Register Guidelines E-Books Search Today's Posts Mark Forums Read

Go Back   MobileRead Forums > E-Book General > Reading Recommendations

Notices

Reply
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Old 10-04-2010, 01:01 PM   #1
pigeonweather
Enthusiast
pigeonweather ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.pigeonweather ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.pigeonweather ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.pigeonweather ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.pigeonweather ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.pigeonweather ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.pigeonweather ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.pigeonweather ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.pigeonweather ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.pigeonweather ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.pigeonweather ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
pigeonweather's Avatar
 
Posts: 37
Karma: 309654
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: California
Device: Droid
Recommended: Free Ebooks by Indie Authors

Free ebooks by indie authors are getting kind of a bad reputation lately, and while it's true that you have to dig through a lot of earth to find a little gold, this is true for "traditionally published" books too! I don't want this thread to be confused with 'Author Self-Promotions' - there's a place for that here - "https://www.mobileread.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=226" - but I do want to recommend some books I found that I enjoyed, and make some comments about them - not reviews, and no 'star' ratings involved. I will say one or two things I liked about them, and I will not mention any book of which I have nothing good to say.

My own mama never told me "if you don't have anything nice to say ...", but in the spirit of someone's mama having said that to somebody else at some time, here we go - my recent reading list of free indie author ebooks:

Broken Bulbs - Broken Bulbs by Eddie Wright
One thing I always go for is originality, and this book has got that. Two things I always go for are originality and humor, and this book has got those. Three things ... okay, never mind. It IS kind of gruesome and gritty, but also hilarious, following a screenwriter who needs direct injections of inspiration from his 'fixer', Bonnie. I loved the interior screenplays and the book made me laugh out loud several times, and I almost never do that.

3 - by Moxie Mezcal
I really enjoyed the stories in this collection. 'Home Movies' is about a possible snuff flick discovered by a woman working in an adult video store, and she decides to investigate (bad idea!), and the other involves a journalistic hoax with a nasty twist - both of these were intriguing and kept me reading in excitement and anticipation and did not disappoint.

The American Book of the Dead - by Henry Baum
I really enjoyed the characters and their interactions and the modest, slightly embarrassed narrator.

The Defective Detective: Cat Chaser - by Adam Maxwell
Very funny. Funny all the time, in fact. The book features a newbie detective who suffers from narcolepsy, so he's continually falling asleep at inappropriate times. Since it's told in the first person, neither he nor we have the full story of what's going on at any moment. Very clever, very funny. Nicely done.

Back(stabbed) in Brooklyn - by Lenox Parker
Some really great dialog here - more than anything else, that's what I enjoyed, and I read on her blog that she's most interested in screen writing. I can see that. She's got a fine ear for it.

Please. anyone. add any others that you've found and would like to recommend (and are not your own or your buddy's!). I know they're out there!
pigeonweather is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-04-2010, 01:06 PM   #2
HistoryWes
Teacher/Novelist
HistoryWes ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.HistoryWes ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.HistoryWes ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.HistoryWes ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.HistoryWes ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.HistoryWes ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.HistoryWes ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.HistoryWes ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.HistoryWes ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.HistoryWes ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.HistoryWes ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
HistoryWes's Avatar
 
Posts: 632
Karma: 2274466
Join Date: May 2008
Location: Nevada
Device: Nook STR, iPad
Black Silk by Jan Gordon
I'm not a big fan of supernatural romance stories but I found this well written, readable, and I don't think it descends into gush like some more famous tales of this genre.
HistoryWes is offline   Reply With Quote
Advert
Old 10-04-2010, 01:22 PM   #3
jhempel24
Wizard
jhempel24 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.jhempel24 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.jhempel24 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.jhempel24 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.jhempel24 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.jhempel24 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.jhempel24 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.jhempel24 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.jhempel24 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.jhempel24 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.jhempel24 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
jhempel24's Avatar
 
Posts: 2,157
Karma: 7068605
Join Date: Dec 2007
Device: Amazon Kindle Paperwhite, B&N Nook Colro
Thanks for the list, I'll check some of these out!
jhempel24 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-04-2010, 01:26 PM   #4
jhempel24
Wizard
jhempel24 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.jhempel24 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.jhempel24 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.jhempel24 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.jhempel24 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.jhempel24 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.jhempel24 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.jhempel24 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.jhempel24 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.jhempel24 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.jhempel24 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
jhempel24's Avatar
 
Posts: 2,157
Karma: 7068605
Join Date: Dec 2007
Device: Amazon Kindle Paperwhite, B&N Nook Colro
just a quick questions....is Cat chaser teh complete book? Seems that according to a post the book isn't finished yet.
jhempel24 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-04-2010, 02:46 PM   #5
ficbot
Wizard
ficbot ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.ficbot ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.ficbot ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.ficbot ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.ficbot ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.ficbot ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.ficbot ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.ficbot ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.ficbot ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.ficbot ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.ficbot ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
Posts: 2,409
Karma: 4132096
Join Date: Sep 2008
Device: Kindle Paperwhite/iOS Kindle App
His Robot Girlfriend By Wesley Allison (Feedbooks)
A bit light on plot, but a fun and well-written story.

How to Disappear Completely by David Bowick (Feedbooks)
A sort of Catcher in the Rye sort of story about a young guy searching for something...

Little Brother by Cory Doctorow (Feedbooks)
My favorite of his YA novels, about techie teens battling not just terrorists, but Homeland security too...

Overclocked by Cory Doctorow (Feedbooks)
Short stories. My favorite of his short fiction collections. "I, Row-Boat" (about a sentient boat) is among my laborite short stories ever.

Agent to the Stars by John Scalzi (Manybooks)
A group of ugly, but benign aliens hirsute a Hollywood PR agent to help them improve their image before they reveal themselves to humanity.
ficbot is offline   Reply With Quote
Advert
Old 10-04-2010, 04:48 PM   #6
pigeonweather
Enthusiast
pigeonweather ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.pigeonweather ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.pigeonweather ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.pigeonweather ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.pigeonweather ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.pigeonweather ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.pigeonweather ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.pigeonweather ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.pigeonweather ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.pigeonweather ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.pigeonweather ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
pigeonweather's Avatar
 
Posts: 37
Karma: 309654
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: California
Device: Droid
Quote:
just a quick question....is Cat Chaser the complete book?
Cat Chaser is complete on Feedbooks and also appears to be available in print
pigeonweather is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-05-2010, 04:06 AM   #7
jhempel24
Wizard
jhempel24 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.jhempel24 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.jhempel24 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.jhempel24 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.jhempel24 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.jhempel24 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.jhempel24 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.jhempel24 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.jhempel24 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.jhempel24 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.jhempel24 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
jhempel24's Avatar
 
Posts: 2,157
Karma: 7068605
Join Date: Dec 2007
Device: Amazon Kindle Paperwhite, B&N Nook Colro
Cool thanks, got most of what's on your list, like how they are pretty short and won't take long to read, the Defective Detective series really sounds kind of cool LOL.
jhempel24 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-07-2010, 10:38 PM   #8
pigeonweather
Enthusiast
pigeonweather ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.pigeonweather ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.pigeonweather ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.pigeonweather ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.pigeonweather ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.pigeonweather ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.pigeonweather ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.pigeonweather ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.pigeonweather ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.pigeonweather ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.pigeonweather ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
pigeonweather's Avatar
 
Posts: 37
Karma: 309654
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: California
Device: Droid
Hey, I've got a couple more, from coast to coast

Concrete Underground by Moxie Mezcal. This journalist/corruption/high-tech thriller would be in the 21st Century San Jose Fiction Hall of Fame, if there was one.

The Big Kaboom by Neil Crabtree - super funny lowlife thriller of the kind that's only possible in Florida!
pigeonweather is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-03-2010, 11:14 PM   #9
pigeonweather
Enthusiast
pigeonweather ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.pigeonweather ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.pigeonweather ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.pigeonweather ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.pigeonweather ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.pigeonweather ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.pigeonweather ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.pigeonweather ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.pigeonweather ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.pigeonweather ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.pigeonweather ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
pigeonweather's Avatar
 
Posts: 37
Karma: 309654
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: California
Device: Droid
More Free Ebook Recommendations

I'm currently round-robin-ing among 5 free ebooks, each of which I am enjoying immensely, so I thought I would write them up a bit of recommendation.

1) Complete Stories of Guy de Maupassant, in 13 volumes, of which this is the first, from Project Gutenberg.

IMHO the very best short story writer ever in any language. Maupassant does in a few pages what no one else can do no matter how many words they string together - evoke original characters in bright bold excruciating scenes filled with drama and revelation.

2) Japanese Fairy Tales by Yei Theodora Ozaki

Spinning themes familiar to fairy tales of all cultures but with distinctively Japanese turns, from their perpetual ocean imagery to their traditional mores and manners, and surprising resolutions you would never even dream of finding in Grimm's or Arabian Nights or Russian, Italian, Native American or Chinese or any other stories.

3) Tokyo Zero by Marc Horne

<i>"One man goes to Tokyo to end the world. It goes fairly well.

As a Japanese cult gets ready to stage a massive attack, they are forced to recruit a secretive young bio-chemist from the West. They hide out on the fringes of Tokyo, taking care of the daily business of preparing for the apocalypse, until the foreigner's secret past starts to come to light and threaten their future dreams."</i>

I'm enjoying his ambivalent and ambiguous writing style, where sentences stubbornly undermine themselves continually. It's quite engaging and deservedly one of the top ten most downloaded free original ebooks from Feedbooks.

4) How to Disappear Completely by David Bowick

<i>Sitting at the top of a Ferris wheel overlooking the Boston skyline, Josh’s life takes an unexpected turn, and things will never be the same. Along with the many surprises on his life’s new path, he’ll come to take life advice from a family of ducks, get in a bloody war with a dog, lose his job over a spilled drink, wake up in the hospital, apply to work at an adult-themed novelty bakery, and find out that people often aren’t what they seem. When you're at the top of the world, there's nowhere to go but down.</i>

This book is just a fresh and funny romp from the very first sentence on. No wonder it's the most downloaded free original ebook from Feedbooks. People love this book. If you have a sense of humor, you will too.

5) Heavy Metal Harvest Dreamby Simon Royle

This is one short story I had to read all at once. From the start a gripping suspenseful tale of desire and necessity, courage and risk, of one man's feverish devotion to his small daughter and her future. Highly recommended
pigeonweather is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-03-2010, 11:53 PM   #10
SlowRain
Addict
SlowRain knows what is on the back of the AURYN.SlowRain knows what is on the back of the AURYN.SlowRain knows what is on the back of the AURYN.SlowRain knows what is on the back of the AURYN.SlowRain knows what is on the back of the AURYN.SlowRain knows what is on the back of the AURYN.SlowRain knows what is on the back of the AURYN.SlowRain knows what is on the back of the AURYN.SlowRain knows what is on the back of the AURYN.SlowRain knows what is on the back of the AURYN.SlowRain knows what is on the back of the AURYN.
 
SlowRain's Avatar
 
Posts: 311
Karma: 9553
Join Date: Feb 2010
Location: a Canadian expat in Taiwan
Device: HTC 10, Asus Phonepad
Thanks for starting this thread. I hope to find some good books here.
SlowRain is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-09-2010, 09:36 AM   #11
Bilbo1967
Not scared!
Bilbo1967 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Bilbo1967 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Bilbo1967 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Bilbo1967 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Bilbo1967 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Bilbo1967 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Bilbo1967 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Bilbo1967 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Bilbo1967 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Bilbo1967 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Bilbo1967 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
Bilbo1967's Avatar
 
Posts: 13,424
Karma: 81011643
Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: Midlands, UK
Device: Kindle Paperwhite 10, Huawei M5 10
Some that I really enjoyed;

Somebody Comes to Town, Somebody Leaves Town - Cory Doctorow
Just a really different, intriguing book (it includes characters whose father is a mountain and whose mother is a washing machine)

Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom - Cory Doctorow
Set in a future where 'whuffie' (similar to the karma on this site) decides what you can or can't buy or do. Interesting concept!

Geek Mafia and Geek Mafia: Mile Zero - Rick Dakan
These were free (legally) when I picked them up some time ago, not sure now. Nicely written anti-big corporation type thrillers. I thoroughly enjoyed them.

BTW, I would second the nominations for Moxie Mezcal's Concrete Underground and Wesley Alison's My Robot Girlfriend.
Bilbo1967 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-09-2010, 09:48 AM   #12
desertgrandma
Enjoying the show....
desertgrandma ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.desertgrandma ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.desertgrandma ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.desertgrandma ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.desertgrandma ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.desertgrandma ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.desertgrandma ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.desertgrandma ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.desertgrandma ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.desertgrandma ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.desertgrandma ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
desertgrandma's Avatar
 
Posts: 14,270
Karma: 10462841
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: Arizona
Device: A K1, Kindle Paperwhite, an Ipod, IPad2, Iphone, an Ipad Mini & macAir
"Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom" by Cory Doctorow is a keeper

I read it once and its really stuck with me.....I love the concept.
desertgrandma is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search

Forum Jump

Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Translating indie authors Kumabjorn General Discussions 19 06-22-2012 04:58 AM
Your Favorite Indie Authors and Books? jamesread General Discussions 7 09-27-2010 03:11 AM
How Many of MR's Indie Authors Have You Read ? Kevin2960 General Discussions 44 09-22-2010 04:20 AM
Indie Authors on Twitter DaringNovelist Writers' Corner 20 06-10-2010 01:26 PM
50 best rated indie authors in the Kindle Store ImogenRose Deals and Resources (No Self-Promotion or Affiliate Links) 3 05-10-2010 01:49 PM


All times are GMT -4. The time now is 10:13 AM.


MobileRead.com is a privately owned, operated and funded community.