Every couple weeks I update our family members on their Kindle books. We each keep our own Kindle, but we share an Amazon account together. I keep track of who buys what. The cool part is that we can share the books with one another. Not only does it save us money, but it gives us something to enjoy with one another. Here is this week's email.
Dear Dad, Jillian, Tim, Jessica, Dave, Jennifer, Mike, Nancy, Patty, Cheryl, Grayden, Mary Kay, Kimberly and Riley:
This is our first Pierce Family Kindle Book Club (PFKBK) Newsletter of 2012. Happy New Year! May your reading be extensive in this new year. The past year, 2011, has the distinction for me of the year when I read the most books of any year in my life. I hope to read even more in 2012. I hope this is your goal as well.
New Members. We welcome three new members to our happy club. Mary Kay Pierce is now on board with her iPad 2. As I was showing her the new device, we came to the Kindle app. She looked up at me excitedly and said, "You mean I'm in the club now too?" Cheryl, you should know that her first read is one of the grief books that you have purchased for us. Thank you!
Kimberly Marietta, our best friend - part of our family really - is now on board with her own new Kindle Touch. Roc, the second best husband in the world (next to me!), bought the Kindle Touch for her birthday. Coincidentally, both Kim's and Mary Kay's birthday are on the same date - December 27th. We've share many a birthday celebration together. Now we can share Kindle books too!
Riley Boggs, my nephew, also is on board with his iPhone Kindle app. Smart fellow, that Riley Boggs. He knows how to maximize value. He has now turned his phone into a electronic reader complete with 903 books available at the touch of a button. Welcome Riley! I'm sure you and your Grandpa Pierce will share a few books with one another.
Patty Chappie, Mary Kay's sister, has been a member of the PFKBC for a few months. However, her reading has been limited to the Kindle app on her Droid phone. Her smart husband, Mike, invested into a Kindle Fire for Patty. I know Patty will love her new device for the reading, movies and many games available. We have already started playing Words With Friends together.
New Totals. So how many people do we have in the club now? 15 altogether, counting both Dave and Jessica separately, while they share one Kindle together. You can see the list in the salutation above. We have 13 Kindle devices plus 9 Kindle apps. Specifically we have 6 Kindle 3s (Mark, Jennifer, Jessica, Mike, Nancy and Walt), 4 Kindle Fires (Cheryl, Mark, Patty, and Tim), 2 Kindle Touches (Jillian and Kimberly), and one of the new Kindles (Grayden). Our PFKBC archive now boasts 903 books, 112 Audible books, 11 games for the E-ink Kindles, and 45 apps for the Kindle Fires.
Club Management. As you can imagine, this could become complicated. I've committed to keeping track of this for all of us so we all benefit. Here's how you can help me. Feel free to buy any new books on your Kindles. That's what this club is about - buying, reading, and sharing books. As soon as you buy anything, please email me or text me right away so I know who is responsible for the charge. I'll keep track of everyone's balances and send you this email every couple weeks. Next time you see me you can pay me whatever you owe. You can pay me by cash, check or Amazon gift cards. You can also pay ahead if you want, but you don't have to do this.
New Books. We've added six new titles since my last email to you on December 19th. Cheryl is responsible for most of these new purchases - mostly free books. Thanks Cheryl for your keen eye for value! I'm sure once the holidays are over and everyone sits down with their Kindles, there will be more than a few new books added to our archives. Personally I'm still working my way through the Fire and Ice books by Martin. I have a lot more reading to do before I add any new books. The newest books added since December 19th are highlighted below.
Here's the latest book additions:
Chasing China by Kay Bratt
Purchased by Cheryl
Price $0.00
Fiction
Mia is beautiful, talented and has the world at her fingertips. But what makes her different than the average college student who juggles a heavy workload and a rat of a boyfriend? Many years ago she was born to an unknown family in China but soon discarded to fend for herself in a busy train station. Fate stepped in when Mia was taken to the local orphanage and adopted at the age of four by her American family. Life has been good for her, or at least as much as she has allowed it to be while pushing her deep feelings of abandonment to the back of her mind. Finally she has decided that in order to move forward, she must confront her past. Mia takes a journey to the mysterious land of her birth and embarks on a mission to find answers. As she follows the invisible red thread back through her motherland, she is enamored by the history and culture of her heritage--strengthening her resolve to get to the truth, even as Chinese officials struggle to keep it buried. With her unwavering spirit of determination, Mia battles the forces stacked against her and faces mystery, danger, a dash of romance, and finally a conclusion that will change her life. 91,000 words, 344 pages.
Muffin the Teacup Poodle by Barbara Esham
Price $0.00
Purchased by Cheryl
Children's Nonfiction, Dogs
Description: Muffin was certain that today was going to be her lucky day. After all, Teacup Poodles are hard to resist...
Nearing Home: Life, Faith, and Finishing Well by Billy Graham
Price $8.84
Purchased by Cheryl
Inspirational, Christian Living
Description: “I never thought I would live to be this old.”
In this moving narrative, Billy Graham once again takes up the pen not only to share his personal experience of growing older but also teach us some important lessons on how to view our time here on Earth. He says that the Bible makes it clear that God has a specific reason for keeping us here. So what is His purpose for these years, and how can we align our lives with it? How can we not only learn to cope with the fears and struggles and growing limitations we face but actually grow stronger inwardly in the midst of these difficulties?
In what may be his most powerful message of the last decade, Billy Graham speaks to all on this side of Heaven as he covers the importance of four key areas:
- Building strong foundations and understanding the gift of years
- Facing life’s transitions, including the passing of years, retirement, and when loved ones die
- Making wise decisions
- Understanding our glorious hope
“In this book I invite you to explore with me not only the realities of life as we grow older but the hope and fulfillment and even joy that can be ours once we learn to look at these years from God’s point of view and discover His strength to sustain us every day. I pray that you and I may learn what it means not only to grow older, but, with God’s help, to grow older with grace.”
The Mouse and the Christmas Cake by Unknown
Price $0.00
Purchased by Cheryl
Childrens books
This poem about a mouse that builds a house in a decoration castle on top of a Christmas cake was first published in New York in 1858. The ebook version has 5 illustrations (including the front page). It's a poem for children and has only a few pages of text. You may have to change the text size on your Kindle to be able to read all the lines.
Pennsyvania Dutch Cooking by Unknown
Price $0.00
Purchased by Cheryl
Cookbook
This book is very straightforward cookbook. It starts out with a brief history of the Pennsylvania Dutch, which is nice. The recipes are easy to read and follow, with no annoying typos or weird breaks in the text (as is often the case in the free cookbooks). All of the measurements are modern and oven temps are given where needed. Everything is thoughtfully laid out and the sections all make sense. The one drawback is the only way to navigate is in the index, unless you want to pan through the whole book to find a particular recipe. The book would be better if the illustrations / pictures could have been included. The book covers the usual, from salads to desserts. The Chicken Corn Chowder and Scrapple recipes look really good and I can't wait to make them. There's even some breakfast offerings like doughnuts and Flannel Cakes (pancakes). There's lots of desserts to choose from and even pickles and preserves.
Magic Tree House #3: Mummies in the Morning by Mary Pope Osborne
Price $3.99
Purchased by Jessica (gift for Grayden)
Children's Books
Gr. 1-4. In this sequel to Dinosaurs before Dark (1992) and The Knight at Dawn (1993), Jack and Annie return to the mysterious, book-filled tree house that transports them through time and space. For this adventure, they select a story on Ancient Egypt and travel back to the pyramid of Queen Hutepi, who needs help finding her copy of the Book of the Dead for a journey through the underworld. This story, like most series books, is heavy on suspense and light on character development, but is distinguished by the intriguing details of Ancient Egyptian life and burial customs. Even the overused theme of reading allowing one to travel anywhere works well here. Some foreshadowing (clues about the mysterious owner of the tree house, who leaves souvenirs marked with the letter M) and a hint about the pair's next destination add to the appeal. Illustrated with frequent black-and-white drawings, this will be welcomed by beginning readers making the transition to chapter books.
