FREE/BARGAIN - General Fiction, Literature - 2014

[Froide]

Too many overlapping threads is confusing. This one's title's broader and clearer than one that already exists, and since this new thread doesn't yet list any titles, I've placed a mod request to close this one and rename the existing "Free and Bargain People & Cultures - Fiction" thread "FREE/BARGAIN - General Fiction & Literature". FYI, I also emailed this thread's originator (GtrsRGr8) about this.

[GtrsRGr8]

Barnes & Noble has a sale going on now, under the rubric "101 NOOK Books Under $2.99." The linky is http://www.barnesandnoble.com/u/eboo...ess/379003856?.

Most of the books are fiction; therefore, I've put this information about the sale in the general fiction thread.

I am not a "fiction guy," so I don't have personal knowledge of whether or not any of the books on sale are good ones. But many of them have good ratings.

I hesitate to purchase from B&N now, to be honest with you, because of their very recent change in policy to where you are not allowed to download ebooks anymore that you've acquired from them. You are able only to read them on their proprietary readers now. If you are not aware of this development and want to read up on it, you can read about it ad nauseum here: https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=246519.

I'm making this post because you may not share my scruples about dealing with B&N. Too, you might be interested in seeing what's on sale and then checking with Amazon or wherever to see if they're matching prices if you find ebooks that you are interested in.

[Froide]

Posted entry in "People and Cultures - Fiction" thread, which should soon subsume this thread and take its title: "General Fiction and Literature".

[Froide]

Herland
by Charlotte Perkins Gilman

Free at:

• Amazon.com
• BN.com
• Probably free at Kobo.com, too

Overview:
A landmark of feminist science fiction

Three students of sociology journey into an uncharted region of South America to put to rest the rumors that an all-female civilization lives there. Impossible, they tell themselves: How would such a society reproduce? And even if they magically overcame that obstacle, women certainly could not survive in the middle of the jungle without men to protect them and tell them what to do.

Not only does an all-female village exist, it is one of the most advanced civilizations on record. The women are strong and kind, pragmatic and creative, wise and happy. They have two thousand years’ worth of remarkable history. As the three explorers learn how Herland came to be, they start to question everything they thought they knew about “the fairer sex.”

With its groundbreaking blend of science fiction and feminism, Herland paved the way for authors such as Margaret Atwood and Octavia E. Butler.

Describes a society of women discovered by three male explorers who are now forced to reexamine their assumptions about women's roles in society.

[cromag]

Originally Posted by GtrsRGr8

...
I hesitate to purchase from B&N now, to be honest with you, because of their very recent change in policy to where you are not allowed to download ebooks anymore that you've acquired from them. You are able only to read them on their proprietary readers now. If you are not aware of this development and want to read up on it, you can read about it ad nauseum here: https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=246519.
...

You can still download the ebooks, just not directly through the browser (which was very convenient). If you have a PC or Android app you can get them that way, and even files that are downloaded via the Android app are Alf-able -- or, at least, they were the last time I checked.

Also, if you get the GreaseMonkey script (mentioned in that thread, I believe) you can still download through the browser.

I think that B&N's decision ranks somewhere between foolish and arrogant, but it can be alleviated.

[samosa]

Free on Amazon UK
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Starter-Ten-...dp/B004GHN2OE/

Starter for Ten by David Nicholls, who also wrote the very popular novel One Day.

[Dr. Drib]

I'm in the process of merging the two threads and renaming them.

Give me a moment to do all this.


Don
(Moderator)

[Dr. Drib]

To summarize:

The earlier title, Free and Bargain People & Cultures - Fiction has been merged with a newer thread and the entire thread is now titled FREE/BARGAIN - General Fiction & Literature [2014].

This will have a broader appeal and, in my opinion, will attract a wider response-base.

This has been done because members pivotal to the creation of these two threads have asked for it, and also because of the reasons stated in the previous paragraph.

Please address further comments to the FEEDBACK forum, where issues can be further mulled over, if necessary.

Thank you.




Don (Moderator)

[ATDrake]

2 Chinese culture fiction bargains from Open Road Media for $1.99 each, couponable @ Kobo where I picked them up (and thus, linkage provided there, but will be price-matched at other stores if you have a preference):

Golden Lilies by Kwei Li, a noblewoman of the 19th century, supposedly originally translated by Elizabeth Cooper, and edited by popular women's fiction novelist Eileen Goudge, with art by Zhang Qing. This is a revamped version of a public domain book, My Lady of the Chinese Courtyard, from 1914, which can be found @ Project Gutenberg, but Goudge has made minor updates to the text for modern readers and commissioned a new set of woodcut illustrations from a modern Chinese artist working in the traditional style, as well as providing an introduction with as much as can be recounted about Kwei Li's real life (apparently there's some doubt as to whether the letters this is translated from really existed, or Cooper was just writing epistolary historical fiction without disclosing it to anyone).

This is on sale just through Oct 7th, according to the Open Road newsletter.

Century-old letters tell a story of timeless love in a vanished country

First translated by American scholar Elizabeth Cooper in 1914 and published as My Lady of the Chinese Courtyard, this haunting collection of letters was out of print until discovered by bestselling author Eileen Goudge. In its pages she found the story of Kwei-li, a noblewoman of nineteenth-century China.

In rich, elegant detail, Kwei-li writes of passionate love for a man whom she first meets on their wedding day. She navigates the difficulties of homemaking and motherhood, becoming a confident wife as her happy home is threatened by the forces of change that are sweeping the nation. Enhanced with beautiful new illustrations, this is a timeless chronicle of a strong woman’s struggle against the onset of modernity.

Peony: A Novel of China by Nobel Prize-winner Pearl S. Buck (Wikipedia), historical literary fiction about a Chinese girl who goes to work as a servant for a Jewish family in Kaifeng, originally out in 1948.

The Nobel Prize–winning author’s perceptive fable of cross-cultural passions in nineteenth-century China

In 1850s China, a young girl, Peony, is sold to work as a bondmaid for a rich Jewish family in Kaifeng. Jews have lived for centuries in this region of the country, but by the mid-nineteenth century, assimilation has begun taking its toll on their small enclave. When Peony and the family’s son, David, grow up and fall in love with one another, they face strong opposition from every side. Tradition forbids the marriage, and the family already has a rabbi’s daughter in mind for David.

Long celebrated for its subtle and even-handed treatment of colliding traditions, Peony is an engaging coming-of-age story about love, identity, and the tragedy and beauty found at the intersection of two disparate cultures.

This one comes with added historical notes in the back and one of ORM's standard illustrated author biographies.

There's another Pearl S. Buck title on sale for $1.99 as well, this one a then-contemporary plain literary fiction:

This Proud Heart: A Novel, originally out in 1938.

As her second marriage approaches, a brilliant and independent sculptor faces tensions between her art and everyday life

This Proud Heart narrates the experience of a gifted sculptor and her struggle to reconcile her absorbing career with society’s domestic expectations. Susan Gaylord is talented, loving, equipped with a strong moral sense, and adept at anything she puts her hand to, from housework to playing the piano to working with marble and clay. But the intensity of her artistic calling comes at a price, isolating her from other people—at times, even from her own family. When her husband dies and she remarries, she finds herself once again comparing the sacrifice of solitude to that of commitment. With a heroine who is naturalistic yet compellingly larger than life, This Proud Heart is incomparable in its sympathetic study of character.

Both of the Buck novels have been discounted since the beginning of October, though I've no idea how long they'll stay on sale, so I'll probably be picking up TPH Real Soon Now as long as I don't end up disliking the writing in Peony for some reason or other.

[GtrsRGr8]

Originally Posted by cromag

You can still download the ebooks, just not directly through the browser (which was very convenient). If you have a PC or Android app you can get them that way, and even files that are downloaded via the Android app are Alf-able -- or, at least, they were the last time I checked.

Also, if you get the GreaseMonkey script (mentioned in that thread, I believe) you can still download through the browser.

I think that B&N's decision ranks somewhere between foolish and arrogant, but it can be alleviated.

Genuine thanks for the correction/clarification.

I think that I remember seeing something about that on the forum that I referenced. Not having a tablet (the closest that I have to it is an original Kindle. ack!), I don't think in terms of what I can do with an iPad, the Android OS, etc., etc., and so didn't think about that. I'm not into hacking (well, except when I have a cold with a bad cough. ha). I basically have only the PC's and the browsers. For me, for all intents and purposes, the Nook books are not downloadable anymore.

Hacking reminded me of something funny that I've got to share. There is a sign company just down the street from me called "Hacker Signs." They had a large sign on the side of their building with "HACKER" on it. Mark Zuckerberg (yeah, the Facebook person) found out about it, paid the sign guy tens of thousands of dollars for the sign, which could probably have been built for a couple of thousand dollars. (A question that I had was "Is or was Zuckerberg a hacker???" Too, why would he want to advertise it, regardless of whether or not he is or was one?) Folks, that's called "having money to burn." Oh, about the sign guy and his sign, he just put up another sign just like it, probably costing him a couple of thousand dollars or so, on the side of his building again. TRUE story.
________________________________________________
For me, it's no longer the Nook books, but the Nook boo's.

[peachiekene]

I can vouch that if you have the nook study program, that you are still able to download through there (if it is working for you).
I certainly don't recommend the program (super slow and clunky), but it DOES work.

I avoid going through them even for free books if at all possible these days.

[GtrsRGr8]

Originally Posted by peachiekene

I can vouch that if you have the nook study program, that you are still able to download through there (if it is working for you).
I certainly don't recommend the program (super slow and clunky), but it DOES work.

I avoid going through them even for free books if at all possible these days.

Thanks. I'll try to file that away in my memory (in my head).

If it hasn't been mentioned in the thread that I referenced, maybe you would want to mention it there, too.

[Froide]

Originally Posted by Dr. Drib

To summarize:

The earlier title, Free and Bargain People & Cultures - Fiction has been merged with a newer thread and the entire thread is now titled FREE/BARGAIN - General Fiction & Literature [2014].

This will have a broader appeal and, in my opinion, will attract a wider response-base.

This has been done because members pivotal to the creation of these two threads have asked for it, and also because of the reasons stated in the previous paragraph.

Please address further comments to the FEEDBACK forum, where issues can be further mulled over, if necessary.

Thank you.




Don (Moderator)

Thank you, Don!

[Dr. Drib]

Now a sticky!


Don
(Moderator)

[Froide]

Today's Open Road Media freebie:

One of Ours
by Willa Cather

• At Amazon.com (soon)
• At BN.com
• Probably at Kobo.com, too

Overview:

Willa Cather (1873-1947) was awarded the 1922 Pulitzer Prize for this stirring novel about World War I. She brings to life the simple Nebraska farm folk and their tranquil rural lifestyle, showing how the Great War, seemingly so far away on the Old Continent, eventually touches them all. Protagonist Claude Wheeler, a strong, healthy farm boy, is physically typical of his sturdy sodbuster family and hard-working neighbors. But mentally the boy has little in common with their narrow outlooks, and the limited horizons of his parochial community make him restless and filled with a barely suppressed discontent. When the United States finally enters the conflict in Europe, Claude is one of the first to enlist, seeing purpose, adventure, and commitment to some larger ideals in the call to arms.

One of Ours is a memorable testament to the shattering effects of war on youth and ideals, a powerful depiction of mechanized battle and the war's life-changing effects on one Nebraska farm boy and the people he left behind.