What the Kindle Team Is Reading, Part 2

Uncanny Tales by F. Marion Crawford

Seven classic Stories of Ghosts, Vampires, and Witches: This is one of the all-time classic collections of ghost stories by American author F. Marion Crawford. Crawford wrote dozens of novels (many set in Ancient Rome), but today he is best remembered for his classic ghost stories, such as "The Upper Berth" considered by many the "greatest" of ghost stories, and "Man Overboard!", as well as the classic Gothic vampire tale, "For The Blood Is The Life." The other stories in this collection are likewise classic tales: "The Dead Smile," "The Screaming Skull," "By The Waters Of Paradise," and "The Doll's Ghost."

“This was a welcome surprise that was suggested to me after I preordered the ebook of Stephen King’s upcoming Full Dark, No Stars. It’s a book from 1911 filled with classic spine-tinglers including “The Upper Berth,” named one of Stephen King’s Top 10 Horror Stories in The Book of Lists: Horror. I’m waiting for just the right mood to strike me before curling up with these--a dark, stormy night I presume when there’s nothing on Showtime.”

- Stephanie D., Vendor Manager


The Maze Runner by James Dashner

When Thomas wakes up in the lift, the only thing he can remember is his first name. His memory is blank. But he’s not alone. When the lift’s doors open, Thomas finds himself surrounded by kids who welcome him to the Glade--a large, open expanse surrounded by stone walls.  Just like Thomas, the Gladers don’t know why or how they got to the Glade. All they know is that every morning the stone doors to the maze that surrounds them have opened. Every night they’ve closed tight. And every 30 days a new boy has been delivered in the lift.  Thomas was expected. But the next day, a girl is sent up--the first girl to ever arrive in the Glade. And more surprising yet is the message she delivers.  Thomas might be more important than he could ever guess. If only he could unlock the dark secrets buried within his mind.

“To be honest – I started this as something to do while waiting for Mockingjay to release.  And to be even more honest, Dashner’s series gives Suzanne Collins a run for her money.  His protagonist, Thomas, is just as scrappy and resourceful as The Hunger Games’ heroine Katniss Everdeen, and what’s at scope in The Maze Runner is even more wickedly complex and intriguing.  As the characters encounter brutal situations with ingenious solutions, the fast-paced plot and tangle of intrigue will keep your thumb on the “Next Page” button.  Can’t wait for the second book in the trilogy! (The Scorch Trials, available as a Kindle preorder.)”

- Jon M., Technical Account Manager


Faithful Place by Tana French

Back in 1985, Frank Mackey was nineteen, growing up poor in Dublin's inner city, and living crammed into a small flat with his family on Faithful Place. But he had his sights set on a lot more. He and Rosie Daly were all ready to run away to London together, get married, get good jobs, break away from factory work and poverty and their old lives. But on the winter night when they were supposed to leave, Rosie didn't show. Frank took it for granted that she'd dumped him-probably because of his alcoholic father, nutcase mother, and generally dysfunctional family. He never went home again. Neither did Rosie. Everyone thought she had gone to England on her own and was over there living a shiny new life. Then, twenty-two years later, Rosie's suitcase shows up behind a fireplace in a derelict house on Faithful Place, and Frank is going home whether he likes it or not.  Getting sucked in is a lot easier than getting out again. Frank finds himself straight back in the dark tangle of relationships he left behind. The cops working the case want him out of the way, in case loyalty to his family and community makes him a liability. Faithful Place wants him out because he's a detective now, and the Place has never liked cops. Frank just wants to find out what happened to Rosie Daly-and he's willing to do whatever it takes, to himself or anyone else, to get the job done.

“This is the third book from the wonderful, Irish writer Tana French. I count the days until she writes another. While her books would easily fit into the mystery/thriller category, it is her writing that makes these stories stay with me long after I have savored the final words. Her novels all center around a particular group of detectives in Dublin, but each is a separate story following a different main character. For those with extra time, I also recommend her first two books, In the Woods and The Likeness.”

- Sarah C., Sr. Vendor Manager


Super Sad True Love Story by Gary Shteyngart

In a very near future--oh, let’s say next Tuesday--a functionally illiterate America is about to collapse. But don’t that tell that to poor Lenny Abramov, the thirty-nine-year-old son of an angry Russian immigrant janitor, proud author of what may well be the world’s last diary, and less-proud owner of a bald spot shaped like the great state of Ohio. Despite his job at an outfit called Post-Human Services, which attempts to provide immortality for its super-rich clientele, death is clearly stalking this cholesterol-rich morsel of a man. And why shouldn’t it? Lenny’s from a different century--he totally loves books (or “printed, bound media artifacts,” as they’re now known), even though most of his peers find them smelly and annoying. But even more than books, Lenny loves Eunice Park, an impossibly cute and impossibly cruel twenty-four-year-old Korean American woman who just graduated from Elderbird College with a major in Images and a minor in Assertiveness.  After meeting Lenny on an extended Roman holiday, blistering Eunice puts that Assertiveness minor to work, teaching our “ancient dork” effective new ways to brush his teeth and making him buy a cottony nonflammable wardrobe. But America proves less flame-resistant than Lenny’s new threads. The country is crushed by a credit crisis, riots break out in New York’s Central Park, the city’s streets are lined with National Guard tanks on every corner, the dollar is so over, and our patient Chinese creditors may just be ready to foreclose on the whole mess. Undeterred, Lenny vows to love both Eunice and his homeland. He’s going to convince his fickle new love that in a time without standards or stability, in a world where single people can determine a dating prospect’s “hotness” and “sustainability” with the click of a button, in a society where the privileged may live forever but the unfortunate will die all too soon, there is still value in being a real human being.

“So far, this book is pretty weird. But a good sort of Vonnegut-esque weird.  Let’s just put it this way – in the not-so-distant future all of your interactions with government will be through a cartoon otter in a cowboy hat.”

- Sarah F., Content QA Manager


The Last Stand by Nathaniel Philbrick

Little Bighorn and Custer are names synonymous in the American imagination with unmatched bravery and spectacular defeat. Mythologized as Custer's Last Stand, the June 1876 battle has been equated with other famous last stands, from the Spartans' defeat at Thermopylae to Davy Crockett at the Alamo.  In his tightly structured narrative, Nathaniel Philbrick brilliantly sketches the two larger-than-life antagonists: Sitting Bull, whose charisma and political savvy earned him the position of leader of the Plains Indians, and George Armstrong Custer, one of the Union's greatest cavalry officers and a man with a reputation for fearless and often reckless courage. Philbrick reminds readers that the Battle of the Little Bighorn was also, even in victory, the last stand for the Sioux and Cheyenne Indian nations. Increasingly outraged by the government's Indian policies, the Plains tribes allied themselves and held their ground in southern Montana. Within a few years of Little Bighorn, however, all the major tribal leaders would be confined to Indian reservations.  Throughout, Philbrick beautifully evokes the history and geography of the Great Plains with his characteristic grace and sense of drama. The Last Stand is a mesmerizing account of the archetypal story of the American West, one that continues to haunt our collective imagination.

“Starting with its breathtaking preface, this book taught me everything I never learned in history class about Custer, Sitting Bull, and U.S. expansion into the American West.  Myths are busted, heroes made, and I’ve got a new road trip--to South Dakota--on my vacation list.”

- Kevin M., Vendor Manager


UnSweetined by Jodie Sweetin

Beloved Full House star Jodie Sweetin recounts her journey from being one of America’s sweethearts to a life of drug abuse and finally recovery.

One day, in a fit of curiosity, I did a search for Jodie Sweetin’s name on Google. While I was typing it, Google suggested a few autocomplete options, amongst which was something like “Jodie Sweetin meth addict”.  Enter “UnSweetined”. UnSweetined, like Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, begins in the middle of the action. Jodie Sweetin, once a seven year-old crush of mine, had grown into a full-fledged meth addict; a far cry from her co-star on the show, Candice Cameron, who married a wonderful hockey player. Jodie Sweetin, the beloved Stephanie Tanner, immediately uses the “F-word” and regales us with a story riddled with illicit drug use, drunk driving, and house music, all of which occurred mere hours before a speech she would give at a university about overcoming drug addiction. I was hooked. Where would these adventures take our Stephanie? Not very far, it turns out. I expected a wild ride through Jodie’s life, but what I received instead was a poorly written list of braggadocios about how smart she thinks she is, how awesomely deceitful she was (she uses the word “slick”, but it’s really just deceit), and how fancy her rehab facilities were. When I finally finished reading it, I felt terrible. Not because of the hardships that she went through in order to recover from her addiction, but because the sheer amount of money that was spent on her attempts at recovery could bring dozens of addicts out of their rut if the money had been properly allocated to them.  At its heart, UnSweetined is an honest autobiography, but I don’t think that we should praise it for the sake of being honest, since that, to me, seems to be the bare minimum when writing an autobiography. There’s not much else going on here though.

- Sharat G., UK Technical Account Manager