Free eBooks

Emma by Jane Austen is today’s Free eBook of the Day.

The novel is a classic. Here is an excerpt from the book: “She was so busy in admiring those soft blue eyes, in talking and listening, and forming all these schemes in the in-betweens, that the evening flew away at a very unusual rate; and the supper-table, which always closed such parties, and for which she had been used to sit and watch the due time, was all set out and ready, and moved forwards to the fire, before she was aware.”

Project Gutenberg has the free download.

For more free eBooks, check out our Free eBook of the Day archive.

Create a social media strategy, launch your campaign, and track the results in our Social Media Marketing Boot Camp starting February 16. The online event and workshop will feature speakers including The Onion‘s Baratunde Thurston (left), Facebook’s Morin Oluwole, and bitly’s Tim Devane. Register now.

We’re going to go a little outside the box for today’s free eBook.

Have you ever wondered where the original idea came from for the eReader, laptop, and other mobile devices? I do, and the earliest reference that I can find is  paper that Dr. Alan Kay presented in 1968.

In this paper Dr. Kay discusses the Dynabook, his concept for an educational tool. It was never made, but the ideas discussed in the paper can be seen in the design of the OLPC laptop, iPad, and other modern gadgets, including the Kindle.

You can find a scanned PDF of the paper on Scribd. I am still looking for a text copy.

Scribd

Getting Sassy by DC Brod is today’s Free eBook of the Day.

The title is part of the author’s “Getting Even” series of books. Here is more from the book’s description: “With her nearly broke and practically homeless mother about to land on her doorstep, Robyn Guthrie learns that desperation can play havoc with a daughter’s scruples. Otherwise, why would she even consider kidnapping a goat and holding it for ransom?”

For more free eBooks, check out our Free eBook of the Day archive.

The classic Sherlock Holmes mystery The Hound of the Baskervilles is our free ebook today. It was originally published in 1902.

The most famous of the Sherlock Holmes stories, The Hound of the Baskervilles features the phantom dog of Dartmoor, which, according to an ancient legend, has haunted the Baskervilles for generations. When Sir Charles Baskerville dies suddenly of a heart attack on the grounds of the family’s estate, the locals are convinced that the spectral hound is responsible, and Holmes is called in.

This title caught my eye because it was recently adapted for television. The BBC has recently finished showing Sherlock, a new interpretation of Conan Doyle’s work, and The Hound of the Baskervilles was used to inspire the second of 3 episodes.

You can find today’s eBook on FeedBooks.

P.S. The other 2 episodes, in case you are curious, were inspired by A Scandal in Bohemia and The Final Problem.

One of CJ Lyon’s Guardino crime novels, Snake Skin, is free today. This series stars a Pittsburgh soccer mom who is also an FBI agent in charge of tracking down dangerous criminals and bringing them to justice.

Amazon has more detail:

A loving mom and wife, dutiful daughter, consummate professional, and kick-ass federal agent, Lucy is living the perfect life. Until the day she comes up against a predator more vicious and cunning than any she’s ever tackled before, one who forces Lucy to choose between the life of the young victim she is fighting to save and her own daughter’s….and Lucy’s dream life is shattered.

You can find this eBook on Amazon, and it should be available in all regions.

It’s the first of the month, and that means it’s time for the University of Chicago Press to give away another eBook. This month’s book is Class War? What Americans Really Think about Economic Inequality.

This book, which was originally published back in 2009, examines what American’s really think bout class, status, and money. Here’s more detail from the listing:”Recent battles in Washington over how to fix America’s fiscal failures strengthened the widespread impression that economic issues sharply divide average citizens. Indeed, many commentators split Americans into two opposing groups: uncompromising supporters of unfettered free markets and advocates for government solutions to economic problems. But such dichotomies, Benjamin Page and Lawrence Jacobs contend, ring false. In Class War? they present compelling evidence that most Americans favor free enterprise and practical government programs to distribute wealth more equitably.”

You can download this book on the University of Chicago Press website. You’ll need to provide an email address and use Adobe DE (or a compatible app) to download the eBook.

Many have read Mark Twain’s classic novel, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (or seen a movie based on it). But fewer readers are familiar with the later novels starring Tom, and that brings me to today’s free eBook.

Feedbooks has more details:

Tom Sawyer Abroad is a novel by Mark Twain published in 1894. It features Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn in a parody of Jules Verne-esque adventure stories. In the story, Tom, Huck, and Jim set sail to Africa in a futuristic hot air balloon, where they survive encounters with lions, robbers, and fleas to see some of the world’s greatest wonders, including the Pyramids and the Sphinx. Like Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer, Detective, the story is told using the first-person narrative voice of Huck Finn.

 

You can find this title on FeedBooks.

Murder In Store by DC Brod is today’s Free eBook of the Day.

The detective novel takes place in a department store. Here is more from the book’s description: “Preston Hauser, owner of a famous department store, asks his head of security, Quint McCauley, to investigate some threatening letters he has received. No sooner does Quint take on the job, than Preston is poisoned by one of his own vitamin pills. With Quint looking on. Suspicion falls on Hauser’s young wife, Diana, but Quint quickly learns she’s not the only one who might benefit from the millionaire’s death.”

Amazon and Barnes & Noble have the free download through February 4th.

For more free eBooks, check out our Free eBook of the Day archive.

Here’s a treat for you. A few weeks ago Apple unveiled iBooks Author, their new ebook assembly tool. That launch has gotten all sorts of attention, including comments on the unreasonable EULA, format restrictions, and other issues.

But have you ever looked at one of the eBooks made with iBooks Author? I bet at least some of my readers have not, so I am pleased to share one with you today.

Walrus Books, a French digital publisher, posted this ebook earlier this week. I’m still downloading it, but some of the screen shots look fascinating. It’s in French, yes, but even if you cannot read it you can still observe how the book behaves in iBooks and you can take it apart and look at the guts.

You can download the eBook at DropBox. You’ll also get  PDF of the eBook, which will be useful for anyone who doesn’t have an iPad.

Walrus

DropBox

This blogger is on a classic SF kick this week, and that has led me to one of Burroughs’ famous novels as today’s free eBook. This book has published serially starting in 1912, and then published as a whole in 1917.

Virginia gentleman John Carter, unexpectedly transported to the perilous red planet, Mars, finds himself captured by the loveless Green Men of Thark. As Carter struggles to win his freedom—and the affections of fellow captive Dejah Thoris, princess of the rival clan of Helium—the fate of the entire planet hangs in the balance: warring Martian tribes collide and the beleaguered Atmosphere Factory grinds to a suffocating halt.

You can find this eBook at Feedbooks, Project Gutenberg, and in most eBookstores.