Kindle Daily Post

UNO Comes to Kindle E-Readers

For more than 40 years the family card-game UNO has captivated friends and family members around the world with its fast and fun action, rule variations, and portability. It's an undisputed classic game for all ages that never grows old and consistently inspires big smiles and bursts of raucous laughter.

Now, UNO has been faithfully reproduced for play on Kindle, Kindle Touch, Kindle Keyboard, Kindle DX, and second generation Kindle devices.

Instead of the game's traditional card colors of red, blue, yellow, and green, UNO for Kindle features four easy-to-see patterns customized exclusively for the Kindle e-ink displays. In addition to the four different patterns, UNO for Kindle cards are numbered from 0 to 9, just like in the original card version of the game.

For the uninitiated, play begins when you place a card from your hand into the discard pile to match either the color or the number laid down on the pile by the previous player. The first person to get rid of all their cards is the winner.

A selection of special cards keeps the game play fresh and adds an element of surprise; whenever a Wild, Reverse, Skip, Draw Two, or the dreaded Draw Four Wild card is laid down, fortunes quickly turn! Just as someone thinks they're about to win the game, the momentum can suddenly swing against them. Another hallmark rule twist is the need to call out "Uno!" when you're down to one card. If not, you'll be forced to draw two cards.

UNO for Kindle lets you pick up and play a round right from your Kindle's main menu with the choice of either "Quick Play" or "Tournament Mode." Once selected, UNO for Kindle gives you the choice of nine different varieties of the game, including 7-0 (if a zero card is played, all players give their cards to the next player) and Jump-in (if you have a card with the same number and pattern in your hand as on the discard pile, you can play it at any time).

With smooth game play, sharp graphics, easy-to-learn rules, and loads of in-game achievements, playing UNO for Kindle continues the game's tradition of fast fun for everyone.

Q&A with S.E. Hinton, author of "The Outsiders"

Ponyboy can count on his brothers and his friends, but not on much else besides trouble with the Socs, a vicious gang of rich kids who get away with everything, including beating up greasers like Ponyboy. At least he knows what to expect--until the night someone takes things too far.

Written forty-five years ago, S. E. Hinton's classic The Outsiders--a story of a boy who finds himself on the outskirts of regular society--remains as powerful today as it was the day it was written.

Amazon.com: What does this anniversary mean to you as an author?

S.E. Hinton: It has been amazing to see my first novel stand the test of time--to go from a teen-age wonder to an old lady of letters.

Amazon.com: How does it make you feel that kids all over the country are reading your book?

S.E. Hinton: Since so many kids write me to tell me The Outsiders is the first book they enjoyed reading, and so many teachers tell me it is a pleasure to teach a book that will engage their students, I'm glad to be of help. Reading has been a major influence on my life.

Amazon.com: You were obviously a very talented writer at a very young age. What were other kids your age doing at the time you wrote The Outsiders?

S.E. Hinton: Hanging out, driving around aimlessly, enjoyable activities but I would rather be writing.

Amazon.com: What types of things were you reading/watching/listening to as you wrote The Outsiders?

S.E. Hinton: I prefer absolute quiet while writing.

Amazon.com: Who was the first person, other than yourself, to read The Outsiders? What did they think?

S.E. Hinton: Some friends. They thought it was cool. Especially since I bought a car with the advance.

Amazon.com: What do you hope kids learn from reading your book?

S.E. Hinton: To see the "other" as a person, too, to think before they judge.

Amazon.com: In The Outsiders, you write about two groups: the greasers and the socials. If one didn’t belong on either side, where would they fall in society?

S.E. Hinton: Everyone had their own little group. The novel would be the size of a telephone book if I tried to include all the groups.

Dustin Thomason on Michael Crichton

Dustin Thomason, the bestselling author of The Rule of Four, and the forthcoming apocalyptic thriller, 12.21, discusses how Michael Crichton's books (Jurassic Park, The Andromeda Strain, Congo, Sphere, and more)--newly available on Kindle--inspired his career.

A writer--visionary, vastly imaginative, prolific beyond belief--leaves behind his life's work, and it can fit in the palm of your hand: Who could've predicted such a thing? For one, the writer whose life's work you now hold in the palm of your hand. But then, Michael Crichton was always a step or two ahead of us all--perhaps because, at six foot nine, his strides were longer. He stood a head taller than I do, and I'll be the first to admit that I've been living contentedly in his shadow my whole life.

Crichton majored in anthropology at Harvard--I did too. He went on to medical school, wrote his first novel while there, and won an Edgar Award for it in the same year he graduated. I co-wrote The Rule of Four, and published it the year I took my M.D. Crichton wrote deeply human television shows about young, good looking medical residents--so I almost had no choice but to team up with one of his fellow producers on ER when I created my own.

My obsession began with Jurassic Park, which I devoured my freshman year of high school. I'd already wanted to be a doctor. For the first time, I wanted to be a writer too. The imaginative power it took to resurrect dinosaurs from ancient amber became a kind of call to action for me: I wanted to be just like this guy when I grew up. A doctor who created monsters, who saw the future, who was a polymath on the order of Holmes or Buckaroo Banzai--and who, miraculously, wasn't a fictional creation himself.

Crichton’s works amount to a veritable meme-map of the late-20th century. The Andromeda Strain spawned the outbreak thriller, and like its alien DNA, it gets replicated again and again--it’s the Sergeant Pepper’s of the genre. James Cameron no doubt took notes on the deep-sea monsters Crichton conjured in Sphere, while The Terminal Man is a prophetic exploration of the dangers of computer interference with the human brain. The Great Train Robbery is more than his paean to the most exhilarating technology of the 19th century--the Internet of its day--it's also his oh-so-contemporary indictment of it. Yes, the man revered science, but he sure didn't trust blindly in its benevolent and orderly advance.

When it came time to write my first solo novel, maybe it was inevitable I'd return to Crichton’s technophobic-opus, Jurassic Park. It was, after all, on the island of Isla Nublar that I’d first encountered “prions,” the alien-like proteins that cause mad cow disease. Crichton was fascinated by these agents that spread because of human interference in the natural order--he even used them to kill off some of the velociraptors he’d made into dino-celebrities. In my new novel, 12.21, the only hope for curing a deadly prion disease leads scientists into a jungle (Congo-esque, come to think of it) once inhabited by the ancient Maya.

Twenty years after I read Doctor Crichton’s work for the first time and he began inspiring the trajectory of my career, it’s an honor to introduce the first electronic publication of my very favorite selections from his corpus. If historical estimates are correct, the entire contents of the greatest library of antiquity--the Library of Alexandria--could now fit on a single Kindle. That's just the sort of technological miracle we all wish Michael Crichton were here to help us celebrate--by explaining how it could kill us all.

 

R.L. Stine Loves to Make You Scream and Laugh

Guest post by best-selling children’s author R.L. Stine.

I always tell people that my job is to terrify kids. Someone has to do it, right?

But the truth is nowadays when I do a book signing, I see almost as many adults as kids who are reading my books. There is something about horror that cuts across all age groups. That’s because everyone likes a good scare—and we all react the same way. We scream, we cover our eyes, we gasp, and we laugh. Yes, laugh. Horror and humor are very much alike.

Try this experiment. Sneak up on your friend and say, “Boo!” Your friend will jump and shriek. But I bet you also make your friend laugh.

The next time you are at an amusement park, stand near the roller coaster. You will hear screams of terror—and gales of laughter. When I write my scary books I often think of them as being like a roller-coaster ride. I want the book to have twists and turns, scares and screams—and laughs.

One way I get humor into my books is with the crazy titles. When you see a title like The Creatures From Beyond Beyond, My Alien Parents, or The Adventures of Shrinkman, you know that the story will be scary and funny.

Another way my books combine humor and horror is in the cover art. Take my new eBook Zombie Town. The cover is funny. It shows a movie theater ticket-booth where the prices are $8.00 for adults, $6.00 for children, and $7.00 for Zombies. Seems fair to me; although with all the success zombies are having lately, maybe zombies should pay more, not less!

Speaking of zombies, they are everywhere: zombie books, zombie movies, zombie TV shows, and zombie eBooks. Actually, it amazes me how popular zombies are—because let's face it, they can’t do much except stagger around and look hungry. But maybe that’s their appeal. They are just plain scary. They’re not complicated and tortured like vampires. They don’t go invisible on you like ghosts. They don’t have secret identities like werewolves. And best of all they are undead. You’ve got to love something that is not alive, not dead—but undead.

I hope you enjoy Zombie Town and all my other books. For me, writing horror is always a scream.

May's Kindle Books for $3.99 or Less

From great literature to inspiring cookbooks, May's selection of 100 Kindle Books for $3.99 or Less has something for everybody. Here are a few of our favorites:

 

Literature & Fiction

Curses! by J.A. Kazimer, $3.99

This hilarious and witty romp through the twisted fairy-tale world of New Never City follows "ugly stepsister" princess Asia as she tries to figure out who killed her sister, Cinderella. Asia enlists the help of the villainous R.J., a.k.a. Rumplestiltskin, who's suffering from a curse to only do good deeds.

 

Mystery & Thrillers

Kaleidoscope by Darryl Wimberley, $1.99

Jack Romaine's addiction to speakeasies and cards turns him into an unwilling recruit for a Cincinnati gangster wanting to recover his stolen cash and railroad bonds. The trail leads south to Kaleidoscope, a "beddy" for freaks when carnival season over. Unfortunately, Jack's competition is a sadistic killer.

 

Biographies & Memoirs

As Seen On TV by Lucy Grealy, $2.99

Whether she's discussing promiscuity, The New Testament, or learning to tango, Lucy Grealy's writing seduces and surprises at every turn. Wit, unflinching honesty, and peerless intelligence are the hallmarks of this essay collection.

 

History

Holy Wars: 3000 Years of Battles in the Holy Land by Gary L. Rashba, $3.99 

Today's Arab-Israeli conflict is merely the latest iteration of violence in the Holy Land. Gary L. Rashba sheds light on this unending history of conflict by focusing on pivotal battles to describe the region's 3,000 years of war, from the Israelites' capture of Jericho to Israel’s assault against Lebanon.

 

Kids & Teens

What Color Is My World? by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, $3.99

Basketball legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar champions a lineup of little-known African-American inventors in this lively, kid-friendly book. Filled with engaging profiles, Abdul-Jabbar gives a nod to the inventors whose perseverance made our world safer, better, and brighter.

 

More Great Deals

Fast, Fresh, and Green by Susie Middleton, $3.99

This go-to reference for all things vegetable holds more than 100 recipes for appetizers, snacks, entrees, and side dishes. Perfect for vegetarians, vegans, and omnivores alike, the book also features a veggie shopping guide.

 

Be sure to browse May's entire selection of 100 Kindle Books for $3.99 or Less to discover great fiction and nonfiction titles catering to all ages.

 

Note: Deals expire on the last day of each month. Individual books may have additional territory restrictions, and not all deals are available in all territories.

April's Kindle Books for $3.99 or Less

 

Spring has arrived, and so has this month's selection of 100 Kindle Books for $3.99 or Less. Here are a few of our top picks we're excited to share with you:

 

Russell Wiley Is Out to Lunch by Richard Hine, $1.99

Media executive Russell Wiley's career is about to collapse along with his struggling daily paper and his sexless marriage. Sardonic, humorous, and true to life, this gripping novel offers an insider’s view into a newspaper's inner sanctum.

 

The Pistoleer: A Novel of John Wesley Hardin by James Carlos Blake, $1.99

This stunning portrayal of Texas outlaw John Wesley Hardin exposes the many different sides of the legendary man. From his blood-soaked youth to his time in prison where he studied law, Blake masterfully retells the story of Hardin's life.

 

The Monkey Wrench Gang by Edward Abbey, $2.99

Set in the canyon lands of the Southwest, a mismatched group of preservation-minded misfits set out to destroy the eyesores that threaten their desert environment's natural beauty. This wildly funny novel is among Abbey's most famous works of fiction.

 

I Wish I Were Engulfed in Flames by Jeni Decker, $1.99

Jeni Decker's brash, personal, and shocking memoir chronicles her effort to raise two healthy kids with autism is an eye-opening read. Her surreal anecdotes will have you either shaking your head in disbelief or nodding with recognition.

 

Daring the Highlander (The Legacy of MacLeod) by Laurin Wittig, $1.99

The sweeping Scottish saga that began with Charming the Shrew continues in this page-turning sequel where Ailig MacLeod returns to Castle Assynt after his brother was killed for plotting against the king. Can the beautiful widow Morainn MacRailt help rebuild his family's legacy.

 

A Matter of Honor by Jeffrey Archer, $2.99

A British colonel bequeaths a mysterious letter to his only son, Adam Scott. Soon after opening the yellowing envelope, Scott's pursued through Europe by the KGB, the CIA and his own countrymen. They intend to kill him before the letter's truth comes out.

 

Check out April's entire selection of 100 Kindle Books for $3.99 or Less. We've created a diverse list for all tastes, whether you're interested in explorations of contemporary culture, imaginative young-adult fantasies, innovative cookbooks, or intense thrillers.

 

Note: Deals expire on the last day of each month. Individual books may have additional territory restrictions, and not all deals are available in all territories.

March's Kindle Books for $3.99 or Less

It's time to celebrate the change of seasons with a fresh list of 100 Kindle Books for $3.99 or Less. Here are some of our favorites from this month's selection:

 

Under the March Sun: The Story of Spring Training by Charles Fountain, $1.99

Spring training, baseball's annual six-week ritual, dates back nearly 150 years. In this fascinating history, the full history of spring training is revealed for the first time: from its start as a shoestring-budget road trip to burn off winter calories to today's billion-dollar-a-year business surrounding the Grapefruit and Cactus leagues of Florida and Arizona.

 

A Little Death In Dixie by Lisa Turner, $2.99

Rich with the atmosphere of the American South, this expertly plotted suspense novel tracks Detective Billy Able as he works to uncover why one of Memphis' most seductive and notorious socialites has vanished. What starts as ordinary procedural work for Able soon morphs into a twisted trail of corruption, tragedy, and disturbing truths.

 

The Crossroads Café by Deborah Smith, $1.99

This sophisticated and poignant romance follows a beautiful Hollywood actress's escape to a secluded mountain cabin in North Carolina. A car accident has left her severely scarred, but in the Appalachians she finds unexpected love with a man who lost his family in 9-11.

 

I Will Teach You To Be Rich by Ramit Sethi, $2.24

Written with refreshing irreverence, Ramit Sethi's six-week personal finance program takes a practical approach with a nonjudgmental style. The book's core centers around the four pillars of personal finance—banking, saving, budgeting, and investing—as well as the wealth-building ideas of entrepreneurship.

 

Born at Midnight (Shadow Falls) by C. C. Hunter, $2.99

After mixing with the wrong crowd, Kylie Galen gets sent to Shadow Falls camp by her mother. Kylie discovers her fellow campers aren't just "troubled," they're supernatural. The first book of this richly imagined young-adult fantasy series is filled with humor, teen angst, and a good dose of romance.

 

Be sure to browse through March's complete list of 100 Kindle Books for $3.99 or Less. We've taken care to select something for everybody, including taut thrillers, engaging romances, inspiring biographies, well-crafted cookbooks, and histories covering everything from Abraham Lincoln to the legendary punk band Black Flag.

 

Note: Deals expire on the last day of each month. Individual books may have additional territory restrictions, and not all deals are available in all territories.

February’s Kindle Books for $3.99 or Less

 

For the shortest month of the year we’ve put together a great list of 100 Kindle Books for $3.99 or Less.

Here are some of our favorites we want you to know about:

Eiger Dreams: Ventures Among Men and Mountains by Jon Krakauer, $3.99
No matter what the actual temperature may be, several pages into this collection of stories examining the climbing subculture you will begin to shiver. The various heroes, risk-takers, incompetents, and individualists captured here are more than colorful as Krakauer explores the addiction of risk and intense effort.

The Sweetest Thing by Barbara Freethy, $1.99
Freethy’s charming writing style and expert plotting perfectly explore what happens when matters of the heart become complicated for entrepreneur Alex Carrigan after he invites his eccentric grandfather and precocious 12-year-old daughter into his home and a beautiful redhead into his love life.

God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater by Kurt Vonnegut, $2.99
An influential classic of satire and dark humor by one of the best, Vonnegut’s God Bless You Mr. Rosewater presents Eliot Rosewater, an itinerant, semi-crazed millionaire wandering the country in search of heritage and philanthropic outcome.

The Good Neighbor Cookbook: 125 Easy and Delicious Recipes to Surprise and Satisfy the New Moms, New Neighbors, and more by Suzanne Schlosberg, $2.99
Forget about the same old boring pasta salad or tuna casserole when you need to bring dinner to exhausted new parents, care for a friend recovering from surgery, or contribute to a business breakfast. Schlosberg and her coauthor Sara Quessenberry uniquely divide this excellent cookbook by occasion rather than food category.

In the Bleak Midwinter by Julia Spencer-Fleming, $2.99
Fleming’s page-turning debut follows the trials of Virginian Clare Ferguson, who has left her tough past as an army helicopter pilot to become an ordained priest in upstate New York. Things become chilling after a baby is left on her doorstep and a community-shattering murder investigation follows.

 

Be sure to visit our complete list of 100 Kindle Books for $3.99 or Less and browse through the other 95 gems we’ve chosen for February; from adventure anthology to science fiction, this month’s selection has something for all reading tastes and moods.

Note: Deals expire on the last day of each month. Individual books may have additional territory restrictions, and not all deals are available in all territories.

Guest Blogger: Judy Blume

Judy Blume's keen insight into the world of children and young adults has delighted readers worldwide. Over 80 million copies of her award-winning books, including Superfudge, Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing, and Otherwise Known As Sheila the Great are in print, and her stories have been translated into 31 languages. Here she asks the question, "What is a real book?"

I grew up with books.  In my house, reading was a good thing.  My parents weren't afraid that browsing in the bookshelves flanking our fireplace was a dangerous activity for me.  They were proud that I was a reader, like them. So when I began to write I wasn't afraid either.  "But when are you going to write a real  book?"  my friends and acquaintances asked when my first books were published. They viewed books for young readers as something only a woman with a husband and a couple of babies might write as a hobby.  Their comments could sting--but they couldn't stop me from writing what came naturally.  I identified more with children than with them.  Writing allowed me to escape back into the world of childhood which I found more compelling, more honest, than the lifestyle I was expected to embrace in the suburbs, forty-plus years ago.  I knew what real books were.  I knew how they smelled when they were new and how they smelled when you borrowed them from the library.  Inside were stories and characters transporting you to different places, giving you insight into others' lives and your own, making you think, question, laugh and cry.

I never dreamed then that one day we'd be having another discussion about real books.  I saw a four year old at a restaurant the other night with an electronic device, pushing buttons as if he was born to the task.  I've no doubt he'll learn to read on one electronic device or another and when he does, I'm glad he'll have a choice – not only will he choose what to read but how to read it.  I hope he'll read widely, with amazement and joy.  I'm glad that my books, should he choose to read them, will be there for him on his e-reader.  The story and characters are the same whether you're listening to an audio book, reading on an e-reader, or holding a book between two covers, turning paper pages.

Sure, I hope he gets to visit bookstores and libraries and have the pleasure of browsing and sniffing.  And I’ll do all I can to make that a possibility for him.  But I’m thankful for every opportunity that brings books and readers together.

--Judy Blume

 

 

Q&A with Marissa Meyer, author of "Cinder"

Marissa Meyer was born and raised in Tacoma, Washington, home of Almond Roca and Stadium High School, which was made famous when Heath Ledger danced down the stadium steps in 10 Things I Hate About You. Marissa didn't actually go to Stadium High School, but she did attend Pacific Lutheran University, where she earned her bachelor's degree in Creative Writing. She still lives in Tacoma, now with her husband. Cinder is her YA debut.

Amazon: What was your inspiration for Cinder? How did you come up with the idea?

MM: In early 2008, I’d entered a short story contest with a futuristic retelling of Puss in Boots, in which Puss was a robotic talking cat trying to convince a plain schoolgirl that she was really a lost princess. I had so much fun writing it that I thought it would be fun to write an entire series of futuristic fairy tales, so I started brainstorming different sci-fi twists on my favorite stories. Then, as I was drifting off to sleep one night, I had the lightbulb moment: Cinderella, as a cyborg! The plot for the entire series started to click together after that.

Amazon: Why a young adult novel, and why now? (as opposed to an adult novel, etc)

MM: I just really love YA—I feel like the books coming out in the YA genre hold my interest better than most adult novels. I love the rush of first love and self-discovery and the idea that even society’s “weakest links,” as children and teens are often thought to be, can still change the world. There’s also just so much exploration happening in YA right now, from sci-fi and dystopian to horror and thrillers and fantasy, and the audience seems to be really open to reading and experiencing new types of fiction.

Amazon: What made you decide to make Cinder a mechanic?

MM: Cinder’s character just came to me as a mechanic, I think it was part of that initial lightbulb moment. It made sense to me that a cyborg would understand the inner workings of machines, and it made for a believable twist on the fairy tale: instead of doing her stepmother’s chores to earn her way, she fixes things. In the very first draft of the book, though, she wasn’t a professional mechanic, she just fixed things around the house for her stepmother. The market booth and city-wide renown came during revisions.

Amazon: And, just for fun, princess or mechanic? (as in, which would you rather be?)

MM: A princess.

Amazon: Prince or mechanic? (as in, who’s more attractive to  you?)

MM: A mechanic. I like men with useful skills. Running a country? Psh. Fixing that weird sound in the engine? Yes, please!