Friday, July 25, 2008

Undone~Brooke Taylor (Book Trailer)

This book (Undone by Brooke Taylor) is finally, finally out...I have been waiting for it to come out for so long and then somehow I missed it's actually coming out...I was so excited when I saw my Amazon wishlist button had changed from 'pre-order' to actual 'order' that I thought about trying to go to Barnes and Noble last night when there was a car opportunity even though it was going to be after ten....(it ended up being after midnight so it didn't matter, but...still!)

Really though, at least think about getting the book?

Monday, July 21, 2008

I Was a Teenage Popsicle ~ Bev Katz Rosenbaum

I Was a Teenage Popsicle
Berkley Trade
(October 3, 2006)
256 Pages
$9.99
(paperback)
You know, they better be joking about that '256 pages' part (I'm going to have to go check) because if not, then this is the third book in a row I've read/reviewed that's 256 pages...

Popsicle takes on the idea of someone--teenage Floe Ryan--contracting an illness and the next thing she knows, it's tens years later and she finds out she's been frozen. Or vitrified, actually.

You'd be amazed how much can change in ten years. Like, your little sister can become your older sister and--because your parents also got the same disease and were also frozen and still are--said sister is now your guardian.

Such is Floe's life. Sounds interesting and just enough problematic that it'd make for a great novel, right? Throw in Star Trek-y jumpsuits and it sounds even better. Problem is, time travel books almost have to be perfect because there are so many opportunities for plot holes.

I understand that ten years was probable chosen because it was enough that things could understandably have changed drastically but Sunny, Floe's sister, and Floe's friends would only be twenty six, but enough things were supposed to be different for the kids she was going to school with that 10 years didn't make sense, really. (Even if they were tenth/eleventh graders, they would have been in school for eleven or twelve years which means they would have had at least a year or two of school 'the old way.')

Another thing (about the crazy names now) could have just been not written well and actually meant the babies but then there were some high school kids with odd names and they would be sixteen or seventeen...

Floe's sister and brother-in-law, were very inconsistent characters, too. one or both of them would be one way and then be another way (with or without a transition), the scene would end and the new chapter would start and the change would be reversed just because. A few of the other secondary characters were like that as well, but to a lesser extent. It wasn't even like a roller coaster--unless in the future roller coasters involve teleporting (more sudden).

All of that said, the author did come up with some interesting ideas for the future, so if you want to read this book for that, then it's fun but the problem is that it tries to focus on the relationships and stopping the Cryonics Center from being shut down and I don't feel there's enough strength behind that.

This could have been a great book, looking at the ethics of the Cryonics Center and 'freezing' people or Floe and Taz (the other person thawed with her and her 'love interest') transitioning into life again--which it tried to do--but I felt like this book just scratched the surface.

The Amazon reviews are really good though so perhaps I'm being too picky with the book and others will enjoy it. I give it 6/10, though.

The sequel is: Beyond Cool


Photobucket

Asleep ~ The Smiths
Bubble Pop Electric ~ Gwen Stefani
Ice Ice Baby ~ Vanilla Ice

Friday, July 18, 2008

Principles of Love ~ Emily Franklin

Principles of Love
NAL Trade
(July 5, 2005)
256 pages
$9.99
(paperback)
Amazon



I loved this book--so much so that I've ordered the second and third ones already (used though because the second one isn't 'new' anywhere oddly). Principles of Love the first in a currently (and maybe permanently, I have no idea at all) seven part series, is the story of Love Bukowski, the sixteen-year-old daughter of a principal who has just taken a job at Hadley Hall. Hadley is a boarding and day school 'just outside of Boston'.


Love lives only with her dad (the fate of her mother is a mystery), but there's also groovy, music loving, coffee shop owning Aunt Mable, and of course, leaves so many plot possibilities on both fronts. I know one author (maybe Holly Black??) has said that they write single parent stories because it's all they can handle (but it was said smarter), but I think that in really does work for some books. This story was so focused on Love and her life that, while her aunt was a big character, having one 'parental' character worked better than I think two would have because the relationship was closer and could be focused on more. It also kept the focus between Love and her dad as they both started the new school as opposed to her dad and his wife or Love and her mother. It offered nice parallels.


This book also didn't do the 'Two Guys are Madly in Love with MC How Will She Choose?' thing that so, so many teen books and movies seem to do. That didn't mean there was only one male character, but things were more confusing for Love, less obvious who was who. I really liked that.


The few things I didn't like were the fact that one character (I won't say which because it doesn't really happen until later on) ended up being a fairly stereotypical one that while almost fitting with past doings, didn't quite--and I didn't like the amount of drinking there was. That might be because I'd just read Jet Set that was in a similar setting and had drinking but less of it?

When fifteen/sixteen-year-olds are drinking a lot in teen books and it doesn't seem like it's really necessary to the plot, I have to wonder if the author is just trying to see 'cool' to their audience and, while I know teens do drink, I don't think it's always needed. It's one of those things that I wonder whether the teens drinking affects the writing of the books or the books maybe affects the teens drinking a little bit?


That aside I felt like Love's voice was very true to a sixteen-year-old and I really liked the little added notes (oftentimes in parentheses). Love was a unique character that, a few things aside, I have to praise Franklin for creating...she had her little neuroses, she loved her music, she could be incredibly oblivious, & she loves her family.


I have a feeling I've made this whole review make no sense--maybe I'll rewrite it later because I really did love this book.


I give it 8/10 for a few character things I didn't like and the drinking/drug bit that I wasn't sure needed to be there to the extent it was.


PhotobucketBarracuda ~ Heart
Syrup & Honey ~ Duffy
Sorry ~ Madonna


part (#1) of the Principles of Love series; other titles in the series-in order: Piece, Love, & Happiness (this one seems to be out of print), Love from London, All You Need is Love, Summer of Love, Labor of Love, & Lesson in Love.


Also, I really think that if you like(d) this book/series, that you'll really like Audrey, Wait! by Robin Benway--and the other way around as well :)

Saturday, July 12, 2008

Jet Set ~ Carrie Karasyov & Jill Kargman

Jet Set
HarperTeen
(August 26, 2008)
256 pages
$16.99 (hardcover)
Amazon


So, this is the book I've been trying to 'review' for Harper Teen's First Look since the 20-somethingth of June, but the site still refuses to let me submit anything, so you get it first. Whoever the collective 'you' happens to be right now.

I'll admit, when I got this book I was still a little bummed about not getting The Summoning, but that disappointment ended up being for nothing.

The summary (which at this moment is still not up on Amazon) is what I blame for my initial so-so ness of the book. (In fact if it were in a bookstore at $17 or even Amazon's current $11.55, I don't think I would buy it with the summary Harper gave).

Lucy Peterson is a military brat, but she's tired of the schools, new towns (and countries), and new best friends that never seem to last very long. It's high school now and she has a plan--she's going to get into boarding school and get herself into a great university.

Except the boarding school she gets into is the prestigious Van Pelt where princesses, heiresses, and rock stars sons go. And she's on scholarship. And knows nothing about the fashion designers offering goods at the 'school store'.

There is of course the Lucy making a fool of herself that almost has to be there, the 'It' girls making her life Hell...but then Jet Set has something more that makes it not your typical Normal-Girl-Goes-to-Boarding-School-with-Paris-Hilton-&-Co. In a way that's in the summary currently provided by Harper, but in a way that made it seem like that typical book. That summary doesn't seem to be anywhere though so maybe (hopefully) someone that can affect things agreed with me?

I don't know how to say anything about it without giving a lot away (and maybe that was the problem) but let's just say that this book is fantastic because it has the richy richy girls, the school store selling Chanel, a million other things about the school I'm leaving for when you read the book, a handsome prince who walks his Golden Retrievers, but it also actually has a story and a character with a brain who makes choices that make sense.

There are glamorous parties, but it's not everyone only going out and getting drunk and having sex...Karasyov and Kargman have balanced the life you could only live in your fantasies, with real life which only makes the entire thing that much more amazing and that much more realistic.

This is one of the few books that I think those who love the books like the Gossip Girl ones and those who only like more serious books, will both enjoy.

I give this book 9/10 and that's mostly because some random harping on Britney Spears bugged me and seemed unnecessary and unneeded.

Saturday, July 5, 2008

Contest Links

Some Contests:


The Book Muncher has a 100th post contest running now through July 15th (midnight PST). Prize is Nick & Nora's Infinite Playlist, The Lullaby, & When it Happens. The reason for those three in particular? "...also happen to have a hot musician guy" so how can you not want to win?
Contest: HERE


The Story Siren has a huge contest running right now to celebrate her site hitting 20,000 hits. Fill out a few questions via email and have a chance to win the great prizes (including: Rumors: A Luxe Novel, Wake, The Off Season, and several others.) Till July 31st.
Contest HERE
and you here's a little button if you want (but save it somewhere else like your photobucket since it's on my LJ account, please?):
Reviewer X: has a contest to win a signed copy of Brooke Taylor's book Undone. Untiil July 27th.
Contest: HERE

I'll try to randomly update this with new contests (and eventually get a better link in the sidebar) *Check the tag, as of 8-25-08, I have a new post*

Bermudez Triangle - Maureen Johnson

Bermudez Triangle
Razorbill
(May 17, 2007)
384 pages
$7.99 (paperback*)
Amazon
*there's one of those 'waterproof covers' ones, too

Nina, Avery and Mel have been best friends since they were little kids but now it's the summer before their senior year and Nina's going off across the country to Stanford for a leadership workshop while Avery and Mel stay home in New York and work as waitresses and the new Irish restaurant.

The girls are worried about the separation but things are fine--even more so for Nina when she meets Steve, the bike riding, planet saving guy who living just down the hall. Nina quickly becomes wrapped up in Steve for what little time they have left (he lives in California, she in NY) but they promise a long distance relationship.

All the while, Johnson continues to tell of the other two girls' summer on the other side of the country. The three girls communicate through emails (and maybe text messages or IMs but I've forgotten for sure) but it's clear to Nina when she returns that Avery and Mel are keeping something from her. What is it? Well, as the back of the book says: "While Nina was gone, Mel has her first real kiss. With Avery."

I think this book does an excellent job of giving each girl her own distinct personality, but also making it clear why they have been friends for so long (in other words, between the girls, the relationships make sense). I also liked that this book had two girls in a sexual relationship but it wasn't a book written just to do that, instead that was a part of the story. It also dealt with there being ramifications from that relationship and for the characters in general.

I loved the evolution of this story and how just about everything made perfect sense and went with everything else.

(fyi: I don't mean Mel & Avery in the paragraph below.) I say just about everything because I seem to have a bit of a problem with how Maureen Johnson decides to 'do' or I guess write certain relationships. She'll write two characters in such a way that you're sure she could write them into a perfect relationship....but then she doesn't. So, I guess that just takes a way from me loving it a little bit because everything else makes so much sense to me and then not really.

Other than that problem though (which really could just be my personal preference and not actually what's better for the characters ;)) I really, really enjoyed this book. 9/10



**I think I've also changed it so you can leave comments without an account...I think**

The Fold ~ An Na

The Fold
Putnam Juvenile
(April 10, 2008)
192 Pages
$16.99 (hardcover)
Amazon

I actually got two books from Penguin when I got Audrey, Wait!...I just said it was one because for whatever reason I was having a really hard time finishing this one. But stick with me here:

Joyce is Korean teenager living in California who hasn't ever particularly cared how she looked

"While Gina [Joyce's best friend] and Joyce were similarly dressed in jeans and T-shirts, Gina knew how to go that extra step, with a nice belt here and a silver necklace there, so that Gina looked put together whereas Joyce felt like she barely hung together.

but then her aunt gives her what could be the opportunity of a lifetime: the fold surgery--a surgery to make her Asian eyes appear more Western. After living in the shadow of her perfect, beautiful older sister Helen for so long and having a crush on John Ford Kang the half Asian boy who seems to only date blondes, nothing could be better. Right?

Well, that's what Gina says Joyce isn't so sure.

My take; Between reading the summary on the front flap of the book and the Amazon summary, I'm not really sure what else is actually in the book. Between the two of them it's a bit of a 'Joyce thinks A so she does B and C happens and then D and then there's E but what about F and oh, yeah G'. Of course, there are some other things but I feel like the summaries give you the basic plot points and only the secondary characters stories are left out, if that makes sense.

But that might also be because I don't have a very high opinion of this book. I wasn't overjoyed about reading it in the first place but I did like the first 15 or so pages. After that, however, I felt like information was left out, just little things that would have made the entire story less confusing. I would be reading and have assumed one thing based on how something was or was not said or presented and then something would be said to the contrary. Some of it was based on my assumptions, but some of it just didn't seem to make sense.

I'm not talking about the Korean phrases used, either. Those were fine, it was little things in the story that didn't add up to me. I also don't really feel like there was any character development. I know what this story was supposed to be accomplishing (Joyce growing up, learning to accept herself, deciding whether or not that was with cosmetic enhancement) but I felt like the story just sort of happened with some things thrown in for effect or to just be there and then the ending was stuck in and that was that. When there were changes in the characters they didn't seem to be precipitated by anything, it just happened (noticing a theme here?).

It's quite possible that An Na's writing is just not for me and I'm just finding every possible thing to pick at with this book, but I wouldn't suggest it, sorry. 3/10

(So maybe you shouldn't have stuck with me?...I didn't realise I was going to be so negative)

Friday, July 4, 2008

Daily Show & Colbert Report Challenge Books

Here are all of the Daily Show & Colbert Report Reading Challenge books in one post with no scrollbars (it's long so, it's backdated)



The Colbert Report Books
2009
War Dances by Sherman Alexie
Green to Gold: How Smart Companies Use Environmental Strategy to Innovate, Create Value, and Build Competitive Advantage by Dan Esty
What the Dog Saw: And Other Adventures by Malcolm Gladwell
Why Architecture Matters (Why X Matters Series) by Paul Goldberger
Reflections on the Revolution In Europe: Immigration, Islam and the West by Christopher Caldwell
My Paper Chase: True Stories of Vanished Times by Harold Evans
The Hawk and the Dove: Paul Nitze, George Kennan, and the History of the Cold War by Nicholas Thompson
The Book of Basketball: The NBA According to The Sports Guy by BIll Simmons
Our Choice: A Plan to Solve the Climate Crisis by Al Gore
Why Does E=mc2?: (And Why Should We Care?) by Brian Cox
God in the White House: A History: How Faith Shaped the Presidency from John F. Kennedy to George W. Bush by Randall Balmer
When Everything Changed: The Amazing Journey of American Women from 1960 to the Present by Gail Collins
Brother West: Living and Loving Out Loud, A Memoir by Cornel West
The Tao of Wu by The RZA
What to Expect When You're Expected: A Fetus's Guide to the First Three Trimesters by David Javerbaum
The World Is Blue: How Our Fate and the Ocean's Are One by Sylvia Earle
Cheating Death: The Doctors and Medical Miracles that Are Saving Lives Against All Odds by Sanjay Gupta
No Impact Man: The Adventures of a Guilty Liberal Who Attempts to Save the Planet, and the Discoveries He Makes About Himself and Our Way of Life in the Process by Colin Beavan
The Philosophical Baby: What Children's Minds Tell Us About Truth, Love, and the Meaning of Life by Alison Gopnik
The Greatest Show on Earth: The Evidence for Evolution by Richard Dawkins
Speech-less: Tales of a White House Survivor by Matt Latimer
Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide (Vintage) by Sheryl WuDunn
Drinking with George: A Barstool Professional's Guide to Beer by George Wendt
The Guinea Pig Diaries: My Life as an Experiment by AJ Jacobs
The Men Who Stare at Goats by Jon Ronson
Born Round: A Story of Family, Food and a Ferocious Appetite by Frank Bruni
The Evolution of God (Back Bay Readers' Pick) by Robert Wright
Sick: The Untold Story of America's Health Care Crisis---and the People Who Pay the Price by Jonathan Cohn
Blind Trust by Barbara Boxer
Leading the Charge: Leadership Lessons from the Battlefield to the Boardroom by Tony Zinni
Cooperstown Confidential: Heroes, Rogues, and the Inside Story of the Baseball Hall of Fame by Zev Chafets
Free: How Today's Smartest Businesses Profit by Giving Something for Nothing by Chris Anderson
Busted: Life Inside the Great Mortgage Meltdown by Edmund Andrews
Life Inc.: How the World Became a Corporation and How to Take It Back by Douglas Rushkoff
The Return of Depression Economics and the Crisis of 2008 by Paul Krugman
Reset: How This Crisis Can Restore Our Values and Renew America by Kurt Andersen
Imbibe!: From Absinthe Cocktail to Whiskey Smash, a Salute in Stories and Drinks to by David Wondrich

2010
My Empire of Dirt: How One Man Turned His Big-City Backyard into a Farm by Manny Howard
Role Models by John Waters
Design Revolution: 100 Products That Empower People by Emily Pilloton
All Things at Once by Mika Brzezinski
Secrets of Mental Math: The Mathemagician's Guide to Lightning Calculation and Amazing Math Tricks by Arthur Benjamin
Eating Animals by Jonathan Safran Foer
Bomb Power: The Modern Presidency and the National Security State by Garry Wills
The Paradox of Choice: Why More Is Less by Barry Schwartz
The Story of Stuff: How Our Obsession with Stuff Is Trashing the Planet, Our Communities, and Our Health-and a Vision for Change by Annie Leonard
From Eternity to Here: The Quest for the Ultimate Theory of Time by Seasn Carroll
Connected: The Surprising Power of Our Social Networks and How They Shape Our Lives by James Fowler
The Value of Nothing: How to Reshape Market Society and Redefine Democracy by Raj Patel
Game Change: Obama and the Clintons, McCain and Palin, and the Race of a Lifetime by John Heilemann
The Ground Truth: The Untold Story of America Under Attack on 9/11 by John Farmer
Enemies of the People: My Family's Journey to America by Kati Marton
Nomad: From Islam to America: A Personal Journey Through the Clash of Civilizations by Ayaan Hirsi Ali
Denialism: How Irrational Thinking Hinders Scientific Progress, Harms the Planet, and Threatens Our Lives by Michael Specter
The Other Wes Moore: One Name, Two Fates by Wes Moore
Theatre by David Mamet
God Is Not One: The Eight Rival Religions That Run the World--and Why Their Differences Matter by Stephen Prothero
Made by Hand: Searching for Meaning in a Throwaway World by Mark Frauenfelder
Heaven: Our Enduring Fascination with the Afterlife by Lisa Miller
The Promise: President Obama, Year One by Jonathan Alter
The Shadow Effect: Illuminating the Hidden Power of Your True Self by Deepak Chopra
Hellhound on His Trail: The Stalking of Martin Luther King, Jr. and the International Hunt for His Assassin by Hampton Sides
A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Future: Twists and Turns and Lessons Learned by Michael J Fox
Whole Earth Discipline: An Ecopragmatist Manifesto by Stewart Brand
Mom: A Celebration of Mothers from StoryCorps by Dave Isay
Adventures among Ants: A Global Safari with a Cast of Trillions by Mark Moffett
Sonic Boom: Globalization at Mach Speed by Gregg Easterbrook
The Dangerous Book of Heroes by Conn Iggulden
A Game of Character: A Family Journey from Chicago's Southside to the Ivy League and Beyond by Craig Robinson
Reality Hunger: A Manifesto by David Shields
Give Me Liberty!: An American History, Second Seagull Edition (One-Volume Edition) (v. 2) by Eric Foner
The Sabbath World: Glimpses of a Different Order of Time by Judith Shulevitz
The Unforgiving Minute: A Soldier's Education by Craig Mullaney
13 Bankers: The Wall Street Takeover and the Next Financial Meltdown by Simon Johnson
The History of White People by Neil Irvin Painter
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
My Life With the Saints by Fr James Martin
Voodoo Histories: The Role of the Conspiracy Theory in Shaping Modern History by David Aaronvitch



The Daily Show with Jon Stewart Books

2009
The Breakthrough: Politics and Race in the Age of Obama by Gwen Ifill
Too Big to Fail: The Inside Story of How Wall Street and Washington Fought to Save the Financial System---and Themselves by Andrew Ross Sorkin
Denialism: How Irrational Thinking Hinders Scientific Progress, Harms the Planet, and Threatens Our Lives by Michael Specter
Comeback 2.0: Up Close and Personal by Lance Armstrong
Hot, Flat, and Crowded 2.0: Why We Need a Green Revolution--and How It Can Renew America by Thomas Friedman
Tokyo Vice: An American Reporter on the Police Beat in Japan by Jake Adelstein
Big Man: Real Life & Tall Tales by Clarence Clemons
On the Line by Serena Williams
The Next Front: Southeast Asia and the Road to Global Peace with Islam by Kit Bond
Our Choice: A Plan to Solve the Climate Crisis by Al Gore
The Audacity to Win: The Inside Story and Lessons of Barack Obama's Historic Victoryby David Plouffe
Growing American Roots: Why Our Nation Will Thrive as Our Largest Minority Flourishesby Sen Bob Menendez
SuperFreakonomics: Global Cooling, Patriotic Prostitutes, and Why Suicide Bombers Should Buy Life Insuranceby Steven Levitt
What Would Susie Say?: Bullsh*t Wisdom About Love, Life and Comedyby Susie Essman
Goddess of the Market: Ayn Rand and the American Rightby Jennifer Burns
Bright-sided: How the Relentless Promotion of Positive Thinking Has Undermined Americaby Barbara Ehrenreich
Highest Duty: My Search for What Really Mattersby Chesley Sullenberger
The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind: Creating Currents of Electricity and Hopeby William Kamkwamba
The Wordy Shipmatesby Sarah Vowell
Where Men Win Glory: The Odyssey of Pat Tillmanby Jon Krakauer
End the Fed by Ron Paul
The Predictioneer's Game: Using the Logic of Brazen Self-Interest to See and Shape the Futureby Bruce Bueno de Mesquita
Forces of Fortune: The Rise of the New Muslim Middle Class and What It Will Mean for Our Worldby Vali Nasr
by LeBron James Shooting Starsby Lebron James (Amazon's out-available from B&N & elsewhere, though)
Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen by Christopher McDougall
I Drink for a Reason by David Cross
The Family: The Secret Fundamentalism at the Heart of American Power by Jeff Sharlet
The Wilderness Warrior: Theodore Roosevelt and the Crusade for America by David Brinkley
Age Is Just a Number: Achieve Your Dreams at Any Stage in Your Life by Dara Torres
In the President's Secret Service: Behind the Scenes with Agents in the Line of Fire and the Presidents They Protect by Ronald Kessler
The State of Jones: The Small Southern County that Seceded from the Confederacy by Sally Jenkins
Unquenchable: America's Water Crisis and What To Do About It by Robert Glennon
Fatal Journey: The Final Expedition of Henry Hudson by Peter Mancall


2010
Captive: My Time as a Prisoner of the Taliban by Jere Van Dyk
The White House Doctor: My Patients Were Presidents - A Memoir by Dr Eleanor Mariano
Teaching the Pig to Dance: A Memoir of Growing Up and Second Chances by Fred Thompson
Blind Descent: The Quest to Discover the Deepest Place on Earth by James M Tabor
Pandora's Seed: The Unforeseen Cost of Civilization by Spencer Wells
Hitch-22: A Memoir by Christopher Hitchens
The Battle: How the Fight between Free Enterprise and Big Government Will Shape America's Future by Arthur C Brooks
The End of the Free Market: Who Wins the War Between States and Corporations? by Ian Bremmer
WAR by Sebastian Junger
Revolutionaries: A New History of the Invention of America by Jack Rakove
Molto Gusto: Easy Italian Cooking by Mario Batali
Within Our Reach: Ending the Mental Health Crisis by Rosalynn Carter
Get Capone: The Secret Plot That Captured America's Most Wanted Gangster by Jonathan Eig
The Dream Machine: The Untold History of the Notorious V-22 Osprey by Richard Whittle
The Blueprint: Obama's Plan to Subvert the Constitution and Build an Imperial Presidency by Ken Blackwell
A New American Tea Party: The Counterrevolution Against Bailouts, Handouts, Reckless Spending, and More Taxes by John M O'Hara
The Coming Population Crash: and Our Planet's Surprising Future by Fred Pearce
The Bridge: The Life and Rise of Barack Obama by David Remnick
A Captain's Duty: Somali Pirates, Navy SEALS, and Dangerous Days at Sea by Capt Richard Phillips
How to Win a Cosmic War by Reza Aslan
Between Two Worlds: My Life and Captivity in Iran by Roxana Saberi
The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine by Michael Lewis
Broker, Trader, Lawyer, Spy: The Secret World of Corporate Espionage by Eamon Javers
Courting Disaster: How the CIA Kept America Safe and How Barack Obama Is Inviting the Next Attack by Marc Thiessen
No One Would Listen: A True Financial Thriller by Harry Markopolous
Citizens of London: The Americans Who Stood with Britain in Its Darkest, Finest Hour by Lynne Olson
The Quants: How a New Breed of Math Whizzes Conquered Wall Street and Nearly Destroyed It by Scott Patterson
My Footprint: Carrying the Weight of the World by Jeff Garlin
Willie Mays: The Life, The Legend by James S Hirsch (gues was Willie Mays)*
To Try Men's Souls: A Novel of George Washington and the Fight for American Freedom by Newt Gingrich
Staying True by Jenny Sanford
The Checklist Manifesto: How to Get Things Right by Atul Gawande
Crazy Like Us: The Globalization of the American Psyche by Ethan Waters
Rediscovering Values: On Wall Street, Main Street, and Your Street by Jim Wallis
Comeback America: Turning the Country Around and Restoring Fiscal Responsibility by David Walker
Crash Course: The American Automobile Industry's Road from Glory to Disaster by Paul Ingrassia
Crisis and Command: A History of Executive Power from George Washington to George W. Bush by John Yoo
George Lucas's Blockbusting: A Decade-by-Decade Survey of Timeless Movies Including Untold Secrets of Their Financial and Cultural Success by George Lucas
Food Rules: An Eater's Manual by Michael Pollan

Book Trailer Friday [@RandomHouse @TransworldBooks]

Beth Dorey-Stein's From the Corner of the Oval  - a tale of being the White House stenographer during the Obama administration will be ...