Free and Bargain Non-Fiction in May 2014

[GtrsRGr8]

Originally Posted by tnhh

Thanks. You need to use the Bookshout website to read these. There appear to be iOS and Android apps as well but I haven't tried them.

Thanks.

Not the mobi, epub, or even pdf that I had hoped. But, the offer still may be of interest to some Mobilereaders.

In some thread two or three months ago, people on this forum mentioned some programs or websites which would convert website-based books into a standard format (mobi, epub, or pdf) ebook. I've forgotten the details now, I'd have to go back and do a search.

[GtrsRGr8]

Originally Posted by tnhh

Thanks. You need to use the Bookshout website to read these. There appear to be iOS and Android apps as well but I haven't tried them.

Okay, I got around to selecting one of the books that was being offered by an alias for Simon & Schuster/BookShout called http://250words.com. I like my selection, it looks like a good book.

Folks, BookShout is offering some very high-quality books for free. If you are interested in non-fiction at all, I hope that you will look over the selection and see if there are any that you can't pass up. Don't let the "business" description deter you from checking into them--none of them are "heavy" reading and several of them deal with personal business and other subjects that everyone can relate to.

As tnhh pointed out, you do need to use either Bookshout's website, or iOS or Android O/Ss to read your book. I don't have a smartphone, so I will be using the website.

After I "downloaded" the book, I wondered if the book had, in fact, been downloaded on to my hard drive. Apparently it had not as I could find no trace of it there. It appears that the book is on (has stayed on?) a server of Simon & Schuster/BookShout's and whenever you want to read the book, your computer brings it up (here I'm beginning to show my ignorance of computers and computer terminology; please bear with me) from their server. The same thing apparently happens if you read it using iOS or Android on your smartphone. If I am right, you would have to have Wi-Fi or a cellular connection or something else to hop on (I hope that I'm not getting too technical here. haha) the Internet each time that you wanted to read the book on your smartphone.

Of course, I would much prefer to have the books actually on my hard drive, for a whole lot of reasons that I won't get into here. You are probably like me about that. After the book that I chose became available for me to read, I saw several other books in my "library" that I had "downloaded" from BookShout in the past. When I was looking for evidence on my hard drive of the having the free book that I had just chosen, I also looked around for evidence of these other books on my hard drive and they were nowhere to be found. Why did I get those books from BookShout? Well, that was the only way to get them for free, it was a matter of "take it or leave it," and I decided that I'd rather have it free on BookShout's terms than not have it at all.

As I mentioned in my post on 5/20 at 9:10 p.m., I'm sure that there is a way to convert books on websites to standard ebook formats. I would like to do that with these books that I got from BookShout. However, I will have to check the agreement(s), that I ticked that I agreed to, first to make sure that I wouldn't be in violation of it(them).

Before starting this post I did a search of this (Mobileread.com) website to see if there was any information about BookShout or this issue that I've discussed. I didn't really find anything. So . . . I thought that it might be important to "put something out there" for the archives, if nothing else. Also, I thought that some MobileReaders (especially with more knowledge than I) might be interested in discussing this or bringing in some additional or corrected information; if so, I'm sure that it would need to be taken to a different forum, however.

Thanks.

[GtrsRGr8]

I'm sure our own KyBunnies can correct any misinformation. haha

Everything about Rabbits: Including an Exhaustive List of Rabbit Breeds. By Amber Richards. Rated 4 1/2 stars from 10 reviews at the present moment. Digital list price $3.75; Kindle price $0.00. http://www.amazon.com/Everything-abo...+Rabbit+Breeds.

Everything About Rabbits: Amazon Book Product Description

Whether you’re raising rabbits for the showroom or enjoy the gentle comforts these playful critters bring, you’re in for a treat as you learn the essentials of rabbit care and feeding.

Written by a professional rabbit breeder, Everything About Rabbits is an extensive care guide for rabbit lovers who want the specifics about rabbit care, rather than the know-how about breeding. Keep your rabbit healthy and content; we’ll walk you through the process, step by step. Learn how to build a rabbit hutch, care for nails and teeth, feed your pet rabbit, prepare bedding, and so much more!

This is a pet owners guide, as opposed to one going into commercial rabbit breeding, hence it does not delve into the topic of rabbit breeding.

From the small twitch of a nose to the soft, silky body, you’ll quickly fall in love with your new furry companion. Discover a complete, exhaustive list of rabbit breeds recognized by the American Rabbit Breeders Association. You’ll learn exactly which breeds make suitable pets for your family, and which to avoid.

Pick up your copy of Everything About Rabbits today and experience the wonderful joys a pet rabbit will bring.

[KyBunnies]

It is from a breeder, who ever wrote this is why I rescue bunnies. Especially after Easter.

I know off-topic. Now I will shut-up and go feed my warren of bunnies that live inside my house.

[Little.Egret]

Free short (50 page) essay.

Napoleon was defeated because his marshals were keener on their country estates than on fighting. World War I dragged on so long because neither side had stated what it was fighting for. And World War II, which started to finish in 1940, might arguably been over until 1958, when peace with Germany was finally declared.

In this brilliant polemical essay, the historian AJP Taylor argues that the end of wars can be just as complex as their origins - and just as important for historians to understand.

He shows how accidents, freak judgments, personal ambitions and, in Europe, the consistent problem of Poland, can prepare the ground for future conflict even as they provide a return to normality and peace.

‘How Wars End’ provides a fascinating over-view of the resolution of the great conflicts of the past. It is required reading for any one interested in war, military studies or diplomacy.

http://www.amazon.com/How-Wars-End-A...dp/B00JY9HVR8/
http://www.amazon.co.uk/How-Wars-End...dp/B00JY9HVR8/

[GtrsRGr8]

Changin' Times. By Al Sussman. Rated 5 stars from 11 reviews at the present moment. Print list price $24.95; digital list price $5.95; Kindle price today $0.00. http://www.amazon.com/Changin-Times-...angin%27+Times.

Fifty years on, November 22, 1963 continues to resonate. For most of us, that was when America lost its youthful leader—as well as a certain amount of innocence. But it was also the day that, over in Britain, the making of a cultural tsunami was taking shape. That Friday saw the release of With the Beatles, the second album from what would soon be called “England’s Phenomenal Pop Combo.”

The story of the New Frontier giving way to the British Invasion is thus inextricably intertwined in public memory. Sadness and loss were soon eclipsed by joy and exhilaration brought on by this novel act when they arrived in the states months later. On February 9, 1964, it is no exaggeration to say that America was once again united before their television sets in a way they hadn’t been since the awful events of the previous autumn—this time, for more positive reasons.

The Beatles’ debut on The Ed Sullivan Show was a watershed event that quite literally changed countless lives. But in the years since that momentous occasion, conventional wisdom has conflated the two events: the youth of America got over their grief when “these four youngsters from Liverpool” cheered them up with their exuberance and charm. It was as though without a national tragedy first occurring, the road to the group’s success and acceptance here might not have happened—at least not on the same hysterical scale.

As detailed in Changin’ Times: 101 Days That Shaped A Generation, pop culture historian Al Sussman challenges this media-fueled mythology, describing the cultural “British Invasion” already well underway before President Kennedy ever went to Texas. Likewise, the notion that the December 1963 success of The Singing Nun’s “Dominique,” chalked up to a mourning country in no mood for rock ‘n’ roll, is belied by The Kingsmen’s inscrutable “Louie Louie” simultaneously dominating local markets.

Changin’ Times takes you on a journey back to a very singular moment of transformation in American History—for a generation, and for the world as well. Sussman leaves no cultural touchstone unturned, revealing how, in Dylan’s words, “the times they are a-changin’” was no overstatement.

[bfisher]

Thanks, same deal at amazon.ca
http://www.amazon.ca/Changin-Times-A.../dp/B00KDHP0IW

[Little.Egret]

Free, How to Land (and Keep) a Literary Agent by Noah Lukeman

This 100,000 word (339 page) book includes two additional books written by Mr. Lukeman--HOW TO WRITE A GREAT QUERY LETTER and ASK A LITERARY AGENT.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003Z9JOXC/
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B003Z9JOXC/


New York literary agent Noah Lukeman, President of Lukeman Literary Management Ltd, has represented multiple New York Times bestsellers, winners of the Pulitzer Prize and American Book Award, National Book Award Finalists, and has himself written three critically-acclaimed books on the craft of writing, The First Five Pages, The Plot Thickens, and A Dash of Style. During his last 13 years as a literary agent he has read thousands of manuscripts and represented hundreds of book deals, and in this book he shares his insider's perspective, offers insight and practical tips about what works and what doesn’t.

[GtrsRGr8]

Originally Posted by Little.Egret

Free, How to Land (and Keep) a Literary Agent by Noah Lukeman

This 100,000 word (339 page) book includes two additional books written by Mr. Lukeman . . . .

I'll say "great find." Then, I'll resist the urge to do that again for a while, because I think that I'm doing it too much.

Great find.

I think that I realize now why all of the publishers (including the vanity publishers! sigh.) rejected the manuscript for the great American novel that I wrote on alien vampire zombies who try to take over the world. It wasn't because the book stunk, it was because I didn't have a good literary agent! That's it! My self-confidence is so much better now . . . .

[peachiekene]

Free

Small Space Organizing: A Room by Room Guide to Maximizing Your Space by Kathryn Bechen

While we may admire the spacious rooms in large homes we see in magazines or on TV, let's face it: most of us don't live in rambling estates. Instead, we live in homes, apartments, or condos with small rooms and even smaller closets. But you can enjoy an organized, beauty-filled life no matter what the size of your space. In this practical book, readers will learn how to

-perform a room-by-room audit of their space to see if it's functioning at its best

-make the most of existing storage space and find clever ways to add more

-find creative ways to arrange furnishings and accessories that maximize space and bring harmony and style to the home

Whether empty nesters who are downsizing, newlyweds who are setting up their first nest, or anyone who needs creative new ideas, readers will love these strategies, tips, and solutions to maximize their space and enhance their quality of life.

AmazonUS
AmazonCA
Kobo
Google
B&N
BookShout
iTunes

[GtrsRGr8]

Charles River Editors has seven free titles available at Amazon today. The first five are brand spanking new; the last two are a couple of months old and have been offered free before. I'm listing the titles, and then the linky if you see something that you want to grab.

-Legends of Hollywood: The Life of Woody Allen.
-The Fall of Constantinople: The Rise of the Ottoman Empire and the End of the Byzantine Empire.
-American Legends: The Life of Johnny Depp.
-American Legends: The Life of Buster Keaton.
-American Legends: The Life of Jean Arthur.
-American Legends: The Life of Nat Turner.
-American Legends: The Life of Ava Gardner.

Linky http://www.amazon.com/s/?tag=httpwww...r%20Editors%22.

[Little.Egret]

I notes that 32 reprints from pergamum are free for a few days


http://www.amazon.ca/s/?url=search-a...isher=Pergamum
http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/?url=searc...isher=Pergamum
http://www.amazon.com/s/?url=search-...isher=Pergamum

They include The Architecture of Marcus Vitruvius Pollio (Illustrated) by
Vitruvius

This is the first known book on architecture and civil engineering - usually
known as Vitruvius's Seven Books on Architecture.

He notes that white lead is known to be bad for you and hence suggests water
pipes should be fired clay not lead. Everybody ignored this and the Tudors
supplied Hampton Court water through a lead pipe (from across the river,
Google [Kingston Conduit House]).

Also
The Annals of Roger de Hoveden: Comprising the History of England and Of
Other Countries of Europe from A.D. 732 to A.D. 1201. All Volumes By Roger
de Hoveden

And

The Life and Work of St. Paul F.W. Farrar (800 page biography)

[GtrsRGr8]

Originally Posted by Little.Egret

I notes that 32 reprints from pergamum are free for a few days
. . . .

I've put myself on a moratorium of telling posters that they've posted great finds, so I won't be able to tell Little.Egret this time what great finds (!) she made.

Let me give one little tidbit of information that will give you some extra free Pergamum Collection books using the information that Little.Egret gave in her post. I happened upon this by accident. If you are in the United States, for example, and will substitute ".com" for ".ca", and maybe ".co.uk", in the URL (I haven't tried that second one yet) there will be some different free books that you will be able to obtain that way. I suppose that that means that if you are in, for example, Canada and substitute ".ca" for ".com" that you will get some additional free books, too. And so on. Let us know how this works out for you so that we can pass along that information.

[KyBunnies]

Free - Our House in the Last World by Oscar Hijuelos

Genre: Literary Fiction, United States, Hispanic American

Originally published May 1983

Hector Santinio is the younger son of Cuban immigrants living in New York. Caught between his mother’s anxieties and his father’s macho expectations, he struggles to find an identity for himself while wrestling with both cultural and personal isolation. Meanwhile Horatio, his older brother, falls into the womanizing and drinking pattern demonstrated by their father. This is a sweeping, poignant tale of the immigrant experience in New York—as a homeland the brothers have never visited exerts an undeniable influence on them both.

Our House in the Last World is the first novel by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Oscar Hijuelos. Containing strongly autobiographical elements, it is told with compelling lyrical power—demonstrating the mastery over language, character, and narrative that would later win him so much acclaim.

From Publishers Weekly
The chaotic experience of Cubans transplanted to New York City throbs through the narrator's voice in this debut novel by the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love . "Elegiac as well as bittersweet and celebratory, the lusty tone of this novel compensates for its erratic structure," stated PW.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
The Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist launched his career with this 1983 title. The autobiographical work is the coming-of-age story of Hector Santino. Born in New York City to Cuban immigrants, Hector learns about his parent's native country and his heritage through their stories. This edition contains a new introduction and afterword by Hijuelos.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

[Little.Egret]

Originally Posted by GtrsRGr8

Let me give one little tidbit of information that will give you some extra free Pergamum Collection books using the information that Little.Egret gave in her post. I happened upon this by accident. If you are in the United States, for example, and will substitute ".com" for ".ca", and maybe ".co.uk", in the URL (I haven't tried that second one yet) there will be some different free books {...}

I don't usually post about changing URLs because many don't understand me ("address bar, what's that ?") but yes a working Amazon URL for a book often works on any Amazon store as do the publisher searches I have been posting.

For internationally available ebooks the selection is usually exactly the same however.

The mix of reprints (some fiction) below shows 21 in US & UK, 18 Australia, don't know why.

http://www.amazon.ca/s/?url=search-a...sher=Heraklion
http://www.amazon.com/s/?url=search-...sher=Heraklion
http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/?url=searc...sher=Heraklion
http://www.amazon.com.au/s/?url=sear...sher=Heraklion

Check :-
The Thirty Years' War 1618-1648 by Samuel Rawson Gardiner
The Road to Oz by L. Frank Baum (Oz 5)
Oliver Cromwell by Samuel Rawson Gardiner
History of the Donner Party, a Tragedy of the Sierra by C.F. McGlashan
and three by John Bunyan.