Way of the Rodent

That sounds like a truth universally accepted.

Having my first bad Kindle experience at the moment. I paid £10.99 for the Kindle edition of "The Invention of Murder: How the Victorians Revelled in Death and Detection and Created Modern Crime", which is a ridiculous price, actually 56p more expensive than the hardback, but I really wanted to read it and books where you have to turn pages are not an option while breastfeeding.

Anyway, more expensive than the hardback, and the edition is rubbish - tons of typos which appear to have been caused by some kind of conversion (loads of stray full stops, that kind of thing) and the text keeps referring to photos and illustrations "overleaf" which aren't there.

It's a shame as the book itself is great. I'll leave feedback about it on Amazon, but I'm also thinking of trying to send feedback to the publisher directly. It's taking the piss to charge so much for a shoddy product.

I've been tending to avoid books with pictures or diagrams. I just don't trust that they'll do them right. I try the sample first, if I can, but it doesn't always include any images.

I ended up going for the paper versions of Game of Thrones and Clash of Kings because there were some negative comments about the Kindle version of the former. They are bloody massive though, and I'm kind of wishing I hadn't. (I've already read them, but it was back in my library days, and they would have been hardbacks, I expect.) The Kindle versions both disappeared for a couple of days while I was trying to make my mind up, so maybe they were being fixed.

It was bad OCR that they were complaining about in the reviews. (Although I did think they also said there was no map.)

The illustrations in Graveyard Book were okay, too, now I think about it. Not all that necessary to the story, though.

@PVB: Before the first chapter, in the version I've got (downloaded a few weeks ago). Might be worth re-downloading, though the maps don't really add much as far as I'm concerned.

Hooray, my wife has just revealed that my birthday present is on it's way and it's a shiny new Kindle, just in time for our holiday

I've had a flick through this thread but is there anything I should be looking out for in terms of tracking down cheap stuff? Is this linked in with the wish list doo-hickey on amazon?

Edit: I've just bookmarked ereader iq, great find, thanks!

Also, any recommendations on cases would be gratefully received :)

Gorilla_Biscuit said:

]Also, any recommendations on cases would be gratefully received :)

I've got one of the official leather cases, and although it's very good quality, I actually find it a bit heavy. Without it on, the Kindle is light enough to hold comfortably one handed, but with it it's back to being the weight of a book, so voiding one of the advantages of the Kindle. So I'd say it's worth looking at the non-leather alternatives.

I've got a leather slip-case, just for travel. I take the Kindle out when I'm reading.

I'm not a huge fan of this particular case, I worry that it's a bit tight and might be pressing buttons while the Kindle is in it. I think I'd prefer one of the Belkin soft ones, but I'm not sure I want to spend any more money on something I'd rarely use.

As for free books and special offers, I mainly just browse the Amazon Kindle page every now and again. The charts will often flag up any good deals sooner or later.

I find the built in light in the official leather cover really bloody useful, so keep that in mind if you're likely to want to read in the dark.

I know a few chaps on here are fans of popular science books. Well, Quantum (the story of Einstein and Bohr) is currently 99p for the Kindle. I've grabbed it, as the reviews are pretty good and it seems to give as much space to the human element as the science.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Quantum-Einstein-Debate-Reality-ebook/dp/B002RI9ZRC/ref=pd_sim_kinc_2

Never heard of this at the time, but in 2009 amazon made a good effort to use technology to break new ground in irony by remotely wiping 1984 from Kindle's without the user's knowledge: http://www.pcworld.com/article/172953/amazon_settles_kindle_1984_lawsuit.html

Anyone who hasn't already got it, Game of Thrones is currently £1.99 on the kindle:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Game-Thrones-Book-Songs-ebook/dp/B004GJXQ20?SubscriptionId=1GVBN9WWNVXC5DBPE502&tag=kiq-pw-21&linkCode=xm2&camp=2025&creative=165953&creativeASIN=B004GJXQ20&kc=A7B2F8DUJ88VZ

WARNING: It's a gateway drug.

Aye, 'tis perfect holiday fodder. I too picked up Home for sub £3. Not got round to reading it myself, but MrsM enjoyed it (and related most of the interesting facts on to me in the process!).

I love the whole synching with my phone thing. It's so easy just to buy a book when I hear something mentioned or reviewed, and although the reader on the phone isn't ideal for using for any length of time, I often use it to read a few pages of my book if I'm stuck somewhere without the Kindle on me.

I think bookshops could be doing something with smart phones to get in on the act with e-readers somehow. I was walking round a Waterstones the other day, and saw a couple of titles that I want to read, but I went home and ordered them for the Kindle instead, so Waterstones did the work of getting me to buy, but missed out on my cash.

It would be great if they set up some kind of agreement with the Kindle where a customer can scan a barcode in a shop with their phone and be able to buy it online then and there, with Waterstones getting a cut of the profit somehow.

I also think there should be some kind of deal with bookshops where you get the option to get an electronic version of a book as an add-on when you buy a paper copy. Again in Waterstones, I bought a book of short stories because I wanted the paper version - I collect them and want it on my shelf, and it was a nice edition. But it would be handy to also have it on my Kindle so I can read from either. It's something like £8 to buy on Kindle, and I don't want to pay for it twice, but I'd happily pay an extra couple of quid to get an electronic version too. I can imagine a system where you get some kind of code when you buy a paper book which gives you access to a cheap electronic version too.

I should be telling Amazon this kind of thing rather than the forum, shouldn't I? I might email their feedback thing.

@Emzar looks like somebody had a similar thoughts
http://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2011/09/will_retailing_ever_be_the_sam.html

mogwins said:

Graham Swift's Last Orders (the 1996 Booker winner) is £1.79

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Last-Orders-ebook/dp/B003GK22MA?SubscriptionId=1GVBN9WWNVXC5DBPE502&tag=kiq-pw-21&linkCode=xm2&camp=2025&creative=165953&creativeASIN=B003GK22MA&kc=A7B2F8DUJ88VZ

Sounds suitably nostalgic/melancholic to be just up my street!

was this ever made into a movie? the plot reminds me of a film of something similar.

@TheGoodbyeGirl, yep I do the same thing, take pics on my 'phone of books that look interesting, then order them later on Amazon. Waterstones must hate me. Although I blame them as I can never find 3 books I want in the "buy 3 for the price of 2" offers, I always get stuck at 2 and am casting about desperately for a third.

glenmorangie said: I always get stuck at 2 and am casting about desperately for a third.

I thought that that was (at least some of) the point of the offer - to get you to buy books that you otherwise wouldn't have bought?

swoopinboywood said:

TheGoodbyeGirl said:

mogwins said:

Graham Swift's Last Orders (the 1996 Booker winner) is £1.79

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Last-Orders-ebook/dp/B003GK22MA?SubscriptionId=1GVBN9WWNVXC5DBPE502&tag=kiq-pw-21&linkCode=xm2&camp=2025&creative=165953&creativeASIN=B003GK22MA&kc=A7B2F8DUJ88VZ

Sounds suitably nostalgic/melancholic to be just up my street!

was this ever made into a movie? the plot reminds me of a film of something similar.

Yup, the Hoskins is in it.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0253200/

Ahh yip :) saw the movie was quiet funny :) mind indeed pick up the book in that case :)

Ha. Yeah, mysterious, that. The same seems to be true of Song of Fire & Ice (Game of Thrones).

In other purchasing quandaries, I note that Wolf Hall is currently £2.99, but I feel a bit stupid buying it when MrsM has the hardback. There's no way I'm carrying that tome on my commute though.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B002RI9ZZ4/ref=s9_simh_gw_p351_d0_g351_i1?pf_rd_m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&pf_rd_s=center-2&pf_rd_r=1FGKZ3YQBCDQH3D3CMV2&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=467128533&pf_rd_i=468294

Yeah, I agree. Though at £2.99, I don't really begrudge paying for the ease of downloading it straight to my Kindle. It just feels wrong to doubly spurn the tree book!

@mogwins dont bother with Wolf Hall, its seriously dry I just couldnt get into the story at all as there was tons of background stuff were as I loved the story of Katherine Swynford by Anya Seton

Do what I did for amazon.com purchases that aren't available in co.uk. I temporarily set up a US address as my main address and transferred my Kindle to the .com site. Bought the stuff and then changed everything back.

It required a valid US zip code, so I just used Amazon's head office address in the US (easily googleable). ;)

TheGoodbyeGirl said:

@mogwins dont bother with Wolf Hall, its seriously dry I just couldnt get into the story at all as there was tons of background stuff were as I loved the story of Katherine Swynford by Anya Seton

Ooh, book fight time! :p Wolf Hall is probably in my top ten books of all time. Well, top 20 at least. I found it gripping, funny how books can affect people so differently. :) Loved it and can't wait for the second part to come out. Definitely get it on Kindle!

@Emzar :) yeah its odd isnt it, when i read the little bit on the back of the book which is how I judge if I'll like it or not I thought oh this should be good as its about a period in english history I like plus its a true story, oh well sure if we all liked the same thing the world would be a boring place eh :).