Monthly Archives: April 2018

PBS to air The Great American Read series

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On May 22, 2018, PBS will begin airing an 8-part series called the Great American Read. The documentary series, hosted by Meredith Vieira, ” will take viewers on a journey across the country to uncover the nation’s 100 most-loved novels.” The idea behind the series is that books are the vehicle to “celebrates the power of reading.” The show will interview authors, readers, celebrities and literary experts to discuss how books have affected American culture.

The series is one facet of an outreach program designed to get Americans reading and talking about books.

Viewers will be able to vote on titles to ultimately choose America’s best-loved novel. According to the series web page,

Voting will open online and on social media with the launch of the two-hour premiere episode and continue throughout the summer, leading up to the finale in October 2018. Over the summer, viewers can vote online and through hashtag voting via Facebook and Twitter. In the fall, viewers will also be able to cast their votes by using SMS and toll-free voting.

You can read the list of 100 books here.

Surprisingly, when I spot checked, it appears that ALL of these titles are available in ebook versions.

You can follow the series on social media on Facebook and Instagram You can also follow on Twitter with the hashtag #greatreadpbs.

The Great American Read

Get free books in translation for World Book Day

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To celebrate next week’s World Book Day, Amazon is offering nine free books from their AmazonCrossing imprint. The imprint focuses on translated works and it’s stated mission is “to connect readers across cultures with books from around the world.”

The genres of the titles include a memoir, mystery, suspense, literary fiction and literary fantasy. All of the titles are English translations of award-winning books originally published in foreign languages.

The available titles are:

A River in Darkness: One Man’s Escape from North Korea by Masaji Ishikawa, translated from Japanese by Risa Kobayashi and Martin Brown: An Amazon Charts bestselling memoir about one man’s harrowing escape from the oppression of North Korea.

The House by the River by Lena Manta, translated from Greek by Gail Holst-Warhaft: An epic saga of love, adventure and family from Greece’s reigning #1 best-selling author.

Still Waters by Viveca Sten, translated from Swedish by Marlaine Delargy: The first book in the nearly 4 million-copy best-selling Swedish Sandhamn Murders series.

The Great Passage by Shion Miura, translated from Japanese by Juliet Winters Carpenter: This award-winning novel, adapted into a major motion picture, about the making of a Japanese dictionary is a reminder that a life dedicated to passion is a life well lived.

Last Train to Istanbul by Ayşe Kulin, translated from Turkish by John W. Baker: A sweeping story of love, adventure and compassion, about a young Turkish couple traversing Nazi-occupied Europe to gain their freedom, from one of Turkey’s most beloved authors.

The Gray House by Mariam Petrosyan, translated from Russian by Yuri Machkasov: An astounding and award-winning tale of a mesmerizing space where disabilities symbolize strengths.

The Question of Red by Laksmi Pamuntjak, translated from Indonesian by Laksmi Pamuntjak: A saga of love, revolution and resilience and one woman’s courage to forge her own path, from an award-winning Indonesian novelist.

The Light of the Fireflies by Paul Pen, translated from Spanish by Simon Bruni: A haunting page-turner about a boy who lives underground and discovers that light exists in even the darkest of places.

Ten Women by Marcela Serrano, translated from Spanish by Beth Fowler: A group of women with divergent life stories bond over triumphs and heartaches in this beautiful tale about universal connections from an award-winning Chilean author.

The free books promotion ends at 11:59pm PDT on April 24, 2018. Edited to add: This promotion is available only to eligible customers in the US.

AmazonCrossing books are frequently included as part of the First Reads (formerly Kindle Firsts) program and titles are available as part of the Kindle Unlimited subscription service. You can browse other AmazonCrossing titles here.