The Kindle Chronicles discussion
What are you selecting as your Kindle First title this month?
Mod
I got The Widow File, in the interest of broadening my usual fare. No idea when I'll get around to reading it. I am finding it very difficult to resist the numerous Deals that Amazon is peppering us with. I'm losing the battle, and we're only in Day 1 of the special holiday 12 Days of Deals, I want read about 4 of today's offerings. I usually try to ignore Prime Library books as I can theoretically read them for free. Anything to narrow the field.
Haven't selected one yet. Nothing appealed last month (my first month as a Prime member), & now I'm torn between The Widow File & the YA time travel novel.
This month I chose Soy Sauce for Beginners. The first month I really enjoyed The Things We Set on Fire. I didn't find the characters and story that likeable but the writing blew me away. Don't know when I'll get to Soy Sauce. Currently reading Teatime for Firefly and Medicine Men: Extreme Appalachian Doctoring(Prime borrow). Does anyone ever read just one at a time? If I have a non-ficition book, I lose interest and must intersperse some ficition. I am still reading the book about Jeff Bezos. Interesting piece on 60 minutes, huh, drones...
Update: I picked Timebound. I'm not a regular reader of YA fiction -- aside from Harry Potter & the Hunger Games books -- but I do love SF. The premise sounded too good to pass up. Not sure when I'll get this one read, though!
if you pick one of these is it in addition to the prime lending library or just an extension of choices?
Drew, it is in addition to your prime lending library selection. Now you get TWO selections a month but the Amazon First doesn't go away at the end of the month.
Thanks Mary...that is more goodness! I will go check it out
got mine and they sent a deal for a YA book for 99 cents that I used for my daughter...good deal.
I picked up Silent Echo for the first one last month, and Timebound for this month. I'm 1/3 the way through Silent Echo.I'm falling further behind my reading since I finished last month's free Kindle Lending Library book, and now also have this months freebie.
Two freebies per month plus my other books that I've bought... I definitely need to take a speed reading course!
I picked up Timebound this month, and put Soy Sauce for beginners on my wish list. Several reviews of soy sauce had complained about the ending, so I went with the YA choice. It was so tough deciding this month!Query: Does everyone get a promotional 99 cent coupon when they select one of these, or just those who picked the YA item?
Hmm
Hillary,I didn't get a promo coupon from my choice. Perhaps it is because as a Prime member, my selection was free?
BTW...I was depressed by "Silent Echo" and I thought the ending was contrived. It was well written, though. I posted a short review with no spoilers -- 3 stars.
I'm hoping I like "Timebound" better.
Mod
Bob, I have Prime, and still got the coupon. It must be because I selected the YA item. I enjoyed Timebound a lot, though it had a higher quotient of romance than I usually want in my SF. I thought it had an interesting twist on the time travel genre, and a great ending. I just wanted it to be longer, but given the genre, my guess is that the potential for sequels is very high.
Hmm
PS Thanks for the recommendation, Len. I'll likely pick up Soy Sauce as well.
Thanks, Hillary. I guess I missed it in my e-mail. Between ordering things for the holidays that received promotional credits (3 Chromecast devices and a movie) and thank you's for other various orders like free apps for my Fire, and Amazon Local deals that appear every day, it's a wonder if I missed only one. Or...I seem to remember I applied one credit for something and now I can't remember what it was! I'm 40% through "Timebound" and enjoying it, although I found the reuse of names (Kate, Prudence) for multiple characters very confusing at first.
Yes, the reuse of names was confusing, but given that the main character was named for someone thought to be dead, I bought into it. I did enjoy the way that history got rewritten... especially chilling was the scene with Kate's dad, about midway through the novel. Brrr...I do wonder if this one will have sequels.
Hmm
Okay, so we have the January Kindle First titles up. Interestingly, this time we have no non-fiction or teen offerings. I wonder if they did not get enough downloads, or if they just wanted to give some other genres a boost this month.We have:
1) A thriller
2) A fantasy
3) A romance
4) A horror
It seems odd to have a thriller and a horror novel in the same batch, doesn't it?
So... What are you picking up this month? I don't like horror and seldom pick up thrillers (though I like regular mysteries) so for me, it is between the romance novel and the fantasy selection. Romance is not normally my thing, but I'm a foodie, and the book is described as having good food writing. Interestingly, both the fantasy and the romance books have southern settings.
Hmm
I think they probably just pick 4 that are 'ready to go' and the mix of genres is drawn from what is available to publish.I may have to pass this month. None of them look that compelling to me.
Not sure yet, but for me it will be a choice between the horror and the fantasy (which looks more like SF to me!).
Ann,Me too -- I can't decide between the horror and the sci-fi/fantasy ones. I'm a big fan of both.
I'm leaning towards the horror one, since I picked Timebound (sci-fi) last month.
Hey Gang --I decided to pick up the Line, since I am more of an SF / fantasy reader than a romance reader. I'll let you know what I think of it. I am not certain what to do with the Amazon promotional credit I received. I dislike that it is tied to specific titles, and has such a rapid expiration. I may just ignore it entirely.
Hmm
Hilary Moon wrote: "Hey Gang --I decided to pick up the Line, since I am more of an SF / fantasy reader than a romance reader. I'll let you know what I think of it. I am not certain what to do with the Amazon prom..."
Did you get this promotional credit for choosing The Line, or was this for an earlier title you chose?
Ann --Promotional credit for choosing the line.
Hmm
I picked The Line. Seems fun and it sounds like there is a lot about Savannah in it. I've never been to Savannah, so I thought, what the heck...
I picked The Line today, too. Concept just sounded like fun, & the details seemed a bit different from standard urban fantasy.
I picked The Line, too, mostly because of the link to Savannah. None of the options were books I would have picked otherwise, but what the heck...seems worth a look. I like the opportunity, and hope it will occasionally lead me to a good book I wouldn't otherwise find.
Hillary,YES! I think maybe last time I thought it was a credit to my account, but looking more closely I see that each time we order one of the free Kindle Firsts, we get some books we can order for 99 cents. I wouldn't have put it together if it wasn't for your pointing it out!
Hillary,I'm always on the lookout for books to add to my wishlist to borrow for free once per month. So, I've decided to use the list of books on the 99 cent promo to add some of the ones I don't order to my wishlist for easy future borrowing.
It appears they are all available for prime borrowing (Kindle lending library).
I have noticed that some of the books that were offered last month as Amazon First are now available in Prime Lending Library. I wonder if this trend will continue?
hey what gives. the first time i saw this Kindle First thing was for the January promotion. i never got one (notice) for December. how do i get my back copy for Dec? I've been a prime member for years. For my Jan pick i went with "The Barkeep".about 25% done with that one.
Oddly, I got an e-mail for the November and December selections but none for January. In November I selected Things we set on Fire and liked it a lot. The writing was excellent. In December I chose Soy Sauce for Beginners which I haven't read yet but am cheered by others' comments. Finally tracked down the January selections and none of them appeal so I'm letting that one pass. I hope to get an e-mail from Amazon for February but if not, I have a friend who has promised to forward hers on to me and now that I've joined this group, will likely find out that way as well.
Is there a link so we can check each month on our own so we don't have to rely on an e-mail to come or not or of it gets sent to spam or lost?
Mod
Thanks for the link, Len. I mucked about and found the January offerings but did not keep track of how I got there, so in case they don't e-mail me in February, this is good to know.
Stephen,If you forget the link, on the left navigation of Amazon.com home page go to Kindle Books & E-readers-> Kindle Books and from the resulting page in the left navigation is a link to Kindle First.
I just got back a response from Amazon customer service and since I didn't get the December free BOTM selection but since the Dec offer had expired they reset my account so that I can get a second book from the Jan offering. Any recommendations?i got "the bar keep" already first. I have been a loyal Prime member and spent thousands over the years worth them. Amazon rocks. You might want to send an nice kiss kiss email to customer service if you had the same thing happen to you and see if you can get the missing book. Loyal Amazon fanSalsaguy
So I chose the mystery this month, Long Knives by Charles Rosenberg. Reviews on Amazon are mixed, but it was the only one that held any interest for me. Have only read the first page, so far, so my opinion is on hold.
I chose Long Knives as well, but haven't started it yet. Too many books ahead of it at the moment. I sure am glad people started talking about the Prime option though because I knew nothing about it.
Picked Long Knives as my Prime book this month also. Just finished it and really enjoyed reading it. Will eventually read Rosenberg' s first book. Have enjoyed being able to get a free book with Prime and finding some new authors!
I went with Gilded. Thought it would be interesting to learn more about Korean culture and for some lighter than usual reading. But I have some other books to finish first...
Haven't picked yet for this month, & may not. Nothing really appeals this time around -- even the YA fantasy, which seems the best choice for me. A little more romance than I'm in the mood for, I'm afraid.
Well, as much as I hate to....I think I'm going with "The Bird Eater".I read another book by Ania Ahlborn (Seed) that was horrible.
It was a total waste of time but I'm thinking about giving her another chance. Does anyone have any experience with the work of the other authors offered this month?
No experience with any of the authors, but I think I'll be going with The Bird Eater as well. It's a hard choice, though. The mystery offering looks good, too -- this after nothing appealing to me last month!
I think I'll also try "The Bird Eater" - I like horror, but I'm not really into the 'haunted house' genre. Still, I didn't care for the other choices this month.
I chose Mickey Outside this month, as well. I am about halfway through it. It's not too bad, so far. A lot of stuff about the world of finance which I'm not too interested in. The main character hasn't grabbed me either. But I'm going to continue and see if the plot keeps my attention.
Didn't have a problem making my choice this month. I went with I Am Livia, because I love Roman historical fiction. The reviews looked good, too.
I love asian characters and settings -- my first short story sale was an asian fantasy -- and I am really tempted by Soy Sauce for Beginners. I am also a foodie, and having mouth watering descriptions of chinese cooking sounds great to me.
On the other hand, I love time travel -- love it, love it, love it -- and really curious to read the book that won the Amazon Breakthrough Novel award.
Sigh. I can't decide. I am wondering if I should flip a coin.
And part of me is wondering if I should just pick one at random and pre-order the other. Heh, that is probably what Amazon had in mind when they set this up. A field of four titles tends to me more tempting to purchasers than a field of twenty, which can be overwhelming.
What do all of you plan to do?
Hmm