New Release eBooks -

This is obviously the political silly season that comes before every major election. The details of the behavior of every candidate are dissected down to the atomic level. What they say, what they wear and how they respond to the endless stupid questions posed by the press is analyzed over and over again. Every bit of information related to everything except the candidates’ qualifications to solve problems is the subject of every newscast in the twenty four hour news cycle.

Of course, I know all this because I was up way too late last night watching the debate.  No book review this week; I was too distracted.

I woke up this morning with a burning question:  How do you escape all of this bombast?

And then it came to me.  In one of those "of course" statements.  Just unplug the TV and pick up a good book (or even a piece of total thrash that appeals to your personal taste). Go back and read one of the classics or grab the latest escape novel off the shelf.  Do anything but read a book on politics.

For the science fiction and fantasy fans there are several new offerings that released this last month:

• Misspent Youth eBook edition by Hamilton, Peter F.
• Cast in Fury eBook edition by Sagara, Michelle
• The Sunrise Lands eBook edition  by Stirling, S.M.

For the Romance fan there are a lot of new moans and whispers of undying , well you know how it goes.

• One-Click Buy: October Silhouette Desire eBook by Dunlop, Barbara
• One Fifth Avenue eBook edition by Bushnell, Candace
• Lucky Charm eBook edition by Phillips, Carly

For the mystery fan there are new releases galore and some of them will take you totally away from the monster on the wall or on the nightstand. You know what I mean, the one eyed loud and obnoxious window into the real world.

• Espresso Shot eBook edition by Coyle, Cleo
• In the Dark eBook edition by Billingham, Mark
• Comforts Of A Muddy Saturday eBook edition by Mccall Smith, Alexander

Whatever else you do, please escape this election cycle for a few hours with a book. It will get you one day closer to the ever shorter time between political silly seasons and some real peace and quiet.

So here's the deal -- buy any book in the store for a 5% discount.  Use coupon  Crazy108 to get your discount at check out.

Let sanity prevail.  Come on, even a novel about deep and abiding psychologically twisted behavior is better than this!!!!

del.icio.us Tags: ebooks,books,new ebooks,hamilton,sagara,stirling,bushness,phillips,billingham,mccall

A Place Called Canterbury: Tales of the New Old Age in America eBook edition

A Place called Canterbury is a humorous and sometimes touching, meditation on how today's elderly live.

When his mother moved to a Tampa Bay Life Care Retirement Community, Canterbury Tower, Dudley Clendinen got an up close and very personal look at retirement and old age in America. 

The average age of the Canterbury Tower resident is 86,  The same age as my mother is now.  I used to think that 86 was ancient.  I could barely imagine anyone living that long.  These days, not only can I imagine it, I am watching a whole generation of my family living into their 80s and 90s.

My mother at 86 has barely slowed down.  She has a more active social life than I do.  My Dad's oldest sister is 90+ and (except for her hearing) is going strong.  Based on my heredity I am going to be around for a very long time. It is fair to say that for me A Place Called Canterbury is both an inspiration and a cautionary tale.

Let's face it.  Stories about old people have a predictable ending.  Too often they are by turns depressing or maudlin. A Place Called Canterbury is anything but. There are poignant stories that made me tear up.  There are stories that made me laugh out loud.  There are stories that made me think.  There were stories that put me to sleep. In the end these tales are not so much a chronicle of old age but a celebration of what it means to be human.

Canterbury Towers, as described by Clendinen, is full of fascinating characters who refuse grow old.  They are committed to living life to its fullest; they forget things, they tell funny stories, they snack after sex, they drink martinis and have wonderful social debates.  Clendinen reports it all. 

He says that in writing this book he "set out to be diarist and chronicler."  He did his job well.  His Mother, if she could read this book, would be proud. 

You probably do not want to read this book on an empty stomach -- all the descriptions of food will send you to the freezer for ice cream.  And as I read, I couldn't help but think of my Dad who used to say -- "The best thing about old age is that it beats the alternative. "  

This book is certainly not everyone's cup of tea.  It is only recommended for anyone who is aging or has an aging Mother.

OK -- here is what the publisher says:

In 1994 New York Times writer Dudley Clendinen's mother-a Southern matron of iron will but creaking bones-sold her house and moved to Canterbury Tower, a geriatric apartment building with full services and a nursing wing in Tampa Bay.

There she landed in a microcosm of the New Old Age. Canterbury was filled not just with old Tampa neighbors but also with strangers from across the country. Wealthy, middle class, or barely afloat; Christian, Jewish, or faithless; proud, widowed, or still married; grumpy or dear-they had all come together, at the average age of eighty-six, in search of a last place to live and die.

A Place Called Canterbury is a beautifully written, often hilarious, deeply moving look at how the oldest Americans are living with the reality of living longer. Peopled by brave, daffy, memorable characters determined to grow old with dignity-and to help one another avoid the dreaded nursing wing-A Place Called Canterbury is a kind of soap opera.

Likewise, it is a poignant chronicle of the last years of the Greatest Generation and their children, the Boomers, as they are drawn into old age with their parents. A Place Called Canterbury is an essential read for anyone with aging parents and anyone wondering what their own old age will look like.

del.icio.us Tags: ebook,e-book,eBook review,A Place Called Canterbury,Dudley Clendinen

SUMMER READING by Hilma Wolitzer

Summer is officially here -- the kids are out of school and it is getting hot here in California.

Last weekend I started my summer reading with Summer Reading by Hilma Wolitzer. I picked it because I am a long time fan of Hilma Wolitzer, because the synopsis peaked my interest and because of the title, of course. Here’s the official information – “Summer Reading offers a seductive glimpse into the intersecting lives of three very different women.” For the rest of the official synopsis, skip my comment and jump to the italics below. The book was a great combination of substance and entertainment. By building the book around a group of contemporary women reading the classics Wolitzer highlights her belief that women’s interior lives have not changed much over the centuries. Done with a deft touch and a sense of humor it actually made me want to pick up and reread Trollope! I know these women. Or at least I recognize them in myself and some of my friends, which made this an easy read. I recognize their struggles, as well, which made it substantive. If you’re looking for quiet, thought provoking summer getaway this is definitely a great choice! I recommend it! So here is the official stuff: Summer in the Hamptons means crowded beaches during the day and lavish parties in the evening, but Angela Graves, a retired English professor, prefers the company of Gabriel García Márquez and Charlotte Brontë. Her only steady social contacts are with the women in the reading groups she leads, among them, is wealthy Lissy Snyder, a beautiful newlywed who hosts the twice-monthly meetings of the Page Turners and takes pains to hide a reading disability and her emotional neediness. Hamptons local Michelle Cutty, Lissy's housecleaner, eavesdrops on the group's discussions — of books and gossip — when she's not snooping through Lissy's closets. All three women secretly struggle with troubling personal issues that threaten the tenuous balance of their lives: Lissy, abandoned by her father in childhood, is now the unwilling stepmother of her husband's hostile children; Michelle, resentful of the moneyed arrogance of the jet-setting, seasonal "invaders," can't secure a commitment from her fisherman boyfriend; and solitary, bookish Angela still bears the shameful memory of a disastrous love affair that took place long ago. As Angela encourages the Page Turners to identify with the literary heroines of Trollope and Flaubert, the books — in fact, theact of reading itself — will influence the tough choices the women must make. Stunningly evocative and richly imagined, Summer Reading explores the meaning and consequences of living an authentic life.

Summer Reading by Hilma Wolitzer.