Amazon loosens free-shipping restrictions. More on Family Library Sharing feature. Free and low-cost Kindle book - Search-link options for February for contemporary, non-classics + other bargain pages (US, UK, Canada) + Kindle discount-alerts by customers + Kindle Unlimited Audible w/ Whispersync. UPDATED March 2, 2015)

FIRST, a couple of news stories that should be of interest to Amazon's customers

Amazon now allows items from multiple merchants to be combined to qualify for free shipping on orders of $35 and above.

  Until late January, all items in the cart didn't qualify unless they were all being purchased from the same seller.

  Now, eligible items from multiple merchants -- including those that don't ship through Amazon -- can be combined to qualify for the free shipping minimum.   You'll see "Free Shipping" as a label on the product pages for 'qualifying' items

  Consumerist offers detailed definitions for "Sold by Amazon" - "Fulfilled by Amazon" and Fulfilled by Seller."

  How the new system works:

' This week’s change affects items that are “fulfilled by seller,” but the seller doesn’t charge separate shipping.  Let’s say, for example, that you’re buying two toys: one is shipped from Amazon and costs $9, and the other is shipped directly from the seller’s warehouse and costs $27. Even though Amazon isn’t involved in shipping the more expensive item, it still counts toward your total for free shipping. '

David Pogue explains How to Set up Amazon's Family Library
Pogue's instructions were written for Yahoo! Tech.
  His first article was on how the new Family Sharing feature "could save you 50% on your ebooks, apps, movies, music, and TV shows."

  The older method of sharing Kindle books has been to have people share one Amazon account, and up to 6 people could share access to a Kindle book, but there was no way to keep your separate last-page-read nor your own annotations.  (Parental controls in more recent models help with the older problem of children having access to the parents' books credit card purchasing.)  Pogue adds, re the new Family feature:

' This feature lets you share your online purchases with other people, even if they have their own separate accounts.  In theory, these other people are your family members, but there’s nothing to stop you from filling those slots with, say, your friends or roommates.

[ Kindleworld note: See Pogue's caution about this at the end of the set-up instructions in the 2nd article. ]

. . .   Amazon lets you share only Kindle ebooks, audiobooks, and apps.  You can’t share TV shows, movies, or music with this feature. (Amazon says that, later this year, you’ll also be able to share Prime Instant Videos, if you’re a Prime member.)

  Furthermore, only two people (adults, each with a different Amazon account) can see each other’s stuff everywhere Kindle books can be read: not just on Kindle e-readers, but also in the Kindle apps on tablets, phones, and computers, and even on the Amazon website. '

  There's more detail about sharing books with children, in a more limited way, and on fewer devices.

  He also mentions the older feature of publishers' tightly-controlled Lending capability for only certain Kindle books and for only 14 days maximum, to be used only ONCE, ever, for a given book.  Needless to say, this was not a very popular feature, since the publishers haven't approved many of their more popular Kindle books for this type of lending.

  Again, Pogue's second article is on How to set up Family Library.  It's very well illustrated.  Note that he adds this caution:

' By the way: Don’t try to get clever.  You can’t use the Family Library feature to let lots of different people read your books for free.  If you delete your partner from the “household” you’ve set up (so that a new person can read your books, for example), then neither you nor your partner is allowed to join a Family Sharing arrangement again for six months. '

All right. March's Kindle book deals - Updated from earlier February entry
    February 2015  March 2015.
    Also, all currently free non-classics sorted by:
    Publication Date   Bestselling    High ratings

  There are only a few shown on the first few days of any month, and these include pre-orders due that month -- most of these are listed as "free preview" of whatever chapters chosen, some are short stories, and a few (overnight) not-entirely-family-safe titles may show up.


[The below monthly book deals entry was updated from February to March selections.]
The special monthly book deals for March 2015 -- where to find them, etc.

MARCH 2015's monthly Kindle Books deal, for $3.99 or less (See UK listing here.)

For those who want to quickly look first at only the ones that are star-rated at 4 or above, here is Amazon's page for that.  These details are for people new to the monthly feature or to this blog.

  On the main monthly Kindle book deals page, separate categories are highlighted, using Amazon's usual horizontally-scrolling pick-lists, for the following topics highlighted on the main page. They link to "See all" at the bottom of each horizontally-scrolled category row [ I'm adding direct links to the full category listings ]:

  1. History and by Avg Customer Rating
  2. Science Fiction & Fantasy and by Avg Customer Rating
  3. Biography and Memoirs and by Avg Customer Rating
  4. Literary Fiction Deals and by Avg Customer Rating
  5. Religion and Spirituality and by Avg Customer Rating

  6. Whispersync for Voice and by Avg Customer Rating     Audible book with Kindle book

        The Whispersync category has sometimes shown up with an explanation that the corresponding audio book is also sold at the monthly-deal price, if wanted.

  ' Now you can seamlessly switch between reading featured Kindle books and listening to them without ever losing your place...
  First, purchase the Kindle book for $3.99 or less. Then add the narration from Audible for $3.99 or less to enable the feature. '

  The Whispersync category is always listed in the left column of the main Monthly Deals page (there are about 53 of these Whispersync-ready books in March's deals).  They're also included in the overall scrolled monthly deals that can be sorted by several options at the bottom of that main page.

  Note that the newish Kindle Unlimited subscription program includes many of these as part of Kindle Unlimited so that there's no added charge for the Audible book, for KU subscribers.

The main monthly deals page also tends to show, on the right, two vertically-scrolling categories:
  1. A list of Bestsellers
  2. Mystery, Thriller, and Suspense highlighted + more in the linked full list w/ sorting options)
      Here's that fuller listing by Avg Customer Rating

THEN, at the bottom of the new main monthly Kindle book-deals page, they offer the FULL current monthly listing, defaulting to sorting by "New and Popular" and there are 117 in all today, currently, but the number may vary.

  Here's a direct link to that Full-listing (US), sorted by "New and Popular" for the month, so
    it's a good one to bookmark if you just want to jump to that) and
    you can choose another sort option for this full listing, such as
        Avg Customer Rating or by Price: Low to High

These options should make it easier to find books of interest to you.

The pricing for March's group of Kindle books include 99c books to $3.99 (there were no 99-cent ones for December's monthly deal.

  The Kindle books you'll see on this special monthly-deals page  (UK version here) are new for March.

(US Link: amzn.to/mkbooks-1to4,  UK Link: amzn.to/100kbooks-1to4uk)

The ongoing Kindle Daily Deals page
for any given day usually shows a lot of books since it includes children's books, a couple of genre-specific deals, and the monthly daily deals as well.

Also:
    Highly rated, under $1

    In addition, Amazon still quietly carries: "Mostly 99c Kindle Books" page, which is a different Amazon listing from the one for highly rated Kindle books under $1.

    Amazon Top 100   (Also, UK-only)

    Amazon's own Limited Time Free Promos.

    NEWer are 50 Kindle Book Deals for $2 Each.  These are all labeled Kindle Unlimited and are from the subscription set of 700,000+ Kindle books. This particular set of discounts is valid through the end of the month, March 31, 2015.

    Also, there's a recently added umbrella page, Kindle Book Deals, for the many types of Kindle book deals available at any given time, so it's another good one to bookmark, along with the page you're reading :-)

    for students (and their parents), there is a special page for eTextbooks you can "Rent, Buy or Try eTextbooks for Free."
  They point out that "you can save up to 80% off the print list price when you rent and up to 60% off the print list price when you buy eTextbooks."

Two ongoing pages you may want to bookmark
1. Free Kindle Non-Classics - includes the above bargain links among other ones.
2. KINDLE SUPPORT info
  This has an "Often Asked" section which has a lot of good info in it. Updated 7/2/14.

---

DISCOUNTED / Price Dropped Kindle eBooks III - the ongoing Kindle Forum message thread
  This is an ongoing message thread in which Kindle owners share information on recent drops in pricing on specific Kindle books, often with some added info by the person posting it.


The below is for February and NOT updated for March
  For March, go to the first link for the message thread ending Feb. 2 and then click at top right to go to the Last Post and then work backwards to get applicable discount-alerts for the last couple of days (the discounts are only temporary).

  - Not-updated portion below
  Here's a link to the thread, which includes many books with large price drops.  I'm starting at a January 30 posting page that includes books that are still on sale today, Feb. 2.  On that beginning page is a very topical book, "The Panic Virus: A True Story of Medicine, Science, and Fear" by Seth Mnookin, which was $9.99 but is $2.99 on Kindle today (and will probably end tonight).
  From the product description: "In 1998 Andrew Wakefield, a British gastroenterologist with a history of self-promotion, published a paper with a shocking allegation: the measles-mumps-rubella vaccine might cause autism. The media seized hold of the story and, in the process, helped to launch one of the most devastating health scares ever. In the years to come Wakefield would be revealed as a profiteer in league with class-action lawyers, and he would eventually lose his medical license.  Meanwhile one study after another failed to find any link between childhood vaccines and autism." (Actually, it's more complicated than that.)

  I didn't look any further.   The books discussed in this forum thread tend to be very short-term discounts.

  That forum topic link is to a specific post to start, in this case, a book alert on Jan. 30, as mentioned.  You can browse previous posts or days, or keep up with ongoing alerts after that, because Amazon keeps track of the last message# that you read, so that you can start from there next time.

  While many of the better deals seem to be around $1.99-$4.99, there usually are a decent number of larger-publishing house deals included (primarily price-matching) that tend to end in a DAY, so you'd need to double-check the current pricing of ANY Kindle books that interest you to see if the discounts are still active.

  Again, Kindle book prices are discounted for only a very short time, too often, and are promos, and that's another reason to watch the list.  Most of the large-publisher discounts last only one or two days even when they originate the discount.


DISCOUNTS ON ACCESSORIES Amazon's current pages (some, ongoing) on accessories for Kindle e-Reader and Kindle Fire
  1. Up to 50% (higher discount than usual) on cases for Kindle eReaders
  2. Up to 50% on cases for Kindle Fire (Gen 2) and Kindle Fire HD tablets but NOT HDX tablets
  3. Accessories for all Kindles, with some discounted.


For larger discounts, there are the ongoing pages:
  For US
Goldbox and Lightning Deals which sometimes include bigger one-day sales and
Select-Outlet Deals
Warehouse Deals
Other warehouse deals - more gift oriented
Your Amazon coupons


  For UK and Canada:
UK - Today's Deals
Clearance and Overstocks - UK
Warehouse Deals - UK
  (Includes "Deep Discounts on used and open-box iPads and tablets")

Canada - The Deals Store


Recently-built Kindle Outlet Store - US
A few months ago, Amazon put together a Kindle Outlet Store to feature their certified refurbished Kindle devices at a somewhat lower cost.


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Kindle tips: The Big Deal is back - Over 400 Kindle books at up to 85% off - through Jan. 25. Also, Amazon Editors' January "Must Read" list of 10 books

MORE KINDLE BOOKS TO BROWSE

Well, it's back. I'm repeating Amazon's now and then announcement that their The Big Deal is here again
- 413 Kindle books at up to 85% off

This special feature page discounts are effective through January 25, and the page carries the usual disclaimer re varying selection and pricing of books offered outside the U.S.

  The Big Deal page is organized this time by:

  . Mystery and Thrillers
  . Romance
  . Science Fiction & Fantasy Deals
  . Contemporary Fiction
  . Biography & Memoir Deals
  . Teen Book Deals
  . Children's Books
  . Religion & Spirituality Deals

On the right of the page is a list of the Top 10 Best Sellers of the group and
  an option to "See all Best Sellers in The Big Deal..."

  That latter is the top selling 100 out of the 413 offered.

" These lists, updated hourly, contain bestselling items. Here you can discover the best The Big Deal in Amazon Best Sellers ... For non-U.S. customers, Kindle content availability and pricing will vary. "

The bottom of the page is a scrolling list of the currently 413 books, one by one, with a default sort of "New and Popular" and alternate sorts:
  16 per page, if you choose (inside the gray strip bar above the list) the Orange grid for "Detail"
      OR
  60 per page, if you choose the 4-cell, gray icon for "Image" which will show mainly book covers and basic info.

  The shortcut, if you type it on an eReader or tablet: bit.ly/thebigdeal-jan2015


Amazon announced its "Must-Read" January picks of the month
  These are NOT discounted books but I thought some might want to see what they are.,

Amazon Books Editors' January Picks of the Month

See How Small: A Novel		Scott Blackwood
West of Sunset		Stewart O'Nan
Sweetland: A Novel		Michael Crummey
Leaving Before the Rains Come		Alexandra Fuller
Black River		S. M. Hulse
The Train to Crystal City: FDR's Secret   Prisoner Exchange Program    America's Only Family Internment    Camp During World War II		Jan Jarboe Russell
The Girl on the Train: A Novel		Paula Hawkins
The First Bad Man: A Novel		Miranda July
It Was Me All Along: A Memoir		Andie Mitchell
Golden Son: Book II of the Red Rising   Trilogy		Pierce Brown
The Secret Wisdom of the Earth		Christopher Scotton

Source: I received an email about the "Must-reads," but they're also featured on the their web page for Best of Month



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Amazon's new Kindle Unlimited subscription plan for Kindle and Audible books. UPDATED.

I just saw this.  Today, Amazon announced the launch of a new Kindle program - Kindle Unlimited -- a new subscription service which allows customers to "freely read as much as they want from over 600,000 Kindle books, and listen as much as they want to thousands of Audible audiobooks, all for only $9.99 a month."

There is a 30-day trial available for this newly-launched book-subscription program, competitors for which include Scribd and Oyster.

This involves approximately the same number of books than are in the Prime program's Kindle Owners Lending Program.  And the books they highlight ARE in that program, which makes sense, as they would aleady have lending agreements with many publishers for those.   The difference is that this would tend to involve the Audible versions of SOME of the books involved (2,000 or so -- where the publisher agrees to that -- and the reading of and listening to those digital books would be sync'd).

  The 30-day free trial would help you decide whether or not this would work for your interests in reading.  However, note that the Audible part includes about 2,000 Audible books at this point, and for the rest of Audible's offerings, there is a complimentary 3-month Audible membership

From Amazon's press release:

' Read freely from over 600,000 books-available on Kindle devices, as well as free Kindle reading apps for iOS, Android and more

Listen to thousands of audiobooks from Audible, or switch easily between reading and listening with Whispersync for Voice

Enjoy best sellers including the Harry Potter series, The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings trilogy, the Hunger Games trilogy, Diary of a Wimpy Kid books, and Flash Boys

The most cost-effective way to enjoy audiobooks such as The Handmaid's Tale, Life of Pi, and Capital in the Twenty-First Century

Start a free 30-day trial today.

Amazon.com today introduced Kindle Unlimited—a new subscription service which allows customers to freely read as much as they want from over 600,000 Kindle books, and listen as much as they want to thousands of Audible audiobooks, all for only $9.99 a month. Finding a great book is easy, and there are never any due dates—just look for the Kindle Unlimited logo on eligible titles and click “Read for Free.” Customers can choose from best sellers like The Hunger Games, Diary of a Wimpy Kid, and The Lord of the Rings, and with thousands of professionally narrated audiobooks from Audible, like The Handmaid’s Tale and Water for Elephants, the story can continue in the car or on the go.
  Kindle Unlimited subscribers also get the additional benefit of a complimentary three-month Audible membership, with access to the full selection of Audible titles. Kindle Unlimited is available starting today and is accessible from Kindle devices or with Amazon’s free Kindle reading apps. Start your free 30-day trial today at www.amazon.com/ku-freetrial.

“With Kindle Unlimited, you won’t have to think twice before you try a new author or genre—you can just start reading and listening,” said Russ Grandinetti, Senior Vice President, Kindle. “In addition to offering over 600,000 eBooks, Kindle Unlimited is also by far the most cost-effective way to enjoy audiobooks and eBooks together. With thousands of Whispersync for Voice-enabled audiobooks to choose from, you can easily switch between reading and listening to a book, allowing the story to continue even when your eyes are busy. We hope you take advantage of the 30-day free trial and try it for yourself.”

Kindle Unlimited features include:

. Unlimited reading: Access over 600,000 books including best sellers like The Lord of the Rings trilogy, the Harry Potter series, Diary of a Wimpy Kid books, Flash Boys: A Wall Street Revolt, Water for Elephants, Oh Myyy! – There Goes The Internet, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, All the King’s Men, Wonder Boys, Ask for It, The Princess Bride, The 5 Love Languages: The Secret to Love that Lasts, The Atlantis Gene, Kitchen Confidential, The Sisterhood, Crazy Little Thing, The Blind Side, and The Giver, plus thousands of classics such as Animal Farm, To the Lighthouse, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Cat’s Cradle, and The Good Earth, as well as books featuring beloved children’s characters from Sesame Street, and useful reference titles including books from the For Dummies series and Lonely Planet travel guides.

. Unlimited listening: Keep the story going with unlimited access to more than 2,000 audiobooks from Audible with Whispersync for Voice, and switch seamlessly between reading and listening to customer favorites like the Hunger Games trilogy, Life of Pi, The Handmaid’s Tale, Capital in the Twenty-First Century, The Great Santini, The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat, Winter’s Tale, Boardwalk Empire, El Narco, Upstairs at the White House: My Life with the First Ladies, Merle’s Door: Lessons from a Freethinking Dog, The Finisher, Johnny Carson, The Stranger I Married, and Life Code.

. Kindle exclusives: Choose from hundreds of thousands of books only found on Kindle, including Brilliance by Marcus Sakey, The Hangman’s Daughter series by Oliver Pötzsch, War Brides by Helen Bryan, Ed McBain’s 87th Precinct and Matthew Hope books, When I Found You by Catherine Ryan Hyde, Whiskey Sour by J.A. Konrath, Chasing Shadows by CJ Lyons, and Sick by Brett Battles.
Short Reads: For a quick escape, select from thousands of books that are 100 pages or less, including Kindle Singles from Stephen King, Andy Borowitz, and Nelson DeMille, and short fiction from Amazon Publishing’s StoryFront imprint.
Free three-month Audible membership: In addition to the thousands of professionally narrated audiobooks from Audible included in Kindle Unlimited, subscribers get a complimentary three-month Audible membership, with access to more than 150,000 titles.

. Popular Kindle features: Enjoy all the great Kindle features customers love such as Whispersync, Popular Highlights, X-Ray, customer reviews, and Goodreads integration.
Read and listen everywhere: Access across Kindle devices and free Kindle reading apps for iPhone, iPad, Android tablets and phones, Windows Phone, BlackBerry, PC, Mac and Windows 8—so you always have your library with you and never lose your place.

For more details on Kindle Unlimited, visit www.amazon.com/kindleunlimited.'

Factors for consideration:
1. While the public libraries will lend you most of these books, there are waiting times and due-dates involved, and the Kindle Unlimited subscription service features unlimited reading and listening and no waiting periods.
2. This new subscription program lets you borrow up to 10 Kindle books at a time.  While you've unlimited time to read any of them, you can remove a book you've finished reading and then choose another book.
3. There is no limit on how many Kindle books can be borrowed in a given month.
4. Kindle Unlimited doesn't limit you to books read on Amazon Kindle devices.
5. You don't need to be a Prime member to participate.
6. The Big 5 publishers' e-books tend to be missing from this program at this point,
    although I imagine this will be a negotiating point with new Agreements due.

I'm not sure if Prime members (US, UK) who get to read just one of the 600,000+ Kindle books in the Lending Library at no added cost each calendar month (benefits included in the Prime yearly fee for 2-days free shipping + instant streaming video and music) would find this tempting, but those who feel constrained by the limit of one Kindle Prime-eligible book per calendar month might, as well as those who haven't opted for the Prime program.



Will be interested in any thoughts on this new development.


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Kindle Tips: Amazon's new Manage Your Kindle page, now 'Manage Your Content & Devices' page, is being rolled out to more customers. An intro -- What's new? A lot is different. Some answers to initial questions. Updated June 16 for triple-tap zoom feature.

Since January 2014, Amazon has been phasing in a new Content and Devices page to replace the old "Manage Your Kindle" ("MYK") page (normally used on one's computer rather than on any mobile device). '

  That link now leads many of us to this new page-layout (and title) that looks entirely different and is titled "Manage Your Content & Devices."  It's being rolled out slowly, and it appears that maybe half of the customers discussing this are seeing the new page.

  I didn't see mine change until today (but I haven't checked the Manage Your Kindle page often).
  On the other hand, a forum thread discussing the page, started in January, showing that only some customers were receiving the page, and then there was no activity between late March and May 29, 2014.
  Furthermore, the new page appears to be different from what some received in January.

  The important thing is that this is the new "Management" page for content and devices associated with your Kindles, once you receive or see the revised version of that Amazon webpage.

  Some have reported seeing the changed page when using Google's Chrome browser but not when using IE, Firefox, or Safari.  Others report it seen under Firefox but not IE, so it probably depends on your computer or location too, as far as distribution goes.
  BUT some have seen the newer version of the page if they LOG OUT of Amazon and then log back in.

NOTE AND CAUTION: Amazon has been changing the new content and device management page based on feedback and its own experience since January 2014, and customers at the forum report that the latest version looks quite different from what some saw and used in January-March.

What's definitely New with what used to be the 'Manage Your Kindle' Page?
This control page now allows you to do 'Deliver' or 'Delete' actions on multiple books at one  time.  You can also choose from other action options for individual books.

  The 'Search' option word isn't always visible and, in those cases, the magnifying glass icon for Search replaces it.  This tends to happen when the size of the browser window you're using is small, with less display space available then, for web information in that window.  But many had wondered where the 'Search' option was.

   The page uses normal text now, and the scrolling of books and information is MUCH faster! And easier to read too.

  HOWEVER, the sorting by Title is VERY GLITCHY.  I was checking "Cleopatra" which had an update on it and found that when sorting by "Title: A-Z" or "Title: Z-A" that book sometimes did not show up.
   The ascending sort had only four books beginning with 'C' while the descending sort showed 28 books starting with 'C'... If I waited a LONG time, then some of the missing books would show up but would be displayed out of alphabetical order (in both ascending and descending sorts). This display sorted by Title needs work.

  As usual, the Sort By Author sometimes uses FIRST name and sometimes uses LAST name for the order displayed -- it seems to depend on what the data inputter (or programming function) decided.
  Sometimes it sorts by last name even when showing first name + last nane (with no commas), but sometimes it sorts by First name under those circumstances.  No real change here, unfortunately.

  The sorting options are by title, author or purchase date, with options for ascending and descending order for each.

  EXPIRED library books show up now under Loans (a category under "All" box) even after you've tried to delete them forever, but this way we can see what we've borrowed, probably read, and returned.

  Also, while there are apparently more steps now to do a loan of a Kindle book to a friend,
  KaJoLa points out that::
    "I just did a book loan today right from the product page.  Maybe you would want to try that.  It was quite simple."

  NON-Kindle books (in .mobi, PDF, or txt format and not purchased from Amazon) are placed in the "Docs" category rather than the "Books" category.

  Settings and information for In-app subscriptions are now at the new layout's Subscription Settings


From customer discussions at the Kindle Community Forums:

FoundQuilting adds that the processes are now faster because
  "...you no longer have to wait for it to load all your books before you can start doing stuff with them."

CBP the bookworm points out "an easy way to delete pending deliveries that you no longer want to have delivered.  "Just bring up the ["Pending Deliveries"] category [found under "Books" box], select, and delete.  Easy!"

Re requesting an Update for a book book you purchased earlier:
  In the individual Cover view, if there is an Update for a book, that info shows when you click on "Actions" box to the left of the book title.

CBP the bookworm writes "...in Settings [a top-menu option on that page], click on "automatic book update" and opt in...

  And, for individual books, available updates show up for the book when there's an update available for it -- click on 'Actions' box for that book title to see this.  I've usually received emails from Amazon when there are book updates available, with the option to download it, or not.

Snowlady Sandy writes:
A nice thing about the search, for example , is that if you type Christmas then it will give you books of a Christmas theme, the word Christmas doesn't have to be in the title... The book All I Have To Give will come up as well as Sara In Montana..."


Other changes
If you have thousands of books, the main control page just keeps adding information as you scroll down it and it's therefore a slow process, so it's best to do a search for a given book.

  Add that this long forever-scrolling page (for those with thousands of books) can use up a lot of computer memory and become more sluggish as it goes -- worse, if you have thousands of books, you won't be able to view them all on that page.

At a certain point, depending on your computer, or when performing delete actions on multiple items, it can stop at a given point, taking you back to the beginning.  No fun in those cases.  Don't try to do too much at a time.
  Depending on your computer, maybe, some can perform an action on up to 10 items at a time. Others find they can, at least initially, act on up to 25 at a time).

SO, remember the SEARCH option as well as options to start from the opposite end of a sort or to display books by another display category (title, author, or purchase date).

  NOTE:  to return to the beginning of your full list of books after a Search action, you need to empty the search box.

Viewing the new Manage Your Kindle ["Content and Devices"] page on a SMALLER device (laptop or tablet), if you don't have a computer to do this, can seem difficult, as the normal resizing and zooming of FONTs doesn't work and the page can be unreadable then.

  Customer monilee writes:
  " I received an email from Amazon.  Just in case anyone else had a problem reading the newest myk page you have to triple tap on that page to enlarge it.  Made it much easier for me to use once I could see it. '

 BUT that did NOT work for my HDX 8.9" Kindle Fire Tablet, while my Microsoft Surface Pro 2 Windows 8.1 laptop CAN resize the page and fonts normally -- the Kindle Fire HDX resists any attempt to zoom the Manage Your Kindle and Devices page or fonts on fixed-size pages.  The page is readable, as-is, on the larger 8.9" HDX tablet though.

  [Update 6/16/14:  In the Comments section of this post, Tom Semple wrote that he believed this function would have to be enabled in "Accessibility" settings.
  Sure enough that's true; On my 8.9" Kindle Fire HDX, I found the setting labeled as "Screen Magnifier" option under the 'Accessibility' setting.
  My Kindle Fire HD 7" Gen 1 (Yr 2012) does NOT have this feature, but I think it's probably enabled in Yr 2013's Kindle Fire HD Gen 2.

  After enabling the Screen Magnifier, you can triple-tap on a page layout that normally doesn't allow zoomed enlargements of the text, and the text will be larger and definitely easier to read.  To get the text size back to normal setting, triple-tap the display again.  (Thanks, Tom! -- End of update]

Upshot
SO, it seems the new page is being rolled out in a second phase, starting a couple of days ago.

Most won't see it right away, I imagine.  I'm usually among the last to get new updates, so I thought I should get some info together, because the first phase of this was very confusing to some.  That earlier version (some reported that they were later returned to seeing the old Manage Your Kindle page) had an option to show the list of books with cover images but apparently that was just too slow-loading for anyone and that's no longer an option at this time.  (I'm glad).

   There were reports of an interesting new option in that first version, involving the option to select a device to see which books were already downloaded to it (those titles had checkmarks beside them)  and also showed 'downloadable' arrows for books in the Cloud library that were not on the device.  This interesting feature isn't on my version of the new Content and Kindle-compatible Device management page, but maybe they'll try adding that again later.

I'll be interested in what readers discover: joys or pains, etc., and any workarounds you've found.

---

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Amy Tan draws attention to a need for school library books in the Philippines after a devastating typhoon. UPDATE: Other ways to help.

The following is from Amy Tan's public Facebook postings reporting a need for good books suitable for kids and teens for the rebuilding of school libraries in cities leveled by a typhoon last November, in the Philippines.   After she wrote that she'd been asked to spread the word to other authors who could help, her readers offered to make book donations and she confirmed that the organizers would appreciate good books in good condition from anyone willing to donate them.   See Updates, including donations for shipping costs.  From her postings:

' Fellow bandmate and author Mitch Albom is in the Philippines, which was devastated in November by a typhoon.  He is helping to resurrect school libraries and, as a first step, he called upon bandmates to donate 10 copies of their books suitable for kids and teens.  Everyone clamored they were in: Dave Barry, Scott Turow, James McBride, Greg Iles, Stephen King, Sam Barry and me.

  He asked if we would forward the plea to writers I knew. The response was immediate, with pledges for books coming in within hours from Lemony Snicket (Daniel Handler), Alice Hoffman, Harlan Coben, Michael Chabon, Ayelet Waldman, Yiyun Li, Robert Haas, Brenda Hillman, Rabih Alameddine, Arthur Golden, Mark Childress, HarperCollins, Billy Collins, Sheila Kohler, Jason Roberts, Lisa See, and more folks, as I write this.  The teachers and kids are thrilled, Mitch said, that they have not been forgotten. '

  It became clear that her readers were, of course, interested in helping, and here are excerpts from posts in reply to questions on what the team would appreciate getting and with information on where to send the books.

' [Amy Tan] - They have NO books, barely enough bricks to rebuild the schools...Books are being sent to a US address and shipped from there...

    [Question: Would they want children's books that are 20 years old?

[Enmei Tan] - If they are in good condition and are good books, I would think they'd be welcomed.  My criteria has more to do with whether they are good books, the kind you would want your child to read if he or she had only a few books to choose from.

    [Question: Where to send books for the kids/teens]

[Amy Tan] - An outpouring of books!  Mitch said to bring it on.  The folks there will be thrilled by the books and the caring.

Those who wish to donate books for kids/teens to help restock the school libraries can send them here:

    Miguel Ramos/National Book Store Philippines
    c/o Starkargo
    150 Shoreline Dr.
    Redwood City, CA 94065

    The National Book Store will then ship them to the Philippines. Thanks to all!

    [Question: Books in English?]

[Amy Tan] - English is one of the official languages of the Philippines.  So books in English are perfect.
  Kids need all kinds of books from all over the world.  They need to read, read, read.  They need to love reading.  That gives them a huge advantage in life.  They need to imagine in all kinds of ways to develop a universal humanitarian mind.

  One last thing: Mitch's request for books was one of many things he is doing.  For example, he donated 40 yellow boats so that fishermen can get back to earning a livelihood and rebuild their homes.

In another posting, Tan listed the books she'll be sending (which will give an idea of the types of books they're expecting) and humorously mentioned what she wouldn't be sending: her latest book.

  "I am donating 20 illustrated children's books, Sagwa, The Chinese Siamese Cat, and The Moon Lady.  I'm also sending 45 copies of The Joy Luck Club and various other novels that I know are read in high schools in the US.  I am not sending them The Valley of Amazement! : )"

OTHER WAYS TO HELP
Reader Michael W. Perry, of Inkling Books, makes some good suggestions in the Comments area. One was:

  "... Instead of shipping direct... books, you might want to donate money for the shipping costs."

  That's a very good idea, so I used Visa to donate some money and they give you the option to direct your donation to a specific project -- "D.R.Y. (Donated Reading to Youth in the Philippines)" -- in this case, and in the comments area I did specify that it could be used for "the cost of shipping books," but of course they can best decide how to use it.

  The Financial Transparency page explains more and, included in the information, are the statements:

  "No salaries are paid for any of the directors or board members of our charities.
  Every dollar of your gift goes directly into the daily operational needs of the causes and persons profiled here."

  So, if you'd like to help -- you can see what happened to the area in Nov. 2013 via an article below and and now they're rebuilding -- but you don't have school books to donate, you could instead send them something to cover some costs of doing this.  The $-donation page is linked from the red-orange box near the bottom of the page explaining what the D.R.Y. team is doing.

  Commenter Perry also recommended:
  "If you've got a set of printed encyclopedias, you might want to donate those too.  Not every school has a fast Internet connection or enough computers for all their children to use.
  And if you've got a lot of books to ship, the USPS has a special media rate for inside the U.S. that's about half the rate for parcel post."


REFERENCE PAGES
. Mitch Albom's Donate Your Reading Libraries page.
. The Typhoon in the Philippines and its effects, Nov. 2013



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Les Miserables in books, music, and free videos - for Kindle, Kindle Fire and other tablets...last UPDATED Feb 11-14, to add DVD/Blu-Ray info, more unusual video clips + history + info re the inspiration for both Hugo's Javert AND Valjean, plus a reconsideration of Crowe's Javert

UPDATE - Feb. 15 and March 4 2013
The Blu-Ray and DVD of the movie version Dec 2012 is ready for pre-order  See details.
Les Miserables cast's One Day More at the Oscars


KINDLE BOOKS (All are Unabridged)

Quality formatting and proofing ~200 illustrations  $2.99

Rose translation w/ raves No Kindle version, $12.24

MAXNotes - guide, $3.00 Also, all 140 results

UPDATE, 1/25/13 - to add more information and quite a few more performance links that I've picked up since the book and music became so popular as a result of Hooper's film, plus a very funny parody that will be appreciated by those who love OR hate the movie.  Additional links include the slower songs from the work and a playlist of the full Les Miserables from the well-sung 10th Anniversary production.

  The paperback for Julie Rose's modern translation of Hugo's book has a different cover now, so I've replaced that image.  The former image used is seen on the hardcover and comes with a recent blurb.  Someday, I'll post Javert's musings at the end, comparing the modern translation to an older one.

UPDATE, 1/4/13 - to add a live "Confrontation" scene by Jackman and Crowe at the Sydney Premiere After-Party. Also added links to 4 other videoclips from good past performances ('new' ones are noted in red) plus info on the man who inspired Hugo's Javert AND Valjean characters.

UPDATE for a Correction, 12/29/12 - Commenter Diane, a teacher, pointed out that Amazon credited the wrong translator on the HarperCollins 99c book that was highlighted yesterday.  It's not Julie Rose, although Amazon's quotes from "Editorial Reviews" are entirely about her translation.

---

(Original posting was on Dec. 28, 2012 and is modified, below.)

  Rose's translation is not in Kindle format, however.  It's had a lot of attention and many prefer this modernized version (and some say, at times too modernized), so I'm linking to the Paperback version available at Amazon.
  Julie Rose talks about her work on Hugo's book. [End of Update]


To do this blog article, I looked through a lot of the product pages's descriptions and customer reviews.

Update 2/3/13 - on the free Kindle edition
  I didn't include the free Kindle book initially because customer reviews complained it was only 218 pages (abridged) and had many errors and that Amazon was showing the wrong cover.  Someone mentioned no Table of Contents, which made their downloaded edition hard to navigate.

  Commenter Leelas reported that the current free Kindle Edition looks unabridged and the translation is by Hapgood.  I checked my copy and compared between two editions and have replied to Leelas with a bit more info that indicates Amazon changed the free Kindle book edition and book cover shown on that product page after those customer complaints.  So, this is worth the download at this point. [End of Update 2/3/2013]

  I bought the illustrated one [#1] by Carefully Crafted Classics because the Hapgood translation has a good rep for completeness (though some might prefer this long book be cut) and the publishers have a heavy focus on proofreading and formatting and give full place names instead of previously censored 1-letter ones.  They've also included about 200 illustrations "from early print editions" and "included an essay on Hugo's life and work, illustrated with many images of the author and his family."  That kind of care is worth the $2.99 for me.

  You can take a look inside the book image (#2 in the table) to see an example of illustrations and nicely done Table of contents, with sub-chapters linked.  The illustration titles are given, some linked in the in the product-page sample to a page that's displayable.

  The new translation by Julie Rose, published in paperback by Modern Library in 2009, gets high marks by professional reviewers and by customers, getting 4.4 stars average from customers reviewing it.  I bought the Kindle edition that is mis-identified as Rose's and returned it, per Amazon's return-policies on Kindle books (within 7 days).

  I've bought Rose's in paperback so I can reference it when puzzled by my Kindle copy, translated by Hapgood in that beautiful Carefully Crafted Classics edition, in case I'm puzzled by a paragraph and want to compare it against the translation that will be more readily understood by speakers today.

* Update - 12/28/12
There's also a Denny translation liked by some, but it's abridged (removing about 15% of the text and placing some of the many digressions to the back of the book), but an example given seemed more convoluted to me than the Wilbur translation also quoted, and it's $11.  I prefer to skim or skip when I want and would prefer the entire book be presented.  Anyway, I'm hoping this is a good start for your own search if, like me, you've not read Hugo's book earlier.

Penguin now has a "movie tie-in" cover-image on their ABRIDGED Denny translation.

  There have been signs that Penguin will be experimenting with the pricing while the movie's still in demand (It opend in Switzerland 2/13 and Mexico 2/14).  But their abridged edition promises less, overall, than the first book on the table above, which is $2.99 currently and than the free edition too.

If interested in Hugo's Les Miserables, do take a look at the first two Kindle books highlighted in the boxes.  The first one is done with excellent formatting and care, has extras galore, and the other uses a new translation that's been getting praise.

The third book is a study guide - "MAXnotes cover the essentials of what one should know about each work, including an overall summary, character lists, an explanation and discussion of the plot, the work's historical context, illustrations to convey the mood of the work, and a biography of the author. Each chapter is individually summarized and analyzed..."

It's amazing to me how many customer reviewers in high school, while not liking being assigned such a long, heavy book, ended up describing it as the "most wonderful book ever" and couldn't put it down.  As you've probably figured out, I'd never read it.


MP3 ALBUMS

Highlights from the film 20 Tracks. Lyrics page.

Highlights: Orig London Cast Full version here

10th Anniv, Full/Singles Also, all 73 albums

CAVEAT: The highlights from the current movie soundtrack (which had huge attendance results on opening day, Christmas, breaking several records), will be more raw in sound, as the songs are primarily acted with less attention spent on musical sound.
  Added a lyrics page.  NEW

  So, it's not intended for pleasure-listening in the usual way.  Some of the singing, from a couple of the leads, is effortful (in keys too high for them) and a couple of people use more vibrato or tremulo than I like, but Director Tom Hooper has raw emotion as the focus and some will enjoy the soundtrack as a memento and to hear or own yet another interpretation.

Javert
  Crowe's Javert differs from what we're used to, in more than (un)comfortable projection of high notes.   Although Hugo's Javert shows up everywhere, reminding me of The Terminator, model 1832,  Crowe eventually humanizes (as does Hugo) what is normally just a dull, one-note, plodding but aggressive character who can't bear to see in grays, having him instead express his exasperation through interior monologues -- "prayers" for constancy and a one-true-path universe -- rather than indulging in the usual precise, blustering rants.

  This actually works better with the untenable inner conflicts that ultimately come when nothing is as it "should" be.  And leads to the different, quieter interpretation where Javert is mainly doing his 'duty' as he sees it 'must' be, to set things right.  This is the Javert who surprises with what he does with the medal and it makes more sense with the torment that leads to his end.

  Two roads diverge and Hugo's Javert can't choose either one because he's unable to accept either his having let Valjean go earlier -- invalidating his entire belief system and way of life -- or actually turning him in after Valjean saved his life.

  In the book, he tells Valjean that he'd rather have been shot by him.  But it was the scene with the medal that got to me.  I read that this was Crowe's decision; it wasn't in the book, but it works well with Javert's final decision.  My thoughts at a good LesMis forum when discussing whether the medal-pinning was in character or not (if you've not seen the movie yet, it's better not to read it).

  See the videos section here for Crowe's studio version of Stars sung with piano-only, placed on Youtube after much flak about his lower-energy Javert.  I often prefer this now to the one-note, nasal bulldog Javert usually heard (although I like Roger Allam from the Original London Cast).
  In the movie version, the raw meaning of the words trumped stage-vocal-production values.

Earlier stage productions
Except for a brief mention below, I'm not including links to DVDs from various concerts and studio recordings, as what's here is probably more than enough to give an idea and you can find them at Amazon.

  My personal favorite of the mp3 albums I've listened to (most of them) is the Original London Cast recording (1985).  This Original version has slightly slower renditions, but some prefer it because you can hear more of the musical details and words (very crisp).

  There are many who love the 10th Anniversary Concert recording the most, for its highly-trained singers, but for this kind of music I slightly prefer the London version, which also has really good singers.  There's no concert video of that 1985 London version available though.

Some higher-brow types frown on the manipulation of emotions involved in both the stage play and movie, but that's usually a goal of musicals, which are, by nature, more simplified.  Still, nowhere is this simplification and melodrama more apparent than in serious opera!  I think some who mind it in musicals don't mind it when they're sung in a language they can't understand.   :-)
  I'm not sure one can exaggerate the horrors of the time and place Hugo described so intensely.  His own writing is 'over the top' too.  But it can come across trivialized for some when you set it to music.

This Kindle-focused blog will include more than e-readers and books now, as the tablets are very popular also, and these can do it all, although not easy book-reading in sunlight, although that's somewhat more possible for short periods of time with the newer technology.

 And now to hear non-costly previews of some of the music from various earlier performances, for those interested in that after seeing the movie.


UPDATE - Feb. 15, 2013
The Blu-Ray and DVD of the movie version Dec 2012 is ready for pre-order

Les Miserables (Two-disc Combo Pack: Blu-ray + DVD + Digital Copy + UltraViolet - US (Mar. 22) and UK (no due date yet)  

  This multi-format pack is $4 more than the single DVD version, which is an option on the page, but it won't be long before most have bought Blu-Ray players to match today's HDTVs and which are no longer expensive and come with WiFi capabilities often.

 



VIDEOS from the various concert versions

UPDATE - Extras.
The Les Miserables cast sings One Day More at the Oscars show.

  For those who enjoy "The Confrontation" scene from the musical, here are Hugh Jackson and Russell Crowe doing a live, very echo-y version at the After-Party following the Sydney premiere.  Somewhat subdued in the film, Crowe rocks it in this one.  Both are delightful in a casual setting.  Here's an alternate performance (the most fun one), in Joe's Pub, at the Indoor Garden party; it isn't complete but has less echo (someone pointed out that Barks is enjoying it too in the back) and a 3rd one, from Crowe's side of the pub (Yah, I enjoy the pub versions).  RECENT
  The lyrics to this scene.  More recent

AND, Crowe, in an interview, mentions discovering the person whose life has been said to be Hugo's inspiration for both the Javert and Valjean characters -- Eugène François Vidocq.  His life apparently inspired lead characters in a few other novels too.

  Crowe recently pointed Twitter followers to his studio rendition of Stars with piano after taking much flak for his unusual interpretation.  (See Crowe's Javert above.)  NEW

  For something completely different, here's opera's Bryn Terfel, singing Stars against a horrible nightclub arrangement of the song.  NEW

  I've also added a hilarious parody of Les Miserables's One Day More that should tickle both those who love the movie/musical and those who hate it.  NEW

  Also, a fairly funny video, by two brothers, of their parents still weepy in the car after seeing the movie.  Gone viral and reported by many mainstream news-sites. RECENT

  Had added Samantha Barks's Eponine in "On My Own" from 25th Anniversary Concert and two clips from the Epilogue segments of the 10th and 25th Anniversary specials.
  UPDATED - The 25th Anniversary videos, up for some time, were removed for copyright concerns (the DVD is actively sold) after this blog article linked to them.  Someone else wrote that she uploaded some replacements but if I link to them, they'll no doubt be taken down.

  The Royal Variety show excerpts for the Queen, using 25th Anniversary cast members (2010), are still there so I've used the full version I found.  NEW
  The movie version of On My Own, a poignant "friendzone" lament (timeless) is sung in a much more subtle way than the staged versions, even for a street urchin, and I've added the Youtube audio of that w/stills.  More recently added

1. One Day More - 10th Anniversary Concert (1995).  Earlier-uploaded videos w/ higher views and many comments are often harder to see or hear well.
  The Valjean is sung by Colm Wilkinson, the original one, from 10 years earlier.  (He was still in pretty good form, at age 67, in the encores for the 25th Anniversary Concert, and still holding those long notes forever, in an endearingly hammy way.  In the current movie, Wilkinson plays the kind, influential bishop.

  For anyone who also wants to hear it, there's a dramatic/theatrical prologue to this group number.

2. The Confrontation between Valjean and Javert (done w/ precision, and with lyrics subtitled) from the 10th Anniversary Concert.  More recently added

3. I Dreamed a Dream by Ruthie Henshall from the same anniversary concert (which the uploader follows with a seldom-seen videoclip from the older DVD documentary on the making of the musical, On My Own, sung by an uncommonly refined Eponine (street urchin), who is another victim in this story but one who, in her youth, was fairly cruel to the young Fantine, and their roles in life reversed).  Some of the commenters like this interpretation the best.  It's a more cautious one.

4. On My Own - by Samantha Barks from the 25th Anniversary Concert.   (The 25th anniversary version was *Removed* by Youtube.]
  Here, instead, is the full audio version of On my Own from the movie with a still photo (and links to buy the tune).  What's better is that the full lyrics are included.  I love the orchestration with the viola? supporting the melody with falling steps.

  While singing to the rafters for theater, her piece is more effective in the movie for the quieter-singing and apt pauses, w/ more attention to the lyrics about her imagination getting her through, before building to the end with the loud lament of a rejected street kid emotionally ignored by her scheming parents, the Thenardiers.  Not many movie goers are aware that in Hugo's book, little Gavroche is her brother.  This would be poignant for the parents if they weren't the Thenardiers. :-)  NEW

5. Empty Chairs and Empty Tables (Marius) - - Here's an audio version of Eddie Redmayne's extremely effective piece from the movie, also with stills (and links there to buy the song) and with the full lyrics included.  Well matched stills.  This brought it home for me more than when listening to theater productions of the work.

  Before that scene, there's a cafe scene (Red/Black) with the group planning the rebellion, which has a song I don't like (as music) that involves the banter among the group.  Someone put up a clever set of stills from the movie though, with the lyrics sung by each person in talk bubbles!, and this is helpful since it's hard to know what they're saying when hearing this tune either on stage or in the movie.

  The failed student rebellion involved was in 1832 and isn't the famous 'French Revolution' (1789) nor the revolution in 1848 which was successful, for a time, and which is what you see as the ending scene in Les Miserables (joined by the spirits of 1832), 16 years after the 1832 rebellion sowed the seeds.

  The 1832 uprising was due to food shortages after a failed harvest and a cholera epidemic left over 18,000 people dead in Paris alone.  The increased cost of living that followed was especially hard on the poor (Les Miserables).  NEW

6. Valjean's final scene: Colm Wilkinson (the Bishop in the movie) and Ruthie Henshall as Fantine, from the 10th Anniversary Concert.  With subtitles.  More recently added

7. Do you hear the people sing? in the reprise/Epilogue from the 10th Anniversary Concert (~1995, 2-disc edition 2008), with subtitles.

8. Final trio chorale and chorus: Valjean (Boe), Fantine (Salonga), Eponine (Barks), from the 25th Anniversary Concert (2010). *Removed*

  So, here's
      the epilogue from the movie (scene from Yr-1848) showing just the lyrics to 'Do you hear the people sing' as the music is sung and the spirits of 1832 join in the celebration.

9. Encore - 10th Anniversary concert (1995) - The 17 International Valjeans sing, each representing a country via a couple of solo lines each, in the two popular group numbers.

NEWER performances below

10. Encore - 25th Anniversary Cast (2010) joined by the Original 1985 London Cast for a big group number after the Valjeans Quartet, both shown in this clip.  (The Quartet and large-group number came after that concert's own 17 International Valjeans went up on stage to sing another 15 years later, but I don't see a video of that 17 on Youtube.) *Removed*

  In that clip, the Valjeans Quartet does Bring him Home, with Alfie Boe, 25th Anniversary's Valjean blowing the crowd away when he joins in, in a higher key, letting go with that powerful tenor versus his quieter solo singing of that song, which is essentially a prayer, sung over a sleeping Marius -- changed in 2012's movie to a shouted piece overlooking a street scene of Marius with the rebellion.

  The other three in the quartet are Colm Wilkinson, John Owen Jones, and Simon Bowman.
  Their group interaction of lead-soloists accepting secondary lines is fun to watch.

  But here's a better, standalone, videoclip of the Quartet (the clip described just above included an introduction and context + subtitles), but this has clearer image quality though you have to "X" out of a bottom-ad and there are no subtitles on this clip. *Removed* [Looking for replacement]

  Then the big number:  the Original London Cast (OLC), 25 years older, still sounding great, is joined by umpteen (literally) Valjeans from other casts plus the 25th Anniversary group to do a number on, so to speak, the usual two audience rousers -- "One Day More" and, as seen from an audience seat, "Do You Hear the People Sing?" ... followed by confetti and stage-front fireworks.


Where are other quieter, more interior songs?

  1. Here's "In My Life" and "Heart Full of Love" from the 10th Anniversary production, uploaded from South Korea with subtitles.  Michael Ball (Marius), Lea Salonga (Eponine), Judy Kuhn (Cosette).

  2. Come to Me 10th Anniversary cast.

  3. The Epilogue/Finale from the 10th Anniversary production.

  4. And here's the FULL 10th Anniversary performance of Les Miserables, in a playist, playable as singles (a legal requirement), with selection list on the side.

Some on youtube try to provide almost complete sets of videos of earlier stage performances.  Some are blocked in certain countries.  In most of the lists, a few performances will be mis-identified with those from other performances.

The 25th anniversary DVD has the best sound and is in HD video, but it also has Nick Jonas as Marius, a controversial decision but apparently one that grew the Les Mis audience, and though he's no theater singer and seemed to be reading every word on a teleprompter and not finishing sung phrases, he was probably more convincing as very young and naive than most who sing this role professionally and at least has a clear voice.  It was a strong cast otherwise.


UNUSUAL LES MISERABLES VIDEO CLIPS
 . Original London Cast in video'd rehearsals - by TV's 20/20 ~1986 song segments

 . Original London Cast - The Reunion, along with revolving barricade (dropped for San Francisco, 2012). (Audience view - interesting angle but tinny sounding.)

 . An AP video report on the stage rehearsals

 . A 1985 television segment featuring the OLC in rare rehearsal footage, including the "Heart Full of Love" Trio between Marius, Cosette, and Eponine, with a Michael Ball so young I didn't recognize him.  Opening Night interviews also.

  . Original Fantine (Patti LuPone) sings "I dreamed..." at the 1991 Royal Variety Performance.

  . 25th Anniversary Concert Rehearsal with Alfie Boe, Samantha Barks, Ramin Karimloo, Lea Salonga et al (but no Norm Lewis excerpt)  NEW

 . The full Royal Variety performance by the 25th Anniversary 2010 cast
Alfie Boe as an angry, just-released Valjean -- with a modern abstract but colorful stage set.  The live theater sound is very effective here, and it's a gripping performance he gives.
    - Samantha Barks (Eponine in the movie also) is the Eponine here, singing "On my Own" in this Royal Variety Performance 2010 video, the year she and Boe also sang these roles in the 25th Anniversary Concert (on DVD/Blu-Ray).   In a section above, I explain why I prefer the interpretation in the movie version.

    - Lots of excerpts for the Queen and it included the Quartet of Valjeans again.  I hadn't come upon this one before, but then I didn't know a thing about this musical a year ago.

  Here's the FULL Les Miserables set of songs for the event from start to finish but with three jarring cuts for some reason.  NEW
  The NO-cuts version, with somewhat weaker sound but using HD resolution (for std broadcast).  The first one sounds more 'live.'


That should do?


RELATED ARTICLES
  . Getting and installing non-Amazon apps
  . How to install Flash Player - (a workaround for the 2nd generation of Kindle Fire tablets and new Android tablets like the Google Nexus, after Adobe dropped support for Flash on mobile devices).

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Check often: Temporarily-free recently published Kindle books
  Guide to finding Free Kindle books and Sources.  Top 100 free bestsellers.  Liked-books under $1
UK-Only: recently published free books, bestsellers, or £5 Max ones
    Also, UK customers should see the UK store's Top 100 free bestsellers.

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