Today Amazon offer to enrich your e-books collection by The Siege of Washington: The Untold Story of the Twelve Days That Shook the Union written by John Lockwood and Charles Lockwood just for $1.99.

On April 14, 1861, following the surrender of Fort Sumter, Washington was “put into the condition of a siege,” declared Abraham Lincoln. Located sixty miles south of the Mason-Dixon Line, the nation’s capital was surrounded by the slave states of Maryland and Virginia. With no fortifications and only a handful of trained soldiers, Washington was an ideal target for the Confederacy. The South echoed with cries of “On to Washington!” and Jefferson Davis’s wife sent out cards inviting her friends to a reception at the White House on May 1.

Lincoln issued an emergency proclamation on April 15, calling for 75,000 troops to suppress the rebellion and protect the capital. One question now transfixed the nation: Whose forces would reach Washington first: Northern defenders or Southern attackers?

For 12 days, the city’s fate hung in the balance. Washington was entirely isolated from the North–without trains, telegraph, or mail. Sandbags were stacked around major landmarks, and the unfinished Capitol was transformed into a barracks, with volunteer troops camping out in the House and Senate chambers. Meanwhile, Maryland secessionists blocked the passage of Union reinforcements trying to reach Washington, and a rumored force of 20,000 Confederate soldiers lay in wait just across the Potomac River.

Drawing on firsthand accounts, The Siege of Washington tells this story from the perspective of leading officials, residents trapped inside the city, Confederates plotting to seize it, and Union troops racing to save it, capturing with brilliance and immediacy the precarious first days of the Civil War.

Flick Kick Field Goal is a game for your Kindle Fire which could attract your kids and free your time for a while. One of advantages of this game is that you can get it free. But only today. Tomorrow it’s price will be different. So, do not lose your opportunity – click here.

Bring the fun and accessibility of flick football to your Android device with this casual sports title from PikPok Games. Try to make kicks from different angles and distances, and even take into account shifting wind speeds and directions. Choose from Sudden Death, Arcade, Time Attack, and Practice modes, then use the intuitive flick controls to begin playing right away. Easy to pick up but hard to put down, this classic time-killer is sure to appeal to casual gamers and die-hard football fans alike.

Today Amazon offer to buy  a very good book with great discount: “One More River” written by Mary Glickman just for $1.99 (instead of $11.69 yesterday). This book is the sweeping story of a father and son, and of the loves that transform them amid the turbulence of the American South.

Bernard Levy was always a mystery to the community of Guilford, Mississippi. He was even more of a mystery to his son, Mickey Moe, who was just four years old when his father died in World War II. Now it’s 1962 and Mickey Moe is a grown man, who must prove his pedigree to the disapproving parents of his girlfriend, Laura Anne Needleman, to win her hand in marriage. With only a few decades-old leads to go on, Mickey Moe sets out to uncover his father’s murky past, from his travels up and down the length of the Mississippi River to his heartrending adventures during the Great Flood of 1927. Mickey Moe’s journey, taken at the dawn of the civil rights era, leads him deep into the backwoods of Mississippi and Tennessee, where he meets with danger and unexpected revelations at every turn. As the greatest challenge of his life unfolds, he will finally discover the gripping details of his father’s life—one filled with loyalty, tragedy, and heroism in the face of great cruelty from man and nature alike.

A captivating follow-up to Mary Glickman’s bestselling Home in the Morning, One More River tells the epic tale of ordinary men caught in the grip of calamity, and inspired to extraordinary acts in the name of love.

Feeling a tad stressed? Need a little more artistic beauty in your life? Gravilux is a gorgeous, very Zen-like app for Android that will both entertain and soothe you whenever you use it.

Gravilux lets you touch a universe of simulated stars beneath your fingertips, exerting a gravitation-like force to twist them into an infinite variety of colorful new galactic forms. Just launch the app and start moving your finger across the screen. The stars will react, moving in slow waves and forming amazing shapes and fascinating effects. As these pinpoints of light float across the screen of your smartphone or Kindle Fire, you’ll be overcome with sense of peace and serenity.

Gravilux combines elements of painting, animation, art, science, and gaming. Before it became a mobile app, this kind of interactive art was only found in galleries and museums. Now it’s right on your Android, available to you anytime and anywhere.

The app gives you many options to tune to your liking. Start out by selecting classic black and white or vibrant color. In the color setting, you have a veritable rainbow of shades from which to choose.

Hit the Settings button and you can choose an attract or repel effect, adjust the brightness, determine the spacing of the stars, and more. You can also touch the Optimize option and Gravilux will adjust itself to your particular device. The app is specifically designed for your Amazon Kindle Fire, so you’ll enjoy an incredible experience with Gravilux on that device.

Hugely popular as an iPad app, Gravilux was created by Scott Snibbe Studio, a leader in the development of digital applications. You’ll want to reserve a prominent space on your home screen for this enchanting work of art for your Android.

“Apps like Gravilux awaken an ‘Avatar’-like sensitivity to electricity in the body, power in the palms, and general connectedness.” – New York Times

“Every once in a while, an app will come along that has no practical application whatsoever but is just SO COOL that you have to have it! Gravilux is that sort of app.” – iphoneapplicationlist.com

“Of the millions of apps out there, none quite capitalize on the sheer fun and beauty of interactivity the way that Scott Snibbe’s do.” – Cool Hunting

Today, within Daily Deal action from Amazon, you can can get Vaccine Nation written by David Lender and which cost only $0.99

This book is about Dani North, a filmmaker, who just won at the Tribeca Film Festival for her documentary, The Drugging of Our Children, a film critical of the pharmaceutical industry. When she is handed “whistleblower” evidence about the U.S. vaccination program, she has to keep herself alive long enough to expose it before a megalomaniacal pharmaceutical company CEO can have her killed. Excerpts from Trojan Horse, The Gravy Train and Bull Street, David Lender’s other thrillers, follow the text of Vaccine Nation.

Some words about the Author

David Lender writes thrillers based on his over 25-year career as a Wall Street investment banker. He draws on an insider’s knowledge from his career in international mergers and acquisitions with Merrill Lynch, Rothschild and Bank of America for the international settings, obsessively driven personalities and real-world financial intrigues of his novels. His characters range from David Baldacci-like corporate power brokers to Elmore Leonard-esque misfits and scam artists. His plots reveal the egos and ruthlessness that motivate the players in the business world, as well as the inner workings of the most powerful of our financial institutions and corporations.

Also you can get Glow Tic Tac Toe Ad Free – a game for your Kindle Fire or any other Android device for free.

It’s glow time! Play an illuminated version of Tic Tac Toe with this classic game for your Android device. Glow Tic Tac Toe features smart, simple gameplay and a distinctive look that’s easy on the eyes. Challenge a partner or take on the computer–you’ll find yourself playing again and again.

You’ve played plenty of Tic Tac Toe in your life, of course, but not like this. Neon-like graphics make the game board seemingly leap from your screen, offering a fresh, newly entertaining experience with this age-old favorite.

What makes Glow Tic Tac Toe really stand out, though, is what’s under the hood. The game’s AI (artificial intelligence) adapts to your playing style and makes moves that are highly unpredictable. So even if you don’t have a friend nearby to play with, you can enjoy a consistently challenging experience that evolves with each game.

In addition, the AI’s skill level can be adjusted on the fly, in the middle of a game. There are three difficulty levels to choose from, so you can crank up the challenge while you’re playing–or bring it down a notch if you get cornered.

The image on the right is a really creative marketing strategy by Milwaukee Public Library.  I like how they mention sites that just about everyone is familiar with.

The amount of technology including social media, e-readers, tablets, computers, and more, is overwhelming.  Technology is a very good thing because it puts the world at our fingertips.  Social media has formed a global community of users.  It has also helped us keep up with the lives of our friends and family more easily.

Social media can be used to share what we are reading.  We can share passages from our Kindle via Facebook or Twitter.  We can also follow Amazon or other Kindle related users to keep up with the latest news and reviews.

The drawback is that it is all a major time suck.  The time we used to spend curled up with a book or playing outside is now spent on Facebook.  More and more of our interactions with others are done online rather than in person.

So, how does this all relate to the Kindle?  Well it is more of a topic for discussion than anything.  If you could take a break from social media for a period of time, would you do the same for your Kindle?  I am excluding the Kindle Fire from this question because it is more tablet than e-reader.

In my personal opinion, there is something that sets the e-ink Kindle apart from other gadgets.  It is considered electronic, but it is built in a way that simulates that feeling we get when we read a real book.  I curl up on the couch and escape into my Kindle books often.  Does anyone ever say they’re addicted to the Kindle?  If so, do you consider that a bad thing?

I think social media also affects the quality of what and how we read.  We are exposed to so much information that we have to filter it out.  So we spend less time reading more in depth material.

So, how can we use the technology more effectively?  We will have to actively allot time for various things. Check e-mail or Facebook twice a day, get outside for an hour each day, etc.  Read for an hour a day.  Those are just examples.

It is amazing to me that just 10 years ago a majority of what is out there now wasn’t even invented yet.  However, books have been around for a very long time.  Now e-readers add another medium for reading them.  Happy reading!

If you like horrors you should look up at today’s offer from Amazon: The Best American Noir of the Century written by James Ellroy and Otto Penzler. The today’s price is only $1.99 If you compare with yesterday’s price $16.95 you will see that it is real good deal.

James Ellroy and Otto Penzler mined the past century to find this treasure trove of thirty-nine stories. From noir’s twenties-era infancy come gems like James M. Cain’s “Pastorale,” and its postwar heyday boasts giants like Mickey Spillane and Evan Hunter. Packing an undeniable punch, diverse contemporary incarnations include Elmore Leonard, Patricia Highsmith, Joyce Carol Oates, Dennis Lehane, and William Gay, with many page-turners appearing from the past decade.

Some words about the Authors

James Ellroy was born in Los Angeles in 1948. His L.A. Quartet novels—The Black Dahlia, The Big Nowhere, L.A. Confidential, and White Jazz—were international bestsellers. His most recent book is Blood’s a Rover.
Otto Penzler is the founder of the Mysterious Bookshop and Mysterious Press.

Also we would like to quote only one review: “Well worth its impressive weight in gold, it would be a crime not to have his seminal masterpiece in your collection.” –New York Journal of Books

“Learning to Draw is Fun” is a name for a game for your kids which you can get today only for free.

If Rembrandt and Picasso had smartphones as kids, Learning to Draw is Fun would have been their favorite app. If you want to teach your kids how to draw, try this easy and fun app. Learning to Draw is Fun allows kids to try their hand at 20 different pictures, and then gives them a full color palette to finish their masterpiece.

Art School on Your Android Device

First, the budding artist chooses which design to draw. Learning to Draw is Fun features twenty cute pictures including a butterfly, snowman, pig, flower, and birthday cake. The artist then follows four easy steps to reproduce the picture. You can erase the picture at any time.

Artsy Tools

Once the picture is done, the child can go to a full color palette to finish the picture. Choose from 15 different colors with six different brush stroke sizes.

Share the picture through e-mail, Facebook, and Twitter, or set it as a wallpaper. You can also get the details of the picture’s file size and resolution within the app.

Warning: This app may inspire your child to become an art major. But at least your kid won’t be drawing on the living room wall.

Good news for John Irving fans.  He is coming out with a new book on May 8 called In One Person.  His novels: The Cider House Rules and A Prayer for Owen Meany have been adapted into award winning movies.  The movie adaptation for A Prayer for Owen Meany is called Simon Birch, and it is one of my favorite movies.  In One Person is currently available for pre order on the Kindle.  The only other Irving novel available for download on the Kindle is Last Night in Twisted River.  More to come soon.

Irving touches on major issues like abortion, love, AIDS, death, gender, sexuality, and disability with a great deal of candor.  In One Person is no exception.  It is set in the 80′s when AIDS was rampant.  So, it is sure to deal with the emotions and heartbreak that came along with dealing with that disease  during that era.

I have read three of Irving’s novels.  A Prayer for Owen Meany has stuck with me the longest.  It is about a dwarf named Owen, but the story is told from the point of view of his best friend.  Owen Meany has a lot to show the world, and has some psychic powers that shape the way he lives his life.

The World According to Garp is a very gender and sexuality focused book.  This book is best for the mature audience.  All of Irving’s books include issues that only adults can fully grasp, but I stress that fact for this one in particular.

The Last Night in Twisted River is Irving’s latest book currently available.  It features father-son protagonists who start off as cooks in a logging town.  An unexpected turn of events forces them to skip town.  The son later becomes a novelist, but fate catches up to both of them in the long run.  It took me a really long time to get through this book.  It moved too slowly for me.  Out of the three books I’ve read by Irving, this one is my least favorite.  It does have good reviews though, and others give high marks, so it is just a matter of preference.

Irving’s novels work your brain.  If you want a book that has depth, includes a well defined and complex plot, and steamrolls through controversial issues, this if your type of book.  On top of that, Irving has been a highly successful author for many, many years.  So, I am eager to read what he has to say in his newest novel when it comes out in May.

The Kindle Fire and other tablets currently out in the market are full of great videos and offer unprecedented portability.  You can curl up on the couch with your Kindle Fire and watch YouTube or Netflix.  This is great for adults who have the ability to use discretion on what they can or want to watch.

For kids, the the portability and easy video access can cause issues.  Content meant for mature audiences are everywhere.  Controlling what kids watch and the constant worry over whether they might stumble over something inappropriate can be exhausting.  You can check what they’re watching on a TV or computer, but a tablet can be easily concealed.

The good news is that MeFeedia has developed an app called Kids Videos for the Kindle Fire and iPad.  The app includes family friendly videos from YouTube, Vimeo and DailyMotion.  So parents can get peace of mind knowing what they kids are watching is appropriate and even educational.

Kids Videos allows you to search by genre, “like” your favorite videos and save for later.  The videos are pulled from all over the web so there is a huge library to choose from.  Watching educational videos on the Kindle Fire makes learning so much more fun and interesting.

At the time of writing this app was available for free in the Amazon Appstore.  There are other kid video apps available for the Kindle Fire, but this is the first one that has shown real promise with highly favorable reviews.  For the most part the reviewers echo what the product description says.  So it appears to do what it set out to do.

The age range for tablet users has grown by leaps and bounds in the past few months.  The Kindle Fire is inexpensive enough for the average consumer to justify.  It also offers a lot more kid friendly content thanks to apps like Kids Videos, games, and e-books written for children.  What used to be a niche market is fast becoming the norm.

New offer from Amazon: A Drowned Maiden’s Hair written by Laura Amy Schlitz just for $0.99

Maud Flynn is known at the orphanage for her impertinence. So when the charming Miss Hyacinth chooses her to take home, the girl is pleased but baffled, until she learns of her new role: helping to stage elaborate séances for bereaved patrons. As Maud is drawn deeper into the deception, playing the “secret child,” she is torn between her need to please and her growing conscience. It takes a shocking betrayal to make clear just how heartless her so-called guardians are. Filled with fascinating details of turn-of-the-century spiritualism and page-turning suspense, this novel from Newbery Medalist Laura Amy Schlitz features a feisty heroine whom readers will not soon forget.

Some details about the Author

Laura Amy Schlitz, the author of THE HERO SCHLIEMANN: THE DREAMER WHO DUG FOR TROY, has spent most of her life working as a librarian and professional storyteller. She has also written plays for young people that have been performed in professional theaters all over the country. She lives in Baltimore, Maryland.

Reversi is a classic Game of wits for your Kindle Fire and other Android devices.

AI Factory’s Reversi brings the classic board game to your Android phone. Reversi sports a clean and intuitive interface, features 10 levels of difficulty, and provides an Undo button if you want to make a different move. Play against the AI or a human opponent.

Reversi is played on an 8×8 grid. The game begins with four tokens: two light tokens for the first opponent and two dark tokens for the second opponent. The tokens are placed next to each other at the center of the board.

You must place your token so that two of your tokens are on two sides of your opponent’s single token or line of tokens. The tokens between your two tokens are then flipped over to your color. Conversely, your opponent flips your tokens to his color in the same manner.

The object of the game, of course, is to end up with more tokens by the time game board is filled up. Reversi, much like chess and go, is a duel of cunning strategy and cold logic. The corners and edges of the board are crucial to the game. You should do your best not to give up these positions.

This Reversi app comes loaded with options. Choose from two different boards and tokens, and toggle the sound, screen transitions, and legal moves. Get suggestions from the AI on your next move, and keep track of your games against the AI at all 10 levels. Reversi also comes with the full rules.

The Kindle Library Lending service launched in the fall of 2011 started with 11.000 libraries.  The number has grown to about 15,000 libraries and counting in the US, and 18,000 worldwide.  This new service offered via a partnership between Amazon and OverDrive has been very instrumental in facilitating this big jump in membership. more

Kindle Library Lending is available to anyone who has an e-ink Kindle, Kindle Fire, or Kindle reading app.  The books can be downloaded via Wi-Fi or USB.  Loan periods vary by library.

So it looks like a win win situation for both parties.  Customers who want to keep a book can purchase them on Amazon.  Amazon has the broad customer base and selection of books to bring to the table.  I do hope that they can eliminate some of the steps to downloading a book.  In some cases it takes a lot of digging to even find the e-book collection on the library’s website.

OverDrive is the repository that is used for holding digital book collections.  This includes both e-books and audiobooks.  The e-book collections are available on the Kindle, Nook, and any other e-reader that supports ePub format.  E-books can also be accessed on the computer.  If the service is offered at your local library, a link to it should be fairly prominent on the library’s website.

Most states have a digital library account with OverDrive.  North Carolina’s is called the NC Digital Library.  From there, select libraries subscribe to the account and offer e-books.  If your library doesn’t currently offer them, keep checking back.  More libraries are constantly being added to the service.  I see articles about individual libraries launching e-book lending all the time.

Between Kindle Library Lending from my local library and the Kindle Owner’s Lending Library, I’ve been able to find a lot of good reading material for free.  There are also a lot of reduced priced Kindle books available as well.  Each month features 100 Kindle Books under $3.99.  The major bestsellers aren’t available on either yet unfortunately, but they do offer a chance to explore new authors and catch up on older bestsellers.

Today Amazon offer to buy Morgue Drawer Four by Jutta Profijt for $0.99.

This entertaining mix of thriller and fantasy, which was shortlisted for Germany’s Friedrich Glauser Prize, works a nice twist on a familiar theme. Car thief Pascha Lerchenberg is handed a couple of really big surprises: first, he’s murdered; then he awakens in the morgue to see his body being autopsied. As if that isn’t enough to drive a recently dead man around the bend, Pascha discovers that he can communicate with the coroner, Martin Gansewein (who is understandably gob-smacked when the dead man on his table begins talking to him). The nimbly translated tale follows Pascha and Martin—a decidedly mismatched pair—as they try to solve Pascha’s murder. Pascha’s first-person narration, including jaunty commentary on his post-death existence and his relationship with Martin, gives the novel an appealing extra dimension. Stories told by dead people tend to be either YA fiction or high-end literary fare—Alice Sebold’s The Lovely Bones comes to mind—but it’s rare to find a thriller using the technique. Fans of crime novels and out-of-body fantasies should have a very good time with this one. —David Pitt

Also Amazon offer to your Kindle Fire Galactic Blast. Today only it is free.

Blaze a trail through the starry night sky in this colorful arcade-style space shooter for Android. Galactic Blast fuses an old-school arcade aesthetic with fresh new multi-touch controls. See how high you can score as you fervently tap the screen to fire on incoming objects while guiding your starship out of harm’s way. Are you ready for an out of this world adventure?

Galactic Blast has you using sharp touch-screen controls to conquer each level as you fly through outer space. Use one hand to steer your ship and the other to fire at incoming objects like asteroids and bonuses. Make sure you collect the destroyed asteroid’s rubble along the way to add to your score. As you move through the level, discover and collect bonuses that will increase your play time or score and more. Your game ends if you are hit by one of the incoming objects.

Master each level and gain points along the way. Your endeavors are rewarded with stars based on your score. Earn one, two, or three stars for each level. Galactic Blast features several exciting ship upgrades to unlock by earning the corresponding achievements. Set off on your adventure and challenge yourself to get three stars on all levels and unlock all of the ships!

While the Nook line is clearly among the most popular eReaders ever to hit stores, arguably second only to the Kindle, it seems that the expense of keeping current has proven too much for Barnes & Noble.  They recently announced that there is an interest in breaking off the Nook and its associated business from the company as a whole.  There is no real word yet as to what the future of the eReading line will be, as things are still being explored at the moment, but B&N is blaming recent greater than expected losses on their investments in the Nook (especially the Nook Simple Touch which has completely failed to meet sales expectations) and as such seems to have good reason to be dropping it.  The big question for users will probably have to be whether this is actually a positive even for Amazon.  There are good reasons to be skeptical and hope that somebody comes along willing to pick up the expenses.

Nobody would really mind always being able to know which eReader is the best to buy, of course.  If all that is really left for users in the US is the Kindle, it makes things easier at the store.  The lack of competition that such an arrangement relies upon, though, is problematic.  Look at how things stand now simply from a hardware standpoint.  The Nook Simple Touch, while tied to what I personally would consider the less compelling platform, is definitely the superior device.  The Kindle Touch is nice and has a few advantages of its own that make it a close race, but the lack of physical page turn buttons and the light color of the case both work against it.  You wouldn’t think something as simple as the color would have such a huge effect on perceptions, but look at all of the complaints that have come up about contrast for the new Kindles despite having essentially identical screens when measured carefully.  That said, neither would have gotten to where they are today so fast if there hadn’t been the steady trumping of each model from either company as it appeared.

Demand, fortunately, has never been higher.  This means that there is likely to be some other interested party willing to pick up the Nook line should Barnes & Noble give up.  In a way this would be a particularly positive change since it would introduce the possibility of finally seeing an international release of the currently US-only product.  Booksellers tend to welcome any advantage that will help them keep afloat despite competition from Amazon, so finding sales partners wouldn’t be particularly difficult given the proper incentives and marketting.

Ideally I would love to see Google or Kobo pick up where B&N leaves off.  Not many other companies besides Apple have both the media and hardware expertise necessary to keep up with the Kindle and just selling what has been developed so far without developing new products would be the end of the line.  This assumes that the eReading line is done as far as B&N is concerned, but things increasingly point that way.  We’ll see where things go over the course of the next couple quarters, but time will tell.

It took awhile to make any of the Kindle games available for the Kindle Touch, but now, many of the most popular ones are compatible with it.  I am excited about not having worry about overusing the toggle button to navigate the games.  For more detailed, first hand reviews on Kindle games, check out the Kindle Apps Review blog.  There are a few that I really like that I think are worth downloading.

Jewels is a gem matching game that is popular on many mobile devices.  It goes well wtih the Kindle Touch because all you have to do is drag the shapes to the matching ones.  I admit that it can be more challenging to play on a black and white screen, but the shapes have patterns that help distinguish them from each other.

Battleship was one of my favorite childhood games.  The Kindle edition includes several versions of the hit game.  I like the portable nature of it because you don’t have to worry about pieces.  You can play with either the Kindle or another human player.  The basic object of Battleship remains the same: blow up your opponent’s ships before they blow up yours.

Mahjong Solitaire includes a stack of tiles.  You have to remove the top layer of tiles before you can use the tiles underneath.  There are a number of types of tile sets to choose from.  The tiles are kind of small, but I feel like the graphics work well with the size screen that the game has to work with.

The Electronic Arts games are the most complex Kindle games as far as design goes, and Solitaire is no exception.  Learn how to play different versions of Solitaire, or pass the time with the old traditional version that everyone seems to know how to play.

Bubble Pop is one of the newest Kindle games, and to me, is one of the best ones designed for the Kindle Touch.  All you have to do is pop matching bubbles.  It is a really mindless, but addicting game.

To win Slingo, the ultimate goal is to eliminate all of the numbers on the board.  The board is set up like Bingo, with reels at the bottom.  With each spin, you try to match up a number from the reel with one on the board.  It is a fun game, and the Kindle version is a real hit.

In order to find out whether your favorite game is compatible with the Kindle Touch, take a look at the link under the game’s price that says “Available for these devices.”  If it is available for the Kindle Touch, it will be listed on there.  Games are being updated constantly, so check back often if you don’t see it on the list right away.

Amazon offer today only His Last Duchess by Gabrielle Kimm by $0.99

The chilling story of Lucrezia de Medici, duchess to Alfonso d’Este, His Last Duchess paints a portrait of a lonely young girl and her marriage to an inscrutable duke. Lucrezia longs for love, Alfonso desperately needs an heir, and in a true story of lust and dark decadence, the dramatic fireworks the marriage kindles threaten to destroy the duke’s entire inheritance–and Lucrezia’s future. His Last Duchess gorgeously brings to life the passions and people of sixteenth-century Tuscany and Ferrara.

Here is a review on this book:

I have read other books about the Medicis. Many of them irk me just a bit with their concentration on sex and depravity. Yes, we all have noted that the Medici family was prone to some perversity but that is rally only a small part of the story of this truly amazing Renaissance family. The history of Florence and the Medici family is, perhaps, not complete without some portrayal of their odd familial sexual perversion but it need not be the focus of a book to be interesting. At least on my opinion – and although I don’t consider myself a libertine by any stretch of the imagination- neither am I prude.
This book was a happy exception to the rule about fiction based on the Medici family. My favorite thing about the book is that it poignantly depicts the beauty that was Florence during the Renaissance. As a reader I can almost smell the air, breath in the scents of cooking and flowers, walk through sun warmed porticos and wander through darkened, shuttered room where anything might – and sometimes does -happen. This is a well researched book that shines with the basis of fact that makes reading good historical fiction so enjoyable and satisfying.
The story takes the reader through 16 year old Lucrezia de Medici’s ill fated marriage to the wealthy & handsome Duke of Ferrara, Alphonso D’Este. Yes, there is some sex – but it a part of the story – not the story itself. That makes all of the difference for me as a reader.
The book is well researched, well written with subtlety blended plot lines that will have you routing for Lucrezia as the book nears the end. It’s a compelling read that I certainly think can’t fail to please. I thoroughly recommend this as a very readable, enjoyable, and illustrative book about this famous family.  —-Marie “ZQuilts” (Friday Harbor, WA, United States)

What’s Different is a fun educational game for young children (ages 3 and up). Join the adorable ladybug guide on a learning adventure that will keep your little ones thinking and guessing.

One of These Things Is Not Like the Others
When you begin playing, you’ll see four objects, three of which are the same in some way and one that is different. There may be three birds and one dog, for example, or three people smiling and one frowning. Tap the image you think is different and, if you’re correct, the ladybug will fly in celebration of your success and you’ll pass to the next set.

If you’re not quite sure which image is different from the others, tap the hint button. Hints are available in five languages. Meanwhile, enjoy fun, vibrant graphics full of flowers, leaves, and landscapes, as well as amusing sound effects. Track your score as you play through 125 sets and have fun!

Keep Kids Engaged and Thinking
Even very young children can learn and have fun with this app. They can view a wide assortment of colorful images in the gallery section including musical instruments, tools, furniture, animals and birds, fruits and other foods, clothing, and much more. These images are a great way to teach your children object names. Kids can also pinch and drag images for zoom and bounce effects. Featuring high-end graphics and animations and a friendly interface, What’s Different is a great app for kids.

After reporting less than stellar stock returns, Barnes & Noble is seriously considering spinning off, or even selling its expensive, but popular Nook business to allow the Nook to ramp up its competition with Amazon’s Kindle and Apple’s iPad.

Right now, the tech world is weighing three options with the pros and cons of each.  This article does a good job of breaking all of it down.  Barnes & Noble can keep an active role in the business as it is now, which is not likely, it can take a backseat, yet still hold the reigns, or it can sell the business entirely.

Sales of all Nook e-readers combined were up 70% during the 2011 holiday shopping season, compared to a mere 2.5% growth of regular book sales.  That definitely goes to show that something needs to change, or the retailer will end up with the same fate as Borders, which declared bankruptcy earlier this year.

I think that Barnes & Noble’s best bet would be to stay invested somewhat in the business because the e-book is the way of the future.  Despite the lackluster reception of the Nook Touch, the Nook Color and the Nook Tablet have been doing very well.  I am not saying that print is dying out by any means, but e-books are definitely going to take an increasingly larger role over the next few years.  Consumers are already flocking to Amazon for both print and e-books because the prices are better.  So, the Nook would be a lifeline in case the print side of the business suffers.

Barnes & Noble recognizes that there is work to do to catch up with the Kindle, so the competition is going to get much more intense if the Nook gets more attention via a spinoff or separate company.

It will be interesting to see what this potential new development means for the Kindle.  Amazon reported record breaking Kindle sales in 2011 because of the much anticipated Kindle Fire and by offering the prices to beat,  All three members of the Kindle Family took the top selling spots on Amazon. The Kindle will most likely remain firmly on top of the e-reader market for the time being.

Kindle Fire magazine apps haven’t really had the best reviews overall because they either don’t show all of the content that consumers want, or they are clunky.   I think this situation is about to change as more top rated apps appear to nudge others to make the improvements.

One of those top notch apps comes from USA Today.  USA Today recently added an app optimized for the Kindle Fire.   The rich text and graphics that go along with USA Today sets the example for what a top quality Kindle Fire App should look like.

USA Today is free.  It can’t get any better than that.  It is also available on just about all mobile devices, the web, and in print.

USA Today is national daily newspaper that is printed every weekday.  It covers every topic under the sun: politics, economy, life, entertainment, weather, technology, and the latest headlines.  If you want the latest news going on all over the world, this is your newspaper.  On Fridays, check the newspaper for entertainment ideas for the weekend.

Right now, the biggest headlines are the upcoming election and the wrap up of the war in Iraq.  The Kindle Fire’s vibrant display fits perfectly with the pictures and videos that go along with this app.  Good apps go a long way in enriching the reading experience for magazines and newspapers.

E. Luna

“In my opinion, this is exactly what every news app should be like. It is easy to navigate, and it keeps me up to date on all the news. All other news apps should take note. ”

Tim D. Hendon

” The layout is outstanding and is very
easy to use. The graphics are razor sharp with no pixilation and
the articles are well layed out. Wish that under the Sports tab that
high school sports were included. Overall, a winner in the news media. ”

John Grisham’s books usually start out pretty boring, but as you keep reading, the plot picks up speed, and has you holding your breath until the last page.  He is well known for courtroom thrillers, but has also deviated from that genre with A Painted House,  Skipping Christmas, and a few others.

Many people say that his first novel, A Time to Kill was his best, and I agree that his earlier ones were the ones to beat.  He kind of lost his edge in the past few years, but regained his momentum with The Associate, and most recently, The Litigators.

The Litigators has been on top of the Kindle Bestseller list for months.  It is your typical Grisham courtroom thriller.  Finley & Figg is a seedy, run of the mill law firm in Chicago that handles small cases.  The firm is constantly searching for the fastest ways to make money without actually doing much work.  Finley & Figg hits jackpot, or at least they think they do, with a case involving a company under fire for its weight loss drug.

What seems too good to be true usually is, and the “easy money” often has big strings attached.

Here’s what the reviewers are saying:

Jim

“Spot on with caricatures of mas s tort bar and big firm defense. Nice pace and crescendo of anticipation. Fantastic intro to trial procedure and strategy for non-lawyers with plenty of substance to keep lawyers interested. ”

This is what I’m always thinking when I read a Grisham book…

Talutsa

“A usual John Grisham book. It is always interesting to find out how his characters get out of the predicaments in which they find themselves. There is a side story to this that turns out to be more important to the lead character than the one that starts the book. “

When you get a cool new gadget like the Kindle Fire, it generally a good idea to get some kind of protective cover or case for it.  It is hard to find good ones that aren’t super expensive, but there are some good options available in the Kindle Store to take advantage of.

There is one case currently on sale for $29.99 called the Kindle Fire Lightweight MicroShell Folio Cover.  It comes in four colors and it props the tablet up for hands free viewing.

Reviewers describe this case as the “most bang for your buck.”  The part I like the most about it is that it props the Kindle Fire up fairly high, which makes it so much easier to use.  It also provides much sturdier support than just propping it on a stack of books.

The colors available are black, graphite, pink, and white.  I hope more will be added soon, especially blue, since that is my favorite color.

Product Features

There have been several posts about the Amazon Kindle Library Lending program that was launched earlier this fall on here, but there hasn’t really been a good explanation of how the whole thing works.  With that in mind, I found a good step by step guide for searching for and downloading Kindle books from your local library.

My local library recently added the program, and I downloaded a book on my Kindle Touch.  There isn’t a huge selection available yet, but I can tell that they are steadily adding new titles.  Authors such as Janet Evanovich and James Patterson are available on the list.

I think the biggest challenge for library patrons is getting to the list of e-books that the library offers.  Durham County Library hides their e-book link under a series of pages, so I have to really dig to find it.  Placing a link in a prominent place so that patrons can access it will go a long way to help this program flourish.

Once you find the link, the process kind of guides you through each step.  Search for the book you want.  Click on the “Get for Kindle” link.  You will then be taken to your Amazon account where you just click “Get Library Book.”  A more detailed overview, and video of the process can be found here.

The check out time varies by library.  14 days is about the average length.  The downloaded book becomes part of the list of titles on your Kindle, and you can view it in your digital items list on you Amazon account.

Most of the newer Kindles rely on wi-fi, however, even if you don’t have wi-fi access, you can hook up your Kindle to the computer and download the book via USB.  You can choose that option when viewing the library book in your digital items list.  That option came in handy when I was stuck out in the middle of the country with no wi-fi access.  I love how this program brings the library to you rather than you having to drive to a physical location.

So, I encourage you to check out your library’s website to see if they offer Kindle e-books.  The number of libraries offering the service is growing, and will continue to do so.  If you can’t find a link to it on the  library’s website, librarians and staff are always there to help.

Don’t have a Kindle?  You can download library books on all of the Kindle apps for the computer, iPad, and smartphones just like you do with other Kindle e-books.

2011 is drawing to a close, and it certainly has been a great year for Kindle games and applications.  To celebrate the success of top rated Kindle games, there is a $.99 sale going on under the name Best of 2011 Editors Picks.  In the list of 25 games, the ones that were picked mostly didn’t come as a surprise, however there were some not on there that I thought should be.

Electronic Arts games such as Scrabble, Sudoku, and Monopoly are usually around $4 or $5, so this is a pretty steep discount for them.  All of these games are adaptations of the traditional board games and puzzles.  You should catch on to the way they work pretty easily if you are familiar with how to navigate Kindle games in general.

Other hit games up for grabs at a discounted price are Jewels, Slingo and Strimko.  All of these have great reviews and are easy to learn.  Jewels is a Kindle version of the popular game Bejeweled. All you have to do is match up different shaped jewels before the time runs out or before you run out of matches.  Slingo is a combination of Bingo and Slots.  Strimko is Sudoku with an added element called streams.

The list of Kindle games for kids has grown tremendously this year, and a couple of the best ones are Hangman 4 Kids and Spongebob’s Treasure Quest.  There are a number of games and interactive fiction for kids that are good, but they are not on the list.  Interactive fiction is a genre that is continuing to grow, and includes books that are great for both kids and adults.

In addition to games, there are also applications that can aid in productivity like Notepad, Calendar, and Easy Calculator.  These aren’t really much of a sale because they are usually around $.99 anyway, but they serve their purpose well.

Lastly, for those who are looking for an inexpensive exercise program, check out My Yoga Studio.  It includes several yoga routines that cover most parts of the body.

I was really surprised that Futoshiki and Blossom were not on the list.  Those two games have shown some of the best reviews of all of the Kindle games.  Futoshiki is Sudoku with < and > signs mixed in, and Blossom is a pipe irrigation puzzle game.

For more detailed reviews on each of these games and apps, visit the Kindle-Apps review blog.  Again, as far as the sale goes, I think it that this is the best time to get the more expensive EA games.  They are good quality, and are all games that have been around for a long time in some form or another.

Most games are compatible with Kindles up to the 4th generation. There are not many games for the Kindle Touch yet, just because the interface is so different.  But, with time, that will change.

I was reading an article a couple of days ago that I thought made a good point.  It discussed how despite the surge of e-books and e-readers in recent years, there is still a place for print books.  On a personal note, I can still appreciate reading a print book from time to time despite owning a Kindle Touch, iPad and iPhone.

There seems to be a general consensus that print is on its way out, and getting an e-reader means you’ll never read print books again.  I think instead of replacing print books, digital books will just be adding to the types of formats that people can use to read.  Digital books allow more font adjustments and lighting, so they offer a more customized reading experience.

With the rise of e-readers including the Amazon Kindle, and the e-books that go along with it, many of the major book chains have faltered or have gone out of business.  Borders declared bankruptcy earlier this year, and Barnes & Noble is not doing all too great.  It does have the Nook in its arsenal however, and it has definitely provided healthy competition for the Kindle.

I think the foreseeable future still holds a big place for both print and digital materials.  Print books give a certain feel that digital books cannot.  There is really something for everyone.  You have print, e-readers, and most recently, tablets.  The Kindle Fire has taken the tablet market by a storm, and is taking a hit at the iPad sales already.

The thing that has hurt the big chain bookstores so much is that Amazon offers books in all formats so much cheaper.  Independent bookstores can also offer used books at competitive prices.  They can also offer a sense of warmth and community that you don’t get with a larger bookstore.

So, smaller bookstores have the potential to shine.  It is all a matter of addressing what the customers want.  I’ve always dreamed of owning a used book store where people can come to read, work, or just gather.  Maybe one day soon there will be more independent bookstores that sell both e-books and print books.

I’ve been watching the Kindle games collection closely to see if any holiday games would show up this year. There are a few, but not as many as I thought there would be.

Right now there are three holiday themed Kindle games out there. The first is a holiday version of the hit free puzzle game, Pixel Perfect Puzzles. The object of this game is to create a picture by filling in individual blocks. Each row and column contains the number of blocks that that particular row or column will include.

The part that makes this game a little more challenging is that you have to figure out how far to space each set of blocks. So, far example, if it says 5 2, then you would do a set of 5 blocks all together, then a set of 2 blocks separated from the other set by one or two spaces.. The columns and rows have to match up. If you can figure out the easy ones, the harder ones tend to just fall into place. Pixel Perfect Holiday Puzzles includes themes from all holidays that come around this time, as well as winter terms.

Puzzle Baron’s Cryptograms is also available in a holiday edition. Cryptograms are scrambled words or phrases that you need to reorganize. The most helpful tip for me is to keep in mind what category the phrase is in. You can also compare your results with others, which usually helps players improve on their score.

I think that cryptograms can be some of the hardest word puzzles out there. Puzzle Baron’s Holiday Cryptograms include themes like Gift Giving, Holiday Season, New Year’s, Wintertime, and more.  Lots of fun to be had for word game lovers out there!

Lastly, there is a festive collection of Word Search puzzles with holiday terms from all kinds of categories such as movies. Word Search is a great game for all ages, and they are puzzles that everyone is familiar with to some degree.

The Holiday Word Search Kindle game is available on the Kindle Touch, as well as all other models with the exception of the Kindle Fire. The other two games are not available for the Kindle Touch at this time. I was a little surprised that Amazon’s own game is not compatible with the latest generation.

I hope to see more holiday games trickle in as the season gets going. It is still pretty early, so I wouldn’t be surprised to see a lot more to come in the next few weeks.

Today you can get: Unraveling Anne just for $1.99 and Pocket Informant absolutely free.

The book get you in Los Angeles in 1950s. Anne Ford was the epitome of the California golden girl, a former beauty queen and model-turned-fashion designer whose success and charm were legendary. So how is it possible that such a woman could die in squalor, an alcoholic street person brutally murdered in a burnt-out West Hollywood building?

In searching for answers to the heartbreaking trajectory of her mother’s life, writer Laurel Saville plumbed the depths of Anne’s troubled past and her own eccentric childhood to untangle the truth of an exceptional, yet tragic, existence. What she discovered was a woman who was beautiful, well-educated, and talented—yet tormented by internal demons and no match for the hedonistic culture of Southern California in the 1960s and 70s.

With unflinching honesty and stirring compassion, Saville struggles to reconcile the two faces her mother presented the world: the glamour-girl-about-town the public saw and the unpredictable, bitter alcoholic her children knew. Most importantly, Saville explores how what we bring forward from previous generations can shape our own lives, and how compassion and love for a difficult parent can be a person’s bridge to a better life.

The book has the following reviews:

“Saville creates lovely imagery and writes with introspection.” –Publishers Weekly 

“Riveting.”–Chronogram Magazine

“A remarkable read.” –Midwest Book Review 

“[Unraveling Anne is] as unflinching an act of courage as you’re likely to find in everyday life…Laurel Saville is capable of the gaze of steady, lucid prose that continually ascends to eloquence, wisdom, and, at the end of it all, compassion.” –Bob Shacochis, National Book Award-winning author of Easy in the Islands and The Immaculate Invasion

Pocket Informant is an integrated calendaring and GTD-based tasks solution for Android. It fuses together best-of-class calendaring and task management utilities into one great solution. No matter how you like to manage your day-to-day activities and juggle appointments, meetings, events, and items on your to-do list, Pocket Informant can help. With robust features that are all fully customizable, you may wonder how you ever survived without Pocket Informant.

Pocket Informant delivers a full-featured events management solution that is integrated with Android Calendar plus a separate PI Calendar. Pocket Informant makes it easy to focus on everything you do in a day, from grocery shopping and meal planning to work meetings, doctor appointments, and everything in between.

To get started, Pocket Informant offers templates for entering events and tasks. The configurable event and task edit dialogs can be displayed or hidden. You can add items to one or all of your Android calendars. To see upcoming tasks and events, you can access the day, week, or month view.

The Pocket Informant app uses the Android Calendar Database and syncs with Google Task and the powerful to-do list manager, Toodledo. Searching for a particular event or task couldn’t be easier with the pre-made filters that allow you to quickly find active, due, undated, overdue, and completed tasks. The app also delivers search and notifications integration with standard Android services.

Pocket Informant offers a highly configurable interface with more than 100 different customization options. To easily see what’s on your calendar with a quick glance, Pocket Informant gives you the ability to assign colors to each individual event or task, category, calendar, different task statuses, as well as your work and free days, and more. You can also adjust the automatic functions, like the option to auto-delete tasks on completion or after a certain period of time.

GTD and Getting Things Done are registered trademarks of the David Allen Company. Pocket Informant and WebIS are not affiliated with or endorsed by the David Allen Company.

You can monitor Daily Deal on Amazon site personally. This is the link to: Kindle Daily Deal. And this one for Appstore Deals

In the years surrounding World War II, a gritty Italian-American waterfront community in the shadow of New York City known as Narrows Gate is home to brutal wise guys, a gifted crooner hell bent on success and two young friends who have no idea what the future holds — or how it can rip them apart. Vivid characters driven by demons and desire clash with gut-wrenching force in Jim Fusilli’s violent, visceral novel as crime, rank ambition and the promise of the American dream battle for the souls of Bebe Marsala, the talented but compromised crooner; the happy-go-lucky Sal Benno, who is trapped by the mob; and Leo Bell, a newly minted member of the Office of Strategic Services, the predecessor of the CIA. A powerful epic in the spirit of such groundbreaking works as Mario Puzo’s The Godfather and Budd Schulberg’s On the Waterfront, Fusilli’s saga races to Hollywood, Havana, Las Vegas and the battlefields of Sicily before it explodes in an unexpected and unforgettable conclusion.

Some words about the author: Jim Fusilli, the Pop and Rock Music Critic for the Wall Street Journal, is the author of the critically-acclaimed Terry Orr crime series, among other books. He was the project editor and a contributing writer for the Audible Original projects The Chopin Manuscript and The Copper Bracelet. He was born in Hoboken, New Jersey, a place very much like Narrows Gate.

Today price is $1.99

Also, readers writes the following reviews about this book:

“Narrows Gate is a long and complex novel that gets its name from a once largely Sicilian section of New York City. Running from the early 1920′s and traversing The Great Depression, World War II, and the onset of the McCarthy Era in the early 1950′s, James Fusilli skillfully presents three loosely connected stories of growing up and coming of age in an increasingly diverse land of real and imagined, legitimate and illegitimate, mundane and exotic opportunities. All three stories have their inauspicious beginnings in working class homes in Narrows Gate, then diverge, and eventually reconnect in unlikely but plausible ways that are all but impossible to foresee.

Sal Benno’s family owned a small grocery store, and his father was routinely humiliated, roughed up, and shaken down by a brutal Irish cop who represents the incursion of non-Sicilian ethnic groups into the neighborhood. (Anyone who thinks this an unlikely set of circumstances, read The Savage City by T.J. English.) Even as a pre-adolescent, Sal was becoming a genial, street-smart kid with a well-developed sense of right and wrong. When he was only eight, he took his father’s pistol and lay in wait for the Irish cop, backing off at the last second, but just barely, and at the frantic urging of his father, Vito.

Leo Bell was born a Polish Jew whose father invented a story that his family was from Ypres, Italy. Their surname didn’t sound Italian, but that’s just the way it was. Though Leo was a brainy kid, the all-important distinction between Italy and Sicily was lost on him. Shy and much less street-wise than his best friend Sal Benno, Leo was at the top of his class throughout his years in school. Different as they were, while growing up in Narrows Gate Leo and Sal became inseparable, though Leo didn’t acknowledge to Sal that he was a Jew until they were well into adulthood. As it turned out, Sal didn’t mind.

William Rosiglino, who later earned fame and, for a time, fortune as Bill “Bebe” Marsala, started out as a dull, socially awkward, emaciated misfit, the butt of a thousand jokes played by his age-mates at the expense of the weakest among them. His destructively overbearing mother, Hennie, however, discovered that the kid could sing, and she skillfully, brazenly, and selfishly pushed Bill and promoted his career as a Sinatra-esque crooner. In the process, she inflicted psychological wounds that never quite healed.

In very different ways, the development of Sal, Leo, and Bill into early adulthood is tied to changing investment patterns and conflicting alliances of Mafia factions, from New York to New Jersey to Miami to Havana, Las Vagas, and Los Angeles. Each young man, in varying degrees and in different activities, also retained an interest in legitimate endeavors, some involving investigative arms of the federal government. In important aspects their ties to legitimacy proved to be just as uncertain and fraught with duplicity as their Mafia connections. One is left to wonder just what legitimacy really means, as politicians and government officials jockey for position, with the most capable and those dealing in good faith often left behind, in ways that bring to mind the emergence and domination of the most brutal and amoral individuals and factions of the Mob.

All the while, each in his own fashion, Sal, Leo, and Bill were putting together private familial and quasi-familial lives of their own. The differences among them reflected diversity in character and personality and variation in their ties to organized crime, to nominally legitimate institutions, and in their aspirations and expectations for the future. James Fusilli skillfully, and often without forewarning, moves from one story to another, but does so without generating confusion but highlighting parallels and contrasts. He develops the connections among the three stories in a plausible and detailed manner, making unexpected links easy to accept, not requiring suspension of disbelief or leaps of faith to maintain his narrative.

Fusilli shows us the best and worst in Mid-Twentieth Century America: the value of lasting friendship and loyalty; the precariousness of wealth, fame, and high position purchased by transforming one’s self into an alien but eminently salable entity; the transcendence of ethnic and religious differences among those who recognized character, integrity and intelligence when they saw it; the corrupting, sometimes self destructive influence of unbridled ambition to attain ever more wealth and power. At their best, Fusilli’s Americans are rooted in relationships based on carefully fostered and durable love, friendship, and trust. At their worst, they are isolated and self-seeking, willing to do the rationally calculable thing, whatever it is, at the expense, even the destruction, of those who haven’t adequately covered their backs.

None of this is presented in a moralistic or didactic way, and there are definitely no guarantees that doing the right thing will someday pay off in monetary terms. Accidents of birth, circumstances of upbringing, and contingencies of the life course are too contextually intrusive for that. Nevertheless, if people of good will, capable of caring, find themselves together and recognize each other for what they are, their lives will be enriched in less readily measurable ways.

This is a fine novel that holds the reader’s interest throughout its nearly six hundred pages, and leaves him or her a wiser and more sympathetic person. It is a tribute to Fusilli’s skill as a novelist that he is able to introduce us to so many interesting, different, and believable characters without resorting to stereotypes or forcing us to flip back and forth to keep track of who is who. I put off reading Narrows Gate because of its length, but I enjoyed every page.” —- not a natural “Bob Bickel” (huntington, west virginia United States)

“What I think sets this book apart from others is the author’s use of real life personas within his book. You are transported into another time where Mobs reign supreme and immigrants are everywhere. For many you will seem many parallels within this book to the 1930′s and 1940′s in the United States. This book was a engaging read and I found that once I started the book I could not set the book back down. The action was intense and you truly do get drawn into the overall story and the action of the book itself. While the book is a bit long, you will not even notice it as you delve into the imagery and plot that flows off every page!” —- Dad of Divas

These deals as the name implies are updated daily and usually entail Kindle eBook being sold for nominal $0.99. You can keep track of them here: The Kindle Daily Deal. Or you can follow our blog as we’ll keep track of these deals too.

If you follow the e-book publisher news, you might have seen some mention of the major publisher Penguin Group’s decision to take away, then restore their titles to OverDrive.  OverDrive is used by many libraries to deliver e-books to their patrons.  States including North Carolina have a digital library that is run through OverDrive, and it is the place where patrons have to go to download books for all e-readers, tablets, and smartphones.

A couple of months ago, Amazon began offering Kindle e-books to 11,000 and counting libraries nationwide through a partnership with OverDrive.  The service is extremely popular with library patrons, and there are already long waiting lists for popular titles.

Penguin will restore their titles at least until the end of 2011, and is working with OverDrive to write up some regulations that will fit their needs.

Does this whole issue mean that publishers are starting to freak out about whether allowing library lending will impact their e-book sales?  Probably.  But at the same time, it is also adding libraries to their consumer list.  Libraries have to purchase copies of the e-books just like they do regular ones.  I wonder if there was a big fight with the publishers when libraries started buying books way back when?

I think that the bigger thing that is hurting e-book sales overall is the higher prices.  Kindle e-book prices have gone as high as $16.99, which no one could reconcile paying that for an e-book unless there is no other cheaper option.  The good news is that there are plenty of Kindle e-books out there that are free or reduced price. Most of them are older ones, or ones written by self published authors.

On another thought, in the past, library patrons have checked out newly released books at the library, and then purchased them later if they really liked them.  The same idea will most likely go for e-books.

I can understand the fear that books might end up like music once did with the rise of Napster and other music sharing sites.  I can also understand that it is important to make everything secure so no one gets misled.  But, I think that it is important to keep the consumers in mind because they are the ones who are reading the books.

It will be interesting to see what other major publishers such as HarperCollins and Random House do as Kindle library lending becomes more popular.

This is our last Friday post in  the series of weekly giveaways sponsored by DecalGirl.com. The winner of prize is Foneb with the following comment “Well same as before: since I’m not…” Our congratulation to him (her). So you have the last opportunity to try to get a new case to your Kindle Fire for free. You need only to leave a comment what you think about Kindle Fire on our site to be in the game. In the next Friday we will announce and send a personal message on email with redemption code in case you win. Remember, it is your last chance.

“And now, the end is near, and so I face the final curtain….”

This is my last post for Blogkindle, and our skin giveaway promotion is coming to an end. I have enjoyed sharing some information about DecalGirl and our products with readers, and I hope you have enjoyed my posts. I’d like to finish up with a re-cap of some of the things I have shared, and tell you a little more about where DecalGirl is going from here.

DecalGirl has been around since 2003, and has grown from a small, two person operation to a business that employs over 30 people. We are located near the small town of Milton in southern Delaware. In this time of economic hardship for many, DecalGirl has bucked the trend of many businesses and is expanding and growing, putting more people to work and contributing to the economy.

If you have been following this series of posts for the past couple of months, you know that DecalGirl stays on the cutting edge when it comes to producing skins for new products. So we were ready to roll with skins for the new Kindle Fire and Kindle Touch, and in many cases customers were able to get their new reader and their new skins delivered at pretty close to the same time. You will find new art and skins for more devices offered almost every week on our site.

We love to hear from you, too! Tell us how we’re doing. There’s contact information on the website, or you can check us out on Facebook (www.Facebook.com/decalgirl) or Twitter (www.twitter.com/decalgirl).

So where to from here?

As I mentioned last week, our big push for this year and next is licensing. We have licensing deals with the U.S. Army, Mossy Oak, and Moto GP in place, with more companies to come in the near future. So in addition to our large variety of custom artwork, your devices will soon be able to sport skins with logos and images from a number of popular products. We’re also expanding our galleries with the work of more artists. We have added over eight new artists in just the last few months.

On a personal note, here is why I love the fact that I work at DecalGirl. It is a time of globalization, and I know that the internet is accessible to people all over the world. It’s great that businesses can market to and connect with a worldwide audience. But I believe that no matter where your business is located, and no matter who you do business with, you have a responsibility to support your local community. This is what DecalGirl does. Our products are 100% made on site in the United States, from American made materials. As I have said, DecalGirl employs over 30 people. We do not outsource. When you call customer service, you speak to someone who is here on site to help you. If you have a concern or problem when you call, if it cannot be resolved immediately, it will be resolved in a very short amount of time because we don’t have to wait to hear from a customer service representative who is in another location. In addition, DecalGirl contributes to the well being of our state and our country by the taxes paid by our business and the income taxes paid by employees. At a time when many businesses seem to be looking for the cheapest labor, and the cheapest materials, DecalGirl has made a commitment to producing a first class product from top quality materials manufactured by top quality American labor.

Thank you to everyone who has read these posts, visited our site, or participated in the skin giveaway contest. We hope you are enjoying your DecalGirl skins. From all of us at DecalGirl to all Blogkindle readers, wherever you are, best wishes for a peaceful holiday season, and a prosperous 2012!