Lemondropkid Posted May 5, 2023 Share Posted May 5, 2023 (edited) 47 minutes ago, galenkia said: I downloaded the first one the other day as it was on offer for £2.99. £2.99 is bearable, some of the prices on dowload books are ludicrous though. I'll freely admit to using a dodgy site to download a stack of holiday reading. I'm happy to pay for paper books, but when they start asking for silly money to download a file, I won't play along. I'm very lucky to live near a very, very decent public library. Popped in this afternoon and City on Fire was sat on the shelves. Returned my Mosley book and grabbed that. Got 2 books on the go at the moment before I get to it!! Edited May 5, 2023 by Lemondropkid 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
galenkia Posted May 5, 2023 Share Posted May 5, 2023 22 minutes ago, Lemondropkid said: £2.99 is bearable, some of the prices on dowload books are ludicrous though. I'll freely admit to using a dodgy site to download a stack of holiday reading. I'm happy to pay for paper books, but when they start asking for silly money to download a file, I won't play along. I'm very lucky to live near a very, very decent public library. Popped in this afternoon and City on Fire was sat on the shelves. Returned my Mosley book and grabbed that. Got 2 books on the go at the moment before I get to it!! Yeah, I’ve bought hardbacks for less than the download from Amazon. Fucking crazy some prices. Bought one for £10 delivered and the download was £12.99. Fucking extortion,as there is no manufacturer cost or delivery cost. Think it’s because people can read on their phone or Kindle without carrying a book around. So more convenient. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
forcebwithu Posted May 6, 2023 Share Posted May 6, 2023 (edited) My personal limit is $5 for a Kindle book. Can't see a justification for a price higher given the almost zero cost of delivery to the customer of the product. Don't know that the usual split is between publisher and author, but I would hope the author is rewarded for their hard work with a majority of the sell price. As for what I'm currently reading, Harlan Coben's latest. A good page turner. Expecting there will be some twists to the plot I didn't see coming, which is somewhat rare with a lot of books I've read. Edited May 6, 2023 by forcebwithu 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
galenkia Posted May 10, 2023 Share Posted May 10, 2023 Latest from Lynda. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lemondropkid Posted May 12, 2023 Share Posted May 12, 2023 As recommended on here, entertaining right from the off. 40 pages in and I'm loving it 🙂 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lazarus Posted May 20, 2023 Share Posted May 20, 2023 "An English schoolteacher begins a new, dangerous life when he escapes rural Sussex and discovers the omens, dreams and spirits of Cambodia"... https://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/may/06/hunters-in-dark-lawrence-osborne-review-written 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lazarus Posted May 23, 2023 Share Posted May 23, 2023 I'm on a Lawrence Osborne roll... "From the theme resorts of Dubai to the jungles of Papua New Guinea, a disturbing but hilarious tour of the exotic east—and of the tour itself. Sick of producing the bromides of the professional travel writer, Lawrence Osborne decided to explore the psychological underpinnings of tourism itself..." https://books.google.com/books/about/The_Naked_Tourist.html?id=b2KqMxKPc_YC&source=kp_book_description 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
forcebwithu Posted May 23, 2023 Share Posted May 23, 2023 Jack Carr latest in the Terminal List series. Only a few chapters into it and agree with some of the reviews that it's not as fast paced as his previous books. Also annoying is the author interjecting his political views into the story line. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lemondropkid Posted May 23, 2023 Share Posted May 23, 2023 (edited) 5 hours ago, forcebwithu said: Also annoying is the author interjecting his political views into the story line. Thanks for the warning!! Not familair with the author, have enjoyed some of the Stephen Leather earlier books where one of the central characters is ex-SAS. Back on Carr, this line in the book's official description would be a red-flag (no pun intended 😀)- "a secret cabal of global elites are ready to assume control." I'm generally happy to suspend disbelief reading fiction, but a small minority of books (Jack Reacher was one), push me over the edge. However the mention of "global elities" would have me running to the exit! Edited May 23, 2023 by Lemondropkid 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
forcebwithu Posted May 23, 2023 Share Posted May 23, 2023 10 minutes ago, Lemondropkid said: Thanks for the warning!! Not familair with the author, have enjoyed some of the Stephen Leather earlier books where one of the central characters is ex-SAS. Back on Carr, this line in the book's official description would be a red-flag (no pun intended 😀)- "a secret cabal of global elites are ready to assume control." I'm generally happy to suspend disbelief reading fiction, but a small minority of books (Jack Reacher was one), push me over the edge. However the mention of "global elities" would have me running to the exit! If it wasn't for his inclusion of other current events, I could consider the cabal reference I part of the author's fictional plot development. But he spends too many pages on other recent events that, IMHO, he crosses the line between fiction and non-fiction. I'll continue to slog through more chapters in the hope it gets better as I really liked his previous books. Also thought The Terminal List TV series based on the book was well done. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jambo Posted May 23, 2023 Share Posted May 23, 2023 On 5/5/2023 at 7:24 PM, galenkia said: Yeah, I’ve bought hardbacks for less than the download from Amazon. Fucking crazy some prices. Bought one for £10 delivered and the download was £12.99. Fucking extortion,as there is no manufacturer cost or delivery cost. Think it’s because people can read on their phone or Kindle without carrying a book around. So more convenient. I use Amazon a lot to download to my kindle but I have my own tried and tested approach. I look for new (to me) authors who have written a whole load of novels as a series. The first in the series can often be free or no more than 0.99. If I get hooked on the first one I then work my way through the series often paying 2.99 or so from then on. I am currently reading: The above is the fourth in the "After Dunkirk Series" and each one now is 3.99. Its a really interesting and exciting series with several "stories" taking place within each novel. For example, you have the "Resistance" being established in France with great risks being taken whilst the Blitz is hitting the UK. Plenty of aerial action but supported by what it was like for those behind the scenes who have to go on when "The Few" get less and less. It also features a family in Guernsey, the nearest of the Channel Islands to France and what it was like during the occupation. Two sons go off to fight leaving their mother as the matriarchal one left to deal with the Germans. Book four "The Giant Awakens" brings in the USA following Pearl Harbor. I have only just got into this one and it is heavily featuring the relationship between Churchill and Trueman. I was not aware that Churchill had a heart attack during his visit to the USA in 1941? Anyway, the series is good reading and I am enjoying it immensely as historical fiction of all genres is my favorite. 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lazarus Posted May 25, 2023 Share Posted May 25, 2023 "...a young American living in New York, has fled to Bangkok to disappear. Armed with a suitcase full of cash, she takes up residence at the Kingdom, a glittering complex slowly sinking into its own twilight. There, against a backdrop of shadowy gossip and intrigue, she is soon drawn into the orbit of the Kingdom's glamorous ex-pat women. But when political chaos and a frenzied uprising wrack the streets below, and Sarah witnesses something unspeakable, her safe haven begins to feel like a trap." https://books.google.com/books/about/The_Glass_Kingdom.html?id=kNLADwAAQBAJ&source=kp_book_description 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lemondropkid Posted May 26, 2023 Share Posted May 26, 2023 Have joined @lazarus on the Lawrence Osbourne trail. Just started on this Cambodian based novel. Very atmospheric with a feeling that something very sinister is going to happen in the live of our innocent young Barang, main character.😨 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
galenkia Posted June 1, 2023 Share Posted June 1, 2023 Gonna head out to the park to start this, book 14 in the series. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lazarus Posted June 1, 2023 Share Posted June 1, 2023 The End of the Affair is a 1951 novel by British author Graham Greene, as well as the title of two feature films (released in 1955 and 1999) that were adapted from the novel. Set in London during and just after the Second World War, the novel examines the obsessions, jealousy and discernments within the relationships between three central characters: writer Maurice Bendrix; Sarah Miles; and her husband, civil servant Henry Miles. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
galenkia Posted June 1, 2023 Share Posted June 1, 2023 On 5/6/2023 at 3:04 AM, forcebwithu said: My personal limit is $5 for a Kindle book. Can't see a justification for a price higher given the almost zero cost of delivery to the customer of the product. Don't know that the usual split is between publisher and author, but I would hope the author is rewarded for their hard work with a majority of the sell price. As for what I'm currently reading, Harlan Coben's latest. A good page turner. Expecting there will be some twists to the plot I didn't see coming, which is somewhat rare with a lot of books I've read. Just googled royalties. print is 5 to 20% as obvious production costs. Ebooks - 25% Audiobooks - 10 to 25% 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lemondropkid Posted June 1, 2023 Share Posted June 1, 2023 5 hours ago, lazarus said: The End of the Affair is a 1951 novel by British author Graham Greene, as well as the title of two feature films (released in 1955 and 1999) that were adapted from the novel. Set in London during and just after the Second World War, the novel examines the obsessions, jealousy and discernments within the relationships between three central characters: writer Maurice Bendrix; Sarah Miles; and her husband, civil servant Henry Miles. Love Graham Greene, such a wonderful writer. Does at times go off too much on a Catholic tangent, but for me his best stuff is timeless. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lazarus Posted June 1, 2023 Share Posted June 1, 2023 17 minutes ago, Lemondropkid said: Love Graham Greene, such a wonderful writer. Does at times go off too much on a Catholic tangent, but for me his best stuff is timeless. I first read Greene as a student at a Catholic prep school... My latest interest stems from comparisons made of Greene and Osborne. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lemondropkid Posted June 1, 2023 Share Posted June 1, 2023 2 minutes ago, lazarus said: I first read Greene as a student at a Catholic prep school... My latest interest stems from comparisons made of Greene and Osborne. Hope you enjoy returning to Greene. I'd assumed the comparision via the Quiet American. I really enjoyed Hunters in the Dark, the seemingly stiff English school teacher that begins the book could certainly have been a Greene character. Would through in Orwell's Burmese Days as an fantastic Asia based novel, a real classic. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
forcebwithu Posted June 2, 2023 Share Posted June 2, 2023 9 hours ago, galenkia said: Just googled royalties. print is 5 to 20% as obvious production costs. Ebooks - 25% Audiobooks - 10 to 25% The main reason e-books are expensive are the greedy agencies. Why Are Ebooks More Expensive Than Paperbacks? The Agency Model Keeps Ebook Prices High Another factor to consider is that ebooks use a different pricing model than physical books. Physical books get sold to retailers at around half the list price. The retailer can then sell them for whatever they like. When Amazon sells books for lower than the recommended retail price, that discount is coming straight out of Amazon's profit margin. Amazon is gambling that the low price will equal more sales, which will make up the lost profit margin. However, ebooks utilize the agency model when sold. Instead of letting the retailer choose the price, the publisher states what they're selling for. The publisher gets 70 percent of each transaction, and the retailer gets the remaining 30 percent. Unlike with physical books, Amazon has no control over the price of ebooks. If someone has performed the steps required to publish an ebook via Kindle Direct Publishing, they set the price as they please, with no exceptions. This constraint is the reason ebooks sometimes cost more than paperbacks. For example, a publisher can list the price of their physical book at $27.95 and the ebook at $20, which is a reasonable 30 percent markdown. Instead of selling the hardcover for the list price, Amazon choose to sell it at under $20. They can't touch the ebook price, so that stays the same. As such, the paperback will cost less than the ebook. 1 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
galenkia Posted June 2, 2023 Share Posted June 2, 2023 After losing interest in reading for a couple of months, I finished the current book just now.Got the reading bug back. This will take longer, it’s a novel based on the life of John Wilkes-Booth. 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
galenkia Posted June 6, 2023 Share Posted June 6, 2023 Just starting this. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gs joe Posted June 9, 2023 Share Posted June 9, 2023 Maybe covered before, but I’m enjoying this read 2 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lemondropkid Posted June 9, 2023 Share Posted June 9, 2023 6 hours ago, gs joe said: Maybe covered before, but I’m enjoying this read Don't think it has been featured on here before. Can vaguely remember the TV program being on as a young kid. More revelant have read Goodbye to all that, which is difficult as the subject matter is a wonderful book. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stillearly Posted June 9, 2023 Share Posted June 9, 2023 I think I read both books , certainly the first one .... but the TV series was outstanding, with a stellar cast 👍 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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