FREE/BARGAIN — Non-Fiction

[Raphi'Elohim]

Originally Posted by ReadingManiac

Again, either extreme can be suspicious. The only reliable gauge is to get a Kindle sample or look at the Look Inside feature and start reading, like you would with a hard copy in a book shop. Even legitimate reviews are only the opinions of strangers.

The problem with the looking in the Amazon book inspectionally is they have it almost entirely ass backwards (they limited me to reading the first few pages). The first thing you want to do once you get up to reading the table of contents is to dive into the chapters that seem most crucial to the book and then read a few paragraphs here and there. That is the only way you can tell if a book is good and Amazon does not let you do it : I just tried it before posting here.

[GtrsRGr8]

Originally Posted by GA Russell

Here we go for Scalia's Court!

https://www.regnery.com/complete-catalog/s/

https://www.amazon.com/Scalias-Court...dp/B01C9116AA/

Thanks. I was really beginning to tank last night when I made that post. It's nice to see that someone was so kind as to finish the job for me. I'm sure that Scalia would judge you to be a great guy.

[GtrsRGr8]

A couple of thoughts prompted by good things said in a couple of recent posts . . . .

1) More of an observation than anything else . . . someone spoke of a large number of "5's" appearing for a book, just shortly after it was released. I saw a book the other day which had 4 or 5 "5's"_on the very day that it was released_! Now that's getting a little too brazen [understatement for the purpose of emphasis], if you ask me!

2) On my wish list list for Christmas: that someone would compile all of the red flags, concerning bogus posts, that MobileReaders have mentioned in the last few days, and then post them in a relevant forum > subforum > thread.

[j.p.s]

Originally Posted by GtrsRGr8

A couple of thoughts prompted by good things said in a couple of recent posts . . . .

1) More of an observation than anything else . . . someone spoke of a large number of "5's" appearing for a book, just shortly after it was released. I saw a book the other day which had 4 or 5 "5's"_on the very day that it was released_! Now that's getting a little too brazen [understatement for the purpose of emphasis], if you ask me!

2) On my wish list list for Christmas: that someone would compile all of the red flags, concerning bogus posts, that MobileReaders have mentioned in the last few days, and then post them in a relevant forum > subforum > thread.

Some reviewers get advanced copies specifically so that there will be reviews on on or near release. I think amazon used to allow pre-release reviews, but no longer does.

The good reviewers will mention this and the reviews will be thoughtful and well written and they probably have a high reviewer rating. things have deteriated enough that the spam reviews can drown out the good reviews, but a day of release review is not in itself a bad sign. Newspapers and magazines have had reviews around release since forever.

[GA Russell]

Originally Posted by GtrsRGr8

A couple of thoughts prompted by good things said in a couple of recent posts . . . .

2) On my wish list list for Christmas: that someone would compile all of the red flags, concerning bogus posts, that MobileReaders have mentioned in the last few days, and then post them in a relevant forum > subforum > thread.

I would like to see that too.

[sufue]

At least some of the reviews that appear around publication time are also from folks who get "advanced review copies" upfront. These have been distributed before the publication of the book, specifically for the purpose of generating some early reviews. I don't know if I'd say myself that getting a free copy of a book to review (usually not a fully proofed version, often with yukky pdf formatting, sometimes the copy may expire) constitutes getting "paid". I guess everyone has to decide that for themselves.

Etiquette says a reviewer should indicate that they received a free ARC in their review, and on the infrequent occasions when I review an ARC, I definitely do. And I also write my review exactly the same as I would if I had not been given the ARC. The only difference is that in many cases, with the sad length of my TBR pile, I wouldn't have purchased that particular title for myself, or at least wouldn't have read it very soon. I actually enjoy getting an occasional ARC for that specific reason - because often it will be a title that is a little bit out of the routine for me. But my review is not changed by whether I got an ARC or whether I paid for the book after publication.

Anyway JMTCW - I personally pay more attention to the quality of the review myself - whether the reviewer just regurgitates the book blurb, or just says "great book", or whether the reviewer appears to have read the book and put some thought into the review. It's usually pretty easy to tell...

Originally Posted by Raphi'Elohim

This has probably been mentioned before but I can't bother searching all over the forum for it because even with the search function of the forum software it would probably be a PITA to do.

Watch out for good reviews around the time the book was published because they actually pay people to give good reviews but they usually only post around that time.

Also, if you don't know anything about the author do a Wikipedia search on him. Why Wikipedia ? Because the Encyclopedia Britannica is not going to have anything on the author most likely unless it is someone big like Charles Darwin or something.

[ReadingManiac]

Originally Posted by Raphi'Elohim

The problem with the looking in the Amazon book inspectionally is they have it almost entirely ass backwards (they limited me to reading the first few pages). The first thing you want to do once you get up to reading the table of contents is to dive into the chapters that seem most crucial to the book and then read a few paragraphs here and there. That is the only way you can tell if a book is good and Amazon does not let you do it : I just tried it before posting here.

Some of them allow a random jump to somewhere in the book. For non-fiction, the contents is my first port of call. Usually those first few pages will give me an idea of whether the book is authoritive or padded.

[ReadingManiac]

Originally Posted by Raphi'Elohim

Also, if you don't know anything about the author do a Wikipedia search on him. Why Wikipedia ? Because the Encyclopedia Britannica is not going to have anything on the author most likely unless it is someone big like Charles Darwin or something.

Is everyone aware that Wikipedia now sells space for authors to put themselves on there? Writing their own pages. Might as well google their own websites and just read the About page.

[lumpynose]

Originally Posted by ReadingManiac

Is everyone aware that Wikipedia not sells space for authors to put themselves on there? Writing their own pages. Might as well google their own websites and just read the About page.

Very true but I still prefer the Wikipedia author page because it's typically compact and succinct and doesn't have all the glitter and blinking lights that their own website often has. And their own website is typically pushing their latest book when what I want to know is what books are in a series, what books they've published, etc. The Wikipedia page is the "cut to the chase" page for me.

[Ricky D'Angelo]

A few years ago I tried to read almost everything the late philosopher Mortimer J. Adler wrote. Therefore, I was pleasantly surprised that some of his works are currently in archive.org. Mortimer J Alder wrote each of the following 102 essays which reflect 102 great Ideas in Western Civilization. Adler's Syntopicon is broken into two volumes.

The first volume covers subjects A-L

https://archive.org/details/greatide...37mbp/page/n51

The second volume covers subjects M-W

https://archive.org/details/greatide...31mbp/page/n35

[Ricky D'Angelo]

Archive.org has Masters of Deceit by J. Edgar Hoover available at the link below.

https://archive.org/details/MastersOfDeceit

Book Description

The Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation explains the startling facts about the major menace of our time, communism: what it is, how it works, what its aims are, the real dangers it poses, and what loyal American citizens must know to protect their freedom.

MASTERS OF DECEIT is a powerful and informative book—a firsthand account of American communism from its beginnings to the present, written by a man more intimately familiar with the complete story than any other American. Mr. Hoover shows the day-to-day operations of the Communist Party, USA: who the communists are, what they claim, why people be-come communists and why some break away. He describes life within the Party, communist strategy and tactics, methods of mass agitation and underground infiltration, espionage, sabotage, and its treatment of minorities. The picture of what life in this country would be under communism (toward which thou-sands of misguided Americans actually are working now!) is vivid and shocking.

The forceful, driving message of this book is clarified with many incidents and anecdotes, definitions of communist terms, key dates, and a list of international communist organizations and publications which illustrate the communist Trojan horse in action. And it concretely outlines just what you can do now to combat the evils of the "false religion" of communism, so that you can stay free.MASTERS OF DECEIT is one of the most important books of our time—a warning of the clear and present danger to our way of life.

(book description from overdrive)

[itisbomb]

The Miracle of Dunkirk: The True Story of Operation Dynamo
by Walter Lord

is $1.99 at U.S. stores

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Miracle-Dunki...t%2C446&sr=1-2

Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/the-miracle-of-dunkirk

Below is the blurb:
Stranded on the beach with the Nazis closing in, the British army managed one of the most unlikely maneuvers in modern military history

In May of 1940, the remnants of the French and British armies, broken by Hitler’s blitzkrieg, retreated to Dunkirk. Hemmed in by overwhelming Nazi strength, the 338,000 men who gathered on that beach were all that stood between Hitler and Western Europe. Crush them, and the path to Paris and London was clear. And so, unable to retreat any farther, the Allied soldiers set up defense positions and prayed for deliverance.

Prime Minister Winston Churchill ordered an evacuation on May 26th, expecting to save no more than a handful of his men. But Britain would not let its soldiers down. Hundreds of fishing boats, pleasure yachts, and commercial vessels streamed into the Channel to back up the Royal Navy, and in a week nearly the entire army was ferried safely back to England. Assembled from interviews with hundreds of survivors who witnessed the evacuation, The Miracle of Dunkirk is a striking history of a week when the fate of Britain hung in the balance.

[j.p.s]

"The Fifties" by David Halberstam ASIN B00AFVEYRY is a Kindle Daily Deal today and is also in Kindle Unlimited

https://www.amazon.com/Fifties-David...dp/B00AFVEYRY/

I read it earlier this year and highly recommend it.

[TrevorViking]

^ $2.99

[Little.Egret]

Charles River Editors, Free


The Titanic: The History and Legacy of the World’s Most Famous Ship from 1907 to Today





https://www.amazon.com/s?i=digital-t...+river+editors

https://www.amazon.co.uk/s?i=digital...+river+editors

https://www.amazon.ca/s?i=digital-te...+river+editors