Marley & Me: Life and Love with the World’s Worst Dog

By John Grogan

John and Jenny were young and in love, with a perfect little house and not a care in the world. Then they brought home Marley, a wiggly yellow furball of a puppy—and their life would never be the same. Marley quickly grew into a barreling, ninety-seven-pound steamroller of a Labrador retriever who crashed through screen doors, flung drool on guests, stole women’s undergarments, devoured couches and fine jewelry, and was expelled from obedience school. Yet Marley’s heart was pure, and he remained a steadfast model of love and devotion for a growing family through pregnancy, birth, heartbreak, and joy, right to the inevitable goodbye.

Review More

Diary of a Wimpy Kid

By Jeff Kinney

Boys don’t keep diaries—or do they?

The launch of an exciting and innovatively illustrated new series narrated by an unforgettable kid every family can relate to

It’s a new school year, and Greg Heffley finds himself thrust into middle school, where undersized weaklings share the hallways with kids who are taller, meaner, and already shaving. The hazards of growing up before you’re ready are uniquely revealed through words and drawings as Greg records them in his diary.

In book one of this debut series, Greg is happy to have Rowley, his sidekick, along for the ride. But when Rowley’s star starts to rise, Greg tries to use his best friend’s newfound popularity to his own advantage, kicking off a chain of events that will test their friendship in hilarious fashion.

Review More

Your Heart Belongs to Me

By Dean Koontz

From the #1 New York Times bestselling master of suspense comes a riveting thriller that probes the deepest terrors of the human psyche—and the ineffable mystery of what truly makes us who we are. Here a brilliant young man finds himself fighting for his very existence in a battle that starts with the most frightening words of all…

At thirty-four, Internet entrepreneur Ryan Perry seemed to have the world in his pocket—until the first troubling symptoms appeared out of nowhere. Within days, he’s diagnosed with incurable cardiomyopathy and finds himself on the waiting list for a heart transplant; it’s his only hope, and it’s dwindling fast. Ryan is about to lose it all…his health, his girlfriend Samantha, and his life.

One year later, Ryan has never felt better. Business is good and he hopes to renew his relationship with Samantha. Then the unmarked gifts begin to appear—a box of Valentine candy hearts, a heart pendant. Most disturbing of all, a graphic heart surgery video and the chilling message: Your heart belongs to me.

Review More

A Whole New Mind: Why Right-Brainers Will Rule the Future

By Daniel H. Pink

The future belongs to a different kind of person with a different kind of mind: artists, inventors, storytellers-creative and holistic “right-brain” thinkers whose abilities mark the fault line between who gets ahead and who doesn’t. Drawing on research from around the world, Pink outlines the six fundamentally human abilities that are absolute essentials for professional success and personal fulfillment-and reveals how to master them. A Whole New Mind takes readers to a daring new place, and a provocative and necessary new way of thinking about a future that’s already here.

I believe that you can expand your mind one book at a time and this is one that makes the complex simple, challenges you to think about business and life in a fresh new way and celebrates the future that is already here – “Welcome to the Real World”…Indeed Morpheus …indeed

Review More

Ender in Exile (Ender)

By Orson Scott Card

Set between Card’s Hugo and Nebula–winning Ender’s Game (1985) and Speaker for the Dead (1986), this philosophical novel covers familiar events, but puts new emphasis on their ethical ramifications. In the wake of his victory over the alien Formics, 12-year-old military genius Ender Wiggins is hailed as a hero, but governments opposed to the International Fleet, which trained him, intend to portray him as a monster. Ender winds up as titular governor of one of the new human colonies, where he struggles to adapt to civilian life and ponders his role in the deaths of thousands of humans and an entire alien species. His agonized musings aren’t always sophisticated but possess a certain gravitas. Fans will find this offering illuminating, and it’s also accessible to thoughtful readers new to the series. (Nov.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Orson Scott Card has explained that Ender in Exile, the direct sequel to Ender’s Game, occurs primarily between chapters 14 and 15 of the first book. Here in the sequel we get greater detail and insight into what was just covered cursorily about Ender’s life after the war in Ender’s Game.

It becomes clear that Ender cannot return to live on Earth, or else he will become the subject of a dangerous and violent political tug-of-war to see who can use the returned hero with greatest results. It is decided that he will be shipped, with his sister and others, to live on one of the former alien (formic) planets now being colonized by people from Earth. Much of the book is spent onboard the traveling starship, where we meet some of the new colonists, and watch as Ender tries to come to terms with his conduct during his training and the war. We also meet other people of import already living in the new colonies, and get updates on old familiars like Bean and Graff.

Review More

Panic: The Story of Modern Financial Insanity

From W.W. Norton & Co.

When it comes to markets, the first deadly sin is greed. Michael Lewis is our jungle guide through five of the most violent and costly upheavals in recent financial history: the crash of ‘87, the Russian default (and the subsequent collapse of Long-Term Capital Management), the Asian currency crisis of 1999, the Internet bubble, and the current sub-prime mortgage disaster. With his trademark humor and brilliant anecdotes, Lewis paints the mood and market factors leading up to each event, weaves contemporary accounts to show what people thought was happening at the time, and then, with the luxury of hindsight, analyzes what actually happened and what we should have learned from experience.

I have to admit, I read the Dave Barry segment first. In it I learned that there are three proven techniques guaranteed to lose you money in real estate: Buy an old house, buy a new house, or get a mortgage. After I finished laughing about OHDD (Old House Delusion Disease), I moved on.

This anthology has a simple idea: “to re-create the more recent financial panics, in an attempt to show how financial markets now operate.” Each of the four parts of the book has articles written during the heat of the crisis, and more penned afterwards about the causes and effects and repercussions of the event. Part I examines the stock market crash of 1987. Part II looks at the Asian currency crisis of 1999 which triggered the Russian government bond default that brought down the hedge fund Long-Term Capital Management. In Part III the Internet bubble bursts. Lastly, and most poignantly, Part IV delves into the current subprime mortgage debacle.

Review More

Burning Up: On Tour with the Jonas Brothers

By Kevin, Joe, And Nick Jonas

Burning Up: On Tour with the Jonas Brothers is your backstage pass to life with Kevin, Joe, and Nick Jonas. It includes never-before-seen photos of the Jonas Brothers’ Look Me in the Eyes tour and exclusive images taken during Hannah Montana & Miley Cyrus’s Best of Both Worlds tour. You’ll get a behind-the-scenes look at the band warming up, performing, and having fun backstage.

They are three truly amazing guys! I have actually been to one of there concerts! This book tells all about their lives and their family, with a ton of pictures! This is the best book that i have ever read! I think that every JB fan should buy this book! It really is an incredible book!

This is a gorgeous book, FULL of photos and inside scoops about the Jonas Brothers. It is a large hardbound book, like a coffee table book, and can be displayed with your Jonas Brothers collection of memorabilia.

Review More

Scarpetta (Kay Scarpetta)

By Patricia Cornwell

Leaving behind her private forensic pathology practice in Charleston, South Carolina, Kay Scarpetta accepts an assignment in New York City, where the NYPD has asked her to examine an injured man on Bellevue Hospital’s psychiatric prison ward. The handcuffed and chained patient, Oscar Bane, has specifically asked for her, and when she literally has her gloved hands on him, he begins to talk—and the story he has to tell turns out to be one of the most bizarre she has ever heard.

Patricia Cornwell’s most recent bestsellers include Book of the Dead, The Front, and Portrait of a Killer: Jack the Ripper—Case Closed. Her earlier works include Postmortem—the only novel to win the Edgar, Creasey, Anthony, and Macavity awards and the French Prix du Roman d’Aventure in a single year—and Cruel and Unusual, which won Britain’s prestigious Gold Dagger Award for the best crime novel of 1993. Dr. Kay Scarpetta herself won the 1999 Sherlock Award for the best detective created by an American author.

Review More

The 10 Big Lies About America: Combating Destructive Distortions About Our Nation

By Michael Medved

MICHAEL MEDVED is the host of one of the most popular talk-radio programs in the country, reaching more than four million loyal listeners. He is the bestselling author of ten other books, including Right Turns, Hollywood vs. America, and What Really Happened to the Class of ’65? A member of USA Today’s board of contributors, he also writes a weekly column for Townhall.com. For more than a decade he served as cohost of Sneak Previews, PBS’s weekly movie-review show. Medved graduated from Yale with departmental honors in American history and attended Yale Law School as well. He lives with his family in the Seattle area.

You helped us getting rid of fascism and communism (well, maybe you helped Franco to stay in power more than desired, but when he died, your Government was a good mediator in our transition period to democracy). And thanks to your protection, we didn’t have to spend that much in weapons to scare off the soviets, thus establishing our so much well-liked welfare society(sorry, not as good as many American lefties think it is). You have been a bargain to Europe. Thank you. I will buy this book as a vaccine against the lies I have to endure in Spain regarding USA and its noble people.

Review More

The Defining Moment: FDR’s Hundred Days and the Triumph of Hope

By Jonathan Alter

Jonathan Alter’s bestselling and critically acclaimed account of how FDR lifted the country from despair and paralysis and transformed the presidency for all time.

The most interesting book on FDR I’ve ever read. I learned a lot more about the state of our nation when FDR was elected and what FDR did to keep our republic on a more democratic path.

I’m sure our new President-elect and his staff are reading this book so they can learn how to make great things happen in Washington in only 100 days

Great introduction to FDR’s efforts at responding to the Great Depression upon his entrance into the presidency. Sometimes a bit too much psychoanalyzing, but there should be no doubt that FDR was the great president of the 20th century, not necessarily for finding a domestic economic cure for the Great Depression, but for helping millions of suffering people and giving them hope. His leadership of WWII would take care of the rest, but that’s for another book. Great description of FDR’s pre-presidential career and his political talents, and Alter gives appropriate credit to Louis Howe for much of FDR’s success.

Review More