Free Story from Say You're One of Them

From now until 9 p.m. EST, November 9, 2009, you can get the first story from Say You're One of Them ($6.99 Kindle), by Uwem Akpan, for free from Oprah's website. This is a full copy of An Ex-Mas Feast (the full book on Kindle or paperback has five short stories, plus commentary). Oprah will be hosting Uwem Akpan for an in-depth discussion simulcast live from Oprah.com, CNN.com and Facebook on Monday, November 9, at 9 p.m. ET/8 p.m. CT, which you can also sign up to attend.

Book Description
Uwem Akpan's stunning stories humanize the perils of poverty and violence so piercingly that few readers will feel they've ever encountered Africa so immediately. The eight-year-old narrator of "An Ex-Mas Feast" needs only enough money to buy books and pay fees in order to attend school. Even when his twelve-year-old sister takes to the streets to raise these meager funds, his dream can't be granted. Food comes first. His family lives in a street shanty in Nairobi, Kenya, but their way of both loving and taking advantage of each other strikes a universal chord.

In the second of his stories published in a New Yorker special fiction issue, Akpan takes us far beyond what we thought we knew about the tribal conflict in Rwanda. The story is told by a young girl, who, with her little brother, witnesses the worst possible scenario between parents. They are asked to do the previously unimaginable in order to protect their children. This singular collection will also take the reader inside Nigeria, Benin, and Ethiopia, revealing in beautiful prose the harsh consequences for children of life in Africa.

Akpan's voice is a literary miracle, rendering lives of almost unimaginable deprivation and terror into stories that are nothing short of transcendent. Bonus material included in eBook: an interview with the New Yorker, photos, questions and topics for discussion and song download.

Click HERE to get the download and/or sign up for the webcast.

Music to Read By

Looks like there are a number of new albums (and a few singles) that are free to download from Amazon. Load them into your MP3 player or Kindle to listen while reading, or anytime. I've broken these up by category, for those with a specific musical preference. As always, be sure to check prices before buying - these were all free when I wrote the post, but can change at any time (one that was free yesterday, for example, was $8 today, so didn't get included).

Classical

The Orange Mountain Music Philip Glass Sampler Vol.I

Sarah Chang: Selections

X5 Free Classical Sampler - Purcell 350 Years

Rock/Misc

Pascal Comelade Sampler Collector

Brushfire Records Fall 2009 Sampler

Hardly Art Label Sampler 2009

Large Music Sampler

The O'Neill Brothers Wedding Music Sampler

Anti Sampler Fall 2009

Tango & Folkore Music of Argentina

Waiting Around To Die by The Lemonheads

Country

Lost Highway Sampler: T For Texas T From Tennessee

Discover Texas Music: Volume 1

CMJ 2009: The Bands, The Music, The City, Vol. 3

Jazz/Blues

Verve Vault Presents: Rhythm, Strings and Cool Breezy Jazz Sampler

Vanguard Visionaries Series Sampler

Free Book from Sony - American Quartet

American Quartet ($5.56 Kindle), by Warren Adler, the first in his Fiona FitzGerald Mystery series.

Book Description
Never underestimate the power of failure In this first book of the Fiona series, four seemingly unconnected D.C. murders stimulate Fiona FitzGerald's sense of history as she delves into our country's dark past. In her search to solve the crimes, she uncovers the disturbing sexual and homicidal obsessions of a socially prominent but failed Washington politician.

To get it free, search for the title in the Sony Ebook Store using the desktop Sony Reader software (it's a free download; with it, you can read books on your PC even if you don't have a Sony Reader).

Update: If you have the sony reader (or don't mind reading on your PC) and like this book, Sony is running a promotion on a bundle of six books in this series for $19.99: Fiona Fitzgerald Series Bundle. This contains the following titles (which are $5.56 each in the Kindle store or $6.60 each from Sony):

Senator Love
Immaculate Deception
The Witch of Watergate
The Ties That Bind
American Sextet
Death of a Washington Madame

Free Book from Sony - Heaven

Heaven ($13.19 Kindle), by Randy Alcorn.

Book Description
What will heaven be like? Randy Alcorn presents a thoroughly biblical answer, based on years of careful study, presented in an engaging, reader-friendly style. His conclusions will surprise readers and stretch their thinking about this important subject.

To get it free, search for the title in the Sony Ebook Store using the desktop Sony Reader software (it's a free download; with it, you can read books on your PC even if you don't have a Sony Reader).

Under the Dome pre-order price drop to $7.20

Under the Dome, by Stephen King (December 24, 2009), has joined the list of upcoming bestsellers that can be pre-ordered in the Kindle store for $7.20.

If you have already pre-ordered one of the books involved in the pre-order price war, I'd recommend canceling that order and re-ordering at the new price when it drops (make sure the store is allowing orders in your country before canceling, though, as they've been having problems today - this one was allowing orders less than ten minutes ago, but is not now). Apparently the pre-order price guarantee at Amazon may not cover Kindle books, as they don't display the "Pre-Order Price Guarantee" banner that is required. Easy enough to order again, since it's only a couple of extra clicks.

Book Description
On an entirely normal, beautiful fall day in Chester's Mill, Maine, the town is inexplicably and suddenly sealed off from the rest of the world by an invisible force field. Planes crash into it and fall from the sky in flaming wreckage, a gardener's hand is severed as "the dome" comes down on it, people running errands in the neighboring town are divided from their families, and cars explode on impact. No one can fathom what this barrier is, where it came from, and when - or if - it will go away.

Dale Barbara, Iraq vet and now a short-order cook, finds himself teamed with a few intrepid citizens - town newspaper owner Julia Shumway, a physician's assistant at the hospital, a select-woman, and three brave kids. Against them stands Big Jim Rennie, a politician who will stop at nothing - even murder - to hold the reins of power, and his son, who is keeping a horrible secret in a dark pantry. But their main adversary is the Dome itself. Because time isn't just short. It's running out.

Update: The price on this one has gone back up to $9.00. Looks like those with pre-orders may want to check them now and then, to see if the price changes.