FREE/BARGAIN - Non-Fiction - 2014

[GtrsRGr8]

Originally Posted by ATDrake

. . . .
IIRC the last time you said something like this you said you were also looking for more info on better Windows TTS options?

This round-up article is . . . .

Thanks, again, for some info on TTS.

Right now, I'm just listening to audio with professional narration. Maybe I can get to the point where I can at least tolerate non-professional narration, like that from LibriVox, and TTS. I know that I'm missing out on a lot of good stuff by limiting myself to audio with professional narration. It's exciting to think about how using TTS anything(?) in text can be converted to something that I can listen to. Wow! Your posts will be a good resource "if and when."

[itisbomb]

A People's History of the United States: 1492 to Present
by Howard Zinn

is $2.99 at

Kobo http://store.kobobooks.com/en-US/ebo...-united-states

Amazon http://www.amazon.com/Peoples-Histor...+united+states

Below is the blurb:
Since its original landmark publication in 1980, A People's History of the United States has been chronicling American history from the bottom up, throwing out the official version of history taught in schools–with its emphasis on great men in high places–to focus on the street, the home, and the workplace.
Known for its lively, clear prose as well as its scholarly research, A People's History is the only volume to tell America's story from the point of view of–and in the words of–America's women, factory workers, African Americans, Native Americans, working poor, and immigrant laborers. As historian Howard Zinn shows, many of our country's greatest battles–for a fair wage, an eight-hour workday, child-labor laws, health and safety standards, universal suffrage, women's rights, racial equality–were carried out at the grassroots level, against bloody resistance. Covering Christopher Columbus's arrival through the 2000 Election and the "war on terrorism," A People's History of the United States, which was nominated for the American Book Award in 1981 and has sold more than one million copies, features insightful analysis of the most important events in our history.

[Difflugia]

The Open Road edition of Twelve Years a Slave by Solomon Northrup is free today.
B&N Amazon

It's in the public domain in the US (and probably everywhere), so there are lots of other editions available for free if you miss this one.

[KyBunnies]

I am going to try Balabolka. Maybe I can get caught up on my TBR list I have for this year. I am going with the British voice. I hope it is a good one lol

Thanks ATDrake for the links.

Thanks GtrsRGr8 for mentioning how you would like a TTS program.

[Little.Egret]

Blenheim: Battle for Europe, How Two Men Stopped The French Conquest Of Europe by Charles Spencer

By the summer of 1704 Louis XIV's vast armies threatened to dominate Europe.
Two men conspired to save the continent from French rule: John Churchill, Duke of Marlborough, and Prince Eugène of Savoy.
Deep in Germany, these two committed allies sought to engage Louis's superior forces.
At Blenheim, their daring plans came to fruition.
The French were utterly destroyed.

Endeavour Press

Charles Spencer was educated at Eton College and obtained his degree in Modern History at Magdalen College, Oxford. He is the author of five books, 'Killers of the King: The Men Who Dared to Execute Charles I', ‘The Spencer Family’ and ‘Prince Rupert: The Last Cavalier’.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00PB648Q0/

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00PB648Q0/
http://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B00PB648Q0/

[GtrsRGr8]

The subject of this book, one concerning the United States Civil War, is of special interest to me. Both my mother and father's side of the family were from the Deep South. However, many of both my mother and father's ancestors happened to have been from areas in which there were strong Union sympathies before and during the Civil War.

Maybe you will find the subject of this book interesting, too, for your own reasons. I know one thing--many people in the United States never seem to tire of hearing and reading about the U.S. Civil War.

This book is marked down 98%, by the way that Amazon calculates it. What a great bargain

Reluctant Confederates: Upper South Unionists in the Secession Crisis (Fred W. Morrison Series in Southern Studies). By Daniel W. Crofts. Rated 5 stars, but from only 3 reviews at the present moment. Print list price $41.95; digital list price $29.99; Kindle price now $0.90. 531 pages. The University of North Carolina Press, publisher. http://www.amazon.com/Reluctant-Conf...ern+Studies%29.

Book Description
Daniel Crofts examines Unionists in three pivotal southern states--Virginia, North Carolina, and Tennessee--and shows why the outbreak of the war enabled the Confederacy to gain the allegiance of these essential, if ambivalent, governments.

"Crofts's study focuses on Virginia, North Carolina, and Tennessee, but it includes analyses of the North and Deep South as well. As a result, his volume presents the views of all parties to the sectional conflict and offers a vivid portrait of the interaction between them."--American Historical Review

"Refocuses our attention on an important but surprisingly neglected group--the Unionists of the upper South during the secession crisis, who have been too readily ignored by other historians."--Journal of Southern History

[GtrsRGr8]

This is about something that I don't think that I've ever heard of before. I'm not even sure that I understand it (but I'm not sure that I even want to understand it (ha)). But because of my desire to have posts always on the cutting edge (ha), I'm posting it now.

This title also has the dubious honor of being a strong contender for the "Strange Book of the Day" post. (ha)

Twee: The Gentle Revolution in Music, Books, Television, Fashion, and Film. By Marc Spitz. Rated 4 stars, but from only 9 reviews at the present moment. Print list price $16.99; digital (list?) price $8.89; Kindle price now $0.99. 355 pages. It Books, publisher. http://www.amazon.com/Twee-Gentle-Re...on%2C+and+Film.

Book Description
New York Times, Spin, and Vanity Fair contributor Marc Spitz explores the first great cultural movement since Hip Hop: an old-fashioned and yet highly modern aesthetic that’s embraced internationally by teens, twenty and thirty-somethings and even some Baby Boomers; creating hybrid generation known as Twee. Via exclusive interviews and years of research, Spitz traces Generation Twee’s roots from the Post War 50s to its dominance in popular culture today.

Vampire Weekend, Garden State, Miranda July, Belle and Sebastian, Wes Anderson, Mumblecore, McSweeney’s, Morrissey, beards, artisanal pickles, food trucks, crocheted owls on Etsy, ukuleles, kittens and Zooey Deschanel—all are examples of a cultural aesthetic of calculated precocity known as Twee.

In Twee, journalist and cultural observer Marc Spitz surveys the rising Twee movement in music, art, film, fashion, food and politics and examines the cross-pollinated generation that embodies it—from aging hipsters to nerd girls, indie snobs to idealistic industrialists. Spitz outlines the history of twee—the first strong, diverse, and wildly influential youth movement since Punk in the ’70s and Hip Hop in the ’80s—showing how awkward glamour and fierce independence has become part of the zeitgeist.

Focusing on its origins and hallmarks, he charts the rise of this trend from its forefathers like Disney, Salinger, Plath, Seuss, Sendak, Blume and Jonathan Richman to its underground roots in the post-punk United Kingdom, through the late’80s and early ’90s of K Records, Whit Stillman, Nirvana, Wes Anderson, Pitchfork, This American Life, and Belle and Sebastian, to the current (and sometimes polarizing) appeal of Girls, Arcade Fire, Rookie magazine, and hellogiggles.com.

Revealing a movement defined by passionate fandom, bespoke tastes, a rebellious lack of irony or swagger, the championing of the underdog, and the vanquishing of bullies, Spitz uncovers the secrets of modern youth culture: how Twee became pervasive, why it has so many haters and where, in a post-Portlandia world, can it go from here?

[GtrsRGr8]

I'm on a roll.

People can't seem to get enough of World War II, either. I'm one of them. This book should be fascinating.

Hitler's Last Secretary: A Firsthand Account of Life with Hitler. By Traudl Junge; Melissa Muller (Editor). Rated 4 1/2 stars from 112 reviews at the present moment. Print list price $14.95; digital list price $9.99; Kindle price now $1.99. 272 pages. http://www.amazon.com/Hitlers-Last-S...fe+with+Hitler.

Book Description
In 1942 Germany, Traudl Junge was a young woman with dreams of becoming a ballerina when she was offered the chance of a lifetime. At the age of twenty-two she became private secretary to Adolf Hitler and served him for two and a half years, right up to the bitter end. Junge observed the intimate workings of Hitler’s administration, she typed correspondence and speeches, including Hitler’s public and private last will and testament; she ate her meals and spent evenings with him; and she was close enough to hear the bomb that was intended to assassinate Hitler in the Wolf’s Lair, close enough to smell the bitter almond odor of Eva Braun’s cyanide pill. In her intimate, detailed memoir, Junge invites readers to experience day-to-day life with the most horrible dictator of the twentieth century.

[koland]

http://www.amazon.com/s/?url=search-...lisher=Nisyros

and

http://www.amazon.com/s/?url=search-...lisher=Waxkeep

[itisbomb]

The Storm of War
by Andrew Roberts

is $3.99 at Amazon and other stores.

http://www.amazon.com/Storm-War-Hist...s=storm+of+war

Below is the blurb:
Andrew Roberts's acclaimed new history has been hailed as the finest single-volume account of this epic conflict. From the western front to North Africa, from the Baltic to the Far East, he tells the story of the war—the grand strategy and the individual experience, the brutality and the heroism—as never before.

Meticulously researched and masterfully written, The Storm of War illuminates the war's principal actors, revealing how their decisions shaped the course of the conflict. Along the way, Roberts presents tales of the many lesser-known individuals whose experiences form a panoply of the courage and self-sacrifice, as well as the depravity and cruelty, of the Second World War.

[GtrsRGr8]

Packt Publishing has begun a sale of every one of its ebooks. Packt is a publisher of technical computer/Internet titles.

Here's part of the blurb:
"The $5 eBook Bonanza is here!
Treat yourself to the eBook or Video of your choice for just $5 and get as many as you like until January 6th 2015. To get you started, we've put together the Top 20 Titles of 2014 for you to pick up here. But don’t forget, you can get ANY eBook or Video for $5 in this offer."

Perhaps needlessly to say, the retail price of these ebooks is much higher than $5. For example, one book that I was looking at is currently a $25.69 Kindle at Amazon.

Here's the link: https://www.packtpub.com/packt5dollar.

[GtrsRGr8]

Charles River Editors has a new group of 7 free titles today.

They are:
- The Sand Creek Massacre: The History and Legacy of One of the Indian Wars' Most Notorious Events.
- Mount Rushmore: The History and Legacy of America's Most Unique Monument.
- Legends of the Enlightenment: The Life and Legacy of Jean Jacques Rousseau.
- The Brooklyn Bridge: The History of New York City's Most Famous Bridge.
- The Storming of the Bastille: The History and Legacy of the Most Famous Flashpoint of the French Revolution.
- The Mutiny on the Bounty: The History and Legacy of Great Britain's Most Notorious Mutiny.

Get them here.

I've only known Charles River Editor free titles to be available for a day only, and I think that they expire at or around midnight Eastern Time (U.S.). I regret that I'm posting these so late in the day--I just came across them.

[koland]

Originally Posted by GtrsRGr8

Packt Publishing has begun a sale of every one of its ebooks. Packt is a publisher of technical computer/Internet titles.
...

Did anyone manage to pick up Getting Started with MariaDB when it was free a few days ago? I'd like to know if it is any good/worth picking up on the sale.

Feel free to reply via PM.

[Gudy]

Originally Posted by GtrsRGr8

Charles River Editors has a new group of 7 free titles today.

"Most Unique"?! And they call themselves editors?

Also, if you're going by the rest of them, the subtitle for "Legends of the Enlightenment" should be something like "The Life and Legacy of the Most Notorious Jean Jacques Rousseau"...

[GtrsRGr8]

Chronicle Books is having a sale on about 15 ebooks in the category of "Inspiring Ebooks." What they call "Inspiring Books" includes cookbooks (there are a half a dozen or more of them).

The webpage telling about this sale says that the ebooks sell for as little as $.99 each. I checked the list and there is, indeed, one which sells for $.99. There are no ebooks over $3.99.

They advertise the sale as a "75% off" sale. That is hard to understand, however, because many (maybe most) of the books are marked down quite a bit more than this. For example, there is at least one book that I see that is 85% off. I may be missing something (please, no wisecracks. ha).