Every week so often 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 and Cheryl:
Jessica reminded me Friday that she "misses the Kindle update email." I admit to being a bit behind. The last email I sent was on July 12th. Since then, we have added 9 new books to our collection... 10, if we count the audio book that Jennifer bought and then I cancelled. Sigh. More on that later. (My oldest daughter, Jennifer, is pictured at the right with her new Van Gogh Kindle skin.)
This brings our archives to 780 Kindle eBooks and 109 Audible titles. The nine new titles added are listed below. First, here is some news that might interest you.
Speculation High on New Kindle Models. I've read quite a bit over the last couple of weeks regarding the liklihood of Amazon bringing out a new Kindle soon. Based on the time between the release of Kindle 2 and Kindle 3, the Kindle 4 should be out within the next 2 months. So should you wait to get the newer model? Probably. Though Len Edgerly reminds us in his most recent podcast that if you should buy a new Kindle and a new one comes out within 30 days, you can return the old one for a full refund. There is one advantage to buying now... the price of a refurbished WiFi Kindle is down to the lowest price ever - $99!
New Free Sci-Fi Magazine. A new "digest-version" subscription of the monthly Fantasy and Science Fiction Magazine is being made available for FREE exclusively through Amazon. Stephen King has called this magazine, "the best fiction magazine in America." I have subscribed for our family. You'll find it available in the archives. It is especially attractive on the color screens of computers and smartphones. (Of course the text reads perfectly well on the pearl ink screens of the Kindle itself.)
Harper Collins 99 cents sale. Harper Collins is making dozens of its most popular titles available for the Kindle for only 99 cents. The sale is on for August only.
Library Lending Available in September? Amazon has publicly stated that the new library lending capability will be made available no later than year-end. However, last week A Kindle World Blog reports that this new feature offering thousands of books on a lending basis could be available as soon as September. I hope this proves to be true since Grayden will soon be coming on board with us and would love to borrow early reading materials from the library. Personally, I think this makes sense as I can see how Amazon may announce their new Kindle models and their new lending features all at the same time.
Reminder - Please Tell Me When You Buy a Book. Our book club works only so long as I keep us posted on our accounting and so long as you keep me posted on what you purchase. There is nothing within the Manage Your Kindle page that tells me which Kindle purchased what. So I depend on you calling, emailing, IMing, or texting me that you have bought a book. As of August 3rd, we have a new book, We All Fall Down by Simon Wood, and I don't know which one of us made the purchase. (It's a 99 cent purchase.) Also a new audible book was purchased - A Tree Grows In Brooklyn, using one of my monthly $15 Audible book credits. After a day went by and I didn't hear anything from any of you, I called Audible and cancelled the purchase, thinking it was a mistake. I have since learned through the grapevine that this was purchased by Jennifer. In fairness to Jenn, she did call me a few weeks ago to tell me she was going to buy a book... I just didn't remember that it was going to be one of the Audible ones. The lesson here is to communicate, communicate, communicate. I appreciate your help! (And in case my writing doesn't adequately express my emotions - I'm smiling. This is no big deal. I just want to make this as good an experience as it can be for all of us!)
New Content. Here are the new books added since July 12th, the last time I sent you this email:
We All Fall Down by Simon Wood
Purchased by Who Knows?
Price - $0.99
Suspense, Mystery, Thriller
Design engineering contractor Hayden Duke is pleased to have been hired by Marin Design Engineering for a short term project. He hopes that his work will impress the firm's bosses so they would hire him for a full time position. Before he was selected, another contractor walked into the ocean and drowned. The witnesses who called 911 heard the man mumble he did a horrible thing and must pay the price.
The person who hired Hayden is his friend Shane Fallon who is glad to have his pal on board. A couple of days after Hayden starts working Shane sends him an email with an attachment that he cannot open. Hayden calls Shane, who warns him to delete it. Hayden goes to Shane's house only to find a hallucinating man who is locked inside his apartment seeking electronic bugs. He kills himself and the autopsy reveals a bruise on his hand like the man who committed suicide in the ocean. Shane's sister Rebecca and Hayden believe there is more to his apparent suicide and it is linked in some manner to the project. When the project is completed, everyone associated with it except Hayden and Rebecca die in an arson fire. Trying to stay alive and elude police and fire officials' suspicions, the pair seek the truth, which may prove deadly for them.
WE ALL FALL DOWN is an exciting enthralling thriller that focuses on two characters, Hayden and Rebecca, who obstinately and perhaps foolishly are determined to learn what is going on. They refuse to quit their amateur sleuthing although each step especially false leads they take opens up additional cans of worms and exponentially increases the danger to them. Simon Wood provides a dynamite suspense story as the audience is beguiled into anticipating what next. (by Harriet Klausner)
Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin
Purchased by Mark
Price $8.99
Epic Fiction, Fantasy
I have to say that this is not my normal cup of tea kind of book. It's huge (which I like), it cost $8.99 (more than I usually pay) and it's fantasy (what I usually don't get into) - but at least so far its more like historical fiction with fantasy thrown in. Then again I might not have read enough to know. I'm about a third through the book. I can say this: I am thoroughly enjoying it. Lots of stories all meshing together from many different points of views. This is the first of a planned 8 books. 5 have been written. This first book is now an HBO special, but I haven't seen it. - Mark
In a world where the approaching winter will last four decades, kings and queens, knights and renegades struggle for control of a throne. Some fight with sword and mace, others with magic and poison. Beyond the Wall to the north, meanwhile, the Others are preparing their army of the dead to march south as the warmth of summer drains from the land. After more than a decade devoted primarily to TV and screen work, Martin (The Armageddon Rag, 1983) makes a triumphant return to high fantasy with this extraordinarily rich new novel, the first of a trilogy. Although conventional in form, the book stands out from similar work by Eddings, Brooks and others by virtue of its superbly developed characters, accomplished prose and sheer bloody-mindedness. Although the romance of chivalry is central to the culture of the Seven Kingdoms, and tournaments, derring-do and handsome knights abound, these trappings merely give cover to dangerous men and women who will stop at nothing to achieve their goals. When Lord Stark of Winterfell, an honest man, comes south to act as the King's chief councilor, no amount of heroism or good intentions can keep the realm under control. It is fascinating to watch Martin's characters mature and grow, particularly Stark's children, who stand at the center of the book. Martin's trophy case is already stuffed with major prizes, including Hugos, Nebulas, Locus Awards and a Bram Stoker. He's probably going to have to add another shelf, at least.
Turn of Mind by Alice LaPlante
Purchased by Nancy
Price $9.99
Mystery and Thrillers
A stunning first novel, both literary and thriller, about a retired orthopedic surgeon with dementia, Turn of Mind has already received worldwide attention. With unmatched patience and a pulsating intensity, Alice LaPlante brings us deep into a brilliant woman’s deteriorating mind, where the impossibility of recognizing reality can be both a blessing and a curse.
As the book opens, Dr. Jennifer White’s best friend, Amanda, who lived down the block, has been killed, and four fingers surgically removed from her hand. Dr. White is the prime suspect and she herself doesn’t know whether she did it. Told in White’s own voice, fractured and eloquent, a picture emerges of the surprisingly intimate, complex alliance between these life-long friends—two proud, forceful women who were at times each other’s most formidable adversaries. As the investigation into the murder deepens and White’s relationships with her live-in caretaker and two grown children intensify, a chilling question lingers: is White’s shattered memory preventing her from revealing the truth or helping her to hide it?
A startling portrait of a disintegrating mind clinging to bits of reality through anger, frustration, shame, and unspeakable loss, Turn of Mind is a remarkable debut that examines the deception and frailty of memory and how it defines our very existence.
A Prisoner of Birth by Jeffrey Archer
Price $3.99
Purchased by Nancy
Mystery and Thrillers
Bestseller Archer (Kane and Abel) pays homage to Dumas's The Count of Monte Cristo in this delicious updating of the adventure classic. Four upper-crust friends from Cambridge University known as the Musketeers conspire to frame Danny Cartwright, an illiterate London East Ender, for the murder of Danny's oldest friend and brother-in-law to be, Bernie Wilson. The outcome of the intriguing trial, which pits a relatively novice defense lawyer against a skilled prosecutor, is a 22-year sentence for Danny. In maximum-security Belmarsh prison, Danny is lucky enough to share a cell with Sir Nicholas Moncrieff, the book's Abbé Faria figure, who teaches him to read and write. In a trick familiar to those who know their Dumas, Danny escapes by impersonating Moncrieff and hatches an intricate scheme to punish the Musketeers and clear his name. While Archer doesn't explore the cost to Danny's soul his revenge exacts, the author's firsthand knowledge of prison life and legal maneuvers helps make this a thoroughly enjoyable entertainment.
When I Lay My Isaac Down by Carol Kent
Purchased by Mark
Price $0.00 (Price is now back up to $7.99)
Inspirational, Christian Living
When the phone call came at 12:35 a.m., a bleary-eyed Kent listened as her husband passed on the unbelievable news that their son, a United States Naval Academy graduate and Navy lieutenant, had shot and killed his wife's ex-husband. During those first few hours after receiving the harrowing news, major decisions, both legal and financial, needed to be made quickly. So began the Kents' two-and-a-half-year journey that led to the trial, conviction and sentencing of their son for first-degree murder. Kent (Tame Your Fears; Becoming a Woman of Influence; Secret Longings of the Heart), whose position as President of Speak Up Speaker Services made her the family's primary breadwinner, had no option but to continue working and speaking throughout this ordeal. She wondered if people would even want her as a speaker if they knew she was the mother of a murderer. Using a biblical story from Genesis 22 where God asked Abraham to literally "lay down his Isaac" as a sacrifice and then intervened at the last moment, Kent prayed for a similar miraculous outcome for her son. She shares her story with a transparency and vulnerability that readers will find both disarming and bracing. The Kent family's ongoing fight against despair and hopelessness is fittingly paired with their resolute faith in God's ability to transform even the most crushing circumstances into something good.
Reinventing Leona by Lynne Gentry
Purchased by Mark
Price $0.00 (though price now back up to $9.99)
Christian Fiction
Leona Harper loves being a pastor's wife. Her impressive resume touts thirty years of coaxing hot water from rusty parsonage plumbing, planning church potlucks, and standing beside her husband while members take potshots at his sermons. Except for the little tiff with her grown children, Leona feels her life is right on track with the wishes of the Almighty . . . until her husband drops dead in the pulpit.
When the church board decides to fill the Reverend's vacated position, Leona is forced to find a paying job, mend her fractured family, and tackle her fears. With life spiraling out of control, Leona might find the church members' antics comical if she weren't so completely panicked. Can the faith of an overwhelmed widow withstand the added heartache of two resentful children and several underhanded church members? If Leona can't trust God, how will she learn to trust herself?
Out of Time by Monique Martin
Purchased by Mark
Price $0.00 (Though price is now $0.99)
Time Travel, Romantic Suspense
Kindle is opening my horizons and Out of Time is a great example of the wonderful treasures you can find if you get lucky. Despite the 'paranormal romance' subtitle, Out of Time is really more of a time travel romance with a paranormal complication as part of the conflict than an actual paranormal romance, since neither of the leads go bump in the night, but it is a really good time travel romance.
An accidental trip to the past, lands Professor Simon Cross and his graduate Assistant Elizabeth West in New York during the summer of 1929. Being stranded out of time with only each other to rely on, allows the unacknowledged attraction between the pair to come to light and I enjoyed the way their relationship slowly -and steamily - builds into something more. (For those concerned with sensuality level, Simon and Elizabeth's relationship does become physical and the first love scene is descriptive but not as detailed as most main stream paranormal romance and nowhere near the paint-by-numbers descriptions of the more erotic stuff.)
All of the characters in Out of Time are interesting and fully fleshed with interesting back stories - even the supporting characters. But I really loved Simon and Elizabeth. The pair couldn't be more different. From a moneyed background, Simon is a man who has held himself back from life and relationships with all of their messy complications, so the accidental trip to the past pulls him way out of his comfort zone. Elizabeth's upbringing was almost on the opposite end of the spectrum, but she genuinely likes people and has a talent for relating to others, so she approaches their `ordeal' as an adventure and an opportunity to experience first hand all that this era has to offer.
Simon of course wants to be careful not to make ripples in time. But since they have to survive until they hopefully will be returned home, Elizabeth wins and they both find jobs and end up immersed in 1920's life - the trials and entertainments of the prohibition era itself add an interesting flavor to their story. But survival is going to be more than just making ends meet until it's time to go home. Simon's prescient nightmares and a more than human monster who has set his sights on Elizabeth, add an element of peril to the tale and provide the means to bring about an ending that takes the whole time travel part of the story full circle, which I always enjoy - it just ties things off so neatly.
So I am happy to have stumbled on Out of Time and if it were paper and not pixels it would be going on my keeper pile - I guess I'll have to start a virtual one. But in any case, I certainly will be keeping an eye out for more from author Monique Martin. (by reviewer melindeeloo at Amazon.)
Republic: A Novel of America's Future by Charles Sheehan-Miles
Purchased by Mark
Price $0.00 (Still free.)
Political Fiction
Imagine a future when car-bomb terrorism has hit the Pentagon, when the economy is "tanking" due to the exportation of industry to other countries, and civil rights are nonexistent because of the Federal government's investigations into possible terrorist cells and plots. Ten years ago, maybe this would be pure fiction; today in 2007 it's not!
So it is that this author has captured and depicted in fictional form a scenario that continues to unfold. An entire community in West Virginia, Harpers Ferry, is devastated after a microsystems plant closes and lays off all personnel except those who will agree to work in the plant's new Indonesian location. Protest runs amuck when the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) violently enters the scene, and deaths on both sides follow. The latter begins to arrest many people of Iraqi descent and any who protest this illegal, unconstitutional path.
In the midst of all this havoc, Ken Murphy, an Iraq War veteran who has lost his wife in a senseless killing, now faces unemployment and loss of medical benefits desperately needed for his terminally ill son. Events spiral out of control as DHS raids continue and citizens are moving toward declaring West Virginia's secession from the U.S.A. government.
Officers and soldiers are caught up in a growing reactionary spate of shootings and arrests approaching civil war, with fatal consequences that inflame rather than quell discontent. Anyone in the way of federal action is now the "enemy" or a "traitor."
Charles Sheehan-Miles has penned a novel in which the line between fiction and reality is so very, very thin! Republic is a taught, page-turning read that will leave any half-thoughtful person asking many questions about law, terrorism, dissent, and constitutional rights for everyone involved in such a plausible scenario. And if it's not that real to you, the unexpected, devastating, breath-catching, haunting end will leave you reeling and wondering for sure! (Reviewed by Viviane Crystal.)
What's So Great About Salvation by James Somers
Purchased by Mark
Price $0.00 (Still free.)
Christian Living
Have you ever been given a big expensive present for Christmas? It was wrapped in costly array with silver and gold ribbons upon it and despite your great appreciation upon receiving it, you never actually opened it. In many ways this is exactly what happens when a person receives God's free gift of salvation through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. They have the gift. They carry it around in its fancy wrappings, glad to have it, but never explore the scriptures in order to understand all that they've actually been given inside this precious package.
Pastor James Somers, Senior Pastor of Grace Baptist Church and author of many Christian novels, including "PERDITION'S GATE" and "The Realm Shift Trilogy," shreds the wrapping paper away from God's great gift and dives into the scriptures in order to explore over fourteen different benefits God gives to the sinner when they believe on the Lord Jesus for salvation.
If you've ever wondered why you should want Jesus as your lord and savior or wanted to understand all that you were given when you got saved, then "What's So Great About Salvation?" provides concise answers that are easy to understand. So, what are you waiting for? Open up God's greatest gift and see what He's done for you!
