Amazon Kindle's Blog http://www.amazon.com/gp/blog/A1F8Z0JAEIDVRY Amazon Kindle's Blog en-us Copyright 2005-2007 Amazon.com Fri, 06 Nov 2009 12:29:40 -0800 Fri, 06 Nov 2009 12:29:40 -0800 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Amazon.com Blogs 60 G.I. Bones http://www.amazon.com/gp/blog/post/PLNK27U1H6N1MZG64 Amazon Kindle In Martin Limon's latest Sergeant Sueno and Bascom mystery, G.I. Bones, a Korean fortune-teller is being bothered by a dead American soldier who wants his bones found and buried. Meanwhile, an underage officer's daughter is missing together with a Latino soldier; and several of the leading Korean gangsters who own bars in the ville have been killed. Sueno and Bascom of Military Intelligence must go back to the founding of Itaewon, Seoul's red-light district, in order to learn who killed the soldier, who's taking revenge on the gang lords, and where to find the missing girl.

Through November 8, 2009, buy G.I. Bones and receive a free download of Limon's Jade Lady Burning.

This is syndicated from Amazon Blogs, and written by Kindle Editors.
]]> Fri, 06 Nov 2009 12:29:40 -0800 PLNK27U1H6N1MZG64 Freaks and Revelations http://www.amazon.com/gp/blog/post/PLNKAPSW0YK99F2W Amazon Kindle Freaks and Revelations is a novel based on the true story of two very different teenagers, the events that led to their violent meeting, and the aftermath, the hate, the healing.  I first learned of Matthew Boger and Tim Zaal, now grown men, in an LA Times article describing the events surrounding their relationship and how--through forgiveness and understanding--they created From Hate 2 Hope, a presentation that reaches out to young people in middle schools, high schools, and colleges throughout the nation. In 2006, they were seeking another avenue to communicate, and felt a novel might be just the thing--if they could find the "right" author.
 
I jumped at the chance to be interviewed. I arrived at the Paradigm Agency and was escorted upstairs to the conference room. Matthew stared at me across a long, oval table of agents and others, smiling, his blue eyes never leaving my face.  Tim sat to my left, with shaved head and austere expression, quietly taking me in.  I showed them my books--stories of teens in peril, and answered their questions.  Something clicked. Within a day, I got a call and our collaboration began. 
 
How do you tell a stranger the most painful things you remember--some of which you have never even spoken?  This is how we began, starting with their violent meeting in the alley, delving deeper and deeper into their childhoods over the following year and a half.  I witnessed their personal discoveries as they searched for how to share what led to that night in West Hollywood. I went to San Francisco and walked the streets where Matthew lived when he was put out of his house.  I listened to Punk music, I researched the social mores and movements of the 80s. I went several times to watch their presentation From Hate 2 Hope, noting how this heartfelt re-telling of "the incident in the alley" takes a toll on each man, each time.  Tim must face the pain and sorrow he now feels for his violence.  Matthew must relive his fear. Still, they continue. 
 
With audio tapes and hundreds of pages of notes, I escaped for three weeks to sit by the ocean and write. "Jason" emerged and told me his story. "Doug" took a bit more coaxing, so Tim and I went back to work. Layer by layer, he allowed me to glimpse the little boy behind the angry teen, and a first draft was created. My agent and my editors helped me coax it forward, and one night--I dreamt the title.  I don't question what comes to me in dreams, and though many who were involved with the creation of this book seemed puzzled at first by the choice, it's proven to be the right one.  Of course, the "freaks" are not the boys in the book.  The revelations?  Up to you.
 
I've been changed by knowing Matthew and Tim, and grateful for the chance to bring their story to the world. 

--Davida Wills Hurwin
This is syndicated from Amazon Blogs, and written by Kindle Editors.
]]> Thu, 05 Nov 2009 14:12:01 -0800 PLNKAPSW0YK99F2W The Demonata http://www.amazon.com/gp/blog/post/PLNK1MGZE85JVMDUU Amazon Kindle
The Demonata started life as a poem about Lord Loss. I wrote the poem several years before I started work on the book. I found myself thinking about the character of Lord Loss over the ensuing years, wondering if I could find a way to slot him into a story--he seemed like a nasty but intriguing piece of work! One day I was playing around with ideas for a werewolf book, but one which did something new and different with the genre. A voice at the back of my mind whispered, "Include Lord Loss." I did as it commanded and the rest is history!
 
After the first book, the next five books of the series were written out of sequence. I didn't know where I wanted to go with the overall story, so I simply went along with whatever ideas came first. Since I write first drafts of my books two or three years before they are due to be published, I had time to play around with the stories and try to create order out of chaos. It was only when I came to the sixth book, Demon Thief, which actually ended up being the second book published, that I figured out the key to the direction of the series. After that, everything fell neatly into place, and I was able to put the earlier books into order, to make them fit in with the new, over-arching storyline. It was definitely the most challenging (and frightening!) experience of my writing career so far, but also, ultimately, the most rewarding!

Check out the latest book in the Demonata series, Dark Calling.
This is syndicated from Amazon Blogs, and written by Kindle Editors.
]]> Wed, 04 Nov 2009 11:17:50 -0800 PLNK1MGZE85JVMDUU Zagat Guides Now Available on Kindle http://www.amazon.com/gp/blog/post/PLNK3JRABTOMUQG01 Amazon Kindle
This led to a hobby involving friends rating restaurants. That hobby grew to Zagat Survey, which today has over 350,000 participants worldwide, and has become the world's most trusted source to help consumers make smart decisions about restaurants, nightspots, hotels, attractions and other leisure activities.

Since the beginning, Zagat ratings and reviews have been available as printed guides, more recently online and on mobile devices. And today we are pleased to announce Zagat guides are available on Kindle, including 2010 New York City Restaurants and 2010 Lost Angeles/So. California Restaurants!

Keep sharing your opinions with us and stay tuned as more and more Zagat guides become available to you on Kindle.

Nina and Tim Zagat
This is syndicated from Amazon Blogs, and written by Kindle Editors.
]]> Tue, 03 Nov 2009 11:27:35 -0800 PLNK3JRABTOMUQG01 Q/A with Sarah Allen Benton http://www.amazon.com/gp/blog/post/PLNK32HBI2O5S4B22 Amazon Kindle Understanding the High-Functioning Alcoholic, which spotlights the thinking of millions of successful people who excel in other ways, but remain powerless against and under the control of alcohol.

Amazon.com: How do you define a high-functioning alcoholic?  What are the signs people should look for in themselves and in loved ones?

Sarah Allen Benton: A high-functioning alcoholic (HFA) is an alcoholic who is able to maintain his or her outside life, such as a job, home, family, and friendships, all while drinking alcoholically.  HFAs have the same disease as the stereotypical "skid-row" alcoholic, but it manifests or progresses differently.  Many HFAs are not viewed by society as being alcoholic, because they have succeeded and over-achieved throughout their lifetimes.  These achievements often lead to an increase in personal denial as well as denial from colleagues and loved ones.  HFAs are less apt to feel that they need treatment for their alcoholism and often slide through the cracks of the health care system, both medically and psychologically, because they are often not diagnosed.

HFAs can exhibit different drinking patterns and warning signs at various phases of their drinking.  Common warning signs include, but are not limited to: experiencing a craving for more alcohol after having one drink leading to a loss of control over alcohol intake, obsessing about alcohol and the next time they can drink, not being able to imagine their life without alcohol, feeling shame and remorse from drunken behavior, having failed attempts to control drinking, surrounding themselves with others who drink heavily, compulsively finishing alcoholic drinks--even someone else's, being skilled at living a compartmentalized life in terms of separating their drinking life from their professional/family life, making excuses for their drinking or using alcohol as a reward for their hard work, thinking that drinking expensive alcohol or wine implies they are not alcoholic, hiding alcohol consumption by sneaking alcohol before a social event or drinking alone, drinking despite adverse consequences (either emotional or physical), and experiencing blackouts or memory lapses.
   
Amazon.com: Who is the book for?  Will it help high-functioning alcoholics face their addiction?


Sarah Allen Benton: I wrote Understanding the High-Functioning Alcoholic: Professional Views and Personal Insights because it was what I personally needed--but never received--when I was in the process of getting sober and then throughout my recovery.  It is for others like myself, who want to make sense of their alcoholism, because their story does not fit the "skid row" alcoholic image that remains so pervasive in our society.

This book is also appropriate for the loved ones of HFAs, mental health and health care professionals, undergraduate and graduate substance abuse classes, and the general public.   Research, interviews and my personal experiences as both an HFA and professional experience as a Licensed Mental Health Counselor are integrated into this work. Characteristics and behavior patterns of HFAs are described throughout the various life phases including: high school, college, graduate school and stages of professional life. Through the use of journal entries and reflective pieces at the end of each chapter, I offer my first-hand perspectives of the thought distortions that this disease created within my own alcoholic mind with the intention that other HFAs may relate.

The second part of the book focuses on recovery and can be a resource for HFAs in learning about treatment options and the obstacles that they may face. Finally, there is an exploration of the actions that many sober HFAs find necessary not only to get sober--but to maintain long-term sobriety and find peace and spirituality within their lives.

Amazon.com: Was it difficult, or cathartic, for you to share your own experiences as a recovering alcoholic?


Sarah Allen Benton: The writing process of this book was a healing experience for me and it helped me to process and conceptualize my alcoholism on a deeper level.  I was able to find meaning in the difficulties that I had been through in knowing that I had the honor of being able to touch the lives of others through my writing.

Once the book was released, I faced many new challenges.  For most of my sobriety, I have kept the fact that I am a sober alcoholic private because of the stigma--I feared that in certain areas of my life, people would judge me for being an alcoholic.  In some ways, I had led a double life--going to work during the day and then participating in various aspects of recovery in the evenings and on weekends.  So now, in sharing my story publicly, I am exposing myself.  Although in the past, this would have made me feel very vulnerable, I now feel a sense of pride in being sober.  It is difficult to think that people may judge or view me differently after reading Understanding the High-Functioning Alcoholic.  However, I have chosen to sacrifice my privacy in an effort to chip away at the stigma of alcoholism and to help other HFAs to connect with my story and hopefully pursue treatment.

Amazon.com: What are some risk factors for developing alcoholism?

Sarah Allen Benton:
1.    Drinking alcohol before the age of 15
2.    Family history of alcoholism
3.    Underlying mental health condition(s) (i.e, anxiety, post-partum depression)
4.    Trauma history
5.    Impulsive personality

Amazon.com: What are the main lessons to be learned through your book?


Sarah Allen Benton: It is my intention to increase awareness that being successful and being alcoholic are not mutually exclusive, but that HFAs need help regardless of their seeming exterior success.  My intention is to help end the denial that so many HFAs and their loved ones have around their alcoholism, because these individuals are able to succeed in so many areas of their lives.  Alcoholism does not discriminate and it is imperative that the public learn that being alcoholic is not determined by how a person's life appears on the outside, but by what happens to that individual when they drink alcohol.  Finally, that I am able to express that HFAs need to get help for their alcoholism just as lower functioning individuals should--for they all suffer from the same chronic, lifelong and potentially fatal disease.
This is syndicated from Amazon Blogs, and written by Kindle Editors.
]]> Mon, 02 Nov 2009 12:54:50 -0800 PLNK32HBI2O5S4B22 Soulless http://www.amazon.com/gp/blog/post/PLNKPCILSVRDSH9X Amazon Kindle Soulless.

In a world where having excess soul can mean entree into immortality (and the most fashionable parties), this last could prove to be Alexia's biggest problem of all. Especially when she finds herself accidentally killing a vampire (how embarrassing!) and facing off against Queen Victoria's best werewolf investigator.

--Gail Carriger
This is syndicated from Amazon Blogs, and written by Kindle Editors.
]]> Fri, 30 Oct 2009 11:59:03 -0700 PLNKPCILSVRDSH9X Grant Writing 101 http://www.amazon.com/gp/blog/post/PLNK2SU2IP0LN3QIC Amazon Kindle The Only Grant-Writing Book You'll Ever Need will continue to be essential reading for grant seekers everywhere.
This is syndicated from Amazon Blogs, and written by Kindle Editors.
]]> Thu, 29 Oct 2009 12:45:09 -0700 PLNK2SU2IP0LN3QIC 12 Steps to Visionary Decision Making http://www.amazon.com/gp/blog/post/PLNK2DTHANWPSQ3YC Amazon Kindle The Influential Leader, John Edmund Haggai takes a spiritual approach to teaching readers how they can become leaders who influence people, inspire results, and accomplish great things.

To do this he focuses on 12 characteristics, including:

    --humility
    --communication
    --vision
    --goal-setting
    --self–control
    --opportunity
    --staying power
    --authority

Haggai has trained more than 60,000 people in 177 countries through the Haggai Institute.
This is syndicated from Amazon Blogs, and written by Kindle Editors.
]]> Wed, 28 Oct 2009 12:24:36 -0700 PLNK2DTHANWPSQ3YC Lidia Cooks from the Heart of Italy http://www.amazon.com/gp/blog/post/PLNKAJNFZ9WQX30Y Amazon Kindle Lidia Cooks from the Heart of Italy, Lidia Bastianich awakens in us a new respect for food, and for the people who produce it in the little-known parts of Italy that she explores. All of the recipes reflect the regions from which they spring, and in translating them to our home kitchens, Lidia passes on time-honored techniques and wonderful, uncomplicated recipes for dishes bursting with different regional flavors--the kind of elemental, good family cooking that is particularly appreciated today.

Enjoy this sample recipe from Lidia's new book, with a sauce that is from the old fishing port of Termoli:

SPAGHETTI WITH CALAMARI, SCALLOPS AND SHRIMP
Spaghetti di Tornola  

Serves 6
For me, there's no better way to dress spaghetti than with a fresh seafood sauce. And this sauce, from
the old fishing port of Termoli in Molise, is as simple and delicious as any. In the restaurants by the
docks in Termoli (near the old citadel called Tornola), just-caught seafood is served in a brodetto. You
eat the seafood, and then the kitchen will toss spaghetti into the sauce you've left in your bowl. In my
version of spaghetti di Tornola, the calamari, scallops, and shrimp are part of the pasta dressing, but
you can eat the brodetto in separate courses, Termoli-style, if you like. In summer, I use my mother's
home-grown, sun-ripened cherry tomatoes to make an exceptional sauce, but in winter, a couple of
cups of canned plum tomatoes make a fine substitute.

1 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more for the pasta pot 
half pound medium calamari, cleaned
half pound sea scallops (preferably "dry," not soaked in preservative)
1 pound large shrimp
one-fourth cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus 2 tablespoons more for finishing the pasta
6 plump garlic cloves, peeled and sliced
4 cups cherry tomatoes, halved; or 2 cups canned Italian plum tomatoes, crushed
one-fourth teaspoon peperoncino flakes, or to taste
1 pound spaghetti 
one-fourth cup chopped fresh basil
1 tablespoon chopped fresh Italian parsley

Recommended equipment:  A large pot, 8-quart capacity, for cooking the pasta; a heavy-bottomed
skillet or saute pan, 12-inch diameter or larger.

Fill the large pot with salted water (at least 6 quarts water with 1 tablespoon salt), and heat to
a boil.

To prepare the seafood: Cut the calamari bodies, including the tentacles, into half-inch rings. Pull
off  the side muscle or "foot" from the scallops and discard. Remove the shells, tails, and digestive
veins from the shrimp; rinse and pat dry.

Pour the olive oil into the skillet, set it over medium-high heat, scatter in the sliced garlic, and
cook, stirring occasionally, until it begins to sizzle and color, about 1 to 2 minutes. Dump in the
cherry tomatoes, sprinkle on the teaspoon salt and the peperoncino, and cook for about 5 minutes,
stirring and tossing tomatoes in the pan, until softened and sizzling in their juices but still intact.
 
Start cooking the pasta first and the seafood right after, so they are ready at the same time. Drop
the spaghetti into the boiling water, stir, and return the water to a boil.
 
As it cooks, scatter the calamari rings and tentacles in the pan with the tomatoes, and get them
sizzling over medium-high heat. Let the pieces cook for a minute or two, then toss in the scallops,
and spread them out to heat and start sizzling quickly. After they've cooked for a couple of minutes,
toss in the shrimp, ladle in a cup of boiling pasta water, stir the seafood and sauce together, bring to
a steady simmer, and cook for 2 or 3 minutes, just until the shrimp turn pink and begin to curl.

As soon as the spaghetti is barely al dente, lift it from the pot, drain briefly, and drop into the
skillet. Toss the pasta and the simmering sauce together for a minute or two, until the spaghetti is
nicely coated with sauce and perfectly al dente, and the seafood is distributed throughout the pasta.
Turn off  the heat, sprinkle on the basil and parsley, and drizzle on another 2 tablespoons olive oil.
Toss well, heap the spaghetti into warm bowls, giving each portion plenty of seafood, and serve
immediately.
This is syndicated from Amazon Blogs, and written by Kindle Editors.
]]> Tue, 27 Oct 2009 13:51:18 -0700 PLNKAJNFZ9WQX30Y A Conversation with Marcus Buckingham http://www.amazon.com/gp/blog/post/PLNK229BXEFCYKN99 Amazon Kindle Find Your Strongest Life: What the Happiest and Most Successful Women Do Differently. 

Amazon.com: You are internationally known as the world's leading expert in personal strengths. What led you to bring your life-strengthening message to women in particular?

Marcus Buckingham: The leading data on women's happiness over the last 40 years is compelling and disappointing. Women have gained greater power, broader influence, higher education, and more money; women earn 60 percent of all MAs, and 37 percent of women are in senior management supervisory positions compared to 31 percent of men. There are all sorts of significant advances in rights, responsibilities, and influence that women have achieved over 40 years, but according to the research, during that same time period, women's daily life satisfaction has gone downhill consistently both relative to where they were 40 years ago and relative to men. Men are actually slightly happier now than they were, probably due to the slight increase in prosperity that we've had, while women's daily satisfaction has dropped steadily, even given that greater prosperity. It's true of women in the work force, those not working, who have kids or don't, and it's true of 12th grade girls. Over last 40 years, among 12th graders who have been studied every single year, it's fairly clear now that boys' life satisfaction is trending up, while 12th grade girls' life satisfaction is trending down. And over the last 15 years or so, consistently, 12th grade girls are more anxious, more stressed, and have less subjective well-being than boys.

As a researcher, I find this trend discouraging: half of our population is experiencing decreasing net happiness and satisfaction with life. When we look at what makes people engaged and fulfilled with their lives, everyone from economists to psychologists seems to agree that the feeling of self-efficacy, feeling valued and effective and in your "strength zone" is critical--that the happiest, most successful people are those who have figured out ways to play to the best of themselves in each part of their lives. As an employee, wife, spouse, mother, or daughter, they find themselves in situations or activities where they really feel that their strengths are engaged and called upon, they feel "in the zone." My work has centered at the intersection of those two knowledge bases--the research revealing the downward trend in women's life satisfaction and the understanding that your strength zone is one of the causes of life satisfaction and happiness--and I felt that this is an area where I have insight and can make a useful contribution.

Amazon.com: What is causing this ongoing dissatisfaction and unhappiness in life?
 
Marcus Buckingham: There are two causes. One is an excess of choice. Life's tricky for women because they have to make more choices than men. And yes, choice is good, but boy, you better be an expert choice-maker. If you give us four pairs of jeans, we easily select our favorite, but given 47 pairs of jeans, we toss and turn about which one we should pick and then second-guess our choice, thinking perhaps that one of the other 46 was the right one. If your internal compass doesn't allow you to cut the 47 pair of jeans down to seven, making it easier to choose, you are challenged by the fact that you have gained more and more choice, and taken the responsibility of your decisions, but haven't relinquished any other responsibilities. For many women, the stress has become almost extreme. Most women don't get much help in knowing what choices will strengthen them, or how to have a strong internal compass so they don’t wonder about or regret the choices made.

The second cause is that the advice women have been given is misleading. Women are told to strive for balance. It's impossible to balance a morning, let alone a day, or a life. You'll never balance perfectly the amount of hours spent on each particular aspect of your life, and it's not satisfying when you try. If your goal in life is balance, you will be forever disappointing yourself.

Women are told to be good jugglers. You're supposed to be able to keep everything up in the air at once, juggling all the different parts and pieces of your life, and your challenge becomes, "How do I not drop
anything?" The solutions offered are ideas like "better time management," or "learn to put up boundaries" or "learn to say no." Unfortunately, all of that advice is bad. The core skill of juggling is throwing--if you are a juggler, you never hold on to anything long enough to really feel it, and if you're never holding on to the particular moments in life long enough to really feel them, then it doesn't matter how many boundaries you've built; if the things going on between the boundaries are not fulfilling to you, you're going to have an empty life. It doesn't matter how many things you say "no" to, if you don't recognize the right moments to say "yes" to.

Amazon.com: What do you mean when you say that the happiest and most successful women know how to "catch and cradle"?

Marcus Buckingham: If you look at the happiest and most successful women--whether they are working or not, or have families or don't--they seem to realize that the challenge of life is not to juggle, the challenge is to catch--to select a few clear strong moments from each aspect of your life and reach for those, draw them in to you. If you want to live a full life, a life that fulfills you, then you need to know in each part of your life which are the specific moments that really renew your energy, and bring you joy, and go after them. You want to imbalance your life toward creating more of those specific moments. It's a very different approach. It's not "learn to say no," it’s "learn to say yes." Learn who you are clearly enough to know which moments you need to say "yes" to, and understand that the moments won't be the same for your sister, or your next-door neighbor, or your co-worker.

I call this "catch and cradle." In contrast with manic juggling, there is a deliberate reaching for specific moments to cradle. When you cradle a baby, you concentrate on it, feel its weight, and allow it to move you; you're very responsive to it. Cradling is a very nurturing position; you're not grasping it to you, there's hopefulness to it.

As an example, Candace Nelson realized she had to get her career on the right track. She was 30 years old, a successful venture capitalist, but not fulfilled in life. Talking to her mom on the phone, she remembered that when they traveled, they would always visit the local patisseries and bakeries. Candace thought, "I’ve always loved the smell of vanilla and baked bread. I'm going to sign up for cooking classes in the evening." Cradling means that you pay attention to the thing that you're holding, and while pulling the gizzards out of some bird, Candace realized, "It's not cooking; I like baking, and particularly I like baking to celebrate special occasions with birthday cakes or happy cupcakes." She started baking and selling cupcakes out of her house, and it progressed so well, she felt she had a solid business opportunity. Candace founded Sprinkles in Los Angeles and it became a massive success with five stores and mentions in national magazines. People say "find your passion," but you don't find it, you build your passion out of a moment that catches your attention; you cradle it and allow it to grow and see where it takes you as it becomes more detailed, vivid, and substantial. For Candace, it became her career and life.

Amazon.com: Your Strong Life Test is a unique profile-builder that helps women identify their Lead Role, the role they were born to play in life. How does it work and what is its benefit to women?

Marcus Buckingham: Life is really loud and demanding. I designed the Strong Life Test to help women quiet the noise and sort through the clamor of competing voices, expectations, and demands in any situation that they face, whether as a spouse, relative, mother, or employee. The Strong Life Test helps women recognize, given their lead role, what kind of strong moments they should look for. The test is like a compass; it helps you to know where to start to look, in any domain of your life, and to know what kind of moments are going to strengthen you the most, invigorate you the most, bring joy or excitement or fun, because that is who you are. It doesn't give you all answers; it doesn't indicate that you should start a cupcake business, but it tells you where to start.
This is syndicated from Amazon Blogs, and written by Kindle Editors.
]]> Mon, 26 Oct 2009 11:40:15 -0700 PLNK229BXEFCYKN99