The Kindle Chronicles....

Do you own a Kindle? I know there are a few of you out there lifting your eyes off your Kindle screen for just a moment! As you probably know I own a Kindle.... But I still do LOVE the feel of a 'real' book in my hand and would never give that up. That said, it's always nice to get a free book (or practically free)... and I thought I would highlight some great "contemporary" Kindle book deals available right now. This is also a great opportunity to try out some new authors! These choices happen to be from Amazon.com....

Paranoia by best selling author Joseph Finder is a corporate thriller. Adam Cassidy works as a low level employee in a high-tech corporation & hates his job. He does a little "high-tech" favor for a friend and finds himself in a bit of "high-tech" trouble... Free until Sept. 18th!

The Grove by new author John Rector is a psychological suspense novel he wrote and distributed on Kindle... " the last time farmer Dexter McCray went off his medication, someone wound up dead. So, after waking from an alcoholic blackout to discover his tractor stuck in a ditch and the body of a teenage girl in the cottonwood grove bordering his cornfield, things look worryingly familiar..." available for .99! **This month John signed a deal to publish his next book The Cold Kiss! If you like The Grove, look for The Cold kiss coming out in hardback sometime in 2010!

Dark Fever by Time-travel-romance author Karen Marie Moning turns from her usual to a darker gothic suspense. "MacKayla "Mac" Lane is a small-town southern girl living a life of suntans and shopping. All that changes when her sister dies in Ireland and a cryptic message on Mac's cell phone raises disturbing questions about the nature of her sister's death..." Free until Oct. 1st!

Loving a Lost Lord by historical romance writer Mary Jo Putney is the first of a dazzling series that introduces the Lost Lords- maverick childhood friends with a flair for defying convention. Each is about to discover the woman who is his perfect match-but perfection doesn't come easily, even for the noble Duke of Ashton. . .

Battered by the sea, Adam remembers nothing of his past, his ducal rank, nor of the shipwreck that almost claimed his life. However, he's delighted to hear that the golden-haired vision tending his wounds is his wife. Mariah's name and face may not be familiar, but her touch, her warmth, feel deliciously right. . . even though it shouldn't! Priced at $4.76 now! (was free...)

For Love of Mother Not by Sci-Fi author Alan Dean Foster, who is well known for his novels of movies like Alien and The Transformers as well as a bunch of great scienc fiction. This book is the start of the story of Pip & Flinx which after 35 yrs. and 14 novels ended this year. The series centers on the companionship of a mini dragon and a young street boy who travel thru many adventures in the fictional land called Moth. A fun series even for non sci-fi lovers!... Free for now!

A little bit of everything here: thriller, suspense, historical romance, romantic suspense, and sci-fi... Clicking on the book titles will bring you to the kindle book download on Amazon! Keep your eyes out for "Kindle Ready!" tags at the bottom of all my review and giveaway posts... so all my Kindle readers don't feel left out! I'm also going to review some great classics available on Kindle, and thought I'd make the Kindle Chronicles a regular feature on my blog. Remember, most everything here is available in paper too!

Happy reading (and downloading....),
Suzanne

Paper or Plastic?

No, I'm not talking about the grocery store- I'm talking about the Kindle 2! It's the new electronic reading device from Amazon.com. This isn't the first electronic reader- Sony also has one and was the first one I ever saw at my local Borders store. But the Sony e-reader seemed bulky and clumsy to me. (It still does!) Now enter the Kindle 2 - a sleek, wireless, family friendly device that puts the fun back in reading. Maybe fun isn't quite the right word- maybe easier is the proper word... The front of the Kindle 2 is about the size of a trade paperback cover. And it is about as thin as a CD jewel case. On the front sides are the "next page bars" and a "previous page button". Turning the page of your downloaded book is as easy as pressing the bar that your thumb is already resting comfortably against as it is holding the kindle. There are some other neat features too- you can look up words you don't know instantly with another button and if you are reading a newspaper you can "clip" an article to save for later. You can make the text larger if you need to... you can listen to your favorite music while you read... and if you buy 2 kindles and give one to your spouse you can both read the same book at the same time by buying only 1 copy of the book. (both kindles need to be registered under the same name) Amazon.com has over 240,000 Kindle books available for download, usually at quite a discount from the hardcover price. Not to mention there are free e-books also available. And downloading a book is as easy as a click of a button- done wireless virtually anywhere you can bring your kindle. The wireless part of the kindle works on 3G technology, which is 3rd generation cellular technology, so you don't have to be looking for a WiFi connection. And do you think 1500 books is enough to carry around with you? Because that is what the Kindle 2 is capable of holding.
But all that aside is plastic nicer that paper? Does the feel of the Kindle in your hands match the beauty of the paper of a real book? Isn't it special to walk into a bookstore and pick up a book you've never seen before and open it up for a peek? The heft of a hardcover in your hand makes it undeniably real. The beauty of the typeface the publisher chooses to use, the type of paper- is it all just window dressing for the actual printed work? I don't think I will ever give up buying books altogether, but I do like my Kindle. And being able to buy new books at a substantial discount isn't so bad either!