9/23/11

I finished reading the two e-books I received from LibraryThing, a book site I am a member of. I received them because I joined the reviewers club. Each month you can sign up and participate in a drawing for certain books. If you are selected you get a free copy and in return for the copy you are asked to write a review of the book. I have ‘won’ four e-books this way. Sometimes you can even get a bound book but so far I haven’t. It is interesting for those who enjoy reading and don’t mind trying new genres/authors every once in a while.

The two books were Let’s Get Digital, about self-publishing (very informative) and a novel entitled Wayward Son. The novel turned out to be a bit different than what I was expecting, and it was very, very long, so for a while I couldn’t face slogging through it anymore. The pace did pick up at the end, and even though it was interesting I think it needs a good edit!! I wound up liking it, overall, but it took a lot of perseverance to get through it. Shortening it up to keep it less predictable and more action filled are two things I will suggest in my review (I need to formally write it down and post it).

There has been such an explosion of self-publishing, and with digital media there really are thousands of choices out there for people to read. Still, I think publishing houses charging ridiculous prices for no paper are fleecing people but I’m hoping after a while the market will calm down a bit. Electronic copies shouldn’t cost more than an actual book, geez! There is much quality reading material available for free or minimal cost, you don’t necessarily have to pay those high prices. I have found so much free and low cost stuff for my e-reader, I will be happy for a very long time digesting all of it!!!

I also just finished reading Garden Spells earlier tonight. I really enjoyed it. I loved the character of the little girl, Bay. I’ll need to write a review for that, too, and would consider reading more of the authors work. Unfortunately, I paid one of those ridiculous prices for it as it was a new release. Those darned free samples can be a real magnet to make you want to buy the rest of the book and “have it on your kindle in less than a minute”!! Well, that marketing ploy worked. I also can’t wait to read the rest of Switched- alas the sample was 300 pages long. Now I have to wait! I burned through those 300 pages quite fast, but am unable to buy until January because the formerly self-published indie author has recently signed a deal with a publishing house. ARGH! I’m glad for her success, it means there will be a printed copy of it and maybe a movie, the story is good, but I wish I would have downloaded it when it was free and the sequel was just a few dollars a couple of months ago! I don’t mind paying to reward the author for all their hard work, but now…I wait!