Freading and Kindle Unlimited

Last week when I logged into my library's Freading.com web site, I saw a bunch of new books from Open Road Media, including the Cadfael medieval mysteries. Most of those books are tagged "coming soon", though. A quick search online found that the Cadfael books will be released on 5 August, so I'm anticipating that their status on Freading will change on that date. Even nicer this week, I found that many books from RosettaBooks have been added to the catalog, and almost all of those are available right now. And, RosettaBooks is carrying a number of well-known authors such as Barbara Taylor Bradford, M. C. Beaton, Kurt Vonegut, Ben Bova, Harold Robbins, and Harry Kemelman.

On 18 July, Amazon launched Kindle Unlimited, a subscription service. One thing I've discovered about Freading and Kindle Unlimited is that there is a major overlap between the books which are available from the two different channels. Freading doesn't cost ME anything, because my library pays for the service. Kindle Unlimited will cost me $9.95 per month after a 30-day trial period.

Granted, the catalogs for the two are not identical, but as I said, there's a great deal of overlap between the two. Freading has the price advantage, but doesn't allow me to read on my Kindle device. I'm lucky enough to have a second reader (a BeBook mini) which is supported by Adobe Digital Editions, so I have reasonable access to the books from Freading. The advantage of Kindle Unlimited is that it supports my Kindle reader, but the downside is the price. I think that for now, I'm going to pass on Kindle Unlimited and get the books I want to read from Freading.

K3 - and a green cover

Did I mention that I upgraded from the Kindle 1 to a Kindle 3? During the two and a half years that I used my first generation Kindle, 93 of the 351 books that I read during that time were read on the Kindle. I was totally happy with the K1 and was not even tempted when Amazon brought out the 2nd generation. But then came the announcement of the third generation reader which had WiFi connectivity and I knew I wanted it. I only thought about it for a very short while before making up my mind. On 1 August 2010, I placed my order for one of the new 3G + WiFi Kindles—in black!

To top it off, I bought one of the lighted covers in green. It's wonderful. The light pulls out of the top corner of the cover, and it draws its power from the Kindle itself. So when I fall asleep while reading and the Kindle puts itself into stand-by mode, the light turns off too. Now that's convenient for reading in bed.

The first book I read on my new device was The Outsider by Ann H Gabhart. This was a freebie offered in July 2010 by the publisher, Revell. This book was very well written—a good plot, believable characters, and a great setting—unlike many of the free books that I have picked up along the way. Here's how the book is described at Amazon:

For as long as she can remember, Gabrielle Hope has had the gift of knowing—visions that warn of things to come. When she and her mother joined the Pleasant Hill Shaker community in 1807, the community embraced her gift. But Gabrielle fears this gift, for the visions are often ones of sorrow and tragedy. When one of these visions comes to pass, a local doctor must be brought in to save the life of a young man, setting into motion a chain of events that will challenge Gabrielle's loyalty to the Shakers. As she falls deeper into a forbidden love for this man of the world, Gabrielle must make a choice. Can she experience true happiness in this simple and chaste community? Or will she abandon her brothers and sisters for a life of the unknown? Soulful and filled with romance, The Outsider lets readers live within a bygone time among a unique and peculiar people. This tender and thought-provoking story will leave readers wanting more from this writer.

The reviewer made an excellent observation. When I finished reading it, I knew that I would be getting additional books by Ms. Gabhart at some time in the future.

Since finishing The Outsider in September 2010, I have read 10 other books on the new Kindle. The most recently finished book was Flag in Exile by David Weber. This is the fifth book in his Honor Harrington series, all of which can be purchased without DRM from WebScription.net

As Flag in Exile begins, Honor has been forced into indefinite leave from the Royal Manticoran Navy and has retreated to the planet Grayson to take up her role as Steadholder while she tries to heal her bitter wounds. But the People's Republic of Haven is threatening Grayson, and the Grayson Navy desperately needs her experience.

There's this little problem however, that Grayson is a culture totally dominated by men. The population has been having enough trouble accepting that for the first time in history, a woman has been appointed Steadholder. Now, they're being asked to adjust to the fact that a woman will be going to war and will be leading the defense of Grayson.

A totally enjoyable addition to the Honorverse, and I've already started reading the sequel, Honor Among Enemies.

E-books and e-readers

Yesterday, I was following the May Blogroll over at NaBloPoMo and stumbled across Becky's blog called Musings from the Sofa. She had classified it as a blog that is predominantly about books, so of course I was interested in seeing how she was doing with her daily posts.

Imagine my surprise when I saw that she had posted a mild rant about e-books and e-readers. I felt compelled to respond. You should go read Emily's comments and criticisms. Here is my response:

I’m an e-book evangelist. To me the most important thing is the story. For a novel, short stories, even a biography, I really don’t care if the characters that I read are printed onto paper or rendered onto a screen. It *does* matter to me how comfortable it is to read. Therefore, I’m not likely to be reading on my laptop, netbook, or even a flat-screen monitor. But give me the e-Ink screen on a Kindle, Sony, Nook, or other electronic Reader, and I’m terribly happy.

My biggest complaint today is that most publishers haven’t taken e-books seriously. Formatting is often substandard—which the publisher would not accept in a paper book, but which they are glad to sell me in electronic format. And, I probably wouldn’t mind so much except that current e-book sales carry terms and conditions that basically say that I don’t *own* the e-books I buy. I can’t sell them or give them away after I’ve read them. Well, if the book must remain in my permanent library, it ought to be produced to higher quality standards.

I don’t need color. I don’t need things that move & wiggle. I don’t need to drag Internet content into my book. I can go get those things with my laptop or netbook. I need stories; at a fair price point; in a well-crafted product.

I still buy paper books—paperback only ’cause the hardbacks are too large, too heavy, and too expensive. I don’t think e-books will ever replace paper books, but they are great alternatives.

So, what do you think? Do you own an electronic reader? Do you use it? How often?

Of the 54 books I've read this year, 45 of them were printed on paper. This is largely related to the active book swapping that I do at BookObsessed and BookCrossing. I also loaned my Kindle to my librarian for a couple of months to give her an opportunity to see how she liked reading with it and to evaluate whether she might want to purchase a couple of readers for lending to patrons. I just got it back at the end of April, and I've already read two electronic books. I'm sure that the ratio of paper-to-electronic will change a bit during the year, but I'll still finish out the year having read more paper books than e-books. That's OK, though. It's the story that matters.

Kindle: Samples

In Monday's post, I talked about how I use features of Amazon's Kindle to mark books that I might want to read in the future. While the “Save for Later” list is available, I don't find it particularly convenient since I tend to avoid using the Kindle's Whispernet to browse the Amazon bookstore. Rather, I am most comfortable browsing and shopping through my laptop and its Firefox browser.

Therefore, I currently have 51 samples on my Kindle. Once I have bought a book—or decided from the sample that I just don't want it—I delete the sample. Any samples still on my Kindle act as a reminder when I'm trying to decide what to read next. Here's a sampling of the samples on my Kindle; books that I want to buy and read. Eventually.

Blue Smoke and Murder by Elizabeth Lowell

Blue Smoke and Mirrors by Elizabeth Lowell is one of the earliest samples I downloaded; well at least the earliest that hasn't been deleted. This particular book draws some of its characters from St. Kilda Consulting, a company formed by ex-military and ex-law enforcement officers who accept jobs in the shadowy world where official agencies can't operate. St. Kilda was introduced in Always Time to Die, which I read in late 2007, and pops back up in The Wrong Hostage, which I read last year. This particular series combines strongly written suspense with romantic attraction. Amazon classifies the books first as “Mystery & Thrillers” and second as “Romantic Suspense”. I don't care what they call it, it's just a genre that I enjoy, and Lowell is an author whose books I always enjoy. There's another book in this series that I should read before Blue Smoke and Mirrors, so I need to add Innocent as Sin to my wishlist.

Mysteries, Thrillers, and Suspense

There are a number of other samples of mystery novels on my Kindle—some romantic, some cozy, and some just straight mystery or thriller. Notable are:

Fantasy and Science Fiction

I'm a long-time fan of science fiction and have recently starting reading fantasy. There are many SF/F books that I want to read eventually, and I have the following samples on my Kindle:

Kindle: Save For Later

In my wishlist post, I mentioned the “Save for Later” list unique to the Kindle. You can only add books to this list or remove them through the Kindle's network connection to Amazon's Kindle Store. Because it's rare for me to spend much time with the antenna turned on, I don't use this option very often, but it may be interesting to see what I've put onto my list.

The first two books I added to my list were by David Baldacci—Total Control and Saving Faith. (Yes, I know that these links go to the paperback edition pages at Amazon instead of the Kindle editions, but then I figure that there are fewer Kindle users than simply readers and the Kindle users can follow the on-page link to the Kindle version.) The very first book I read on my Kindle was Stone Cold, which I selected because I had just finished reading its predecessor, The Collectors in paperback. My thoughts were that the first book should be one that I was really interested in and which I was totally committed to reading. That way, if I wasn't happy with the reading experience, it would more likely be due to the device than the book.

Next, I added all three of the “Acorna's Children” trilogy: First Warning, Second Wave, and Third Watch. This series by Anne McCaffrey and Elizabeth A. Scarborough follows the adventure of Acorna's twins Korii and Ariin as they travel—through time and space—trying to find the cause of a plague that's endangering galactic civilization and its cure. Since I had already read the first two books in the series in paperback, I didn't want to buy the Kindle editions right away. But, when I get ready to read the third one, I'll buy all three and read them in order. That will provide a nice reminder of what happens leading up to the last book.

And, since I'm such a fan of science fiction, I quickly added all of Elizabeth Moon's “Vatta's War” series. I've particularly enjoyed reading this series since I discovered the first book in 2004. It's now up to five books and I've only read the first two, so there's a lot of enjoyment there once I purchase and download the rest of the series, if not all of it. I read Trading in Danger in 2004 and Marque and Reprisal in 2005. That leaves Engaging the Enemy, Command Decision, and Victory Conditions. And, by the time I finish reading those, perhaps there will be another in the series.

A long time went by before I put any more books on my “Save for Later” list—after all, I just didn't turn on the antenna all that often, and then only to allow book purchases to be transmitted to the Kindle. But, there were occasions when I would not only fire up the antenna, but also view Amazon Kindle's Blog via the Kindle Daily Post link in the Kindle Storefront on the device. And, sometimes I'd see a book that looked particularly interesting and would add the book to my “Save for Later” list. That can explain why I have The Buffalo Soldier by Chris Bohjalian and The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch on my list.

Cheap is good; free is better

It's a new month and there are new specials available for eBook readers. (And I use “readers” to mean both the people and the devices that they use.) Over at the Dear Author blog, I found a notice that Warner Forever—an imprint of Hachette Book Group which publishes romance titles—is offering several titles at the special price of $1.99 during the summer. Four titles are available in June and can be found at the discounted price in both the Amazon.com and Sony eBook stores.

If you are into romance novels, check out one or more of these titles:

• A Hint of Wicked by Jennifer Haymore
• My Wicked Enemy by Carolyn Jewel
• Between the Sheets by Robin Wells
• Too Far Gone by Marliss Melton

And Orbit Books (another imprint of the Hachette Book Group) is offering one title every month for only $1. June's book is Midnight Never Come by Marie Brennan. I'll probably pick that one up, but may wait just a bit. After all, for a couple of days, Amazon sold the May book—Once Bitten, Twice Shy by Jennifer Rardin—for $0.00. If I can pick up this month's book for free, I'm not too proud to click the “Buy Now with 1-Click” button.

Of the 156 books I have purchased for my Kindle from Amazon.com, 82 of them were free and 21 more were under $2.00. And these were not classics and out-of-copyright books such as those I downloaded from MobileRead, the majority of them were current-release titles whose publishers were offering for free as a promotion—usually to get readers to start into a series and like it so much they'll buy the rest.

Last night I picked up two more free books for my Kindle from Amazon.com, and snagged the same two titles from Sony's eBook store for my Sony PRS 505. The first was For Love of Mother-Not by Alan Dean Foster. This book is the fifth in Foster's “Pip & Flinx” series, but it is the first in the chronology. It was written as a prequel to fill in some—but not all—of Flinx's background. Starting with The Tar-Aiym Krang in 1972, the series has finally come to a conclusion with the publication of the fourteenth book, Flinx Transcendent, which wraps up all the storylines that fans have been following for over 30 years. All fourteen books in the series are available for the Kindle, which is great news. Not only do I want to read the end of the series, but I'd like to start over and read it all the way through.

The second book I picked up for free was Magic Kingdom for Sale—Sold, the first book in the Magic Kingdom of Landover series. Originally published in 1986, it's clear that this freebie is being offered as a tie-in to the forthcoming publication of the sixth book in August 2009. Right now, only the first and third books are available in a Kindle edition. I'm hoping that by the time A Princess of Landover is released in August, the rest of the series will be available in electronic editions in the various eBook stores.

Kindle: Wishlists

It's no secret that I ordered a Kindle in January 2007 and received it 6 weeks later—nor that I am a rabid fan of the Kindle and all things related to electronic books. In 2008, of the 140 books that I read, 49 were electronic editions for the Kindle.

One thing that the Kindle has in spades over all the competition is the ease of buying books. Of course there is the obligatory Internet shopping site—using my browser to find a book I want, click the “buy it now” button and Voila! it's queued for transmission to my Kindle over the cellular Whispernet service. If my Kindle's antenna is turned on and I'm within the service area, my new book is downloaded to the Kindle and ready to read in just a few seconds. But that's not all, I can use the Kindle itself to browse the store and select books to read—no computer or Internet required. I've bought a book while traveling on the The Carolinian Route between Washington DC and Richmond. I've bought and downloaded a new book while seated on an AA flight waiting for the rest of the people to hurry up and get aboard so we can take off. Talk about immediate gratification!

But not only does Amazon make it easy for me to buy a book right now, but it provides a very easy way to build a wishlist of titles I want to read later. Actually, there are two different ways I can make note of a title that sounds interesting so that I can revisit it later and make a decision whether to purchase it.

Save for Later

The first Wishlist facility is the Kindle “Save for Later” list. When using the Kindle to browse the Kindle bookstore, when I see a likely title, I can click on the “Save for Later” option and Amazon will add this book to my growing list of books I want to buy; but just not now.

Here's how it works: I usually take a quick look at the “Kindle Best Sellers” and “New & Notable” links in the Kindle storefront. Today, I again noticed The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society in the list of best sellers. Since the paperback edition just came out, I figured maybe the price had dropped and sure enough, it's now selling for $7.70 instead of the $9.99 it had been at for so long. That's enough for me to add it to my Save for Later items.

First, I need to follow the link to the book's own page in the Kindle store. I move the cursor to the “Save for Later” link and select it. In just a second, I see confirmation that the book has been added to my list. I can review my list at any time by selecting the “Menu” link from any place within the Kindle store and then picking “Save for Later items”. And there it is— at the top of my list.

Samples

The second way that I keep up with books that I might want to purchase later is to download samples. This has two benefits: not only do I get to read a portion of the book to help me make up my mind, but I can also ask for samples through my Internet browser or through the Kindle's Whispernet connection. But, the only way to transfer a sample to the Kindle is through the Whispernet. When I'm outside the USA or just in an area where the Whispernet is not available, I can transfer any books by downloading to my PC and then pushing to the Kindle over the USB connection. This is not true for samples—they are only delivered through the Kindle's own wireless network.

Samples are usually a chapter or two, which is enough to whet my appetite and let me know if the book is one I'm likely to enjoy. I did download some samples from the new Offbeat Guides being offered for the Kindle and was disappointed to find that the samples didn't include the Table of Contents. It seems to me that it would be important for a sample from reference book to include the TOC; particularly when the book description doesn't contain much detail. Needless to say, I didn't buy those books and will look at other options for travel guides.

The coolest part of the samples, however, is that at the end are two links to the Kindle store. The first will allow you to buy the book right then and the second link will take you to the book's description for further review.

To be continued

So, what books are on my “Read for Later” list? And which samples have I downloaded as reminders to buy books later? Those sound like good ideas for later posts.

Books from uncommon sources

Self-published and small press books

Having received my Kindle in February, I've been following the forums at MobileRead and have become aware of a number of authors who have either self-published or published through a small press rather than waiting to be discovered by one of the big publishing houses. I've acquired a number of books (either freely distributed by the author or purchased) and even have read a couple of books from these authors.

As my previous post says, one of these books was a surprisingly excellent book, Soul Identity by Dennis Batchelder. I'm quite surprised that Batchelder couldn't attract a literary agent or publisher, since his novel has none of the awkwardness which I found in other independently published first novels.

So far this year, in addition to Soul Identity, I've read April Hamilton's Snow Ball, The Onuissance Cells by Steve Jordan, MotherShip by Tony Chandler, and MaidenFlight by Bianca D'Arc.

April had posted an introduction at MobileRead, so I decided to purchase Snow Ball from Amazon for my Kindle. The plot is creative and April has a real knack for capturing the speech patterns/cadence of her primary characters. The dialog was nearly brilliant. Unfortunately, her opening paragraphs are stiff and stilted; someone picking up the book for a quick look might think that the entire book was written in this manner and pass it by. I wrote to April in mid-April (doesn't that sound really strange?) and in her reply, she indicates that she actually took this approach deliberately, "trying to set up the ladies and place as very ordinary, and the tone as very nothing-much-happens-around-here." Here's where I think a good editor could have helped her accomplish her goal without producing such an awkward passage.

About MotherShip, Lisa DuMond's review at The SciFi Site says, "One thing: more aggressive surgery by an editor would be a huge improvement. This is yet another small press project that seems to have received the spell-check-only treatment, when it needed and merited more." Lisa may be correct, but I didn't find any serious problems with the book. I enjoyed the plot, the characters, and the action. An author can't ask for much more than that from his audience. The sequel is finally available, and I plan to purchase it this year.

Making use of my Kindle

Most of my reading this month has been on the Kindle or Sony readers. It is so convenient to just grab the reader and go; and when I finish a book, there are others available with no hassle. The biggest down-side is that I can't swap the electronic books the same way I do paper books.

After finishing Dragon Bones, I read The Dragon Delasangre by Alan F Troop. So, I wound up reading two dragon books back-to-back—and not a sequel, either. Figuring that was enough fantasy for a while, I then read Suspicious by Heather Graham; a suspenseful romance that I picked up for only a dollar. I've been lucky enough to pick up quite a few free or steeply discounted eBooks since I bought my Kindle. Harlequin has even announced that they're giving away 16 titles on 29 January to celebrate their 60th anniversary.

Quick summary of the books I've read this month:

1. The Host by Stephenie Meyer (Kindle)
2. Miss Julia Strikes Back by Ann B Ross (Trade Paperback)
3. The Girl Who Stopped Swimming by Joshilyn Jackson (Hardback, Bookring)
4. Fortune and Fate by Sharon Shinn (Kindle)
5. Neptune Crossing by Jeffrey Carver (Sony)
6. Mars Girl by Jeff Garrity (Sony)
7. Dragon Bones by Patricia Briggs (Kindle)
8. The Dragon Delasangre by Alan F Troop (Kindle)
9. Suspicious by Heather Graham (Kindle)

I'm now reading Strange Attractors by Jeffrey Carver on the Sony reader and Oleander House: Bay City Paranormal Investigations #1 by Ally Blue on the Kindle. Since I owe a dozen books that I haven't read yet, I'm going to have to get started on those as soon as possible.