I've moved!

I've moved!

Thanks for stopping by, but it appears you are using a (very) old address for my blog. I've moved to a Wordpress site and you'll need to update your bookmarks for Books on the Knob

I've moved!

Custom Search

Tuesday, March 8, 2011

Read an eBook Week 2011 (Tuesday Update)

Tuesday updates for Read an eBook Week.
  • The free book at Dorrance today is Sylvia Klope Eller's The Squirrel Who Hitchhiked to Atlanta (short story)
  • The free book at Rose Dog Books Christina Sterling's What Makes a Sandwich (short story)
  • The free book at Red Lead Books is Ruth Pallock's Mr. Fenly Frog (short story)
  • The free book at ireadiwrite today is Geoff Moeller's All In God's Time, My Sons.
  • Imajinnbooks has added the two new books for today (My Lord Viking and Winged Victory) and fixed the older PDF listings to be free (they were at $6). be sure to click NEXT at the bottom of the page to find the 2nd book for today. If you are late finding this deal, all six books so far are still free.
  • DigBooks Cafe has eight books you can download free this month (scroll down the page a bit, to the March Specials section). You can pick up PDF (convert via Amazon, lit (best choice to convert via Calibre) or html (no cover art).
  • R. Scot Johns is giving away drm-free copies of The Saga of Beowulf, Part I: The Land of Death & Shadow, if you either subscribe to his newsletter or friend him on facebook (both forms have a place for comments, where you can let him know what format you want). If you sign up, tell him Books on the Knob sent you (and, hey, I'll get the 2nd book in the series free!).
  • Kobobooks.com has their $1 off coupon going again. It says "selected books", but I generally get these to work on any non-Agency titles. The code mar8ww1 is valid today thru March 10; you can get many of the 99 cent short stories or novels by indie authors for free or get a decent discount on books that are under $5; ebookweek2011 gives you 15% and is a better coupon for some more expensive titles. I picked up a couple by Amanda Hocking for free and you can get Sara Gruen's Water for Elephants for $5.29, Richard Castle's Heat Wave for $3.99, Sarah Bower's Sins of the House of Borgia for $1.39 or Elizabeth Chadwick's To Defy a King for $1.39 or several titles in the Guardians Of Ga'Hoole series for $3.69, using the $1 off coupon (or get them all; it's an unlimited use coupon).
  • [e-reads] has two free books you can download in PDF form: To Tame a Duke by Patricia Grasso and Fool’s Gold (Reid Bennett) by Ted Wood.
  • Vanilla Heart Publishing still has a free giveaway of their Valentine's Day anthology.
  • While you are digging thru Smashwords, be sure to look for backlist books that a number of authors are now re-publishing on their own (these are traditionally published books, in paper, that are now in e-format and self-published). Authors doing this include Patricia Ryan, Doranna Durgin and Kevin J Anderson (yes, the very one that co-authored a number of DUNE volumes) and I noticed several with discounts for this week.

Free Book (EPUB/Mobi/nook) - The Fortunes Of War

The Fortunes Of War: Four Great Battles Of World War II (out of print), by Andrew A Rooney (aka Andy Rooney), is free over on the B&N website. No doubt this was done just so he could make a point during his 60 Minutes commentary this last week and there is no telling how long it will remain free. I opened it up in nookStudy and it is 124 pages, two columns per page and there are a few areas where it looks like you get hieroglyphics instead of text (around some photos). He says this was his first published book (at $7.50 for a Hardcover), but there is no info on the Kindle or B&N sites as to the content. Rather obviously, from the title, it's a look at four battles during WWII and does include some maps and illustrations. I did manage to find one review, from 1962, in Harper's magazine, but could not read it (it's only available to subscribers). A little more digging located the book on the Internet Archives and Kobo. Originally published by Little and Brown, it's now free in many formats and all of them look like OCR'd scans that haven't been corrected.

Click HERE for the free download from B&N.
Click HERE for the free download from Kobo (DRM-free EPUB or PDF)
Click HERE for the free download from the Internet Archive (there is a Kindle compatible edition there).

Monday, March 7, 2011

New Kindle Game - Word Soup

Word Soup ($2.99), by Fuzzy Bug Interactive. Like all active content so far, requires an updated K2/KDX or any K3 and only available to those in the US.

Game Description
Word Soup is a word search game with a tactical twist.

Create words within the grid of scrambled letters. Each word created is removed from the grid and the letters above fall into the gaps left behind, creating new word combinations. With careful play, letters can be strategically brought into play and used to create longer words. You score bonus points if you can successfully clear the grid of all letters. The starting grid is randomly generated, so no two games should ever be the same.

Word Soup offers two modes of play: 'Relaxed' - for those who like to take their time and try to create the longest words, and 'Timed' - where players can test themselves against the clock to see how they score under pressure. Your 'Longest Word', 'Highest Scoring Word', 'Words Made' and 'Total Score' stats are all tracked. Word Soup can be played in Portrait, as well as Landscape view.

If you like word games, you'll love Word Soup.

Read an eBook Week 2011 (Monday Update)

Monday updates for Read an eBook Week.
  • The free book at Dorrance today is Helmuth Jordan's Fehlschlag Euro (in German).
  • The free book at Rose Dog Books today is Nick Yancy's Not In My Country.
  • The free book at Red Lead Books today is Dianne M. Hamre Dobrin's A Cameo Collection.
  • The free book at ireadiwrite today is Gautam Sen's The Fantabulous Fens.
  • Imajinnbooks will be adding two books a day as free downloads; just be careful as some of the earlier books may still appear on the page and not be free in all formats.
  • Xcite, an erotica publisher in the UK, is giving everyone a free ebook from a list of eight. To get the book, first Register for an account (no credit card info is required), then click on the banner on the front page. Pick one of the eight books selected and cick on Add to Cart. You will see a message:
    Our congratulations! You've been given the following promotion: Read an eBook Week promotion
    Click on Checkout, then Continue, and in step 4, you should see a $0.00 total after discount. Click to complete your order, then on Downloads on the right side of the page. It looks like DRM-free PDF and EPUB are the two file formats supported (you can download either or both).
  • Samhain is giving away Nate, by Beth Williamson, on their site in multiple formats (it' also still free in the Kindle store).

Free Book (EPUB) - Skinny

Skinny ($7.99 Kindle), by Laura L. Smith, is free at Christian Books, courtesy of Christian publisher NAV Press. This book has been free on Kindle, previously (Nov '09).

Book Description
Teen Melissa Rollins is determined to have the perfect body, even if it makes her throw up. Whether you're a young woman, a mom, or a youth pastor, you'll appreciate the truth and compassion in Melissa's struggle with anorexia. Will she hear God's voice before it's too late?

Click HERE for the free download from Christian Books.

Free Book (nook) - Introduction to Trading and Investing with Options

Introduction to Trading and Investing with Options ($60.79 Kindle), by W. Edward Olmstead, Michael C. Thomsett, Guy Cohen and Guy Edward Cohen, a collection of books from FT Press, is free on B&N. So far, I don't see any sign the price is going to drop at Amazon (but feel free to report the lower price, as that seems to sometimes help).

Book Description
A brand new collection of essential insights for your business and career from world-renowned experts…now in a convenient e-format, at a great price!

Your complete three-book options library: up-to-date techniques, crystal-clear explanations, real examples, step-by-step instructions!

Three options best-sellers, one great price! Guy Cohen introduces options in plain English, so you can start earning profits fast. W. Edward Olmstead teaches step-by-step how to control risk, safeguard investments, and much more. Then, Michael Thomsett presents 12 conservative strategies for hedging losses, mitigating risk, creating income, and increasing overall returns.


Click HERE for the free download from B&N.

Sunday, March 6, 2011

Zoo City for £1.00

Zoo City ($4.69 Kindle), by Lauren Beukes, has made the shortlist (top 6) for the Arthur C Clarke Award (and it’s still on the shortlist for the British Science Fiction Association Award for Best Novel). To celebrate, the publisher, Angry Robot, is selling the book for £1 (that’s about $1.60 USD) direct from their website. The books there are DRM-free, so you can convert the EPUB you receive via Calibre to work with the Kindle.

Book Description
WHERE NO ONE ELSE DARE VENTURE…

Zinzi has a Sloth on her back, a dirty online 419 scam habit – and a talent for finding lost things. But when her latest client, a little old lady, turns up dead and the cops confiscate her lastpaycheck, she’s forced to take on her least favourite kind of job: missing persons

An astonishing second novel from the author of the highly-acclaimed Moxyland.


Click HERE to get the book for £1.00. Payment is via PayPal, so the conversion to your local currency should be more or less automatic (note that some banks and credit cards may charge you a currency exchange fee).

Note: I have a PDF ARC of this book, provided as a review copy by Angry Robot sometime last year (however, it still sits on my TBR pile, waiting it's turn to be read), so I didn't go thru the checkout further than verifying that PayPal was accepted.

Read an eBook Week 2011

If you were around last year, you know that Read an eBook Week is a great time to pick up some free or heavily discounted ebooks, both from indie authors and from some of the smaller ebookstores that you might not normally visit. This year, when the eBook celebrates it's 40th anniversary, should prove no exception. Click the banner above to go to the main website or follow the links below to find some of today's free selections. Don't forget to look at their contest to win one of three Kobo Reades, while you are there.

  • Smashwords, of course, leads the way with free and discounted books from indie authors. Many are outright free (download and be sure to back these up), while others are discounted by 25% to 100% using the special coupons codes for this week (each will have the appropriate coupon code shown next to the Buy button). These will remain in your Smashwords library after purchase, so you can redownload them at any time. I picked up a novella from Margaret Lake, Sweet Savage Charity, and will be browing thru the list all week to see what else I can uncover. I know that Melanie Nilles has three books at 100% discount and most of the others marked down, for example.
  • Bewrite Books is giving away any two titles in their catalog, to anyone who buys one ebook (or printed book) this week, from ANY bookstore or publisher. You can't get easier terms than that. Details are in their blog (quite a ways down the page), but those who buy that one ebook from BeWrite will find a bonus in their free book order.
  • Omnilit/AllRomance has a number of free reads on their site (which are free most of the time, although the list does change now and then)
  • Drollerie Press has six free stories up for downloading
  • CurrClick! has a free curriculum book on Graphs today (and more on their Free Stuff page.
  • TriFuel, Sunday Scholar and MindsetSports are very similar sites, with several free downloads on each.
  • Twilight Times Books has a number of books free this week and i looks all of them are free today (the page says some are not, but I downloaded at least a PDF of each one; perhaps more formats will be available later.
  • The free book at Dorrance changes daily, so be sure to click each day this week. Today's link isn't working, but you can get it by clicking HERE.
  • ireadiwrite, Rose Dog Books and Red Lead Books also have a new free book daily.
If you scroll down to the Authors section of the RAEBW partners page, you'll find links to a number of books that are located on individual author websites, while a number of the Book Sellers/Publishers also have a free download available (although it can sometimes take a bit of digging to find them)

Saturday, March 5, 2011

Free Book - Fortress on the Sun

Fortress on the Sun ($5.99 Kindle), by Paul Cook, is this month's free book from Phoenix Pick. Click HERE for the free download. Enter coupon code 9992371, then once past the newsletter subscription page, download the DRM-free format of your choice.

Book Description
Ra is a 21st century prison camp that also acts as facility for harvesting metals—from the Sun. The prisoners have all been banished here for extreme crimes, but none of them remembers anything from their past. As a lethal disease slowly spreads through the camp and the prisoners are abandoned, Ian Hutchings must find a way out if he and his people are to survive. But dark secrets lurk, and as they try to survive both the illness and the inferno they live on, they will discover a truth even stranger than their own circumstances.

Paul Cook's The Engines of Dawn is also on sale, currently $4.99 on Kindle.

Book Description
The great engines of the Enamorati have enabled humanity to travel the stars, but at what cost?

Little is known of the jealously guarded engines while a complacent humanity slowly losses its edge and becomes increasingly dependant on mysterious alien technologies.

However, when an engine failure strands a university ship, Professor Ben Bennet and a group of students challenge the status quo and start discovering hidden secrets that threaten the future of humanity itself.


While you are on the Phoenix Pick page, you should also take a look at Lest Darkness Fall and Related Stories, which contains a number of short stories by Frederik Pohl, David Drake, S.M. Stirling and Alexei and Cory Panshin, in addition to the out of print Lest Darkness Fall by L. Sprague de Camp. On sale for $4.99, this one will be $9.99 when it reaches the Kindle store. The book is DRM-free when purchased from Phoenix Pick, so you can convert it as needed; get the Mobi version to send to your Kindle without conversion and the EPUB for any other reader (I'd only get the PDF as a last resort, as it will have the most problems if you need to convert to another format).

Book Description
Rarely do books have such a great influence on a genre as Lest Darkness Fall has had on science fiction. Frequently quoted as one of the ‘favorite’ books of many of the masters of the field, this book by L. Sprague de Camp helped establish time-travel as a solid sub-genre of science fiction.

An indication of the influence and longevity of the book is by the number of best-selling writers who have written stories in direct response to, or influenced by, Lest Darkness Fall. This new volume also includes three such stories by Frederik Pohl, David Drake and S. M. Stirling written over a period of forty-three years—a testament to the timelessness of the book.

Similar, thematically, to Mark Twain’s A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court, the book tells the tale of Martin Padway who, as he is walking around in modern Rome, is suddenly transported though time to 6th Century Rome.

Once in ancient Rome, Padway (now Martinus Paduei Quastor) embarks on an ambitious project of single-handedly changing history.

L. Sprague de Camp was a student of history (and the author of a number of popular works on the subject). In Lest Darkness Fall he combines his extensive knowledge of the workings of ancient Rome with his extraordinary imagination to create one of the best books of time travel ever written.

Friday, March 4, 2011

Ellery Queen Mysteries on DVD

If you are a big mystery buff, you may want to check out the Ellery Queen Mysteries DVD set, which is Amazon's Deal of the Day today.

Book Description
From the creators of Columbo and Murder, She Wrote… Match wits with Ellery Queen (Jim Hutton) in all 22 digitally restored, uncut and unedited episodes of this classic NBC series following the exploits of the famed writer as he assists his father, Inspector Richard Queen (David Wayne), in solving the mysteries that baffle the New York City police force.

Guest Stars include: Don Ameche, Dana Andrews, Tom Bosley, George Burns, Joan Collins, Troy Donahue, Anne Francis, Eva Gabor, Larry Hagman, June Lockhart, Robert Loggia, Roddy McDowall, Ed McMahon, Sal Mineo, Donald O'Connor, Dean Stockwell, Dick Van Patten, Vincent Price, Cesar Romero, Betty White, and many more!

Amazon Review
The case of the missing TV series has finally been cracked, but why Ellery Queen lasted only one season (1975-76) and fell into obscurity is a real mystery. Based on the evidence in this six-disc set, this loving homage to the classic murder mystery created by Richard Levinson and William Link was, like their Columbo and Murder, She Wrote, nonviolent and intelligent television of the first order. Set in the 1940s, Ellery Queen stars boyishly charming Jim Hutton, one of the screen's most likable leading men, as the famed mystery writer and sleuth who helps his father, Inspector Richard Queen (David Wayne), solve the most baffling of cases. The pleasures this series affords are anything but guilty. Each intriguing episode begins with the preview of a murder, a roundup of the suspects (Was it the jealous wife? The dictatorial director?), and an irresistible challenge to viewers to "match wits with Ellery Queen and see if you can guess whodunit." Before revealing the killer, Ellery breaks the fourth wall to ask if we amateur sleuths at home have the mystery figured out, offering last-minute clues such as, "Once you figure out how, you'll know who." As with Burke's Law, each episode of Ellery Queen is packed with enough Hollywood legends, venerable character actors, and TV faves to fill The Love Boat. "The Adventure of Veronica's Veils" features George Burns as the victim ("I didn't die of natural causes," he announces via a filmed presentation following his demise), William Demarest, Don Porter, comedian Jack Carter, Hayden Rorke (Dr. Bellows on I Dream of Jeannie), and John Hillerman in his recurring role as radio detective Simon Brimmer, forever trying to one-up Queen. Queen himself makes it a point "to be observant and pay attention to details," particularly for that "dying clue which makes absolutely no sense." You'd be advised to do the same. The intricately plotted stories turn on the most arcane of clues and circumstances, as in the pilot episode "Too Many Suspects," in which solving a fashion designer's murder hinges on the reenactment of a TV news broadcast (maybe that explains the one-season run). An interview with Link, not very lively, but interesting, is included as a bonus feature. --Donald Liebenson

Eight Free Books from Copia

There's a new bookstore in town and it combines the social networking features of Goodreads or LibaryThing with the ability to buy books. Copia's books are in EPUB format (ADE-DRM'd), but you must install their reader in order to download books (when you install it, skip the third step, where you authorize your Adobe login if you PC already has Adobe Digital Editions installed). To bribe you into creating an account (which is free) and installing their reader (required to download the books), Copia is giving every new account holder seven free books, all published by Rosetta Books:
You can also add fifteen free Harlequin books (that are free in pretty much all the ebookstores), if you wish to do so. I did discover one in the list that hasn't been free on Kindle (although you can get the PDF from Harlequin's website):
When you create an account, you'll have to give them an email address, but other than your name, no other personal information and no credit card info (until you start purchasing non-free books). Click HERE to get started. For each book, click on Get This Book, then on Download Later (since it won't download automatically, anyway). After you've added all the books to your library, start the Copia reader (the links to download it are on their site). First, log in (remember, skip the Adobe activation if you already have ADE installed) and then Sync; once your booklist is showing, double click on each one to download (you can open then, then, but I skipped this part as well).

After they are all downloaded, exit the Copia reader and open Adobe Digital Editions. Click on the down arrow next to Library, then Add item to Library (or just press Ctrl-O). Find the books (under My Documents\Copia Library), click the first one and shift-click the last, to highlight them all, then click on OK. Now the books will all be in Adobe ADE and you can sideload them to the EPUB reader of your choice.

March Black Friday Sale: $5 Magazines

Tiger Direct has been having Black Friday every month (or week) and it looks like Amazon has decided to join them in using the phrase for any big sale, regardless of the time of year. Today thru Sunday, March 6, they are having Black Friday Magazine Madness, with a number of print magazines on sale for $5 for a year's subscription. These do include auto-renewal, but all that means is that as your subscription gets close to the end, you'll get an email from Amazon that it will auto-renew (at whatever rate is currently in force, just like most magazines subscriptions that send you letters in the mail to renew). If you don't want to renew, you follow the link and cancel the renewal.

I looked thru the selection and all of them are the type of magazine that the Kindle just doesn't handle well (at least, not yet). Gardens, wildlife, photography, aviation, boating, surfing, the Carribean, Bahamas and Florida are amongst the topics. I also saw several Science magazines that would be nice for kids as well as adults (and several on parenting and working mothers). Most of these are magazines with lots of glossy pictures that won't translate well to eInk. Although I doubt anyone pays the up to $60 list price quoted on some of them, I also don't think you'll find a better deal than the five bucks Amazon is asking. That, no doubt, doesn't even cover the postage for delivery.

A second magazine sale is also going on at Amazon, with $5 off the regular subscription price. That leaves a number under $10 (and Redbook is only $3).

New Kindle App - My Yoga Studio

My Yoga Studio ($1.99), by Nickel Buddy, is an interesting looking app/game for the Kindle. I'd say it is just as useful as most yoga videos, after you have run thru them once or twice and are just using them as timers, and a lot more portable. Even better, you can customize the routine (try that with a DVD) and run thru the poses you have chosen (and that fit into the time you have to work out).

App Description
My Yoga Studio is like having a personal yoga teacher on your Kindle.

There are many benefits to practicing yoga. Done properly, yoga can help you increase your strength, flexibility, and balance. It can improve your posture as you become more aware of your body, and it can help you relax, even in the midst of a stressful environment.

My Yoga Studio will guide you step-by-step through a series of poses illustrated with a picture and a text description. As you move through the routine, a timer will count down, showing you how long to hold each pose before gently transitioning to the next. 25 different poses are included. You can use one of three included routines (Sun Salutation, Stress Melter, or Balance & Peace), do poses individually, or create your own custom routine. Exercises are designed to strengthen your core, and do not require any special equipment. As you can do these exercises anywhere you have floor space, My Yoga Studio is a perfect companion for frequent travelers or home use.

My Yoga Studio is ready to be your personal guide anytime you want to steal a few moments to center yourself.


If you are not in the US, you can't get My Yoga Studio. Instead, you might want to take a look at Everyday Pilates: From the Top Down ($7.99 US), by Alycea Ungaro, which is one of several Kindle Edition with Audio/Video titles in this series (the rest of which are $5.59). Best of all, if you are a UK customer (only), you can get this one for $1.16 in the US store (£5.98 in the UK store).

Book Description
No time to exercise? No problem! Alycea Ungaro's 15-Minute Everyday Pilates series gives you all the tools you need to squeeze regular exercise into your life. In the Everyday Pilates: From The Top Down Vook, Ungaro shows you how to get a toned, strong body, and graceful posture in just 15-minutes a day. This fantastic new format offers easy, step-by-step instruction, full color images and 11 videos to take you through the full Top Down routine, which focuses on centering and activating your Pilates box. You will also learn how to incorporate weights in your Pilates workout. Strengthen, stretch, and build your way to a more toned, more healthy you.

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

Free Book (ADE/PDF) - Isolarion: A Different Oxford Journey

Isolarion: A Different Oxford Journey ($9.99 Kindle), by James Attlee, is free this month, directly from the University of Chicago Press.

Book Description
Through the centuries, people from all walks of life have heard the siren call of a pilgrimage, the lure to journey away from the familiar in search of understanding. But is a pilgrimage even possible these days for city-dwellers enmeshed in the pressures of work and family life? Or is there a way to be a pilgrim without leaving one’s life behind? James Attlee answers these questions with Isolarion, a thoughtful, streetwise, and personal account of his pilgrimage to a place he thought he already knew—the Cowley Road in Oxford, right outside his door.

Isolarion takes its title from a type of fifteenth-century map that isolates an area in order to present it in detail, and that’s what Attlee, sharp-eyed and armed with tape recorder and notebook, provides for Cowley Road. The former site of a leper hospital, a workhouse, and a medieval well said to have miraculous healing powers, Cowley Road has little to do with the dreaming spires of the tourist’s or student’s Oxford. What Attlee presents instead is a thoroughly modern, impressively cosmopolitan, and utterly organic collection of shops, restaurants, pubs, and religious establishments teeming with life and reflecting the multicultural makeup of the surrounding neighborhood.

From a sojourn in a sensory-deprivation tank to a furtive visit to an unmarked pornography emporium, Attlee investigates every aspect of the Cowley Road’s appealingly eclectic culture, where halal shops jostle with craft jewelers and reggae clubs pulsate alongside quiet churchyards. But the very diversity that is, for Attlee, the essence of Cowley Road’s appeal is under attack from well-meaning city planners and predatory developers. His pilgrimage is thus invested with melancholy: will the messy glories of the Cowley Road be lost to creeping homogenization?

Drawing inspiration from sources ranging from Robert Burton’s The Anatomy of Melancholy to contemporary art, Attlee is a charming and companionable guide who revels in the extraordinary embedded in the everyday. Isolarion is at once a road movie, a quixotic stand against uniformity, and a rousing hymn in praise of the complex, invigorating nature of the twenty-first-century city.


Click HERE to sign up for the free book. You'll need to enter your email address, then check your email for the link to download the book. Mine arrived within seconds -- you get a .ACSM file, which, when opened, will load the PDF book inside of Adobe ADE. This is a DRM'd PDF and is not compatible with the Kindle.

Tuesday, March 1, 2011

Free Book Updates (Non-Kindle)

Kobobooks.com, Borders.com and Sony have added some of the free books from earlier today. If you missed For the King's Favor on Kindle, better act fast to get it as an EPUB from Kobo (it isn't free from Borders).

Now free on Kobo:

Slingo under a Buck (Kindle)

Slingo on Kindle is marked down to 99 cents for the next two weeks (ending March 13). This is a surprisingly addictive game (I have it on my Kindle and on my netbook, as I picked up a PC download version of it for a dollar a while back), which you can play when you don't want to get involved in a long game and there are too many distractions to read.

Game Description
The objective of Slingo is to accumulate the highest number of points. Spin and match the reel numbers to the numbers on the 5x5 card, trying to cover all the numbers in 20 spins or less. Earn a "Slingo" and huge bonus points when you match 5 numbers in a row. Slingos can be horizontal, vertical or diagonal.

In addition to number matches, players can earn special reel icons. The joker can match any number in the column, coins earn bonus points, and free spins will save you points. But watch out for the devil, who takes half your score...

Slingo for Kindle is perfect for a quick play or long sessions. All game stats and high scores are tracked, and unique award challenges will keep you coming back for more.

Can you top the high score? Try your luck and take a spin today!

Bargain Book List

A list of some bargain books, some of which are bound to change in price by morning (and some of which will not):

Monday, February 28, 2011

Random House Adopts Agency Pricing - Effective Tomorrow!

With one day's notice, Random House is moving to Agency Pricing on it's ebooks, effective tomorrow: March 1, 2011. What this will mean is that the prices will go up on many of the books that have been discounted by Amazon and other booksellers (including many that you could use discount coupons on, when shopping at Kobo). There are rumors that they will have more free books (but, the record so far has been that the publishers that moved to Agency pricing have dropped the number of free books, instead offering low-priced early books in a series instead).

Some examples of authors that will be effected: Jean M. Auel (you can pre-order the next book in her series, THE LAND OF PAINTED CAVES, at $9.99 right now, rather than the $30 list), Karen Marie Moning, Stieg Larsson, Teresa Medeiros, Dan Brown (his $35 list The Lost Symbol: Special Illustrated Edition is still $3.99 right now), Ron Roy (several of the kid's A to Z titles at 88 cents tonight), Anne Mccaffrey, Nancy Pelosi ($14.95 list Know Your Power: A Message to America's Daughters is $3.06).

If you want to skim thru some of the current sale books and see what bargains are out there and that will probably be gone after 3AM EST (Midnight in Seattle), click on the links below. I've limited the results to books that are at least 25% off and priced under $9.99. There are a lot of $5.00 and $9.99 books on these lists that will end up being much higher tomorrow, if their pricing follows what all the other publishers have done.
There are, of course, too many to list, as this is a very large publisher. This search will get you a list of books currently discounted at 50% off or more, with a price under $10.00, but includes all publishers, not just the Random House imprints. There may be a few with higher prices in the US, as the search sometimes picks up lower prices in other countries, but those should only show up here and there..

Click HERE to read the press release.

New Kindle Game - Ultimate Sci-Fi Quiz

There's a new trivia game out for the Kindle, Ultimate Sci-Fi Quiz ($1.99), from HandyX

Book Description
Ultimate Sci-Fi Quiz is a trivia game for science fiction buffs. Do you think you know Star Wars from Star Trek, or Alien from Avatar?

Test your science fiction knowledge with 1,000 questions about sci-fi movies and TV shows from past to present. Questions are drawn from topics such as Back to the Future, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Blade Runner, Forbidden Planet, The Fly, E.T., Terminator, X-Files, Dr. Who, Space 1999, The Twilight Zone, The Matrix, and Jurassic Park. Answer sets of questions ranging from easy to hard, in rounds of 10, or in a continuous stream. Or turn on a question countdown timer for an even greater challenge. Be warned, you may be surprised at how challenging some of the more difficult questions may be!

Do you have what it takes to answer them all?

Free Book Update (nook)

The business and non-fiction books from he morning are all now free from B&N. Here are links to the book summaries, with B&N links in each post:

Saturday, February 26, 2011

Interactive Language Training and non-English Bargain Books (Kindle)

There are now eight total language training apps out for Kindle, all from 24/7. Each language has a pair of apps, just as with the Interactive Spanish Language Training that I originally detailed. All the apps are $3.99 each and are targeted at reading comprehension (there doesn't appear to be support yet for Kindle Apps to use the speaker, which would allow pronunciation guides). Since the description is nearly identical for each title, I'm only going to include the first one, but there are links for all of the languages (so far) available.

24-7 French - Vocabulary and 24-7 French - Basic Phrases
24-7 German - Vocabulary and 24-7 German - Basic Phrases
24-7 Italian - Vocabulary and 24-7 Italian - Basic Phrases
24-7 Spanish - Vocabulary and 24-7 Spanish - Basic Phrases

App Description
Learn French/German/Italian/Spanish with your own personal language tutor.

24-7 French/German/Italian/Spanish - Vocabulary
is a fun way to learn a language. Going beyond a phrasebook or set of flashcards, this title provides a set of interactive study tools to help you learn the language, including traditional flashcards, a multiple choice quiz, an entertaining hangman-style game, and a write-in quiz to test language recall.

Content includes basic vocabulary organized in 22 categories including Family & Friends, Travel, Home, Office, School, Countryside, Around Town, Other Nouns, Food & Drink, Clothing, Weather, Time & Date, Pronouns, Adjectives, Opposites, Colors, Descriptives and Numbers. French - French/German/Italian/Spanish is different from 24-7's other language tutor title French/German/Italian/Spanish - Basic Phrases in that it provides basic vocabulary terms versus full phrases.

24-7 French/German/Italian/Spanish - Basic Phrases is a fun way to learn a language. Going beyond a phrasebook or set of flashcards, this title provides a set of interactive study tools to help you learn the language, including traditional flashcards, a multiple choice quiz, an entertaining hangman-style game, and a write-in quiz to test language recall.

Content includes conversational phrases organized in 12 categories including First Phrases, Greetings, Getting to Know, Communication, Questions, Wants, Needs, Feelings, Common Expressions, Interjections, To Go, and other common and miscellaneous phrases. French/German/Italian/Spanish - Basic Phrases is different from 24-7's other language tutor title French/German/Italian/Spanish - Vocabulary in that it provides full phrases versus basic vocabulary terms.

French/German/Italian/Spanish - Vocabulary is a useful tool for beginners who may wish to refresh basic [language] skills, and a great companion for a trip in a [non-English]-speaking country.


If your language skills are a little more advanced (or English isn't your first language), you might want to venture into the world of Foreign Language Kindle eBooks (or, at least foreign to most of those born in Amazon's native land). What you may not have realized is that Amazon has a page to spotlight some of them, making a few of them easier to find. I've pulled a few out that are bargain priced, but my language skills aren't sufficient to give you an opinion of the translations or writing, so be sure to sample first.

Límites (Spanish Edition) ($2.99), by Henry Cloud and John Townsend. The english edition, Boundaries: When To Say Yes, How to Say No, is $10.99, on this title from Christian publisher Zondervan.

Book Description
Is your life out of control? Do people take advantage of you? Do you have trouble saying no? Are you disappointed with God because of unanswered prayers? Having clear boundaries is essential to a healthy, balanced lifestyle. A boundary is a personal property line that marks those things for which we are responsible. In other words, boundaries define who we are and who we are not. Boundaries impact all areas of our lives: Physical boundaries helps us determine who may touch us and under what circumstances. Mental boundaries give us the freedom to have our own thoughts and opinions. Emotional boundaries help us deal with our own emotions and disengage from the harmful, manipulative emotions of others. Spiritual boundaries help us distinguish God's will from our own and give us renewed awe for our Creator. Dr. Henry Cloud and Dr. John Townsend offer Biblically based answers to tough questions, showing us how to set healthy boundaries with our parents, spouses, children, friends, co-workers, and even ourselves.

Prime de vie (French Edition) ($2.99), by Romuald Reber, is a novella length selection.

Book Description
En l'an 2020, la société humaine, confrontée à la montée de la violence urbaine, civique et économique, à la dégradation de son environnement et à la déshumanisation comportementale de sa population, a accepté pour survivre, une nouvelle justice. Cette nouvelle justice devra lui garantir un avenir et un nouvel espoir. Dorénavant, chaque être humain devra s'acquitter d'une prime de vie. Quel en sera le prix?

Le très grand nettoyage (French Edition) ($2.99), by Romuald Reber, appears to be novel length and looked pretty interesting from the BabelFish translation.

Book Description
Jeremy Parker est chercheur en nanotechnologies. Il a 27 ans, et vit à Londres en 2025. Le monde est saturé de déchets, il pleut du plastique à chaque orage. La nourriture commence à manquer. Lui, rêve de nettoyer la planète grâce à ses inventions. Mais la triste réalité économique de la société, profondément cynique, qui l'entoure, le contraint à travailler sur des projets moins idéalistes...

Alors que la majorité des urbains des grandes capitales prennent de la drogue du rêve pour fuir leur triste quotidien, lui s'accroche à son projet. Il y consacre tout le temps que son travail lui laisse. Mais, bientôt, une suite d'évènements incontrôlés va tout faire basculer. Les alliages métalliques vont disparaître. Le chaos s'installe. Parker et ses compagnons vont essayer de balancer les catastrophes qui se répandent sur la planète terre. Une de ces inventions nanotechnologiques va procéder au très grand nettoyage, tous les produits dérivés du pétrole vont disparaître. En parallèle, un autre évènement naturel va transformer le monde animal et déclencher le retour des esprits de la nature. Les cartes vont être redistribuées sur la planète terre. Le monde que nous connaissons va basculer dans un nouvel âge.


tim special '10: About man, innovation and proces- Modern Times in der IT? (free), by Thomas Wust, is a free issue of an IT magazine over on Sony.

Book Description
Wer erinnert sich nicht an den zappeligen Arbeiter Charlie in amodern times", gespielt und uraufgefuhrt von Charles Chaplin im Jahr 1936, der allzu oft mit dem Takt des monotonen Fliessbandes nicht mithalten kann. Mittlerweile sind wir weit uber den Taylorismus, der von Frederik Winslow Taylor gegrundeten Denkschule der Prozesssteuerung zentraler Arbeitsablaufe, hinausgewachsen und verfugen uber zahlreiche Sichten auf Prozesse und Prozessoptimierungen, die auch oder gerade dem Produktions- und Innovationsfaktor Mensch gerechter werden.

Libérese del temor (Spanish Edition) ($1.24), by H. Norman Wright, is another from Thomas Nelson. The English editionappears to be out of print.

Book Description
Millones de personas luchan con el temor. En Liberese del temor, el doctor H. Norman Wright le ayudara a comprender sus temores y los efectos negativos que ellos tienen en su vida, tambien proporciona formas comprobadas de mantener sus pensamientos y sus sentimientos lejos del miedo y llevarlos hacia una vida de fe y de esperanza.

Usted aprendera tecnicas practicas y ejercicios para establecer un patron de vida sin preocupacion que le liberaran de las garras del temor en su vida. Si usted esta luchando con temores fisicos, tales como el miedo de volar, o temores emocionales, como el miedo al compromiso o al abandono, el doctor Wright, con su experiencia como consejero le ensenara como vencer la ansiedad.


Actitudes Que Atraen El Éxito (Spanish Edition) ($1.71), by Dr. Wayne Cordeiro. In English, Thomas Nelson title sells for $9.87.

Book Description
Does your cup runneth over, or is life running you over? Here are practical steps to building internal values and perspectives that will change your life! Embedded in God's Word are the keys to abundant living, and Hawaiian pastor Wayne Cordeiro guides you through those keys with humor and insight. This book will show you the common mistakes people make without realizing it; what separates successful people from unsuccessful ones; how to see people as God does; and how to change the way you think. You are just an attitude away from a fantastic life!

L'abito da sposa (Italian Edition) ($0.99) and Voglio sentirmi dire tu sei mia (PoeBook) (Italian Edition) ($2.99), by Elisabetta Randazzo

L'abito da sposa (Italian Edition)
Palermo, Italia, 1938: la guerra è ancora lontana. Glitter è un giovane artista tedesco, venuto in Italia per fare pratica di pittura. Elisheva è la giovane figlia di un sarto di famiglia ebrea. Si incontrano e si innamorano, vivono insieme un'estate fatta di sole, baci, bellissimi tramonti, spensierati e completamente avvolti dal loro amore.

Ma la realtà è impietosa: Glitter riceve l'ordine di arruolamento nella Wehrmacht e Elisheva deve fare i conti con le leggi razziali fasciste. Devono scegliere fra la vita e l'amore. Si perdono, si cercano e combattono per il loro amore.


Voglio sentirmi dire tu sei mia (Poetry) (Italian Edition)
Qual è il confine fra amore, desiderio e passione? Esplorando questo territorio ci si imbatte in queste poesie, nelle quali il sussurro di un'anima innamorata diventa urlo di desiderio.

Dello scorrere di una vita l’autrice raccoglie e lega i momenti pervasi dall’amore o dall’ansia di essere amata. Solo questi considera realmente vissuti e ce li porge per condividere questa vita breve fatta di istanti di felicità, tristezza o piacere, ma vissuti intensamente. Costruisce un libro che è un palcoscenico di emozioni, un libro che legge nel nostro cuore e che si apre al nostro animo solamente se vi trova il seme dell’amore.

Germoglia, il seme, in desiderio e passione, affonda le radici nel piacere, ma il sorgere della passione non toglie alcuna tenerezza né rinnega alcun romanticismo. Unite sono due anime, anche se attraverso le sensazioni e gli umori del corpo e della carne.

L’amore è amare, desiderare e vivere la passione, baciare e affondare le unghie. Amare è possedere l’altra anima ed esserne, al contempo, posseduti. Donarsi quando l’altro si dona, senza limiti. Perché l’amore non conosce limiti e il seme dell’amore che abbia confini non è una pianta che attecchisce.

Questo amore è un tocco, un soffio che ci fa rabbrividire, aguzza i nostri sensi e ci fa respirare il desiderio di soddisfare il piacere. Prendimi, dice l’autrice, fammi sentire che sono tua, solo così sentirò che sei mio.


Supply Chain Management auf Basis von SAP-Systemen: Perspektiven der Auftragsabwicklung für Industriebetriebe (SAP Kompetent) (German Edition) ($4.57), by Gerhard Knolmayer, Peter Mertens and Alexander Zeier, is a bit technical for pleasure reading, but it's the exact sort of book that they warned us we might need to read in another language after college (not only in my field, but the language I studied; I think, though, that I'll past on it at this point). Amazon is clearing out the German edition (the Hardcover is $4.95), but English titles in this series from Springer can run from $44 on Kindle to over $55 in print, which is pretty typical for the subject matter and technical level. This one appears to correspond to this English title ($44.77).

Book Description
Das Buch stellt den Auftragsdurchlauf innerbetrieblich und über Unternehmensgrenzen hinweg auf Basis der SAP-Produkte R/3 und APO dar. Zugleich werden künftige Entwicklungstendenzen der SAP-Systeme aufgezeigt.

Perdu dans le temps, tome 1 (French Edition) ($3.00), by Alain Lefebvre

Book Description
Vincent Tria trouve dans le tiroir de son bureau une machine à voyager dans le temps qui ressemble et qui a la taille d'une calculette. Féru de SF, il en comprend immédiatement l'intérêt et le maniement. Très excité, il tente un petit voyage (la veille) pour vérifier le fonctionnement : ça marche!

Un seul problème, quand il retourne dans son temps, la place est déjà prise, il se retrouve face à son double… Il met un moment à se rendre à l'évidence : il est perdu dans le temps!

Dès lors, notre homme n'a plus qu'une obsession : retrouver un monde à soi et sortir enfin de ce voyage sans retour possible à la case départ. Des moments forts vont émailler chacun des chapitres qui seront l'occasion de nous plonger dans les affres de situations complètement inédites.


Grandoria (French Edition) ($0.99), by Dominique Raymond Poirier

Book Description
Largement banni par les media français, en raison de sa critique de la démocratie sociale interventionniste, ce thriller dystopien raconte une lutte de dix années d’un individu isolé contre un état qui le déclare nuisible à la société.

L'action se déroule dans un hypothétique futur pas très éloigné de notre époque, dans un pays appelé Grandoria et situé quelque part en Europe de l'Ouest. Richard Martin, le héros, doit lutter pour échapper aux menaces d'une mystérieuse société secrète dissidente de la Franc-maçonnerie, parce que cette dernière craint que celui qu'elle tient pour un redoutable espion étranger ne dévoile ses sales petits secrets.

Au début, Richard Martin est cadre fonctionnaire en charge de la communication publique, mais l'annexe du Ministère des Affaires Culturelles dans laquelle il travaille est en réalité une couverture destinée à masquer sa véritable vocation : la manipulation de l'opinion publique selon les orientations politiques et économiques choisies par les dirigeant du pays.

La vie de Richard Martin va basculer pour des raisons qu'il ne s'explique pas, et qui le forceront à enquêter sur la machine politique de son propre pays pour tenter de savoir pourquoi il est soudainement privé du droit de travailler, expulsé de chez lui, déplacé dans une dangereuse cité-dortoir et harcelé.


Minutes (French Edition) ($0.99), by Dominique Raymond Poirier

Book Description
Le docteur Théodore Arenson, directeur de recherches de l’accélérateur statique du Centre de Recherches en Physique Fondamentale, fait une découverte étonnante lors de recherches sur la reproduction de mini trous noirs : un accès à une dimension temporelle parallèle à la notre, mais fort différente car les lois de la physique y sont altérées. En explorant avec succès cette dimension au caractéristiques déroutantes, Robert Haas, l’ami et cobaye volontaire du docteur Arenson, va voir sa vie basculer et son avenir totalement changer. Des développements de cette collaboration, se renforcera une amitié déjà profonde entre les deux hommes, et ceux-ci, à la suite d’un incident a priori insignifiant lors d’un retour dans notre dimension temporelle, n’auront plus d’autre choix que de partager un étrange destin que le reste du monde sera incapable d’expliquer.

Dominique Raymond Poirier a précédemment publié Grandoria, un long thriller dystopien, et Le Cavalier d’Allah, un thriller mêlant terrorisme, politique et espionnage.

Author Spotlight - Bob Mayer

Bob Mayer has a couple of books listed for 99 cents each. One is backlist, written under pseudonym, the other appears to be from last year. You can find a lot of his backlist for $2.99, originally published under pseudonyms Greg Donegan and Robert Doherty. The Atlantis series seems to have been published now under all three. His Area 51 series is still being published by Dell, but is mostly in the $6 range.

ATLANTIS ($0.99), by Greg Donegan / Robert Doherty / Bob Mayer, is the first in his Atlantis series ($2.99 each), originally published under the pseudonym Greg Donegan.

Book Description
By NY Times Bestselling Author Bob Mayer writing as Robert Doherty (author of the bestselling Area 51 series)

Over 1,000,000 copies sold! Amazon Hot 100 in print. Amazon Top 10 in Thriller.

“Spell-binding! Will keep you on the edge of your seat. Call it techno-thriller, call it science fiction, call it just terrific story-telling.” Terry Brooks, #1 NY Times Bestselling author of the Shannara series and Star Wars Phantom Menace

What if the Shadow that destroyed Atlantis 10,000 years ago, comes back to threaten our present world?

A war beyond time. An enemy beyond space. A thriller beyond your wildest dreams. Three areas on the Earth’s surface defy explanation: the Bermuda Triangle, the Devil’s Sea of Japan, and a small region of Cambodia. Inside these realms, planes have disappeared, ships have vanished, and, in Cambodia, an entire civilization has been lost leaving behind Angkor Wat.

In 1945, Training Flight 19 disappears in the Bermuda Triangle.
In 1963, the USS Thresher, a nuclear submarine, is lost under unusual circumstances, part of a secret government investigation into mysterious gates.
Near the end of of the Vietnam War, Green Beret Eric Dane led a team of operatives deep into Cambodia and encountered a strange fog near the legendary city of Angkor Kol Ker. His entire team disappears, attacked by strange creatures out of the fog. Only Dane survives to return.

Now a plane goes down. In the same area Dane lost his team. He’s called back. To find out who is the darkness behind these gates to our planet. What does this Shadow force want? It is a threat that will take on the world’s greatest military forces and defeat them. A power that will overwhelm our science and technology. A merciless enemy that will lead Dane—and the whole planet—into the final desperate battle for survival.

If you enjoyed LOST, you’ll love this book and be amazed at the similarities in concept (although this book was published before Lost).


Chasing the Ghost ($0.99), by Bob Mayer, appears to be a new title in his Black Ops series ($2.99 each), at least from the publication date and according to Fantastic Fiction.

Book Description
Covert operative Horace Chase has been chasing ghosts his entire life.

First, his Medal-of-Honor winner father who died in Vietnam without ever meeting his son. And left him the legacy of an automatic appointment to the Military Academy at West Point which shaped the next thirty-five years of Chase's life. Then, the ghost of his mother, who died while he was at war in Afghanistan and wounded, causing him to resign his commission and return to the United States, a lost soul.

Chase now wears two hats as a Federal counter-terrorism liaison to the local police department in Boulder, Colorado where he becomes embroiled in two seemingly un-related cases. Working as a detective with Boulder PD he chases another death, this one the apparent rape/murder of Rachel Stevens, an upscale housewife attending night classes at the University of Colorado. And with his counter-terrorism team he is embroiled in a series of killings involving a militia group, a rogue ex-Special Forces officer, a psychopathic ex-CIA contract mercenary, and ruthless drug runners.

From the streets of Boulder, to the highest railroad tunnel in the world, to a swingers club hiding in plain site in suburbia, Afghanistan starts to look pretty good to Chase.