FREE/BARGAIN — Non-Fiction

[GtrsRGr8]

Originally Posted by Little.Egret

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-fiction_novel

The non-fiction novel is a literary genre which, broadly speaking, depicts real historical figures and actual events woven together with fictitious conversations and uses the storytelling techniques of fiction. The non-fiction novel is an otherwise loosely defined and flexible genre. The genre is sometimes referred to using the slang term "faction", a portmanteau of the words fact and fiction.
==

Quite a lot of James Michener too

American author of more than 40 books, most of which were fictional, lengthy family sagas covering the lives of many generations in particular geographic locales and incorporating solid history.
==

I have a name that I use to refer to it, too. But I can't repeat it in polite company. Just kidding.

Let me quickly try to redeem myself for that last paragraph. I have a lot of respect for outstanding writers of that kind of fiction. It takes a huge amount of research to write an historical novel like you described--one that is true to details, "true to life," that could have actually happened, but didn't actually happen. It might take almost as much research to write one of those as an actual history. Maybe more, because in addition to engaging in research about things, down even to the minutiae, the authors have to invent an interesting, cohesive story. Without ever having tried to do it, I still know that that must be an enormous challenge.

I still don't care to read historical fiction. In the way of a story, I want to read something that really, really happened.

I've actually dipped my toes in the historical fiction subgenre a time or two. Once I even started reading Michener's Alaska. It is a historical novel, set in--you guessed it--Alaska. The time was the late 1700's or early 1800's or so (just before Seward's Folly," in which the U.S. Secretary of State under Abraham Lincoln so "foolishly" bought from Russia the "worthless" piece of property that is Alaska). But the book was just too long for my short attention span. I gave up on it after about pages. But I learned some things). I am amazed at the details that Michener had at his command.

I think that the subgenre that you're talking about is the one that tubemonkey (rest his soul ) simply called "historical," when describing the genre/subgenre of audiobook historical novels.

(Sorry to be so talkative. I'll blame it on what was is now an empty cup, sitting next to me, that just a few minutes ago was filled nearly to the brim with espresso. I'm wired. I need to calm down, get out of the house, and go somewhere--maybe the 24-hour Walmart down the street. No, on second thought, I'm not that desperate).

[ludovicus]

Originally Posted by GtrsRGr8

Yeah, I "bought" it myself, assuming that it was non-fiction (I "never" buy fiction), because of all of the cues that I look for.

Interestingly, on the book's webpage is this:
Amazon Best Sellers Rank:
. . . .
#1 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > History > Military > Aviation
#6 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Genre Fiction > War
#90 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Nonfiction

The middle one is, no doubt, the one that you made reference to?

Amazon lists the genre on top of the book cover:

Originally Posted by GtrsRGr8

Personally, I don't want any works of fiction contaminating my computer.

Nor do I!

[GtrsRGr8]

Okay. Thanks. I'll check it out in a few minutes. I didn't see the genre info on the image that you sent of the book, though.

[GtrsRGr8]

Okay. I saw it. But in the image that I got, the info was above the image of the cover. That may have been what you wrote--I'm having to get by with just a smartphone (again. Aarrggh!).

If it's fiction, how did it get to be big seller in a non-fiction category? Anyone have a theory? I have one.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by GtrsRGr8

If it's fiction, how did it get to be big seller in a non-fiction category? Anyone have a theory? I have one.

It's the publisher, not Amazon, who puts the book into one or more categories. Huge numbers of books are miscategorised.

[GtrsRGr8]

Originally Posted by HarryT

It's the publisher, not Amazon, who puts the book into one or more categories. Huge numbers of books are miscategorised.

Didn't realize. Thanks for the insight.

But will the genre info above the book image be prone to that problem, too?

[GtrsRGr8]

I've got good news, and I've bad news.

The good news is that I know of _thousands_ of ebooks marked down right now (counting Logos' sale). The bad news is that I know of thousands of ebooks marked down right now.

I'm thankful to have the opportunity to buy some very good books at good and very good prices. But, it seems like I have spent almost all of the week up to now, looking over marked down ebooks.

Let me get to the nitty gritty, because the espresso from last night has just about worn off. Our sometimes friends at Palgrave currently have 2,548 books, all of which are marked down to.$15 and 15 pounds. It may be that some of the books are not available in an ebook form. That may not seem like very good deals until you realize that some of.the ebooks retail for over $100 each.

Follow the link below to check into those ebooks. The "deal of the day" can be seen, following that link, also.

I've got to get some shuteye.

https://www.palgrave.com/us/shop/cyb...cw18e_Textlink

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by GtrsRGr8

Didn't realize. Thanks for the insight.

But will the genre info above the book image be prone to that problem, too?

Yes, it's just the "breadcrumbs" of the genre path.

[Apache]

Originally Posted by HarryT

It's the publisher, not Amazon, who puts the book into one or more categories. Huge numbers of books are miscategorised.

I wish the sellers were able to enforce the correct categorizing of ebooks. They should only be allowed one major category a couple of secondary categories. Some of them are so bad it's embarrassing.
Apache

[KyBunnies]

Originally Posted by Apache

I wish the sellers were able to enforce the correct categorizing of ebooks. They should only be allowed one major category a couple of secondary categories. Some of them are so bad it's embarrassing.
Apache

I so agree. Read a book that was categorized as non fiction, mystery. Turns out it was paranormal, fiction. Called author/publisher out and was blacklisted by the publisher as a problem reader and told to never request ARC's again.

[GtrsRGr8]

Shuteye accomplished. It's time to get back to work perusing sale books.

I failed to mention, but it is on the webpage that I linked to above--the sale extends a nice length--it doesn't end until November 26.

[GtrsRGr8]

Deleted. Done partly by the computer, for some reason, and the remainder of it, by me, intentionally. G

[GtrsRGr8]

Now that I've caught your attention . . . .

You can get the book Band Smart: Succeed in the Music Business on Your Own Terms, by Martin Atkins, [B]free[/B,] in digital form. It appears to be the complete, published book by that name, not something with that name that someone threw together from parts of the real thing, in order to have an "ebook" to give away.

This must be a difficult book to find in the used book market right now. There is only one copy--a paperback--that I found for sale on Amazon, and it really is priced at $707.00.

Atkins is also the primary author of a book called Tour Smart: And Break the Band.

The description:
Get inside Martin Atkins’ head–for FREE! Everything you need to know about being in a band and succeeding on your own terms.

It’s safe to say Martin Atkins knows his stuff. He helped shape the post-punk industrial sound, toured the world playing gigs, and now you can pick up on what he learned throughout his career with a FREE copy of his book.

Band:Smart is complete with insightful tips on just about everything an indie musician needs to know, including:
- 3 simple rules to “making it”
- Top 10 rules for better songwriting
- What a promoter wants to hear to book you
- Making merch on no budget
- And A LOT more

Here's the link where you can download the ebook. If, for some reason, that link doesn't work, try this one.

They will ask you to submit some personal information before you download the ebook, but it's not too onerous. You can get the ebook in any format that you want--as long as it's PDF.

The download seems to be sponsored, primarily at least, by the Disc Makers company. Please show your appreciation to them for their freebie, by buying something from them if you can.

[sufue]

Two "briefs" by The Economist magazine (or newspaper, for the Brits) are free right now at the Economist store. One is 23 pages and the other is 16 pages, so they are short. Both relate to "liberalism", but in the classic economic sense of the word, as you'd expect from The Economist, not in the divisive political sense of "liberal vs. conservative" politics today. Unfortunately, the briefs come in PDF format only. But they are free!

link to website showing both titles: https://shop.economist.com/collections/liberalism-pdfs

Philosophy Briefs: Liberalism's greatest thinkers

Spoiler:

A collection of briefs on liberalism's greatest thinkers and why they still matter

TO MARK The Economist’s 175th anniversary, our writers and our audience have collaborated on a collection of briefs called “Liberalism’s greatest thinkers”.

Liberals are in the market for new ideas. For roughly 30 years, they ran the world. Starting in the early 1980s, free markets, globalisation and individual freedoms flourished. Liberalism—in this broad, classical sense, rather than the narrow, American, left-of-centre one—saw off communism as well as social conservatism.

Then, in the crash of 2008, it all fell apart. The financial crisis unleashed economic austerity and the rise of populism. Liberals, in charge of government and the banks, got the blame. They have been paralysed ever since.

One source of new ideas is the past. The offerings of old liberal thinkers still hold lessons; it is the job of this collection of briefs to highlight them.

Our writers have produced six essays on the great liberal thinkers of yesteryear, from libertarians such as Robert Nozick to interventionists such as John Maynard Keynes. To supplement these pieces we share a reading list of 11 more liberal thinkers and their most important works, which has been augmented by the suggestions of our readers. In six weeks, we received nearly 900 responses, suggesting over 300 different thinkers, from readers all around the world. The most popular names ranged from philosophers and politicians, to columnists and poets.

John Stuart Mill: Tyranny of the majority
Alexis de Toqueville The French exception
John Maynard Keynes Was he a liberal?
Schumpeter, Popper and Hayek The exiles fight back
Berlin, Rawls and Nozick Rawls rules
Rousseau, Marx and Nietzsche The prophets of illiberal progress
Reading list Great liberal thinkers

A Manifesto for Liberalism

Spoiler:

WHEN The Economist was founded 175 years ago our first editor, James Wilson, promised “a severe contest between intelligence, which presses forward, and an unworthy, timid ignorance obstructing our progress”.

We renew our pledge to that contest in “A manifesto for liberalism”

Liberalism made the modern world, but the modern world is turning against it. Europe and America are in the throes of a popular rebellion against liberal elites, who are seen as self-serving and unable, or unwilling, to solve the problems of ordinary people. Elsewhere a 25-year shift towards freedom and open markets has gone into reverse, even as China, soon to be the world’s largest economy, shows that dictatorships can thrive.

For The Economist this is profoundly worrying. We were created 175 years ago to campaign for liberalism—not the leftish “progressivism” of American university campuses or the rightish “ultraliberalism” conjured up by the French commentariat, but a universal commitment to individual dignity, open markets, limited government and a faith in human progress brought about by debate and reform.

In “A manifesto for liberalism” we ask liberals everywhere to join us, and we show them how.

To "buy" these, you do have to have or set up an Economist store account (different than an Economist subscription account), but do not have to give them any credit card info.

[GtrsRGr8]

Originally Posted by sufue

Two "briefs" by The Economist magazine (or newspaper, for the Brits) are free right now at the Economist store.
<snip>

I'll try to remember that in future posts that I read, and that I publish, of British "newspapers."

So, do the Brits use the word "magazine?" If so, what do they mean by it?

"Briefs" is not a familiar word to us Yanks, either, unless you're talking about an article of men's clothing. If I had to say, I would say that they are what American scholars refer to as "monographs."