Bublé’s inspirational journey, from singing into a hairbrush in his suburban Canadian bedroom to entertaining thousands onstage at New York’s famed Madison Square Garden. Fans will experience what it’s like to be on tour and in the studio with Bublé as he unveils the private person beneath the public persona." - Publisher.

On NBC's Today Show (Nov 28, 2011) and on Comedy Central's Daily Show (Nov 28, 2011)

Betty & Friends: My Life at the Zoo, by Betty White. Putnam, 2011. Print Length: 304 p. Amazon customer rating: none yet. Kindle edition $9.99. Optimized for larger screens. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.

"...the passion project Betty White has been working on for more than a decade - a love letter to zoos and to the animals in them, from a woman who admits she likes animals better than humans... In her inimitable voice, Betty takes us on a private tour of her favorite animals and her friendships with them - from Gita the elephant, whom Betty used to take for walks before the zoo opened; to Kelly the massive silverback gorilla, whom Betty has known since his birth in 1987. From giraffes to lizards to koalas, readers witness the majestic variety of animals through Betty's eyes, and in her own words, accompanied by breathtaking photographs. Seven-time Emmy Award winner Betty White's love of animals began 'in the womb'. Betty has served on the board of the Los Angeles County Zoo since 1974, and is the president of the Morris Animal Foundation." - 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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Books They're Talking About: Kindle Books in the Media

Media interviews are a popular way for writers to introduce new books they hope will catch the viewer's eye and generate interest in their work. Here's a selection of forthcoming Kindle books by authors scheduled for interviews on TV and radio programs. Books are arranged in chronological order by the date of the scheduled interview.

On CBS's Late Show with David Letterman (Oct. 28, 2011):

The Time of Our Lives: A Conversation about America; Who We Are, Where We've Been, and Where We Need to Go Now, to Recapture the American Dream, by Tom Brokaw. Random House, 2011. Print Length: 320 p. Amazon customer rating: 4 1/2 stars (10 reviews). Kindle edition $12.99. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.
"Rooted in the values, lessons, and verities of generations past and of his South Dakota upbringing, Brokaw weaves together inspiring stories of Americans who are making a difference and personal stories from his own family history, to engage us in a conversation about our country and to offer ideas for how we can revitalize the promise of the American Dream. Inviting us to foster a rebirth of family, community, and civic engagement as profound as the one that won World War II, built our postwar prosperity, and ushered in the Civil Rights era, Brokaw traces the exciting, unnerving changes in modern life - in values, education, public service, housing, the Internet, and more - that have transformed our society in the decades since the age of thrift in which he was raised ... a wise, honest, and wide-ranging book, a nourishing vision of hopefulness in an age of diminished expectations." - from the hardcover edition.

On Comedy Central's Daily Show (Nov. 1, 2011):

No Higher Honor: A Memoir of My Years in Washington, by Condoleezza Rice. Crown, 2011. Print Length: 784 p. Amazon customer rating: 3 stars (10 reviews). Kindle edition $15.99. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.

"From one of the world’s most admired women, this is former National Security Advisor and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice’s compelling story of eight years serving at the highest levels of government. In her position as America’s chief diplomat, Rice traveled almost continuously around the globe, seeking common ground among sometimes bitter enemies, forging agreement on divisive issues, and compiling a remarkable record of achievement. With the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, Rice found herself at the center of the Administration’s intense efforts to keep America safe. In 2005 Rice was entrusted with even more responsibility when she was charged with helping to shape and carry forward the President’s foreign policy as Secretary of State. No Higher Honor takes the reader into secret negotiating rooms where the fates of Israel, the Palestinian Authority, and Lebanon often hung in the balance, and it draws back the curtain on how frighteningly close all-out war loomed in clashes involving Pakistan-India and Russia-Georgia, and in East Africa. Surprisingly candid in her appraisals of various Administration colleagues and the hundreds of foreign leaders with whom she dealt, Rice also offers here keen insight into how history actually proceeds..." - from the hardcover edition.

On NPR's Fresh Air (Nov. 2, 2011):

Blue Nights, by Joan Didion. Knopf, 2011. Print Length: 208 p. Amazon customer rating: 4 1/2 stars (15 reviews). Kindle edition $12.99. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.

"From one of our most powerful writers, a work of stunning frankness about losing a daughter. Richly textured with bits of her own childhood and married life with her husband, John Gregory Dunne, and daughter, Quintana Roo, this new book by Joan Didion examines her thoughts, fears, and doubts regarding having children, illness, and growing old. Blue Nights opens on July 26, 2010, as Didion thinks back to Quintana’s wedding in New York seven years before. Today would be her wedding anniversary. This fact triggers vivid snapshots of Quintana’s childhood - in Malibu, in Brentwood, at school in Holmby Hills. Reflecting on her daughter but also on her role as a parent, Didion asks the candid questions any parent might about how she feels she failed either because cues were not taken or perhaps displaced... Seamlessly woven in are incidents Didion sees as underscoring her own age, something she finds hard to acknowledge, much less accept." - from the hardcover edition.

On CBS's 60 Minutes (Nov. 6, 2011):

Capitol Punishment, by Jack Abramoff. BookBaby, 2011. Amazon customer rating: none yet. Kindle edition $9.99. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.

"The name Jack Abramoff is synonymous with Washington scandal, but the fascinating facts of his case are either largely unknown or wildly misunderstood. His memoir will serve as a corrective - an engrossing, informative work of political nonfiction that is also a gripping real-life thriller. The biggest surprise twist comes in the form of Abramoff himself, a smart, funny, charming, clear-eyed narrator who confounds every expectation of the media's villainous portrait. He's a perfect bundle of contradictions: an Orthodox Jew and upstanding family man with a staunch moral streak, caught in multiple scandals of bribery and corruption with an undercurrent of murder. Abramoff represented Indian tribes whose lucrative casinos were constantly under threat from proposed changes in law; though he charged the tribes many millions, he saved them billions by ensuring votes to support the livelihoods of their reservations. Much of Jack's share was funneled not into his own coffers, but to charities. Abramoff on the front pages could not be further from the Jack Abramoff who's ready to tell his honest and compelling story." - Publisher.

On NPR's Diane Rehm Show (Nov. 9, 2011):

Catherine the Great: Portrait of a Woman, by Robert K. Massie. Random House, 2011. Print Length: 656 p. Amazon customer rating: 5 stars (20 reviews). Kindle edition $17.99. 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.
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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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Books They're Talking About: Kindle Books in the Media

Media interviews are a popular way for writers to introduce new books they hope will catch the viewer's eye and generate interest in their work. Here's a selection of forthcoming Kindle books by authors scheduled for interviews on TV and radio programs. Books are arranged in chronological order by the date of the scheduled interview.

On CBS's 60 Minutes (Oct 16, 2011)

Van Gogh: The Life, by Steven Naifeh and Gregory White Smith. Random House, 2011. Print Length: 976 p. Amazon customer rating: 5 stars (1 review). Kindle edition $19.99. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.
"Working with the full cooperation of the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, Naifeh and Smith have accessed a wealth of previously untapped materials. While drawing liberally from the artist’s famously eloquent letters, they have also delved into hundreds of unpublished family correspondences, illuminating with poignancy the wanderings of Van Gogh’s troubled, restless soul. Though countless books have been written about Van Gogh, and though the broad outlines of his tragedy have long inhabited popular culture, no serious, ambitious examination of his life has been attempted in more than seventy years. Naifeh and Smith have re-created Van Gogh’s life with an astounding vividness and psychological acuity that bring a completely new and sympathetic understanding to this unique artistic genius whose signature images of sunflowers and starry nights have won a permanent place in the human imagination." - Publisher.

On NPR's All Things Considered (Oct 21, 2011):

Scenes from Village Life, by Amos Oz. Translated from the Hebrew by Nicholas de Lange. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2011. Print Length: 192 p. Amazon customer rating: 4 stars (14 reviews). Kindle edition $9.99. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.

"A portrait of a fictional village, by one of the world’s most admired writers. In the village of Tel Ilan, something is off kilter. An elderly man complains to his daughter that he hears the sound of digging under his house at night. Could it be his tenant, a young Arab? But then the tenant hears the mysterious digging sounds too. The mayor receives a note from his wife: 'Don’t worry about me.' He looks all over, no sign of her. The veneer of new wealth around the village - gourmet restaurants and art galleries, a winery - cannot conceal abandoned outbuildings, disused air raid shelters, rusting farm tools, and trucks left wherever they stopped. Amos Oz’s novel-in-stories is a brilliant, unsettling glimpse of what goes on beneath the surface of everyday life...a parable for Israel, and for all of us." - Publisher.

On NPR's Weekend Edition (Oct 22, 2011):

Midnight Rising: John Brown and the Raid That Sparked the Civil War, by Tony Horwitz. Henry Holt and Co., 2011. Print Length: 384 p. Amazon customer rating: 4 1/2 stars (20 reviews). Kindle edition $12.99. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.

"Plotted in secret, launched in the dark, John Brown's raid on Harpers Ferry was a pivotal moment in U.S. history. But few Americans know the true story of the men and women who launched a desperate strike at the slaveholding South. Now, Midnight Rising portrays Brown's uprising in vivid color, revealing a country on the brink of explosive conflict. Brown, the descendant of New England Puritans, saw slavery as a sin against America's founding principles. Unlike most abolitionists, he was willing to take up arms, and in 1859 he prepared for battle at a hideout in Maryland, joined by his teenage daughter, three of his sons, and a guerrilla band that included former slaves and a dashing spy. On October 17, the raiders seized Harpers Ferry, stunning the nation and prompting a counterattack led by Robert E. Lee." - Publisher.

On CBS's 60 Minutes (Oct 23, 2011):

Steve Jobs, by Walter Isaacson. Simon & Schuster, 2011. Print Length: 656 p. Amazon customer rating: 4 1/2 stars (14 reviews). Kindle edition $16.99. Text-to-Speech: Disabled.

"Based on more than forty interviews with Jobs conducted over two years - as well as interviews with more than a hundred family members, friends, adversaries, competitors, and colleagues - Walter Isaacson has written a riveting story of the roller-coaster life and searingly intense personality of a creative entrepreneur whose passion for perfection and ferocious drive revolutionized six industries: personal computers, animated movies, music, phones, tablet computing, and digital publishing. Although Jobs cooperated with this book, he asked for no control over what was written nor even the right to read it before it was published. He put nothing off-limits. He encouraged the people he knew to speak honestly. And Jobs speaks candidly, sometimes brutally so, about the people he worked with and competed against. His friends, foes, and colleagues provide an unvarnished view of the passions, perfectionism, obsessions, artistry, devilry, and compulsion for control that shaped his approach to business and the innovative products that resulted." - Publisher

On C-SPAN2's Book TV (Oct 23, 2011):

A Point in Time: The Search for Redemption in this Life and the Next, by David Horowitz. Regnery Publishing, 2011. Print Length: 256 p. Amazon customer rating: 4 stars (8 reviews). Kindle edition $9.18. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.

"New York Times bestselling author David Horowitz is famous for his conversion from 1960s radicalism. In A Point in Time, his lyrical yet startling new book, he offers meditations on an even deeper conversion, one which touches on the very essence of every human life. Part memoir and part philosophical reflection, A Point in Time focuses on man’s inevitable search for meaning - and how for those without religious belief, that search often leads to a faith in historical progress, one that is bound to disappoint. Horowitz remembers his father, a political radical who put his faith in just such a redemptive future. He examines this hope through the other great figure who organizes these reflections, the Russian novelist Fyodor Dostoevsky, whose writings foreshadowed the great tragedies of the social revolutions to come. Horowitz draws on eternal themes: the need we have to make sense out of the lives we have been given, our desire to repair the injustices we encounter, and the consequences of our mortality." - Publisher.

On C-SPAN2's Book TV (Oct 23, 2011):

Cartel: The Coming Invasion of Mexico's Drug Wars, by Sylvia Longmire. Palgrave Macmillan, 2011. Print Length: 256 p. Amazon customer rating: 4 1/2 stars (6 reviews). Kindle edition $12.99. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.

"Having followed Mexico's cartels for years, border security expert Sylvia Longmire takes us deep into the heart of their world to witness a dangerous underground that will do whatever it takes to deliver drugs to a willing audience of American consumers. The cartels have grown increasingly bold in recent years, building submarines to move up the coast of Central America and digging elaborate tunnels that both move drugs north and carry cash and U.S. high-powered assault weapons back to fuel the drug war. Channeling her long experience working on border issues, Longmire brings to life the very real threat of Mexican cartels operating not just along the southwest border, but deep inside every corner of the United States. She also offers real solutions to the critical problems facing Mexico and the United States... " - Publisher.

On NPR's The Diane Rehm Show (Oct 25, 2011):

Suicide of a Superpower: Will America Survive to 2025?, by Patrick J. Buchanan. Thomas Dunne Books, 2011. Print Length: 496 p. Amazon customer rating: 4 1/2 stars (16 reviews). Kindle edition $14.99. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.

"The author of six New York Times bestsellers traces the disintegration to three historic changes: America’s loss of her cradle faith, Christianity; the moral, social, and cultural collapse that have followed from that loss; and the slow death of the people who created and ruled the nation. America was born a Western Christian republic, writes Buchanan, but is being transformed into a multiracial, multicultural, multilingual, multiethnic stew of a nation that has no successful precedent in the history of the world. Where once we celebrated the unity, the melting pot and shared experience, that the Depression and World War gave us, our elites today proclaim, 'Our diversity is our greatest strength!' - even as racial, religious, and ethnic diversity are tearing nations to pieces. Less and less do we Americans have in common. More and more do we fight over religion, morality, politics, history, and heroes. And as our nation disintegrates, our government is failing in its fundamental duties, unable to defend our borders, balance our budgets, or win our wars. How Americans are killing the country they profess to love, and the fate that awaits us if we do not turn around, is what Suicide of a Superpower is all about." - Publisher.

On NPR's The Diane Rehm Show (Oct 27, 2011)

The Darwin Economy: Liberty, Competition, and the Common Good, by Robert Frank. Princeton University Press, 2011. Print Length: 256 p. Amazon customer rating: 4 1/2 stars (6 reviews). Kindle edition $14.23. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.

Who was the greater economist - Adam Smith or Charles Darwin? The question seems absurd. Darwin, after all, was a naturalist, not an economist. But Robert Frank, New York Times economics columnist and best-selling author of The Economic Naturalist, predicts that within the next century Darwin will unseat Smith as the intellectual founder of economics. The reason, Frank argues, is that Darwin's understanding of competition describes economic reality far more accurately than Smith's. Smith's theory of the invisible hand, which says that competition channels self-interest for the common good, is probably the most widely cited argument today in favor of unbridled competition- - and against regulation, taxation, and even government itself. But what if Smith's idea was almost an exception to the general rule of competition? That's what Frank argues, resting his case on Darwin's insight that individual and group interests often diverge sharply. Far from creating a perfect world, economic competition often leads to 'arms races,' encouraging behaviors that not only cause enormous harm to the group but also provide no lasting advantages for individuals, since any gains tend to be relative and mutually offsetting. The good news is that we have the ability to tame the Darwin economy..." - 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.

Books They're Talking About: Kindle Books in the Media

Media interviews are a popular way for writers to introduce new books they hope will catch the viewer's eye and generate interest in their work. Here's a selection of forthcoming Kindle books by authors scheduled for interviews on TV and radio programs. Books are arranged in chronological order by the date of the scheduled interview.

On NPR's Morning Edition (Oct 4, 2011):

Five Chiefs: A Supreme Court Memoir, by John Paul Stevens. Little, Brown and Company, 2011. Print Length: 304 p. Amazon customer rating: 5 stars (6 reviews). Kindle edition $11.99; Hardcover $15.06. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.
"When he resigned last June, Justice Stevens was the third longest serving Justice in American history. In Five Chiefs, Justice Stevens captures the inner workings of the Supreme Court via his personal experiences with the five Chief Justices - Fred Vinson, Earl Warren, Warren Burger, William Rehnquist, and John Roberts - that he interacted with. He reminisces of being a law clerk during Vinson's tenure; a practicing lawyer for Warren; a circuit judge and junior justice for Burger; a contemporary colleague of Rehnquist; and a colleague of current Chief Justice John Roberts. Along the way, he will discuss his views of some the most significant cases that have been decided by the Court from Vinson, who became Chief Justice in 1946 when Truman was President, to Roberts, who became Chief Justice in 2005." - Publisher.

On MSNBC's Martin Bashir Show (Oct 4, 2011)

It's So Easy And Other Lies, by Duff McKagan. Touchstone, 2011. Print Length: 384 p. Amazon customer rating: 5 stars (30 reviews). Kindle edition $12.99; Hardcover $15.14. Text-to-Speech: Disabled.

"In 1984, at the age of twenty, Duff McKagan left his native Seattle - partly to pursue music but mainly to get away from a host of heroin overdoses then decimating his closest group of friends in the local punk scene. In L.A. only a few weeks and still living in his car, he answered a want ad for a bass player placed by someone who identified himself only as 'Slash.' Soon after, the most dangerous band in the world was born. Guns N’ Roses went on to sell more than 100 million albums worldwide. In It's So Easy, Duff recounts GN’R’s unlikely trajectory to a string of multiplatinum albums, sold-out stadium concerts, and global acclaim. But that kind of glory can take its toll, and it did - ultimately - on Duff, as well as on the band itself. As GN’R began to splinter, Duff felt that he himself was done, too. But his near death as a direct result of alcoholism proved to be his watershed, the turning point that led to his unique path to sobriety and the unexpected choices he has made for himself since. Duff - one of rock’s smartest and most articulate personalities - takes readers on his harrowing journey through the dark heart of one of the most notorious bands in rock-and-roll history and out the other side." - Publisher.

On NPR's Fresh Air (Oct 5, 2011)

Terrorists in Love: The Real Lives of Islamic Radicals, by Ken Ballen. Foreword by Peter L. Bergen. Free Press, 2011. Print Length: 336 p. Amazon customer rating: 4 stars (5 reviews). Kindle edition $11.99; Hardcover $15.83. Text-to-Speech: Disabled.

"Imagine a world where a boy’s dreams dictate the behavior of warriors in battle; where a young couple’s only release from forbidden love is death; where religious extremism, blind hatred, and endemic corruption combine to form a lethal ideology that can hijack a man’s life forever. This is the world of Terrorists in Love. A former federal prosecutor and congressional investigator, Ken Ballen spent five years as a pollster and a researcher with rare access - via local government officials, journalists, and clerics - interviewing more than a hundred Islamic radicals, asking them searching questions about their inner lives, deepest faith, and what it was that ultimately drove them to jihad. Intimate and enlightening, Terrorists in Love opens a fresh window into the realm of violent extremism as Ballen profiles six of these men - from Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Saudi Arabia - revealing a universe of militancy so strange that it seems suffused with magical realism." - Publisher.

On NPR's All Things Considered (Oct 7, 2011)

Chango's Beads and Two-Tone Shoes, by William Kennedy. Viking, 2011. Print Length: 336 p. Amazon customer rating: 4 1/2 stars (2 reviews). Kindle edition $12.99; Hardcover $13.98. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.

"When journalist Daniel Quinn meets Ernest Hemingway at the Floridita bar in Havana, Cuba, in 1957, he has no idea that his own affinity for simple, declarative sentences will change his life radically overnight. So begins William Kennedy's latest novel - a tale of revolutionary intrigue, heroic journalism, crooked politicians, drug-running gangsters, Albany race riots, and the improbable rise of Fidel Castro. Quinn's epic journey carries him through the nightclubs and jungles of Cuba and into the newsrooms and racially charged streets of Albany on the day Robert Kennedy is fatally shot in 1968. The odyssey brings Quinn, and his exotic but unpredictable Cuban wife, Renata, a debutante revolutionary, face-to-face with the darkest facets of human nature and illuminates the power of love in the presence of death. Kennedy masterfully gathers together an unlikely cast of vivid characters in a breathtaking adventure full of music, mysticism, and murder-a homeless black alcoholic, a radical Catholic priest, a senile parent, a terminally ill jazz legend, the imperious mayor of Albany, Bing Crosby, Hemingway, Castro, and a ragtag ensemble of radicals, prostitutes, provocateurs, and underworld heavies..." - Publisher.

On ABC's Nightline (Oct 10, 2011) and on NPR's Fresh Air (Oct 11, 2011:

The Viral Storm: The Dawn of a New Pandemic Age, by Nathan Wolfe. Times Books, 2011. Print Length: 320 p. Amazon customer rating: none yet. Kindle edition $12.99; Hardcover $15.29. 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.

On NPR's Diane Rehm Show (Oct 11, 2011)

Ten Letters: The Stories Americans Tell Their President, by Eli Saslow. Doubleday, 2011. Print Length: 304 p. Amazon customer rating: none yet. To be released October 11, 2011. Kindle edition $12.99; Hardcover $15.92. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.

"Every day, President Obama reads ten representative letters among the thousands he receives from citizens across the land. The letters come from people of all ages, walks of life, and political points of view. Some are heart­breaking, some angry, some hopeful. Indeed, Obama reads as many letters addressed 'Dear Jackass' as 'Dear Mr. President.' Eli Saslow, a young and rising star at the Washington Post, became fascinated by the power of these letters and set out to find the stories behind them. Through the lens of ten letters to which Obama responded personally, this exceptionally relevant and poignant book explores those individual stories, taking an in-depth look at the misfortunes, needs, opinions, and, yes, anger over the current state of the country that inspired ten people to put pen to paper." - Publisher.

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Note to readers: The book prices quoted here are the Amazon.com prices in effect at the time of the blog posting. Please follow the links to the individual book to check the current price.


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

Books They're Talking About: Kindle Books in the Media

Media interviews are a popular way for writers to introduce new books they hope will catch the viewer's eye and generate interest in their work. Here's a selection of forthcoming Kindle books by authors scheduled for interviews on TV and radio programs. Books are arranged in chronological order by the date of the scheduled interview.

On NBC's Today Show (20 Sep 2011) and on Fox News' Mike Huckabee Show (24 Sep 2011):

Life Is Not a Stage: From Broadway Baby to a Lovely Lady and Beyond, by Florence Henderson. Center Street, 2011. Print Length: 288 p. Amazon customer rating: 4 stars (2 reviews). Kindle edition $12.99; Hardcover $15.13. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.
"For millions of people around the world, Carol Brady is synonymous with motherhood, but growing up as the youngest of ten children in rural Indiana in the aftermath of the Great Depression, Florence Henderson lived a life quite different from that of the quintessential TV mom she later played on television. Florence's father was a dirt-poor tobacco tenant farmer who was nearly fifty years old when he married Florence's twenty-five-year-old mother, and was nearly seventy when Florence was born. Florence's childhood was full of deprivation and abandonment. Her father was an alcoholic at a time when there was no rehab or help for the disease. Their home rarely had electricity or running water. When she was twelve, Florence's mother left the family to work in Cleveland and never returned. Florence opens up about her childhood, as well as the challenges she's faced as an adult... She writes with honesty and wisdom of how her faith and ability to survive has brought her through rough times to a life of profound joy and purpose." - Publisher.

On ABC's 20/20 (23 Sep 2011):

Love Times Three: Our True Story of a Polygamous Marriage, by Joe, Alina, Vicki and Valerie Darger, with Brooke Adams. HarperOne, 2011. Print Length: 304 p. Amazon customer rating: 4 stars (12 reviews). Kindle edition $12.99; Hardcover $17.63. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.

"He runs his own business and coaches Little League. She drives a minivan, and she’d be lost without her trusty BlackBerry. They go on date nights. Their kids attend public schools, play sports, and take music lessons. They live in a roomy house in the ’burbs. They’re about as mainstream as families come... They’re also polygamists. For decades, polygamous families have been forced to hide their lifestyle. Men risk prosecution and economic blacklisting, and women face social isolation and faulty assumptions about what it means to live as a sister wife. But Love Times Three, the first-ever memoir of a polygamous family, is a riveting inside look at a world most of us can hardly imagine, revealing the extraordinary workings of the Dargers’ day-to-day life.

On Comedy Central's Colbert Report (28 Sep 2011): and on the CBS Late Late Show (07 Oct 2011):

Drama: An Actor's Life, by John Lithgow. Harper, 2011. Print Length: 336 p. Amazon customer rating: 4 1/2 stars (34 reviews). Kindle edition $12.99; Hardcover $16.92. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.

"...Lithgow’s memoir is a tribute to his most important influence: his father, Arthur Lithgow, who, as an actor, director, producer, and great lover of Shakespeare, brought theater to John’s boyhood. From bedtime stories to Arthur’s illustrious productions, performance and storytelling were constant and cherished parts of family life. Before Lithgow gained fame with the film The World According to Garp and the television show 3rd Rock from the Sun, his early years were full of scenes both hilarious and bittersweet. A shrewd acting performance saved him from duty in Vietnam. His involvement with a Broadway costar brought an end to his early first marriage. The theater worlds of New York and London come alive as Lithgow relives his collaborations with renowned performers and directors, including Mike Nichols, Bob Fosse, Liv Ullmann, and Meryl Streep. His ruminations on the nature of theater, film acting, and storytelling cut to the heart of why actors are driven to perform, and why people are driven to watch them do it. Illuminating, funny, affecting, and thoroughly engrossing, Drama raises the curtain on the making of one of our most beloved actors." - Publisher.

On NPR's Diane Rehm Show (26 Sep 2011):

Keeping the Republic: Saving America by Trusting Americans, by Mitch Daniels. Sentinel, 2011. Print Length: 272 p. Amazon customer rating: 4 stars (5 reviews). Kindle edition $12.99; Hardcover $15.04. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.

"Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels has been called 'the most presidential man in America.' He has brought more change to his state in a few years than most see in decades. During his tenure, Daniels turned a $700 million deficit into a billion dollar surplus, balanced Indiana's budget even during the recession, converted its once unattractive business climate into one of the strongest for private sector job growth. Daniels has done this by focusing on government's core responsibilities, cutting taxes, empowering citizens, and performing what he calls an 'old tribal ritual' - spending less money than his state takes in, while distinguishing between skepticism towards big government and hostility towards all government. Unfortunately few politicians have the discipline or courage to follow his lead. And worse, many assume that Americans are too intimidated, gullible or dim-witted to make wise decisions about their health care, mortgages, the education of their kids, and other important issues. The result has been a steady decline in freedom, as elite government experts - 'our benevolent betters', in Daniels' phrase - try to regulate every aspect of our lives. But, the good news is that it's not too late to save America. However, real change can't be imposed from above. It has to be what he calls 'change that believes in you' -- a belief that Americans, properly informed of the facts, will pull together to make the necessary changes and that they are best- equipped to make the decisions governing their own lives." - Publisher.

On NPR's All Things Considered (25 Sep 2011):

Skyjack: The Hunt for D. B. Cooper, by Geoffrey Gray. Crown, 2011. Print Length: 320 p. Amazon customer rating: 3 1/2 stars (71 reviews). Kindle edition $12.99; Hardcover $16.44. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.

"I have a bomb here and I would like you to sit by me. That was the note handed to a stewardess by a mild-mannered passenger on a Northwest Orient flight in 1971. It was the start of one of the most astonishing whodunits in the history of American true crime: how one man extorted $200,000 from an airline, then parachuted into the wilds of the Pacific Northwest and into oblivion. D. B. Cooper’s case has become the stuff of legend and obsessed and cursed his pursuers with everything from bankruptcy to suicidal despair. Now with Skyjack, journalist Geoffrey Gray delves into this unsolved mystery uncovering new leads in the infamous case." - 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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Books They're Talking About: Kindle Books in the Media

Media interviews are a popular way for writers to introduce new books they hope will catch the viewer's eye and generate interest in their work. Here's a selection of forthcoming Kindle books by authors scheduled for interviews on TV and radio programs. Books are arranged in chronological order by the date of the scheduled interview.

On NBC's Today Show (06 Sep 2011) and on the Charlie Rose Show (07 Sep 2011)

That Used to Be Us: How America Fell Behind in the World It Invented and How We Can Come Back, by Thomas L. Friedman and Michael Mandelbaum. Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2011. Print Length: 400 p. Amazon customer rating: 3 1/2 stars (15 reviews). Kindle edition $12.99; Hardcover $15.23. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.
"America has a huge problem. It faces four major challenges, on which its future depends, and it is failing to meet them. In That Used to Be Us, Thomas L. Friedman, one of our most influential columnists, and Michael Mandelbaum, one of our leading foreign policy thinkers, analyze those challenges - globalization, the revolution in information technology, the nation’s chronic deficits, and its pattern of energy consumption - and spell out what we need to do now to rediscover America and rise to this moment. 'As we were writing this book,' Friedman and Mandelbaum explain, 'we found that when we shared the title with people, they would often nod ruefully and ask: But does it have a happy ending? Our answer is that we can write a happy ending, but it is up to the country - to all of us - to determine whether it is fiction or nonfiction. We need to study harder, save more, spend less, invest wisely, and get back to the formula that made us successful as a country in every previous historical turn.' " - Publisher.

On NBC's Today Show (07 Sep 2011):

Unmeasured Strength, by Lauren Manning. Henry Holt, 2011. Print Length: 272 p. Amazon customer rating: 4 1/2 stars (7 reviews). Kindle edition $11.99; Hardcover $15.00. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.

"She was a hardworking business woman, had a loving husband and an infant son, and a confidence born of intelligence and beauty. But on 9/11, good fortune was no match for catastrophe. When a wall of flame at the World Trade Center burned more than 80 percent of her body, Lauren Manning began a ten-year journey of survival and rebirth that tested her almost beyond human endurance. Long before that infamous September day, Manning learned the importance of perseverance, relentless hard work, and a deep faith in oneself. So when the horrific moment of her near-death arrived, she possessed the strength and resilience to insist that she would not yield - not to the terrorists, not to the long odds, not to the bottomless pain and exhaustion. But as the difficult months and years went by, she came to understand that she had to do more than survive..." - Publisher.

On ABC's 20/20 (11 Sep 2011):

Where You Left Me, by Jennifer Gardner Trulson. Gallery Books, 2011. Print Length: 256 p. Amazon customer rating: 4 1/2 stars (11 reviews). Kindle edition $11.99; Hardcover $16.50. Text-to-Speech: Disabled.

"Lucky - that’s how Jennifer would describe herself. She had a successful law career, met the love of her life in Doug, married him, had an apartment in New York City, a house in the Hamptons, two beautiful children, and was still madly in love after nearly seven years of marriage. Jennifer was living the kind of idyllic life that cliches are made of. Until Doug was killed in the attacks on the World Trade Center, and she became a widow at age thirty-five - a “9/11 widow,” no less, a member of a select group bound by sorrow, of which she wanted no part. Though completely devastated, Jennifer still considered herself blessed. Doug had loved her enough to last her a lifetime, and after his sudden death, she was done with the idea of romantic love - fully resigned to being a widowed single mother...until a chance encounter with a gregarious stranger changed everything..." - Publisher.

On MSNBC's Morning Joe (14 Sep 2011):

Top Secret America: The Rise of the New American Security State, by Dana Priest and William M. Arkin. Little, Brown and Company, 2011. Print Length: 320 p. Amazon customer rating: 4 stars (5 reviews). Kindle edition $14.99; Hardcover $15.62. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.

"The top-secret world that the government created in response to the 9/11 terrorist attacks has become so enormous, so unwieldy, and so secretive that no one knows how much money it costs, how many people it employs or exactly how many agencies duplicate work being done elsewhere. The result is that the system put in place to keep the United States safe may be putting us in greater danger. In Top Secret America, award-winning reporters Dana Priest and William Arkin uncover the enormous size, shape, mission, and consequences of this invisible universe of over 1,300 government facilities in every state in America; nearly 2,000 outside companies used as contractors; and more than 850,000 people granted 'Top Secret' security clearance." - Publisher.

On NPR's Diane Rehm Show (13 Sep 2011):

Tension City: Inside the Presidential Debates, from Kennedy-Nixon to Obama-McCain, by Jim Lehrer. Random House, 2011. Print Length: 224 p. Amazon customer rating: None yet. To be published September 13, 2011. Kindle edition $12.99; Hardcover $15.95. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.

"From the man widely hailed as 'the Dean of Moderators' comes a lively and revealing book that pulls back the curtain on more than forty years of televised political debate in America. A veteran newsman who has presided over eleven presidential and vice-presidential debates, Jim Lehrer gives readers a ringside seat for some of the epic political battles of our time, shedding light on all of the critical turning points and rhetorical faux pas that helped determine the outcome of America’s presidential elections - and with them the course of history. Drawing on his own experiences as 'the man in the middle seat,' in-depth interviews with the candidates and his fellow moderators, and transcripts of key exchanges, Lehrer isolates and illuminates what he calls the 'Major Moments' and 'killer questions' that defined the debates, from Kennedy-Nixon to Obama-McCain. Oftentimes these moments involve the candidates themselves and are seared into our collective political memory. Michael Dukakis stumbles badly over a question about the death penalty. Dan Quayle compares himself to John F. Kennedy once too often. Barack Obama and John McCain barely make eye contact over the course of a ninety-minute discussion. At other times, the debate moderators themselves become part of the story - and Lehrer is there to give us a backstage look at the drama." - 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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