This is the year I'm going to read the books on my shelf

Over the last three or four years, I've brought an absolute ton of books.  Some of them from charity shops, some from companies with special offers such as ten Harlen Coben for ten pounds, plenty from Amazon, and most of them have ended up collecting dust on my bookshelf.

This year I've decided that there is no point having all of these books (and it's not just thriller type books, there is come classics among them) and not finding time to read them so I've started by getting 2-3 of them going and I'm going to make time to read them.

When I've finished reading them, I'm going to review them on here and on my other writing blog at http://writingandpublishingnews.blogspot.com/

I love reading and enjoy books from most genres so if you have a book you'd like to recommend or a review you'd like to include on the blog then please contact me.

New George Pelecanos ebook just 99p

Fans of George Pelacanos have the chance to get his latest book, What It Was, for just 99p.

The offer is only on to the end of the month and is available as an ebook.

To get your copy you can visit:

http://www.orionbooks.co.uk/books/what-it-was-ebook

Is Knoxville the most romantic city?

According to Internet giant Amazon it is.  Amazon used sales data from romance novels and relationship books, romantic comedy movies and Barry White albums, which can always be relied upon to get people in a romantic mood.

Amazon counted both Kindle books and print books, digital movies and DVDs and CD and MP3 sales to work out the winner.

Amazon used figures dating back to January 1 this year and counted sales on a per capita basis in cities with over 100,000 residents.

Last year's most romantic city, Alexandria, came second this year and Springfield came third.  Las Vegas is way down the list at 18. 

There wasn't a lot of romance going on in New York City if the list from Amazon is anything to by with the Big Apple coming out as the least romantic according to the purchasing habits of Amazon customers.  Also flailing in the romantic states were Patterson, New Jersey and El Monte, California.

Charles Dickens 200th birthday marked today

February 12, 2012 marks the 200th birthday of Charles Dickens, the man who gave us classic books such as Oliver Twist and A Tale of Two Cities.

The Charles Dickens Birthplace Museum, which is based in Portsmouth, UK, will be holding a number of events throughout 2012 to celebrate the bicentenary of Dickens' birth.  Numerous events have been held and there are plenty more planned to mark the occasion.  On Tuesday, events in Portsmouth began at 10.00am and throughout the day.  Local schools took part, ceremonies and speeches were made and a thanksgiving service was also held.

Such was Dickens' impact on the literary world, his birth is being celebrated with events throughout the world.

Anyone who hasn't read Dickens' work can now do so for free or at little cost.  His work is out of copyright and Amazon offer free Kindle downloads and an entire collection of Dickens is available for just 99p. 

Amazon announce Kindle now outsells printed books

In a recent press release Amazon.com announced that Kindle books are now outselling printed books.

Hardcover and paperback books were first introduced to Amazon in 1995; in 2007 the Kindle was introduced.

It was in July last year that Kindle started to outsell hardback books. Six months on and Kindle is outselling paperback books as well and has become the sites most popular format for buying books. For every 100 printed books sold, 105 books are sold in the Kindle format.

Priced from around $114, or from £111 in the UK, the Kindle allows people to store up to 3,500 books.

Commenting in a press release, Jeff Bezos, Founder and CEO, Amazon.com, said:

"Customers are now choosing Kindle books more often than print books. We had high hopes that this would happen eventually, but we never imagined it would happen this quickly - we've been selling print books for 15 years and Kindle books for less than four years.”

"In addition, we're excited by the response to Kindle with Special Offers for only $114, which has quickly become the bestselling member of the Kindle family. We continue to receive positive comments from customers on the low $114 price and the money-saving special offers. We're grateful to our customers for continuing to make Kindle the bestselling e-reader in the world and the Kindle Store the most popular e-bookstore in the world."

950,000 books are now available via Kindle and the books are often cheaper too.

The popularity of Kindle looks set to grow and it has proved popular in the UK as well with Kindle now outselling hardback books.

The Golden Prince by Rebecca Dean - A review

Set in the 1900's, The Golden Prince is a novel based on the story of Edward Windsor and Lily Houghton.

Set in a time way a Prince wasn't allowed to choose his own Queen, Edward finds himself attracted to Lily Houghton.

I like the way the story transports you back to the time and gives a taste of what life may have been like and some of the pressures that come with being a future king.

I also like the love story between the two and I found the characters convincing but did think the ending could have been stronger and I would have liked to have seen one final scene between Edward and Lily, the lead characters.  At 439 pages, it's about the right length.

The book is timely as it was released at around the time of the announcement that Prince William and Kate Middleton were to marry,  a wedding that would not have been allowed in the early 1900's.

Look out for The Shadow Queen by Rebecca Dean which is due out in July.

Tinned Goods want writers

I found this site when I was searching earlier. The don't state whether or not the work is paid but writing online is a good way of getting your name out there.

Tinned Goods want writers for TV and film, music,sports,games,literature and arts.

They ask applicants to send in a 500 word article and to state which type of work they are interested in and where they live.

The email address is:
tin@tinnedgoods.com

You'll find the website at the link below:

http://www.tinnedgoods.com/2011/04/03/new-writers-wanted/