Music to Read By

It's not quite as long as I Love the 80s, Vol. 1, which I highlighted in January and which is still free, but I Love the 70s (1770s & 1870s) still gives you an hour of good classical music to read by.

• Performers: Johannes Brahms, Antonin Dvorak, Edouard Lalo, Carl Stamitz, Takako Nishizaki, Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra, Johann Baptist Vanhal, Donald Armstrong, Jeno Jando, Benjamin Godard, Antoni Wit, Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, Jaroslav Krecek, Ilya Kaler, Bernd Glemser, Maria Kliegel, Franz Joseph Haydn, Stephen Gunzenhauser, New Zealand Chamber Orchestra, Slovak State Philharmonic Orchestra, Kosice, Toronto Chamber Orchestra, Pietari Inkinen, Kirk Trevor, Capella Istropolitana, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Christopher Hinterhuber, Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, Kevin Mallon
• Composers: Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Carl Stamitz, Franz Joseph Haydn, Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, Antonin Dvorak, Edouard Lalo, Johannes Brahms, Johann Baptist Vanhal, Benjamin Godard
• Conductors: Jaroslav Krecek, Pietari Inkinen, Stephen Gunzenhauser, Kirk Trevor, Kevin Mallon, Donald Armstrong, Antoni Wit

Also free and classical, yet a little more modern, is Decca & Deutsche Grammophon: The Con Brio Digital Sampler - Artists With Vigor And Spirit

Not free, but bargain priced is The 99 Most Essential Debussy Masterpieces, an Amazon exclusive and currently only $5.00 as part of this month's 100/$5: 100 Albums for $5 Each promotion at Amazon. A few others I noticed on that promotion that are worth checking out:

• Money Jungle
• Birth Of The Cool (Rudy Van Gelder Edition)
• Super Hits: Billie Holiday

Back to free downloads, the X5 Free Sampler - Blues and Country Legends is a short one, with five cuts from Lightnin' Hopkins, Muddy Waters, Hank Snow, Canned Heat,Woody Guthrie, but is well worth downloading.

The Christian Music Sampler, by The O'Neill Brothers, is another long sampler at over an hour. If you prefer vocals to instrumentals, you might also want to check out some of these free singles:

• I'm Singing
• Praise His Name
• Just Wanna Say
• Awesome God

A few more free samplers:

• Six Degrees Records Global Grooves Sampler
• Frenchkiss Records Super Sampler
• March 2010 Saddle Creek Sampler
• Music In Progress, Vol. II [+Digital Booklet]
• Beehouse Records Spring Sampler - 2010

All Romance Earth Day Free Book - The Third Wish

The Third Wish ($4.50 list), by K. F. Zuzulo.

Book Description
On a dig in the Jordan desert, archaeologist Bridget Devine unleashes cursed and captivating jinni Ashura-Goreem…and her own sensual awakening.

The jinni must fulfill three wishes before he is free to settle a 3,000-year-old score, so his attraction to Bridget is a distraction he can’t afford.

Bridget soon realizes that she is the captive—bound to Ash by desire and unwilling to let him go. But time is running out for the jinni. As an enemy from his ancient past returns, Ash must decide between freedom and love.

The third wish will either release Ash or destroy him.

To purchase: Click Add to Cart or Buy Now and you'll see an automatic discount for the full price of the book. Be sure to complete the entire check out process (which takes about three pages of clicking), all the way until you see a link for the download (I've missed a book or two in previous promotions at this site, as I thought I was done, but didn't get all they way thru to the end). Available in the following (usually drm-free) formats: Adobe Acrobat, HTML, Mobipocket, Epub. If you want more than one format, you'll need to purchase the book more than once, but you get the discount each time.

There will be one of these a day, until April 21. I'll try to post the link each day, as I find out which one it is. If you find it first, feel free to leave note here in comments and I'll get a post up for everyone else.

Tax Day Deal from Edward C. Patterson

Two deals at Smashwords today from Edward C. Patterson. First, get Oh, Dainty Triolet ($2.99 list; Kindle), for $0.99 using coupon code LA82Y VU84M at checkout (valid today only thru April 20 ... thanks Ed!).

Book Description
Oh, Dainty Triolet is a compilation of three of Edward C. Patterson’s most popular works into an Omnibus Edition comprising Cutting the Cheese, Bobby’s Trace and No Irish Need Apply. Cutting the Cheese is a comic romp through the world of gay activism. Bobby’s Trace is a ghost story with an unusual twist. No Irish Need Apply is a teenage coming of age story in a world fraught with prejudice.

Second, he has updated Surviving an American Gulag ($0.99 Kindle). Since you can't easily get an update version of a book at Amazon, he is offering all existing and any new readers a free copy at Smashwords, using coupon code XE87F, valid thru April 26.

Book Description
Private Winslow Gibbs has been drafted in 1967 at the height of the Vietnam war. He is out of shape, two-hundred and seventy pounds and a bundle of nerves. He also has issues of a different nature, but in these days before the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy, these are dealt with according to the book. Welcome to the Special Training Unit where the misfits are driven in the American Gulag.

Second Chance at Elvis and SEALed with a Kiss

Due to the technical glitches at All Romance eBooks, yesterday's free book, SEALed with a Kiss, is free today as well. If you missed it or haven't downloaded it, be sure to grab it today (many of yesterday's orders didn't end up in the individual libraries, as happened to me, so be sure that it is in your library before passing up this second chance).

Also, yesterday's one-day deal on Elvis is still active, so if you are fan you may want to grab it before it disappears, as well.

As for me, I'm heading out to get my free coffee and read one of my free books. I just finished up Jim Butcher's Changes (Dresden Files, Book 12) ($9.99 Hardcover) last night (about 3am), so need a new one to get started. I'll be glad to get back to the Kindle, after fighting with the 400+ page hardcover edition (propping it open with one hand underneath, it left red marks on my hand from the weight, plus it is so much more awkward to read in bed). On the other hand, the book definitely did not disappoint, with action from beginning to end (or is it THE END? Only time will tell). Hopefully they'll have the contracts figured out by the next book Butcher releases (or I'll have to buy it at kobo or Barnes & Noble - I could have purchased this book in either store for $12.99 plus tax, but only in epub or ereader formats, which are not Kindle compatible).

Free Coffee with your Books Today

As a combination of a Tax Day break (for those in the US) and an early Earth Day celebration, Starbucks is giving free coffee today to anyone that brings in a refillable coffee mug. So, grab your Kindle and enjoy one of today's free books with your free coffee. Other than the fuel used to get there (free for those who can walk to a store), it'll be one of the cheapest entertainment choices you'll find today. And we can all use a break on April 15th!

Here are the details, from the Starbucks web page.

Join the movement. On April 15th, bring a reusable travel mug into your local Starbucks and get a free brewed coffee.

One person can save trees, together we can save forests.

For the good of the planet, Starbucks is encouraging everyone to switch from paper cups to reusable travel mugs. One day in March thousands of New Yorkers made the switch. Join them now by taking a pledge to do the same.

This global movement is taking place in locations around the world including East China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Australia, Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Austria, Bahrain, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Egypt, France, Germany, Greece, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Netherlands, Oman, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Romania, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, UK, Ireland, Argentina, Bahamas, Brazil, Chile, Mexico, Peru, Puerto Rico.

Offer varies by country, ask your barista for details.