Mr Shields: I'm a reader not a fighter

Last week I profiled my favorite audiobook source Audible.com.  This week it is a free source for audiobooks, at least for some people.  NetLibrary is not something you can subscribe to, it is something your local library subscribes to.  So right off the bat a signficant group of people will not be able to use it.  I live in Cobb County, Georgia and our library system subscribes.  

I have played with it several times, but it wasn’t until recently that it was really usable in any of my regular use cases.

The big problems with online library systems is the Digital Rights Management system.  Netlibrary has both ebooks and audiobooks available.  But the ebooks are in a format that is not compatible with kindles, so I have never use their ebooks.  The audiobooks used to be only windows media format.  Which theoretically is ok, I have a windows computer.  I even have a zune which can handle the WMA DRM system.  But I could never make it work off of my computer.

Recently I went back and looked (to see if I could make it work for audiobooks for my Mom) I saw that there are now MP3 format audiobooks.  These MP3 format audiobooks are large single file MP3 files, which do not have an expiration date built into them.

In otherwords, they are perfect for putting on a kindle.

Honestly there are not a ton of books that I want. I looked through about 400 books, and they are not formated well for browsing, and found about 8 or 9 books that I thought I would really listen to.  But that is 8 or 9 books that I do not have to pay for that look like good choices.  There are a good number of Christian fiction and classic fiction audiobooks.  So if you are looking in either of those two genres then you are in luck.

If you do not use these on a kindle you need a player that will hold your position.  Otherwise you are going to have to note where you are at every time you stop listening.  That could get old fast.  This is not a perfect solution, but it is worth checking out if your library subscribes.

This is my weekly post on free ebooks that are readable (or listen-able) on the Kindle.  Some of the books from previous posts are still available for free.  If you want to see all free books as they come out you should follow Books on the Knob on their RSSor Twitter Feed.  As always please check to make sure the books are still free before you “buy” them, especially from Amazon.  Prices can change quickly.  These books were all free as of 6 AM EST today.

Free Audiobooks

I am a big fan of christianAudio.com.  They give away one book every month and then have a larger sale based around the free book.  This month they are giving away two books.

The Cost of Discipleship by Dietrich Bonhoeffer A classic. - This book is quite simply, one of the most profound and important books of the 20th century. Dietrich Bonhoeffer lived a testimony of his thoughtful and engaging writers.  Focusing on the most treasured part of Christ’s teaching – the Sermon on the Mount with its call to discipleship, and on the grace of God and the sacrifice which that demands.  Viewed against the background of Nazi Germany, Bonhoeffer’s book is striking enough. At the same time, it shares with many great Christian classics a quality of timelessness, so that it has spoken, and continues to speak powerfully, to the varied concerns of the contemporary world.  Also all Bonhoeffer books are on sale for $4.98

Fifty Reasons Why Jesus Came to Die by John Piper The most important questions anyone can ask are: Why was Jesus Christ crucified? Why did he suffer so much? What has this to do with me? Finally, who sent him to his death? The answer to the last question is that God did. Jesus was God’s Son. The suffering was unsurpassed, but the whole message of the Bible leads to this answer.  All Piper audiobooks are also $4.98.

Both books require a coupon MAR2010 and the second coupon is MAR2010B.  You have to do two different orders to get both books.  I merge the .mp3 files together into one big file and put it on my kindle (in the audiobook folder).  And listen to them as an audiobook.  The kindle looks at it as a single book.

Also Blackstone Audio is giving away a new version of Alice’s Adventure in Wonderland until March 16, 2010.

Science Fiction

These two books are being given away by the author to celebrate the publication of book 4 of this series.  More and more authors are giving away their earlier books as a way to get noticed.  The good part is that the author has a wide variety of formats.  If you have an ebook reader, computer or smartphone, one of them will probably work.  If you are getting these for your kindle, use the PRC format.  The kindle versions are only $0.99 a piece on Amazon so you aren’t saving that much.  But free is free.

Admiral’s Ghost: Book One in the Onyalum Series by NB VanYoos (found via Ireaderreview.com) From LA drug dealer to planetary hero of an alien world, the Universe must have a sense of humor. Tyler Jensen, an earthling lost in the cosmos, struggles to understand the technologically advanced world whose hero he has inadvertently become. Posing as the Supreme Commander of the planet’s fleet, Tyler must quickly learn the murky alliances of the military to succeed against their neighboring enemy. Will Tyler’s naiveté doom the warring world, or can he navigate the political trappings of the Admiral’s world to conquer another? This is the first book in the Onyalum Series.

Trial of Gesh by NB Van Yoss (book 2) Los Angeles drug dealer, Tyler Jensen, continues his quest to find a life within the Universe after his transformation into an ethereal agent of destruction known as an Onyalum. After abandoning his only friend in a fit of anger, Tyler unjustly seeks worlds to unleash his bitter hatred for everything that has turned his life inside out. He becomes an evil spirit rampaging through the Universe, hell-bent on sharing his grief with everything in his path. But he finds no solace and seeks solitude on a desperate planet awaiting the return of their god. Posing as a lowly priest addicted to narcotics, Tyler becomes embroiled in a battle between an ancient cult and the planet’s dominant religion. As his decadence leads him further astray, his sins transport him into a hell he is unable to comprehend, let alone escape. Will Tyler survive his damnation or will the alien locked inside awaken his lost humanity to save his soul?

Harry Potter Related…sort of

Lippert G. Norman has written a series, three so far, of books in the Harry Potter world.  They are set 20 years after the end of book seven and center around Harry’s son James.  I haven’t read them, but I did download them.  JK Rowling, who has sued several authors that have written about Harry Potter, has not sued Norman yet.  But she may eventually.  The third book is new, but the first book was written several years ago.  The website is professional and the books seem to be formated well (from glancing through them.)  Unfortunately they are all in PDF format, but they can be easily converted to a better kindle format.  The download side for all three is http://www.jamespotterseries.com (found via Books on the Knob)

Christian Fiction

Saving Sailor: A Novel by Renee Riva – The year is 1968. After spending the first half of summer vacation driving her Italian family crazy with her fake southern accent, 10-year old A.J. finds a soul mate on the other side of the island to divert her attention. She is intrigued to learn that Danny shares her same burning desire to know God and realizes that few people her age think as deeply as the two of them do. However, the depth of their newfound faith and friendship is soon tested when Danny’s father betrays his wife. Set in a simpler time, Saving Sailor is a heartwarming tale of how hearts can change and relationships can be restored with God’s help. — RiverOak Publishers

The Someday List (Jubilant Soul Series #1) by Stacy Hawkins Adams – Rachelle Covington has it all. A fabulous home, a handsome and prestigious husband, two beautiful children, and a place in the upper crust that’s quite comfortable. But her life is not all it’s cracked up to be. When her husband goes away on business trip and the kids are sent off to the grandparents for a month, Rachelle takes up the challenge of a dying friend to start a list of things to do before she dies. She heads back to Jubilant, Texas, to reconnect with her past, her purpose, and herself. But when her ex shows up in town looking very fine and very single, Rachelle must confront feelings she thought she’d long buried. Will she give up everything to recover the past? Or will she find a reason to plan for the future? The Someday List is an honest look at what makes us who we are and what can throw us off track. Author Stacy Hawkins Adams writes with a voice that is fresh, sincere, and completely real. Her characters jump off the page and into her readers’ hearts. — Revell Publishers

Other Fiction

Dawn of the Dreadfuls by Steve Hockensmith — This is a prequel for Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. I think this is the whole book and not a sample, but I am not clear.  It seems to be a pre-order. – With more than one million copies in print, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies was the surprise publishing phenomenon of 2009. A best seller on three continents, PPZ has been translated into 21 languages and optioned to become a major motion picture.In this terrifying and hilarious prequel, we witness the genesis of the zombie plague in early-nineteenth-century England. We watch Elizabeth Bennet evolve from a naïve young teenager into a savage slayer of the undead. We laugh as she begins her first clumsy training with nunchucks and katana swords and cry when her first blush with romance goes tragically awry. Written by acclaimed novelist (and Edgar Award nominee) Steve Hockensmith, Dawn of the Dreadfuls invites Austen fans to step back into Regency England, Land of the Undead!

Booth’s Sister by Jane Singer - ”My brother killed Abraham Lincoln. That is my weight, my shame. While he remained at large, I was held captive in my home. I should have told the soldiers who came with guns drawn and bayonets at the ready this true thing: I might have stopped him, for I harbored him and kept his secrets. I was a pie safe locked tight and guilty as he.” Asia Booth Clarke was twenty-nine years old and pregnant when Union soldiers and Federal detectives stormed her Philadelphia home in search of her assassin-brother. John Wilkes Booth’s older sister had grown up in one of America’s most notoriously troubled but spectacularly acclaimed acting families. “Johnny” and Edwin, her handsome brothers, were the matinee idols of the era. When John Wilkes Booth’s crime left the nation in furious mourning and the Booth family under a dark cloud of accusation, it was Asia who bore the brunt. Booth’s Sister was inspired by Asia Booth Clarke’s personal memoirs. Author, Civil War scholar and storyteller Jane Singer has masterfully imagined the family dynamics and intimate dilemmas that led to one of America’s most fateful crimes and left a sister’s life in shambles.

You Can’t Stop Me by Matthew Clemens - Smalltown sheriff J.C. Harrow made headlines when he apprehended a would-be presidential assassin–only to come home that night and find his wife and son brutally murdered. This tragic twist of fate launched his career as the host of reality TV’s smash-hit, Crime Seen! But while media star Harrow tracks down dangerous criminals coast to coast–with the help of viewers’ tips–a killer with a twisted agenda is making his own bloody path to fame. . .

Petals From The Sky by Mingmei Yip - From the acclaimed author of Peach Blossom Pavilion comes a lush and lyrical novel of East and West–and of one young woman’s search for her heart’s true calling. . .When twenty-year-old Meng Ning declares that she wants to be a Buddhist nun, her mother is aghast. In her eyes, a nun’s life means only deprivation–”no freedom, no love, no meat.” But to Meng Ning, it means the chance to control her own destiny, and to live in an oasis of music, art, and poetry far from her parents’ unhappy union.  With an enigmatic nun known as Yi Kong, “Depending on Emptiness,” as her mentor, Meng Ning spends the next ten years studying abroad, disdaining men, and preparing to enter the nunnery. Then, a fire breaks out at her Buddhist retreat, and Meng Ning is carried to safety by Michael Fuller, a young American doctor. The unprecedented physical contact stirs her curiosity. And as their tentative friendship grows intimate, Meng Ning realizes she must choose between the sensual and the spiritual life. From the austere beauty of China’s Buddhist temples to the whirlwind of Manhattan’s social elite, and the brilliant bustle of Paris and Hong Kong, here is a novel of joy and heartbreak–and of the surprising paths that lead us where we most need to be.

Cool Like That: A So For Real Novel by Nikki Carter - Now that she’s been accepted into a summer enrichment program in New York City, Gia knows she’s going to have the flyest summer ever. Especially since her mom and her annoying stepsister won’t be around. And best of all? Her best friend, Ricky, is joining her so they’re going to spend the entire summer together. Gia hopes Ricky’s finally going to make a move on her, but it seems like Ricky’s bent on playing it safe-too safe, as far as Gia’s concerned. So when Rashad, a cutie from the summer program, starts to get his flirt on with Gia, she’s got a new crush-and Ricky’s so not cool with that.

Moonstone by Marilee Brothers – A Fictionwise Fantasy bestseller Young Adult A sickly mom. A tiny house trailer. High school bullies and snarky drama queens. Bad-guy dudes with charming smiles. Allie has problems. And then there’s that whole thing about fulfilling a magical prophecy and saving the world from evil. Geez. Welcome to the sad, funny, sometimes-scary world of fifteen-year-old Allie Emerson, who’s struggling to keep her and her mom’s act together in the small-town world of Peacock Flats, Washington. An electrical zap from a TV antenna sets off Allie’s weird psychic powers. The next thing she knows she’s being visited by a hippy-dippy guardian angel, and then her mysterious neighbor, the town “witch,” gives her an incredible moonstone pendant that has powers only a good-hearted “Star Seeker” is meant to command. “Who, me?” is Allie’s first reaction. But as sinister events begin to unfold, Allie realizes she’s got a destiny to live up to. If she can just survive everyday life, in the meantime. Marilee Brothers is a former high school teacher turned full-time author. She’s married to her college sweetheart, and they have three sons. Marilee lives in Washington State, where she’s hard at work on more books in the Moonstone series.

Christian Devotional

Prosper in the Spirit , a Christian devotional by Jaye Seay, is free on Smashwords using coupon code GK65P, valid through February 28, 2011. Prosper in the Spirit contains eighteen powerful devotional messages that will inspire your faith. Each devotional was carefully crafted from the author’s personal study of the Bible. Topics covered include God’s providence, overcoming anxiety, prayer and walking with Christ. These devotionals will encourage you, strengthen your faith and bring you closer to Jesus. (Found via Books on the Knob)

This is my weekly post on free ebooks that are readable on the Kindle.  Some of the books from previous posts are still available for free.  If you want to see all free books as they come out you should follow Books on the Knob on their RSSor Twitter Feed.  As always please check to make sure the books are still free before you “buy” them, especially from Amazon.  Prices can change quickly.  These books were all free as of 6 AM EST today.

Non-Fiction

I am into politics, but I am no where near this geeked out on political stuff.  But if you are: Economic Report of the President by Council of Economic Advisers — The Budget of the United States Government, Fiscal Year 2011 contains the Budget Message of the President, information on the President-s priorities, budget overviews organized by agency, and summary tables. Analytical Perspectives, Budget of the United States Government, Fiscal Year 2011 contains analyses that are designed to highlight specified subject areas or provide other significant presentations of budget data that place the budget in perspective. This volume includes economic and accounting analyses; information on Federal receipts and collections; analyses of Federal spending; information on Federal borrowing and debt; baseline or current services estimates; and other technical presentations. The full Budget and additional information related to the Office of Management and Budget is available at Budget.gov

Also, if anyone doesn’t know, almost all of John Piper‘s books are free on his website.  They are mostly in PDF format but if you have a Kindle or other ebook reading you can convert them into a friendly format (they do not have DRM) and read away.  I have downloaded several and plan on reading a couple more in the next few months.

Fiction

Amberville Free by Tim Davys (Harper Collins) What does it mean to be bad? Eric Bear has it all: a successful career, a beautiful wife, a blissful home. He knows he’s been lucky; a while back, his life revolved around drugs, gambling, a gang of stuffed-animal thugs, and notorious crime boss Nicholas Dove. But the past isn’t as far away as Eric had hoped. Rumors are swirling that Dove is on the Death List and that he wants Eric to save him. If Eric fails to act, his beloved wife, Emma Rabbit, will be torn apart, limb by limb. With a nod to the best of noir and the wisest of allegories, and interlaced with greed and gangsters, Amberville depicts an alternate world that mirrors our own realities and moral concerns, and reminds us of the inextricable link between good and evil.This special free edition includes an excerpt from Tim Davys- newest Mollisan Town novel, Lanceheim.

Dead Witch Walking (The Hollows, Book 1) by Kim Harrison (Harper Collins) All the creatures of the night gather in “the Hollows” of Cincinnati, to hide, to prowl, to party … and to feed.Vampires rule the darkness in a predator-eat-predator world rife with dangers beyond imagining — and it-s Rachel Morgan’s job to keep that world civilized.A bounty hunter and witch with serious sex appeal and an attitude, she’ll bring ‘em back alive, dead … or undead.This special free edition includes an excerpt from Kim Harrison’s newest Hollows novel, Black Magic Sanction.

The Almost True Story of Ryan Fisher: A Novel by Rob Stennett (Zondervan) Meet Ryan Fisher-a self-assured real estate agent who’s looking for an edge in the market.While watching a news special late one night, he sees evangelical Christians raising their hands in worship. It’s like they’re begging for affordable but classy starter homes.Ryan discovers the Christian business directory and places an ad complete with a Jesus fish. His business doubles in a week.But after visiting an actual church, Ryan realizes that with his business savvy, he could not only plant a church-he could create an empire. The Almost True Story of Ryan Fisher is a hilarious, spot-on, and often heartbreaking satire in the tradition of Kurt Vonnegut, Tom Perrotta, and Douglas Adams.

My Name Is Russell Fink by Michael Snyder (Zondervan) Russell Fink is twenty-six years old and determined to salvage a job he hates so he can finally move out of his parents’ house for good. He’s convinced he gave his twin sister cancer when they were nine years old. And his crazy fiancee refuses to accept the fact that their engagement really is over.Then Sonny, his allegedly clairvoyant basset hound, is found murdered.The ensuing amateur investigation forces Russell to confront several things at once the enormity of his family’s dysfunction, the guy stalking his family, and his long-buried feelings for a most peculiar love interest.At its heart, My Name Is Russell Fink is a comedy, with sharp dialogue, characters steeped in authenticity, romance, suspense, and fresh humor. With a postmodern style similar to Nick Hornby and Douglas Coupland, the author explores reconciliation, forgiveness, and faith in the midst of tragedy. No amount of neurosis or dysfunction can derail God’s redemptive purposes.

This is my weekly post on free ebooks that are readable on the Kindle.  Some of the books from previous posts are still available for free.  If you want to see all free books as they come out you should follow Books on the Knob on their RSS or Twitter Feed.

The big news of the day is that Amazon released a Kindle for Blackberry App.  I like to think that they waited until I got a blackberry to release it.  I received my blackberry last night.  They released the app late last night. (Note: my BlackBerry 8330 is not supported.  So someone try it out and let me know how it works.)

Non-Fiction

Mad Church Disease: Overcoming the Burnout Epidemic by Anne Jackson (Still a great book, but no longer free.)

DOES WORKING AT THIS CHURCH INTERFERE WITH YOUR COMMUNION WITH CHRIST?

That question may have saved author Anne Jackson’s life. She believes it could save yours, too.
As the daughter of a pastor, Anne saw firsthand the struggles leaders face and the toll it can take on their families. She vowed her life in ministry would be different.
Yet, years later, as a church leader, she was hospitalized because stress began wreaking havoc on her body. She had burned out.
Anne developed a website that allowed church leaders to share their struggles. Within a few days, she was flooded with over a thousand responses from people pouring out their stories of pain.
Mad Church Disease, born out of that experience, is a lively, informative, and potentially life-saving resource for anyone in ministry - vocational or volunteer – who would like to understand, prevent, or treat the epidemic of burnout in church culture.

Christian Fiction

Zondervan has been releasing a lot books lately.  Many of them only for a few days at a time.  I think there must be some experimentation going on there.

Daring Chloe, by Laura Jensen Walker When Chloe Adams’ fiance dumps her-the night before their wedding-two girlfriends from her book group decide a little adventure is in order for the three of them. After all, why let a perfectly good honeymoon cruise go to waste?Adventure? Chloe Adams? No way! Chloe’s lived in one town her whole life. The closest she’s ever gotten to actual adventures is reading about them. But her girlfriends won’t take no for an answer.One good adventure calls for another as Chloe’s friends try to coax her out of her post-dumping funk, and soon she finds herself living out the adventures in her book club’s latest selections. Hiking. Sailing. River rafting. Traveling to new places and eating exotic food. The play-it-safe Chloe begins to blossom into a new, daring Chloe. A Chloe who just might be ready to take on her biggest adventure of all…Laura Jensen Walker has a knack for quirky heroines and real-life humor. In Chloe, she’s created another memorable character who will live on in readers’ hearts.

Fireworks by Elizabeth White - Susannah is out to prove that pyrotechnics genius Quinn Baldwinis responsible for a million-dollar fireworks catastrophe during a Mardi Gras ball.  With her faithful black Lab Monty she moves to the charming backwater city of Mobile, Alabama to uncover the truth. But this world-traveled military brat with a string of letters behind her name finds herself wholly unprepared to navigate the cultural quagmires of the Deep South. Captivated by the warmth and joy of her new circle of friends, Susannah struggles to keep from falling for a subject who refuses to be anything but a man of integrity, compassion, and lethal Southern charm. Fireworks offers a glimpse into heart of the South and a cynical young woman’s first encounter with Christ-like love.

Off the Record by Elizabeth White - Judge Laurel Kincade has it all-brains, beauty, and an aristocratic Old South family to back her up. A political rising star, she’s ready to announce her candidacy for chief justice of the Alabama Supreme Court.Journalist Cole McGaughan has ambitions too. Working as a religion writer for the New York Daily Journal, he longs to become a political reporter. Then his old friend Matt Hogan, a private investigator, calls with a tip. The lovely young judge may be hiding a secret that could derail her campaign. Would Cole like to be the one to break the story?Cole sees a clear road to his goal, but there’s a problem. Laurel’s history is entangled with his own, and he must decide if the story that could make his career is worth the price he’d have to pay. Can Cole and Laurel find forgiveness and turn their hidden past into a hopeful future-and somehow keep it all off the record?

Baen Free Library

I am a science fiction fan.  I stumbled on Baen’s Free Library a while ago.  Since then I have read around 100 Baen books.  Baen supports two trends in publishing that I really like.  One, is giving away a lot of free books.  Right now there is 117 free books in the free library.  You can look at them by title, by author, or by series.  The second trend I really like is that Baen sells all of their books DRM free.  So no digital rights software restrictions, if you buy the books directly from Baen.  The books are also usually cheaper when you buy them from Baen instead of Amazon as well.  If you like Fantasy or Science Fiction and want some recommendations on books to start with let me know and I will post some suggestions.

This is my weekly post on free ebooks that are readable on the Kindle.  Most of the books from last week’s post are still available for free.  If you want to see all free books as they come out you should follow Books on the Knob on their RSS or Twitter Feed.

Non-Fiction

The Joy of Pregnancy: The Complete, Candid, and Reassuring Companion for Parents-to-Be by Tori Kropp Are you expecting… mystery, sensuality, wonder, and delight? If you are pregnant, you should be! Pregnancy isn’t all about nausea and medical tests; it’s also a time of excitement, anticipation, and above all, joy. You don t need to adopt a strict diet, adhere to a demanding exercise regimen, or spend your time worrying about planning the perfect birth. Rather, you can trust your instincts and your body to guide you through the amazing, magical process of pregnancy and childbirth. That’s the wise, expert counsel of Tori Kropp, perinatal nurse and founder of both a popular childbirth-education program and a website for new parents. In The Joy of Pregnancy, Tori tells you what you need to know how the baby is developing, how your body is changing, and how to prepare for the birth and baby without overwhelming you. She has organized the book month by month, so you can learn at your leisure as you progress through pregnancy. Also included are Q&As, fun facts, and sections just for Dad. With Tori’s help, both of you can enjoy and celebrate this very special season of your lives.  (By the way this is not a hint to anyone, my wife and I are not pregnant.)

Change the World: Recovering the Message and Mission of Jesus by Michael B Slaughter 121 pages Clearly, something is not working. Despite the church’s place of prominence in American culture and the ubiquity of the church in every American town, misconceptions about the faith of Jesus Christ run rampant today. Christians are known more for exclusivity than for love, more for pot lucks than for solving world hunger.

It’s time for churches to get over the cruise-ship mentality of being a program-provider, and reconnect with the true message and mission of Jesus: to bring good news to the poor, release to the captives, and freedom to the oppressed. The church is called to be a mission outpost, living out Christ’s ideals in today’s world.

Slaughter presents seven choices pastors must make as they consider the future of their congregations. Will you focus on building disciples or tallying decisions? Will you multiply your impact or expand your facilities? Will you step out in courage or comply with the status quo? Your answers to these and other questions determine how your church will focus its time, its energy, and its budget to work for real change in a hurting world.

The Future of Ideas by Lawrence Lessig (Not from Amazon, choose the Kindle/Mobi format if you have a kindle).  Is the Internet evolving into a controlled environment? Should it be completely free from intellectual property rights? Lessig (Stanford Law Sch.; Code: And Other Laws of Cyberspace) argues that as the Internet faces the challenges of intellectual property laws, it should not become so controlled that it discourages innovation and creativity in the digital world. He explains the historical context.  (This books is free under creative commons.)

Free Culture by Lawrence Lessig (Not from Amazon, choose the Kindle/Mobi format if you have a kindle).  In Free Culture, Lessig widens his focus to consider the diminishment of the larger public domain of ideas. In this powerful wake-up call he shows how short-sighted interests blind to the long-term damage they’re inflicting are poisoning the ecosystem that fosters innovation.

All creative works—books, movies, records, software, and so on—are a compromise between what can be imagined and what is possible—technologically and legally.  For more than two hundred years, laws in America have sought a balance between rewarding creativity and allowing the borrowing from which new creativity springs.  The original term of copyright set by the First Congress in 1790 was 14 years, renewable once. Now it is closer to two hundred. Thomas Jefferson considered protecting the public against overly long monopolies on creative works an essential government role.  What did he know that we’ve forgotten?

Lawrence Lessig shows us that while new technologies always lead to new laws, never before have the big cultural monopolists used the fear created by new technologies, specifically the Internet, to shrink the public domain of ideas, even as the same corporations use the same technologies to control more and more what we can and can’t do with culture. As more and more culture becomes digitized, more and more becomes controllable, even as laws are being toughened at the behest of the big media groups. What’s at stake is our freedom—freedom to create, freedom to build, and ultimately, freedom to imagine.

Science Fiction

All the Star Wars books are really novella length.

Star Wars: Lost Tribe of the Sith #1: Precipice by JOHN JACKSON MILLER Don’t miss STAR WARS: LOST TRIBE OF THE SITH: PRECIPICE a FREE original e-book short story, the first in a series that tell the untold story of the FATE OF THE JEDI’s forgotten Sith castaways, their battle to survive, and their quest to re-conquer the galaxy! PRECIPICE includes an exclusive excerpt from STAR WARS: FATE OF THE JEDI: OMEN (Del Rey Hardcover, available June 23rd) and offers a unique look into the backstory of events that will begin to unfold in OMEN. SURVIVAL—NOT SURRENDER For the ruthless Sith Order, failure is not an option. It is an offense punishable by death—and a fate to which Commander Yaru Korsin will not succumb. But on a crucial run to deliver troops and precious crystals to a combat hotspot in the Sith’s war against the Republic, Korsin and the crew of the mining ship Omen are ambushed by a Jedi starfighter. And when the Sith craft crash-lands, torn and crippled, on a desolate alien planet, the hard-bitten captain finds himself at odds with desperate survivors on the brink of mutiny—and his own vengeful half brother, who’s bent on seizing command. No matter the cost, Korsin vows that it will not be his blood and bones left behind on this unknown world. For the way of the Sith leaves little room for compromise—and none for mercy.

Star Wars: Lost Tribe of the Sith #2: Skyborn by JOHN JACKSON MILLER

Star Wars: Lost Tribe of the Sith #3: Paragon by JOHN JACKSON MILLER

Other Fiction

The Equivoque Principle by Darren Craske Prometheus the strongman winds up behind bars and it falls to ringmaster and master conjuror Cornelius Quaint, ably assisted by his Eskimo valet Butter, to investigate the killings and to clear his name. But Quaint, an irresistable mix of Sherlock Holmes and Harry Houdini, soon finds that these seemingly random killings are actually linked to dark secrets from his own past. Secrets that he may not be prepared to face. The Equivoque Principle is a fantastic adventure inspired by the penny dreadfuls and newspaper serials of the Victorian age and the first in a great new series. – 352 pages

This is a hard book to review.  First of all it isn’t an official book.  Steven Brust wrote a fan fiction piece based on Joss Whedon’s Firefly/Serenity universe.  My guess, based on the fact that it is a finished book and not sold, is that it was written to be sold, but Joss didn’t buy it, so there wasn’t anything that could be done with it other than give it away.

Fan fiction and other free works like this are exactly what ereaders can excel at.  This would not have made a ripple if people could only read it on their computer screen.  There was a Twilight novel that also was not finished and released that I am sure many ereader/kindle owners read.

I am a big fan of Firefly/Serinity universe.  I didn’t know a thing about it until the movie Serenity came out.  But once I found out about it, my wife bought me the complete series DVD for my birthday (the only complete series DVD that we own.) We also have the Serenity Movie and I would gladly buy more if there were more to buy. So yes, I am a big fan.

Now to the book itself.  This short novel (about 170 pages) is set between the movie and the TV show.  I honestly read about 15 percent of the book before I was sure it wasn’t just a novelization of the movie/tv show.  That says a little about the author’s lack of effort at differentiating from the TV/movie.  On the other hand, his characterization was excellent.  I felt he understood the characters as well, and maybe even better than Joss Whedon.  This book spent a fair amount of time inside the heads of the characters.  And he did a great job understanding motivation, especially with River.

I would like to see more.  If you want a copy of this book go to the author’s website for a free copy.

I am going to make this a regular Thursday post as long as I see book that are worth downloading.  I am not going to link to every free book out there.  There is a lot of trash and books that I would not read that are free.  I have not read all of these books when I link to them, so I will not vouch and say that all of these books are good.  But I will try to only link to books that get good reviews and seem appropriate.  (Mostly it is going to be Christian focused publishers.)

Free books as of Feburary 4, 2010 (please check to make sure these are still free before purchasing).  There were another five or six that were free Sunday and Monday but are now full price.  One more was free on Tuesday (when I first drafted this post) but was back to full price by Wednesday.  If you want pretty much all free books, and updated as the come up then you should follow the RSS feed or twitter feed of Books on the Knob.

Non-Fiction

Velvet Elvis by Rob Bell “God doesn’t change, but times do, and Rob Bell, founding pastor of Mars Hill Bible Church in Michigan, believes new times call for us to remain open and flexible, living with passion and conviction….An advocate of a postmodern approach to faith, Bell is vulnerable about his own struggles with doubt and understanding Scripture. Joy, awe, raw honesty, and an appreciation for the mystery of faith permeate the pages.” — Christianity Today

John Newton: From Disgrace to Amazing Grace by Jonathan Aitken “A new life of John Newton is a fitting celebration of the bicentennial both of Newton’s death and of the abolition of the slave trade, Wilberforce’s triumph in which Newton played a key role. Master biographer Jonathan Aitken is in fine form, sympathetic, insightful, scholarly, and vivid, and his book, like its subject, must be rated spectacular.”J. I. Packer, Board of Governors’ Professor of Theology, Regent College

Devotions for Lent by Tyndale House The 40 days leading up to Easter, known as Lent, are set aside as a time for reflection and self-denial in preparation for the celebration of Easter. This year at Lent, orient your life toward Jesus Christ with this unique devotional taken fromHoly Bible: Mosaic. Encounter Christ by reflecting on the words of Scripture and the art and writings of Christians across time and cultures. Includes full-color artwork; contemporary and historical writings; prayers, poems, and hymns from throughout church history. Full text of each week?s devotional Scripture readings is also included. (80 pages)

Christian Romance/Historical Fiction

The Apothecary’s Daughter by Julie Klassen Lilly Haswell remembers everything–whether she wants to, or not… As Lilly toils in her father’s apothecary, preparing herbs and remedies by rote, she is haunted by memories of her mother’s disappearance. Villagers whisper the tale, but her father refuses to discuss it. All the while, she dreams of the world beyond–of travel and adventure and romance. When a relative offers to host her in London, Lilly discovers the pleasures and pitfalls of fashionable society and suitors, as well as clues about her mother. But will Lilly find what she is searching for–the truth of the past and a love for the future? Blending romance, family drama, and fascinating historical detail, The Apothecary’s Daughter is a novel to savor and share. Discussion questions included. “Klassen has captured the best of Austen and Bronte.” –Michelle Griep, Novel Reviews “I highly recommend Lady of Milkweed Manor to anyone who delights in Regency romance.” –Tamela McCann, Historical Novels Review

Talk of the Town by Lisa Wingate The show American Megastar is the hottest thing on television but its associate producer, Mandalay Florentino, is worried. She’s just arrived in the tiny town of Daily, Texas, to arrange a surprise “reunion concert” for hometown finalist Amber Amberson. Only it turns out everyone in town seems to know the secret. And paparazzi are arriving. Word from Hollywood is that Amber has disappeared with a “bad boy” actor. Can anything go right in this tumbleweed town? Imagene Doll loves her town of Daily, Texas, but things are lonely without her beloved husband. Life seems dull. At least until that fancy-dressed woman pulls into town, looking terrified and glamorous all at once. Soon life’s not the least bit boring as Imagene and the rest of Daily find themselves at the center of a media maelstrom–with a young girl’s future on the line.

Peculiar Treasures (Katie Weldon #1)by Robin Jones Gunn Katie Weldon catches more than just the bouquet at the wedding of her best friend, Christy Miller. She also snags a job offer that launches her into an adventure she never imagined. Katie eagerly accepts the job as resident assistant at Rancho Corona University only to find herself in a community of conflict. She thought this was where God wanted her, but how can God use her-love her-when everything is falling apart? Especially with her boyfriend, Rick.Katie turns to the women in her life for solace. In the safety of their love and encouragement she finally allows herself to spill her heart about her relationship with Rick. But even their advice can’t postpone the decision Katie must face, a decision that will define who she is and the woman she’s becoming. The first book in the Katie Weldon Series, Peculiar Treasures follows Katie as she struggles to believe that God can love her, faults and all.

Daisy Chain: A Novel (Defiance Texas Trilogy #1) by Mary E. DeMuth The abrupt disappearance of young Daisy Chance from a small Texas town in 1973 spins three lives out of control-Jed, whose guilt over not protecting his friend Daisy strangles him; Emory Chance, who blames her own choices for her daughter’s demise; and Ouisie Pepper, who is plagued by headaches while pierced by the shattered pieces of a family in crisis. In this first book in the Defiance, Texas Trilogy, fourteen-year-old Jed Pepper has a sickening secret: He’s convinced it’s his fault his best friend Daisy went missing. Jed’s pain sends him on a quest for answers to mysteries woven through the fabric of his own life and the lives of the families of Defiance, Texas. When he finally confronts the terrible truths he’s been denying all his life, Jed must choose between rebellion and love, anger and freedom. Daisy Chain is an achingly beautiful southern coming-of-age story crafted by a bright new literary talent. It offers a haunting yet hopeful backdrop for human depravity and beauty, for terrible secrets and God’s surprising redemption.

Homespun Bride by Jillian Hart Montana Territory in 1883 was a dangerous place-especially for a blind woman struggling to make her way through an early winter snowstorm. Undaunted, Noelle Kramer fought to remain independent. But then a runaway horse nearly plunged her into a rushing, ice-choked river, before a stranger’s strong, sure hand saved her from certain death. And yet this was no stranger.

Though she could not know it, her rescuer was rancher Thad McKaslin, the man who had once loved her more than life itself. Losing her had shaken all his most deeply held beliefs. Now he wondered if the return of this strong woman was a sign that somehow he could find his way home.

I had a post scheduled for this morning that I bumped to Wednesday to make room for an unusual post.

First, many people may know that I am a huge fan of my kindle.  I posted a review when I got my original kindle, first generation.  But I never really updated the review when I bought the second generation (which is a big improvement). I share the account with several missionary friends (Chile and France) and my brother.  So we have five kindles that share an account.  If a book is purchased by one of us, we all can read it.  This isn’t talked about much as a feature for kindle, but it is a great one.  I also enabled the kindles to listen to my Audible.com account.  So each of them can listen to any audiobooks I buy from Audible.   (By the way, if you are interested in both Audible.com and a Kindle.  You can get $100 off a kindle when you sign up for a 1 year subscription to Audible.)

I bring this up primarily to talk about free books.  One of the best parts of the Amazon Kindle world is the free books.  Often the books are free for only a few days (sometimes just a few hours) to boost sales and get them recognized on the bestseller charts.  Other times, the books are free for a longer time because they are the first book in a series, and the author/publisher want you to buy the rest of the books in the series.  That has certainly worked for me.  There is a wide variety of books that are free so there is probably something for almost anyone.  Since the beginning of January, I have “purchased” 22 books from Amazon that were completely free.  There have been about another 10, that were also free that either I didn’t get in time, or were in genres that I knew I would not read (mostly romance/horror).  There were also another 4 or 5 books that I was able to get free from other sources.  Today there were a bunch of new free books announced, including: Rob Bell’s Velvet Elvis, A Biography of John Newton, and four fiction books from Zondervan (Never Say Never, Talk of the Town, Peculiar Treasures, and Daisy Chain (All four fiction books look like they are either teen girl or Christian romance books.)  Also yesterday Zondervan release two legal thrillers for free, Deadlock and Sins of the Fathers.  If you have a kindle and want to hear about free kindle books you should subscribe to the RSS feed of Books on the Knob or their twitter account.

ChristianAudio.com gives away one audiobook a month.  This month it is Religion Saves by Mark Driscoll, a book based on questions that were asked by visitors to Mars Hill Church website.  I haven’t listened to it yet, I am often 3 or 4 months behind when I get around to listening to these books.  But many of them are really good.  I have reviewed a couple of books from ChristianAudio, including some of my favorite from the last year.  These are all MP3 format audiobooks, so you can burn them to cd, listen to them on your computer or any music player. Audible.com has also been giving away free books (four in the last couple months.)

I also updated the design of the blog yesterday.  I am beta testing a theme that John Saddington designed call StandardTheme.  When I updated it I decided to change my subtitle.  It used to be “Random and Very Occasional Musings”  which turned into “Mr. Shields: No one calls me that” to now “Mr Shields: I am a reader not a fighter”.

Last but definately not least, I am sending out a call for book reviews.  I just am not going to be able to maintain a three book a week pace forever.  So I would like to start doing at least two guest posts a month.  If you would like to post your own book review email me Adam at Chicago2000.net.  I am not sure I can afford to do it for long.  But for the next two months I will give $10 Amazon gift certificates to reviews that I post.

Also if you want to be really helpful.  Whenever you are planning on buying something on Amazon, come to this blog and click on one of the book links.  That will take you to Amazon and you will be seen as having been referred by this site.  Depending on what you buy I can get some referral income.  It isn’t much (I have made $2.58 so far).  But it might be enough to pay for the guest posts and blog hosting.

Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life

This was a free book of the month from ChristianAudio.com a couple months ago.  I had never heard of the book but picked it up primarily because it was free.  The narration was wonderful, it was narrated by Grover Gardner (the same person that narrated the two Richard Foster books that I have listened to.)  I listened to it on my kindle, which does not have great mp3 audiobook controls.  Several times the kindle crashed and I listened to an hour (or two) over again.  I would normally be fairly irritated, but this was so good and rich that I didn’t mind. (I think it was my kindle, not the mp3 file that was bad, FYI.)  I will note that the book is only $7.99 for kindle and it is cheaper on Audible.com than on Christianaudio.com by about $4.

Highly recommend, so far it is my favorite book of the year, although I know it is early.

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Disclosure: This was a free book from Christianaudio.com from their free book of the month.  This is a great program and you really should look into it if you haven’t.   The month of January is giving away the book Jesus Calling with the coupon code JAN2010.  Jesus Calling was the number one selling Christian book of the year last year.  I have no relation to ChristianAudio.com.  I was so impressed with the book that I picked up a copy for my kindle to read later.

This is the first book that I have started reading by John Piper. (I know I did a review of his fasting book two weeks ago, but I started this long before that.)  I have read some shorter works, pamphlet length things.  And I am fairly impressed.  The introduction has a wonderful section on how to properly disagree with another Christian.  I didn’t make it through the whole book, but the introduction should be required reading for all Christians.

I really appreciate how Piper is trying to make sure he accurately reflects what NT Wright believes, not only by using a very well cited quotes, but also a pretty generous reading.  His intent is to make sure that Wright would not have any issues with the way that Piper explains what Wright believes. (In fact Piper gave Wright a copy of the manuscript before it was published so Wright could clarify or correct anything that Piper misunderstood.)

However, so far all it has done for me is to make me think that Piper just doesn’t get at least some of it.  He repeats back the words well.  But then the issues that he has seem either so trivial as to not be issues.  Or he want to draw a line of either/or when I think both/and are more appropriate.  Or I just flat out disagree with Piper and agree with Wright.

All that to say, I really respect Piper for putting together a pretty academic responce to Wright and keeping it pastoral in concern and at least so far, bending over backwards to tell people that Wright is one of us (Christians, and maybe even an Evangelical).

After about 9 months and not really touching it for about 6 of those months I am going to officially hang it up and put it back on the “to read” list again.  I got about half way through and got distracted and never made it back.  I do want to finish because I want to read NT Wright’s response back to Piper (Justified) and I think that I really need to finish this to be fair to both sides.

Just to make sure you know, almost all of John Piper’s books are free on his website.  They are mostly in PDF format but if you have a Kindle or other ebook reading you can convert them into a friendly format (they do not have DRM) and read away.

This was a free book from ChristianAudio a couple months ago.  It is a brief books, just over 3 hours in audio version, but it is powerful in its story of International Justice Mission.  I have been aware of IJM for a few years.  I serve on a committee with a woman that is part of their fund development committee.  I have heard news reports about their work releasing people from slavery and sex trafficing for years.

But this was my first real introduction to the work directly.  Gary Haugen started IJM about 10 years ago.  It is a collection of lawyers, social workers and advocates that work around the world to raise awareness about and free people from slavery, sex trafficking and injustice.  Haugen has a particular definition of the work that they do.  It is more than just producing justice or alleviating need, it is directly addressing injustice where violence is present.  He asserts that when violence is present, people are often incapable of releasing themselves from injustice and require outside intervention.  Violence of the sort that is associated with slavery and sex trafficking is exactly the type of work that we as Christians need to have the courage to work for, but often are either unaware of the need or assume it is much smaller than reality.

Even here in America recent report have suggested that 200,000 to 300,000 children are involved in prostitution.  And Atlanta (where I am from) is thought to be the center of the child prostitution world in the US.  Another report that I have seen suggest that about 20,000 people are in slavery in the United States today.  About half in the sex trade.

Haugen is smart, and honest about the work of IJM.  He says that they cannot free everyone.  But they can free some.  IJM believes that we cannot become overwhelmed by the problem but we need to start with what we can and do all we can.

A major theme of the book is that we can understand the plight of those in slavery and prostitution if we think about being parents.  As a parent, your heart lives outside your body.  You are not fully in control of what happens to your heart, because you are not fully in control of what happens to your child.  And as a parent, Haugen says he always has something to relate to others, even those that are from very different social situations.  This is both a way to tug on your heart strings and to really show people how real the need is to focus on the problems that IJM is focused on.

A second major theme is courage.  Haugen suggests that if we are to be serious about our Christianity then we have to be courageous.  He is not suggesting that we all need to go out and fight slavery, but that the basic call of Christians is to follow God and following God always requires courage.  God desires to use us, not keep us safe.  We are always better off being used and following God, rather than being safe and hidden.

He brings the parenting theme back again when we talks about how hard it is for the parents of the IJM interns, most of whom are strong Christians, to allow their children to be used by God and not be safe.

I am interested in the interaction between this book and the Introverts in the Church book that I will review next week.  In some ways Haugen is writing an expectation of an extroverted Christianity.  He and others at IJM are getting in people’s faces and working to free slaves.  But the work is as much about quiet research and the reflection and introverted thought about what we need to do as Christians.  As an introvert, it may be harder to me to work outside my comfort zone.  But I can be used by God just as much, with my current talents and gifts to accomplish the great work of redemption in the name of Christ as those that are confronting evil in very extroverted ways.

I highly recommend Just Courage.  The only negative is the length.  I would not have purchased the audiobook without a serious sale if it was only 3 hours and I wouldn’t have purchased a hardback (only 148 pages) for the $18 cover price given its length.  It is good, just short.

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I didn’t know when I read or drafted this post that January 11th was National Human Trafficking Awareness day.  Here is a post with 11 things you can do to combat Human trafficking.

This is the second fasting book this week.  (The first was Fasting by Scot McKnight.)  Our church is currently in a 21 day fast so I am trying to do some background reading to understand what fasting is about and why we should do it.

Since this is a review of a book on the exact same topic as my last review I am going to do more comparing than I usually do.  This is the second book I have finished of John Piper’s.  The first was little more than a pamphlet.  I have enormous respect for John Piper.  I really respect his pastoral heart and his desire to communicate truth, especially to young people.  He has been a part of Passion conferences since the beginning.  That being said, I disagree with him on many things theologically, politically and socially.  However, one of the things that I most respect about Piper is attempt (most of the time) to really respect people he differs with theologically.  The introduction on his book The Future of Justification: A Response to NT Wright is the single best thing on disagreements in the church that I have ever read (although I never made it through the rest of the book).  So on to the review.

Overall there was a lot of agreement between these two books.  I find that heartening because these two authors are on different sides of several theological issues.  Both go over many of the same scriptures that talk about fasting.  In several places I think that Piper has a better sense of the overall reason that people are reading about fasting.  McKnight seems to spend most of the book telling you not to fast or how not to fast.  Piper is much more positive in his take.  Piper quotes a story from Dr Lundquist (former President of Bethel Theological Seminary) where Lundquist realized during a trip to Korea, seeing how much the Korean church regularly fasted, that the common scripture used by the American church as a reason not to fast (Matthew 6:16 – this is the one that says ‘do not fast to be seen by men’) starts with the phrase “When you fast”.  Lundquist, and Piper (and also McKnight–because he quotes Piper’s quoting of Lundquist) come to the conclusion that Jesus assumed that we would be fasting.  Clearly there has been some drift from the original intention of the passage.

Another positive about this book is that he directly looks about what rewards we can expect from fasting.  In the end he suggests that there are rewards.  He eliminates instrumental rewards (if you fast then God must do xyz) but still allows that when done in the right spirit and in the right way there are rewards.  McKnight was hesitant to even talk about the possibility of rewards.  Piper says almost at the end of the book, “God is committed to rewarding those acts of the human heart that signify human helplessness and hope in God. Over and over again in Scripture God promises to come to the aid of those who stop depending on themselves and seek God as their treasure and help.”  So when fasting is about depending more on God and not showing God how much we can do on our own, then God can reward us.  Although those rewards are of God’s own choosing and in God’s own time.

There is a good quote from CS Lewis that Piper uses, “There are rewards that do not sully motives. A man’s love for a woman is not mercenary because he wants to marry her, nor his love for poetry mercenary because he wants to read it, nor his love for exercise less interested because he wants to run and leap and walk. Love, by definition, seeks to enjoy its object.”  So Piper has no problem allowing for rewards.  I think this idea is something lacking in McKnight.

On the negative side, Piper has a chapter that veers into the political.  Not only did I disagree with parts of it, it just didn’t seem to fit.  I understand where he was coming from, because he wants to talk about how fasting relates to 2 Chronicles 7:14 (If my people, who are called by my name will humble themselves and call upon my name…).  In the end he says it doesn’t. He encourages people to fast for the country and for the sins of the country but cautions us on drawing a straight line between 2 Chronicles 7:14 and our current political world.  So I appreciate how he ends that section, but he went through strange areas to get there.

I also like that he uses some modern examples of fasting.  McKnight mostly used ancient authors (in McKnight’s defense his book was published as part of The Ancient Practice Series).

Just as a warning, don’t read either of these two books if you are looking for specific ideas on how to fast.  Neither of them talk about specifics of how to fast.  So if that is what you are looking for, you need to keep looking.

Also, if anyone doesn’t know, almost all of John Piper’s books are free on his website.  They are mostly in PDF format but if you have a Kindle or other ebook reading you can convert them into a friendly format (they do not have DRM) and read away.  I have downloaded several and plan on reading a couple more in the next few months.