Monthly Kindle Deals for $3.99 or less each: May 2016
Amazon does the Kindle Daily Deal (at AmazonSmile…benefit a non-profit of your choice by shopping*), which used to discount four books a day (often general fiction, a romance, a science fiction/fantasy book, and a kids’ book). Now, it seems like it is generally more books than that, and not categorized.
They also do Monthly Kindle Book Deals for $3.99 or less each (at AmazonSmile). There used to be about 100 of them, but there are many times that now: 299 at the time of writing…19 fewer than last month (which makes about 40 fewer than two months ago). They are up to 85% off…but in a return to form (and continuing the last two months’ trend), none of them are more than the normal $3.99 top limit.
Those prices only apply to the USA, and one weird thing is that some of the books seem to sell out at that price sometimes (or become unavailable for some other reason).
Another thing is that 108 of them (7 fewer than last month) are available through
Kindle Unlimited (at AmazonSmile: benefit a non-profit of your choice by shopping*)
Amazon lists that information prominently…and it’s now commonly a filter in search results. If they are, then you need to consider whether it is worth buying them…even at these low prices. While they are in KU, you can, if you are a subscriber (and there’s a free month available right now), read them at no additional cost. There are, of course, advantages to owning books, especially if you want to re-read them. A book could move out of KU at any time. Even if you think you want to own it, if you are a KU member, you could always read it first to make sure. 😉 I will mark them with KU.
By the way, in the new version of the
eReaderIQ advanced search
you can make KU a filter. So, you can search for books by an author, a keyword, an average customer review which you can read as part of your KU membership…nice! I’m not associated with eReaderIQ except as a user (we have had some correspondence), but I do think it is the most valuable website for Kindleers.
I’m going to list some of the books in this sale that caught my eye…I’m not necessarily recommending them, but I do think they are interesting.
The ones I link (if I actually link to specific books) also don’t block text-to-speech access**…but I think blocking it is becoming rarer.
- Danny and the Dinosaur (I Can Read Level 1) by Syd Hoff: I remember this one, and I think it might have been on Captain Kangaroo
- All Bets Are Off: Losers, Liars, and Recovery from Gambling Addiction by Arnie Wexler and Steve Jacobson
- Lead with a Story: A Guide to Crafting Business Narratives That Captivate, Convince, and Inspire by Paul Smith
- Fancy Nancy: Nancy Clancy, Star of Stage and Screen (Nancy Clancy Chapter Books series Book 5) by Jane O’Connor and Robin Preiss Glasser
- I Shall Live: Surviving the Holocaust Against All Odds by Henry Orenstein
- Neuromarketing: Understanding the Buy Buttons in Your Customer’s Brain by Patrick Renvoise and Christophe Morin
- Harold and Maude by Colin Higgins
- Tea on the Great Wall: An American Girl in War-Torn China by Patricia Luce Chapman
- Angelfall (Penryn & the End of Days Book 1) by Susan Ee (KU)
- Snapshot by Lis Wiehl
- My Sister’s Grave (The Tracy Crosswhite Series Book 1) by Robert Dugoni (KU)
- The Single Woman: Life, Love, and a Dash of Sass by Mandy Hale
- Lady Boss by Jackie Collins
- Mo’ Meta Blues: The World According to Questlove by Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson and Ben Greenman
- Steal the Show: From Speeches to Job Interviews to Deal-Closing Pitches, How to Guarantee a Standing Ovation for…by Michael Port
- Thicker than Oil: America’s Uneasy Partnership with Saudi Arabia by Rachel Bronson
- Jane Austen: A Life Revealed by Catherine Reef
- Haunted (Harrison Investigation Book 1) by Heather Graham
- Coined: The Rich Life of Money and How Its History Has Shaped Us by Kabir Sehgal
- Fastest Things on Wings: Rescuing Hummingbirds in Hollywood by Terry Masear
- Ink Mage (A Fire Beneath the Skin Book 1) by Victor Gischler
- Brink of Chaos (The End Series Book 3) by Tim LaHaye and Craig Parshall
- The Shop on Blossom Street (A Blossom Street Novel Book 1) by Debbie Macomber
- Why You Do the Things You Do: The Secret to Healthy Relationships by Tim Clinton and Gary Sibcy
- Rupert Red Two: A Fighter Pilot’s Life From Thunderbolts to Thunderchiefs by Jack Broughton and Richard P. Hallion
- Stealing Home (The Sweet Magnolias Book 1) by Sherryl Woods
- The Man Behind the Microchip: Robert Noyce and the Invention of Silicon Valley by Leslie Berlin
- Glory Main: The Sim War: Book One by Henry V. O’Neil
- Baghdad Central by Elliott Colla
- Doyle After Death by John Shirley
- To Believe in Women: What Lesbians Have Done For America – A History by Lillian Faderman
- Robert Kennedy and His Times by Arthur M. Schlesinger
- Reason To Breathe (The Breathing Series, Book 1) by Rebecca Donovan
- Cabal by Clive Barker
- Blessed are the Dead: A Gabriella Giovanni Mystery (Gabriella Giovanni Mysteries Book 1) by Kristi Belcamino
- Shadow in Serenity by Terri Blackstock
- The Oddfits (The Oddfits Series Book 1) by Tiffany Tsao (KU)
- The Berenstain Bears: Mama’s Helpers: Mama’s Helpers (I Can Read! / Berenstain Bears / Good Deed Scouts / Living…by Jan Berenstain and Mike Berenstain
- As If an Enemy’s Country: The British Occupation of Boston and the Origins of Revolution (Pivotal Moments in American…by Richard Archer
- Catherine, Called Birdy by Karen Cushman
- The Edge by Roland Smith
- Pines (The Wayward Pines Trilogy, Book 1) by Blake Crouch (KU)
- Who’s Pushing Your Buttons?: Handling the Difficult People in Your Life by John Townsend
- The Ghosts of Belfast (The Belfast Novels Book 1) by Stuart Neville
- The Sworn Sword: The Graphic Novel (A Game of Thrones) by George R. R. Martin and Ben Avery
- Flying the SR-71 Blackbird: In the Cockpit on a Secret Operational Mission by Richard H. Graham and Jay K. Miller
- Mary and Lou and Rhoda and Ted: And all the Brilliant Minds Who Made The Mary Tyler Moore Show a Classic by Jennifer Keishin Armstrong
- Smile at Strangers: And Other Lessons in the Art of Living Fearlessly by Susan Schorn
It’s definitely worth looking at the list: I’d be surprised if you couldn’t find a gift for somebody here (e-books from the Kindle store can be delayed until the appropriate gift giving occasion).
If there were others you’d like to mention for me and my readers, please comment on this post.
Prime members, don’t forget to pick up your
Kindle First books (at AmazonSmile*)
You can get one of the six (same as last month…previously, it had been four) books to own (not borrow) for free…these are books which will be actually released next month. The choices this month are:
- The Butterfly Garden by Dot Hutchison (thriller)
- A House for Happy Mothers by Amulya Malladi (contemporary fiction)
- Enemy (On the Bones of Gods Book 1) by K. Eason (fantasy)
- Time Heals No Wounds (A Baltic Sea Crime Novel) by Hendrik Falkenberg, Patrick F. Brown (translator) (mystery)
- We’re All Damaged by Matthew Norman (modern fiction)
- About the Night by Anat Talshir, Evan Fallenberg (translator) (literary fiction)
People like to know which one I pick…nothing grabbed me right off. I’ve read some great translations in my life, but so far, none of the translations I’ve read through Kindle First would fall into that category. Since these books are all published by Amazon’s traditional publishing, there is probably at least a shared philosophy on translations. I wasn’t sure what the difference was between “modern fiction” and “contemporary fiction”. My normal default, when I’m not enthused, is to go with the science fiction/fantasy choice. My first glance showed the three star average review, which did (emotionally) put me off. Looking at it, though, that’s only one review…and the first line is complimentary. 🙂 However, the review did mention extensive use of italics, and since I tend to listen to a lot of a book in the car using text-to-speech, I might lose some context. Ultimately, I went with A House for Happy Mothers…it sounds like it may humanize an interesting situation in the world. I work with OB/GYNs a lot, and how people process reproduction emotionally and intellectually intrigues me.
Enjoy!
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* I am linking to the same thing at the regular Amazon site, and at AmazonSmile. When you shop at AmazonSmile, half a percent of your purchase price on eligible items goes to a non-profit you choose. It will feel just like shopping at Amazon: you’ll be using your same account. The one thing for you that is different is that you pick a non-profit the first time you go (which you can change whenever you want)…and the good feeling you’ll get. 
Shop ’til you help! By the way, it’s been interesting lately to see Amazon remind me to “start at AmazonSmile” if I check a link on the original Amazon site. I do buy from AmazonSmile, but I have a lot of stored links I use to check for things.
** A Kindle with text-to-speech can read any text downloaded to it…unless that access is blocked by the publisher inserting code into the file to prevent it. That’s why you can have the device read personal documents to you (I’ve done that). I believe that this sort of access blocking disproportionately disadvantages the disabled, although I also believe it is legal (provided that there is at least one accessible version of each e-book available, however, that one can require a certification of disability). For that reason, I don’t deliberately link to books which block TTS access here (although it may happen accidentally, particularly if the access is blocked after I’ve linked it). I do believe this is a personal decision, and there are legitimate arguments for purchasing those books.
This post by Bufo Calvin originally appeared in the I Love My Kindle blog. To support this or other blogs/organizations, buy Amazon Gift Cards from a link on the site, then use those to buy your items. There will be no cost to you, and a benefit to them.
I Love My Kindle 