Are the links working for you?

Update: Fastest fix ever and all I did was post a complaint in the blogger boards. All of a sudden, the links are working for all the browsers here and the columns are lining up correctly again. However, send me a note if YOU are not seeing that the links are working (try a Refresh Page using F5 first).

I just received a message from a reader that all the links were not working for them (they have FireFox and Chrome). Since I test them myself, but in Firefox 3.6.x, I was a bit confused. However, some testing here shows that FireFox 5 and Chrome (which I just installed) are both having problems, FF 3.6 is not and IE9 is mostly OK. Another new issue is that the menu bar at the right of the page is being bumped to the bottom of the page in IE9, Chrome and FF5; I'll try to work on that next (unless it turns out to be the same issue), but for now, I'd like to get any of you that get a chance to let me know if the links are working for you and which browser you are using (if you click on Help/About, you can look up the version). If the links are working, just comment here. If not, you'll have to send an email - use the name of the blog, without spaces, @gmail.com. Also, if you could let me know when you noticed that they didn't work anymore, that would be helpful.

Thanks guys and I hope to get it fixed soon (in the meantime, if you can try IE or an older FF version, the links should still be working).

Kindle Cloud Reader

Today, Amazon has announced the Kindle Cloud Reader, which lets you read your Kindle books on any computer (Mac/PC/Linux/Chromebook) or Apple Device (iOS4) that is running either Chrome or the Safari browser. I haven't tried it yet, but only because I need to install one or the other on my computer (links for both browsers are on the Kindle Cloud Reader page. I'll let you know how it compares on the iPad to the Kindle App (which Apple has forced to remove links to "buy this book", if you upgrade to the latest version) and how it looks on the computer. I have installed it on the iPad (it sets up a 50MB database and installs an app for offline use, just like the older Kindle app).

I have sometimes used the Read First Chapter option on books that were also available as paper editions (you can't get to that option on the Kindle page itself, although you can now use Look Inside on Kindle books that have it on the paper edition, but Read First Chapter requires you to go to the paper edition first) and although I don't expect to use the app as a primary reader, it will be helpful if you want to look something up on a computer that has the right browser (and other browsers will be supported soon), but don't want to install Kindle for PC (or can't) and don't want the book to remain on the PC when you are done (library computers, for example).

Buy Once, Read Everywhere

• Instant access to your Kindle library
• Continue reading even when you lose your internet connection
• Optimized for iPad: shop the integrated Kindle Store for Tablets

Update #1:
Well, I have it installed on both my iPad and notebook (I installed Chrome, which also gave me yet another copy of Angry Birds, but the version with ads). Neither one will sync with my library, sitting on my porch, either because the signal is a bit weak or perhaps because my library is just too large (yes, it's true, there are over 2,000 4,000 books, but, Hey! Is that MY fault?). It could be because I have two copies of the Kindle Cloud Reader going at once (and I only see one in the Manage My Kindle Device list). I tried sending a sample to my Kindle Cloud Reader (from the iPad, in Safari, but it hasn't shown up in either place, yet).

Update #2:
I logged out on my notebook PC and tried syncing on the iPad and it still won't work. I don't think it's the signal, but it just can't download my library and so it chokes. I went into the Kindle store and it works quite well. You can browse thru by category, see covers, zoom in to see the description and read reviews, then click on Read sample and start reading it right in the browser. The sample works just like any other and at the end are the "buy now" or "see description" links that you are used to. As always, I went to the description page, double checked the price, then clicked to Buy. Once the purchase was completed, then I was asked if I wanted to start reading (which opens it in the browser, it does not download it). Back into the library, I still can't sync and the book doesn't show as downloaded. So, I went back to the store, found the book and, guess what? In this view of the Kindle store, you CANNOT tell if you have already purchased a book. Since I knew that I owned this particular one, I clicked to buy it again, just to see what would happen (knowing I could call support and get it fixed easily, if it went all wrong). First, I saw the message that I already owned it and then (finally), I was shown the Read Now button, so I could keep reading the book. I don't see any way to force the book to download to the iPad's Kindle Cloud Reader without getting the library to Sync and since I logged off on Chrome on this PC, I don't have the option to send anything to the iPad's Cloud Reader (no doubt on purpose; by disabling push to the Cloud Reader, Amazon bypasses any issue of having to pay Apple a cut on the content).

Update #2:
I tried logging out on the iPad and now when I try to start the app, it keeps trying to re-install it for offline use (it was already on my home page). That, too, now gets an error (it worked the first time) and I am stuck in an endless loop of trying to sync/install for offline use. The version on my computer won't sync, either, so I have no idea how it compares to either the Kindle Ipad app or Kindle for PC (both of which still work fine, although if you run Windows7, you will want to make sure you have auto-update turned off, as the latest edition apparently doesn't work with it).

In the Chrome browser, accessing the Kindle store shows you the same full screen views you've had before, with one big exception -- if you go to the Manage My Kindle page, there is now a Read Now option for each book (click on the Actions button). I wish that they would show that on the book page, since they already show you if you have purchased that edition. The feature, though, does work flawlessly (I'll have to see if there is an equivalent on the iPad, so I don't have to keep trying to repurchase a book in order to see the Read Now button).

New Kindle Game - Cluemaster Kakuro

Cluemaster Kakuro Volume 1 ($1.99) is the first entry into Kindle Active Content for Cluemaster.

Game Description
Kakuro is a logic puzzle that crosses Sudoku with crossword puzzles to produce a challenging and addictive number puzzle.

The aim of the game is to fill all the blank squares in the grid with only the numbers 1-9 so that the numbers you enter add up to corresponding clues, and no number is duplicated in any entry. When the grid is filled, the puzzle is complete.

This pack includes 100 puzzles - 25 Gentle, 25 Moderate, 25 Tough and 25 Diabolical. Your progress for all puzzles is shown in the menu and you can restart a puzzle and try to beat your best time. You can enter pencil marks to help you solve the puzzles and there is also an auto pencils feature which calculates the pencil marks for you automatically. You can also turn on auto check, which highlights incorrect numbers. If you like more of a leisurely puzzle then you can hide the timer.

Cluemaster supplies puzzles to numerous newspapers across the world including the Daily Telegraph and Chicago Tribune. All our puzzles are expertly graded to give you the best possible enjoyment.

Give Kakuro a try and you could well be hooked!

Books Under a Buck, Part II

Books for 99 cents, continued...

Until Proven Guilty, by J. A. Jance, the first title in her J. P. Beaumont Mysteries series. The nineteenth in the series, Betrayal of Trust, just released and she has another new title, Left for Dead, coming out early next year. You can also pick up a collection of her short stories, The J. A. Jance Casebook, for $2.99.

The little girl was only five, much too young to die -- a lost treasure who should have been cherished, not murdered.She could have been J.P. Beaumont's kid, and the determined Seattle homicide detective won't rest until her killer pays dearly. But the hunt is leading Beaumont into a murky world of religious fanaticism, and toward a beautiful, perilous obsession all his own. And suddenly Beau himself is a target -- because faith can be dangerous...and love can kill.

Angel Fire, the first in the Lydia Strong series by Lisa Unger, was originally published under the author's real name, Lisa Miscione. This is being re-released to coincide with the publication of her latest novel, Darkness, My Old Friend, the second in her Hollows series. She also has a nice bundle of novels, Four Thrillers by Lisa Unger: Beautiful Lies, Sliver of Truth, Black Out, Die for You, which prices out under $3.75/title and gives you the complete Ridley Jones series and her two stand-alone novels.

The bloody murder of her mother when she was a teenager made Lydia Strong into a woman obsessed with bringing brutal killers to justice. Now thirty years old, she is a reclusive bestselling true crime writer and investigative consultant whose intuitions never lie. The latest case to capture her attention is the disappearance of three adults, each the kind of loner whose sudden absence isn't missed-they have no family, few friends. The Santa Fe Police don't see a pattern, just three people who left their empty lives behind. But when another woman turns up missing, her apartment streaked with blood, even the police have to admit that something is wrong in their usually quiet town. Lydia and P.I. Jeffrey Mark, the ex-FBI agent who solved her mother's murder, begin a relentless investigation. But it is only when the killer ups the ante and goes after Lydia herself that, just like fifteen years ago when she put the FBI on the trail of her mother's killer, the real hunt begins...

Tilt-a-Whirl, the first title in The John Ceepak Mysteries series by Chris Grabenstein, is a backlist title that was originally published by Carroll & Graf and was listed on several Best Mystery of 2005 lists. I had the sample of this one on my Kindle along with a number from the $1 Mystery/Thriller KSO offer and was reading thru to decide which to get. I had picked this as one of my top choices, then found out I had mixed it in (needless to say, it's on my Kindle now). It looks like the next couple of titles in the series are currently $4.99

There isn't much fun in the sun when a billionaire real estate tycoon is found murdered on the Tilt-A-Whirl at a seedy seaside amusement park in the otherwise quiet tourist town of Sea Haven, New Jersey.

John Ceepak, a former MP back from Iraq who lives his life in strict compliance with the West Point Honor Code, has just joined the Sea Haven Police Department. The job offer came from an old Army buddy who wanted to give him at least a summer's worth of R&R to escape the horrors of war.

Instead, Ceepak heads up the murder investigation. He is partnered with Danny Boyle, a 24-year-old, part-time cop who doesn't carry a gun and only works with the police by day so he has enough pocket money to play with his beach buddies by night.

The Tilt-A-Whirl murder pushes Ceepak's deep sense of honor to the limits as unexpected twists and turns keep the truth spinning wildly in every direction.

Fang of the Vampire, the first in the Scream Street series by Tommy Donbavand and Cartoon Saloon Ltd, is $4.79 in the Kindle store, but 99 cents over at Barnes & Noble.

When Luke Watson turns into a werewolf for the third time, the Government Housing of Unusual Lifeforms (G.H.O.U.L.) moves his family to Scream Street -- a frightful community of vampires, zombies, witches, and sundry undead. Though Luke quickly makes friends, he vows to find a way to take his terrified parents home. The secret to opening the exit, he learns, is collecting six powerful relics the founding fathers left behind. But with a sinister landlord determined to thwart Luke at every turn, will he even get past the first hurdle alive?

Hurricane Punch, by Tim Dorsey, I would have snapped up in a second, but I already have it in mobi format on my PC. I'm seriously considering pre-ordering When Elves Attack: A Joyous Christmas Greeting from the Criminal Nutbars of the Sunshine State, which will be released at the end of October (I couldn't hold out... it's in my queue).

That lovable, under-undermedicated dispenser of truth, justice, and trivia is back with a vengeance—just as his cherished home state is about to take a beating from a conga line of hurricanes bearing down on the peninsula. But as Serge and his burnout buddy Coleman go storm-chasing, bodies begin turning up at a disturbing rate, even by Florida standards. It looks like a serial killer is on the loose—another serial killer—which highly offends Serge's moral sensibilities. And he vows he'll stop at nothing to unmask his thrill-killing rival and make All Things Right—though Coleman's triathlete approach to the sport of polyabuse binging threatens to derail the mission more completely than the entire combined Sunshine State police community could ever hope to.

Dancing Moon is a backlist title by Barbara Samuel, originally published by HarperTorch.

FORBIDDEN VOWS
When Tess fled from her husband's cruelty, her only desire was to live in peace. Then she found herself intrigued by the Santa Fe trail and the laughing eyes of the exotic Joaquin Morales.

AN UNBREAKABLE BOND
Their love was beyond imagining, yet Tess and Joaquin were pursued by demons not of their making. Only when they conquered the threats of the past could they embrace the paradise they found in each other's arms.

Sing Me Home, the first in the Love Finds a Home series by Jerri Corgiat, is another backlist, this one published by Corgiat (a Penguin imprint).

Country music star Jonathan Van Castle is intent on two things--reviving his career and regaining custody of his children. At a stop in picturesque Cordelia, Missouri, he meets Lily (Lilac O'Malley Ryan), a young widow trying desperately to hold onto her livelihood and rebuild her own life after the tragic loss of her husband. Singularly unimpressed with the famous Mr. Van Castle, Lily instead falls for his two children. They, and not their sought-after dad, steal her heart, so she lets herself be convinced to join him in a marriage of convenience as he fights his custody battle. The widow and the singer eventually discover their liaison means more to them both than they'd originally planned.

Romance fans will be swept away by Ms. Corgiat's dazzling descriptions of the Missouri Ozarks and her keen insight into the landscape of the yearning heart.

What Maisie Knew: A Novella, by David Liss, has a cover page that calls it a short story. It was originally published as part of The New Dead: A Zombie Anthology and if you are really into this type of short story, I'd recommend it, instead, as it works out to about 50 cents/story there. This one title is called a novelette by Publisher Review and I suspect that is a better indication of the length than the cover or the title. There is no real synopsis given for this title, but it appears to be a horror/thriller (as are all the titles in the anthology) and a few reviewers commented on it's graphic nature.


The End of the World: Stories of the Apocalypse, edited by Martin H. Greenberg, features short stories by Robert Silverberg and many big names in the SciFi field. These are all older works (and the format is Topaz, which some people avoid), but it doesn't look too bad. At the price, I've sent it to my Kindle (and hubby's, as he is a scifi short story reader).

Famous stories of the apocalypse by the world’s best science fiction writers.

Before The Road by Cormac McCarthy brought apocalyptic fiction into the mainstream, there was science fiction. No longer relegated to the fringes of literature, this explosive collection of the world’s best apocalyptic writers brings the inventors of alien invasions, devastating meteors, doomsday scenarios, and all-out nuclear war back to the bookstores with a bang.

The best writers of the early 1900s were the first to flood New York with tidal waves, destroy Illinois with alien invaders, paralyze Washington with meteors, and lay waste to the Midwest with nuclear fallout. Now collected for the first time ever in one apocalyptic volume are those early doomsday writers and their contemporaries, including Neil Gaiman, Orson Scott Card, Lucius Shepard, Robert Sheckley, Norman Spinrad, Arthur C. Clarke, William F. Nolan, Poul Anderson, Fredric Brown, Lester del Rey, and more. Relive these childhood classics or discover them here for the first time. Each story details the eerie political, social, and environmental destruction of our world.

Country Cooking, by Donald G. Lewis

Donald G. Lewis's love of food began with his roots. He remembers picking berries for his mother to prepare special cobbler, and his grandmother churning butter while he sat on her porch swing. His love of those tastes led him to a career creating gourmet creations for customers locally in Texas and nationwide. His recipes reflect a sensibility that is time-tested, a love of fresh ingredients, and a creative spirit that allows him to add modern taste to traditional down-home flavor. Featuring recipes for every course of the meal, with an emphasis on spectacular desserts, Country Cooking brings the tastes of country to your table and will have your loved ones asking for them again and again.

Smoking Food: A Beginner's Guide, by Chris Dubbs and Dave Heberle

In Smoking Food, Chris Dubbs and Dave Heberle assure us that smoking is an art, not a science, and they fearlessly reveal that art's essentials—and how simple they can be. They explain how to choose the best fuels (you can use corncobs!), how to build smokers from old refrigerators and cardboard boxes, and, of course, how to smoke everything from turkeys to turtles. Their advice is as ingenious and cost-conscious as any given by Alton Brown. Aware of the needs and wants of the modern cook, they include low-sodium preparations, alternatives to preservatives like sodium nitrite, and thoughts on safely handling meat. With more than one hundred recipes and tips for making brines, marinades, cheeses, appetizers, soups, and main dishes, Smoking Food is an invaluable resource for the home smoker.

Rescued by a Horse: True Stories of Physical, Emotional, and Spiritual Healing, by Cheryl Dudley

There is no denying that the emotional bond between horses and the humans who love them can reach mystical proportions, and nowhere is that relationship more evident than in these twenty-four true-life accounts of horses rescuing people. Here is the story of a seventeen-year-old Apache youth whom a horse-rescue project retrieved from drug abuse; a mother whose young son was about to be dragged to his death before the horse recognized the child’s plight; a Vietnam veteran with post-traumatic stress disorder whose work with horses keeps him on an even keel; and the owner of a Miniature Horse that serves as a “seeing eye” guide animal. As varied as the stories are, all share the same conclusion: “My horse saved my life.” Originally published in hardcover as Horses That Saved Lives.

Battle For Leyte Gulf, by C. Vann Woodward

Pulitzer-Prize-winner and bestselling author C. Vann Woodward recreates the gripping account of the battle for Leyte Gulf—the greatest naval battle of World War II and the largest engagement ever fought on the high seas. For the Japanese, it represented their supreme effort; they committed to action virtually every operational fighting ship on the lists of the Imperial Navy, including two powerful new battleships of the Yamato class. It also ended in their greatest defeat—and a tremendous victory for the United States Navy. Features a new introduction by Evan Thomas, author of Sea of Thunder.

The Pocket Outdoor Survival Guide, by J. Wayne Fears

The Pocket Outdoor Survival Guide provides the essential knowledge that hikers, campers, canoeists, hunters, anglers, and anyone who spends time in the outdoors needs to deal with short–term survival situations. This handy guidebook will give you the knowledge to make it through any outdoor adventure, planned or unplanned.

Discover everything you need to know about:

• Trip planning
• Survival kits
• Search and rescue
• Coping with bad weather
• Emergency signaling
• Shelter
• Sleeping warm
• Fire
• Dealing with insects
• Safe drinking water
• Food
• Avoiding hypothermia
• Countering fear
• And more!

Don’t be caught without a copy of J. Wayne Fears’ The Pocket Outdoor Survival Guide on your next outdoor adventure!

Camp Cooking, by Fred Bouwman

For too long, the stomachs of campers young and old have suffered lukewarm franks and beans and char-broiled s'mores. But Fred Bouwman has taken a stand, creating a guide to outdoor cooking guaranteed to breathe new life into every camper's menu. Camp Cooking covers it all: from meat to fish to vegetables to sauces to baked goods and more. Fred Bouwman explains each dish in easy-to-follow steps, accompanied by full-color illustrations throughout. This information has been expertly tested in the field, and much of it just isn't available anywhere else. Pick up the book before your next trip!

The Ultimate Guide to Butchering Deer, by John Weiss

The process of getting a deer from the field to the dinner plate can seem overwhelming, especially for beginners. Fortunately, this book of expert advice from veteran deer hunter John Weiss, packed with helpful illustrations and step–by–step explanations, makes it simple. Weiss covers everything you need to know to do your own butchering, including field dressing and transporting your deer, and aging and freezing your venison. The Ultimate Guide to Butchering Deer also features instructions on how to grind burger and make sausage links, and even comes with delicious recipes. This truly is a must–read for any aspiring home deer butcher.

Save $15 off on School (or Office) Supplies (KSO)

This offer is only for those with a Kindle with Special Offers:

Save $15 off a $30 purchase of School Supplies from Amazon.com

Click on offer, then click on the link on the offer page to receive an email with the promotion code. Sign-up for this offer expires on August 12.

You'll get an email (right away), a link to the Special Offer page and a promotion code to enter at checkout. Once you have the promotional code, you have until September 12 to complete your purchase. Like previous offers, this one requires you to use the full checkout process in order to enter your promotional code. Also, like all Amazon sales that use promotional codes, if you have a gift card balance, you must use it for the payment (if there is not a sufficient balance, then you can pick which credit card or other payment to use).

This offer can be used more than once per account, so long as you have more than one KSO registered. Just click on the ad on each device to receive the individual promotion codes via email.

I just looked thru some of the items on this offer and there may be a few items that are only for school kids, but most of it is items that I would use at home or the office, including pens, sharpies, dry erase markers, mailing labels, etc. There are even disposable fountain pens!