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Post by bixaorellana on Jun 23, 2021 19:11:00 GMT
Although I devoured the first season of Bridgerton, it never occurred to me to read the books. But it has not escaped my notice that many people love them for escape reading. Here is a boxed set (or, as Amazon says, "a box set" ) of the first three books in the series. Using the "look inside" feature, I determined that the author really can write, so no fear of cringe-making romance novel purple prose. Read the reviews & decide whether or not you want to entertain yourself with some nice fluffy escapism. Just be aware that if you die unexpectedly, your friends & family might think this is your regular literary taste ~
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Post by bixaorellana on Jun 26, 2021 0:09:09 GMT
Well, here we are on a recipe roll again. Looking at the introductory material and discourses in these books, it strikes me that they'd be lovely and informative digital companions on trips to these countries, whether or not you ever meant to make even one recipe in them. I meant to post the Julia Child classic yesterday & forgot. Apologies, but here is the hot deal on volume one ~ This classic is not as deeply discounted, but it is two books in one: The Classic Italian Cook Book and More Classic Italian Cooking, in a single volume, updated and expanded with new entries and 50 new recipes.
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Post by bixaorellana on Jun 26, 2021 16:16:05 GMT
Time for some non-fiction that isn't about cooking ~ Kimby might want to check out this book. I dipped into it via "Look inside" and immediately decided to buy it. In the preface to this book, the author explains his goal of elucidating history from a wider global perspective, rather than the more narrow emphasis on Europe and North America usually taught in school. This is a "great on Kindle" book, meaning that footnotes, etc. are easily accessed with a click, and then you're easily returned to where you left off reading.
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Post by Kimby on Jun 26, 2021 18:37:36 GMT
Thanks, bixa. I have a Kindle Fire, but so far only using it for our local newspaper. And a couple games.
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Post by breeze on Jun 26, 2021 18:55:21 GMT
I think you'll like Letters of a woman homesteader, bixa. It's one of my favorite books in the warm wonderful women category. Supposedly it's nonfiction, but after I read it I looked into it and the results were very interesting. I'll just say nothing I learned afterward took away one jot of my admiration for the book.
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Post by bixaorellana on Jun 26, 2021 19:32:19 GMT
Kimby, I've read on more than one device with a kindle app, & I have to say that my preference is reading on the phone. The phone can be held with one hand and in landscape mode very much mimics the experience of reading on a paper page. Most important, though, is that the phone is something you're likely to have with you if you get stuck waiting somewhere. Supposedly it's nonfiction, but after I read it I looked into it and the results were very interesting. I think I catch your drift, Breeze, & if so, that will be fine. Apparently the setting, everyday details, etc. are quite accurate.
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Post by onlyMark on Jun 27, 2021 8:10:44 GMT
I have a normal cheap Kindle that always goes everywhere with me when I go out. Small, light and slips easily into my handbag. Tried a Fire but too heavy and didn't like the battery running out so soon. As an emergency I can read on the phone.
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Post by bixaorellana on Jun 27, 2021 15:39:52 GMT
Interesting point about weight. I did a quick check & your Kindle is probably lighter than my phone (Huawei Mate20, 188 grams/6.63 oz)
Kindle (2019) 6.1 oz / 174 grams Fire HD 10 (2017) 17.7 oz/ 500 grams Fire HD 8 (2018) 12.8 oz/ 363 grams $49 Fire Tablet (2018)10.1 oz/ 286 grams
Good grief ~ the iphone 12 Pro Max is a whopping half-pounder! (8.04 oz/228 g)
I imagine many people would prefer reading books on a Kindle or small tablet rather than a phone. Even so, most people might already have a phone & the Kindle app is free, which is why I suggest it as a way to try out digital reading. Those with more than one device should install the app on all their devices, since it syncs with all of them.
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Post by bixaorellana on Jul 3, 2021 21:57:23 GMT
Here are two worthy seeming books, one of which I purchased today & the other when it was last on sale. They are both available for a limited time for $1.99. But In the Distance is free right now to Prime members. There is also a $1.99 deal on a book called Stuff. Visit the Hoarding thread to see that.
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Post by bixaorellana on Jul 10, 2021 14:51:47 GMT
There are fans of Elena Ferrante, and those who want to see what the fuss is about. At a mere buck a book, this should more than satisfy both groups ~
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Post by bixaorellana on Jul 11, 2021 16:45:26 GMT
Today's great offer is a nice fat history book promising to greatly broaden the picture we were given in school (US schools, anyway). Whereas I've read a good bit about the early years of settlement in America (US), well prior to the Revolution, I've only read a couple of books addressing the conflict and the sentiments of those engaged in it. Both of those were novels, although one -- The Hornet's Nest, by President Jimmy Carter -- delivers a good close look at one region of the war & the participants. I don't think that book succeeds all that well as a novel, but as an even-handed history it is superb. I certainly didn't expect to find myself rooting for the British part of the time! In the same vein, the book Someone Knows My Name (originally published in Canada as The Book of Negroes) gives insight into the moral and political climate of the time and the admirable efforts of the British to evacuate enslaved Africans from the American side into Nova Scotia. 1776, by Thomas Fleming purports to be a close look at the year of revolution, with the hackneyed phrase "warts and all" well applicable to the motivations, strategies, beliefs, etc. of both sides. Many of the reviews mention how surprising it is to learn of how essentially rickety the Continental Congress was and how often the revolutionaries lost their battles. All I know is that when I started reading in the "look inside" feature, I could not stop and wanted to know more.
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Post by bixaorellana on Jul 12, 2021 15:20:42 GMT
Two nice selections today: a short freebie which might interest cheerypeabrain and a novel by David Mitchell ~
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Post by bixaorellana on Jul 23, 2021 17:23:20 GMT
For anyone casting around for something to read, maybe you'll find something in today's roundup of short term bargains. [/div]
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Post by bixaorellana on Jul 23, 2021 17:37:21 GMT
pee ess ~ re: the free book cited above -- it's only sort of free because you are borrowing it from Prime Reading. I don't find that finding anything on Amazon is easy or intuitive, but the internet came to my rescue: www.makeuseof.com/tag/amazon-prime-reading/
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Post by bixaorellana on Jul 25, 2021 17:04:09 GMT
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Post by bixaorellana on Aug 1, 2021 18:54:47 GMT
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Post by bixaorellana on Aug 3, 2021 18:23:29 GMT
For the hold-outs who claim they can only read physical books, here is yet another attempt on my part to change your minds. I know there are quite a few Alan Furst* fans on anyport. Try putting the Kindle (or Nook, or Apple, or Kobo, or Google Play Books) app on your phone or other device. Then purchase the book below for $1.99 from your chosen platform. Read it on a device to decide if you love or hate reading that way. It is true that I link to Amazon US when I feature books in this thread, for the simple reason that's what I use. But the deals I feature are always available at the same time on the platforms cited above. For those of you not in the US, this may be useful: www.epubor.com/how-to-change-kindle-store-country.htmlBecause I am signed up with BookBub (free) I get a daily email offering deals supposedly tailored to my tastes. That is usually where I find the books I post to this thread. Here is one more link for those contemplating using a reading app. * So now finally back to the Alan Furst book mentioned at the beginning of this post ~
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Post by bixaorellana on Aug 9, 2021 16:51:01 GMT
Recently casimira mentioned Peter Matthiesen in the What is everyone here reading? thread. I am reading On The River Styx and Other Stories by Peter Matthiessen. One of the few Matthiessen books I hadn't read. My husband has always raved about it and now I can see why. It consists of ten stories in chronological order. One of his books is on sale today and, although not the one cited by Casimira, is an opportunity to acquire a Matthiesen book for $1.99 ~
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Post by casimira on Aug 11, 2021 14:41:09 GMT
One of his best!
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Post by huckle on Aug 16, 2021 14:51:01 GMT
At Amazon today for $1.99
Echenoz' brilliant, short take on Ravel
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Post by bixaorellana on Aug 16, 2021 16:36:36 GMT
Thanks, Huckle. Here is the link to get that deal: www.amazon.com/Ravel-Novel-Jean-Echenoz-ebook/dp/B00FO81YQW/ref=sr_1_1I found two good things today. One is a cookbook which I probably showed here the last time it was on sale, back in January. The other is a novel I was delighted to snap up. I read it years ago from the library, and it stayed with me as perhaps the author's most profound work. This cookbook could be considered essential to understanding how the background and techniques of Mexican cooking differ from other cuisines. The text and recipes are clear and inspiring ~
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Post by bixaorellana on Aug 18, 2021 23:26:15 GMT
What can I say? It's William Trevor and it's only $4.99 ~
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Post by bixaorellana on Aug 22, 2021 17:24:28 GMT
There are history books available today which should interest Anyporters, especially since the ebook format makes them so portable. Either would make a great companion for travel to these places. The first is not the rock-bottom price bargain usually featured here, but is nevertheless a great savings over the hardback edition, the only other version currently available. It was published in 2013. This second offering is a real deal at $2.99, especially since the hardback (pub. 2020) costs $30 -- understandable because of the excellent full-color illustrations, which are included in the digital edition. Incidentally, if you put "captivating guide" into the search engine on Amazon, you will get a long list of books in this series. Of the other digital book outlets, I've only tried that search on Barnes & Noble. It carries the series and gives you the list, but at B&N you have to click on each selection individually to find out the ebook cost.
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Post by bixaorellana on Oct 28, 2021 15:55:13 GMT
Full disclosure: I doubt I'll be getting this book for myself. Francine Prose is an excellent writer, but I don't necessarily love everything she has written. The "look inside" feature on Amazon sort of turned me off with Gabor's letters to his parents. Gabor is the character in the book standing in for the real photographer Brassai. The book title is a take-off on Brassai's title for one of his photographs. That link will also give a look at the setting of some of Brassai's work. The book is on sale for $1.99 for 24 hours, so I have some time to decide. In the meantime, the time period and setting are sure to interest some readers here.
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Post by bixaorellana on Dec 14, 2021 18:40:19 GMT
The bargain offers have been pretty lackluster lately, but this little jewel makes up for that ~
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Post by bixaorellana on Dec 26, 2021 16:54:54 GMT
I believe there are several fans of Orhan Pamuk here on anyport. This book could be the long novel you want to get into for the new year ~
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Post by bixaorellana on Dec 27, 2021 16:50:49 GMT
I already own this book and was very happy to see it offered at $1.99 today so I could share the offer here. Some of you may be familiar with Edward P. Jones from his novel The Known World, which won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 2004. To my mind, he might well be even a better short story writer, based on the book featured here and the collection which proceeded it, Lost in the City. This is writing so pure, so limpid that it works its magic seamlessly. You will find your eyes filling with tears not because a phrase is poignant, but because it so perfectly delivers both a picture and all that picture holds directly to your consciousness.
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Post by bixaorellana on Dec 31, 2021 19:22:49 GMT
Three options today, although none at the old bargain basement price of $1.99. Starting with the cookbook. Note that it's quite chatty, although almost all reviewers laud Roddy's particular form of chattiness. US cooks should be aware that all of the measurements in the book are in metric.
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Post by bixaorellana on Jan 5, 2022 16:15:44 GMT
Another cookbook today, a quite large one by a celebrated cookbook author. After looking inside, it was easy to decide that the historical content alone easily made it worth three bucks ~
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Post by bixaorellana on Jan 17, 2022 16:26:01 GMT
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