Apparently at some point recently, somebody over at Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) gave it some thought and found themselves wondering why so many of their Bestsellers(63/100 as of March 12th) were never actually “sold”, as such.  The plan is to eliminate the free book presence from the Kindle Bestseller list.  The date on this is still up in the air as far as we know, but the apparent aim is to have two lists: one for sold books and one for free ones.

To publishers, this seems like a no-brainer.  It highlights what books people are spending their money on and gives readers a chance to vote with their wallet on whether or not a book does well.  Others, on the other hand, may be hit a bit hard by this move.  It has become somewhat common for new or self-publishing authors to give away a free book or portion of a book in order to direct attention to their further works.

We’ll have to wait and see how this is handled, but I for one am hoping to be able to access both lists on my Kindle device rather than having to shop the website.  I find it interesting to know what new finds people have made lately when I’m looking for something new to pass the time with.

Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott

Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott, is a childhood favorite for many young girls and women.  On the Kindle, you can get this cherished book for free.  The best part is that the book doesn’t get worn out or become unreadable from the usual wear and tear of reading it over and over.

In addition to Little Women, there are many other classics available for free to download on the Kindle.  These books include Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility, Charles Dickens’ Hard Times and Homer’s the Illiad just to name a few examples from the selection. 

Charles Dickens' Hard Times

Classics in general are relatively inexpensive to purchase, and many are available in paperback.  On Amazon, a copy of Little Women costs about $3.95, but for college and university students, this small expense can add up.  Many of these classics are required readings for English Literature courses and students often have to purchase other, much larger and more expensive textbooks.

Often, after the course is over, the book never gets picked up again.  Can you imagine reading  Hard Times for pleasure?  Downloading it for free on the Kindle saves the expense and the student can put the money towards something else.  Another great advantage of accessing free classics for the Kindle is that they can be viewed on other platforms such as the PC, Mac, iPhone and Blackberry.

In a rather interesting move, Amazon seems to have increased the general utility of their Kindle. It could, in fact, be on its way to becoming a must-have for vacation-goers this summer. Sure there’s the expected advantage of being able to lug a pile of books to the beach in your pocket, but the sightseers are targeted now too.

In short, it’s been reported that Amazon has recently acquired exclusive rights to sell the always helpful Michelin Driving guides. When added to the functionality of browser-based mapping programs like Google Maps, you can find yourself with an entertaining way to tour the nation without ever getting sidetracked. At present, such offerings as a driving tour of California Wine Country or a run around the Florida Keys are going for a mere $3.99. There’s certainly no shortage of other material there for the taking either, with popular publications like the Zagat Restaurant Guides, Frommer’s Travel Guides, and the Regional Hiking series already available at reasonable prices.

As a fun aside, as you prepare for the upcoming vacation weather, remember that road trips with kids are much more tolerable when they’re having a good time and for the moment Amazon can be very helpful there too with the majority of the popular Series of Unfortunate Events books being available free of charge to Kindle customers for what will likely be a very limited time!

Amazon’s Kindle satisfies preferences identified by e-book readers in the United States, based on a recent survey released by Strategy Analytics. The survey reported that current e-book readers report a high level of satisfaction with their devices, and prefer e-books to physical or “dead tree” books. It also reported that e-book readers are looking for three things in their devices: ease of access to books, ease of content transfer, and newspaper and magazine availability. With more than 400,000 titles available to purchase and increased access to free content through services such as Scribd, Amazon offers superior content availability. In addition, Kindle has 107 newspapers and 50 magazines available for subscription, including most of the major US and international periodicals. Both the Kindle and Kindle DX can access Amazon’s bookstore with 60 second downloads.

The one unknown factor is the strength of Apple’s brand recognition. With its strong marketing strategy, buildin up hype prior to this month’s release of the iPad, Apple is betting on brand recognition to tip the balance in its favor.   While the survey reported that Apple ran a close second in terms of preferred brand, it also said content will still trump name recognition.

“While brand name is still an important factor for current owners when choosing their next e-book reader,” commented Chris Schreiner, Senior Analyst at Strategy Analytics. “Consumers buying their first e-book reader will focus more on the durability and availability of e-books.”

Strategy Analytics is an international research and consulting firm that specializes in the information, communication and entertainment industries.

Amidst the price wars of content between Amazon and Apple, Scribd, the giant content sharing site, has launched a program to make its 10 million books, articles and documents compatible with the full spectrum of readers and mobile devices. Once considered to be the “YouTube” of document services, Scribd has become a hub for authors who can’t afford to self publish, and a social network for readers of similar interests. The site is currently home to more than 200,000 books, and is growing by about 10 percent a month.

CEO Tripp Adler describes a two pronged “mobile deployment” program. The first part of the attack is to make Scribd books compatible with Amazon’s Kindle and other mobile reading devices. Currently, Kindle owners can download from Scribd by using the wireless connection. Amazon charges 15 cents per megabyte for the transfer. This month, Scribd will release software that can be embedded into devices to give users “two click” access to its catalog. The second part of the program is an assortment of device specific applications that will allow smartphones to store the books on the phone’s hard drive.

Even though Amazon and Apple might not welcome all that free content to compete with their not-so-free offerings, Scribd has found a way to get around their approval. And they’ve done it by cutting software syncing tools and extra computers.

Theory Of Nothing By Russell K. Standish

“Theory of Nothing” by dr. Russel K. Standish is a tour into many worlds interpretation (MWI) of quantum mechanics as opposed to Copenhagen interpretation. This book came up in one of the discussions I’ve had with my friend. I’ve looked around and although Amazon only sells the paperback version, there is freely available PDF on the authors website that can be read on Kindle DX or any other device that supports PDF.

I’ve paged though the section on Quantum Theory Of Immortality (QTI) and, personally, found the ideas too wild to believe but interesting. I’ve put this book in my reading list. Here’s what the author himself has to say about it:

The Theory of Nothing was a book I published in 2006, in which I explored the consequences of assuming:

• Everything exists, and
• The reality we observe must be compatible with our existence within that reality.

The title “Theory of Nothing” came from the observation that the more inclusive a scientific theory, the less specific its predictions can be without additional ad hoc assumptions. The ultimate theory of everything is just a theory of nothing. Yet surprisingly, the theory in Theory of Nothing does have some explanatory and predictive properties, which follow from the second assumption, which links the laws of physics to the laws of psychology.

Most of the ideas I discuss in that book were discussed on the Everything List, an internet forum inhabited by some of the brightest minds I know. Since the list discussions tended to be quite technical, and often refer to previous discussions, there is a need for some kind of summary, like a FAQ of the list discussion. The trouble is, nobody seems to have time to write one. As part of my book project, I attempted to summarise and make accessible the everything-list discussion, as well as position the topic within the broader philosophical literature.

If you have enjoyed “The Elegant Universe” and “A Briefer History Of Time” that I mentioned before, Theory Of Nothing should also interest you.

Joseph Conrad is famous not only for his works adapted into well-known films such as Apocalypse Now and Sabotage; he also stands out as he was a Polish-born novelist who learned to speak English fluently in his twenties and then wrote in English, too. Many books are available now in Kindle edition, some of them for free.

Heart of Darkness first appeared as a series in Blackwood’s Magazine in 1899 and was published as a novella in 1902. It was partially based on Conrad’s experiences in the Congo as he served as a steamer captain. Though the book is famous on its own, Francis Ford Coppola made it even more well-known, having adapted the novella into Apocalypse Now changing the Congo to Vietnam and Cambodia during the Vietnam War. “Assigned by an ivory company to take command of a cargo boat stranded in the interior, Marlow makes his way through the treacherous forest, witnessing the brutalization of the natives by white traders and hearing tantalizing stories of a Mr. Kurtz, the company’s most successful representative.”

The Secret Agent: A Simple Tale (published in 1907) is set around the life of Mr. Verloc, a London businessman and spy. The book is different from other Conrad’s works as it does not deal with the usual seafaring themes; instead, it is considered a political novel since it describes revolutionary groups and anarchists. Alfred Hitchcock had adapted the book for his movie Sabotage released in 1936. “This absurdist story is noted for its adept characterizations, melodramatic irony, and psychological intrigue.”

Lord Jim (published in 1899-1900 in Blackwood’s Magazine) is believed to be based on true facts, though Joseph Conrad never admitted that openly. As a ship with pilgrims travelling to Mecca is about to sink, the crew members abandon the vessel and the passengers. Having faced the court for this crime, the first mate Jim redeems his guilt in a remote settlement in the Indonesian archipelago. “The novel, which explores the nature of the human spirit, is a delicately crafted picture of a character who reaches the status of literary hero.” The book was twice adapted into movies: by Victor Fleming in 1925 and by Richard Brooks in 1965.

Joseph Conrad on Kindle

If you are already a fan of urban fantasy or would like to get to know this genre, you may well start with The Wild’s Call, which is offered for free on Amazon, compliments of Luna. “It is seven years after the collapse of modern civilization, and the world is entering a new Dark Age. Can best friends Elysia and Darien trust the animal spirits that are beckoning them to escape into the wilderness and create a new way of life?” The book is a prequel to Jeri Smith-Ready’s Aspect of Crow trilogy, including Eyes of Crow, Voice of Crow and The Reawakened,  the first two available in kindle edition.

Until the end of March you may also get a free download of Laura Lippman’s short mystery story The Babysitter’s Code. A babysitter finds a gun in the house where she is working, and that makes it difficult for her to stay within the babysitter’s code. If you like it, take a look at Lippman’s short story collection, Hardly Knew Her, “…filled with delightfully unanticipated twists and reversals…”

As part of celebration its 60th anniversary, several Harlequin are available for free on Amazon.com according to official Amazon Kindle Blog:

• The Bride’s Baby by Liz Fielding. “Events manager Sylvie Smith is organizing a glittering fund-raising event: a wedding show in a stately home. She has even been roped into pretending to be a bride…a bride who’s five months pregnant…”
• Dancing in the Moonlight by RaeAnne Thayne. “Lieutenant Magdalena Cruz had come home-And all she wanted was to be alone…”
• A Very Special Delivery by Linda Goodnight. “It was the surprise of a lifetime for recluse Molly McCreight when single dad Ethan Hunter entrusted her with his infant daughter while he delivered medicine to an elderly man during an ice storm…”
• Snowbound by Janice Kay Johnson. “When a blizzard strands Fiona MacPherson and her students in Oregon’s Cascade Mountains, their only hope of survival is to seek shelter at Thunder Mountain Lodge…“
• Stranded with a Spy by Merline Lovelace. “When Mallory Dawes, suddenly infamous in the States, decided to take that vacation to France, her problems were just beginning: a lost passport. A car swept out to sea…”
• His Lady Mistress by Elizabeth Rolls. “When Max, Earl Blakehurst, meets Verity he sees a downtrodden servant. He doesn’t recognize her as the daughter of a colonel under whom he used to serve, the girl he’d once helped years before…”
• Speed Dating by Nancy Warren. “Dylan Hargreave thinks I’m an actress paid to pose as his girlfriend at a North Carolina society wedding. How did this happen to me, of all people…”

According to Amazon Blog, following Kindle books by Random House will be available for free until May 31, 2009:

• Settling Accounts Return Engagement by Harry Turtledove. “In this well-thought-out alternate history, the first in a new trilogy, Turtledove combines elements of the Civil War and WWII with disturbing results. Confederate President Jake Featherstone has launched an undeclared war of revenge on the U.S.A…“

• His Majesty’s Dragon by Naomi Novik. “In this delightful first novel, the opening salvo of a trilogy, Novik seamlessly blends fantasy into the history of the Napoleonic wars. Here be dragons, beasts that can speak and reason, bred for strength and speed and used for aerial support in battle…“

• Blood Engines by T.A. Pratt. “Pratt is a deft storyteller whose blend of suspense, magic, and dry humor kept me entertained and turning pages. Blood Engines is one of the most absorbing reads I’ve enjoyed in a long time, gluing me to the couch…“

• Assassin’s Apprentice by Robin Hobb. “The bastard sons of kings play a noble role in fantasy: not only were King Arthur and Modred by-blows, but it is often suggested that Merlin himself came to power from the “wrong side of the bed.” While Hobb’s offering has a few too many illegitimate heirs backstabbing around, this is still a delightful take on the powers and politics behind the throne…“

• Red Mars by Stanley Robinson. “The first novel in the astounding trilogy, Red Mars chronicles the lives of the first arrivals to Mars. The planet that the settlers find is empty of life and many of the pioneers want to begin changing the ecosystem right away to be suitable for human life…”

All of these books are ranked pretty high in the Kindle store now.  And although I have plenty of books lined up for reading right now, I will download these while they are free and before I forget so I can read them some time later.

Just a heads up on current amazon promotion running until March 9, 2009. I’ll mak a habbit of regularly updating on this topic which I have recently neglected.

If you buy “Murder In The Latin Quarter” by Cara Black, you will receive “Murder In The Marais”, another installment in the mystery series about detective Aimee Leduc for FREE.

If you are interested, details  and interview with Cara Black can be found on official Amazon Kindle Blog.

Another good place to download free books for your Amazon Kindle is http://www.munseys.com/. Main website itself is a bit heavy for Kindle Basic Web to render so you can use section of the website that is specifically optimized for mobile browsing: http://www.munseys.com/joomla/. There you can browse books by category. Within categories you can search. Unfortunately you can’t search all of the categories at once and you can only search by book title.

Still it’s a very nice place to get books. Books are in Mobipocket PRC format and most have usable table of contents. As of 3/1/2009 munseys.com boasts 23,853 books in it’s collection.

This is the second post in the Free Kindle Books series…

It so happens that there are 4,800+ books that Amazon.com has made available for Kindle owners to download for free. Books are delivered via WhisperNet just like the paid books. But price is $0.00 (you save 100%).

You can find these books by sorting your search results by price from low to high. If you are in luck free books will be on top of the list. You can browse the complete 400 page list.

I’ll gradually build complete list of these books and make it available on this website. For now here is a list of free books by my personal favorite, Mark Twain.

P.S.: As I was building the Mark Twain list I’ve noticed that althogh Amazon website features 4,800+ titles, many books are split into multiple parts so number of actual titles available is lower.

This post commences series on absolutely free books available for Amazon Kindle. There are many places on the web that have very good literature available for Kindle for free legally and these places are worth knowing.

First such place is ManyBooks.net. It has 20,000+ public domain books digitized and hand proofed by Project Gutenberg. ManyBooks.net adds value by making these books available for download in many formats including Kindle native AZW which makes if very convenient.

You can visit ManyBooks.net using Kindle browser via WhisperNet and books will be added to your collection once they are downloaded or you can download files to your PC and copy them to Kindle via USB connection or SD card. One drawback is that website wasn’t designed with Kindle browser in mind and is a bit awkward to navigate

There is also mobile version of the website available at mnybks.net. It’s more optimized for mobile browsers including one on Kindle. You would want to download Mobipocket PRC versions as they are the ones natively supported by Kindle for direct downloading.

So you can read great classics like Mark Twain, Jane Austen, Alexander Dumas and many others completely free.