More Kindle Bargain Books

Amazon has been wildly varying the prices on Kindle books over the last few days. Some bargain books have already been repriced to the 7.99 or 9.99 presale price. However, there are also new books going on unannounced sale every day. Here is a selection of some of the current books being sold at bargain rates.

$1 and under

The Hoods by Harry Grey. The basis of the movie Once Upon A Time In America, This can be found for free at Munseys, but it's probably worth 50 cents to get the wireless download, online backup, a cover and good formatting. The Guide by R. K. Narayan. Several Ed McBain 87th Precint books are now under $1: Killer's Payoff, The Pusher, Fuzz and The Heckler ($1.25). With over 50 books in the series, in can be difficult to remember the order; luckily this site keeps track for you.

$2 and under

A Stone for Danny Fisher by Harold Robbins. This one is an old classic and considered by some to be Harold Robbin's finest work. The Merchant of Death is the first in the young adult Pendragon series. Metzger's Dog by Thomas Perry.

$3 and under

Dreamers of the Day by Mary Doria Russell. This one is just being released in paperback, so the low pricing probably won't last. It's currently a steal at 2.85 vs. the hardback price. Paranoia by Joseph Finder. Eye of the Needle by Ken Follett. Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison. The Winds of War by Herman Wouk.

$4 and under

The Heart of Christmas by Max Lucado, et al. This one is very much in season and from a very popular christian author. Several from James Patterson: 1st to Die, Jack & Jill, Along Came a Spider, The Angel Experiment (Maximum Ride, Book 1) and Maximum Ride: Saving the World (Maximum Ride Book #3) (the 2nd in the trilogy is still full price). Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim by David Sedaris. Bad Luck and Trouble by Lee Child. The Woods by Harlan Coben. The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett.

$5 and under

Why Don't Penguins' Feet Freeze? by New Scientist magazine. Another from James Patterson, Black Market depicts "a national state of economic disaster after terrorists bomb strategic Wall Street sites. It also alludes to the sale of billions of dollars' worth of stolen securities, a scheme intended to cripple the United States financially." The plot may sound similar to some of the consequences of 9/11, but predates the event by a decade (who says terrorists can't read?). The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara, Kingsolver.

And finally, there are many, many books by Piers Anthony that are currently on sale. For a very small investment, you can keep a new Kindle owner in stitches for months. These are just the ones under $5: Castle Roogna, Source of Magic, A Spell for Chameleon, Centaur Aisle, Night Mare, Dragon on a Pedestal, Ogre, Ogre, Crewel Lye, Orn, Omnivore, Cube Route, Key to Chroma, Macroscope, The Magic Fart, Pornucopia, Relationships, Key to Havoc and Key to Liberty.

Ten Free Ebooks on Kindle

These eight are from Random House and are the same ones being offered by Stanza for the iPhone. In addition, the Charlie Huston books have been made available, one at a time, in PDF format over the last few months:

Free-Range Chickens by Simon Rich
The Foreign Correspondent by Alan Furst
Caught Stealing by Charlie Huston
A Dangerous Man by Charlie Huston
Six Bad Things by Charlie Huston
Murder List by Julie Garwood
The Idiot Girl and the Flaming Tantrum of Deathby Laurie Notaro
The Whiskey Rebels by David Liss

The odd one out is from Samhain Publishing. Be warned, it has a content warning and is for an adult audience:

Love Me, Still by Maya Banks

Update: Another book has been added as a freebie today:

Prague by Arthur Phillips

Disappearing (and re-appearing) Refurbished Kindles

Now you see them and now you don't. Most of the time when you check the Amazon web site, the refurbished Kindles are out of stock (but there are some "used" and "new" ones being sold by third parties, for about $200 more, for those that must have one under the tree). However, that doesn't mean that Amazon is out of the refurbished units completely. Readers of this blog have snagged 30 refurbished Kindles this month, after they supposedly sold out last weekend. The trick is to set up one-click shopping and to keep refreshing the page, then pounce when one hits inventory. Yesterday, there were confirmed sightings (and quick buys) at approximate 2:30 PM, 3:15 PM, 9:30 PM and another this morning at 7:45 AM. And that's just the ones that I know about, so many more may have hit inventory for a few minutes and then been snapped up. In case you are away from your bookmarked link, remember you can check from any compuer using the shortcut www.tinyurl.com/RefurbKindle.

For those not in a huge hurry and not wanting to spend $200 to $1,200 above list price, you can still buy a new Kindle and wait for delivery - although current estimates put that into February of next year, several have already reported getting some of the late December deliveries shipped this week. Speculation is that a lot of these are from cancellations of new units by those who managed to snag one of the refurbished Kindles, but no one knows for sure. If the true backlog is batteries, as has long been speculated, perhaps Amazon managed to get production of those faster than anticipated. And perhaps they decided after last year's indefinte wait and no shipping time for back orders caused a lot of complaints, that this year they would simply make up a date and push it so far into the future that they would have no problem delivering them ahead of schedule.

I'm a Lotto Winner

Kindle Lotto, that is. I grabbed one when the refurbished Kindles came back in stock yesterday. My estimated ship date was December 10, but the order almost immediately went into a shipping soon status. Last night, it shipped shortly before 8pm (EST). Of course, that really means it's in the shipping room of Amazon's warehouse in Atlanta, GA, waiting to be picked up by the shipping company, but it should still get here in a couple of days.

So, what are your odds of getting one? The refurbished units were in stock all last weekend and I know of at least 5 people who ordered one (and have read of many more). They went out of stock on Monday, but I have confirmation of at least 30 more that managed to order one since then. It pays to be persistent and check at odd times of day, but it seems that they are just as likely to show up on your lunch break as at 3 AM; it's just more likely there are fewer people checking during non-prime hours.

Update: Refurbished Kindles in stock again

As of the current time (3:56 am EST), refurbished Kindles ($329) are back in stock at Amazon (at least two and now down to at least one!). Dozens have been sold and shipped this week, but they keep rolling in and back out again. They won't last, so order one while you can. If you miss one this morning, be sure to read my post about playing Kindle Lotto. You too can have a bright shiny Kindle under the tree this year, and without having to pay the exorbitant prices on eBay.