Amazon Books Editors Announce 2012 Best Books of the Year So Far

 Customers can browse and buy the best books of 2012 (so far) in more than a dozen popular categories on Amazon.com

 

SEATTLE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jun. 25, 2012-- (NASDAQ: AMZN)—Amazon.com, Inc. today announced their annual Best Books of the Year So Far list, a midyear retrospective that highlights the best books released in 2012 between January and June. “Behind the Beautiful Forevers,” “Gone Girl” and “The Fault in Our Stars” took the top three spots. Along with an overall Top 20 list, customers looking for great books to read this summer will find Top 10 editors’ picks lists in 13 popular categories, from Cookbooks, Food & Wine to Teens to Romance. The Best Books of the Year So Far are available in print and Kindle editions at www.amazon.com/bestbookssofar.

“The variety of books on the list reflects the broad range of titles published in 2012 so far,” said Sara Nelson, Editorial Director for Books, Amazon.com. “To us, ‘Behind the Beautiful Forevers’ is a masterpiece in nonfiction writing. But we rounded out the top three with a thriller and a young adult novel – there really is something for everyone on this list. Helping customers find and discover outstanding books is an important role for us at Amazon, and we look forward to discovering new and innovative ways of bringing our customers in contact with books we think they'll love.”

12 Little Factoid

Amazon Web Services Adds Microsoft Windows Server Instances to Free Usage Tier

SEATTLE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 16, 2012-- Amazon Web Services LLC (AWS), an Amazon.com company (NASDAQ:AMZN), today announced that customers can now run their Microsoft Windows Server applications within the AWS Free Usage Tier – a program designed to help new AWS customers get started in the cloud. Developers and businesses with Windows Server applications can take advantage of 750 hours of Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (Amazon EC2) Micro Instance usage per month, at no charge for a one year period. With the expansion of the AWS Free Usage Tier, Windows developers now have access to the same free resources on AWS as Linux developers -- providing the ability to launch new applications, test existing applications in the cloud, or gain hands-on experience with AWS. For more details and information on getting started with Windows on AWS, visit http://aws.amazon.com/windows/. 

Paradise Inn grand opening @Sunway Pyramid

A classic oriental dining experience

5 January 2012- With a concept that brings you back to ancient China, Paradise Inn is a place that gives out a classic oriental vibe right in Sunway Pyramid. Walks pass the grand entrance and be amazed at the spacious dining area decorated with beautiful tailor made Chinese lanterns. The walls are adorned by mirror panels complete with jade symbols that is reminiscent of an old teahouse. The place can fit close to 150 guests at a time and it comes with two VIP rooms that can fit a table for ten. Paradise inn is a place for you to enjoy classic Chinese cuisine from double soups to flower teas. Try out the restaurant’s signature dishes like Teochew Style crisp-fried prawn rolls, golden mushroom tossed with onion oil or the marinated jelly fish with vinaigrette.

Romney wins N.H. primary; Paul in 2nd and Huntsman 3rd

MANCHESTER, N.H. – Republican front-runner Mitt Romney easily captured the nation's first primary election Tuesday, while his distant rivals were already aiming at scuttling the budding Romney express before South Carolina's Jan. 21 matchup.

"Thank you New Hampshire. Tonight we made history," Romney told well-wishers, flanked by wife Ann, their five sons and extended family. "Tonight we celebrate, tomorrow we go back to work."

• STORY: Can 2-for-2 Romney be stopped?

• PHOTOS: GOP candidates in New Hampshire

‘Dark Knight Rises’ star Anne Hathaway: ‘Gotham City is full of grace’

SPOILER WARNING: This story, which will appear in the upcoming Los Angeles Times 2012 Film Sneaks issue, reveals some details about a scene in the upcoming film “The Dark Knight Rises.” 


Gotham City is a war zone. A ruthless madman named Bane has ripped away any sense of security and the citizens, haggard and clutching suitcases with refugee anxiety, sit behind barbed wire waiting to see what will blow up next. A hooded prisoner is dragged in – it’s Bruce Wayne, one of Gotham’s most famous faces – but the eyes of the crowd go instead to the woman in black standing at the top of the staircase.

“Sorry to spoil things, boys, but Bane needs these guys himself,” says sultry Selina Kyle, played here by actress Anne Hathaway, navigating the steps with stiletto heels that, on closer inspection, turn out to have serrated edges capable of leaving nasty claw marks in a fight. She also wears high-tech goggles that, when not in use, flip up and resemble feline ears.

IRS contacts 1 in 8 millionaires seeking extra taxes, just 1 in 100 earning under $200K yearly

WASHINGTON (AP) -- One in eight people earning at least $1 million annually was audited by the Internal Revenue Service last year, making them far likelier to be examined than those making below $200,000, according to IRS data released Thursday.

Just 1 in 100 individuals earning less than $200,000 had their income tax returns examined, the IRS said.

The 12 percent of millionaire earners audited in 2011 was appreciably higher than the 8 percent who were audited in 2010. IRS officials said the high ratio was part of an effort to demonstrate that tax laws are applied fairly.

Child Actors: Then and Now

While it's hard not to love child actors, the unfortunate reality is they grow up and we lose track of them, as newer cuter editions take their spots in our hearts. But what becomes of them? We tracked down pics our favorite kid stars to see what they look like now. 

Tahj Mowry (Full House, Smart Guy): THEN

Police: Student killed by officers had pellet gun

BROWNSVILLE, Texas (AP) — An armed eighth-grader gunned down by police officers in the hallway of his Texas middle school Wednesday was brandishing a pellet gun that looked like a firearm, and he refused repeated orders to lower the weapon before the officers opened fire, police said.

The carbon-dioxide powered pellet gun 15-year-old Jaime Gonzalez was holding looked like a handgun, and the initial report to police that sent officers rushing to Cummings Middle School Wednesday morning was for a student seen holding a gun, Orlando Rodriguez, Brownsville's interim police chief, said at a news conference.
Robert Valle, a 13-year-old who was among the school's 750 students locked down in their classrooms during the confrontation, said he heard police run down the hallway and yell "put the gun down," before several shots were fired.