Although I've gathered Kindle- and other e-reader news, I decided to do this first, as I have time for only one blog entry today and this is probably more of interest to most.
As usual, these don't include previews, samplers, teaser chapters, or individual short stories. With an occasional exception, those blogged here are usually informational books or more popular or unusual items suddenly free for a short time and which can be lost in all the long listings pointed to in the links-box below.
Those links in the bottom box do include the short stories and fantasy/romance fiction popular today as well as faith-based books of several religions.
CK-12 Earth Science, by CK-12 Foundation, 2 customer reviews, 5 starsPublisher: CK-12 Foundation
From the Product Description: "CK-12 Earth Science covers the study of Earth - its minerals and energy resources, processes inside and on its surface, its past, water, weather and climate, the environment and human actions, and astronomy."
Here are CK-12's many other books, which are all $0.00 at the moment. I have no idea for how long. They include Algebra, Biology, Chemistry, etc.
Acupressure Guide For Relieving Hangovers, by MobileReference, 6 customer reviews, 2.5 starsPublisher: MobileReference
From the Product Description: "...Product Features: Practical and fully illustrated. Step-by-step guide to treatment of every condition. Every step explains point location, direction of force, and duration of massage. No previous experience necessary."
Probably always free:
Boob Tube, by Mark Coker, Lesleyann Coker, 22 customer reviews, 3.5 starsPublisher: Smashwords Press; 2 edition (May 6, 2008
At Smashwords: 9 cutomer reviews, 5 stars
From the Product Description: "Go behind the scenes of the daytime television soap opera industry with Boob Tube. Written by Lesleyann Coker (a former reporter for Soap Opera Weekly) and her husband Mark, the two interviewed dozens of soap opera industry insiders for their stories and then fictionalized everything here.
From Smashwords site: "Mark Coker founded Smashwords in 2008 to change the way books are published, marketed and sold.
Mark is co-author along with his wife, Lesleyann, of Boob Tube, a novel that explores the behind-the-scenes world of daytime television soap operas. It was Mark's experience trying to get Boob Tube published that inspired him to start Smashwords. He believes Smashwords holds the promise to make publishing more enriching for authors, readers and publishers.
In the three years since its launch, Smashwords has grown to become the leading ebook distributor serving indie authors, small presses and literary agents. Over 20,000 authors from around the world have published more than 50,000 books at Smashwords."
Apparently always free now:
FREE 25 Language Phrasebook, from Mobile Reference (Mobi Travel), 36 customer reviews, 3 starsPublisher: Mobile Reference (November 20, 2006)
Many complain this is far too basic, and one mentioned a more expensive
one at $7.99 which was much better. I looked it up and they have an "Advanced" version for $3.99.
Other free e-books
How I Wrote My First Book: the story behind the story, by Anne K. Edwards, 6 customer reviews, 4 stars
Publisher: Twilight Times Books; First edition (February 15, 2011)
From the Product Description: "Product Description
Twenty authors tell amazing stories about the efforts that went into writing their first book."
Young People, Ethics, and the New Digital Media: A Synthesis from the Good Play Project , by Carrie James (Author), 2 customer reviews, 3 stars
Publisher: The MIT Press (October 30, 2009)
From the Product Description: "Social networking, blogging, vlogging, gaming, instant messaging, downloading music and other content, uploading and sharing their own creative work: these activities made possible by the new digital media are rich with opportunities and risks for young people. This report, part of the GoodPlay Project, undertaken by researchers at Harvard Graduate School of Education's Project Zero, investigates the ethical fault lines of such digital pursuits..."
Origins (Spinward Fringe), by Randolph Lalonde, 79 customer reviews, 4.5 stars.
[Science fiction book with many happy readers]
From the Product Description: "Spinward Fringe Broadcast 0: Origins is a collected trilogy that chronicles the early adventures of an ambitious crew. Their leader, Jonas Valent, has the least to lose and everything to gain as he tells the tale of his first tour as Captain of a ship tasked with making allies and discovering new technologies for the good of his people. This simple mission becomes more complicated as the crew ventures further into the settled fringes of the galaxy.
This trilogy spawned the best selling Spinward Fringe eBook series. This is where it all began, when one man was challenged to aspire for more than an idle life."
The Night Walk Men, by Jason McIntyre
[Short Story by a popular writer]
From the Product Description: "Three-year old Gabriela plays with her twin brother on a train platform. Blind sax man, Braille the Rail, meets with an old, old friend. The earth rumbles beneath them all: the promise of an approaching locomotive. Now, two mysterious strangers, both of them acting in the interest of an otherworldly sense of duty, will decide their fate over a cup of tea."
His novel (not free), On the Gathering Front receives a lot of enthusiasm.
Straw Hats and Bicycles (Asian) , by Brian Lawrenson, 1 customer reviews, 2 starsPublisher: Marco Polo Press; eBook Edition edition (July 1, 2010)
Brian Lawrenson does short personal travel reports of the type you'd write to your friends or post to a forum after your travels. I've downloaded one from China when it was free and it was like reading a long, fairly detailed forum post from Fodor's forums about people's trips, which for me can be fun to read in that way, but they're generally free. He has some worthwhile photos though, and for free and in single booklet format, these are worth a download if you've an interest in the locale and what it's like to travel there. In my own view they should never be more than $.99 but Lawrenson prices them pretty high when they're not on promo pricing.
From the Product Description: "This is the story of a couples [sic] visit deep into the culture of Vietnam and Cambodia. The highlights of the story include a visit to the Hill tribes at Sapa, the Sunday market at Bac Ha, sailing Halong Bay, exploring the culture and architecture of Hanoi, historic Hue, shopping mecca Hoi An, a trip on the Re-unification Express, the Open Bus, got lost in Phan Thiet and discovering the South including Ha Chi Ming and the Mekong Delta. During these independent journeys they met the people, experienced the culture and sampled the wonderful Vietnamese regional cuisine.
Then in Cambodia they explored the wonderful temples of Ankor Wat, were dumb struck by the “lost in the jungle” experience of Ta Prohm, look [sic] the express boat across the Tonle Sap Lake down to Phnom Penh, the once exciting capital of Cambodia..."
Also check the below at any time:
| Temporarily-free books - Non-classics - USA: by: NEW: Last 30+ days May 2011 Publication Date Late-listed Bestselling High-ratings UK: PubDate Popular What is 3G? and "WiFi"? Highly-rated e-books under $1 | Most Popular Free K-Books U.S. & Int'l (NOT UK): Top 100 free UK-Only: Top 100 free USEFUL for your Kindle (U.S. only, for now): 99c Notepad, 99c CalendarPro, |
Kindle 3's (UK: Kindle 3's) K3 Special ($114) K3-3G Special ($164) DX Graphite
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Andrys, the CK-12 books are a free initiative to provide textbooks spurred by California's former governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger. As such, I think they'll always be free, although I'm not sure if they'll always be available on the Kindle store. As a Biology teacher, I've found the science ones to be consistently high quality. They also have the perk of potential incremental updates, something traditional paper textbooks lack.
ReplyDeleteYou can find out more about it here:
http://www.ck12.org/flexbook/books/kindle/
Mark,
ReplyDeleteThanks for that information. With the California budget being slashed everywhere, I wonder how long they'll be made available.
Good to 'hear' re the high quality in the CK-12 science books, and the incremental updates included are a real plus. I was just reading yesterday about a textbook series (can't remember which) that's available with ongoing updates -- but you have to read most of those from the cloud.
I wonder what the longer term implications of offering free books will be? Will we become so accustomed to free books that we will stop purchasing them?
ReplyDeleteJust a random thought!