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Showing posts with label eBooks. Show all posts
Showing posts with label eBooks. Show all posts

Thursday, April 16, 2009

Bargain Bible Commentaries on Kindle

Matthew Henry has two Bible Commentaries for Kindle, each cross linked with built in Bible. The King James Version (KJV) is currently on sale for $2.39, down from it's $9.99 price of a couple of days ago (and yesterday's $4.99 pricing) and the newly released American Standard Version (ASV) is $1.99. The current pricing is a limited time, promotional offer, according to the publisher (but no set time period has been announced).

The sample includes the books Genesis and Exodus, so you can try out all the features of the linked text. Fully compatible with the Kindle, Kindle 2 and Kindle App for iPhone.

A complete commentary on the Bible along with the entire Bible itself!

Enhance your Bible readings with this timeless, concise Bible commentary from Matthew Henry. Every book and chapter of the Bible is commented and cross linked to a complete built-in Bible. Easily switch between commentary entry and Bible text and back again. For one low price your getting a quality commentary text AND a complete easy to use Kindle Bible.

Designed by a Google software consultant, every aspect of this innovative book has been designed to ensure fast and efficient navigation. The top links allow you to quickly jump between chapters or jump to any book. While reading a commentary, all sections are linked to the exact Bible verses referenced. The Bible verses in turn are linked back to the commentary. In this manner you can read the Bible chapter and read its corresponding commentary when you see its verse number linked.

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

New Release Tuesday

BoneMan's Daughters by Ted Dekker ($9.99; Hardcover $16.47).

They call him BoneMan, a serial killer who's abducted six young women. He's the perfect father looking for the perfect daughter, and when his victims fail to meet his lofty expectations, he kills them by breaking their bones and leaving them to die. Intelligence officer Ryan Evans, on the other hand, has lost all hope of ever being the perfect father. His daughter and wife have written him out of their lives. Everything changes when BoneMan takes Ryan's estranged daughter, Bethany, as his seventh victim. Ryan goes after BoneMan on his own. But the FBI sees it differently. New evidence points to the suspicion that Ryan is BoneMan. Now the hunter is the hunted, and in the end, only one father will stand.

Leaping Beauty by Gregory Maguire ($4.79)

Who better to wreak havoc with eight beloved fairytales than Gregory Maguire, the brilliantly funny author of the adult novel Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West, as well as of the hilarious middle–grade series, The Hamlet Chronicles.

Zany animals of all species run through these fractured tales with alarming speed and dexterity. Who would have thought that Sleeping Beauty, that most regal of all fairy– tales, could be twisted into the story of a frog with a most unusual and promising dance career? Get ready to meet a gorilla queen and a psycho chimp, seven giant giraffes; and one very bad walrus.


Saying Grace by Beth Gutcheon ($9.99)

Rue Shaw has everything--a much loved child, a solid marriage, and a job she loves. Saying Grace takes place in Rue's mid-life, when her daughter is leaving home, her parents are failing, her husband is restless and the school she has built is being buffeted by changes in society that affect us all. Funny, rich in detail and finally stunning, this novel presents a portrait of a tight-knit community in jeopardy, and of a charming woman whose most human failing is that she wants things to stay the same.

Saying Grace is about the fragility of human happiness and the strength of convictions, about keeping faith as a couple whether it keeps one safe or not. Beth Gutcheon has a gift for creating a world in microcosm and capturing the grace in the rhythms of everyday life.


Brimstone Kiss by Carole N Douglas ($7.99)

Paranormal Investigator Delilah Street--in her quest to identify the long-buried embracing skeletons she and sexy ex-FBI agent Ricardo Montoya discovered-- has to deal with a lecherous vampire, a ghoulish producer, celebrity zombies from classic films, a mysterious albino rock star who bestows addictive kisses on his groupies, and a dead girl in her mirror--and those are just her clients! Post-Millennium Revelation Las Vegas is teeming with supernaturals and run by a werewolf mob, but even the unhumans can't conceive of what Delilah discovers hidden under its damnable desert sands: unspeakably powerful evil rooted in ancient Egypt...

Monday, April 13, 2009

Free Ebook: From Dead to Worse

From Dead to Worse [Southern Vampire Series Book 8] by Charlaine Harris (Kindle $4.39) is currently available for free from Fictionwise in both Secure EReader and Secure Mobipocket formats (these do not work on the Kindle or Sony Readers, due to DRM).

After the natural disaster of Hurricane Katrina and the man-made 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.

Sunday, April 12, 2009

Monthly Kindle Book Budget: March

Continuing with my Monthly Kindle Book Budget, this one gets me caught up for the year.

March

How To Do Your Own Dentistry
By: Chris Reynolds
$0.45
The Healthy House Answer Book: Answers to the 133 Most Commonly Asked Questions
By: John Bower, Lynn Marie Bower
$0.00
The Crimson Shadow
By: R. A. Salvatore
$7.99
Trail Food: Drying and Cooking Food for Backpacking and Paddling
By: Alan Kesselheim
$7.96
Assassin's Apprentice
By: Robin Hobb
$0.00
Red Mars
By: Kim Stanley Robinson
$0.00
Blood Engines
By: T.A. Pratt
$0.00
His Majesty's Dragon
By: Naomi Novik
$0.00
Settling Accounts In at the Death
By: Harry Turtledove
$0.00
Settling Accounts Return Engagement: Book One of the Settling Accounts Trilogy
By: Harry Turtledove
$0.00
Soul Identity
By: Dennis Batchelder
$0.01
The Life and Loves of April Johnson
By: Eve Vaughn
$0.00
The Reinvention of Chastity
By: Eve Vaughn
$0.00
The Babysitter's Code
By: Laura Lippman
$0.00
The Legend of Witch Bane (The Witch Bane Saga)
By: Kevis Hendrickson
$0.99
World Wide Rave: Creating Triggers that Get Millions of People to Spread Your Ideas and Share Your Stories
By: David Meerman Scott
$0.00
Pacific Avenue
By: Anne L. Watson
$0.01
The Wild's Call
By: Jeri Smith-Ready
$0.00
The Boys of Chattanooga
By: Clyde R. Hedges
$2.71
BARRACUDA
By: Mike Monahan
$0.99
Uncubicled
By: Josh McMains
$1.60
The Keeper of Eternity
By: Devyn Quinn
$0.00
Easton's Bible Dictionary for Kindle (instant definition lookup while reading any Bible) (Updated)
By: Easton's
$1.99
Still Waters (Sophie Green Mysteries, No. 4)
By: Kate Johnson
$0.00
The Adamas Blueprint
By: Boyd Morrison
$0.99
The Palmyra Impact
By: Boyd Morrison
$1.59
The Ark
By: Boyd Morrison
$1.59
Persuader
By: Lee Child
$0.00
Numenon (Bloodsong Series)
By: Sandy Nathan
$0.99
The Complete User's Guide To the Amazing Amazon Kindle 2: A Kindle Owners Toolkit Of Over 500 Tips, Tricks, & Links (DRM-Free with Text-to-Speech Enabled, User-Friendly)
By: Stephen Windwalker
$0.99
Strong's Concordance
By: Packard Technologies (www.christiancdrom.com)
$1.60
Elfhunter (A Tale of Alterra, The World That Is)
By: C S Marks
$0.99

For the month, that's 32 books, $33.44 in total, for $1.05 per book.

A couple of the free ones I already had in paperback (so, off to the used bookstore with those) and the three by Boyd Morrison I could have grabbed for free on his web site ($4.17), but by buying at Amazon, we could all download via Whispernet when we get around to reading them. I paid $3.99 for Summer's Path, which is available free this month. I also purchased Soul Identity twice, but the second copy was only a penny (and was so I could see if there was a difference in the versions: there is not). Quite a few that I would not have purchased, normally, but might read since I have them (most of those Harlequins, for example), but at least a couple of the freebies were on my wish list to purchase later.

Here's the break-down by month, for the year-to-date:

MonthNo. BooksTotal CostPer Book
January59$83.47$1.41
February43$29.97$0.70
March32$33.44$1.05
Totals134$146.88$1.09

Not bad per book (even with those public domain titles tossed in) and definitely enough to keep us occupied for at least a few weeks.

Saturday, April 11, 2009

Monthly Kindle Book Budget: February

Continuing with my Monthly Kindle Book Budget ....

February
Murder in the Marais (Aimee Leduc Investigation)
By: Cara Black
$0.00
Rick Warren's Bible Study Methods
By: Rick Warren
$8.79
Tramping Through Mexico, Guatemala and Honduras Being the Random Notes of an Incurable Vagabond
By: Harry Alverson, 1881-1962 Franck
$0.00
Silent in the Sanctuary
By: Deanna Raybourn
$0.00
The Holy Bible English Standard Version (ESV)
By: Crossway Bibles
$0.00
Last Chance, My Love
By: Lynne Connolly
$0.00
Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder
By: Joanne Fluke
$3.99
Summer's Path
By: Scott Blum
$0.00
Rage of Night
By: Bryan Belrad
$0.80
Shadowslayers (Blackwood)
By: Charlie Martin
$0.80
Irresistible Forces
By: Brenda Jackson
$0.00
The Bride's Baby
By: Liz Fielding
$0.00
Snowbound
By: Janice Kay Johnson
$0.00
A Very Special Delivery
By: Linda Goodnight
$0.00
Dancing in the Moonlight
By: RaeAnne Thayne
$0.00
Price of Passion
By: Susan Napier
$0.00
His Lady Mistress
By: Elizabeth Rolls
$0.00
Kiss Me Deadly
By: Michele Hauf
$0.00
Hide in Plain Sight
By: Marta Perry
$0.00
Crime Scene at Cardwell Ranch
By: B.J. Daniels
$0.00
Publicani
By: Zak Maymin
$0.80
Soul Identity
By: Dennis Batchelder
$0.99
The Cook's Illustrated How-to-Cook Library: An illustrated step-by-step guide to Foolproof Cooking
By: The Editors of Cooks Illustrated
$0.00
UR
By: Stephen King
$2.99
A Narrative of the Life of Mrs. Mary Jemison
By: James E. Seaver
$0.00
The Story Girl
By: L. M. (Lucy Maud), 1874-1942 Montgomery
$0.00
Daily Strength for Daily Needs
By: Mary W. Tileston
$0.00
Jacob's Room
By: Virginia, 1882-1941 Woolf
$0.00
Understood Betsy
By: Dorothy Canfield, 1879-1958 Fisher
$0.00
The Real Diary of a Real Boy
By: Henry A. (Henry Augustus), 1856-1943 Shute
$0.00
Medieval People
By: Eileen Edna Power
$0.00
Stranded with a Spy
By: Merline Lovelace
$0.00
The Life of Hon. William F. CodyKnown as Buffalo Bill the Famous Hunter, Scout and Guide
By: William Frederick, 1846-1917 Cody
$0.00
Beautiful Joe An Autobiography of a Dog
By: Marshall, 1861-1947 Saunders
$0.00
The Field: Truth and Fiction in Sport History
By: Douglas Booth
$0.01
Speed Dating
By: Nancy Warren
$0.00
Baby Bonanza
By: Maureen Child
$0.00
Slow Hands
By: Leslie Kelly
$0.00
Once a Cowboy
By: Linda Warren
$0.00
Homespun Bride
By: Jillian Hart
$0.00
Falling for God: Saying Yes to His Extravagant Proposal
By: Gary W. Moon
$9.99
President Obama's Inaugural Address and Other Speeches and Debates
By: Barack Obama
$0.01
Wooden Warriors
By: R. P. Repp
$0.80

For the month, that's 43 books, $29.97 in total, for $0.70 per book.

Friday, April 10, 2009

Monthly Kindle Book Budget: January

I thought some of you might be interested in my Kindle book budget (or purchase list, since budget doesn't really fit) each month. These are the titles and prices for those I purchased last month. I do share a Kindle account with my husband and parents, so sometimes their purchases are reflected in the mix (and purchases outside of the Kindle are ignored, as I don't seem to be able to resist those $3 hardbacks when they have megasales down at Borders now and then, especially when they fill in series that I am reading on the Kindle and the Kindle price for the same book is often in the $6 to $10 range). Since I've started this late in the year, I'll start with January thru March, with a total and average per book each month and for the first quarter/year-to-date.

January

The Case for Christ: A Journalist's Personal Investigation of the Evidence for Jesus
By: Lee Strobel
$3.75
The Case for Faith: A Journalist Investigates the Toughest Objections to Christianity
By: Lee Strobel
$3.75
Year in the Life of William Shakespeare, A
By: James, Shapiro
$4.95
Halley's Bible Handbook with the New International Version
By: Henry H. Halley
$9.99
The Scourge of God
By: William Dietrich
$3.33
One Last Breath
By: Stephen Booth
$1.77
Death Dines at 8:30
By: Nick DiChario, Claudia Bishop
$1.74
Dark Celebration: A Carpathian Reunion
By: Christine Feehan
$1.60
The Great Influenza: The Epic Story of the Deadliest Plague in History
By: John M. Barry
$3.83
The Book of the Dead
By: Douglas Preston, Lincoln Child
$3.71
Down by the River (Grace Valley, Book 3)
By: Robyn Carr
$2.16
The Night Before Halloween (Monster Classics)
By: Sondi Miller
$0.80
Mother Ghoul's Curses and Rhymes (Monster Classics)
By: Sondi Miller
$0.80
The Protector's War
By: S. M. Stirling
$3.67
A Meeting at Corvallis
By: S.M. Stirling
$2.40
Mighty Hammer Down (Legend of Reason Series)
By: David J. Guyton
$1.59
The Clutter Diet: The Skinny on Organizing Your Home and Taking Control of Your Life
By: Lorie Marrero
$9.99
Friends for Life
By: Carol Smith
$1.00
The Cabinet of Curiosities: A Novel
By: Douglas Preston, Lincoln Child
$1.67
Void Moon
By: Michael Connelly
$1.00
When Women Were Warriors Book I
By: Catherine M. Wilson
$0.99
The Difference Between Life and Death: Outliving the Flu Pandemic of 2009
By: Dennis Miner
$4.00
Locked Rooms
By: Laurie R. King
$1.40
The Skies of Pern
By: Anne Mccaffrey
$3.00
Deader the Better, The
By: G.M. Ford
$1.64
Hey Diddle Diddle, the Corpse and the Fiddle
By: Fran Rizer
$2.46
Easy as 1-2-3
By: Phillip Depoy
$1.93
A Death at the North Pole
By: Joel M. Andre
$0.99
Boys of Summer (anthology)
By: Julie Elizabeth Leto
$1.00
To Live & Die in Dixie
By: Kathy Hogan Trocheck
$1.57
Blood of Eden
By: Edward Morris
$0.00
Waiting for the World to End
By: Nicole Hunter
$0.99
The Doré Gallery of Bible Illustrations, Complete 
By: Paul Gustave Doré
$0.00
Excursions
By: Henry David, 1817-1862 Thoreau
$0.00
Civil Disobedience
By: Henry David, 1817-1862 Thoreau
$0.00
The Hunting of the Snark
By: Lewis, 1832-1898 Carroll
$0.00
How to Live on 24 Hours a Day
By: Arnold, 1867-1931 Bennett
$0.00
The Biography of a Grizzly
By: Ernest Thompson, 1860-1946 Seton
$0.00
Stickeen
By: John, 1838-1914 Muir
$0.00
The People of the Mist
By: H. Rider (Henry Rider), 1856-1925 Haggard
$0.00
The Pink Fairy Book
By: Andrew, 1844-1912 Lang
$0.00
Art of Money Getting
By: P. T., 1810-1891 Barnum
$0.00
Robin Hood
By: J. Walker (Joseph Walker), 1874-1960 McSpadden
$0.00
King of the Khyber Rifles
By: Talbot, 1879-1940 Mundy
$0.00
The Last American
By: John Ames, 1845-1918 Mitchell
$0.00
The New Jerusalem
By: G. K. (Gilbert Keith), 1874-1936 Chesterton
$0.00
Personal Memoirs of U. S. Grant Volume 1
By: Ulysses S. (Ulysses Simpson), 1822-1885 Grant
$0.00
Personal Memoirs of U. S. Grant Volume 2
By: Ulysses S. (Ulysses Simpson), 1822-1885 Grant
$0.00
The Ball and the Cross
By: G. K. (Gilbert Keith), 1874-1936 Chesterton
$0.00
All Things Considered
By: G. K. (Gilbert Keith), 1874-1936 Chesterton
$0.00
Ragnarok : the Age of Fire and Gravel
By: Ignatius, 1831-1901 Donnelly
$0.00
Orthodoxy
By: G. K. (Gilbert Keith), 1874-1936 Chesterton
$0.00
The Club of Queer Trades
By: G. K. (Gilbert Keith), 1874-1936 Chesterton
$0.00
Tremendous Trifles
By: G. K. (Gilbert Keith), 1874-1936 Chesterton
$0.00
Tales of the Jazz Age
By: F. Scott (Francis Scott), 1896-1940 Fitzgerald
$0.00
The Art of War
By: 6th cent. B.C. Sunzi
$0.00
From the Caves and Jungles of Hindostan
By: H. P. (Helena Petrovna), 1831-1891 Blavatsky
$0.00
My Summer in a Garden
By: Charles Dudley, 1829-1900 Warner
$0.00
In the Heart of the Rockies
By: G. A. (George Alfred), 1832-1902 Henty
$0.00

For the month, that's 59 books, $83.47 in total, for $1.41 per book, but there were a number of public domain books that we downloaded in January, which we could have found free elsewhere. Two books consumed nearly 1/4 of the total amount spent, at $9.99 each (one of which is no longer available), while the others were all under $5, almost all of which are now over $5 and including at least two that now are selling for $9.99.

WOW! Looking at this list, it's no wonder I seem to have too many books in my TBR list on the Kindle. Excuse me while I go read .... continued tomorrow!

Kindle Books for a Buck or less

This week's roundup of Kindle book bargains for a buck or less. All books are 99 cents unless otherwise noted, book descriptions, in italics, courtesy of Amazon.

Suspense / Thriller / Mystery

If you enjoyed Afraid by Jack Kilborn ($1.99), you will also want to check out his work under the name J.A. Konrath . His Jack Daniels series starts off with Whiskey Sour, which is bargain priced at $3.96. However, you can get it in PDF format free on the author's web site.

Lieutenant Jacqueline Daniels, or Jack, as she's known, has just broken up with her boyfriend and is having one of her bouts of insomnia, so she's not in the best of moods anyway. Then a frightening serial killer who calls himself the Gingerbread Man starts murdering women all over Chicago and dumping their violated bodies in garbage cans. With her binge-eating partner Herb, Jack begins to piece together the mystery of the maniac who's terrorizing the entire city. Unfortunately the FBI (or Feebs) send two officers who look like the Bobbsey Twins, and who have inordinate faith in their profiling computer. WHISKEY SOUR is full of hilarious moments in Jack Daniels' life, mingled with incredibly suspenseful scenes as she gets closer to discovering the killer--but not before he threatens her own life as well. There are a number of other freebies on the web site, including 55 Proof, a collection of 55 short stories, 13 of them featuring Jack Daniels.

A Lifetime of Vengeance, by P. J. Grondin, is the first in the McKinney Brothers Murder Mystery Series (A Lifetime of Deception is also on Kindle and currently marked down to $3.03).

While still in their teens the McKinney brothers enter the world of illicit drug trade. Just as their business appears to be running on auto-pilot, events turn their charmed lives into a living hell. Their friends turn against them and commit an act so heinous that the brothers are forced to leave their home in central Florida. They vow to come back and exact revenge on their friends-turned-enemies. After 6 years of military training they return to Florida to carry out their plan but their plan takes on a life of its own. But their enemies have a new, powerful friend. He’s a big player in the central Florida drug trade and he has help from inside the sheriff’s vice squad. Will the brothers survive this new threat? Will they carry out their plan and succeed in eliminating their adversaries, or will they forever harbor A Lifetime of Vengeance?

Fantasy / Science Fiction

The Second Ship (The Rho Agenda : Book One) by Richard Phillips. This one is marked down until May 1, when the paperback will be released. The second in the series is also available for Kindle, Immune (The Rho Agenda : Book Two) and at $6.99, you get both books for under $8.

Top-Secret Los Alamos, New Mexico. In 1945 its scientists unlocked the secrets of the atomic bomb. Now they've cracked the very lock on hell itself. Once again the quiet scientific community spawned by the Manhattan Project comes face to face with a technological breakthrough for which the world is completely unprepared. Now, as a special team of operatives struggles to stop the project codenamed Rho while containment is still possible, what it means to be human is about to change -- forever. In this heart pounding new series, acclaimed author Richard Phillips gives us a terrifying glimpse into what lies just around the future's corner.


Sports

Advantage Disadvantage by Yale R. Jaffe.

A neighborhood bookie peddles athletes to college coaches and develops a sport betting operation centered on high school games. He recruits an accomplice to execute his last bet, one that could set them up financially for life but is fraught with danger. The Chicago Police investigate the greedy gamblers who might try to manipulate a high school basketball playoff game. A chance meeting between the father of a mediocre student-athlete and the bookie puts in motion a sequence of events transforming the player into a Division 1 prospect using unorthodox basketball training methods. Corrupt adults, who selfishly engage in risky and exploitive behaviors, surround the athlete: gangland profiteers, win-at-all-cost coaches, greedy street agents, shoe company representatives, college recruiters, disloyal lovers, and others. Advantage Disadvantage examines the motivations that drive the surrounding adults to corruption, betrayal, and greed. Advantage Disadvantage is a nail-biting, behind-the-scenes pass into the world of high school sports and the people who make and break it. Set in Chicago, its innately urban backdrop is full of distinctly Windy City landmarks. This is the perfect read for sports fans that love an insider's view...an insightful and deliciously-sinful plot full of twists and turns. You'll find the perfect blend of bravery, betrayal and who-done-it adventure in this vividly penned thriller.

Romance / Suspense (Gay)

Turning Idolater by Edward C. Patterson, the author of Bobby's Trace, which is still on sale for 99 cents (but is scheduled to go back to $3.99). This one isn't for everyone, but the premise is intriguing and definitely worth checking out if you are interested in the genre and enjoyed his earlier bargain book.

Philip Flaxen, who strips past his jockstrap on the Internet for manluv.com, acquires a rare gift - a book that transforms his life. With it, he sparks with a famous author, whittles away at a new craft, swims with an odd circle of new acquaintances and is swept up in mayhem. Philip leaves the world of the Porn Nazi and enters the realm of crisp possibilities - great expectations and dark secrets that unravel over deep waters. Follow this whodunit as Philip Flaxen "turns idolater" and never looks back - a tale of Internet strippers, back street murders, Provincetown glitz, New York City nightlife and a love story for the ages. If you liked "No Irish Need Apply" and loved "Bobby's Trace", you will absolutely adore "Turning Idolater". Life is filled with serendipity, pleasurable and bracing, but on the fringes and in the heart, life can be a very bloody business.

Tuesday, April 7, 2009

New Release Tuesday

As hard as it is to find bargains in the Kindle store, it can be just as difficult to find new releases. Most publishers have joined with the videogame and music industry and release new books on Tuesdays. Searching the Kindle store itself, though, shows many pages for today's date, with little ability to filter the results, plus the date shown may mean the ebook publication date, not the actual book release date. Unlike a physical bookstore, there also isn't a big new release table on the front of the store, which Amazon does have in it's videogame stores (to be fair, there are many more books coming out versus video games). So on Tuesdays, I'll try to highlight one or two of the prominent new releases each week, from major publishers. Selection will be pretty much arbitrary and capricious and will be mainly those that I plan to read. I'll note the prices, but keep in mind that ebooks that release at the same time as a popular author's Hardcover edition are often priced at or above $9.99, although they often drop in price for the Kindle later in the day or once they hit the New York Times Bestseller's list.. Even so, the ebook price can be a bargain compared to the Hardcover, even after discounts at many stores, especially after counting your time and fuel to get to the store and are faster than ordering from Amazon. This week there are two by an author whose series I have been following. A year ago, I'd have run down to the bookstore and grabbed the Hardcover; this year I can just download and start reading with my morning coffee.

First off is Turn Coat, by Jim Butcher ($14.27; this will no doubt come down, but the last Jim Butcher release on Kindle stayed above $9.99 for several weeks before dropping; Hardcover $14.27), book eleven in The Dresden Files series (twelfth or thirteenth if you count the novella Backup or the graphic novel Welcome to the Jungle, which precede the series in the timeline).The Warden Morgan has been accused of treason against the Wizards of the White Council—and there’s only one, final punishment for that crime. He’s on the run, wants his name cleared, and needs someone with a knack for backing the underdog. Someone like Harry Dresden... Now, Harry must uncover a traitor within the Council, keep a less-than-agreeable Morgan under wraps, and avoid coming under scrutiny himself. And a single mistake may cost someone his head—someone like Harry.

Second, Curse the Dawn by Karen Chance ($6.39, paperback $7.99). This is the fourth in the Cassandra Palmer series (Touch the Dark, Claimed By Shadow and Embrace the Night). Cassie Palmer may be the world's chief clairvoyant, but that doesn't mean people have stopped trying to kill her. And now, the self-styled god Apollo, the source of Cassie's power, is on the warpath - leaving her no choice but to face down her creator once and for all.

Sunday, April 5, 2009

Kindle Books for a Buck or less

The bargains at a dollar or under continue in the Kindle store, as independent authors lower their prices to the minimum in order to attract readers (ten times the sales at an average of $4 off actually makes them more money and readers get a bargain as well, truly a win-win situation). I've also started seeing these authors note in their descriptions that their books are TTS enabled, so I've included that note in the descriptionls. All books are 99 cents unless otherwise noted, book descriptions, in italics, courtesy of Amazon. As always, remember to sample first, as styles and interests vary, but you should be able to find at least a few gems in today's roundup of nineteen titles.

Mystery / Suspense / Thriller

Sudden Death by Michael Balkind. Reid Clark is a pro golfer at the top of the leader board during the PGA tour; he's also a hot-head with a reputation for trouble. Reid receives a death threat right before teeing off on the final day of the Master's Tournament, and hires a P.I. to track down the perpetrator. Suspense builds throughout as Reid tries to compete in one of golf's most prestigious contests...and woo the woman he loves...while dodging death at every turn. For golfers and mystery lovers in general, Sudden Death will score big.

J.D. The Plot to Steal J.D. Salinger's Manuscripts by Sierra Philpin. He's a professor with a mission: "I, Leonard Wellington Worthy the third, spent twenty-five years designing an assault on a fortress, an expropriation of certain documents, and a perfect escape." Find out what happens when the fortress is J.D. Salinger's bunker, the documents are his unpublished manuscripts, and a messy murder thwarts a perfect plan. Political intrigue? Sure, there's plenty of that, too. J.D. is a funny, sexy romp for the literary set (relax: no authors were harmed in this book). Adult language and situations. Two others from the same author are available under a buck: The Absence of Color and Emily Dickinson Beyond the Myth (A Novel). TTS is ENABLED on all three.

Uncubicled by Josh McMains. Joe Tompkins was having a bad day at the office: boring meetings, pointless assignments, and this feeling that he was being watched. When he could take no more, he did what anyone would do. He knocked out his co-worker with a keyboard and escaped.... Uncubicled follows the drastic series of events that would take one man from his mid-level desk job to an elaborate getaway from the long arm of the law—and perhaps something even more sinister. Along the way, Joe crosses paths with former friends whose destinies have been intertwined from the start. Joe encounters mystery, adventure, and car trouble as he struggles to find out what he was always meant to do and who, exactly, wants him dead. And you thought YOUR job sucked.

The White Lady Murders by Wendy Potocki. In a Malibu beach house, David Lynx struggles with writing with his latest tour de force – a book on magic. It’s a subject he knows nothing about. In a desperate attempt to understand, he decides to perform an ancient ritual not realizing that he will unwittingly open a door for a forty-year-old unsolved murder spree to start all over again. While The White Lady Murders is immersed in the supernatural, fans desiring a solid murder mystery will not be disappointed. At its core, The White Lady Murders offers an action-packed detective story replete with a hard-boiled, hard-nosed police officer named Robert Moran leading the charge. Moran is a veteran police officer who vividly remembers the original murders that occurred during The Summer of Blood. The string of vicious crimes terrorized the city and held its residents captive in the killer's steely grip. No one felt safe and now Moran desperately races to solve the mystery of who or what is behind the new wave of brutal killings to prevent The White Lady Murders from beginning again. The White Lady Murders is the book that will keep you guessing up until the very end!

Fantasy / Science Fiction

Elfhunter (A Tale of Alterra, The World That Is) by C S Marks. Elfhunter is the first of the tales of Alterra, The World That Is. It concerns the quest of an unlikely pair of heroines, Gaelen and Nelwyn, who are Wood-elves of the Greatwood Forest. They are hunter-scouts in the realm of King Ri-Aruin, and they have sworn to protect their woodland home, but they are drawn into a quest to defend all the Elves of Alterra as they seek to destroy the 'Elfhunter', a monstrous entity intent on exterminating the Elves until none remain. Along the way, Gaelen and Nelwyn are joined by other interesting characters as they make their way through the realms of Alterra in pursuit of the Elfhunter, whose true name is 'Gorgon'. What headstrong Gaelen and her gentle cousin do not know is that Gorgon is in league with the Dark Power, and that the forces of Evil have forged an entanglement between Gorgon and Gaelen herself. Now she and all she loves are in jeopardy, and only an inspired plan put forth by Orogond, a mortal man, can save her.

The Rebirth of Rhin by Julian Traas. The Rebirth of Rhin tells the story of a young man’s journey as he sets out into the world of Iora, after his parents die in a horrific fire. Rhin’s goal is vengeance at first, but he soon learns that his destiny is grander and nobler than retribution. He finds himself at the virtual center of a conflict spanning the ages between Gods and Demons. During his travels he encounters many strange creatures, some more friendly than others, as he becomes immersed in a dark secret involving Iora’s creator, the tyrannical God, Jiaïro. Powers push at him from all sides and soon he finds himself on a quest to destroy the God Jiaïro and free the world from violence and oppression. There are great battles and genocides, magic, spiritual weapons, militant Gods, disgraced angels and demons wreathed in green flame -- as Rhin embarks on a personal journey of self-discovery.

Admiral's Ghost: Book One in the Onyalum Series by NB VanYoos ($0.80). From LA drug dealer to planetary hero of an alien world, the Universe must have a sense of humor. Tyler Jensen, an earthling lost in the cosmos, struggles to understand the technologically advanced world whose hero he has inadvertently become. Posing as the Supreme Commander of the planet's fleet, Tyler must quickly learn the murky alliances of the military to succeed against their neighboring enemy. Will Tyler's naiveté doom the warring world, or can he navigate the political trappings of the Admiral's world to conquer another? This is the first book in the Onyalum Series. This one is also available free, in several formats, at the author's web site, where you can leave a tip directly. Eighty cents isn't much to pay, though, to keep a copy in your Kindle Library and to sync with the iPhone app.

Cross-Winds, A Seventh Cross Novel (The Seventh Cross) by Brian L. Stowe. This epic adventure, brimming with realistic-seeming characterizations, details an unprecedented war of magic. The core story involves the ties of family, village, alliances, the drive to power, warring factions, ruthlessness and despair, wizards and witches, mystical powers, and the battle against long odds to rout the darkness that is blotting out the light. Stories of the forces of the Emperor Hammer, who comes to control six kingdoms, entwine with the multi-generational exploits of the Cross-Wind family members and their associates. Cross-Winds puts a human face on the many individuals, from both sides, who are forever changed by the carnage, death, and injuries to their souls and spirits. It instills the classic fantasy themes of adventure, loss and triumph. Just who triumphs in the end remains to be seen.

THE GATEWAY (Harbinger of Doom), by Glenn G. Thater, has been listed before, but the author has fixed the problem with the book's formatting and it looks pretty good now.

Religious / Poetry

Expressions - Poetry by Robert A Meacham. These works are rhythmical creations and are aimed for pleasure for the reader.If such pleasure is attained, then I have written poetry. -- Robert A Meacham.The synopsis of this one is pretty scanty, but it has received some good reviews on Kindle forums and blogs. Note that it is quite short (only 26K), as poetry often is.

The Song of Songs: A Lover's Poetic Dialogue by Andrew Cort. Think the Bible is stuffy? You're in for a huge surprise. Solomon's "Song of Songs", which is found in the Old Testament, is a beautiful, sacred and erotic masterpiece that reverberates on many levels -- from the courtship of the king and his betrothed, to the mystical wedding of Heaven and Earth, to the sweet, sensual pillow talk of all happy lovers. This adaptation, which holds closely to the original, is written as a poetic dialogue and is meant to be read out loud together. Presumably not by the built-in TTS voice, though.

Children's / Young Adult

The Little Prince or Le Petit Prince (Illustrated) by Antoine de Saint-Exupery. Published by MobileReference, this is an illustrated edition optimized for the small screen (Kindle, PDA, etc), with full color pictures on the iPhone version. The Little Prince (French: Le Petit Prince), published in 1943, is French aviator Antoine de Saint-Exupery's most famous novella, which he wrote in the United States while renting The Bevin House in Asharoken, New York, on Long Island. The novella includes a number of drawings by Saint-Exupery himself, which are reproduced in most versions.

Baling by Carol Hanrahan. In this heartwarming young adult novel, two teenage brothers, unwillingly sent to the country for a summer to bale hay, discover adventure, danger, and love all wrapped around a lost Civil War treasure mystery. The last place Nick Lawson wants to be is out in the middle of the country with his little brother John, helping his Aunt Jess bale hay all summer long. After discovering a Civil War uniform in the attic with a key hidden in the jacket lining, the boys search for a treasure they believe was hidden years ago by their great-uncle. With the help of the neighboring dairy farmer?s daughter, Lainey, Nick finds adventure at every turn, when he barely escapes a tornado, gets into a fight at the county fair, almost burns up in an old chapel, explores a cave, and experiences a first kiss while swimming in the nearby creek.

Public Domain

Acres of Diamonds by Russell H. Conwell, Robert Collier, Robert Shackleton and John Wanamaker. In Acres of Diamonds Russell H. Conwell shows us how to identify the riches and opportunity that lie all around us. Many people search their entire life for opportunity never realizing that everything they need to succeed is already within their reach if only they recognized it. This edition has an introduction by John Wanamaker; a biography of Conwell by Robert Shackleton; and an additional essay entitled "The Acre of Diamonds" by Robert Collier, with his take on the same subject matter, that you wont find in any other edition of this book. The basic text is available free at Manybooks.

Victory by Joseph Conrad. Set in the islands of the Malay Archipelago, Victory tells the story of a disillusioned Swede, Axel Heyst, who rescues Lena, a young English musician, from the clutches of a brutish German hotel owner. Seeking refuge at Heyst’s remote island retreat on Samburan, the couple is soon besieged by three villains dispatched by the enraged hotelier. The arrival on the island paradise of this trio of fiends sets off a terrifying series of events that ultimately ends in catastrophe. Also available free at Feedbooks.

Thieves Like Us, by Edward Anderson, is available at Amazon for under a buck, but the formatting is awful, with the space between lines all over the place and sometimes two lines on top of each other. Munsey's is listed as the original source, which is odd, since you can get a well-formatted version of this title there for free. Bowie teams up with fellow thieves Chicamaw and T-Dub to rob a bank - he needs the money to hire a lawyer to prove he's innocent of murder. On the run, Bowie finds momentary peace when he elopes with a young woman. But Chicamaw and T-Dub want to reel him back in for one more job.

The Four Feathers by A.E.W. Mason, is another one in need of reformatting at Amazon (this time it's just that the left margin takes up too much space). Instead, head over to Manybooks to get this one. British officer Harry Faversham resigns his commission just prior to the Battle of Omdurman for personal reasons, rather than cowardice, but he is faced with censure from three of his comrades, each of whom presents him with a feather, and the loss of the support of his fiancée, who presents him with the fourth feather. Questioning his true motives, Harry resolves to redeem himself in combat, travelling on his own to the war-ravaged Sudan.