Kindle Magazine Bonanza for Sci/Fi and Mystery Fans

If you like science fiction and/or mysteries, head on over to the Amazon Kindle Store to check out 4 new magazines available today:

Analog Science Fiction & Fact. Dell Magazines. Kindle Subscription $2.99 a month, including free wireless delivery. Single issue $3.49. Published since 1930, Analog Science Fiction and Fact is one of the most enduring and popular magazines of science fiction. Its editorial emphasis is on realistic stories that reflect high standards of scientific accuracy and imagination, and lively articles about current research on the frontiers of real science. A recurrent theme in both fiction and provocative opinion columns is the human impact of science and technology. ANALOG has won numerous Nebula, Hugo, and other awards acknowledging it as a leading periodical in the field. The Kindle Edition of Analog Science Fiction and Fact features a double issue in July. As such, you will not receive an issue for the following month of August.

Asimovs Science Fiction. Dell Magazines. Kindle Subscription $2.99 a month, including free wireless delivery. Single issue $3.49. Asimov's Science Fiction magazine publishes outstanding short fantasy and science fiction by today's leading authors. As we celebrate our 30th anniversary, we continue to showcase stories that are innovative and entertaining. Our stories have won 44 Hugos and 25 Nebula Awards. In addition to fiction, readers stay informed about SF and fantasy through a monthly editorial column, an Internet column, insightful book reviews, and thought-provoking articles about science and science fiction. The Kindle Edition of Asimov's Science Fiction features double issues in the months of April and October. In these instances, you will not receive an issue the following month (i.e. there will be no May and November issues).

Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine. Dell Magazines. Kindle Subscription $2.99 a month, including free wireless delivery. Single issue $3.49. "For fifty years, Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine has been one of the foremost publishers of mystery, crime, and suspense short stories. AHMM each month publishes mystery fiction of the broadest range and the highest quality, featuring every subgenre of mystery fiction. Stories featured in AHMM have won dozens of awards, including many Robert L. Fish awards for Best First Mystery Short Story of the year. The Kindle Edition of Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine features a double issue in July. As such, you will not receive an issue for the following month of August.

Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine. Dell Magazines. Kindle Subscription $2.99 a month, including free wireless delivery. Single issue $3.49. "After 66 years in print Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine is America's oldest and most celebrated crime-fiction publication. "The best mystery magazine in the world, bar none", quotes Stephen King. Featured in its pages are short stories by the world’s leading writers of suspense. The full range of the genre is covered, from the cozy to the hardboiled, the historical to the contemporary—including police procedurals, P.I. stories, psychological suspense, locked-room and impossible-crime tales, classical whodunits, and urban noir. EQMM stories include scores of winners of the Edgar, Agatha, Shamus, Anthony, Derringer, Macavity, Barry, Arthur Ellis, and Robert L. Fish awards. The Kindle Edition of Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine features double issues in the months of March and September. In these instances, you will not receive an issue the following month (i.e. there will be no April and October issues).

Kindle Joins the Jane Austen Book Club

Today's Amazon Kindle status: IN STOCK for free two-day delivery!

Recently I rented the movie The Jane Austen Book Club, starring Maria Bello, Emily Blunt, Kathy Baker, Amy Brenneman, Maggie Grace, Jimmy Smits and Hugh Dancy. It's about five women and one man who - each for different reasons - join a book club devoted to reading and discussing six Austen novels. One of the women has just found out that her husband has been cheating on her, another has been married six times and is looking for number seven, another is in an unhappy marriage, another has never married and the man (Hugh Dancy, playing Grigg) wonders at times why he ever got involved. They meet over a six month period and each month read and discuss one novel. The movie is engaging, fun and sad at the same time, well worth an evening away from your Kindle.

The book the movie, based on The Jane Austen Book Club by Karen Joy Fowler, is now available in a Kindle edition as are all the novels read by the Book Club.

Although Austen's novels are readily available for free download from ManyBooks.net, Feedbooks, and at the MobileRead Forums, you might want to consider doing what Grigg, the lone male member of the Jane Austen Book Club did. Grigg had never read Austen until joining the club and as a science fiction fan, he thought Austen might have written one novel with many sequels as is common in the sci/fi genre. So before the first meeting of the club he purchased the complete works in one volume. Jane Austen: The Complete Illustrated Novels is priced right ($4.79) at Amazon and includes not only seven Austen novels, but also a biography of the author, Kindle navigation aids, and illustrations.

Here are the Jane Austen Book Club Selections if you wish to follow along with the movie:

Mar
Emma

Apr
Sense and Sensibility

May
Mansfield Park

Jun
Northanger Abbey

Jul
Pride and Prejudice

Aug
Persuasion

Can't get enough of JA? Check out The Jane Austen Society of North America and the Republic of Pemberley.

A Week of Entertainment: Books Reviewed in Entertainment Weekly 04/11/08

Today's Amazon Kindle status: IN STOCK for free two-day delivery!

Each week Entertainment Weekly reviews a small selection of popular new books. Here's a rundown of titles available for the Kindle reviewed in the April 11th issue.

THE GENIUS, by Jesse Kellerman. Putnam, 2008. THRILLER. EW rating:B+. Kindle edition $9.99. "Ethan Muller is struggling to establish his reputation as a dealer in the cut-throat world of contemporary art when he stumbles onto a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity: in a decaying New York slum, an elderly tenant named Victor Cracke has disappeared, leaving behind an enormous trove of original artwork. So what if, strictly speaking, the art doesn't belong to Ethan? He can sell it-and he does just that, mounting a wildly successful show. Buyers clamor. Critics sing. Museums are interested, and Ethan's photo looks great in The New York Times. And that's when things go to hell. Suddenly the police are interested in talking to him. It seems that Victor Cracke had a nasty past, and the drawings hanging in the Muller Gallery have begun to look a lot less like art and a lot more like evidence. Is Cracke a genius? A murderer? Both? Is there a difference? Sucked into an investigation four decades cold, Ethan will uncover a secret legacy of shame and death, one that touches horrifyingly close to home. Kellerman's tight, assured prose is electrifying, exhilarating, and compulsively readable." - Amazon book description.

CERTAIN GIRLS, by Jennifer Weiner. Atria Books, 2008. NOVEL. EW rating: B. Kindle edition $9.99. "Readers fell in love with Cannie Shapiro, the smart, sharp-tongued, bighearted heroine of GOOD IN BED who found her happy ending after her mother came out of the closet, her father fell out of her life, and her ex-boyfriend started chronicling their ex-sex life in the pages of a national magazine. Now Cannie's back. After her debut novel -- a fictionalized (and highly sexualized) version of her life -- became an overnight bestseller, she dropped out of the public eye and turned to writing science fiction under a pseudonym. She's happily married to the tall, charming diet doctor Peter Krushelevansky and has settled into a life that she finds wonderfully predictable -- knitting in the front row of her daughter Joy's drama rehearsals, volunteering at the library, and taking over-forty yoga classes with her best friend Samantha. As preparations for Joy's bat mitzvah begin, everything seems right in Cannie's world. Then Joy discovers the novel Cannie wrote years before and suddenly finds herself faced with what she thinks is the truth about her own conception -- the story her mother hid from her all her life.... Radiantly funny and disarmingly tender, with Weiner's whip-smart dialogue and sharp observations of modern life, Certain Girls is an unforgettable story about love, loss, and the enduring bonds of family." - Amazon book description.

UNACCUSTOMED EARTH, by Jhumpa Lahiri. Knopf, 2008. SHORT STORIES. EW rating:B+. Kindle edition $9.99. Reviewed in the April 4 issue of EW but not available for the Kindle at that time. "The gulf that separates expatriate Bengali parents from their American-raised children—and that separates the children from India—remains Lahiri's subject for this follow-up to Interpreter of Maladies and The Namesake. In this set of eight stories, the results are again stunning. In the title story, Brooklyn-to-Seattle transplant Ruma frets about a presumed obligation to bring her widower father into her home, a stressful decision taken out of her hands by his unexpected independence. The alcoholism of Rahul is described by his elder sister, Sudha; her disappointment and bewilderment pack a particularly powerful punch. And in the loosely linked trio of stories closing the collection, the lives of Hema and Kaushik intersect over the years, first in 1974 when she is six and he is nine; then a few years later when, at 13, she swoons at the now-handsome 16-year-old teen's reappearance; and again in Italy, when she is a 37-year-old academic about to enter an arranged marriage, and he is a 40-year-old photojournalist." - Publishers Weekly.

Have you been thinking about buying a Kindle? Kindles are now in stock and available from Amazon for free two-day delivery. You can order one hereand support The Kindle Reader. Thank you.

Teens luv 2 read Kindle bux, pt 4

This post is the fourth in a five-part series on Kindle fun reads for teens and the young at heart. For more ideas for young adult reading, check out TeenReads.com and Readergirlz.com.

RED GLASS, by Laura Resau. Delacorte Books for Young Readers, 2007. NOVEL. Kindle edition $9.99. "One night Sophie and her parents are called to a hospital where Pedro, 6-year-old Mexican boy, is recovering from dehydration. Crossing the border into Arizona with a group of Mexicans and a coyote, or guide, Pedro and his parents faced such harsh conditions that the boy is the only survivor. Pedro comes to live with Sophie, her parents, and Sophie's Aunt Dika, a refugee of the war in Bosnia. Sophie loves Pedro - her Principito, or Little Prince. But after a year, Pedro's surviving family in Mexico makes contact, and Sophie, Dika, Dika's new boyfriend, and his son must travel with Pedro to his hometown so that he can make a heartwrenching decision." - Amazon book description.

THE POISONWOOD BIBLE, by Barbara Kingsolver. HarperCollins e-books, 2007. NOVEL. Oprah's Book Club selection. Kindle edition $9.56. "The Poisonwood Bible is a story told by the wife and four daughters of Nathan Price, a fierce, evangelical Baptist who takes his family and mission to the Belgian Congo in 1959. They carry with them everything they believe they will need from home, but soon find that all of it -- from garden seeds to Scripture -- is calamitously transformed on African soil. What follows is a suspenseful epic of one family's tragic undoing and remarkable reconstruction over the course of three decades in postcolonial Africa." - Amazon book description.

THE QUEEN OF SECOND PLACE, by Laura Peyton Roberts. Laurel Leaf, 2007. NOVEL. Kindle edition $3.19. "No matter how hard she tries, Cassie is always second best-in school, in life, and especially in love. And lately, Sterling Carter is always one pedicured step ahead of her. Cassie is used to it. Mostly. The problem is, right now she and Sterling both want Kevin Matthews. He's only the hottest new student ever to grace their high school halls. And for the record, Cassie saw him first. But, naturally, Sterling wants him. So Cassie might as well just give up now. Except who says Cassie can't have an equal chance too?" - Amazon book description.

SABRIEL, by Garth Nix. HarperCollins, 2001. FANTASY. Kindle edition $4.76. "Harry Potter fans will likely be drawn to Garth Nix's fantasy, with its magical incantations and young protagonist. In fact, SABRIEL is more evocative of Tolkien's RINGS trilogy--it's an epic journey in a world as richly realized as Middle-earth and much darker and bloodier than Harry's trials at Hogwarts. Unlike THE LORD OF THE RINGS, a young woman's voyage of self-discovery is at the heart of the story." - AudioFile.

SAVING ZOE, by Alyson Noel. St. Martin's Griffin, 2007. NOVEL. Kindle edition $9.99. "Meet fifteen-year-old Echo, a typical teen trying to survive high school without being totally traumatized by boy trouble, friend drama, and school issues. As if she didn't have enough on her plate, Echo is also still dealing with the murder of her sister Zoe. Although it's been over a year, Echo is still reeling from tragedy that changed everything. Beautiful and full of life, Zoe was the glue that held her family together, and although the two sisters were as different as night and day, they still had a bond that Echo can't let go of. When Zoe's old boyfriend Marc shows up one day with Zoe's diary, Echo doesn't think there's anything in there she doesn't already know. But as she gives in to curiosity and starts reading, she learns that her sister led a secret life that no one could have guessed--not even Echo." - Amazon book description.

SPANKING SHAKESPEARE, by Jake Wizner. Random House, 2007. NOVEL. Kindle edition $9.99. "Shakespeare Shapiro always hated his name. His parents bestowed it on him as some kind of sick joke when he was born, and his life has gone downhill from there, one embarrassing incident after another. Entering his senior year of high school, Shakespeare has never had a girlfriend, his younger brother is cooler than he is, and his best friend's favorite topic of conversation is his bowel movements. But Shakespeare will have the last laugh. He is chronicling every mortifying detail in his memoir, the writing project each senior at Shakespeare's high school must complete. And he is doing it brilliantly. And, just maybe, a prize-winning memoir will bring him respect, admiration, and a girlfriend . . . or at least a prom date." - Amazon book description.

Free Sci/Fi Novel for the Kindle: Sun of Suns

To celebrate their soon-to-be launched new social website for fans of science fiction and fantasy, Tor Books is giving away one e-book a week.

Sun of Suns is this week's offering and it's available either for easy Whispernet delivery to your Kindle using the link below or by registering at Tor.com and downloading it to your computer.

Sun of Suns, by Karl Schroeder. Tor Books, 2008. SCIENCE FICTION. Current Amazon customer rating: 4 stars. Kindle edition $0.00.
"With this book Schroeder launches a saga set on Virga, a balloon-world warmed by artificial suns. The inhabitants build, besides their own suns, floating towns. The spaces between the towns, lacking nearby suns, are wintry cold, and only a few pirates and the utterly desperate live on the towns' edges. Hayden Griffen is dead set on revenge for his parents' deaths in the destruction of his home, Aerie, by the nation of Slipstream six years before. Somewhat unexpectedly, after catching the attention of Venera Fanning and becoming her driver, Hayden is dispatched on a mission under Admiral Chaison Fanning, the man he believes responsible for his parents' demise, to find a vast treasure and, even more valuable, a key to the sun and the world outside, where posthumanity reigns. The satisfying opening of a promising space opera. " - Regina Schroeder for Booklist.

Historical Novel Society: Editors' Choice Titles for May 2008 Available for the Kindle

For each quarterly issue of the Historical Novels Review, the editors select a small number of titles they feel exemplify the best in historical fiction. These novels, highly recommended by their reviewers, are designated as Editors' Choice titles.

The May choices include novels set in such locales as Victorian London, small town Alabama of the 1950s, post-WWII Britain, and colonial New England. Here is an e-bibliography of those now available for the Kindle reader:

BOUND, by Sally Gunning. HarperCollins, 2008. Kindle edition $9.99. "Alice Cole spent her first seven years living in two smoky, crowded rooms in London with her family. But a new home and a better life waited in the colonies, or so her father promised -- a bright dream that turned to ashes when her brothers and mother took ill and died during the arduous voyage. Arriving in New England unable to meet the added expenses incurred by their misfortunes at sea, her father bound Alice into servitude to pay his debts." - Amazon book description.

THE DARK LANTERN, by Gerri Brightwell. Crown, 2008. Kindle edition $9.99. "Brightwell's debut, an uncanny thriller, brings late Victorian London to vivid life. Devon-born housemaid Jane Wilbred has snared her new post with the Bentley family with a letter of reference she forged, omitting any mention of the possibly pertinent fact that her late mother was a notorious murderer. That, however, is trifling compared to the shady games being played both upstairs and downstairs at 32 Cursitor Road while the family matriarch lingers on her deathbed, especially the struggle between mysterious beauty Mina Bentley, wife of younger son Robert, and the wan stranger who claims to be the widow of older brother Henry (drowned recently while sailing home after years in India)." - Publishers Weekly.

WICKED CITY, by Ace Atkins. Putnam, 2008. Kindle edition $9.99. "From 'one of crime fiction's most interesting and passionate voices' (Laura Lippman) comes a new 'noir crime classic'" (Mystery Ink) about one of the most notorious towns in American history. In 1955, Look magazine called Phenix City, Alabama, 'The Wickedest City in America... It was a stew of organized crime and corruption, run by a machine that dealt with complaints forcefully and with dispatch. No one dared cross them--no one even tried. And then the machine killed the wrong man. When crime-fighting attorney Albert Patterson is gunned down in a Phoenix City alley in the spring of 1954, the entire town seems to pause just for a moment--and when it starts up again, there is something different about it. A small group of men meet and decide that they have had enough, but what that means and where it will take them is something they could not have foreseen." - Amazon Book Description.

THE MONSTERS OF TEMPLETON, by Lauren Groff. Hyperian, 2008. Kindle edition $9.99. "On the very morning Willie Upton slinks home to Templeton, New York (after a calamitous affair with her archeology professor), the 50-foot-long body of a monster floats from the depths of the town's lake. This unsettling coincidence sets the stage for one of the most original debut novels since The Time Traveler’s Wife. With a clue to the mysterious identity of her father in hand, Willie turns her research skills to unearthing the secrets of the town in letters and pictures (which, 'reproduced' in the book along with increasingly complete family trees, lend an air of historical authenticity). Lauren Groff's endearingly feisty characters imbue the story with enough intrigue to keep readers up long past bedtime, and reading groups will find much to discuss in its themes of "monsters," both in our towns and our families." - Mari Malcolm.

THE OUTCAST, by Sadie Jones. HarperCollins, 2008. Kindle edition $9.99. "A mesmerizing portrait of 1950s hypocrisy and unexpected love, from a powerful new voice. It is 1957, and Lewis Aldridge, straight out of prison, is journeying back to his home in Waterford, a suburban town outside London. He is nineteen years old, and his return will have dramatic consequences not just for his family, but for the whole community." - Amazon book description.

Teens luv 2 read Kindle bux, pt 3

Finally Kindles are in stock and available from Amazon for free two-day delivery or overnight delivery for an extra $3.99. You can order one here and support The Kindle Reader. Thank you.

Anticipating more Kindle owners hungry for e-books to fill up their Kindles, let's continue our four-part series on Kindle fun reads for teenagers and the young at heart...

JUST LISTEN, by Sarah Dessen. Puffin, 2008. NOVEL. Kindle edition $7.19. "When Annabel, the youngest of three beautiful sisters, has a bitter falling out with her best friend - the popular and exciting Sophie - she suddenly finds herself isolated and friendless. but then she meets Owen - a loner, passionate about music and his weekly radio show, and always determined to tell the truth. And when they develop a friendship, Annabel is not only introduced to new music but is encouraged to listen to her own inner voice. with Owen's help, can Annabel find the courage to speak out about what exactly happened the night her friendship with Sophie came to a screeching halt?"

LOOKING FOR ALASKA, by John Green. Puffin, 2006. NOVEL. Kindle edition $6.39. "Before. Miles "Pudge" Halter is done with his safe life at home. His whole life has been one big non-event, and his obsession with famous last words has only made him crave "the Great Perhaps" even more (Francois Rabelais, poet). He heads off to the sometimes crazy and anything-but-boring world of Culver Creek Boarding School, and his life becomes the opposite of safe. Because down the hall is Alaska Young. The gorgeous, clever, funny, sexy, self-destructive, screwed up, and utterly fascinating Alaska Young. She is an event unto herself. She pulls Pudge into her world, launches him into the Great Perhaps, and steals his heart. After. Nothing is ever the same.

LOVE, STARGIRL, by Jerry Spinelli. Knopf, 2007. NOVEL. Kindle edition $9.99. "Love, Stargirl picks up a year after Stargirl ends and reveals the new life of the beloved character who moved away so suddenly at the end of Stargirl. The novel takes the form of 'the world's longest letter,' in diary form, going from date to date through a little more than a year's time. In her writing, Stargirl mixes memories of her bittersweet time in Mica, Arizona, with involvements with new people in her life. In Love, Stargirl, we hear the voice of Stargirl herself as she reflects on time, life, Leo, and - of course - love."

THE LUXE, by Anna Godbersen. HarperCollins, 2007. NOVEL. Kindle edition $9.99. "A big, sumptuous tale of catty girls, dark secrets and windswept romance unfurls in this compulsively readable novel of late-19th-century New York City socialites. Godbersen weaves a tenuous web of deceit, backstabbing and pretense that follows four teens: Elizabeth Holland, a prim and proper lady of old-money society, is betrothed to one man, though furtively loves another; Henry Schoonmaker, a debauched playboy who must marry Elizabeth or be disinherited; Diana Holland, Elizabeth’s younger sister who is in love with her fiancé; and Penelope Hayes, a member of the nouveau riche who will stop at nothing to win Henry’s affections." - Kirkus Reviews.

THE NANNY DIARIES, by Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus. St. Martin's Press, 2002. NOVEL. Kindle edition $2.59. You saw the movie (with Scarlett Johansson as the nanny and Laura Linney as Mrs. X), now read the book. The Nanny Diaries is an absolutely addictive peek into the utterly weird world of child rearing in the upper reaches of Manhattan's social strata. Cowritten by two former nannies, Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus, the novel follows the adventures of the aptly named Nan as she negotiates the Byzantine byways of working for Mrs. X, a Park Avenue mommy.

Naomi and Ely's No Kiss List, by Rachel Cohn & David Levithan. Knopf, 2007. NOVEL. Kindle edition $9.99. "Naomi and Ely are best friends. Naomi loves and is in love with Ely, and Ely loves Naomi, but prefers to be in love with boys. So they create their "No Kiss List" of people neither of them is allowed to kiss. And this works fine - until Bruce. Bruce is Naomi's boyfriend, so there's no reason to put him on the List. But Ely kissed Bruce even though he is boring. The result: a rift of universal proportions and the potential end of "Naomi and Ely: the institution." Can these best friends come back together again?".

Free Fantasy Novel for the Kindle: Reiffen's Choice

Reiffen's Choice, by S. C. Butler. Tor Books, reprint ed. 2008. FANTASY NOVEL. Kindle edition $0.00.

With a current reader rating of 4 1/2 stars on Amazon, this epic fantasy novel is currently available free to Kindle owners. It is the first book of the Stoneways trilogy. Book two, Queen Ferris, is not yet available for the Kindle.

"Reiffen, only twelve years old, is the true heir to the thrones of both Wayland and Banking. He and his friends Avender and Ferris live in a magical world of talking animals, dwarves, and shape-shifting bears but…he lives with the shame of knowing that no one will ever let him rule these kingdoms, that their crowns will bring him nothing but betrayal and sorrow…and that he is powerless. Reiffen will have only a short life of child’s innocence, a brief respite from the trial of impossible adult responsibility, the trial of attempting to finish a task he can never complete." - Amazon book description.

Reiffen's Choice received a favorable review at Sci-Fi.com.

Make Yourself Useful: Three Kindle Books That Will Save You Time & Money

Roadfood, by Jane Stern. Broadway, 2008. NONFICTION. Kindle edition $7.96. Who doesn't want to save time and money when traveling? Roadfood - not to be confused with "roadkill" - will help you find good local eating places from coast to coast.
"For road warriors and armchair epicures alike, the seventh edition of Roadfood is the key to finding some of the tastiest treasures in the United States. The indispensable companion for savvy travelers nationwide, Roadfood is now bigger and better than ever. Totally revised and updated, the seventh edition covers over 700 of the country's best local eateries, including more than 200 brand new listings along with up-to-date descriptions of old favorites. An extended tour of the most affordable, most enjoyable dining options along America's highways and back roads, Roadfood offers enticing, satisfying meal-time alternatives for chain restaurant-weary travelers. The Sterns provide vivid descriptions and clear regional maps that direct people to the best lobster shacks on the East Coast; the ultimate barbecue joints in the South; the most sizzling steakhouses in the Midwest; and dozens of top-notch diners, hotdog stands, ice cream parlors, and other terrific spots to stop for a bite countrywide." - Amazon book description.

The Ultimate Accidental Housewife, by Julie Edelman. Hyperion, 2008. NONFICTION. Kindle edition $9.56. Now that you've finally got your Kindle, you've got to find time to read. Or have you? What about those dirty dishes in the sink and those dust bunnies the cat is choking on? The Ultimate Accidental Housewife comes to the rescue with a cleaning plan that will quickly let you get back to your reading.
"Bestselling author Julie Edelman returns with an essential guide about how to get your house clean -- or, even better, just clean enough! Accessible, easy to read, and entertaining, The Ultimate Accidental Housewife gives you fun, simple solutions to all kinds of common household problems, from scrubbing the stove to spotting those stubborn laundry stains. With plenty of useful tips and tricks for cleaning your house just enough, this accidentally domestic diva offers practical advice you'll use every day -- without ever spoiling your manicure. Find out how to: Limit your daily workload with defensive cleaning and organizing Handle "toxic zones" like the bathroom and kitchen "Fix" problems until the repairman comes." - Amazon book description.


Selling Used Books Online: The Complete Guide to Bookselling at Amazon's Marketplace and Other Online Sites, by Stephen Windwalker. Harvard Perspectives Press, 2002. NONFICTION. Kindle edition $3.99. You've paid Amazon big bucks for your Kindle, why not sell some of your old "tree books" to pay for those new Kindle books you want to read. Stephen Windwalker shows you the ins and outs of online bookselling. Topics covered include where to get books and what books to get, where to sell, grading and describing books, posting and pricing, organizing your business and handling tax issues. Recommended for the new bookseller.

Teens luv 2 read Kindle bux, pt 2.

Continuing our listing of Kindle editions of interest to teenagers and the young at heart...

JINX, by Meg Cabot. HarperCollins, 2007. NOVEL. Kindle edition $9.99. "The only thing Jean Honeychurch hates more than her boring name (not Jean Marie, or Jeanette, just . . . Jean) is her all-too-appropriate nickname, Jinx. Misfortune seems to follow her everywhere she goes -- which is why she's thrilled to be moving in with her aunt and uncle in New York City. Maybe when she's halfway across the country, Jinx can finally outrun her bad luck. Or at least escape the havoc she's caused back in her small hometown. But trouble has definitely followed Jinx to New York. And it's causing big problems for her cousin Tory, who is not happy to have the family black sheep around. Beautiful, glamorous Tory is hiding a dangerous secret -- one that she's sure Jinx is going to reveal.Jinx is beginning to realize it isn't just bad luck she's been running from. It's something far more sinister . . . and the curse Jinx has lived under since the day she was born might just be the only thing that can save her life." - Amazon book description.

THE GODS OF ANIMALS, by Aryn Kyle. Scribner, 20087. NOVEL. Kindle edition $9.99. "Aryn Kyle's haunting coming-of-age novel is the kind of book that you want to share with everyone you know. Twelve-year-old Alice Winston is growing up fast on her father's run-down horse ranch--coping with the death of a classmate and the absence of her older sister (who ran off with a rodeo cowboy), trying to understand her depressed and bedridden mother, and attempting to earn the love and admiration of her reticent, weary father. Lyrical, powerful, and unforgettable..." - Daphne Durham for Amazon.

GOING HOME, by Harriet Evans. Pocket Books, 2006. NOVEL. Kindle edition $9.59. "They say love feels like going home . . . but what if your home is no longer there? Leaving her tiny flat in London -- and a whole host of headaches behind -- Lizzy Walter is making the familiar journey back home to spend Christmas with her chaotic but big-hearted family. In an ever-changing world, her parents' country home, Keeper House, is the one constant. But behind the mistletoe and mince pies, family secrets and rivalries lurk. And when David, the Love of Her Life -- or so she thought -- makes an unexpected reappearance, this one ranks as a Christmas she would definitely rather forget. As winter slowly turns to spring, all the things that Lizzy has taken for granted begin to shift. Keeper House is in jeopardy and might have to be sold for reasons Lizzy doesn't understand. Her family seems fractured like never before. And, with a new man in her life, she may finally have to kiss her dream of a reunion with David good-bye. By the time the Walters gather at Keeper House for a summer wedding, the stakes have never been higher -- for Lizzy, for her family, and for love." - Amazon book description.

HIGH SPIRITS: A TALE OF GHOSTLY RAPPING AND ROMANCE, by Dianne K. Salerni. iUniverse, 2007. NOVEL. Kindle edition $3.16. "In mid-nineteenth century America, spirits knock and tables tip for Maggie and Kate Fox, two teenage sisters who convince people they can talk to the dead with their mysterious rapping noises. Before long, neighbors are begging Maggie and Katie for the chance to receive messages from dead relatives and older sister Leah realizes that their 'prank' has real money-making potential. Soon, the sisters hit the road to bamboozle newspaper editors, politicians, and the public at large and start a national craze for spirits and ghosts. Their fame grows-but could their powers actually be real? See the good and the bad that can happen when three sisters land in the limelight and come to their own conclusions about what's true, what's right and what's important." - Amazon book description.

A HOPELESS ROMANTIC, by Harriet Evans. Pocket Books, 2007. NOVEL. Kindle edition $9.59. "Laura Foster is a hopeless romantic. Her friends know it, her parents know it - even Laura acknowledges she lives either with her head in the clouds or buried in a romance novel. It's proved harmless enough, even if it hasn't delivered her a real-life dashing hero yet. But when her latest relationship ends in a disaster that costs her friendships, her job, and nearly her sanity, Laura swears off men and hopeless romantic fantasies for good.With her life in tatters around her, Laura agrees to go on vacation with her parents. After a few days of visiting craft shops and touring the stately homes of England, Laura is ready to tear her hair out. And then, while visiting grand Chartley Hall, she crosses paths with Nick, the sexy, rugged estate manager. She finds she shares more than a sense of humor with him - in fact, she starts to think she could fall for him. But is Nick all he seems? Or has Laura got it wrong again? Will she open her heart only to have it broken again?" - Amazon book description.

IT HAD TO BE YOU: THE GOSSIP GIRL PREQUEL, by Cecily von Ziegesar. Little, Brown, 2007. NOVEL. Kindle edition $9.99. "Taking place over their sophomore year, It Had to Be You unveils the secrets behind the hot and sultry summer that Blair, Serena, and Nate's love triangle begins--and there's a lot more to this story than anyone realizes. Find out how Blair first snagged Nate, why Serena really left for boarding school, and how the legendary Gossip Girl column began. This addition to the #1 bestselling series will thrill author Cecily von Ziegesar's fans and will undo some of the myths created in the 11 previous novels, so don't believe everything you've read so far. After all, this is Gossip Girl." - Amazon book description.

Teens luv 2 read Kindle bux, pt 1

Envision a world in which teens, entranced with reading, view their Kindles as at least as indispensable as their iPods and laptops. We may not have gotten to that point quite yet, but many teenagers do enjoy reading for fun and would certainly welcome the Kindle as an alternative to carrying around a heavy bag of books.

With the Kindle still in its infancy, many books popular with young adults are not yet available in Kindle format. Here are some good ones which are:

THE ALCHEMYST: THE SECRETS OF THE IMMORTAL NICHOLAS FLAMEL, by Michael Scott. Delacorte Books, 2007. FANTASY. Kindle edition $9.99. "Twin 15-year-old siblings Sophie and Josh Newman take summer jobs in San Francisco across the street from one another: she at a coffee shop, he at a bookstore owned by Nick and Perry Fleming. In the vey first chapter, armed goons garbed in black with "dead-looking skin and... marble eyes" (actually Golems) storm the bookshop, take Perry hostage and swipe a rare Book (but not before Josh snatches its two most important pages). The stolen volume is the Codex, an ancient text of magical wisdom. Nick Fleming is really Nicholas Flamel, the 14th-century alchemist who could turn base metal into gold, and make a potion that ensures immortality. Sophie and Josh learn that they are mentioned in the Codex's prophecies: "The two that are one will come either to save or to destroy the world." Mayhem ensues..." - Publishers Weekly.

THE CITY OF EMBER, by Jeanne DuPrau. Random House, 2003. SCIENCE FICTION. Kindle edition $3.19. The city of Ember was built as a last refuge for the human race. Two hundred years later, the great lamps that light the city are beginning to flicker. When Lina finds part of an ancient message, she?s sure it holds a secret that will save the city. She and her friend Doon must decipher the message before the lights go out on Ember forever! This stunning debut novel offers refreshingly clear writing and fascinating, original characters.

THE FREEDOM WRITERS DIARY: How a Teacher and 150 Teens Used Writing to Change Themselves and the World Around Them, by the Freedom Writers & Erin Gruwell. Broadway, 2006. NONFICTION. Kindle edition $7.96. "Shocked by the teenage violence she witnessed during the Rodney King riots in Los Angeles, Erin Gruwell became a teacher at a high school rampant with hostility and racial intolerance. For many of these students...Gruwell was the first person to treat them with dignity, to believe in their potential and help them see it themselves... Inspired by reading The Diary of Anne Frank and meeting Zlata Filipovic (the eleven-year old girl who wrote of her life in Sarajevo during the Civil War), the students began a joint diary of their inner-city upbringings. Told through anonymous entries to protect their identities and allow for complete candor, The Freedom Writers Diary is filled with astounding vignettes from 150 students..." - Amazon book description.

THE GIFT, by Richard Paul Evans. Simon & Schuster, 2007. NOVEL. Kindle edition $9.99. "There is no hurt so great that love cannot heal it. Nathan Hurst hated Christmas. For the rest of the world it was a day of joy and celebration; for Nathan it was simply a reminder of the event that destroyed his childhood until a snowstorm, a cancelled flight and an unexpected meeting with a young mother and her very special son would show him that Christmas is indeed the season of miracles." - Amazon book description.

THE GIRLS, by Lori Lansens. Little, Brown and Company, 2006. NOVEL. Kindle edition $7.99. "Meet Rose and Ruby: sisters, best friends, confidantes, and conjoined twins... They make friends, fall in love, have jobs, love their parents, and follow their dreams. But the Darlens are special. Now nearing their 30th birthday, they are history's oldest craniopagus twins, joined at the head by a spot the size of a bread plate. When Rose, the bookish sister, sets out to write her autobiography, it inevitably becomes the story of her short but extraordinary life with Ruby, the beautiful one...the profoundly affecting chronicle of an incomparable life journey. As Rose and Ruby's story builds to an unforgettable conclusion, Lansens aims at the heart of human experience--the hardship of loss and struggles for independence, and the fundamental joy of simply living a life. This is a breathtaking novel, one that no reader will soon forget, a heartrending story of love between sisters."
- Amazon book description.

GLASS HOUSES: THE MORGANVILLE VAMPIRES (book one), by Rachel Caine. Signet, 2007. FANTASY. Kindle edition $4.79. "Welcome to Morganville, Texas. Just don't stay out after dark. College freshman Claire Danvers has had enough of her nightmarish dorm situation, where the popular girls never let her forget just where she ranks in the school's social scene: somewhere less than zero. When Claire heads off-campus, the imposing old house where she finds a room may not be much better. Her new roommates don't show many signs of life. But they'll have Claire's back when the town's deepest secrets come crawling out, hungry for fresh blood." - Amazon book description.

- to be continued.

Kindle Book Du Jour: One Good Turn

One Good Turn, by Kate Atkinson. Little, Brown & Company, 2006. MYSTERY NOVEL. Kindle edition $7.99.

Kate Atkinson is a British novelist I hadn't heard of before but should have. Her first novel, Behind the Scenes at the Museum, was published in 1997 and won the Whitbread First Novel Award. This was followed by three novels deliciously titled Human Croquet, Emotionally Weird & Case Histories.

In Case Histories, her first foray into the mystery/detective/suspense genre, Atkinson introduced detective Jackson Brodie. He returns in One Good Turn, along with a cast of quirky characters linked in mysterious ways and drawn together during the Fringe Festival, a summer arts festival in Edinburgh.

"On a beautiful summer day, crowds lined up outside a theater witness a sudden act of extreme road rage: a tap on a fender triggers a nearly homicidal attack. Jackson Brodie, ex-cop, ex-private detective, new millionaire, is among the bystanders.

The event thrusts Jackson into the orbit of the wife of an unscrupulous real estate tycoon, a washed-up comedian, a successful crime novelist, a mysterious Russian woman, and a female police detective. Each of them hiding a secret, each looking for love or money or redemption or escape, they all play a role in driving Jackson out of retirement and into the middle of several mysteries that intersect in one sinister scheme.

Kate Atkinson 'writes such fluid, sparkling prose that an ingenious plot almost seems too much to ask, but we get it anyway,' writes Laura Miller for Salon. With a keen eye for the excesses of modern life, a warm understanding of the frailties of the human heart, and a genius for plots that turn and twist, Atkinson has written a novel that delights and surprises from the first page to the last." - Amazon book description.

Kindle readers may want to download two of Atkinson's short stories available on The Wonderful Unofficial Kate Atkinson Wetsite in pdf format and easily convertible for your reading pleasure on the Kindle:

Tunnel Of Fish

Inner Balance

The Well-Dressed Kindle

I finally have my Kindle fully-equipped for its life at my side and thought maybe you'd like to see what I've added to the device to make it easier and more fun to use.

First a "reading case" to replace the one included in the purchase price. Unfortunately the case the Kindle came with holds the device on with a plastic tab that even with gentle use lasted less than three months before doing what plastic does - breaking off. My new case is the red Executive Leather Case for the Amazon Kindle. These cases, which hold the Kindle securely in place, come in black, brown and red with suede interiors featuring an elastic strap in the upper right corner of the cover that permits you to stick a finger in to access the Kindle's power and wireless switches. There are interior pockets for storing SD cards, a small notebook, business cards, etc. plus a loop for a pen or pencil. At this writing the leather cover costs $54.99 and, while pricey, is a good investment for those of us who always have the device within reading distance. Please note that M-Edge also sells a less expensive non-leather case for the Kindle with the same features as the leather one - except for the leather of course.

Often I come up with bright or not so bright ideas while reading Kindle e-content. Yes, you can make notes on the Kindle itself, but sometimes a small notebook works better, especially if what you want to write down has no connection to the particular book you are reading. For note-taking, I purchased a three-pack of inexpensive Moleskine Plain Cahier Kraft Pocket Journals
at $7.95 for a set of three. They fit perfectly in one of the interior pockets of the M-Edge and are sewn instead of held together by staples so you don't have to worry about scratching the Kindle. $7.95 for a set of three notebooks.

For reading in low light situations, I added the Mighty Bright XtraFlex2 Light. It clips on to the M-Edge case and the adjustable arm makes it possible to position the light for glare-free reading.

Not visible from the outside, I have outfitted the inside of my Kindle with a Kingston 2GB Secure Digital Memory Card for extra storage of newspapers, magazines and books.


An inexpensive mechanical pencil completes the Kindle ensemble, the Sharpwriter Mechanical Pencil (#2 Lead, Nonrefillable, Yellow, $4.69 for a package of 12) fits in the M-Edge pencil/pen loop and is a better choice than a pen which might eventually leak ink on the device.
What accessories have you chosen for your Kindle?

Kindle Book Du Jour: It's a Dog's Life...but It's Your Carpet

It's a Dog's Life...but It's Your Carpet: Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Your Four-Legged Friend, by Justine A. Lee. Three Rivers Press, 2008. NONFICTION. Kindle edition $9.99.

Whether you're a dog owner, a wannabe dog owner or - like me - just like to watch your best friend on Animal Planet, you will enjoy this collection of answers to 200 questions you didn't dare ask or didn't think to ask your vet. Justine Lee, one of two hundred veterinary board-certified emergency critical-care specialists in the world, speaks with authority and not a little humor about dog traits, the relationship between dogs and their owners, dog care, food, training, etc. Questions range from the serious to the quirky. "Does my dog need sunscreen?" "Can dogs chew gum to freshen their breath?" "Is Febreze toxic to dogs? "Can you get any disease from kissing your dog?" "Should I get pet insurance for my dog?" "It's 2 a.m. Should I take my dog to the vet emergency room?"

Kindle readers will appreciate the formatting of this title. If you don't wish to read the book "cover to cover", you can go directly from each question in the table of contents to the section of the book where that question is answered.

About the Author
JUSTINE A. LEE, DVM, DACVECC, is an assistant clinical professor at the University of Minnesota College of Veterinary Medicine and a diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Emergency Critical Care.


see more loldogs ask - i can has hotdog?

Pursuing Trivia: A Cautionary Tale

Ken Jenning's Trivia Almanac: 7,777 Questions in 365 Days, by Ken Jennings. Ballantine Books. NONFICTION. Kindle edition $9.99.

This is a "love-hate" review. First let me say that this question and answer collection by Ken Jennings of Jeopardy fame is a terrific offering for trivia aficionados. There are questions on a myriad of subjects on all levels of expertise, with queries grouped around an historical theme for each day of the year. The book also includes interesting "this day in history" factoids. Questions are grouped around themes like "ghosts in movies" and "female prime ministers" or "authors who use initials instead of first names".

Now the "hate" part. The book has obviously not been formatted with the Kindle reader in mind. The answers to each month's questions appear at the end of that month's text. Moving back and forth between questions and answers is painfully slow. First I set up bookmarks at all the twelve answers sections. Then I could read a question, go to the beginning of the answer section via the bookmark and use the "back" button to return to the question. Hitting the back button again to return to the answers, however, is not the way the Kindle works. That takes you back to the home screen.

To work with the Kindle and take advantage of its features, the book could be formatted so that the answers are notes at the side of each question. Then all you would have to do to see the answer to a question would be to open the note. Alternatively the answers could appear right after the questions with a section of white space separating them.

Ok, I'm a real trivia buff, so I decided to attach a note with the answer to each question. Remember that there are 7, 777 questions so obviously I wasn't thinking clearly when I came up with that brilliant idea. Well, after adding about 20 notes to one page and continuing with a bunch of notes on a second, I began to wonder exactly how many notes you can actually add to a Kindle document. Would 7,777 notes even be feasible? I think not. At least when I hit the home button to go back to the home screen, there was such a long delay that I thought I'd have to reset the device.

So - long story short - I returned the book, but I'd buy it again in a heartbeat if the publishers decide to make it more Kindle-friendly. In the meantime, the print edition beckons.

A Week of Entertainment: Books Reviewed in Entertainment Weekly 4 April 08

Each week Entertainment Weekly reviews a small selection of popular new books. Here's a rundown of titles available for the Kindle reviewed in the April 4th issue.

Black Ships, by Jo Graham. Orbit. HISTORICAL FICTION. EW rating: B. Kindle edition $7.99.
"This is a great read for anyone who enjoys a well crafted adventure story, but, for those with an interest in the history and mythology of the ancient Mediteranean, this is a real treasure." - Amazon customer review.
"The world is ending. One by one the mighty cities are falling, to earthquakes, to flood, to raiders on both land and sea. In a time of war and doubt, Gull is an oracle. Daughter of a slave taken from fallen Troy, chosen at the age of seven to be the voice of the Lady of the Dead, it is her destiny to counsel kings. When nine black ships appear, captained by an exiled Trojan prince, Gull must decide between the life she has been destined for and the most perilous adventure -- to join the remnant of her mother's people in their desperate flight. From the doomed bastions of the City of Pirates to the temples of Byblos, from the intrigues of the Egyptian court to the haunted caves beneath Mount Vesuvius, only Gull can guide Prince Aeneas on his quest, and only she can dare the gates of the Underworld itself to lead him to his destiny. In the last shadowed days of the Age of Bronze, one woman dreams of the world beginning anew. This is her story." - Amazon book description.

Pretty Is What Changes: Impossible Choices, The Breast Cancer Gene, and How I Defied My Destiny, by Jessica Queller. Spiegel & Grau. MEMOIR. EW rating: A-. Kindle edition $9.99.
"A timely, affecting memoir from the front lines of medical science: When genetics can predict how we may die, how then do we decide how to live? Eleven months after her mother succumbs to cancer, Jessica Queller has herself tested for the BRCA “breast cancer” gene mutation. The results come back positive, putting her at a terrifyingly elevated risk of developing breast cancer before the age of fifty and ovarian cancer in her lifetime. Thirty-four, unattached, and yearning for marriage and a family of her own, Queller faces an agonizing choice: a lifetime of vigilant screenings and a commitment to fight the disease when caught, or its radical alternative—a prophylactic double mastectomy that would effectively restore life to her, even as it would challenge her most closely held beliefs about body image, identity, and sexuality." - Amazon book description.

I Was Told There'd Be Cake, by Sloane Cosley. Riverhead. ESSAYS. Kindle edition $9.99.
"Wry, hilarious, and profoundly genuine, this debut collection of literary essays is a celebration of fallibility and haplessness in all their glory. From despoiling an exhibit at the Natural History Museum to provoking the ire of her first boss to siccing the cops on her mysterious neighbor, Crosley can do no right despite the best of intentions-or perhaps because of them. Together, these essays create a startlingly funny and revealing portrait of a complex and utterly recognizable character that's aiming for the stars but hits the ceiling, and the inimitable city that has helped shape who she is." - Amazon book description.

In the Courts of the Crimson Kings, by S. M. Stirling. Tor. SCIENCE FICTION. EW rating: B. Kindle edition $9.99. Sequel to The Sky People (Tor, 2006).
"Stirling's charming second pastiche of 1930s planetary romances ... moves from Venus to Mars, where different Terran factions vie to pick up the pieces of the Tollamune emperor's shattered realm. Archeologist Jeremy Wainman, sent by the U.S. Aerospace Force to explore the lost city of Rema-Dza, promptly falls in love with Martian mercenary Teyud za-Zhalt; no surprise that she turns out to be heir to the long-vanished Crimson Dynasty, or that they rush off to thwart an attempt to usurp the Ruby Throne... Stirling successfully creates a truly alien environment ..., and his flair for the dramatic and obvious affection for the Mars of Burroughs, Brackett and Bradbury almost make up for his inclusion of pirates with eye patches, heavily armored guards riding fat-tired, self-propelled unicycles and other moments of near-parody. " - Publishers Weekly.

The Dreaming Void, by Peter F. Hamilton. Ballantine. SCIENCE FICTION. EW rating: B-. Kindle edition $9.99.
"Humankind in the 34th century has effectively conquered mortality, but many humans are still searching for existential transcendence, and a growing number believe the answer can be found inside the Void at the galactic center. Once thought to be an enormous black hole, the Void, which supposedly contains an entire micro-universe inside an impenetrable event horizon, slowly devours stars to sustain itself. If left unchecked, it will eventually consume the entire galaxy. When the technologically augmented telepath Inigo begins experiencing revelatory dreams, his shared visions ignite a mass pilgrimage to the Void, which some believe will trigger the apocalypse. Readers can expect big ideas and big story lines as well as big cliffhangers at the novel's conclusion." - Amazon book description.

Forgery of Venus, by Michael Gruber. HarperCollins. THRILLER. EW rating: C+. Kindle edition $9.99.
"Talented artist Chaz Wilmot is the son of a slightly less talented but popular artist, and is obsessed with the idea of wasting his talent and thus is doing exactly that. In addition to the paltry sums he brings in with commercial work he is a paid participant in the trial of a completely legal but somewhat psychotropic drug hoping to identify the roots of human creativity. With two ex-wives and three children to support -- one of whom is desperately ill -- he desperately needs money and when he's offered a huge sum to recreate a frescoed ceiling in Venice, the offer is just too good to refuse." - Amazon customer review.
"Gruber writes passionately and knowledgeably about art and its history--and he writes brilliantly about the shadowy lines that blur reality and unreality. Fans of intelligent, literate thrillers will be well rewarded." - Publishers Weekly.

Sea Change, by Jorie Graham. HarperCollins. POETRY. EW rating: A-. Kindle edition $9.99.
"...Graham confronts modern wickedness - torture and global warming are two themes - in lush, sometimes hymnlike verse." - Hannah Tucker for EW.

PopMatters: New Pop Culture Magazine for the Kindle

PopMatters. KINDLE MAGAZINE. Delivered daily (except Weekends). Monthly price: $1.49 including free wireless delivery to your Kindle. Purchase a sample copy for $.49 or subscribe and get a fourteen-day free trial.

"PopMatters.com is the leading independent arts and culture magazine on the Web. The Kindle edition provides select content from all areas of the site Monday through Friday. In our daily publication of features, columns, reviews, interviews, and blogs, we cover all things pop culture, present and past: music and its makers, film and its creators, books and their authors, video games, comics, and more. Our content ranges from engaging reviews to in-depth think pieces. Providing smart readers with sharp, entertaining writing on a wide range of topics, PopMatters is a refuge from the usual hype and gossip.

Sun-Times music critic Jim DeRogatis has said that 'writing as thought-provoking, engaging, insightful, witty, and just plain ol' fun as much of the fare on PopMatters is a rare and wonderful thing, and it should be treasured.' The PopMatters Kindle edition is published in association with Tribune Media Services." - Amazon publication description.

The addition of PopMatters brings the number of magazines available for the Kindle platform to eleven, including:

NEWS MAGAZINES
Newsweek.
Time.
GENERAL MAGAZINES
Atlantic.
The Nation.
Reader's Digest.
BUSINESS MAGAZINES
Forbes.
Fortune.
ONLINE MAGAZINES: CULTURE AND OPINION
Opinionated.
Salon.
Slate.

The Wizard & the Demon: The Dresden Files Meets Women of the Otherworld

Fans of Jim Butcher and Kelley Armstrong will be pleased to learn that both have new titles out for the Kindle.

Small Favor, by Jim Butcher. URBAN FANTASY. Roc. 10th volume in the Dresden Files series. Kindle edition $9.99. "No one's tried to kill Harry Dresden for almost an entire year, and his life finally seems to be calming down. For once, the future looks fairly bright. But the past casts one hell of a long shadow. An old bargain has placed Harry in debt to Mab, monarch of the Winter Court of the Sidhe, the Queen of Air and Darkness -- and she's calling in her marker. It's a small favor he can't refuse...one that will trap Harry Dresden between a nightmarish foe and an equally deadly ally, and one that will strain his skills -- and loyalties -- to their very limits. It figures. Everything was going too well to last..." - Amazon book description.

While this book can be read as a stand-alone, I would suggest starting with the first book in the series, Storm Front, if you are new to the dangerous world and wry wit of the only Wizard listed in the Chicago yellow pages. For a list of all the titles in The Dresden Files, check out this earlier Kindle Reader posting.

Personal Demon, by Kelley Armstrong. URBAN FANTASY. Spectra. 8th volume in the Women of the Otherworld series. Kindle edition $9.99. "In her acclaimed Women of the Otherworld series, Kelley Armstrong has created a scintillating realm where the supernatural and the human coexist on the edge of darkness, romance, and eternity. Now Armstrong tells the captivating tale of a young woman with an insatiable lust for danger. She can’t help it. It’s in her blood. Tabloid reporter Hope Adams appears to live the life of an ordinary working girl. But in addition to possessing the beauty of a Bollywood princess, Hope has other unique traits. For she is a half demon—a human fathered by a demon. And she’s inherited not only a gift for seeing the past but a hunger for chaos—along with a talent for finding it wherever she can. Naturally, when she’s chosen by a very dangerous group for a very dangerous mission, she jumps at the chance…." - Amazon book description.

This novel can also be read as a stand-alone, but again I would advise you to start with the first book in the series, Bitten. It's my personal favorite and if you enjoy it, you will want to read all the other volumes, meeting new characters of the Otherworld as you go along. Titles in the Woman of the Otherworld series, are listed here.

A Harvard Education: The Five-Foot Shelf of Books for your Kindle

Towards the beginning of the 20th century, when fewer Americans attended college than today and self-educated men (and women) were more common, Charles William Eliot, President of Harvard University, was quoted as saying that a well-chosed five-foot shelf of books - a portable university - would provide a liberal education for anyone willing to devote as little as fifteen minutes a day to reading.

In 1910 Eliot's five-foot shelf, including classic titles on the history of civilization, religion, philosophy, education, science, politics, and literary criticism, was published in 50 volumes as the Harvard Classics. Today you can purchase the entire series in fine leather-bound volumes for $3,235 from Easton Press or you can read it for free on your Kindle.

If the idea of the five-foot shelf intrigues you, be sure to check out this view of the series from a twenty-first century perspective: The "Five-foot Shelf" Reconsidered: Revising a Monument from a More Humane and Confident Tme, by Adam Kirsch.

And if you are thinking of embarking on the voyage of discovery called the Harvard shelf, join Christopher R. Beha, who decided in 2007 to spend a year reading the series and recorded his experience (with comments on each volume) at his web site, A Whole Five Feet: A Year with the Harvard Classics.

The complete Harvard Classics with standardized titles is now available for download from the MobileRead Forum. The volumes are divided into three zipped .prc files.

Individual volumes of the series can be purchased from Amazon's Kindle Book Store for $.99 per title.

Once you download the series, you will want a list of titles on your Kindle, so just cut and paste the following table of contents into a text editor to create a .txt or .doc file to transfer to your Kindle.

VOLUME 1
Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin
Journal of John Woolman
Fruits of Solitude, by William Penn.
VOLUME 2
Apology, Phædo and Crito, by Plato
Golden Sayings, by Epictetus
Meditations, by Marcus Aurelius
VOLUME 3
Essays, Civil and Moral & The New Atlantis, by Francis Bacon
Areopagitica & Tractate of Education, by John Milton
Religio Medici, by Sir Thomas Browne
VOLUME 4
Complete Poems Written in English, by John Milton
VOLUME 5
Essays and English Traits, by Ralph Waldo Emerson
VOLUME 6
Poems and Songs, by Robert Burns
VOLUME 7
The Confessions of St. Augustine
The Imitation of Christ, by Thomas á Kempis
VOLUME 8
Agamemnon, The Libation Bearers, The Furies & Prometheus Bound, by Aeschylus
Oedipus the King & Antigone, by Sophocles
Hippolytus, The Bacchæ, by Euripides
The Frogs, by Aristophanes
VOLUME 9
On Friendship, On Old Age & Letters, by Cicero
Letters, by Pliny the Younger
VOLUME 10
Wealth of Nations, by Adam Smith
VOLUME 11
The Origin of Species, by Charles Darwin
VOLUME 12
Lives, by Plutarch
VOLUME 13
Æneid, by Virgil
VOLUME 14
Don Quixote, Part 1, by Cervantes
VOLUME 15
The Pilgrim's Progress, by John Bunyan
The Lives of Donne and Herbert, by Izaak Walton
VOLUME 16
Stories from the Thousand and One Nights
VOLUME 17
Fables, by Æsop
Household Tales, by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm
Tales, by Hans Christian Andersen
VOLUME 18
All for Love, by John Dryden
The School for Scandal, by Richard Brinsley Sheridan
She Stoops to Conquer, by Oliver Goldsmith
The Cenci, by Percy Bysshe Shelley
A Blot in the 'Scutcheon, by Robert Browning
Manfred, by Lord Byron
VOLUME 19
Faust, Part I, Egmont & Hermann and Dorothea, by J.W. von Goethe
Dr. Faustus, by Christopher Marlowe
VOLUME 20
The Divine Comedy, by Dante Alighieri
VOLUME 21
I Promessi Sposi, by Alessandro Manzoni
VOLUME 22
The Odyssey of Homer
VOLUME 23
Two Years Before the Mast, by Richard Henry Dana, Jr.
VOLUME 24
On Taste, On the Sublime and Beautiful, Reflections on the French Revolution & A Letter to a Noble Lord, by Edmund Burke
VOLUME 25
Autobiography & On Liberty, by John Stuart Mill
Characteristics, Inaugural Address at Edinburgh & Sir Walter Scott, by Thomas Carlyle
VOLUME 26
Life Is a Dream, by Pedro Calderón de la Barca
Polyeucte, by Pierre Corneille
Phèdre, by Jean Racine
Tartuffe, by Molière
Minna von Barnhelm, by Gotthold Ephraim Lessing
Wilhelm Tell, by Friedrich von Schiller
VOLUME 27
English Essays: Sidney to Macaulay
VOLUME 28
Essays: English and American
VOLUME 29
The Voyage of the Beagle, by Charles Darwin
VOLUME 30
Scientific Papers: Physics, Chemistry, Astronomy, Geology
VOLUME 31
The Autobiography of Benvenuto Cellini
VOLUME 32
Literary & Philosophical Essays: Montaigne, Sainte-beuve, Renan, etc.
VOLUME 33
Voyages and Travels: Ancient and Modern
VOLUME 34
Discourse on Method, by René Descartes
Letters on the English, by Voltaire
On the Inequality among Mankind & Profession of Faith of a Savoyard Vicar, by Jean Jacques Rousseau
Of Man, Being the First Part of Leviathan, by Thomas Hobbes
VOLUME 35
Chronicles, by Jean Froissart
The Holy Grail, by Sir Thomas Malory
A Description of Elizabethan England, by William Harrison
VOLUME 36
The Prince, by Niccolò Machiavelli
The Life of Sir Thomas More, by William Roper
Utopia, by Sir Thomas More
The Ninety-Five Theses, Address to the Christian Nobility & Concerning Christian Liberty, by Martin Luther
VOLUME 37
Some Thoughts Concerning Education, by John Locke
Three Dialogues Between Hylas and Philonous in Opposition to Sceptics and Atheists, by George Berkeley
An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding, by David Hume
VOLUME 38
The Oath of Hippocrates
Journeys in Diverse Places, by Ambroise Paré
On the Motion of the Heart and Blood in Animals, by William Harvey
The Three Original Publications on Vaccination Against Smallpox, by Edward Jenner
The Contagiousness of Puerperal Fever, by Oliver Wendell Holmes
On the Antiseptic Principle of the Practice of Surgery, by Joseph Lister
Scientific Papers, by Louis Pasteur
Scientific Papers, by Charles Lyell
VOLUME 39
Famous Prefaces and Prologues
VOLUME 40
English Poetry 1: Chaucer to Gray
VOLUME 41
English Poetry 2: Collins to Fitzgerald
VOLUME 42
English Poetry 3: Tennyson to Whitman
VOLUME 43
American Historical Documents: 1000-1904
VOLUME 44
Confucian: The Sayings of Confucius
Hebrew: Job, Psalms & Ecclesiastes
Christian I: Luke & Acts
VOLUME 45
Christian II: Corinthians I & II & Hymns
Buddhist: Writings
Hindu: The Bhagavad-Gita
Mohammedan: Chapters from the Koran
VOLUME 46
ELIZABETHAN DRAMA 1
Edward the Second, by Christopher Marlowe
Hamlet, King Lear, Macbeth & The Tempest, by William Shakespeare
VOLUME 47
ELIZABETHAN DRAMA 2
The Shoemaker's Holiday, by Thomas Dekker
The Alchemist, by Ben Jonson
Philaster, by Beaumont and Fletcher
The Duchess of Malfi, by John Webster
A New Way to Pay Old Debts, by Philip Massinger
VOLUME 48
Thoughts, Letters & Minor Works, by Blaise Pascal
VOLUME 49
Beowulf
The Song of Roland
The Destruction of Dá Derga's Hostel
The Story of the Volsungs and Niblungs
VOLUME 50
Introduction, reader's guide, index, lectures.

New Color Kindle with FireFox Web Browser, E-mail and PDF Editor/Word Processor Announced!

In a surprise move that left Kindle owners speechless, Jeff Bezos, founder and CEO of Amazon.com, announced today that the new SuperKindle will be available only as a free upgrade for Kindle early adopters. Optional features include a dishwasher attachment and DVD player. Yes, it's April Fools Day. Have a good one!