On My Radar (Friday Edition)

Broker, Trader, Lawyer, Spy: The Secret World of Corporate Espionage
by Eamon Javers
HarperBusiness
Trade Paperback

Publisher Website

Excerpt in The Wall Street Journal

Boston Globe Review


Eamon Javers on The Daily Show (video)

On My Radar (Thursday Edition)

The Inevitable: Contemporary Writers Confront Death
Edited by David Shields & Bradford Morrow
W.W. Norton & Company
Trade Paperback

Publisher Website

David Shields' Website

Bradford Morrow's Website

Seattle Times Review

On My Radar (Wiley Edition)

Disciplined Dreaming: A Proven System to Drive Breakthrough Creativity
by Josh Linkner
John Wiley @ Sons
Hardcover

Publisher Website

Author Website

 A few years ago I had a dream in which I could fly and it was the most amazing dream ever.  I have always wondered about the lives we lead just behind our eyelids while we sleep.

On My Radar (Random House Edition)

Kingpin: How One Hacker Took Over the Billion-Dollar Cybercrime Underground
by Kevin Poulsen
Random House/Crown Publishing
Hardcover

Publisher Website

Book Website

Kevin Poulsen on Twitter


Review of Hacker on io9.com

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You Couldn't Ignore Me If You Tried: The Brat Pack, John Hughes, and Their Impact on a Generation
by Susannah Gora
Random House/Three Rivers Press
Trade Paperback

Publisher Website

Author Website


Book Website

New York Post Review

On My Radar (Saturday Edition)

Inside WikiLeaks: My Time with Julian Assange at the World's Most Dangerous Website
by Daniel Domscheit-Berg
Crown Publishing/Random House
Hardcover

Publisher Website

Boston Globe Review

Huffington Post

New York Times

On My Radar (Friday Edition)

Autobiograpy of an Execution
by David R. Dow
Hachette/Twelve Books
Hardcover

  "I'm against the death penalty, but I'm not a pacifist."
                                    -- David R. Dow

Publisher Website

New York Times Review

 Read an Excerpt





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Just as a reminder, BookSpin is giving away another book! This weeks' giveaway is WHERE DOES THE MONEY GO? by Scott Bittle & Jean Johnson (editors of publicagenda.org). The winner will be chosen tonight and contacted as soon as possible.

To be entered for a chance to win a copy of WHERE DOES THE MONEY GO?,  tweet the following:

@book_dude is giving away a copy of WHERE DOES THE MONEY GO? from @harpercollins  http://bookspin.blogspot.com RT for a chance to win

On My Radar (Harper Collins Edition)

A Widow's Story: A Memoir
by Joyce Carol Oates
Ecco/Harper Collins
Hardcover

Publisher Website


New York Times Review of A Widow's Story

Interview with the author from The Daily Beast


Excerpt of A Widow's Story in the Atlantic magazine

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Spark: How Creativity Works
by Julie Burstein
Harper Collins
Hardcover

Publisher Website

Author Website

Review of Spark: How Creativity Works

Interview with the author on NewsHour on PBS

Browse Inside Spark: How Creativity Works


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Just as a reminder, BookSpin is giving away another book! This weeks' giveaway is WHERE DOES THE MONEY GO? by Scott Bittle & Jean Johnson (editors of publicagenda.org).

To be entered for a chance to win a copy of WHERE DOES THE MONEY GO?,  tweet the following:

@book_dude is giving away a copy of WHERE DOES THE MONEY GO? from @harpercollins  http://bookspin.blogspot.com RT for a chance to win

New BookSpin Giveaway - Where Does The Money Go?

Today, Valentine's Day, President Obama is set to submit his budget to Congress, merely the first in what is sure to become a loud and hopefully productive back-and-forth.

On January 19th, I promoted several books from Harper Collins on BookSpin, one of which is titled "Where Does The Money Go? Your Guided Tour to the Federal Budget Crisis by Scott Bittle and Jean Johnson.  Today, I am announcing I will give away a copy of this book on Friday, February 18th.

Perhaps this book isn't for everyone, but it should be.  I am currently reading it, and as dry as you may think it could be, it isn't.  Don't get me wrong...I don't expect this book to be a bestseller, but it should be.

Check out the financial facts in this video:



On Sunday, cnn.com led their financial news with a story on President Obama's announcement today:

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- President Obama on Monday will propose a 2012 federal budget that the White House says will cut deficits by $1.1 trillion over 10 years.

It's a start.

To be entered for a chance to win a copy of WHERE DOES THE MONEY GO?,  tweet the following:

@book_dude is giving away a copy of WHERE DOES THE MONEY GO? from @harpercollins  http://bookspin.blogspot.com RT for a chance to win

On My Radar (Friday Edition)

The Greatest Game Ever Pitched: Juan Marichal, Warren Spahn, and the Pitching Duel of the Century
by Jim Kaplan
Triumph Books
Hardcover

I am always interested in a good sports book.
Triumph Books always has a great selection
of backlist and new release titles which threaten my already precarious to-be read stacks of books.

Publisher Website

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I will be announcing the winner of the book AMERICAN IDOL: The Untold Story at about 9 a.m. Central time today on my twitter feed.

On My Radar (Wednesday Edition)

No One Would Listen: A True Financial Thriller
by Harry Markopolos
John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Hardcover


Publisher Website


Book Website

Review of No One Would Listen

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Don't forget:

BookSpin is hosting a giveaway for Richard Rushfield's in-depth look at the phenomenon we know as American Idol.

To be entered into the random drawing to win American Idol please cut & paste & tweet the following:

@book_dude is giving away a copy of AMERICAN IDOL:THE UNTOLD STORY by @richardrushfield. http://bookspin.blogspot.com RT for a chance to win

BookSpin Giveaway

Today I am announcing the next BookSpin giveaway.  Courtesy of Hyperion/Harper Collins we are giving away one copy of American Idol: The Untold Story by Richard Rushfield.

The stars in their own words.

The truth behind the voting.

The rivalries, the meltdowns, and the departures.

Publisher Website

Author Website

Interview with the Author

Review of American Idol: The Untold Story

To be entered into the random drawing to win American Idol please cut & paste & tweet the following:

@book_dude is giving away a copy of AMERICAN IDOL:THE UNTOLD STORY by @richardrushfield. http://bookspin.blogspot.com RT for a chance to win

On My Radar (Friday Edition)

The Big Short
by Michael Lewis
W.W. Norton & Company, Inc.
Trade Paperback

Publisher Website

Michael Lewis' books


Review of The Big Short

Washington Post review of The Big Short

Endgame by Frank Brady

Endgame               
by Frank Brady
Crown Publishers / Random House
Hardcover

If you or someone you know love biographies, there is a new one out this week that is a must-read.  Endgame: Bobby Fischer's Remarkable Rise and Fall - From America's Brightest Prodigy to the Edge of Madness by Frank Brady is a thoroughly engrossing cautionary tale.

Raised fatherless with questionable paternity by a loving yet overwhelmed mother, Fischer discovers chess at an early age. The game quickly becomes his obsession.  To be truthful, obsession is not a strong enough word.  Fischer's devotion to the game is beyond obsession; I don't believe there is a word in the English language which can properly describe the level of Fischer's passion.

In my estimation, Bobby Fischer never had a chance to develop the social skills necessary to cultivate anything resembling a normal life.  Remarkably, the biographer is able to portray Fischer, disgusting behavior and all, as a sympathetic character.

There is not a lot of facts that are new in the book -- the appeal of Endgame is the depth of research.  It seems Brady must have interviewed everyone who ever knew Fischer in any real way.  I have often repeated the famous quote, "Truth is stranger than fiction."  This book is a prime example of that axiom.  If this book were a work of fiction, it would be unbelievable.

I cannot urge biography fans enough to add this book to their collection.

Publisher Website

Frank Brady on Goodreads


Excerpt of Endgame on Scribd


New York Times Review of Endgame