Book Reviews and Money Saving Tips

I just ran across an interesting site that evaluates On-Line Universities. It only evaluates accredited schools which, of course, is the only kind you want. The fake diploma game is too easy to expose with the ease of data search brought about by the Internet. Anyway there was an interesting post titled 75 Apps to Turn Your iPhone into the Ultimate Personal Library.   Of course having a boat load of books on my PDA, I am predisposed to the exciting concept of e-books.  I still prefer holding a book in my hand but there is something to be said for holding 75 books in the palm of my hand.   Click on the title if you want to read the blog.  Think of the bucks you can save downloading free books.  I found it interesting and if the IPhone ever becomes a good phone as well as an excellent PDA, I may get one.    BTW the bat graphic is apropos of Halloween not the iPhone.

This falls under the philosophic musing heading. There are many claims that self publishing is becoming more popular. I think many people who feel a need for self expression have finally found a reasonably inexpensive way of doing it. The traditional publishing scenario where an author submits books to a publisher and spends years being rejected continues but now there is an alternative. Previously in most cases if you didn’t have an agent, you couldn’t get a publisher to even look at your manuscript with self publishing it is more dependent on your tenacity to get it published. Self publishing can be done for nothing on Amazon. Their publisher CreateSpace will allow you to put your book into published format and sell it on Amazon. If you want a proof to insure what you did online is what you really wanted to do, it costs $10.00. When you are satisfied, it goes up on Amazon and you are published. Now some people believe that until someone buys your work you really aren’t ...

Being a technut, I love to see really cool stuff coming out. I have a PDA and it holds my books and I use it when traveling and when I am reading in any low light environment. The back lighting enables reading just about anywhere. If I didn’t already have a PDA, I am sure I would have a Kindle. Now Amazon has brought out the Kindle DX. It is way bigger and I am sure easier to read. If my 401k hadn’t turned into a 201k, I would consider buying it. As gadgets go it is a bit pricy at $489.00 but give it a couple of years and inevitably it will drop in price. Here are the specs. This is not a paid blog but if you buy one by clicking on the link below, I will get a commission. Not enough to buy a Kindle book, let alone a Kindle but every bit helps. Since I use any thing I make on my blogs or Amazon to buy more books, if you buy something from my site, you are supporting Literacy. So Support Literacy! Kindle DX: Amazon's New Addition To The Kindle Family Slim: Just over 1/3 of an inch, a...

I sit here, enjoying the sunshine, reveling in a relaxed environment and lusting for an internet connection. Admittedly addicted, I was fine for the first two days and when I made my way to the local hot spot and found 90 emails that made their way through my spam filter I was overwhelmed. Do I deal with that much crap every day? Apparently so as I weeded my way through things that were deemed to be significantly important to my spam filter. Of course one email was from a client that wants a meeting. Generally when I do web sites I have an initial meeting with the client and may never see them in person again. I can update, change and add to their site from any hot spot in the world. I missed a couple of books that came up on my wish list. My other addiction is book swapping. I belong to several book swaps and feel like a little kid Christmas morning every time I go to the mail box and find a book in it. In over a year, I’ll bet I haven’t had three books come up from ...

Exercise, you love it or hate it, there is so little middle of the road feelings on it. I like sports but at my age, my knees are not so fond of anything that involves running, jumping or going sideways. That limits my options somewhat. I play gold and no matter what your opinion my be, it is too a sport. I lift weights and I do Pilates to stay flexible. Frankly a big part of my motivation to exercise is I like to eat. Matter of fact, I love to eat. Thusly exercise is necessary to keep from turning into a blimp. What the heck does this have to do with free audio books? I walk and I ride the exercise bike. I find both boring. Audio books are the saving grace. If I can keep my mind occupied, I can exercise. The library has lots of audio books but it isn’t close. I have found some sites where I can download audio books for FREE. I put them on my Clip (Samsung’s answer to the Ipod Nano. I can walk, ride the bike and still prevent screaming boredom. Audio books also keep me awake, with out...

I Like To Whine by William G. Bentrim is now available for purchase at Blurb . Personally, I probably whine too much but this is my book for kids on whining and it’s consequences. It is my first attempt at selling a book. I have books I give away at http://www.bentrim.info/ under free books. A long time desire to actually publish something is the motivating factor on putting I Like to Whine on Blurb . If nothing else check it out and let me know what you think. Of course, if you want to buy a copy, WHOOHOO!

Why am I talking about a swap site on a tech (mostly) blog? Well swapping doesn’t mean FREE but it does mean inexpensive which falls under the money saving part. Admittedly posting the same blog on both my blogs seems excessive but somehow to me they fit. Swaptree is an online swapping service where you can swap CDs, DVD’s and books with folks from all over. Premise is good, site is a bit sketchy, customer support is non-existent. SWAPTREE has no tech support, none, butkus, zip, nada, zero support. I have emailed their support, their contact or anyone who might answer and there is nobody there. If they have support then apparently they really are terrible since I got no response on any emails I have sent. I wonder who did they pay off on Good Morning America to get recommended. Good Morning America, what were you thinking? There are several much better sites that actually have human beings involved with them. I have a book on my wish list, Swaptree keep offering me a copy of the book ...

I am an avid scifi/fantasy reader or perhaps just an avid reader. I keep the books I love for passing onto the next two generations of avid readers in my family. The bulk of current fiction and stuff I didn’t really love often seems to grow l ike coat hangers in an empty closet. What to do with all the accumulated things like Cd’s I don’t listen to anymore, movies I don’t watch and books I have read. WhooHoo, there is a place I can trade that stuff and get something I want in trade. I have blogged about PaperBack Swap and frankly like it a little better than SwapTree. http://www.paperbackswap.com/index.php PaperBack Swap takes paperbacks and hard backs but does not do music or videos. I like it better in the book area because I don’t have to automatically find someone who wants what I have to trade and who has what I want in trade. You bank your trades. If you have something someone wants, you sent it out to them and you pay the postage. In return you get a book credit and you can cho...

Free Books Once upon a time an employee of mine was showing some emotional distress. She told me that her live in boyfriend had left her because she couldn’t deal with her having a child. (Kid was 3 so it wasn’t like he was a surprise) She felt she could deal with the problem but she just didn’t know what to tell her child who wanted to know what happen to the boyfriend. I wrote “Mommy’s Friend Goes Away” and gave it to her. I was discussing the story with a volunteer at a local agency who suggested writing about spousal abuse. This snowballed into other suggested topics. If you want to see the topics feel free to click on the link to the right under favorite sites. The stories are free to download for non-profit use. They are stored in a .pdf format. They can be saved to your computer and printed out. They are directed toward pre-school and younger children. They deal with topics that are often ignored or unseen. If you know a child that can benefit from having one of these stories re...

I received a hard back book today from Elizabeth Brown Books and Collectibles in San Diego, CA. She is a member of the www.abebooks.com group of independent seller. I mention her because the book I got today was in pristine condition and packed extremely professionally. You may ask, "why is that unusual?" If you ask that, you probably don't buy a lot of books online. I buy a lot of books, I generally buy them from either abebooks.com or half.com. I attempt to avoid the usury shipping charges by going over the complete inventory of a seller after I find the book I am looking to buy. Generally the 2nd and ensuing books are less expensive to ship than the first. When you buy a book for a dollar, you usually end up paying a couple of bucks for shipping which is a not so sneaky way of getting more money out of you since media mail is never as expensive as what is charged. But I digress, reasonably priced books are to be had at either site. What is unusu...

I am a fantasy/scifi fan of long, long standing. I read it for a lot of reasons and am always treated to new surprises. The philosophic aspects of this book were outstanding. A treatise on accepting responsibility for your own actions is so needed for our current society. This was published in 1989. I would make it required reading for every 9th grader. That is an age that has the capability and a mind open enough to change themselves into something better. Bando is a multiple time loser facing life in a future prison. In a cost saving measure, society’s decision to send all lifers to a prison planet seems financially feasible. The impact of a fresh start on a cast of miscreants of horrendous talent provides thought provoking insight as to how we might all change for the better. It is a good read with a very positive soul searching side effect. Don’t read scifi? Open your mind, you may find it expanded.