Kindle bestsellers
[Hat tip: Althouse.]
Here’s a list of the one hundred top Kindle books. Actually, you get two, two, two lists in one: the books for sale, and the books available for free.
The Bible does well in both categories. And I’m pleased to note that Alice in Wonderland is 7th right now in the free book ranks. Sisters Charlotte and Emily Bronte are running neck and neck for honors with each other, but older sis Charlotte’s Jane Eyre wins out by a well-groomed hair over Emily’s wilder Wuthering Heights (#25 vs. #32). In the paid category, a book I’ve already written about, Stephen King’s 9/11/2001, takes eighth place.
Suzanne Collins’ and her mockingjay trilogy are dominant in the paid category. I happen to have read all of them for my book group, and although I can see why they’re popular among teenagers and are going to be made into movies (in fact, their cinematic plots, combining violence and fashion in equal measure, appear to have been written expressly with the movies in mind), they are pretty much claptrap.
I’d be curious to know how the Kindle freebies stack up in absolute numbers against the Kindle paids. But Amazon’s not telling.
[NOTE: Oh, and if you want to order anything from Amazon, please use your friendly neighborhood neoneo portal, on the right sidebar or here (I included the extra link because one reader wrote in to say that the Amazon widgets on my blog weren’t showing up on his computer).]
hmmmm…..I finally got a Kindle for Christmas and immediately bought the book I was currently in the middle of. Silly but I was anxious to try the new-fangled thing out. However, I don’t think there is a way to ‘credit’ you from the ‘shop Amazon’ tab buried within the thing itself, or is there? One would need to come to the ‘puter and get to Amazon via your page first before ordering? Hoping there is another way but regardless I will do my best Neo to remember to go to your widget first before purchasing.
Dustoffmom: I appreciate the effort, although I don’t think it worked.
My understanding is that in order for me to get something you have to come to my page and click on a link to Amazon (or a widget) and then place your order.
Are kindle books generally cheaper than physical books? Do you save them to disc in case your reader bites the dust?
SteveH: it depends. Generally they’re cheaper (and of course some are free), but the prices of others has been rising. This is what happens if it’s lost or stolen.
SteveH,
New releases (I’ve especially noticed this with nonfiction such as Kissinger’s China) are often more expensive on Kindle. I love the Kindle for travelling, and I have enough books downloaded that I don’t need to order more at a premium. A relative just got a Kindle for Christmas to help her get through hours of her sons’ soccer practice.
I think Amazon keeps the books for you. You can also read them on your laptop, iPad, and iPhone if you get the free Kindle apps. Some libraries also can lend you books for 2 weeks. I think it just takes a while to figure out what buying pattern suits you best. I definitely recommend the Kindle if you are underway a lot.
SteveH, the major publishers have been trying to kill ebooks with such things as windowing, agency pricing, and high prices for DRM’d books–ie, books that you can’t loan, resell, or transfer to different ereaders.
As for what happens when you lose your ereader or your files, once you’ve bought the book, you can download it as many times as you like, as long as you’ve authorized your device to your account.
My wife has a Kindle…one of the originals with joystick navigation. She loves it and so do I. We also have an Amazon Prime account which gives us free shipping on almost anything we order from Amazon regardless of how little the cost.
It also provides free fairly current books if read on a Kindle device (as opposed to an app on a laptop, ipad, etc.)
On top of that, there are about 10,000 movies you can watch instantly for free if you have a Prime account. And Amazon says they are gonna add more goodies to Prime accounts (about $79 per year) in the coming year.
I have a free library card for a library that is part of a Central Texas consortium of libraries that offers Amazon Kindle books to be checked out for two weeks for free. I can usually find something to borrow that I will enjoy.
I have a early Nook which I rarely use anymore. I prefer to get the books on loan or from Amazon and read them using the Kindle app on my netbook PC. The netbook is small, very portable, and has a battery life that is much longer than most laptops (about 6 usable hours). Turning pages with the netbook app for Kindle is easier than turning pages on my Nook.
My books are all available on Kindle – for not very much more than the price of a cup of coffee. Most months, my digital sales are about equal to my print sales. I think you can get to my Amazon Author page (Celia Hayes) through Neo’s Amazon links – and you’d be doing both of us a favor!
…and let me tell you, I have read almost everything Celia Hayes has written, and I highly recommend them all. Indeed, “To Truckee’s Trail” – the story of an early wagon train across the west to California – was so good that I was inspired to take a road trip and follow that same route.
I love my Kindle. I didn’t think I would, but I do. It frees me to enjoy books without loading down my house with more and more and more groaning bookshelves, especially since Amazon has enabled library lending.
I fully agree about the Mockingjay trilogy, Neo. I was excited about the first book, which seemed original and compelling, but the rest of the series didn’t fulfill the promise. Too much violence, not enough story. Oh well. In the genre of young adult fiction, Ann Brashares’ Traveling Pants series is a good deal more fun and — though shallow, I guess — more insightful.
The Japanese have an original artwork re-conception of Alice in Wonderland that I liked quite well. It was published as a manga called Pandora Hearts. The anime also turned out to be quite good.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mH_yAhcwy7I
Japanese openings are done in a formal artistic style in which it suggests and implies what the series has in store. Since the song is sad, slightly regretful, and longing, that’s exactly what the primary story arc’s theme is. I also thought the ending was quite fitting, since it fully supported the emotions of the viewer if they were empathizing with the story plot at the end of each episode.
You can look around for the video of the OP on the sidebar. I’m not reposting that one because of the link restrictions.
Btw, if anyone remembers Star Trek the Next Generation, the captain and others would constantly be sipping a drink while they’re looking at some thin electronic pad. I was wondering, oh so many decades ago, how long it would take for the US to get to that point.
Well, it seems we’re already here in the 21st century. Science fiction often delays tech and social advances by around 20-50 years.