FREE/BARGAIN: Less than $3.00 Non-Fiction Books

[GtrsRGr8]

Yes, it's a self-pub. But it's very well done, with near-professional photography throughout. But the clincher is the 4.9-star rating at Amazon and that's it's free right now. It's a must-grab for me, and a must-post for you.

Crave and Cook: Home Cooking During the Holidays. By Virginie Degryse. Rated 4.9 stars, from 37 reviews at Amazon at the present moment. Print list price N/A; digital list price $4.25; Kindle price now $0.00. Virginie Degryse, publisher. 138 pages. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01MTWULMD/.

Book Description
Recipes and advice from a Belgian mother in a California kitchen.

When I cook for my family I try to be mindful of everyone’s different taste while making sure to provide the opportunity of getting out of their comfort zone. Trying to teach my kids to be adventurous and open to new cuisine and flavor variety is a driving force for me.

A few years ago, we moved from Belgium to Los Angeles. With Whole Foods, farmer markets and fresh organic produce everywhere we turn, the local resources in this city are truly inspiring. I have always loved to cook ingredients as they are, to leave them true to their character and try not to cover them with too much spices or sauces. Moving to California has pushed me even more in that direction.

The winter flavors and Holiday dishes are my favorite. They take me back to my childhood and I am flooded with memories of family gatherings when I was a little girl. We had a routine: we would all share a house by the seaside for Christmas and New Year. My grandma would be cooking with my mom and my aunts. My cousins, brother and I would be running all over the place having a blast.

We would have a delicious dinner for Christmas Eve and then go to midnight mass. The next day, when we woke up to all the presents Santa had brought us, there would be crepes and hot chocolate with whipped cream for breakfast with Christmas carols in the background. The joy was always amplified by the food.

I keep these memories in mind when I prepare Holiday meals today. What are the new traditions of the Holidays now that we live in California? How can I merge them with my old memories to provide them with the same sensations I once had as a child?

Cooking can be scary and some people find it inaccessible. Especially during the Holidays where cooking is a part of the traditions, where you are serving more people than usual, and you’re not making your ordinary dinners! Through this book, I try to demystify Holiday cooking while showing you that delicious food can be prepared without a culinary degree or professional background. Sharing what I cook makes me as happy as showing how simple, enjoyable, and quick it can be. The more festive your table is, the easier it is to feel that sensation of Holiday joy.

[GtrsRGr8]

This book looked too interesting not to post, even though it doesn't have quite enough reviews to meet my minimum standards. The ratings that I found are so high, though, that I decided to post it anyway. Besides, there's nothing financially at risk to you if it is a clunker--the ebook is free.

My Forever Heartache: Four Years of Discovery with the Kalahari Bushmen. First edition. By Bernard Horton. Rated 4.7 stars, but from only 7 reviews at Amazon at the present moment; rated 4.20, but from only 10 ratings at GoodReads at the present moment. Print list price $48.50; digital list price $3.49; Kindle price now $0.00. Black Crake Books, publisher. 200 pages. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00I87PTF8/.

Book Description
In 1994 entrepreneur and award-winning businessman Bernard Horton decided to give up the rat race and all the trappings of wealth in order to follow his heart and live among the Bushman people of Botswana’s western Kalahari.

He bought and converted an ex-military Land Rover 101” Forward Control (known to the Bushmen as Ibope from the distinctive sound of the V8 engine), and set about driving all the way from Durban in South Africa to Maun, Botswana - still a dusty frontier town in those days.

My Forever Heartache is the fascinating story of Bernard’s four-year adventure which saw him become one with these gentle and inspirational people, who still live in harmony with mother nature as they have done for thousands of years.

[GtrsRGr8]

I don't think that there will be a better indie book (at least, I think that this book is an indie) posted today, this week, or this month than this one apparently is! I say that because of how interesting the subject matter is, how very high the ratings are, and that it's currently free. Other people must also have a high estimation of the book, too, because it is the #1 seller in one category at the Kindle Store.

This is one that I sure wish had a Whispersync deal, but it doesn't. However, if there ever is one, I've already got my copy of the Kindle ebook, so as to take advantage of it! Will you have yours?

The author, Ms. Meyendorff, is the subject of the book, also. So this tome would be considered an autobiography, or autobiographical, at least.

DP DISPLACED PERSON [But Ms Meyendorff, we really could have done without the upper case title, G]. By Margarita Meyendorff. Rated 4.9 stars, but from only 18 reviews at Amazon at the present moment; rated 5.00 at GoodReads, but from only 2 ratings. Print list price $15.95; digital list price $4.49; Kindle price now $0.00. BARONESS PUBLICATIONS, publisher. 278 pages. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01NBEHJTS/.

Book Description
The daughter of a Russian Baron, Mourka (Margarita Meyendorff) was born in a Russian displaced persons camp in Germany - far from the opulence of Imperial Russia which was her birthright.

Her father danced with Anastasia, attended balls and military schools but a series of wars destroyed this privileged existence - and her parents were themselves displaced- forced to flee the ancestral estates and run through Nazi Germany.

After the war, under Allied occupation, Mourka was born in a German Displaced Persons camp and from then on, life became a series of extraordinary moves: As a tiny immigrant girl, Margarita's first American home was the estate of an eccentric millionaire impresario which served as a temporary enclave of Russian aristocrats - given quarters in elephant stalls.Her childhood ran like a roller coaster of highs - performing as a rooster to applause for the Russian Orthodox audience and lows - coping with her traumatized and disturbed parents.

At 18, Mourka escaped to the road- most often taking to the stage where she found her natural footing, but then always on the run - moving, displaced around the US and then Europe - hitting ecstatic highs as a performer and lows in her personal life.

In her search, she tours the country as a gypsy performer in a caravan and goes from a rusted trailer back to her ancestral castle...seeking, always seeking her rightful place and some sense of peace. Can she ever "unpack" and feel she is truly at that place which always been so elusive: HOME. She carries with her a suitcase filled with documents and treasured memorabilia, her Russian legacy.

Margarita Meyendorff's journey is thrillingly personal yet universal-the journey we all take, to find our true selves and safe haven.

[GtrsRGr8]

Peeps, I've had this book in the queue, for most of the day, to post. But I've struggled long and hard, and then hard and long, about whether or not actually to go ahead and post it. Just one look at the subtitle would probably tell you why.

By posting this book, I am not trying to "push an agenda" (and I try to avoid making a post of a book for that purpose, unless I plan to balance it out with the post of a book which more-or-less advocates an opposite position or conclusion). If my effort is successful, when you read this post, you will not know what position that I take on the views of this book. Why? Well, keep in mind that when people or groups come out and say exactly what they believe or advocate, sometimes it "turns people off," more than it convinces people. Sometimes people are all too glad to let you know exactly what a group or person believes, because they know that it will be damaging, and not helpful or productive, for that person or group. That very well could be the case here.

I have a bookmark in my web browser to check this website, called unglue.it, every day. I think that it was today in which the following book was posted. I don't that that all of the books on unglue.it are free, but it appears that those which aren't on on unglue.it's bucket list to get the funding to make them free. From what little that I know about the organization which runs this website, they come up with money, from donors, to offer to copyright holders of books in order to convince them to let their books be made available for free on unglue.it's website, via a Creative Commons license. And, if I understand it correctly, when they offer a book free, it is not a deal-of-the-day kind of thing--here today, and gone tomorrow, but unglue.it continues to offer the book free either permanently or indefinitely. You can find, on unglue.it's homepage a portal, of sorts, to the free ebooks that they have featured in the past, and are still available free at this time.

Just because these books on unglue.it are free on that website does not mean that they will be free elsewhere. For example, the least expensive copy at Amazon of this book in any format would run you about 18 bucks. It apparently is not available in any digital format, at Amazon at least, at any price.

Oh, let me add that the stated author, Sage-Femme Collective, appears not be a real publisher even though they describe themselves that way (see the title page). When I Googled Sage-Femme Collective, in fact, all that I saw were hits about this book! Doing a little further research, I noticed that this group is "an anonymous group of professional researchers, herbalists, and individuals involved in the women's self-help movement." That's why this book is not posted on the Non-Fiction thread, but posted on a thread in which self-published books are allowed.

Here's the post.

Title: Natural Liberty: Rediscovering Self-Induced Abortion Methods.
Format(s): Kindle mobi; PDF.
Author(s): Sage-Femme Collective.
Publisher: Sage-Femme Collective.
Pages: 464 (source: Amazon.com).
Ebook Rating/Number of Reviews (Amazon): 4.3 stars/8 reviews; 4.8/10 ratings at GoodReads.
Price: $0.00.
Lowest Price at (or through Amazon) if available from there: $17.95 ($13.96 + $3.99 shipping).
Book Description (Amazon):
Natural Liberty is a detailed, well documented guide for women and scholars - outlining the history, mythology, and methods of self-induced abortion, featuring: pharmaceutical drug abortion, menstrual extraction, forty plants used historically to induce abortion, homeopathy, acupuncture, massage, yoga, and more.
Comments: I believe this to be a legal free download based upon the fact that it is offered free, under a Creative Commons license, from the website unglue.it.
URL: https://unglue.it/ (Click on "Read It Now").

[GA Russell]

Last Word - Mark Lane - $1.99
https://www.amazon.com/Last-Word-Ind...dp/B0063J8HRK/

[GtrsRGr8]

Looks like a great book, especially to be a self-pub (but the author, Alastair Humphreys, is an established one). And it's free at the present moment. That makes it a must-post and a must-buy.

But, I'm sorry, if I ever travel to India, I'm not going to be sleeping under the stars. Not with some 50 different venomous snakes there.

There Are Other Rivers. By Alastair Humphreys. Rated 4.7 stars, from 36 reviews at the present moment at Amazon. Print list price $7.75; digital list price $5.99; Kindle price now $0.00. Self-published. 128 pages. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B006BJ5E1E/.

Book Description
Alastair Humphreys walked across India, from the Coromandel Coast to the Malabar Coast, following the course of a holy river.

Walking alone and spending the nights sleeping under the stars, in the homes of welcoming strangers or in small towns and villages, he experienced the dusty enchantment of ordinary, real India on the smallest of budgets.

There Are Other Rivers tells the story of the walk through an account of a single day as well as reflecting on the allure of difficult journeys and the eternal appeal of the open road.

[GA Russell]

Amazing Tales from the Chicago Bears Sideline - 99 cents
https://www.amazon.com/Amazing-Tales...dp/B0061LVHNQ/

[GA Russell]

Beer Money - Frances Stroh - $1.99
https://www.amazon.com/Beer-Money-Me...dp/B013PKDSI2/

[GA Russell]

Hidden History - $1.99
https://www.amazon.com/Hidden-Histor...dp/B01KEL9Z82/

*****

Mossad - free
https://www.amazon.com/Mossad-Hidden...dp/B01NCMLARA/

*****

Partners in Crime - Jerome Corsi - $2.99
https://www.amazon.com/Partners-Crim...dp/B01JBKHHKK/

[GA Russell]

Empty Mansions - $1.99
https://www.amazon.com/Empty-Mansion...dp/B00CK8CJOU/

*****

Spam Nation - $1.99
https://www.amazon.com/Spam-Nation-O...dp/B00L5QGBL0/

*****

Pancakes in Paris - $1.99
https://www.amazon.com/Pancakes-Pari...dp/B01ENNQ22O/

*****

A Night to Remember - $1.99
https://www.amazon.com/A-Night-Remem...dp/B0078X73B6/

*****

Called to Controversy - $2.99
https://www.amazon.com/Called-Contro...dp/B005ENB9Y4/

*****

My Sixty Years on the Plains - 99 cents
https://www.amazon.com/My-Sixty-Year...dp/B00NGOXLMG/

[GA Russell]

The Life and Adventures of James P. Beckwourth - 99 cents
https://www.amazon.com/Life-Adventur...dp/B01IQAA7RG/

[GA Russell]

Benjamin Graham, The Father of Financial Analysis - free
https://www.amazon.com/Benjamin-Grah...dp/B0055OC50Y/

[GA Russell]

Notes from a Small Island - Bill Bryson - $1.99
https://www.amazon.com/Notes-Small-I...dp/B00T3DR5A8/

*****

The Network - $1.99
https://www.amazon.com/Network-Battl...dp/B00NVL18AG/

*****

Edith Stein - free
https://www.amazon.com/Edith-Stein-P...dp/B00BPK0ICY/

*****

The Government Against the Economy - 99 cents
https://www.amazon.com/Government-Ag...dp/B0090QQH3E/

*****

Weekend Homesteader: December - 99 cents
https://www.amazon.com/Weekend-Homes...dp/B006A8S73S/

[GtrsRGr8]

Originally Posted by GA Russell

Notes from a Small Island - Bill Bryson - $1.99
https://www.amazon.com/Notes-Small-I...dp/B00T3DR5A8/
<snip>

Looks like a good one. 4.1 stars at Amazon; 3.91 at GoodReads. What might be even more telling is that there are 67,055+ ratings at GoodReads; I don't know that I've ever seen a book with that many. Maybe it's required reading for some school courses or something, but I still don't see how there could be that many ratings even from that. People must be buying it for other reasons, too, like because of recommendations from friends and things.

The "island" that the title is talking about is Great Britain. The book is written in humor. It's a must-buy for me, but only when I can catch it as an inexpensive audiobook.

Thanks for the post.

[GtrsRGr8]

Originally Posted by GA Russell

<snip>
The Network - $1.99
https://www.amazon.com/Network-Battl...dp/B00NVL18AG/
<snip>

I might piggyback off of your post--the book's highly rated, and the Whispersync deal would be only $5.98.

Of course, if someone else would like to post it (on the Audiobooks thread), please be my guest. I don't know if I'll have time today to get to it.