New York Times Best Sellers list

The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt

2014-01-12T13:52:00.001-08:00

Bestselling Book of the Month: October 2013.

The Goldfinch is a masterpiece in the classic style of the Bildungsroman. The recounting of Theo Decker's unfolding awareness of the world, its complications, its criminality and injustice, the lack of stability in his life, his sense of being isolated and his ability to love are all affected by one significant event of terrorism in the modern world that skews his view of reality and effectively leaves him an orphan. What follows is a remarkably detailed account that covers every aspect of Theo's life in detail and the storytelling is never anything less than wonderful. It's almost Dickensian in scope and treatment, the book drawing obvious parallels with Great Expectations and even making references and nods to Oliver Twist, but in its own way it is also a thoroughly modern work.

Running to almost 800 pages, The Goldfinch is going to require a substantial investment of your time, but I think anyone would be prepared to give Donna Tartt's new novel that much. What you might not realise until it is too late however is the amount of personal investment a book like this demands. By the time you get to the even half-way through the extraordinary 14 year journey that has taken Theo Decker to Amsterdam, the dawning realisation that this has to eventually come to an end suddenly hits you. Drawing out the inevitable isn't possible either as there's not a moment of The Goldfinch that doesn't have you completely in its thrall, reluctant to put it down and feeling bereft at its conclusion.

About Author:
Donna Tartt was born in Greenwood, Mississippi and is a graduate of Bennington College. She is the author of the novels The Secret History and The Little Friend, which have been translated into thirty languages.

Doctor Sleep: A Novel by Stephen King

2013-10-10T04:08:00.001-07:00

HARDCOVER FICTION. Best Sellers - The New York Times. October, 2013

Doctor Sleep: A Novel by Stephen King

Stephen King returns to the character and territory of one of his most popular novels ever, The Shining, in this instantly riveting novel about the now middle-aged Dan Torrance and the very special twelve-year-old girl he must save from a tribe of murderous paranormals.

Doctor Sleep is on my list! I will read this book at least once a year. This book has everything, horror, heartbreak, friendship, fear, rage and revenge, and of course love. If you're a Stephen King fan you won't be disappointed. After reading this book I''m left wondering about Abra, maybe we will read her story someday. If you haven't read The Shining do that before you read this book. The movie was great, the books better.

The Guns at Last Light is The Liberation Trilogy, by Rick Atkinson

2013-05-30T11:32:00.000-07:00

Rick Atkinson is the bestselling author of An Army at Dawn (winner of the Pulitzer Prize for history), The Day of Battle, The Long Gray Line, In the Company of Soldiers, and Crusade. His many other awards include a Pulitzer Prize for journalism, the George Polk award, and the Pritzker Military Library Literature Award.

His The Guns at Last Light: The War in Western Europe, 1944-1945 is the twentieth century’s unrivaled epic: at a staggering price, the United States and its allies liberated Europe and vanquished Hitler. In the first two volumes of his bestselling Liberation Trilogy, Rick Atkinson recounted how the American-led coalition fought through North Africa and Italy to the threshold of victory. Now he tells the most dramatic story of all the titanic battle for Western Europe.

The brutal fight in Normandy, the liberation of Paris, the disaster that was Operation Market Garden, the horrific Battle of the Bulge, and finally the thrust to the heart of the Third Reich all these historic events and more come alive with a wealth of new material and a mesmerizing cast of characters. Atkinson tells the tale from the perspective of participants at every level, from presidents and generals to war-weary lieutenants and terrified teenage riflemen. When Germany at last surrenders, we understand anew both the devastating cost of this global conflagration and the enormous effort required to win the Allied victory.

Top 5 The New York Times Best Sellers

2013-05-30T11:18:00.001-07:00

Inferno, Dan Brown's latest book, maintained the top spot on the U.S. best-sellers list.
In this riveting new thriller, Brown returns to his element and has crafted his highest-stakes novel to date.

COMBINED PRINT & E-BOOK FICTION

INFERNO, by Dan Brown
THE HIT, by David Baldacci
EYES WIDE OPEN, by Raine Miller
12TH OF NEVER, by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro
DEAD EVER AFTER, by Charlaine Harris

COMBINED PRINT & E-BOOK NONFICTION

THE GUNS AT LAST LIGHT, by Rick Atkinson
HAPPY, HAPPY, HAPPY, by Phil Robertson with Mark Schlabach
LET'S EXPLORE DIABETES WITH OWLS, by David Sedaris
LEAN IN, by Sheryl Sandberg with Nell Scovell
PROOF OF HEAVEN, by Eben Alexander

HARDCOVER FICTION

INFERNO, by Dan Brown
DEAD EVER AFTER, by Charlaine Harris
SILKEN PREY, by John Sandford
12TH OF NEVER, by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro
THE HIT, by David Baldacci

HARDCOVER NONFICTION

THE GUNS AT LAST LIGHT, by Rick Atkinson
HAPPY, HAPPY, HAPPY, by Phil Robertson with Mark Schlabach
LEAN IN, by Sheryl Sandberg with Nell Scovell
LET'S EXPLORE DIABETES WITH OWLS, by David Sedaris
COOKED, by Michael Pollan

Calculated in Death. Release date: February 26, 2013

2013-03-14T09:20:00.005-07:00

JD Robb is the bestselling author of the In Death series. J.D. ROBB is the pseudonym for a number-one New York Times bestselling author of more than 200 novels.

Chapter One

A killer wind hurled bitter November air, toothy little knives to gnaw at the bones. She’d forgotten her gloves, but that was just as well as she’d have ruined yet another overpriced pair once she’d sealed up. For now, Lieutenant Eve Dallas stuck her frozen hands in the warm pockets of her coat and looked down at death.

The woman lay at the bottom of the short stairway leading down to what appeared to be a

lower level apartment. From the angle of the head, Eve didn’t need the medical examiner to

tell her the neck was broken.

Eve judged her as middle forties. Not wearing a coat, Eve mused, though the vicious wind wouldn’t trouble her now. Dressed for business — suit jacket, turtleneck, pants, good boots with low heels. Probably fashionable, but Eve would leave that call to her partner when Detective Peabody arrived on scene.

No jewelry, at least not visible. Not even a wrist unit. No handbag, no briefcase or file bag. No litter, no graffiti in the stairwell. Nothing but the body, slumped against the wall. At length she turned to the uniformed officer who’d responded to the 911. “What’s the story?”

“The call came in at two twelve. My partner and I were only two blocks away, hitting a twenty four/seven. We arrived at two fourteen. The owner of the unit, Bradley Whitestone, and an Alva Moonie were on the sidewalk. Whitestone stated they hadn’t entered the unit, which is being rehabbed and is unoccupied. They found the body when he brought Moonie to see the apartment.”

.....

I did read this book cover to cover without break, but I kept waiting for that moment in an Eve & Roarke book that I just did not get. This book is a basic murder plot, with lots of subtext for the next book. I am going to try not to give spoilers, I might allude to something but will not give details. If you are new to series, start at the beginning, for diehards you will want to read this, but there is nothing other than your own impatience that makes it MUST read today.

Top 5 Best Sellin Books in March, 2013

2013-03-14T09:07:00.002-07:00

COMBINED PRINT & E-BOOK FICTION

CALCULATED IN DEATH, by J. D. Robb
THE STORYTELLER, by Jodi Picoult
ALEX CROSS, RUN, by James Patterson
SAFE HAVEN, by Nicholas Sparks
GONE GIRL, by Gillian Flynn

COMBINED PRINT & E-BOOK NONFICTION

AMERICA THE BEAUTIFUL, by Ben C. Carson and Candy Carson
AMERICAN SNIPER, by Chris Kyle with Scott McEwen and Jim DeFelice
PROOF OF HEAVEN, by Eben Alexander
NO EASY DAY, by Mark Owen with Kevin Maurer
SALT SUGAR FAT, by Michael Moss

HARDCOVER FICTION

CALCULATED IN DEATH, by J. D. Robb
THE STORYTELLER, by Jodi Picoult
ALEX CROSS, RUN, by James Patterson
GONE GIRL, by Gillian Flynn
A WEEK IN WINTER, by Maeve Binchy

HARDCOVER NONFICTION

SALT SUGAR FAT, by Michael Moss
NO EASY DAY, by Mark Owen with Kevin Maurer
AMERICA THE BEAUTIFUL, by Ben C. Carson and Candy Carson
AMERICAN SNIPER, by Chris Kyle with Scott McEwen and Jim DeFelice
MY BELOVED WORLD, by Sonia Sotomayor

PAPERBACK TRADE FICTION

LIFE OF PI, by Yann Martel
FIFTY SHADES OF GREY, by E. L. James
FIFTY SHADES DARKER, by E. L. James
FIFTY SHADES FREED, by E. L. James
11TH HOUR, by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro

Paperback Mass-Market Fiction

THE INNOCENT, by David Baldacci
IMMORTAL EVER AFTER, by Lynsay Sands
DEFENDING JACOB, by William Landay
SAFE HAVEN, by Nicholas Sparks
YOU DON'T WANT TO KNOW, by Lisa Jackson

American Sniper: The Autobiography of the Most Lethal Sniper in U.S. Military History

2013-02-25T07:13:00.001-08:00

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER February, 2013.

Chris Kyle, Author of 'American Sniper

Paperback Price: $8.49

Kindle Price: $9.99

From the Back Cover

He is the deadliest American sniper ever, called “the devil” by the enemies he hunted and “the legend” by his Navy SEAL brothers . . .

From 1999 to 2009, U.S. Navy SEAL Chris Kyle recorded the most career sniper kills in United States military history. The Pentagon has officially confirmed more than 150 of Kyles kills (the previous American record was 109), but it has declined to verify the astonishing total number for this book. Iraqi insurgents feared Kyle so much they named him al-Shaitan ("the devil") and placed a bounty on his head. Kyle earned legendary status among his fellow SEALs, Marines, and U.S. Army soldiers, whom he protected with deadly accuracy from rooftops and stealth positions. Gripping and unforgettable, Kyle's masterful account of his extraordinary battlefield experiences ranks as one of the great war memoirs of all time.

A native Texan who learned to shoot on childhood hunting trips with his father, Kyle was a champion saddle-bronc rider prior to joining the Navy. After 9/11, he was thrust onto the front lines of the War on Terror, and soon found his calling as a world-class sniper who performed best under fire. He recorded a personal-record 2,100-yard kill shot outside Baghdad; in Fallujah, Kyle braved heavy fire to rescue a group of Marines trapped on a street; in Ramadi, he stared down insurgents with his pistol in close combat. Kyle talks honestly about the pain of war of twice being shot and experiencing the tragic deaths of two close friends.

American Sniper also honors Kyles fellow warriors, who raised hell on and off the battlefield. And in moving first-person accounts throughout, Kyles wife, Taya, speaks openly about the strains of war on their marriage and children, as well as on Chris.

Adrenaline-charged and deeply personal, American Sniper is a thrilling eyewitness account of war that only one man could tell.

Top 5 Best Sellin Books in February, 2013

2013-02-25T07:02:00.001-08:00

COMBINED PRINT & E-BOOK FICTION

SAFE HAVEN, by Nicholas Sparks
A WEEK IN WINTER, by Maeve Binchy
GUILT, by Jonathan Kellerman
GONE GIRL, by Gillian Flynn
WAIT FOR ME, by Elisabeth Naughton

COMBINED PRINT & E-BOOK NONFICTION

AMERICAN SNIPER, by Chris Kyle with Scott McEwen and Jim DeFelice
DRINKING AND TWEETING, by Brandi Glanville with Leslie Bruce
PROOF OF HEAVEN, by Eben Alexander
AMERICA THE BEAUTIFUL, by Ben C. Carson and Candy Carson
MY BELOVED WORLD, by Sonia Sotomayor

HARDCOVER FICTION

A WEEK IN WINTER, by Maeve Binchy
GONE GIRL, by Gillian Flynn
TENTH OF DECEMBER, by George Saunders
GUILT, by Jonathan Kellerman
A MEMORY OF LIGHT, by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson

HARDCOVER NONFICTION

AMERICAN SNIPER, by Chris Kyle with Scott McEwen and Jim DeFelice
MY BELOVED WORLD, by Sonia Sotomayor
COOLIDGE, by Amity Shlaes
THE FUTURE, by Al Gore
KILLING KENNEDY, by Bill O'Reilly and Martin Dugard

NY Times bestseller fiction-nonfiction 2012

2012-10-11T12:47:00.000-07:00

Lists of The New York Times Fiction Best Sellers, Top 5

COMBINED PRINT & E-BOOK NONFICTION

    NO EASY DAY, by Mark Owen with Kevin Maurer
    WAGING HEAVY PEACE, by Neil Young
    MUGGED, by Ann Coulter
    INTO THE FIRE, by Dakota Meyer and Bing West
    THE PRICE OF POLITICS, by Bob Woodward

HARDCOVER FICTION

    THE CASUAL VACANCY, by J. K. Rowling
    WINTER OF THE WORLD, by Ken Follett
    GONE GIRL, by Gillian Flynn
    A WANTED MAN, by Lee Child
    THE TIME KEEPER, by Mitch Albom

HARDCOVER NONFICTION

    NO EASY DAY, by Mark Owen with Kevin Maurer
    WAGING HEAVY PEACE, by Neil Young
    JOSEPH ANTON, by Salman Rushdie
    THE PRICE OF POLITICS, by Bob Woodward
    HOW CHILDREN SUCCEED, by Paul Tough

PAPERBACK TRADE FICTION

    FIFTY SHADES OF GREY, by E. L. James
    FIFTY SHADES DARKER, by E. L. James
    FIFTY SHADES FREED, by E. L. James
    BARED TO YOU, by Sylvia Day
    CLOUD ATLAS, by David Mitchell

J.K. Rowling's Casual Vacancy bumps Fifty Shades from top of bestseller list

2012-10-04T03:58:00.000-07:00

The Casual Vacancy is a novel written by British author J. K. Rowling. The book was published on 27 September 2012 by Little, Brown and Company.

As J.K.Rowling's new novel hits the bookstores, its pre-order sales have already reached the 2.5million mark.

J.K. Rowling likes to describe her new book as a comic tragedy, yet there are few laughs to pierce the blanket of gloom in this bleak and rather one-sided vision of life in modern England.

In "The Casual Vacancy," the fictional town of Pagford's daily life is shaken at the start of the book with the death of Barry Fairbrother, a local council member, coach of the local girls' rowing team and a supporter of local and civic responsibility on behalf of the residents of The Fields, the local housing project where Fairbrother grew up.

His death provides his enemies on the council, headed by local deli owner Howard Mollison, an opportunity to elect a friendly replacement whose arrival would break the council's voting deadlock, and allow them to push The Fields out of Pagford through careful redistricting. This, along with closing the local methadone clinic, would in their eyes help restore Pagford to an idyllic, middle-class, poverty-free existence.

BONES ARE FOREVER

2012-09-13T04:27:00.004-07:00

Bones Are Forever by Kathy Reichs, Kindle Edition

The is a very easy ,fast thriller, It kept my interest read in 3 days, Love the suspense and what the next move would be...

Kathy Reichs, #1 New York Times bestselling author and producer of the FOX televison hit Bones, is at her brilliant best in a riveting novel featuring forensic anthropologist Tempe Brennan—a story of infanticide, murder, and corruption, set in the high-stakes, high-danger world of diamond mining.

A woman calling herself Amy Roberts checks into a Montreal hospital complaining of uncontrolled bleeding. Doctors see evidence of a recent birth, but before they can act, Roberts disappears. Dispatched to the address she gave at the hospital, police discover bloody towels outside in a Dumpster. Fearing the worst, they call Temperance Brennan to investigate.

In a run-down apartment Tempe makes a ghastly discovery: the decomposing bodies of three infants. According to the landlord, a woman named Alma Rogers lives there. Then a man shows up looking for Alva Rodriguez. Are Amy Roberts, Alma Rogers, and Alva Rodriguez the same person? Did she kill her own babies? And where is she now?

Heading up the investigation is Tempe’s old flame, homicide detective Andrew Ryan. His counterpart from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police is sergeant Ollie Hasty, who happens to have a little history with Tempe himself, which she regrets. This unlikely trio follows the woman’s trail, first to Edmonton and then to Yellowknife, a remote diamond-mining city deep in the Northwest Territories. What they find in Yellowknife is more sinister than they ever could have imagined.

Gone Girl A Novel by Gillian Flynn

2012-07-20T07:41:00.001-07:00

Gone Girl A Novel by Gillian Flynn, PDF Download

Let me start out by saying that I do not generally read mystery books. I"m not a fan of gum shoe, who-dunits. But something about the description of this book pulled me in.

In fact, it's at the top of my list of best books of 2012 (behind The Fault in Our Stars). Gillian Flynn created a taut thriller, full of so many twists and turns, the reader could get whiplash. But I think what made it particularly engaging, for me, was the underlying study of a marriage. I've been married for over two decades, and a divorce attorney for almost 20 years. I've been in a position to be an observer the the marriage relationship.

I think Gillian Flynn understands marriage - very well. Though she's writing about people that, it turns out, are pretty darn unbalanced (an understatement), Flynn's exploration of the cat and mouse game of marriage rings very true. I've read the 1 star reviews for this book and almost universally, the one-star raters hated the ending. And I can see their point. But I think such readers are, perhaps, missing the author's point. I see her ending as a commentary on marriage.

About this author

Gillian Flynn is an American author and television critic for Entertainment Weekly. She has so far written two novels, Sharp Objects, for which she won the 2007 Ian Fleming Steel Dagger for the best thriller; and her second book, Dark Places.

I can say no more without giving away the ending. If you are the type of reader that wants her thriller or mystery read to conform to the genre norms, than this book may not be for you. The ending is clever and in my view, the most plausible way to end all that came before. Giving it a pat ending would have felt wrong after all that came before. I enjoy a story that offers substance and Flynn delivers. She goes deeper than just looking at marriage. Gillian Flynn also deftly weaves into her story an indictment of our modern, media-driven justice system - and our media-driven culture.

The book leaves the reader considering the question of persona. Where is the line between the real us - the real spouse - the real friend -- and the persona that people use when interacting publicly. All of us are, to some extent or another, in this age of social media, an "Amazing Amy." As a mystery, the book rocks. I usually figure it out right away. So I was happy that Flynn will keep me guessing up until the very end. And the end is haunting.

My only criticism of the book is that, at times, there were just too many words. Each of the characters could go on, and on. I started to wax over. Especially when I got into Part II of the book, there just seemed to be a lot that could have been cut. Unessential character blabbering. Once again (my worn out refrain these days), a really good editor could have helped Flynn make this story so much tighter.

Sigh, where have all the editors gone? Even if you, like me, are not a mystery reader, try this book. Gillian Flynn has earned a new fan.

CALICO JOE, by John Grisham, PDF

2012-06-25T13:44:00.003-07:00

CALICO JOE, by John Grisham, PDF Download

I'm not really a baseball fan but this book was a "homerun" for me! Anytime I can't put a book down, I know it's a good one!

A surprising and moving novel of fathers and sons, forgiveness and redemption, set in the world of Major League Baseball.

Calico Joe had every kid's baseball fantasy - lightening start in his big league debut, the lifting of a sad-sack team (the Cubs) to contender status, broken records, the adulatiojunen of his teammates and fans - and then he didn't. John Grisham has written a very good and captivating story - more than a baseball story, though America's game is the canvass upon which this tragedy is painted.

Warren Tracey was also a big leaguer - a pitcher - with the kind of stats that define most careers in the bigs: occasionally good, usually mediocre and sometimes awful. He was destined to never be remembered except by trivia hounds once his career reached its uncelebrated end - until his involvement in a baseball drama that ensured his name would be written in baseball lore, though not in any manner he would have desired.

Best Seller The New York Times, HARDCOVER FICTION, 25 June 2012

John Grisham

John Grisham born on February 8, 1955 in Jonesboro, Arkansas, to a construction worker and a homemaker, John Grisham as a child dreamed of being a professional baseball player. Realizing he didn’t have the right stuff for a pro career, he shifted gears and majored in accounting at Mississippi State University. After graduating from law school at Ole Miss in 1981, he went on to practice law for nearly a decade in Southaven, specializing in criminal defense and personal injury litigation. In 1983, he was elected to the state House of Representatives and served until 1990.

THE AMATEUR, by Edward Klein, PDF Download

2012-06-14T12:07:00.001-07:00

June 15, 2012. The New York Times® Bestsellers
STOLEN PREY, by John Sandford PDF Download. Follow the Download Link

I downloaded the book to my Kindle within hours of its release, and read it over a day and a half period, only pausing to sleep. Probably the two most enjoyable-to-read revelations are that 1. Bill Clinton urged Hillary to challenge Obama in 2012. 2. The Kennedy clan despise Obama, despite deceased Ted Kennedy's tireless support of the Community Organizer-in-Chief.

Think you know the real Barack Obama? You don’t not until you’ve read The Amateur

In this stunning exposé, bestselling author Edward Klein a contributing editor to Vanity Fair, former foreign editor of Newsweek, and former editor-in-chief of the New York Times Magazine pulls back the curtain on one of the most secretive White Houses in history. He reveals a callow, thin-skinned, arrogant president with messianic dreams of grandeur supported by a cast of true-believers, all of them united by leftist politics and an amateurish understanding of executive leadership.

In The Amateur you’ll discover:

Why the so-called “centrist” Obama is actually in revolt against the values of the society he was elected to lead
Why Bill Clinton loathes Barack Obama and tried to get Hillary to run against him in 2012
The spiteful rivalry between Michelle Obama and Oprah Winfrey
How Obama split the Kennedy family
How Obama has taken more of a personal role in making foreign policy than any president since Richard Nixon with disastrous results
How Michelle Obama and Valerie Jarrett are the real powers behind the White House throne

The Amateur is a reporter’s book, buttressed by nearly 200 interviews, many of them with the insiders who know Obama best. The result is the most important political book of the year. You will never look at Barack Obama the same way again.

weekly economic calendar

STOLEN PREY, by John Sandford, PDF download

2012-06-04T07:56:00.000-07:00

June 10, 2012. The New York Times® Bestsellers
STOLEN PREY, by John Sandford PDF Download. Follow the Download Link

There hasn't been that much that Lucas Davenport has not witnessed in horrifying murder scenes, but this one seems to be the icing on the cake, one of the worst and hopefully, the last with haunting memories. An entire family in a small town has been killed. What kind of evil mind would murder a husband, a wife, two daughters, and their dogs?

What was the motive for these brutal murders, and where does Lucas begin his investigation? Was this a Mexican gang hit, and was any of the family members involved? What do the Mexican Feds find, does Lucas break the rules, and will the pieces to the puzzle fit? What information were the killers looking for, and did they get it? Was a software company involved, and were the killers drug dealers?

I highly recommend "STOLEN PREY" to all thriller lovers. John Sandford is a Master storyteller, who delivers an incredible chilling murder-mystery, made for the movie screen. The plot is packed with explosive action as the unique characters come to life in a suspenseful, nail-biting thriller that has you craving for more! Lucas Davenport has seen many terrible murder scenes.

This is one of the worst. In the small Minnesota town of Deephaven, an entire family has been killed—husband, wife, two daughters, dogs. There’s something about the scene that pokes at Lucas’s cop instincts—it looks an awful lot like the kind of scorched-earth retribution he’s seen in drug killings sometimes. But this is a seriously upscale town, and the husband was an executive vice president at a big bank.

It just doesn’t seem to fit. Until it does. And where it leads Lucas will take him into the darkest nightmare of his life.

Biography of John Sandford
John Sandford was born John Camp on February 23, 1944, in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. He attended the public schools in Cedar Rapids, graduating from Washington High School in 1962. He then spent four years at the University of Iowa, graduating with a bachelor's degree in American Studies in 1966.

In 1966, he married Susan Lee Jones of Cedar Rapids, a fellow student at the University of Iowa. He was in the U.S. Army from 1966-68, worked as a reporter for the Cape Girardeau Southeast Missourian from 1968-1970, and went back to the University of Iowa from 1970-1971, where he received a master's degree in journalism. He was a reporter for The Miami Herald from 1971-78, and then a reporter for the St. Paul Pioneer-Press from 1978-1990; in 1980, he was a finalist for a Pulitzer Prize, and he won the Pulitzer in 1986 for a series of stories about a midwestern farm crisis. From 1990 to the present he has written thriller novels.

He's also the author of two non-fiction books, one on plastic surgery and one on art. He is the principal financial backer of a major archaeological project in the Jordan Valley of Israel, with a website at www.rehov.org. In addition to archaeology, he is deeply interested in art (painting) and photography. He both hunts and fishes. He has two children, Roswell and Emily, and one grandson, Benjamin. His wife, Susan, died of metastasized breast cancer in May, 2007, and is greatly missed.

THE PASSAGE OF POWER, by Robert A. Caro. PDF download

2012-05-24T11:48:00.001-07:00

THE PASSAGE OF POWER PDF Download. Follow the Download Link

Caro's series on Johnson is the best biography I've ever read because Caro knows his man, captures him in all his complexity, and uses his subject to explore the larger issue of how political power is wielded in the U.S.

Some critics have claimed that Caro oscillates between portraying the "good" Johnson and the "bad" Johnson -- and that in the current volume the "good" Johnson takes over. This is not a fair reading of the book. Caro is simply willing to give Johnson his due when he uses power for worthy causes. Johnson's self control and consolidation of power after the Kennedy assassination and his skill in passing Kennedy's tax cut and civil rights act -- which Kennedy probably would not have been able to pass -- are admirable. Johnson's motivation is explained in part by self interest -- the man loves power, and doing great things makes one even more powerful. The whole idea of separation of powers and checks and balances is to let ambitious men make their mark without consolidating too much power. The public can benefit from such ambitious leaders. Part of Johnson's motives were personal and moral -- he identified with the dispossessed given his upbringing and history. These very different kinds of motivations can and do coexist in the same individual.

Thirty years have passed sine the publication of The Path to Power, the first of what Robert Caro had envisioned would be a three-volume biography of America's 36th president. This, his fourth volume, ends in the first months of Johnson's presidency, and Caro's assertion that this is the penultimate volume is a little hard to swallow given the thoroughness he has covered his subject's life even before reaching his time in the White House (with a third of this book's 700+ pages chronicling just the first four months as president). Yet Caro has sacrificed brevity for a detailed portrait of irony in his depiction of a master of political power who suddenly found himself deprived of it.

Caro begins with Johnson at the height of his success in the Senate. Still only in his second term, he had taken the weak position of Senate Majority Leader and turned it into the second most powerful office in national politics, thanks largely to his enormous personal and legislative abilities. But Johnson had his eye on an even larger prize: the presidency itself, an office he had aspired to for decades and which in 1960 seemed to many to be his for the taking. Yet Johnson hesitated to commit himself to the race, fearing the humiliation of a defeat. This created an opening that John F. Kennedy eagerly exploited. With his brother Robert collecting commitments in the west - a region critical to Johnson's chances - Kennedy outmaneuvered the Texas senator and won the nomination, demonstrating just how completely Johnson had misjudged his opponent.

11TH HOUR, by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro PDF Download

2012-05-19T23:53:00.001-07:00

James Patterson and Maxine Paetro 11TH HOUR PDF Download. Follow the Download Link

If you love the Women's Murder Club you will love this book. Two great story lines woven in with Lindsay and Joes' marriage, Yuki, Cindy and Claire and of course Marino.

THE 11th HOUR by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro may be the best Women's Murder Club novel to date. The four long-time friends --- Lindsay Boxer, a San Francisco homicide investigator; Dr. Claire Washburn, an SFPD medical examiner; Cindy Thomas, a newspaper reporter; and prosecuting attorney Yuki Castellano bring their different, overlapping and occasionally conflicting disciplines together to solve crimes. The result is part police procedural, part detective, part murder mystery, and yes, part romance.

So what makes THE 11th HOUR my favorite in the series? It would have to be the mystery elements. The book begins with a cold-blooded killing at a school during a music recital. The killer, known as Revenge, has been targeting drug dealers throughout San Francisco, seemingly killing with impunity. Boxer, who with husband Joe Molinari is pregnant with their first child, is experiencing the ups and downs of pre-natal motherhood when she is assigned to the case. The Revenge killings are barely on Boxer's radar before she and partner Rich Conklin answer a 911 call. A horrifying tableau awaits them: two heads have been arranged in the garden of a house belonging to one of San Francisco's most famous residents.

Boxer's boss wants her working full time on the Revenge murders for two very important reasons: he suspects that the murderer is a cop, and Revenge's latest victim is a cop, too, working undercover in the drug trade. But Boxer doesn't want to let go of the head case. And when more heads turn up in the garden, a forensic investigation courtesy of Dr. Washburn indicates that the decapitation and burial have been occurring for quite a while.

Thus Boxer has two very different and very separate cases, both of which are totally unrelated. She acquires quite a list of suspects in the Revenge murders, and one of the names on the list is her former partner's. As far as the buried head case is concerned, Boxer and Conklin use good old-fashioned police work, including knocking on and down doors literally to get the answers they need. By the time the book ends, they've found a very insane murderer, and one who, when all things are considered, is quite sympathetic.

None of this sounds very romantic, does it? If you're looking for romance, THE 11th HOUR has that as well. Castellano is dating Boxer's boss, and Thomas is seeing Boxer's partner. And Boxer's husband? Well, let's just say that he gets in the biggest trouble that a husband can get into. Oh, and another thing: You never know with a Women's Murder Club book if everyone is going to make it to the end intact. People get hurt in this one, though it's nothing to lose your head over.

Deadlocked by Charlaine Harris PDF Download

2012-05-14T13:01:00.000-07:00

Charlaine Harris Deadlocked PDF Download. Follow the Download Link Below

Prepare to say a fond farewell to Sookie Stackhouse, because "Deadlocked" is the penultimate volume of the Southern Vampire series.

But even if there's only one more book, the twelfth book about the telepathic waitress and her vampire and/or were connections is a pretty solid one. It's a rather sad book in places, since Sookie's relationship to Eric seems to be cracking into pieces, but it has that lovable balance of unpretentious Southernness mixed with vampire/were stuff.

A conference between Felipe and Eric goes horribly awry when a young woman (whom Eric had taken blood from) is found dead outside Eric's home. Unsurprisingly, Sookie and Eric are both suspects, and Sookie suspects that Eric is keeping something from her. Even odder, her death is linked to the fae -- and Sookie is sure that she was hired to lure Eric.

As she juggles family matters, a nosy were, a birth and a forthcoming wedding, Sookie also starts investigating the girl's death. She also has some other problems to deal with, like a stranger's interest in the cluviel dor and the arrival of a vampire queen who wants Eric. But unraveling these conspiracies will reveal some of the nastiest betrayals Sookie has ever encountered.

As always, Charlaine Harris' writing is like slipping into a soft, well-worn sweater that smells vaguely of magnolia trees. There's just something very pleasant and homey about her prose, and this novel is somewhat smoother than the last few book -- the narrative can switch fluidly from descriptions of the fairy world to "House Hunters International." Trippy.

However, "Deadlocked" has a sharply bittersweet flavor as well, with Sookie finding out the hard way that lots of people can leave you heartbroken (not just lovers!). A few parts of the book are depressing, particularly since Sookie's relationship with Eric is clearly crumbling -- she even admits that while the sex is great (not that we see any), they're not doing so well emotionally.

It also has the feeling of a transition book -- lots of people are getting engaged and producing babies, and a few actually leave. Harris seems to be wrapping up various ongoing subplots, including a massive one close to Sookie's own heart.

So unsurprisingly this is a wrenching novel for Sookie. She's still a tough, confident woman, but she also has to grapple with the semi-conscious knowledge that her romance with Eric is under attack, and that people may be trying to get to the cluviel dor. Eric is strangely distant in this story even when he appears; Sam seems to have taken a more central role. I call romance!

"Deadlocked" is a solid penultimate chapter to the Southern Vampire series -- and while the mood is sadder than in the last few books, Charlaine Harris injects plenty of charm into her story.

Fifty Shades Trilogy by E L James

2012-04-29T10:15:00.000-07:00

Fifty Shades of Grey: Book One of the Fifty Shades Trilogy

New York Times Best Seller , April, 2012

The Fifty Shades of Grey book is a powerful, moving book that will have you wanting more. I was shocked at first with all the adult content in the book, seemed like the first encounter between the 2 of them I needed to smoke a cigarette for them and then as the book continued I felt like a 6 pk of beer would be better.

Through out the book I was amazed and at awe with the relationship between Ana and Christian. I was astonished at the end of the first book

The writing will astound you and make you want more, not more in the way of their sexual relationship, but their personal relationship with each other. I believe that the writing is just amazing, it leaves you wanting more, but also makes you longing for a happy ending.

I would recommend this book to a person who can look past the sex and into the real heart of this book.

E L James is a former TV executive, wife and mother of two based in West London. Since early childhood she dreamed of writing stories that readers would fall in love with, but put those dreams on hold to focus on her family and her career. She finally plucked up the courage to put pen to paper with her first novel, Fifty Shades of Grey.

Mary Higgins Clark newest book The Lost Years

2012-04-13T11:53:00.000-07:00

In The Lost Years, Mary Higgins Clark, America’s Queen of Suspense, has written her most astonishing novel to date. At its center is a discovery that, if authenticated, may be the most revered document in human history “the holiest of the holy” and certainly the most coveted and valuable object in the world.

As usual, Mary Higgins Clark delivers! I couldn't put this book down. The main character is grieving the loss of her father while trying to save her mother from prosecution. I'm always pleased with Clark's character development and the strong females she creates. The plot was well developed and kept the reader guessing. My only regret reading this book is now that I'm finished I'll have to wait another year to read her next book!

Once again Mary Higgins Clark affirms why she is the "Queen of Suspense" with this exciting biblical archeological thriller. The evidence points increasingly towards her mom as the murderer, but with help from friends Wiley and Alvirah, the dispirited heroine starts to find other viable suspects as she seeks someone filled with pride and avarice; but even then Mariah still lacks proof. Ms. Clark has another winner for her readers to enjoy getting us there with this entertaining taut tale in which the suspense spins from family violence to biblical archeological violence.

www.maryhigginsclark.com

Jonah Lehrer's Imagine: How Creativity Works

2012-04-11T06:17:00.001-07:00

Imagine: How Creativity Works book description: http://www.jonahlehrer.com/

Did you know that the most creative companies have centralized bathrooms? That brainstorming meetings are a terrible idea? That the color blue can help you double your creative output? From the New York Times best-selling author of How We Decide comes a sparkling and revelatory look at the new science of creativity.

Shattering the myth of muses, higher powers, even creative “types,” Jonah Lehrer demonstrates that creativity is not a single gift possessed by the lucky few. It’s a variety of distinct thought processes that we can all learn to use more effectively. Lehrer reveals the importance of embracing the rut, thinking like a child, daydreaming productively, and adopting an outsider’s perspective (travel helps). He unveils the optimal mix of old and new partners in any creative collaboration, and explains why criticism is essential to the process. Then he zooms out to show how we can make our neighborhoods more vibrant, our companies more productive, and our schools more effective.

You’ll learn about Bob Dylan’s writing habits and the drug addictions of poets. You’ll meet a Manhattan bartender who thinks like a chemist, and an autistic surfer who invented an entirely new surfing move. You’ll see why Elizabethan England experienced a creative explosion, and how Pixar’s office space is designed to spark the next big leap in animation. Collapsing the layers separating the neuron from the finished symphony, Imagine reveals the deep inventiveness of the human mind, and its essential role in our increasingly complex world.

The Imagine: How Creativity Works book is an excellent treatise on creativity and the brain. It is filled with fascinating anecdotes, just enough neuroscience to keep it interesting for the layperson, and enough everyday application to make it worth your time. I am the first to admit that I have a weakness for applied psychology books that are heavy on stories, but this is one of the best. What separates this book from other books on creativity is the carefully examined science behind the creative magic. There are other books that focus on creativity and you can learn more techniques from them, but if you want to learn why they really work then this book is a great place to start. The author is a great writer (he could put most modern fiction writers to shame), but the real value is the story and the science behind the imagination.

From Wikipedia
Jonah Lehrer is a Contributing Editor at Wired and the author of How We Decide and Proust Was a Neuroscientist. He graduated from Columbia University and studied at Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar. He's written for The New Yorker, Nature, Seed, The Washington Post and The Boston Globe. He's also a Contributing Editor at Scientific American Mind and National Public Radio's Radio Lab.

This biography was provided by the author or their representative.

Stay Close by Harlan Coben Reviews

2012-04-02T04:18:00.000-07:00

Book review

I've pretty much read most of Harlan Coben's thrillers and I have to rank this one as just average.

It didn't seem to pull me in as quick as some of his previous novels and it also seemed to be not so original, but once I got settled in I was quite entertained. I liked the characters as well as the plotting and think most Harlan Coben fans will still enjoy the story.

Harlan Coben follows four consecutive #1 New York Times bestsellers with a stand-alone thriller in the vein of his beloved breakout novels Caught and Hold Tight.

Megan is a suburban soccer mom who once upon a time walked on the wild side. Now she's got two kids, a perfect husband, a picket fence, and a growing sense of dissatisfaction. Ray used to be a talented documentary photographer, but at age forty he finds himself in a dead- end job posing as a paparazzo pandering to celebrity-obsessed rich kids. Jack is a detective who can't let go of a cold case-a local husband and father disappeared seventeen years ago, and Jack spends the anniversary every year visiting a house frozen in time, the missing man's family still waiting, his slippers left by the recliner as if he might show up any moment to step into them.

Three people living lives they never wanted, hiding secrets that even those closest to them would never suspect, will find that the past doesn't recede. Even as the terrible consequences of long-ago events crash together in the present and threaten to ruin lives, they will come to the startling realization that they may not want to forget the past at all. And as each confronts the dark side of the American Dream- the boredom of a nice suburban life, the excitement of temptation, the desperation and hunger that can lurk behind even the prettiest facades- they will discover the hard truth that the line between one kind of life and another can be as whisper-thin as a heartbeat.

With his trademark combination of page-turning thrills and unrivaled insight into the dark shadows that creep into even the happiest communities, Harlan Coben delivers a thriller that cements his status as the master of domestic suspense.

David Baldacci New York Times best sellers

2012-03-25T04:37:00.001-07:00

David Baldacci was born in Richmond in 1960. He received his Bachelor’s degree in political science from Virginia Commonwealth University and his law degree from the University of Virginia School of Law, after which he practiced law for nine years in Washington, D.C.

Zero Day by David Balacci

John Puller is a combat veteran and the best military investigator in the U.S. Army’s Criminal Investigative Division. His father was an Army fighting legend, and his brother is serving a life sentence for treason in a federal military prison. Puller has an indomitable spirit and an unstoppable drive to find the truth.
Now, Puller is called out on a case in a remote, rural area in West Virginia coal country far from any military outpost. Someone has stumbled onto a brutal crime scene, a family slaughtered. The local homicide detective, a headstrong woman with personal demons of her own, joins forces with Puller in the investigation. As Puller digs through deception after deception, he realizes that absolutely nothing he’s seen in this small town, and no one in it, are what they seem. Facing a potential conspiracy that reaches far beyond the hills of West Virginia, he is one man on the hunt for justice against an overwhelming force.

David has published 23 adult novels, all of which have been national and international bestsellers.
These books have been translated into more than 45 languages and sold in more than 80 countries.

Absolute Power

Total Control,

The Winner,

The Simple Truth,

Saving Faith,

Wish You Well,

Last Man Standing,

The Christmas Train,

Split Second,

Hour Game,

The Camel Club,

The Collectors

Simple Genius

Stone Cold

The Whole Truth

Divine Justice

First Family

True Blue

Deliver Us From Evil

Hell’s Corner

The Sixth Man

One Summer

Zero Day.

David has also published two young adult novels:
Freddy and the French Fries: Fries Alive! and
Freddy and the French Fries: The Adventures of Silas Finklebean.

In addition, David Baldacci is a contributing editor for Parade magazine.

HARDCOVER FICTION books. LONE WOLF, by Jodi Picoult

2012-03-16T08:05:00.000-07:00

HARDCOVER FICTION

LONE WOLF, by Jodi Picoult

($28.) The children of a man who studies wolves must make difficult decisions when he is seriously injured in an accident.
Luke Warren has spent his life researching wolves. He has written about them, studied their habits intensively, and even lived with them for extended periods of time. In many ways, Luke understands wolf dynamics better than those of his own family. His wife, Georgie, has left him, finally giving up on their lonely marriage. His son, Edward, twenty-four, fled six years ago, leaving behind a shattered relationship with his father. Edward understands that some things cannot be fixed, though memories of his domineering father still inflict pain. Then comes a frantic phone call: Luke has been gravely injured in a car accident with Edward’s younger sister, Cara.

Suddenly everything changes: Edward must return home to face the father he walked out on at age eighteen. He and Cara have to decide their father’s fate together. Though there’s no easy answer, questions abound: What secrets have Edward and his sister kept from each other? What hidden motives inform their need to let their father die . . . or to try to keep him alive? What would Luke himself want? How can any family member make such a decision in the face of guilt, pain, or both? And most importantly, to what extent have they all forgotten what a wolf never forgets: that each member of a pack needs the others, and that sometimes survival means sacrifice?

Another tour de force by Picoult, Lone Wolf brilliantly describes the nature of a family: the love, protection, and strength it can offer—and the price we might have to pay for those gifts. What happens when the hope that should sustain a family is the very thing tearing it apart?

VICTIMS, by Jonathan Kellerman
KILL SHOT, by Vince Flynn
CELEBRITY IN DEATH, by J. D. Robb
PRIVATE GAMES, by James Patterson and Mark Sullivan

Complete Books List »

An easy-to-read dog magazine articles

Best Sellers STEVE JOBS, by Walter Isaacson

2012-02-12T09:15:00.000-08:00

STEVE JOBS, by Walter Isaacson.
A biography of the recently deceased entrepreneur, based on 40 interviews with Steve 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.