It was announced this week that Ron Chernow’s most excellent biography of George Washington, aptly named “Washington: A Life” (book review) won the Pulitzer Prize. I think the prize is well deserved, Mr. Chernow has the ability to bring historical figures to life and his books read like novels. Here are a few interesting facts I learned from “Washington: A Life” and from our family trip to Washington’s estate in Mt. Vernon, Virginia. 1) In the French and Indian War, while fighting in the British Army, Washington got hit with four bullets in his coat and hat and had two horses shot from underneath him. Washington remained unscathed which started his bullet proof reputation. 2) George Washington always regretted not having a college education. 3) Washington’s home, Mt. Vernon may look like it’s build out of stone, but it’s actually wood with sand thrown on the white paint. 4) George Washington loved animals. Over his life he had over 30 dogs and when the Revolutionary War was over, he retired his horse Nelson and forbade anyone from using him for farm work. 5) Martha Washington spent half of the Revolutionary War with her husband and used her time to fixed…

I also noticed that children like to read about someone which is the same sex and same age, actually a year or two older is usually preferable

The dark, brooding and punishing interactions between the complex characters are a mastery of storytelling. The characters are also part of this complex plot

In the news last week it was announced that certain publishers decided that eBooks which have been sold to libraries will have a license to allow a book to be loaned 26 times before the embedded DRM (Digital Rights Management system) kicks in so the library will have to buy a new copy.

Michael Korda treats this pivotal occurrence in the life of T.E. Lawrence’s with sensitivity and seriousness it deserves.

Amanda Hocking (blog | Amazon Page) is from Minnesota, she is 26, self published and … sold 900,000 copies of her books (and no, she doesn’t have a reality TV show). While I usually don’t read the paranormal genre I have to admire what Ms. Hocking has achieved and, what I believe to be, a big trend which I hope will continue. That trend is that us, book consumers, will decide who will be the next best seller, not some marketing guru sitting in an ivory tower high above Times Square negotiation for shelf space in a book store. Is traditional publishing dead? Not by a long shot but the way business is done certainly has to be looked at (hint: pricing eBooks the same as print books is not the way to go). Ms. Hocking’s books sell anywhere from $0.99 to $3 and her fans happily buy more and more. She isn’t trying to compete with the big guys who can alienate more readers, quite the opposite – Ms. Hocking sells the products her customers want to buy. Innovative? Maybe for those executives who want customers to buy what they sell them. While Ms. Hocking’s story certainly is the…

This book is certainly worth reading, there are some faults but it is a wonderful first effort by Mr. Lukas who certainly has a story telling capability

I’ve finally figured out why we laugh at someone when they do something dorky. When they almost trip, only to find that the bottom cup wasn’t quite empty.

Author W.K. Berger has published his book “The Purples” (Book Review) independently even though he is an established and published author

Joe is not a perfect narrator and after finishing the book I finally saw what the author was trying to convey, a hard man making a hard living