FREE/BARGAIN — Fiction (everything else)

[bfisher]

A few books on sale at Amazon.ca today:

East of Eden by John Steinbeck for $CDN 3.99
https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B001BC5HXG

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey for $CDN 2.99
https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B000SWV680

The Godfather by Mario Puzo for $CDN 1.99
https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B0022Q8CSC

On the Road by Jack Kerouac for $CDN 2.99
https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B002IPZFYQ

[ATDrake]

Bargain @ $1.99-$2.99 for some historical fiction about historical women, by modern women novelists (prices should be the same in the usual stores in Canada & the US):

@ $1.99 (non-couponable) from Crown/Archetype and HarperCollins:

• Nefertiti by Michelle Moran (Wikipedia), 1st in a series of standalones about Egyptian royalty, this one about the chief consort (Wikipedia) of the heretic pharoah Akhenaten, fabled as the most beautiful woman in the world.
• Pope Joan by Donna Woolfolk Cross (Wikipedia), building on the popular legend of the probably-fictional medieval female pope (Wikipedia).
• The Countess: A Novel of Elizabeth Bathory by Rebecca Johns (Wikipedia), about the infamous 16th century Hungarian noblewoman (Wikipedia) reputed to be among the inspirations for the Dracula legends.
• The Royal Nanny by Karen Harper (SYKM, Wikipedia; also the author of a series of historical murder mysteries starring Elizabeth I, of which I've read a couple that seemed reasonably well-done), about Charlotte Bill (Wikipedia), who was a nanny to the children of the future King George V & Queen Mary, whom I first learned about from a Stephen Poliakoff film, The Lost Prince (Wikipedia), which is pretty decent (I have a Blu-Ray copy somewhere). ETA: some of her romantic suspense novels are also on sale for $0.99-$2.99, if you're interested.
• Blonde by Joyce Carol Oates (Wikipedia), about Marilyn Monroe. This one was a finalist for the National Book Award and the Pulitzer Prize, according to its Wikipedia entry.

@ $2.99 (couponable/VIP-eligible) from Sourcebooks Landmark:

The Tudor Rose by the late Margaret Campbell Barnes (Fantastic Fiction), a vintage historical novel about Elizabeth of York (Wikipedia), 3rd in her Shadows of the Crown sequence about famous troubled English queens, originally published in 1953.

@ $1.99 (non-couponable) from the Random Penguin House's Ballantine Books acquisition for an sfnal novel:

The Virgin's Daughter by Laura Andersen (ISFDB), 1st in her Tudor Legacy trilogy of speculative what-if alternate history drama novels, this one positing what if Elizabeth I had married and had a legitimate daughter as her heir (the author has previously written a trilogy about what-if Anne Boleyn had given Henry VIII a living son, and apparently this is the sequel to that), which looks mildly interesting, and a decent low cost to try.

[Dngrsone]

I liked Pope Joan, for what that is worth.

[ATDrake]

^

Cool; I was wondering whether or not I wanted to try it. Thanks for the rec!

Some $0.99/£0.99 historical novel bargains available from UK publishers Hodder and Orion in Canada & the UK (some may be US also; should be the same price in all the usual stores):

• Eagle in the Snow by the late British author Wallace Breem (Wikipedia), a vintage novel set in ancient Rome about General Maximus (who was the inspiration for the Ridley Scott film Gladiator), originally published in 1970, which has its own Wikipedia entry. The UK also has a 1975 novel for £1.49 ($7.99 CAD): The Legate's Daughter featuring a kidnap and rescue mystery mission set during the time of Augustus.
• The Wild Hunt (different listings for UK & Canada) by British author Elizabeth Chadwick (Wikipedia), 1st in her Wild Hunt trilogy of historical drama with f/m romantic elements, set in Wales at the turn of the 12th century against the backdrop of William Rufus aka William II's (Wikipedia) attempts at invading Wales. Wikipedia says this netted her the 1990 Betty Trask Award which was presented to her by Prince Charles. A few other titles also seem to be discounted at £2.99 and $3.99.
• The Alchemist's Daughter (apparently Canada-only; UK has slightly different listing for £4.99) by British author Katharine McMahon (Wikipedia), a standalone 18th century historical drama thriller featuring period science natural philosophy and secret experiments to “breathe life into dead matter”.
• Assorted novels by the late British novelist R. F. Delderfield (Wikipedia), in various time periods (mostly 20th century). I counted 5 each @ $0.99 & $2.99 at Kobo CA and 3 @ £0.99 + 5 @ £1.99 at Kobo UK, with more at slightly higher discounted tiers.

And if you happen to like those sentimental 1920s-WWII and UK-regional tearjerker and family saga novels that seem to be very popular in the UK, chances are good that a large number of them are discounted to $0.99/£0.99 as well.

Authors I spotted included Alexandra Connor, Billy Hopkins, Josephine Cox, Harry Bowling, Benita Brown, Pamela Evans, Joan Jonker, Margaret Thornton, Dee Williams, Rita Bradshaw, Kate Tremayne (actually 18th century Cornwall novels which are marketed as a Poldark-alike), Rosie Goodwin, Lena Kennedy, Anna Jacobs (also some 19th century immigration to far-off lands stuff), Pam Rhodes, Sally Warboyes, Jessica Sterling, Alexandra Raife, Hilary Green, who all appear to be doing well enough that they've had multiple discounted novels published which kept their names popping up in the listings while I was browsing.

[ATDrake]

Free again from the author via KDP Select @ Amazon (linkage for the lot), 13 assorted novels by South Africa-resident Ruth Benjamin, an Orthodox Jewish author who has been published by Jewish specialty houses Hachai, Feldheim (Wikipedia), & Targum (Wikipedia), and small press CIS Communications.

There's a mix of her backlist from them and what look like self-pubs, including literary novels and past secrets journey-of-self-discovery drama, YA mystery & general (originally under the penname Ruth Abrahamson), and a technothriller. Several stories are set in South Africa, and most have something or other to do with Jewish heritage themes, and may or may not be dedicated religious fiction (or might just be regular stories centred around Jewish characters; YMMV).

[GtrsRGr8]

Nine free ebooks from Lighthouse Publishers. All fiction. Some of the books or in some places in the books there may be some religious statements, allusions, etc. (I'm not sure of this, I'm going on the basis of things that I know about the publisher).

Deal good through tomorrow, Friday, May 11.

http://mailchi.mp/lpcbooks/free-kindle-ebook-may-928393.

[GtrsRGr8]

This is not really GtrsRGr8. GtrsRGr8 wouldn't be caught dead posting fiction books, much less 16 of them. Someone is going by my . . . er . . . his name.

From an eBooks.com email message to me:
Dear Customer

This selection of popular Fiction and Nonfiction is heavily discounted with titles at up to 80% off their regular prices. For a limited time only, Penguin Random House are offering the bestselling eBooks featured below at just $1.99 each. Included are favorites by Maya Banks, Catherine Coulter, Paul Auster, Elizabeth Gilbert, Judy Blume, Goldie Hawn, and others. Be quick, this SALE is too good to miss out.

Diffulgia and I have talked about eBooks.com a little bit. He mentioned several benefits of buying from them including, if I'm not mistaken, that their ebooks are DRM-Free.

Unfortunately, I couldn't find a way to open the email in a browser, as we can with so many ones that we get. If you think that you might be interested, all that I can recommend is going to their website and search and look around until you find these $1.99 Penguin deals.

[bgalbrecht]

Originally Posted by GtrsRGr8

Diffulgia and I have talked about eBooks.com a little bit. He mentioned several benefits of buying from them including, if I'm not mistaken, that their ebooks are DRM-Free.

Unfortunately, I couldn't find a way to open the email in a browser, as we can with so many ones that we get. If you think that you might be interested, all that I can recommend is going to their website and search and look around until you find these $1.99 Penguin deals.

You are mistaken, I just looked at an ebook that says that you can either read online or download a secure ePub.

I didn't see anything on the front page that jumps out with $1.99 Penguin deals. Did the email list every book individually with a link, or is there anywhere in the email a link that says "if you can't read this in your email program click here"?

[AnemicOak]

Originally Posted by GtrsRGr8

He mentioned several benefits of buying from them including, if I'm not mistaken, that their ebooks are DRM-Free.

eBooks.com, just like other stores, sells books with or without DRM depending on what the publisher wants. So for example Tor books are DRM-free, but books from someone like Penguin are infected.


PRH deals should be good at most/all retailers and AFAIK you can find most of them here...
http://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/ebook-deals/

[Difflugia]

Originally Posted by GtrsRGr8

Diffulgia and I have talked about eBooks.com a little bit. He mentioned several benefits of buying from them including, if I'm not mistaken, that their ebooks are DRM-Free.

It's not that they're DRM-free, but that they use vanilla ADE DRM (as opposed to Barnes & Noble). I also like that their site is easy to use (as opposed to Kobo), the ebooks aren't reformatted (as opposed to Google), they're not Amazon (as opposed to Amazon) and if there's a PDF available, then it can be downloaded along with the epub.

The main downside to ebooks.com is that they don't discount anything themselves, but that was a much bigger problem before agency pricing.

[maddz]

In the May first in series sale on Amazon.co.uk:

Bernard Cornwell Harlequin (The Grail Quest 1) at £1.49
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Harlequin-G...175165&sr=1-16 (cross-posted on SF&F)

[Little.Egret]

The Valley of Amazement by Amy Tan

Today only, $1.99 in US, $CAN2.99

Spanning more than forty years and two continents, The Valley of Amazement resurrects pivotal episodes in history: from the collapse of China's last imperial dynasty, to the rise of the Republic, the explosive growth of lucrative foreign trade and anti-foreign sentiment, to the inner workings of courtesan houses and the lives of the foreign "Shanghailanders" living in the International Settlement, both erased by World War II.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00BATG18K/

[bfisher]

On sale today at Amazon.ca

The Lords of Discipline by Pat Conroy for $CDN 1.99
https://www.amazon.ca/Lords-Discipli.../dp/B003Y3BCS4

[sufue]

The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck is one of the Kindle UK daily deals today at £0.99. Steinbeck's books don't seem to go on sale very often, and are outrageously priced when not on sale, so I'm happy to be able to pick this one up.

link: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B002RI9X8S/

Spoiler:

Shocking and controversial when it was first published in 1939, Steinbeck's Pulitzer Prize-winning epic remains his undisputed masterpiece.

Set against the background of dust bowl Oklahoma and Californian migrant life, it tells of the Joad family, who, like thousands of others, are forced to travel West in search of the promised land. Their story is one of false hopes, thwarted desires and broken dreams, yet out of their suffering Steinbeck created a drama that is intensely human yet majestic in its scale and moral vision; an eloquent tribute to the endurance and dignity of the human spirit.

[piperclassique]

Thanks, Suefue. I note that the audible narration is 3.99 so that makes it an excellent deal