Look! There is a thing!

 
* I think it'll run till Sunday February 4th, but it might be Saturday 3rd. But at least you have more than a day to grab what you want, which helps those in other time zones -- especially those who are asleep as I write this.

Anyway, here are 30 Cozy mysteries to consider adding to your reading device for cheap. Enjoy!

Feel free to pass around to your own circle, or link here if it's easier.

UPDATE: The link seems to be for Kindle versions. The person who passed it on thought they were available at several booksellers, but it doesn't show here, nor at the alternate URL that was provided. If you like the blurb at Amazon, you could search the specific title at your alternate ereader-source and see if the same sale holds for that book.
 

 
Over 2,000 books in a bunch of categories. Select your bookseller here, then click on the link for your preferred genre and grab whatever takes your fancy.
 

 
Most of you are aware that I download and save nearly all fanfic that grabs my interest. Fortunately, AO3 makes it very easy to save multiple chapters in a single file. Other sites, not so much. I had been using Fanfiction Downloader, but over the past year it's become glitchy on FF.Net -- it'll give me a single file, but a few chapters in the middle may be missing. (Chapter heading, but no text, followed by the next chapter heading after a small blank space.) I went searching for an alternate.

FicHub works, but the HTML output (my favored format) is kind of ugly, and it's cumbersome to use -- you have to go to the site and input the fic's URL to get a download. Still, it gives me all the chapters -- so far -- so it's a workable choice.

I much prefer FicLab as a new downloader. It's a browser extension that shows a "Save" button on the sites where it works, which is very handy; no need to have the site open in another tab or window. I also consider the HTML output more visually pleasing.

However, I've been puzzled when using it at FF.Net -- sometimes the 'Save' button is available, and sometimes not. At the same time I noticed -- but did not pay attention to -- that the basic site "look" on FF.Net is variable; sometimes it's a more stripped-down version (no icons) than others. I think the not-attending demonstrates that I'm not really internet-competent; I just accepted the differences without wondering why, or evaluating what it might mean.

BUT! Thanks to a helpful commenter at Reddit, it turns out that there are two versions of FF.Net, one for mobile devices, and one for desktops. The difference is in the URL -- https://m.fanfiction.net/ versus https://www.fanfiction.net/ -- the 'www' for the regular site, and 'm' for the mobile site. (I had always thought the 'm' meant 'mature'. *headdesk*)

And now, if I follow a link to FF.Net and there's no 'Save' button -- as happened in this case -- all I need to do is replace the 'm' in the URL with 'www' and presto! It opens a window that has the FicLab 'Save' button for my downloading convenience.

So there you have it. Maybe you already know this, or maybe you don't care. (I'm aware that most people aren't such rabid fic-hoarders as I am.) But if you didn't know, and/or do care, use the info in good health, and feel free to share it around.
 

 
My apologies for the late notice; I overlooked the email notification in my burgeoning inbox.

However, the email said the offer was good "until the end of the month" -- so you should have a couple of days to snatch them up.

Over 75 fantasy books, from various authors, available through bookfunnel.

CAVEATS:

Many are short novellas, and/or prequels of longer works.

Getting a book means you're automatically subscribed to the author's email list. But as soon as the first email shows up, I just unsubscribe; it's not too much of a hassle.



Anyway, if fantasy is your cup of tea, you might find something you like.

 

 

Nothing dire; I'm speaking of endings to reading material -- books, stories, fanfic.

Personally, I need some kind of 'good' ending. Even if it's not 'happily ever after', I need it to be at least 'hopefully looking forward'. If it's the opposite -- looking forward and seeing only more gloom and despair -- it will ruin an otherwise good story for me.

My first experience with this was "Gone With the Wind", which my mother made me read when I was 12 years old. I was reading extensively at 12 -- I'm sure you're not surprised -- but it was all either science fiction, mysteries, or animal stories. I had absolutely no interest in any kind of man/woman interaction, and no interest in historical "society" tales. In other words, this book was completely wrong for me, and I hated it from first page to last. I realized within the first chapter that Scarlett O'Hara was the stupidest woman that God ever made, and my opinion never changed. Even at 12, I knew that [a] marriage was supposed to be because you loved someone, not because all your gal pals were getting married, and [b] once you were married, you shared a bed with your husband. Now, honest, I didn't know what married people did together in bed (Dad gave me 'the talk' about a year later), but I knew sleeping together was expected -- and when Scarlett refused to sleep next to her husband, it confirmed my opinion of her immaturity and stupidity.

But the final outrage was the last line -- "Oh, well, tomorrow's another day." If it hadn't been a library book, I'd have thrown it against a brick wall until it was battered and shredded. Yes, good that she's prepared to go forward -- but she has no recognition that her whole life is in ruins through her own actions, no recognition that she needs to try to fix herself -- and other things -- before she'll be able to recover. That line read to me like, "Oh, well, tomorrow the whole problem will be gone, the world will reset, and I can keep going on as if nothing happened." I just... *shakes head helplessly, unable to express my total disgust*

At any rate, I've never read it again, and never seen -- or wanted to see -- the movie. I know it's downgraded now for its slanted depiction of slavery, but it was still considered a "great" movie until I was well into my 40's, and periodically shown on TV; I certainly had opportunities to see it. Nope, no way. I'd rather watch a football game (*American style) than that movie. (I don't like football either, but that's another rant.)

*<snicker> Because I'm reading so much fic for The Old Guard, and when Joe or Booker talk about 'football', I have to remind myself that it's the game I know as soccer.

( Cut because more rambling with a bit of personal philosophy. )

 

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When I was a kid, and didn't know something about what I was reading, I'd ask Mom. Her answer was always, "Look it up." That wasn't impossible -- we had a set of encyclopedia and a dictionary. But that takes time, and the story was interesting... so mostly I sort of figured things out by context. I'd find out -- sometimes years later -- that I was right, or at least close. OTOH, sometimes I was 180 degrees wrong. (For years I thought 'cerise' 'chartreuse' meant bright red instead of yellow-green. I was probably confusing it with crimson. Thanks to castiron for the heads up. Realized I was probably confusing chartreuse with cerise -- and I still am!)

(Note: I also learned not to ask Mom questions, LOL!)

So, I'm reading a fic, and the character is reading in a hammock slung between two hemlock trees. And I suddenly realize... I've always pictured hemlocks as evergreen trees... but I never looked them up. So quick-quick, I called up Google to look at images of hemlock. Vindicated! They are conifers (evergreens) instead of deciduous.

But... how did I know? What clues / hints / context told me that when I first made that connection? That moment is at least 50 years in the past, probably closer to 60, so I'll never be able to track down the memory. And it doesn't matter; even if I'd pictured it wrong, it wouldn't have made a huge difference to whatever story I was reading at the time -- or am reading now.

But I find it interesting how the human brain works... or at least how my brain seems to work. It's a fascinating puzzle that will never be solved, but it's fun to play with the pieces occasionally.

Now back to my story.

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I use an iPad as an ereader. I copy many of my favorite stories to a Word doc and format it to my liking --

      giant title so I can read it in 'grid view' on the screen
      fancy divider bars before and after story text + chapters
      no blank lines between paragraphs
      indented paragraphs
      two spaces after periods, period-quotes, questions (I'm a luddite, sue me)

-- then load it in my iPad via a "Send to Kindle" app.

This afternoon, I formatted a new story, which has a list of translated phrases at the end. (Yes, I've jumped onto The Old Guard bandwagon.) Sent it to my pad and took a look. The list of translated phrases was on two pages... but if I added just a few more blank lines, it would be on one page. No problem; delete that out of my pad, make the changes in the Word doc, send again.

Long story short -- the final page keeps changing! Note that I'm not changing anything in the body of the work; I'm just adding or deleting blank lines between ~The End~ and the beginning of the list. I've made changes approximately 15 times. But ~The End~ (and consequently the beginning of the list) keeps moving! Sometimes it's at the top of the page, so I delete blank lines to move the list upward. Next time, it's 2/3rds down the page, so I add blank lines to force the list to the next page. Next it's halfway down the page, then 1/3rd from the top, then 3/4ths down...

I've tried adding a dot (period) in the blank line; maybe that would stabilize the line-space. I've tried adding one or more extra divider bars between ~The End~ and the list; maybe that would stabilize the line space. Sometimes I've been so close -- if I add/delete just two lines, it'll be positioned the way I want. Two lines should be a small enough change to go through properly, right?

WRONG!!!

I'm giving up -- but only for tonight. Apparently it's a matter of luck. If I keep trying, one of my attempts will produce the layout I want.

<g> Most folks who know me would probably say I'm pretty easy-going. But when something doesn't work that I think should work, I will keep at it until I make it work, or it's beaten me in a fair fight. In my time, I've out-stubborned dogs, horses, small kids, and even a few tools and machines. (A little craftiness with my stubbornness goes a long way.)

<shrug> It'll work eventually -- or not -- and if it doesn't, it's really no big deal; the world will keep turning and no lives will be changed, not even mine.

But seriously... how is the height of a line of text a variable? Why aren't there x lines to a screen so I can count, calculate, and make screen breaks where I want them? In the immortal words of the King of Siam -- "Is a puzzlement!"


Update:

Thanks to some input from thewayne, I tried "force a page-break above the translation-list" to get the view I want.

It worked!

Although, here's a surprising wrinkle -- when I swipe right, to move backwards through the story to see the last story page with ~The End~ and final divider bar... first I see a duplicate vocabulary-list page, then I see the last story page.

When I go forward to 'the list', there's only one page. But when I go back to ~The End~, there's the duplicate list page. I've flipped back and forth several times, and the two-pages / one-page dichotomy remains consistent.

?????

Doesn't matter. I just want to be able to easily flip to the end of the story to refresh my memory about a translation, then returned to my bookmarked spot and continue reading, and now I have that option. But it's another puzzlement.


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I think it was Sally -- maybe? -- who posted a link to Faded Page.com, a Canadian site that has provides free downloads of old books in the public domain.


Me? I'm busily saving some of my teenage favorites in my Kindle. Links here, in case I lose them --

Jim Kjelgaard -- author of Big Red and so many other "living with nature" stories --
http://www.fadedpage.com/csearch.php?author=Kjelgaard,%20Jim%20(James%20Arthur)

L. M. Montgomery -- author of Anne of Green Gables, and other, series --
http://www.fadedpage.com/csearch.php?author=Montgomery,%20L.%20M.%20(Lucy%20Maud)

Dorothy L. Sayers -- author of the Lord Peter Wimsey mysteries --
http://www.fadedpage.com/csearch.php?author=Sayers,%20Dorothy%20L.

Neville Shute -- author of "A Town Like Alice", which I loved. Looking forward to other books --
http://www.fadedpage.com/csearch.php?author=Norway,%20Nevil%20Shute

Other available authors are C.S. Lewis, Zane Grey, Ian Fleming, and hundreds I've never heard of -- but maybe you have. Have fun browsing!
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"Butterfly in the sky,
I can fly twice as high;
Take a look, it's in a book,
A reading rainbow."

I'm far too old to have seen Reading Rainbow as a child, but it was a bright point in my afternoon when I got home from teaching. (I only had four channels; my other choices were soaps.) According to this article, as of this coming Friday, they're pulling the plug. Partly, it's monetary difficulties, which is understandable. But mostly they've shifted their focus; they feel it's more important to teach children the "nuts and bolts" of reading -- spelling and phonics.

So, so stupid. Schools already teach the mechanics, but children won't use them unless they have an interest and desire to read. I don't know any other show that fulfills that niche so ably. You know I'm affiliated with the schools; I see teachers' efforts to instill that eagerness to read - not always successfully. But many children, seeing an idea on TV, decide it's "cool". It's a tremendous shame that this "coolness" will not be available to future generations of children.

My niece and nephew loved it, and I know it was a big factor in them learning the enjoyment of reading. (Although I'm sure Aunt Linda giving them books every birthday and Christmas didn't hurt!) But many children live in homes where the love of books is not promoted; for those children to be denied a proven effective method of fostering that love of reading is a low blow - especially coming from an organization that purports to have the good of children as one of its goals.

I found this URL to leave a complaint feedback. And someone has started a petition; I figure it falls under the heading of "Can't hurt, might help."

Compared to the loss of Betagoddess and Ted Kennedy, this is small potatoes. But at least here I can register a protest, and have. It probably won't do any good, but why the hell not?
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