Mr. Penumbra, The Magic of Words and Deals For Today

This week I finished reading Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore. Actually, I finished listening to it. I should have read it. I usually love listening to books, but this one was all about reading and the wonders of books AND technology, and how the two can work together, but can also be wonderful apart. How magical the written word, printing and FONTS can be. Who knew? So, yes, I felt like I was betraying books by listening to a book about reading. I probably would have felt guilty reading on my Kindle, but I rarely buy 'books' any longer. I guess guilt was going to happen no matter what.

This was a wonderful story, combining many of my favorite things. The wonder of words, the beauty of books, and the mystery that books and history can hold. It also was the story of two types of people we all know; those refusing to embrace technology (call them Luddites if you will), and those who believe only in technology. This book shows that there is a middle ground, and in that middle ground lies the mystery and the answer.  It was a wonderful listen, but I think it would have been a better read.

Kindle Book Deals of The Day

$6.99--This is a deal on the pre-release of Allegiant, the third and last book in the Divergent Trilogy by Veronica Roth. This is a REALLY GREAT deal. And the best part of buying a pre-release book (especially when you get it for a great price)? On the release date (in this case, October 22nd) it automatically and auto-magically downloads on your Kindle. I love that!!!

$3.99--This one is on my to-read list. Christopher Finch's Good Girl, Bad Girl is the story of Alex Novalis, a New York City private eye in the sixties hired to find a construction mogul's missing 18-year old daughter in the crazy Manhattan art scene. It s said to be a great look at NYC in the swinging sixties.



$1.99--I'm currently reading The Flamethrowers by Rachel Kushner. This is her second book in as many years to make it to the National Book Award longlist. Set in the seventies, this is the story of Reno, a young woman fascinated with art and speed and the turning of speed into art. She begins an affair with an older Italian artist, the semi-estranged son of an Italian motorcycle and tire mogul, and then falls in with a radical Italian group on a visit to Italy. So far, it is really good.



$2.99--This one is this year's winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Non-Fiction. It's a really good price on an award winning book. Devil in the Grove: Thurgood Marshall, the Groveland Boys, and the Dawn of a New America is a look at Florida in the late 40's and early 50's and the rise of Thurgood Marshall and the Civil Rights movement. Well worth the $2.99.

Daily Deals Worth Reading for September 27th

If you're one of the many people eagerly waiting for the last installment of Veronica Roth's Insurgent trilogy, Allegiant, on October 22nd , than "The Transfer" and the other singles written by Roth from different points-of-view will whet your appetite. $1.99. 





This is the third in a trilogy that is pure Margaret Atwood. MaddAddam brings together the two groups from Atwood's previous dystopian books Oryx and Crake and The Year of the Flood. This book is a new release and is a deal at $6.49. If you haven't read the previous two, they are not bargains (at $9.99 each), so get them from the library and then read this. Well worth your time, if you want to read adult Dystopian.


Vincent Zandri has done a great job hooking me with his mysteries, and I'm buying this one in the hope that it will do the same. A woman abducted as a child must face her past to solve a mystery involving an autistic child and her dead (and also abducted as a child) sister. Great reviews, so, for $1.99, I'll give The Remains a try.



 The Visible World is a wonderfully moving story told by the American-born son of Czech immigrants, telling the stories and fairytales he overhears in his boisterous, immigrant New York neighborhood. $2.51.