Hardcover ListPrice: $23.95 | Price: $14.37
Audio Download ListPrice: $26.95 | Price: $14.14
Hardcover ListPrice: $60.00 | Price: $40.90
Kindle Edition ListPrice: $23.95 | Price: $7.99
Mass Market Paperback ListPrice: $7.99 | Price: $7.99
Saturday, May 31, 2008
Kindle Finder & Version Price Comparison
If you are thinking of buying a book in Kindle format and want to compare prices with hard cover, paperback and other editions of the same book, you might want to play around with the Kindle Finder & Version Price Compare web site. This search will only work for books available for the Kindle. I searched John Scalzi's The Ghost Brigades and got the following price breakdown:
A Shadow in Summer: Free Fantasy Novel for Your Kindle
To publicize 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. This week's offering, A Shadow in Summer, by Daniel Abraham is available for free by registering at Tor.com. Once you register, you will receive by return e-mail a link to download the book.
A Shadow in Summer is also available in a paperback edition at Amazon.com.
"Otah is a good soldier; otherwise, why would he be in charge of training a motley array of boys just learning arms? Quickly his challenges increase, as a magical menace out of legend threatens the Summer Cities. Factor in sheer human folly, and one understands why Otah has his hands full. Apart from its well-developed protagonist, this first volume of a projected tetralogy has a somewhat conventional plot. What makes it a distinguished fantasy debut are Abraham's command of language, which recalls even if it does not equal that of Jack Vance, and his facility at creating fully realized settings..." - Roland Green in Booklist.
Thursday, May 29, 2008
International Herald Tribune for your Kindle
Today's Amazon Kindle status: IN STOCK for free two-day delivery!
Delivered wirelessly for your morning reading, The International Herald Tribune is now available in the Kindle store. Delivered daily (except Sunday). Monthly Price: $9.99 including free wireless delivery via Amazon Whispernet within the United States. For those Kindle owners without Whispernet access, issues may be downloaded to your computer and moved to the Kindle manually via USB. Subscription includes a free 14-day trial period.
"The International Herald Tribune is a widely read English language international newspaper. It combines the resources of its own correspondents with those of The New York Times and is printed at 33 sites throughout the world, for sale in more than 180 countries. The IHT is part of The New York Times Company. It has been based in Paris since its founding in 1887." - Wikipedia.
Delivered wirelessly for your morning reading, The International Herald Tribune is now available in the Kindle store. Delivered daily (except Sunday). Monthly Price: $9.99 including free wireless delivery via Amazon Whispernet within the United States. For those Kindle owners without Whispernet access, issues may be downloaded to your computer and moved to the Kindle manually via USB. Subscription includes a free 14-day trial period.
"The International Herald Tribune is a widely read English language international newspaper. It combines the resources of its own correspondents with those of The New York Times and is printed at 33 sites throughout the world, for sale in more than 180 countries. The IHT is part of The New York Times Company. It has been based in Paris since its founding in 1887." - Wikipedia.
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Kindle Book Du Jour: Mind the Gap
I very rarely purchase a book from an author I haven't read before, especially one that has no reviews on Amazon, but when Mind the Gap was published earlier this month, I requested a free sample and was hooked by the first chapter.
Turns out that the authors, Christopher Golden and Tim Lebbon, both have long track records in the suspense and fantasy fiction genres. Golden is known for The Veil series (The Myth Hunters, The Borderkind, and The Lost Ones and Buffy the Vampire Slayer books, while Lebbon won the August Derleth Award from the British Fantasy Society in 2007 for his novel Dusk.
Mind The Gap is about a seventeen-year-old girl named Jazz who returns home one day to find her mother murdered and the killers waiting to deal her the same fate. Written in blood beside her mother's body is the warning "Jazz Hide Forever". Jazz escapes to the London underground where she finds shelter with a mysterious group of young thieves and pickpockets led by a figure out of Dickens named Harry Fowler. And there her adventures begin.
If you enjoy urban fantasy, give this one a look.
Mind the Gap, by Christopher Golden and Tim Lebbon . Spectra, May 2008. DARK URBAN FANTASY. Kindle edition $9.60.
Monday, May 26, 2008
The Kindle Reader Celebrates Memorial Day
Today's Amazon Kindle status: IN STOCK at a reduced price for free two-day delivery!
Growing up during WWII, I remember air raid drills, blackouts, rationing (if you had an A sticker on your car, you were permitted to buy 3 gallons of gasoline a week), victory gardens, war bonds, and the letters I wrote in grade school to my father fighting in North Africa. So for me Memorial Day is a day to remember that conflict and the men and women who died far from home and loved ones.
Jeff Shaara puts his finger on mental climate of that time when he comments that, in researching the war years for his novel The Steel Wave, he came to realize "...that the greatest drama [was] not the event but the raw and frightening uncertainty for everyone involved." Looking back on WWII now, we know that the Allies won. In those days, victory was far from certain.
Today only about 2.5 million veterans of that conflict remain and sadly they are dying now at a rate of more than 1000 per day. The Kindle Reader salutes them on Memorial Day.
WORLD WAR II MEMOIRS PICK FOR THE KINDLE:
Easy Company Soldier: The Legendary Battles of a Sergeant from World War II's Band of Brothers, by Don Malarkey. St. Martin's Press. Amazon customer reviews: 5 stars. Kindle edition $9.99.
"Sgt. Don Malarkey takes us not only into the battles fought from Normandy to Germany, but into the heart and mind of a soldier who beat the odds to become an elite paratrooper, and lost his best friend during the nightmarish engagement at Bastogne.
This is his dramatic tale of those bloody days fighting his way from the shores of France to the heartland of Germany, and the epic story of how an adventurous kid from Oregon became a leader of men." - Amazon book description.
WORLD WAR II NONFICTION PICK FOR THE KINDLE:
A Short History of World War II, by James L. Stokesbury. HarperCollins. Amazon customer reviews: 4 1/2 stars. Kindle edition $9.99.
"Despite the numerous books on World War II, until now there has been no one-volume survey that was both objective and comprehensive... A Short History of World War II is essentially a military history, but it reaches from the peace settlements of World War I to the drastically altered postwar world of the late 1940's. Lucidly written and eminently readable, it is factual and accurate enough to satisfy professional historians... [and]...appeal equally to the general reader, the veteran who fought in the War, and the student interested in understanding the contemporary political world." - Amazon book description. James Stokesbury was a professor of history at Acadia University in Nova Scotia, Canada prior to his death in 1995.
WORLD WAR II NOVEL PICK FOR THE KINDLE:
The Steel Wave, by Jeff Shaara. Ballantine Books. Amazon customer reviews: 4 stars. Kindle edition $9.99.
"Jeff Shaara, America's premier author of military historical fiction, brings us the centerpiece of his epic trilogy of the Second World War. General Dwight Eisenhower once again commands a diverse army that must find its single purpose in the destruction of Hitler's European fortress. His primary subordinates, Omar Bradley and Bernard Montgomery, must prove that this unique blend of Allied armies can successfully confront the might of Adolf Hitler's forces, who have already conquered Western Europe. On the coast of France, German commander Erwin Rommel fortifies and prepares for the coming invasion, acutely aware that he must bring all his skills to bear on a fight his side must win. But Rommel's greatest challenge is to strike the Allies on his front, while struggling behind the lines with the growing insanity of Adolf Hitler, who thwarts the strategies Rommel knows will succeed. Meanwhile, Sergeant Jesse Adams, a no-nonsense veteran of the 82nd Airborne, parachutes with his men behind German lines into a chaotic and desperate struggle." - Amazon book description.
Growing up during WWII, I remember air raid drills, blackouts, rationing (if you had an A sticker on your car, you were permitted to buy 3 gallons of gasoline a week), victory gardens, war bonds, and the letters I wrote in grade school to my father fighting in North Africa. So for me Memorial Day is a day to remember that conflict and the men and women who died far from home and loved ones. Jeff Shaara puts his finger on mental climate of that time when he comments that, in researching the war years for his novel The Steel Wave, he came to realize "...that the greatest drama [was] not the event but the raw and frightening uncertainty for everyone involved." Looking back on WWII now, we know that the Allies won. In those days, victory was far from certain.
Today only about 2.5 million veterans of that conflict remain and sadly they are dying now at a rate of more than 1000 per day. The Kindle Reader salutes them on Memorial Day.
WORLD WAR II MEMOIRS PICK FOR THE KINDLE:
Easy Company Soldier: The Legendary Battles of a Sergeant from World War II's Band of Brothers, by Don Malarkey. St. Martin's Press. Amazon customer reviews: 5 stars. Kindle edition $9.99.
"Sgt. Don Malarkey takes us not only into the battles fought from Normandy to Germany, but into the heart and mind of a soldier who beat the odds to become an elite paratrooper, and lost his best friend during the nightmarish engagement at Bastogne.
This is his dramatic tale of those bloody days fighting his way from the shores of France to the heartland of Germany, and the epic story of how an adventurous kid from Oregon became a leader of men." - Amazon book description.
WORLD WAR II NONFICTION PICK FOR THE KINDLE:
A Short History of World War II, by James L. Stokesbury. HarperCollins. Amazon customer reviews: 4 1/2 stars. Kindle edition $9.99.
"Despite the numerous books on World War II, until now there has been no one-volume survey that was both objective and comprehensive... A Short History of World War II is essentially a military history, but it reaches from the peace settlements of World War I to the drastically altered postwar world of the late 1940's. Lucidly written and eminently readable, it is factual and accurate enough to satisfy professional historians... [and]...appeal equally to the general reader, the veteran who fought in the War, and the student interested in understanding the contemporary political world." - Amazon book description. James Stokesbury was a professor of history at Acadia University in Nova Scotia, Canada prior to his death in 1995.
WORLD WAR II NOVEL PICK FOR THE KINDLE:
The Steel Wave, by Jeff Shaara. Ballantine Books. Amazon customer reviews: 4 stars. Kindle edition $9.99.
"Jeff Shaara, America's premier author of military historical fiction, brings us the centerpiece of his epic trilogy of the Second World War. General Dwight Eisenhower once again commands a diverse army that must find its single purpose in the destruction of Hitler's European fortress. His primary subordinates, Omar Bradley and Bernard Montgomery, must prove that this unique blend of Allied armies can successfully confront the might of Adolf Hitler's forces, who have already conquered Western Europe. On the coast of France, German commander Erwin Rommel fortifies and prepares for the coming invasion, acutely aware that he must bring all his skills to bear on a fight his side must win. But Rommel's greatest challenge is to strike the Allies on his front, while struggling behind the lines with the growing insanity of Adolf Hitler, who thwarts the strategies Rommel knows will succeed. Meanwhile, Sergeant Jesse Adams, a no-nonsense veteran of the 82nd Airborne, parachutes with his men behind German lines into a chaotic and desperate struggle." - Amazon book description.
Sunday, May 25, 2008
From Dead to Worse: A New Sookie Stackhouse Adventure for the Kindle
Today's Amazon Kindle status: IN STOCK for free two-day delivery!
Fans of Sookie Stackhouse, the plucky Louisiana cocktail waitress and telepath, need wait no longer for the eighth volume of the Southern Vampire Mysteries, a series which combines mystery, romance, and the supernatural in the down home atmosphere of rural Louisiana.
From Dead to Worse, by Charlaine Harris. Ace. Amazon customer rating: 4 stars. Kindle edition $9.99. The critical first sentence: "If this was The Lord of the Rings and I had a smart British voice like Cate Blanchett, I could tell you the background of the events of that fall in a really suspenseful way." Kindle sample includes cover, table of contents and first chapter.
"After the natural disaster of Hurricane Katrina and the manmade explosion at the vampire summit, everyone—human and otherwise—is stressed, including Louisiana cocktail waitress Sookie Stackhouse, who is trying to cope with the fact that her boyfriend Quinn has gone missing. It's clear that things are changing—whether the weres and vamps of her corner of Louisiana like it or not. And Sookie—Friend to the Pack and blood-bonded to Eric Northman, leader of the local vampire community—is caught up in the changes. In the ensuing battles, Sookie faces danger, death, and once more, betrayal by someone she loves. And when the fur has finished flying and the cold blood finished flowing, her world will be forever altered." - Amazon book description.
The first seven books of Southern Vampire Mysteries series are all available in Kindle editions. If you're new to the series, I'm suggest starting with the first volume for the best introduction to Sookie and the denizens of Bon Temps, Louisiana.
1. Dead Until Dark. 4.79.
2. Living Dead in Dallas. $5.20.
3. Club Dead. $5.20.
4. Dead to the World. $6.39.
5. Dead As a Doornail. $5.31.
6. Definitely Dead. $6.39.
7. All Together Dead. $6.39.
Fans of Sookie Stackhouse, the plucky Louisiana cocktail waitress and telepath, need wait no longer for the eighth volume of the Southern Vampire Mysteries, a series which combines mystery, romance, and the supernatural in the down home atmosphere of rural Louisiana. From Dead to Worse, by Charlaine Harris. Ace. Amazon customer rating: 4 stars. Kindle edition $9.99. The critical first sentence: "If this was The Lord of the Rings and I had a smart British voice like Cate Blanchett, I could tell you the background of the events of that fall in a really suspenseful way." Kindle sample includes cover, table of contents and first chapter.
"After the natural disaster of Hurricane Katrina and the manmade explosion at the vampire summit, everyone—human and otherwise—is stressed, including Louisiana cocktail waitress Sookie Stackhouse, who is trying to cope with the fact that her boyfriend Quinn has gone missing. It's clear that things are changing—whether the weres and vamps of her corner of Louisiana like it or not. And Sookie—Friend to the Pack and blood-bonded to Eric Northman, leader of the local vampire community—is caught up in the changes. In the ensuing battles, Sookie faces danger, death, and once more, betrayal by someone she loves. And when the fur has finished flying and the cold blood finished flowing, her world will be forever altered." - Amazon book description.
The first seven books of Southern Vampire Mysteries series are all available in Kindle editions. If you're new to the series, I'm suggest starting with the first volume for the best introduction to Sookie and the denizens of Bon Temps, Louisiana.
1. Dead Until Dark. 4.79.
2. Living Dead in Dallas. $5.20.
3. Club Dead. $5.20.
4. Dead to the World. $6.39.
5. Dead As a Doornail. $5.31.
6. Definitely Dead. $6.39.
7. All Together Dead. $6.39.
Friday, May 23, 2008
A Week of Entertainment: Books Reviewed in Entertainment Weekly 05/23/08
Today's Amazon Kindle status: IN STOCK for free two-day delivery!
Each week Entertainment Weekly reviews a small selection of popular new books. Titles available for the Kindle and reviewed in the May 23rd issue include:
Swine not?, by Jimmy Buffett. Little, Brown and Company. NOVEL. EW rating: C+. Amazon customer reviews: 5 stars. Kindle edition $9.99.
"When southern belle Ellie McBride moves her twins from Vertigo, Tennessee to New York City, they wouldn't dream of leaving behind the family pig Rumpy. But the posh hotel where Ellie has found work (and living space) has 'No Pets' writ large on its portal. So hiding Rumpy from the hotel staff---especially the ultra-carnivorous hotel chef, who would like nothing better than to transform their pet into pork roast---becomes imperative. Can a talented, sensitive pig survive the claustrophobic, neurotic stresses of life in the Big Apple? Can the McBride twins keep their precious pet from becoming the chef's favorite entree? Get ready for a wonderful ride as master storyteller Jimmy Buffett takes readers on a brilliantly funny romp through Manhattan and beyond. From spoiled rock stars to highly caffeinated football coaches, Buffett's satirical view of American culture never ceases to bite and delight." - Amazon book description.
The Best Game Ever, by Mark Bowden. Grove/Atlantic. NONFICTION: SPORTS. EW rating: A-. Amazon customer reviews: 3 1/2 stars. Kindle edition $9.99.
"The remarkable story of the 1958 NFL Championship game between the Colts and the Giants - considered by many to be the greatest football game ever played - from Mark Bowden, bestselling author of Black Hawk Down. .. It was a battle of the league's best offense - the Colts - versus its best defense - the Giants. And it was a contest between the blue-collar Baltimore team, many of whom worked off-season jobs selling liquor or insurance or taking shifts at Bethlehem Steel, versus the glamour boys of the Giants squad who often appeared in magazine ads and TV commercials and were seen around town at trendy spots like Toots Shoors mingling with the likes of politicians, Broadway stars, even Ernest Hemingway on occasion. The Best Game Ever is a brilliant portrait of how a single game changed the history of American sport." - Amazon book description.
A Case of Exploding Mangoes, by Mohammed Hanif. Knopf. FIRST NOVEL. EW rating: A-. Kindle edition $9.99.
"On August 17, 1988, Pak One, the airplane carrying Pakistani dictator General Zia and several top generals, crashed, killing all on board -- and despite continued investigation, a smoking gun -- mechanical or conspiratorial -- has yet to be found. Mohammed Hanif's outrageous debut novel...tracks at least two (and as many as a half-dozen) assassination vectors to their convergence in the plane crash, incorporating elements as diverse as venom-tipped sabers, poison gas, the curses of a scorned First Lady, and a crow impaired by an overindulgence of ripe mangoes. The book has been aptly compared to Catch-22 for its hilarious (though not quite as madcap) skewering of the Pakistani military and intelligence infrastructure..." - Amazon book description.
Snuff, by Chuck Palahniuk. Publisher. NOVEL. EW rating: A-. Amazon customer reviews: 4 stars. Kindle edition $9.99.
"The premise of veteran shock writer Palahniuk's latest book is borderline offensive. A famous porn star seeks to break a world record by - ahem - romancing 600 men on film. Yet, somewhere along the way, you forget the somewhat unsettling setup and get drawn into the very unsexy, sprawling stories of three men waiting backstage for - ahem - their turn." - KW for Entertainment Weekly.
Adventures of Slim & Howdy, by Kix Brooks & Ronnie Dunn with Bill Fitzhugh. Center Street. NOVEL. EW rating: B. Amazon customer reviews: 5 stars. Kindle edition $9.99.
"Musicians by trade, Slim and Howdy have each come to a figurative crossroads in their lives. As fate would have it, they meet at these crossroads, never realizing it's a turning point in their lives. Forced by circumstances to share a truck, they take to the road in pursuit of a common goal--to make it as musicians on the country music circuit. But it seems no matter where these two travel, trouble finds them. Whether it's turning the tables on a crooked card shark who takes everything they have, or fending off the raging boyfriend of that friendly gal from last night, the guys are constantly needing to outwit the world. And when their friend and boss Jodie Lee disappears, their resourcefulness will truly be tested. Each of the guys has his theory, but they'll need to work together to get to their friend before time runs out." - Amazon book description.
Each week Entertainment Weekly reviews a small selection of popular new books. Titles available for the Kindle and reviewed in the May 23rd issue include:
Swine not?, by Jimmy Buffett. Little, Brown and Company. NOVEL. EW rating: C+. Amazon customer reviews: 5 stars. Kindle edition $9.99."When southern belle Ellie McBride moves her twins from Vertigo, Tennessee to New York City, they wouldn't dream of leaving behind the family pig Rumpy. But the posh hotel where Ellie has found work (and living space) has 'No Pets' writ large on its portal. So hiding Rumpy from the hotel staff---especially the ultra-carnivorous hotel chef, who would like nothing better than to transform their pet into pork roast---becomes imperative. Can a talented, sensitive pig survive the claustrophobic, neurotic stresses of life in the Big Apple? Can the McBride twins keep their precious pet from becoming the chef's favorite entree? Get ready for a wonderful ride as master storyteller Jimmy Buffett takes readers on a brilliantly funny romp through Manhattan and beyond. From spoiled rock stars to highly caffeinated football coaches, Buffett's satirical view of American culture never ceases to bite and delight." - Amazon book description.
The Best Game Ever, by Mark Bowden. Grove/Atlantic. NONFICTION: SPORTS. EW rating: A-. Amazon customer reviews: 3 1/2 stars. Kindle edition $9.99.
"The remarkable story of the 1958 NFL Championship game between the Colts and the Giants - considered by many to be the greatest football game ever played - from Mark Bowden, bestselling author of Black Hawk Down. .. It was a battle of the league's best offense - the Colts - versus its best defense - the Giants. And it was a contest between the blue-collar Baltimore team, many of whom worked off-season jobs selling liquor or insurance or taking shifts at Bethlehem Steel, versus the glamour boys of the Giants squad who often appeared in magazine ads and TV commercials and were seen around town at trendy spots like Toots Shoors mingling with the likes of politicians, Broadway stars, even Ernest Hemingway on occasion. The Best Game Ever is a brilliant portrait of how a single game changed the history of American sport." - Amazon book description.
A Case of Exploding Mangoes, by Mohammed Hanif. Knopf. FIRST NOVEL. EW rating: A-. Kindle edition $9.99.
"On August 17, 1988, Pak One, the airplane carrying Pakistani dictator General Zia and several top generals, crashed, killing all on board -- and despite continued investigation, a smoking gun -- mechanical or conspiratorial -- has yet to be found. Mohammed Hanif's outrageous debut novel...tracks at least two (and as many as a half-dozen) assassination vectors to their convergence in the plane crash, incorporating elements as diverse as venom-tipped sabers, poison gas, the curses of a scorned First Lady, and a crow impaired by an overindulgence of ripe mangoes. The book has been aptly compared to Catch-22 for its hilarious (though not quite as madcap) skewering of the Pakistani military and intelligence infrastructure..." - Amazon book description.
Snuff, by Chuck Palahniuk. Publisher. NOVEL. EW rating: A-. Amazon customer reviews: 4 stars. Kindle edition $9.99.
"The premise of veteran shock writer Palahniuk's latest book is borderline offensive. A famous porn star seeks to break a world record by - ahem - romancing 600 men on film. Yet, somewhere along the way, you forget the somewhat unsettling setup and get drawn into the very unsexy, sprawling stories of three men waiting backstage for - ahem - their turn." - KW for Entertainment Weekly.
Adventures of Slim & Howdy, by Kix Brooks & Ronnie Dunn with Bill Fitzhugh. Center Street. NOVEL. EW rating: B. Amazon customer reviews: 5 stars. Kindle edition $9.99.
"Musicians by trade, Slim and Howdy have each come to a figurative crossroads in their lives. As fate would have it, they meet at these crossroads, never realizing it's a turning point in their lives. Forced by circumstances to share a truck, they take to the road in pursuit of a common goal--to make it as musicians on the country music circuit. But it seems no matter where these two travel, trouble finds them. Whether it's turning the tables on a crooked card shark who takes everything they have, or fending off the raging boyfriend of that friendly gal from last night, the guys are constantly needing to outwit the world. And when their friend and boss Jodie Lee disappears, their resourcefulness will truly be tested. Each of the guys has his theory, but they'll need to work together to get to their friend before time runs out." - Amazon book description.
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Kindle Reads the Ten Greatest Works of Literature From the Second Millennium
In 2000, John Updike, acclaimed American novelist and literary critic, was asked to name the ten greatest works of literature of the second millennium. Turns out that all influential books he chose are available for the Kindle, many in free editions easily downloaded from Feedbooks, ManyBooks, or MobileRead. Of course you can also purchase them as inexpensive e-books from Amazon. Amazon editions include free wireless delivery to your Kindle and permanent storage in your online Amazon media library.
1. Summa Theologica, by Thomas Aquinas. Written c1265-1273.
"The Summa Theologica...is the most famous work of Thomas Aquinas (c. 1225–1274) although it was never finished. It was intended as a manual for beginners as a compilation of all of the main theological teachings of that time. It summarizes the reasonings for almost all points of Christian theology in the West, which, before the Protestant Reformation, subsisted solely in the Roman Catholic Church. The Summa's topics follow a cycle: the existence of God, God's creation, Man, Man's purpose, Christ, the Sacraments, and back to God. It is famous for its five arguments for the existence of God, the Quinquae viae (Latin: five ways). Throughout his work, Aquinas cites Augustine, Aristotle, and other Christian, Jewish and even Muslim and ancient pagan scholars." - Wikipedia.
Available for the Kindle at:
2. The Divine Comedy, by Dante Alghieri. Written c1308-1321.
"The Divine Comedy (Italian: Commedia, later christened "Divina" by Giovanni Boccaccio), written by Dante Alighieri between 1308 and his death in 1321, is widely considered the central epic poem of Italian literature, and is seen as one of the greatest works of world literature. The poem's imaginative and allegorical vision of the Christian afterlife is a culmination of the medieval world-view as it had developed in the Western Church." - Wikipedia. See also The Princeton Dante Project.
Available for the Kindle at:
3. Don Quixote, by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra. Part 1 - 1605. Part 2 - 1615.
"Don Quixote..., fully titled El ingenioso hidalgo don Quijote de la Mancha ('The Ingenious Hidalgo Don Quixote of La Mancha') is an early novel written by Spanish author Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra...The protagonist, Alonso Quixano, is a country gentleman who has read so many stories of chivalry that he descends into fantasy and becomes convinced he is a knight errant. Together with his earthy squire Sancho Panza, the self-styled 'Don Quixote de la Mancha' sets out in search of adventure. The 'lady' for whom Quixote seeks to toil is Dulcinea del Toboso, an imaginary object crafted from a neighbouring farmgirl...by the illusion-struck 'knight' to be the object of his courtly love. ...Don Quixote is the most influential work of literature to emerge from the Spanish Golden Age and perhaps the entire Spanish literary canon. As a founding work of modern Western literature, it regularly appears at the top of lists of the greatest works of fiction ever published." - Wikipedia.
Available for the Kindle at:
4. Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies by William Shakespeare. Written 1590-1613. Published 1623.
"William Shakespeare (baptised 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616)[a] was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the 'Bard of Avon'... His surviving works consist of 38 plays, 154 sonnets, two long narrative poems, and several other poems. His plays have been translated into every major living language, and are performed more often than those of any other playwright." - Wikipedia.
Available for the Kindle at:
5. Candide, by Voltaire. 1759.
"Candide, ou l'Optimisme (1759) is a French satire ...[which]....tells the tale of a young man, Candide (meaning 'ingenuous'), who has been indoctrinated with Leibnizian optimism but becomes disillusioned after witnessing and experiencing many great hardships. With a plot similar to that of a more serious picaresque novel or bildungsroman, Candide parodies many adventure and romance clichés, and the plights of the characters are described in a tone which is mordantly matter-of-fact. Through the allegory of Candide, Voltaire pokes fun at religion and theologians, governments and armies, philosophies and philosophers; most visibly, Voltaire rails against Leibniz and his Optimism. Voltaire's magnum opus, [Candide] is a literary work which, for its biting wit and insightful portrayal of the human condition, has often been mimicked by later authors and adapted for the stage (the most notable of which is Leonard Bernstein's 1956 comic operetta)." - Wikipedia.
Available for the Kindle at:
6. History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, by Edward Gibbon. 1776-1788.
"The History of The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire is a major literary achievement of the 18th century...written by English historian Edward Gibbon and published in six volumes...The books cover the period of the Roman Empire after Marcus Aurelius, from just before 180 to 1453 and beyond, concluding in 1590. They take as their material the behaviour and decisions that led to the decay and eventual fall of the Roman Empire in the East and West, offering an explanation for why the Roman Empire fell...By virtue of its mostly objective approach and highly accurate use of reference material, Gibbon's work was adopted as a model for the methodologies of 19th and 20th century historians. His pessimism and detached use of irony was common to the historical genre of his era." - Wikipedia.
Available for the Kindle at:
7. War and Peace, by Leo Tolstoy. Written 1865-1869..
"War and Peace ... is a novel by Leo Tolstoy...which tells the story of Russian society during the Napoleonic Era. It is usually described as one of Tolstoy's two major masterpieces (the other being Anna Karenina) as well as one of the world's greatest novels. War and Peace offered a new kind of fiction, with a great many characters caught up in a plot that covered nothing less than the grand subjects indicated by the title, combined with the equally large topics of youth, marriage, age, and death." - Wikipedia.
Available for the Kindle at:
8. The Possessed, by Fyodor Dostoyevsky. 18871-1872.
"An extremely political book, The Possessed is a testimonial of life in Imperial Russia in the late 19th century. As the revolutionary democrats begin to rise in Russia, different ideologies begin to collide. Dostoevsky casts a critical eye on both the left-wing idealists, exposing their ideas and ideological foundation as demonic, and the conservative establishment's ineptitude in dealing with those ideas and their social consequences." - Wikipedia.
Available for the Kindle at:
9. Remembrance of Things Past, by Marcel Proust. 1913-1927.
"In Search of Lost Time or Remembrance of Things Past (French: À la recherche du temps perdu) ... is a semi-autobiographical novel in seven volumes by Marcel Proust. His most prominent work, it is popularly known for its extended length and the notion of involuntary memory... In it, Proust explores the themes of time, space, and memory, but the novel is above all a condensation of innumerable literary, structural, stylistic, and thematic possibilities." - Wikipedia.
Available for the Kindle at:
10. Ulysses, by James Joyce. 1922.
"Ulysses chronicles the passage through Dublin by its main character, Leopold Bloom, during an ordinary day, June 16, 1904. The title alludes to the hero of Homer's Odyssey (Latinised into Ulysses), and there are many parallels, both implicit and explicit, between the two works (e.g., the correspondences between Leopold Bloom and Odysseus, Molly Bloom and Penelope, and Stephen Dedalus and Telemachus). Ulysses's groundbreaking stream-of-consciousness technique, careful structuring, and highly experimental prose—full of puns, parodies, and allusions—as well as its rich characterizations and broad humour, have made the book perhaps the most highly regarded novel in the Modernist pantheon." - Wikipedia.
Available for the Kindle at:
1. Summa Theologica, by Thomas Aquinas. Written c1265-1273."The Summa Theologica...is the most famous work of Thomas Aquinas (c. 1225–1274) although it was never finished. It was intended as a manual for beginners as a compilation of all of the main theological teachings of that time. It summarizes the reasonings for almost all points of Christian theology in the West, which, before the Protestant Reformation, subsisted solely in the Roman Catholic Church. The Summa's topics follow a cycle: the existence of God, God's creation, Man, Man's purpose, Christ, the Sacraments, and back to God. It is famous for its five arguments for the existence of God, the Quinquae viae (Latin: five ways). Throughout his work, Aquinas cites Augustine, Aristotle, and other Christian, Jewish and even Muslim and ancient pagan scholars." - Wikipedia.
Available for the Kindle at:
Amazon | ManyBooks
2. The Divine Comedy, by Dante Alghieri. Written c1308-1321.
"The Divine Comedy (Italian: Commedia, later christened "Divina" by Giovanni Boccaccio), written by Dante Alighieri between 1308 and his death in 1321, is widely considered the central epic poem of Italian literature, and is seen as one of the greatest works of world literature. The poem's imaginative and allegorical vision of the Christian afterlife is a culmination of the medieval world-view as it had developed in the Western Church." - Wikipedia. See also The Princeton Dante Project.
Available for the Kindle at:
Amazon | Feedbooks | FreeKindleBooks.org | ManyBooks | MobileRead
3. Don Quixote, by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra. Part 1 - 1605. Part 2 - 1615.
"Don Quixote..., fully titled El ingenioso hidalgo don Quijote de la Mancha ('The Ingenious Hidalgo Don Quixote of La Mancha') is an early novel written by Spanish author Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra...The protagonist, Alonso Quixano, is a country gentleman who has read so many stories of chivalry that he descends into fantasy and becomes convinced he is a knight errant. Together with his earthy squire Sancho Panza, the self-styled 'Don Quixote de la Mancha' sets out in search of adventure. The 'lady' for whom Quixote seeks to toil is Dulcinea del Toboso, an imaginary object crafted from a neighbouring farmgirl...by the illusion-struck 'knight' to be the object of his courtly love. ...Don Quixote is the most influential work of literature to emerge from the Spanish Golden Age and perhaps the entire Spanish literary canon. As a founding work of modern Western literature, it regularly appears at the top of lists of the greatest works of fiction ever published." - Wikipedia.
Available for the Kindle at:
Amazon | Feedbooks | ManyBooks | MobileRead
4. Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies by William Shakespeare. Written 1590-1613. Published 1623.
"William Shakespeare (baptised 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616)[a] was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the 'Bard of Avon'... His surviving works consist of 38 plays, 154 sonnets, two long narrative poems, and several other poems. His plays have been translated into every major living language, and are performed more often than those of any other playwright." - Wikipedia.
Available for the Kindle at:
Amazon | FreeKindleBooks.org | ManyBooks | MobileRead
5. Candide, by Voltaire. 1759.
"Candide, ou l'Optimisme (1759) is a French satire ...[which]....tells the tale of a young man, Candide (meaning 'ingenuous'), who has been indoctrinated with Leibnizian optimism but becomes disillusioned after witnessing and experiencing many great hardships. With a plot similar to that of a more serious picaresque novel or bildungsroman, Candide parodies many adventure and romance clichés, and the plights of the characters are described in a tone which is mordantly matter-of-fact. Through the allegory of Candide, Voltaire pokes fun at religion and theologians, governments and armies, philosophies and philosophers; most visibly, Voltaire rails against Leibniz and his Optimism. Voltaire's magnum opus, [Candide] is a literary work which, for its biting wit and insightful portrayal of the human condition, has often been mimicked by later authors and adapted for the stage (the most notable of which is Leonard Bernstein's 1956 comic operetta)." - Wikipedia.
Available for the Kindle at:
Amazon | Feedbooks | ManyBooks | MobileRead
6. History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, by Edward Gibbon. 1776-1788.
"The History of The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire is a major literary achievement of the 18th century...written by English historian Edward Gibbon and published in six volumes...The books cover the period of the Roman Empire after Marcus Aurelius, from just before 180 to 1453 and beyond, concluding in 1590. They take as their material the behaviour and decisions that led to the decay and eventual fall of the Roman Empire in the East and West, offering an explanation for why the Roman Empire fell...By virtue of its mostly objective approach and highly accurate use of reference material, Gibbon's work was adopted as a model for the methodologies of 19th and 20th century historians. His pessimism and detached use of irony was common to the historical genre of his era." - Wikipedia.
Available for the Kindle at:
Amazon| Feedbooks | ManyBooks
7. War and Peace, by Leo Tolstoy. Written 1865-1869..
"War and Peace ... is a novel by Leo Tolstoy...which tells the story of Russian society during the Napoleonic Era. It is usually described as one of Tolstoy's two major masterpieces (the other being Anna Karenina) as well as one of the world's greatest novels. War and Peace offered a new kind of fiction, with a great many characters caught up in a plot that covered nothing less than the grand subjects indicated by the title, combined with the equally large topics of youth, marriage, age, and death." - Wikipedia.
Available for the Kindle at:
Amazon | Feedbooks | FreeKindleBooks.org | ManyBooks | MobileRead
8. The Possessed, by Fyodor Dostoyevsky. 18871-1872.
"An extremely political book, The Possessed is a testimonial of life in Imperial Russia in the late 19th century. As the revolutionary democrats begin to rise in Russia, different ideologies begin to collide. Dostoevsky casts a critical eye on both the left-wing idealists, exposing their ideas and ideological foundation as demonic, and the conservative establishment's ineptitude in dealing with those ideas and their social consequences." - Wikipedia.
Available for the Kindle at:
Amazon | Feedbooks | FreeKindleBooks.org | ManyBooks
9. Remembrance of Things Past, by Marcel Proust. 1913-1927.
"In Search of Lost Time or Remembrance of Things Past (French: À la recherche du temps perdu) ... is a semi-autobiographical novel in seven volumes by Marcel Proust. His most prominent work, it is popularly known for its extended length and the notion of involuntary memory... In it, Proust explores the themes of time, space, and memory, but the novel is above all a condensation of innumerable literary, structural, stylistic, and thematic possibilities." - Wikipedia.
Available for the Kindle at:
Amazon | Feedbooks | MobileRead
10. Ulysses, by James Joyce. 1922.
"Ulysses chronicles the passage through Dublin by its main character, Leopold Bloom, during an ordinary day, June 16, 1904. The title alludes to the hero of Homer's Odyssey (Latinised into Ulysses), and there are many parallels, both implicit and explicit, between the two works (e.g., the correspondences between Leopold Bloom and Odysseus, Molly Bloom and Penelope, and Stephen Dedalus and Telemachus). Ulysses's groundbreaking stream-of-consciousness technique, careful structuring, and highly experimental prose—full of puns, parodies, and allusions—as well as its rich characterizations and broad humour, have made the book perhaps the most highly regarded novel in the Modernist pantheon." - Wikipedia.
Available for the Kindle at:
Amazon | Feedbooks |FreeKindleBooks.org | ManyBooks | MobileRead
Sunday, May 18, 2008
Week of Entertainment: Books Reviewed in Entertainment Weekly 05/16/08
Today's Amazon Kindle status: IN STOCK for free two-day delivery!
Each week Entertainment Weekly reviews a small selection of popular new books. Titles available for the Kindle and reviewed in the May 16th issue include:
A Freewheelin' Time: A Memoir of Greenwich Village in the Sixties, by Suze Rotolo. Scribner. MEMOIR. EW rating: B+. Kindle edition $9.99. "In July 1961, Rotolo, a shy 17-year-old from Queens, met an up-and-coming young folk singer named Bob Dylan at an all-day folk festival at Riverside Church in Manhattan, and her life changed forever. For the next few years, Suze and Bobby lived a freewheeling life amid the bohemians in the emerging folk scene in Greenwich Village. Rotolo offers brief glimpses of the denizens populating the new music scene below 14th Street in the early '60s and recalls the excitement as writers and musicians like Dylan wandered in and out of each other's lives and apartments, trading music and lyrics to produce a new sound that would change American music..." - Publishers Weekly.
Audition, by Barbara Walters. Knopf. MEMOIR. EW rating: B-. Kindle edition $9.99. "Breaking news: Barbara Walters wears fake eyelashes, is afraid to drive, gave up her black married lover to save her career (while his went down the tubes). These and other true confessions provide the tabloid interest through 600 pages of the network diva's new memoir, Audition. But it's her heartfelt candor that lifts this book above mere titillation. Finally we learn why Walters is so relentless. It's a question I've often pondered watching her on television after beginning my own TV news career 30 years ago. In this engaging and chatty look back at a life largely lived in public view, Walters provides the answer." - Kathleen Matthews in the Washington Post's Book World.
Bright Shiny Morning, by James Grey. HarperCollins. NOVEL. EW rating: D+. Kindle edition $9.99. "One of the most celebrated and controversial authors in America delivers his first novel -- a sweeping chronicle of contemporary Los Angeles that is bold, exhilarating, and utterly original." - Amazon book description. "James Frey doesn't lack ambition. In his first official novel...the notorious ex-memoirist tries to capture the entirety of Los Angeles, that vast, heterogeneous city that's both a destination for dreamers and a dumping ground for urban bottom-feeders. Imagine the movie Crash rewritten as a pastiche of Tom Wolfe, Bret Easton Ellis, and Jackie Collins - and you get a sense of the frustrating experience of reading this slack, self-indulgent mess." - Thom Geier for EW.
The Beautiful Struggle: A Father, Two Sons, and an Unlikely Road to Manhood, by Ta-Nehisi Coates. Spiegel & Grau. MEMOIR. EW rating: A-. Kindle edition $9.99. "Paul Coates was an enigmatic god to his sons: a Vietnam vet who rolled with the Black Panthers, an old-school disciplinarian and new-age believer in free love, an autodidact who launched a publishing company in his basement dedicated to telling the true history of African civilization. Most of all, he was a wily tactician whose mission was to carry his sons across the shoals of inner-city adolescence—and through the collapsing civilization of Baltimore in the Age of Crack—and into the safe arms of Howard University, where he worked so his children could attend for free...Among his brood of seven, his main challenges were Ta-Nehisi, spacey and sensitive and almost comically miscalibrated for his environment, and Big Bill, charismatic and all-too-ready for the challenges of the streets. With a remarkable ability to reimagine both the lost world of his father’s generation and the terrors and wonders of his own youth, Coates offers readers a small and beautiful epic about boys trying to become men in black America and beyond." - Amazon book description.
Yes, You're Pregnant, But What About Me?, by Levin Nealon. HarperCollins. MEMOIR. EW rating: C-. Kindle edition $9.99. "At fifty-three, Kevin Nealon... had accomplished the impossible: a thirty-year career in show business with only limited trips to rehab. But just like every other celebrity, he felt that was not enough. The perpetually insatiable Nealon wanted more, and for him 'more' meant a little addition that drooled, burped, and pooped... Now, in his first-ever book, Nealon tells the outrageous story of how he battled through aching joints, Milano cookie cravings, and a rapidly receding hairline to become a first-time dad at an age when most fathers are packing their kids off to college. Offering hysterical commentary about his fickle, often hormonal, road to belated and bloated fatherhood, Nealon guides you through the delivery room and beyond, discussing how his past, his wife, and his neuroses all converged in a montage of side-splitting insecurities during the months leading up to the birth of his son." - Amazon book description.
Happy Trails to You: Stories, by Julie Hecht. Knopf. SHORT STORIES. EW rating: B-. Kindle edition $9.99. "When Julie Hecht's stories first appeared in The New Yorker, her unnamed photographer-narrator became an instant literary icon. Chronicles of her strategies for surviving civilization's decline -- herbal remedies, macrobiotics, a bit of Xanax -- have established her as one of the most captivating and eagerly read voices in modern literature...The uniquely eccentric narrator reappears in Happy Trails to You and recounts her perplexed engagements with our society and the larger world -- whether she's attempting to withdraw money from a bank machine, worrying about Paul McCartney, or seeking a nonexistent place of calm on Nantucket, where nail guns and chain saws have replaced the sounds of birds singing." - Amazon book description.
The Boat, by Nam Le. Knopf. SHORT STORIES. EW rating: B+. Kindle edition $9.99. "A stunningly inventive, deeply moving fiction debut: stories that take us from the slums of Colombia to the streets of Tehran; from New York City to Iowa City; from a tiny fishing village in Australia to a foundering vessel in the South China Sea, in a masterly display of literary virtuosity and feeling...Brilliant, daring, and demonstrating a jaw-dropping versatility of voice and point of view, The Boat is an extraordinary work of fiction that takes us to the heart of what it means to be human, and announces a writer of astonishing gifts." - Amazon book description.
Each week Entertainment Weekly reviews a small selection of popular new books. Titles available for the Kindle and reviewed in the May 16th issue include:
A Freewheelin' Time: A Memoir of Greenwich Village in the Sixties, by Suze Rotolo. Scribner. MEMOIR. EW rating: B+. Kindle edition $9.99. "In July 1961, Rotolo, a shy 17-year-old from Queens, met an up-and-coming young folk singer named Bob Dylan at an all-day folk festival at Riverside Church in Manhattan, and her life changed forever. For the next few years, Suze and Bobby lived a freewheeling life amid the bohemians in the emerging folk scene in Greenwich Village. Rotolo offers brief glimpses of the denizens populating the new music scene below 14th Street in the early '60s and recalls the excitement as writers and musicians like Dylan wandered in and out of each other's lives and apartments, trading music and lyrics to produce a new sound that would change American music..." - Publishers Weekly.Audition, by Barbara Walters. Knopf. MEMOIR. EW rating: B-. Kindle edition $9.99. "Breaking news: Barbara Walters wears fake eyelashes, is afraid to drive, gave up her black married lover to save her career (while his went down the tubes). These and other true confessions provide the tabloid interest through 600 pages of the network diva's new memoir, Audition. But it's her heartfelt candor that lifts this book above mere titillation. Finally we learn why Walters is so relentless. It's a question I've often pondered watching her on television after beginning my own TV news career 30 years ago. In this engaging and chatty look back at a life largely lived in public view, Walters provides the answer." - Kathleen Matthews in the Washington Post's Book World.
Bright Shiny Morning, by James Grey. HarperCollins. NOVEL. EW rating: D+. Kindle edition $9.99. "One of the most celebrated and controversial authors in America delivers his first novel -- a sweeping chronicle of contemporary Los Angeles that is bold, exhilarating, and utterly original." - Amazon book description. "James Frey doesn't lack ambition. In his first official novel...the notorious ex-memoirist tries to capture the entirety of Los Angeles, that vast, heterogeneous city that's both a destination for dreamers and a dumping ground for urban bottom-feeders. Imagine the movie Crash rewritten as a pastiche of Tom Wolfe, Bret Easton Ellis, and Jackie Collins - and you get a sense of the frustrating experience of reading this slack, self-indulgent mess." - Thom Geier for EW.
The Beautiful Struggle: A Father, Two Sons, and an Unlikely Road to Manhood, by Ta-Nehisi Coates. Spiegel & Grau. MEMOIR. EW rating: A-. Kindle edition $9.99. "Paul Coates was an enigmatic god to his sons: a Vietnam vet who rolled with the Black Panthers, an old-school disciplinarian and new-age believer in free love, an autodidact who launched a publishing company in his basement dedicated to telling the true history of African civilization. Most of all, he was a wily tactician whose mission was to carry his sons across the shoals of inner-city adolescence—and through the collapsing civilization of Baltimore in the Age of Crack—and into the safe arms of Howard University, where he worked so his children could attend for free...Among his brood of seven, his main challenges were Ta-Nehisi, spacey and sensitive and almost comically miscalibrated for his environment, and Big Bill, charismatic and all-too-ready for the challenges of the streets. With a remarkable ability to reimagine both the lost world of his father’s generation and the terrors and wonders of his own youth, Coates offers readers a small and beautiful epic about boys trying to become men in black America and beyond." - Amazon book description.
Yes, You're Pregnant, But What About Me?, by Levin Nealon. HarperCollins. MEMOIR. EW rating: C-. Kindle edition $9.99. "At fifty-three, Kevin Nealon... had accomplished the impossible: a thirty-year career in show business with only limited trips to rehab. But just like every other celebrity, he felt that was not enough. The perpetually insatiable Nealon wanted more, and for him 'more' meant a little addition that drooled, burped, and pooped... Now, in his first-ever book, Nealon tells the outrageous story of how he battled through aching joints, Milano cookie cravings, and a rapidly receding hairline to become a first-time dad at an age when most fathers are packing their kids off to college. Offering hysterical commentary about his fickle, often hormonal, road to belated and bloated fatherhood, Nealon guides you through the delivery room and beyond, discussing how his past, his wife, and his neuroses all converged in a montage of side-splitting insecurities during the months leading up to the birth of his son." - Amazon book description.
Happy Trails to You: Stories, by Julie Hecht. Knopf. SHORT STORIES. EW rating: B-. Kindle edition $9.99. "When Julie Hecht's stories first appeared in The New Yorker, her unnamed photographer-narrator became an instant literary icon. Chronicles of her strategies for surviving civilization's decline -- herbal remedies, macrobiotics, a bit of Xanax -- have established her as one of the most captivating and eagerly read voices in modern literature...The uniquely eccentric narrator reappears in Happy Trails to You and recounts her perplexed engagements with our society and the larger world -- whether she's attempting to withdraw money from a bank machine, worrying about Paul McCartney, or seeking a nonexistent place of calm on Nantucket, where nail guns and chain saws have replaced the sounds of birds singing." - Amazon book description.
The Boat, by Nam Le. Knopf. SHORT STORIES. EW rating: B+. Kindle edition $9.99. "A stunningly inventive, deeply moving fiction debut: stories that take us from the slums of Colombia to the streets of Tehran; from New York City to Iowa City; from a tiny fishing village in Australia to a foundering vessel in the South China Sea, in a masterly display of literary virtuosity and feeling...Brilliant, daring, and demonstrating a jaw-dropping versatility of voice and point of view, The Boat is an extraordinary work of fiction that takes us to the heart of what it means to be human, and announces a writer of astonishing gifts." - Amazon book description.
Friday, May 16, 2008
Kindle Samples Matter: The Good, The Bad and the Ugly
Today's Amazon Kindle status: IN STOCK for free two-day delivery!
B.K. (Before Kindle) I used to make it to the local Barnes & Noble once or twice a month. I'd spend about an hour visiting my favorite sections of the store, skipping the section with the new hard cover bestsellers (too expensive, I'll wait for the paperback editions to come out, I told myself). Then I'd take a pile of books into the Starbucks section for a drink-and-pick-one session, writing down the titles of the more expensive books to see if they were available in the local library and/or were cheaper on Amazon.
A.K. (After Kindle) my book buying habits have completely changed. I still go to the brick and mortar stores and still buy books there, but now I enjoy visiting the Kindle Book Store any time I like 24/7 - no gasoline required and no searching for a parking place. Oh the delights of shopping in the middle of the night from the comfort of my own bed. If I finish a book, I know the sequel is only minutes away. Which brings me to the subject of this posting: FREE SAMPLES.
When you cannot page through a book, the free sample becomes more important and you immediately become aware that all samples are not created equal. For example: I recently requested samples of two books: one nonfiction and one fiction.
The nonfiction title was Literally, the Best Language Book Ever, by Paul Yeager. It sounded like just what I've been looking for: an English language grammar, vocabulary and usage book to have available for reference purposes on my Kindle. Unfortunately, although the sample included a helpful table of contents, the rest was an introduction telling me how annoyed the author is with folks who use phrases like "I'd like to tell you, but then I'd have to kill you" or "Are we having fun yet?". There was absolutely no text from the body of the book and no incentive to plunk down $9.99 to find out more. I'm still waiting for literally the best language book ever for the Kindle.
The novel was The Host by Stephenie Meyer. Now I had not planned to buy this one right away. After all, I was still reading volume three of Meyer's Twilight Saga. But here's where smart samples come in. The sample included the cover, a table of contents and four chapters of the story. By the time I got to the last cliffhanger sentence of the sample, there was no way I didn't want to read more. "I can barely breathe under his grip. 'Where are the rest of them?' he demands, squeezing. 'It's just me!' I rasp............."
Moral of the story: Kindle book publishers, the sample is your opportunity to draw the reader in and make a sale. Consider the sample your Kindle advertising campaign. And Kindle readers, why not leave a review of the sample on Amazon if it's one of the ugly ones?
B.K. (Before Kindle) I used to make it to the local Barnes & Noble once or twice a month. I'd spend about an hour visiting my favorite sections of the store, skipping the section with the new hard cover bestsellers (too expensive, I'll wait for the paperback editions to come out, I told myself). Then I'd take a pile of books into the Starbucks section for a drink-and-pick-one session, writing down the titles of the more expensive books to see if they were available in the local library and/or were cheaper on Amazon.
A.K. (After Kindle) my book buying habits have completely changed. I still go to the brick and mortar stores and still buy books there, but now I enjoy visiting the Kindle Book Store any time I like 24/7 - no gasoline required and no searching for a parking place. Oh the delights of shopping in the middle of the night from the comfort of my own bed. If I finish a book, I know the sequel is only minutes away. Which brings me to the subject of this posting: FREE SAMPLES.
When you cannot page through a book, the free sample becomes more important and you immediately become aware that all samples are not created equal. For example: I recently requested samples of two books: one nonfiction and one fiction.
The nonfiction title was Literally, the Best Language Book Ever, by Paul Yeager. It sounded like just what I've been looking for: an English language grammar, vocabulary and usage book to have available for reference purposes on my Kindle. Unfortunately, although the sample included a helpful table of contents, the rest was an introduction telling me how annoyed the author is with folks who use phrases like "I'd like to tell you, but then I'd have to kill you" or "Are we having fun yet?". There was absolutely no text from the body of the book and no incentive to plunk down $9.99 to find out more. I'm still waiting for literally the best language book ever for the Kindle.
The novel was The Host by Stephenie Meyer. Now I had not planned to buy this one right away. After all, I was still reading volume three of Meyer's Twilight Saga. But here's where smart samples come in. The sample included the cover, a table of contents and four chapters of the story. By the time I got to the last cliffhanger sentence of the sample, there was no way I didn't want to read more. "I can barely breathe under his grip. 'Where are the rest of them?' he demands, squeezing. 'It's just me!' I rasp............."
Moral of the story: Kindle book publishers, the sample is your opportunity to draw the reader in and make a sale. Consider the sample your Kindle advertising campaign. And Kindle readers, why not leave a review of the sample on Amazon if it's one of the ugly ones?
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Kindle Book Du Jour: Killing Rommel, by Steven Pressfield
Today's Amazon Kindle status: IN STOCK for free two-day delivery!Killing Rommel: A Novel, by Steven Pressfield. Doubleday, 2008. NOVEL. Kindle edition $9.99.
Pressfield is known primarily for military historical fiction in set in classical antiquity. His novel The Gates of Fire - said to be required reading at the U.S. Military Academy - recreates the Battle of Thermopylae between the Greeks and the Spartans in 480 B.C.
"In Killing Rommel Pressfield extends his talents to the modern world with a WWII tale based on the real-life exploits of the Long Range Desert Group, an elite British special forces unit that took on the German Afrika Korps and its legendary commander, Field Marshal Erwin Rommel, 'the Desert Fox.'
Autumn 1942. Hitler's legions have swept across Europe; France has fallen; Churchill and the English are isolated on their island. In North Africa, Rommel and his Panzers have routed the British Eighth Army and stand poised to overrun Egypt, Suez, and the oilfields of the Middle East. With the outcome of the war hanging in the balance, the British hatch a desperate plan-send a small, highly mobile, and heavily armed force behind German lines to strike the blow that will stop the Afrika Korps in its tracks.
Narrated from the point of view of a young lieutenant, Killing Rommel brings to life the flair, agility, and daring of this extraordinary secret unit, the Long Range Desert Group...As in all of his previous novels, Pressfield powerfully renders the drama and intensity of warfare, the bonds of men in close combat, and the surprising human emotions and frailties that come into play on the battlefield. Combining scrupulous historical detail and accuracy with remarkable narrative momentum, this galvanizing novel heralds Pressfield's gift for bringing more recent history to life." - Amazon book description.
Monday, May 12, 2008
Spirit Gate:: A Free Kindle Fantasy Novel From Tor
To publicize 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.
This week's offering, Spirit Gate, is available for free by registering at Tor.com. Once you register, you will receive by return e-mail a link to download the book. It is also available in a paperback edition at Amazon.com.
"For hundreds of years the Guardians have ruled the world of the Hundred, but these powerful gods no longer exert their will on the world. Only the reeves, who patrol on enormous eagles, still represent the Guardians' power. And the reeves are losing their authority; for there is a dark shadow across the land that not even the reeves can stop.
A group of fanatics has risen to devour villages, towns, and cities in their drive to annihilate all who oppose them. No one knows who leads them; they seem inhumanly cruel and powerful. Mai and Anji, riding with a company of dedicated warriors and a single reeve who may hold a key to stopping the deadly advance of the devouring horde, must try, or the world will be lost to the carnage. But a young woman sworn to the Goddess may prove more important than them all . . . if they are not too late.
A haunting tale of people swept up by the chaos of war, this is superlative fantasy adventure, rich in texture, filled with color and excitement, masterfully crafted by a brilliantly gifted storyteller." - Amazon book description.
Spirit Gate is the first volume of Crossroads, a projected seven volume fantasy series by a World Fantasy and Nebula Award finalist. The second volume, Shadow Gate, (Tor, 2008) is not yet available in Kindle format.
Sunday, May 11, 2008
A Week of Entertainment: Books Reviewed in Entertainment Weekly 9 May 08
Books I'm currently reading:
NONFICTION: Where in the World is Osama bin Laden?, by Morgan Spurlock.
FICTION: Host, by Stephenie Meyer.
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 May 9th issue.
Careless in Red, by Elizabeth George. HarperCollins, 2008. MYSTERY. EW rating: A-. Kindle edition $9.99. " After the senseless murder of his wife, Detective Superintendent Thomas Lynley retreated to Cornwall, where he has spent six solitary weeks hiking the bleak and rugged coastline. But no matter how far he walks, no matter how exhausting his days, the painful memories of Helen's death do not diminish. On the forty-third day of his walk, at the base of a cliff, Lynley discovers the body of a young man who appears to have fallen to his death. The closest town, better known for its tourists and its surfing than its intrigue, seems an unlikely place for murder. However, it soon becomes apparent that a clever killer is indeed at work, and this time Lynley is not a detective but a witness and possibly a suspect." - Amazon book description.
The Man Who Loved China, by Simon Winchester. HarperCollins, 2008. NONFICTION. EW rating: B+. Kindle edition $9.99. "In sumptuous and illuminating detail, Simon Winchester...brings to life the extraordinary story of Joseph Needham, the brilliant Cambridge scientist who unlocked the most closely held secrets of China, long the world's most technologically advanced country. No cloistered don, this tall, married Englishman was a freethinking intellectual, who practiced nudism and was devoted to a quirky brand of folk dancing. In 1937, while working as a biochemist at Cambridge University, he instantly fell in love with a visiting Chinese student, with whom he began a lifelong affair. He soon became fascinated with China, and his mistress swiftly persuaded the ever-enthusiastic Needham to travel to her home country, where he embarked on a series of extraordinary expeditions to the farthest frontiers of this ancient empire... Needham was determined to tell the world what he had discovered, and began writing his majestic Science and Civilisation in China, describing the country's long and astonishing history of invention and technology. By the time he died, he had produced, essentially single-handedly, seventeen immense volumes, marking him as the greatest one-man encyclopedist ever." - Amazon book description.
God of War, by Marisa Silver. Simon & Schuster, 2008. NOVEL. EW rating: A-. Kindle edition $9.99. "The year is 1978. Ares Ramirez, age 12, lives with his mother, Laurel, and his younger brother Malcolm in a trailer at the edge of the Salton Sea, an unintentionally man-made body of water in the middle of the Southern California desert. It is a desolate, forgotten place, whose inhabitants thrive amidst seemingly impossible circumstances, where birds fly by day across the desert sky, by night government fighter planes and helicopters make training runs using live ammunition, and an anonymous dead body floats in from the sea. These events inspire Ares, on the cusp of his adolescence, to enact elaborate fantasies of mortal combat. His membership in a troubled family marks Ares as a casualty of a different kind of war. Malcolm, age 7, is mentally handicapped, and his mother chooses not to do anything about it. Ares' struggle with the burden of responsibility -- to himself and to others -- draws him into a world of drugs, violence, and sex that he is not prepared for, launching him into a very personal battle for his own identity, one that has a lethal outcome." - Amazon book description.
The Plague of Doves, by Louise Erdrich. HarperCollins, 2008. NOVEL. EW rating: B-. Kindle edition $15.42. "Erdrich's 13th novel, a multigenerational tour de force of sin, redemption, murder and vengeance, finds its roots in the 1911 slaughter of a farming family near Pluto, N. Dak. The family's infant daughter is spared, and a posse forms, incorrectly blames three Indians and lynches them. One, Mooshum Milk, miraculously survives. Over the next century, descendants of both the hanged men and the lynch mob develop relationships that become deeply entangled, and their disparate stories are held together via principal narrator Evelina, Mooshum Milk's granddaughter, who comes of age on an Indian reservation near Pluto in the 1960s and '70s and forms two fateful adolescent crushes: one on bad-boy schoolmate Corwin Peace and one on a nun. Though Evelina doesn't know it, both are descendants of lynch mob members." - Publishers Weekly.
Today's Amazon Kindle status: IN STOCK for free two-day delivery!
Friday, May 9, 2008
Kindle Book Du Jour: The Host
Today's Amazon Kindle status: IN STOCK for free two-day delivery!The Host, by Stephenie Meyer. Little, Brown and Company, 2008. SCIENCE FICTION. Kindle edition $9.99.
Stephenie Meyer is best know for her Twlight saga (Twilight, New Moon, and Eclipse) - all available in Kindle editions. The Host is her first science fiction novel. Interviewed on the Glenn Beck show yesterday, author Stephenie described The Host is sort of like the Invasion of the Body Snatchers after the invasion has taken place.
"Stephenie Meyer, creator of the phenomenal teen-vamp Twilight series, takes paranormal romance into alien territory in her first adult novel. Those wary of sci-fi or teen angst will be pleasantly surprised by this mature and imaginative thriller, propelled by equal parts action and emotion. A species of altruistic parasites has peacefully assumed control of the minds and bodies of most humans, but feisty Melanie Stryder won't surrender her mind to the alien soul called Wanderer. Overwhelmed by Melanie's memories of fellow resistor Jared, Wanderer yields to her body's longing and sets off into the desert to find him. Likely the first love triangle involving just two bodies, it's unabashedly romantic, and the characters (human and alien) genuinely endearing. Readers intrigued by this familiar-yet-alien world will gleefully note that the story's end leaves the door open for a sequel--or another series." - Mari Malcolm.
Thursday, May 8, 2008
A Week of Entertainment: Books Reviewed in Entertainment Weekly 2 May 08
Today's Amazon Kindle status: IN STOCK for free two-day delivery for Mother's Day!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 25th /May 2nd double issue.
The Whole Truth, by David Baldacci. Grand Central Publishing, 2008. THRILLER. EW rating: C+. Kindle edition $9.99. " 'Dick, I need a war.' Nicolas Creel is a man on a mission. He heads up the world's largest defense contractor, The Ares Corporation. Dick Pender is the man Creel retains to 'perception manage' his company to even more riches by manipulating international conflicts. But Creel may have an even grander plan in mind. Shaw, a man with no first name and a truly unique past, has a different agenda. Reluctantly doing the bidding of a secret multi-national intelligence agency, he travels the globe to keep it safe and at peace. Willing to do anything to get back to the top of her profession, Katie James is a journalist who has just gotten the break of a lifetime: the chance to interview the sole survivor of a massacre that has left every nation stunned. In this terrifying, global thriller, these characters' lives will collide head-on as a series of events is set in motion that could change the world as we know it." - Amazon book description.
Like A Rolling Stone: The Strange Life of A Tribute Band , by Steven Kurutz. Broadway, 2008. NONFICTION. EW rating: B+. Kindle edition $9.99. "Since the creation of the hit Broadway musical Beatlemania tribute bands have become an indelible part of the musical landscape, playing local bars, biker rallies, banquet halls, town fairs, and, occasionally, even stadiums. In an age when famous rock groups charge $100 or more for a concert ticket, their tribute band imitators offer an accessible, intimate, and surprisingly authentic outlet for fans. The Grateful Dead have Dark Star Orchestra; Led Zeppelin Zoso, Hammer of the Gods, and the all-girl Lez Zeppelin; Van Halen have twenty-five tribute bands, including Hot for Teacher and Van Heineken; and KISS have not one but two tribute bands peopled by dwarves—Mini Kiss and Tiny Kiss. In this droll and entertaining expedition to the heart of tribute world, Steven Kurutz chronicles the ups and downs of one of the oldest and best-established acts, Sticky Fingers, who bill themselves as 'the leading international Rolling Stones tribute show.' Like a Rolling Stone is a superbly reported, affectionately told, hilarious account of life at the lower altitudes of the music industry. In its own sly way, it is also a critique of the Rolling Stones’ stadium juggernaut and the baby boomer nostalgia pervading modern culture..." - Amazon book description.
The Day I Ate Whatever I Wanted: And Other Small Acts of Liberation, by Elizabeth Berg. Random House, 2008. SHORT STORIES. EW rating: B+. Kindle edition $9.99. " In this collection of mostly uplifting stories, Berg (Dream When You're Feeling Blue) explores the everyday challenges that women face. Whether teenaged or octogenarian, Berg's heroines brave the emotional landmines underlying domestic scenes (from holiday dinner parties to visiting family), navigate the slippery slope of constant dieting and address the process of aging. The title story features an unnamed, insouciant narrator who flees from a Weight Watchers meeting and allows herself to indulge her most fattening food cravings." - Publishers Weekly.
Child 44, by Tom Rob Smith. Grand Central Publishing, 2008. THRILLER. EW rating: A-. Kindle edition $9.99. "Leo Stepanovich Demidov...seems to have stepped out of the pages of a classic by Hammett or Chandler. He's a rugged WWII veteran, a natural athlete capable of chasing down a fugitive with an hour's head start across a snowy landscape. He has secrets...a femme at home who could very well prove to be fatale...[and] he's also developing an unwelcome virtue - a sense of conscience - as he stumbles on a series of gruesome murders of young children that local authorities seem incapable of solving on their own." - Thom Geier for EW.
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
Kindle Goes to China: The Shanghai Daily Now Available for Kindle Readers
Today's Amazon Kindle status: IN STOCK for free two-day delivery!The Shanghai Daily. Delivered daily. Monthly Price: $5.99 including free wireless delivery via Amazon Whispernet within the United States. Kindle owners outside the US can download each day to their computer and transfer to the Kindle.
"Shanghai Daily provides an English window to the news of China. Business-focused, it also reports on social, cultural and diplomatic developments in Shanghai and the surrounding region. The Kindle Edition of Shanghai Daily contains articles found in the print edition, but will not include some images and tables. Also, some features such as the crossword puzzle, box scores and classifieds are not currently available. Saturday and Sunday’s issues of Shanghai Daily are bundled together and delivered to Kindle on Saturday morning."
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
Kindle en Español: LIBROdot and JustFreeBooks
If you are looking for free e-books in Spanish, visit LIBROdot, a Spanish-language library of more than 7400 titles by 900 authors from 60 different countries.
Books may be downloaded to your computer in either MS Word or PDF format for conversion to Kindle format.
Website features include book lists by genre as well as lists of books added each week and the most popular LIBROdot books of the month.
Many of the books are Spanish classics and others are Spanish translations of books by European and American authors from C. S. Lewis to Agatha Christie.
You will need to register at the site before downloading books, but registration is free. LIBROdot is supported by donations from its users and by sales of a CD sold on site.
Another place to search for free e-books in Spanish (or English) is JustFreeBooks, a customized Google search engine with both English and Spanish interfaces.
Monday, May 5, 2008
Kindle Book Du Jour: Child 44 by Tom Rob Smith
Today's Amazon Kindle status: IN STOCK for free two-day delivery!Child 44, by Tom Rob Smith. Grand Central Publishing, 2008. SUSPENSE NOVEL. Kindle edition $9.99.
"If all that Tom Rob Smith had done was to re-create Stalinist Russia, with all its double-speak hypocrisy, he would have written a worthwhile novel. He did so much more than that in Child 44, a frightening, chilling, almost unbelievable horror story about the very worst that Stalin's henchmen could manage. In this worker's paradise, superior in every way to the decadent West, the citizen's needs are met: health care, food, shelter, security. All one must offer in exchange are work and loyalty to the State. Leo Demidov is a believer, a former war hero who loves his country and wants only to serve it well. He puts contradictions out of his mind and carries on. Until something happens that he cannot ignore. A serial killer of children is on the loose, and the State cannot admit it.
To admit that such a murderer is committing these crimes is itself a crime against the State... Leo...and his wife, Raisa, set out to find the killer. The revelations that follow are jaw-dropping and the suspense doesn't let up. This is a debut novel worth reading." - Valerie Ryan.
This thriller reminded me of the excellent fact-based 1995 movie Citizen X in which Stephen Rea plays a forensics expert who tracks a serial killer for years in spite of the many obstacles put in his way by government bureaucrats and finally brings in a psychiatrist (Max von Sydow) to create a profile of the killer that leads to his capture. Commenting on the Soviet government's efforts to deny even the existence of a serial killer in 1950s Russia, Marilyn Stasio, in the May 4 NYT Sunday Book Review, writes that "...In a society riven by fear and mistrust, even a serial killer seems less threatening than a man who has learned to think for himself."
Sunday, May 4, 2008
Roosevelt, Gandhi & Churchill Oh My: New Kindle Titles for History Buffs
Today's Amazon Kindle status: IN STOCK for free two-day delivery!Check out these newly-released biographies of three major figures of the twentieth century. Kindle readers save $18 when purchasing these two books (compared with the price on Amazon for the hardcover editions), get instant reading pleasure, and Kindle books are friendly to the environment. But we Kindle owners knew that already, didn't we?
Gandhi & Churchill: The Epic Rivalry that Destroyed an Empire and Forged Our Age, by Arthur Herman. Bantam, 2008. NONFICTION. Kindle edition $9.99. "They were born worlds apart: Winston Churchill to Britain’s most glamorous aristocratic family, Mohandas Gandhi to a pious middle-class household in a provincial town in India. Yet Arthur Herman reveals how their lives and careers became intertwined as the twentieth century unfolded. Both men would go on to lead their nations through harrowing trials and two world wars—and become locked in a fierce contest of wills that would decide the fate of countries, continents, and ultimately an empire...master storyteller Arthur Herman cuts through the legends and myths about these two powerful, charismatic figures and reveals their flaws as well as their strengths." Amazon editorial reviews.
Franklin and Lucy: President Roosevelt, Mrs. Rutherfurd, and the Other Remarkable Women in His Life, by Joseph Persico. Random House, 2008. NONFICTION. Kindle edition $9.99. "Franklin Delano Roosevelt was arguably the greatest figure of the twentieth century. While FDR’s official circle was predominantly male, it was his relationships with women –particularly with Lucy Mercer Rutherfurd – that most vividly bring to light the human being beneath this towering statesman... FDR’s connection with Lucy also creates an opportunity for Persico to take a more penetrating look at the other women in FDR’s life. We come to see more clearly how FDR’s infidelity as a husband contributed to Eleanor’s eventual transformation from a repressed Victorian to perhaps the greatest American woman of her century...Franklin and Lucy is an extraordinary look at the private life of a leader who continues to fascinate scholars and the general public alike. In focusing on Lucy Rutherfurd and the myriad women who mattered to Roosevelt, Persico paints a more intimate portrait than we have heretofore had of this enigmatic giant of American history." Amazon editorial reviews.
Saturday, May 3, 2008
A Week of Entertainment: Books Reviewed in Entertainment Weekly 18 April 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 18th issue.
Shakespeare's Wife, by Germaine Greer. HarperCollins, 2008. BIOGRAPHY. EW rating: B+. Kindle edition $9.99. "While Shakespeare is above all the poet of marriage - repeatedly in his plays, constant wives redeem unjust and deluded husbands - scholars persist in positing the worst about the writer's own spouse. In Shakespeare's Wife, Germaine Greer boldly breaks new ground, combining literary-historical techniques with documentary evidence about life in Stratford, to reset the story of Shakespeare's marriage in its social context. With deep insight and intelligence, she offers daring and thoughtful new theories about the farmer's daughter who married England's greatest poet, painting a vivid portrait of a remarkable woman." - Amazon book description.
The Miracle at Speedy Motors: The New Novel in the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency Series , by Alexander Mccall Smith. Pantheon, 2008. MYSTERY. EW rating: B+. Kindle edition $9.99. "The series is about a detective agency and ostensibly about the solving of mysteries. But the only real mystery with which the author is really concerned is the search for happiness. Contentment, he persuasively argues, is to be found in the living of a decent and moral life. The familiar characters of this series are called upon in this volume to make sacrifices and find that in so doing they gain far more than they lose. In a world that cannot seem to find satisfaction, the world created by this author is one to which I gladly return as often as possible. Highly Recommended" - from review by J. Brian Watkins on Amazon.com.
Girls in Trucks, by Katie Crouch. Little, Brown and Company,2008. DEBUT NOVEL. EW rating: A-. Kindle edition $9.99. "Katie Crouch's debut novel, Girls in Trucks, is the hilarious, heartbreaking tale of Sarah Walters, a Southern debutante whose endless quest for love and fulfillment takes her around the world and back again. Orbiting Sarah is a cast of characters whose misadventures keep the story moving, even as readers grow frustrated with our heroine's inability to rise above her self-destructive tendencies and see the proverbial light...Crouch's sharp wit and keen insight into the dynamics between mothers and daughters, sisters, friends and lovers make her an exciting newcomer to the Southern fiction genre." -Gisele Toueg.
The Mayor's Tongue, by Nathaniel Rich. Riverhead, 2008. DEBUT NOVEL. EW rating: B+. Kindle edition $9.99. A stunningly original novel of literary obsession and imagination that is sure to be one of the most highly anticipated debuts of the year. From a precociously talented young writer already widely admired in the literary world, The Mayor's Tongue is a bold, vertiginous debut novel that unfolds in two complementary narratives, one following a young man and the other an old man. The young man is Eugene Brentani, aflame with a passion for literature and language, and a devotee of the reclusive author and adventurer Constance Eakins, now living in Italy. The old man is Mr. Schmitz, whose wife is dying, and, confused and terrified, he longs to confide in his dear friend Rutherford. But Rutherford has disappeared, and his letters, postmarked from Italy, become more and more ominous as the weeks pass.In separate but resonating story lines, both men's adventures take them from New York City to the mountainous borderlands of northern Italy, where the line between reality and imagination begins to blur and stories take on a life of their own." - Amazon book description.
Hold Tight, by Harlan Coben. Dutton 2008. THRILLER. EW rating: B+. Kindle edition $9.99. "Tia and Mike Baye never imagined they'd become the type of overprotective parents who spy on their kids. But their sixteen-year-old son Adam has been unusually distant lately, and after the suicide of his classmate Spencer Hill - the latest in a string of issues at school - they can't help but worry. They install a sophisticated spy program on Adam's computer, and within days are jolted by a message from an unknown correspondent addressed to their son: 'Just stay quiet and all safe.' Meanwhile, browsing through an online memorial for Spencer put together by his classmates, Betsy Hill is struck by a photo that appears to have been taken on the night of her son's death ... and he wasn't alone. She thinks it is Adam Baye standing just outside the camera's range; but when Adam goes missing, it soon becomes clear that something deep and sinister has infected their community. For Tia and Mike Baye, the question they must answer is this: When it comes to your kids, is it possible to know too much?""
The Outlander, by Gil Adamson. Publisher. DEBUT NOVEL. EW rating: A-. Kindle edition $9.99. "In 1903 a mysterious young woman flees alone across the West, one heart-pounding step ahead of the law. At nineteen, Mary Boulton has just become a widow - and her husband's killer. As bloodhounds track her frantic race toward the mountains, she is tormented by mad visions and by the knowledge that her two ruthless brothers-in-law are in pursuit, determined to avenge their younger brother's death. Responding to little more than the primitive fight for life, the widow retreats ever deeper into the wilderness -- and into the wilds of her own mind -- encountering an unforgettable cast of eccentrics along the way." - Amazon book description.
NEW IN KINDLE EDITIONS:
Hyper-chondriac: One Man's Quest to Hurry Up and Calm Down, by Brian Frazer. Atria Books, 2007. MEMOIR. Kindle edition $9.59. Brian Frazer's Hyperchondriac is outstanding. It's a fun, hilarious read that surprisingly turns out to be as touching as it is funny. At the beginning of the book, Frazer is a walking ball of tension, waiting for the next perceived slight to make him blow his stack. When he realizes that his approach to life is having a very real impact on his health, as likely to send him to a doctor as it is into a rage, he goes on a quest to find inner-peace and calm down. But while Frazer's fish-out-of-water experiences with new age religion, bizarre diets and internet snake oil (all with varying degrees of success) are hilarious, it's his willingness to dig into an uncomfortable past and come to terms with the source of his problems that elevates this book to another level. It's a great read for both those looking for happiness and those who can't stop themselves from giving the guy in the next car the finger." - Ben Saldarelli, Amazon.com review.
Free Food for Millionaires, by Min Jin Lee. Grand Central, 2007. DEBUT NOVEL. Kindle edition $7.99. "This debut novel follows a Princeton grad-turned-shopaholic as she attempts to maintain her Korean-American identity while searching for a lucrative career in NYC." - EW.
Friday, May 2, 2008
New From Tor: A Free Kindle Book and a New Cory Doctorow Thriller
Today's Amazon Kindle status: IN STOCK for free two-day delivery!To publicize 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.
Four and Twenty Blackbirds 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, downloading it to your computer and transferring it to the Kindle.
Four and Twenty Blackbirds, by Cherie Priest. Tor, 2008. HORROR. Kindle edition $0.00. "The classic Southern gothic gets an edgy modern makeover in Priest's debut novel about a young woman's investigation into the truth of her origins. What Eden Moore digs up in the roots of her diseased family tree takes her across the South, from the ruins of the Pine Breeze sanitarium in Tennessee to a corpse-filled swamp in Florida, and back in time to the Civil War, when the taint in her family bloodline sets in motion events building only now to a supernatural crescendo." - Publishers Weekly.
Little Brother, by Cory Doctorow. Tor Teen, 2008. THRILLER. Kindle edition $9.99. "Marcus, a.k.a 'w1n5t0n,' is only seventeen years old, but he figures he already knows how the system works – and how to work the system. Smart, fast, and wise to the ways of the networked world, he has no trouble outwitting his high school’s intrusive but clumsy surveillance systems. But his whole world changes when he and his friends find themselves caught in the aftermath of a major terrorist attack on San Francisco..." - Amazon book description.
Thursday, May 1, 2008
Teens luv 2 read Kindle bux, pt 5
Today's Amazon Kindle status: IN STOCK for free two-day delivery!This post is the last 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, Readergirlz.com and What Should I Read Next? at TeenWeb.
UGLIES, by Scott Westerfeld. Simon Pulse, 2006. SCIENCE FICTION. Kindle edition $7.19. "Fifteen-year-old Tally's eerily harmonious, postapocalyptic society gives extreme makeovers to teens on their sixteenth birthdays, supposedly conferring equivalent evolutionary advantages to all. When a top-secret agency threatens to leave Tally ugly forever unless she spies on runaway teens, she agrees to infiltrate the Smoke, a shadowy colony of refugees from the 'tyranny of physical perfection.' At first baffled and revolted by the rebels' choices, Tally eventually bonds with one of their leaders and begins to question the validity of institutionalized mutilation--especially as it becomes clear that the government's surgeons may be doing more than cosmetic nipping and tucking." - Jennifer Mattson for Booklist.
THE SPELLMAN FILES, by Lisa Lutz. Simon & Schuster, 2007. COMEDY MYSTERY. Kindle edition $5.99. "Meet Isabel "Izzy" Spellman, private investigator. This twenty-eight-year-old may have a checkered past littered with romantic mistakes, excessive drinking, and creative vandalism; she may be addicted to Get Smart reruns and prefer entering homes through windows rather than doors -- but the upshot is she's good at her job as a licensed private investigator with her family's firm, Spellman Investigations..." - Amazon book description.
STORY OF A GIRL, by Sara Zarr. Little, Brown, 2008. NOVEL. Kindle edition $4.79. "When she is caught in the backseat of a car with her older brother's best friend - Deanna Lambert's teenage life is changed forever. Struggling to overcome the lasting repercussions and the stifling role of 'school slut,' she longs to escape a life defined by her past. With subtle grace, complicated wisdom and striking emotion, The Story of a Girl reminds us of our human capacity for resilience, epiphany and redemption." - Amazon book description.
THIRTEEN REASONS WHY, by Jay Asher. Penguin, 2007. NOVEL. Kindle edition $9.99. "Clay Jenkins returns home from school to find a mysterious box with his name on it lying on his porch. Inside he discovers 13 cassette tapes recorded by Hannah Baker--his classmate and crush--who committed suicide two weeks earlier.On tape, Hannah explains that there are thirteen reasons why she decided to end her life. Clay is one of them. If he listens, he'll find out how he made the list.Through Hannah and Clay's dual narratives, debut author Jay Asher weaves an intricate and heartrending story of confusion and desperation that will deeply affect teen readers." - Amazon book description.
TWISTED, by Laurie Halse Anderson. Viking, 2007. NOVEL. Kindle edition $9.99. "High school senior Tyler Miller used to be the kind of guy who faded into the background--average student, average looks, average dysfunctional family. But since he got busted for doing graffiti on the school, and spent the summer doing outdoor work to pay for it, he stands out like you wouldn't believe. His new physique attracts the attention of queen bee Bethany Milbury, who just so happens to be his father's boss's daughter, the sister of his biggest enemy--and Tyler's secret crush. And that sets off a string of events and changes that have Tyler questioning his place in the school, in his family, and in the world..." - Amazon book description.
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