Quote unquote

Another book-related accessory I found lately is this pair of quote/unquote bookends. They look appealing with the white bookcovers here, but the black may not stand out as much either side of a colourful book collection.

Improving Booktagger Performance

Just a quick note to say that Booktagger.com will be upgrading some hardware in the next hour or so and will expect a 30-60 minute outage window. I'll update this post as I have more information about specific commencement and ending times of the upgrade.

Enlightenment

Many books claim to offer enlightenment, but this light book is different from them all. It is a novel reading lamp in the shape of a book, with "Enlightenment" etched in as the title. To further assist with reading, when you purchase enlightenment from Light Up Your World ten percent of the purchase price goes towards educational projects funded through the Edukans Foundation.

Amazon the Bully

I was shown an article last week on how Amazon are bullying large and small publishers. The worlds second largest publisher, Hachette, had the buy button removed from their books on Amazon due to their resistance to further discount on agreed upon prices. They've also taken on small to medium publishers who refuse to use their print on demand services by removing their buy buttons as well.

Consider buying from other online bookshops. There are many.

via Herald Tribune

Evening Is The Whole Day x 10

Courtesy of Harper Collins we'll supply 10 free books to the first members who join our Evening Is the Whole Day book club and add the featured book to their "I want to read" shelf (for participation guidelines see the bottom of this post). Make sure you tell your friends about Booktagger and our free books program. If you're not a member of Booktagger.com sign up here to receive free books!

Evening Is The Whole Day
Set in Malaysia, this spellbinding first novel introduces us to the prosperous Rajasekharan family as it slowly peels away its closely guarded secrets

When the family’s rubber-plantation servant girl is dismissed for unnamed crimes, it is only the latest in a series of precipitous losses that have shaken six-year-old Aasha’s life. In the space of several weeks her grandmother died under
mysterious circumstances and her older sister, Uma, left for Columbia University, gone forever.

Circling through years of family history to arrive at the moment of Uma’s departure -- stranding her worshipful younger sister in a family, and a country, slowly going to pieces -- Evening is the Whole Day illuminates in heartbreaking detail one Indian immigrant family’s layers of secrets and lies, while exposing the complex underbelly of Malaysia itself.

Sweeping in scope, exuberantly lyrical, and masterfully constructed, Preeta Samarasan’s debut is a mesmerising and vital achievement.

‘Rich, quirky and colourful, Evening is the Whole Day captures not just the sense of a family struggling to deal with its past, but the crazy uncertainty of a country coming to terms with itself’ -- Tash Aw

‘a surpassingly wise and beautiful debut novel about the tragic consequences of the inability to love’ – Booklist

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These books are exclusive, not even available in stores yet. We have a limited number, if you want a copy act quickly. Only one book per member.

Make sure you:

* Join a book club and add the featured book to your "I want to read" bookshelf (the first members to do this will get a copy of the book)
* Ensure your address details are filled out in your profile so we can send you the book
* Forward this email to your friends!

(Free books only for Australia and New Zealand mailing addresses, we're working on publishers in other countries)

40 Free Books: Mormons, Borneo, a Garden, Air and Ice and Girls in Trucks

Courtesy of Allen and Unwin, Random House and Lonely Planet we'll supply free books to the first members who join one of the following book clubs *and* add the featured book to the "I want to read" shelf. So what are you waiting for? Select the book you want to read and join now! Make sure you forward this email to your friends so they can register too.



10 Free Copies of The 19th Wife by David Ebershoff: Random House Australia

An enthralling page turning murder mystery set in a secretive polygamous Mormon
sect. The author David Ebershoff is a master at researching reality and penning it to fiction.

10 Copies of the Lonely Planet Borneo Travel Guide by Chris Rowthorn, China Williams, Muhammad Cohen

Darwin described the island of Borneo as 'one great wild untidy luxuriant hothouse made by nature for herself', and it's still a cornucopia of biodiversity - for now. Sample world-class diving, meandering boat rides, indigenous hospitality, sightings of languid orangutans and stir-fried jungle ferns from the local markets.

5 Free Copies of The Forgotten Garden By Kate Morton: Allen and Unwin

A woman on a quest to find out the truth about her family, a mysterious Victorian authoress, a book of dark fairytales and a long-hidden secret - another addictive and compulsively readable mystery/romance from the author of the international bestseller The Shifting Fog.

5 Free Copies of Bright Air by Barry Maitland: Allen and Unwin

Secrets, lies and a deathbed confession lead to a deadly, dangerous trail.

A nail-biting, fast-paced page-turner, Bright Air is the compelling new mystery from the master of crime writing, Barry Maitland.

5 Free Copies of Scattered: The inside story of Ice in Australia by Malcolm Knox: Allen and Unwin

Crystal methamphetamine. Crystal meth. Crystal. Ice. A drug that came out of nowhere and instantly turned things upside down: for users, their families, police, healthcare workers and victims of the random, hyper-violent crimes that are the mark of Ice. Nearly 1 in 10 Australians have tried Ice.

5 Copies of Girls in Trucks by Katie Crouch: Allen and Unwin

Sarah Walters is a reluctant Camellia Society debutante. She has always felt ill-fitted to the old-fashioned gentility of Southern womanhood and family life. As Sarah grows older, moving north and navigating love and life in New York, she and her group of displaced deb sisters try to define themselves within the realities of modern life.

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These books are exclusive, not even available in stores yet. We have a limited number, if you want a copy act quickly. Only one book per member.

Make sure you:

* Join a book club and add the featured book to your "I want to read" bookshelf (the first members to do this will get a copy of the book)
* Ensure your address details are filled out in your profile so we can send you the book
* Forward this email to your friends!

(Free books only for Australia and New Zealand mailing addresses, we're working on publishers in other countries)

500 Free Copies: A Story About Love and Friendship (and ninjas)

Random House launched a fantastic new initiative in Australia, they're giving away 500 free reading proof copies of The Gone-Away World by Nick Harkaway. Register for your free copy at http://www.goneawayworld.com.au/.

Random House described it to me as part adventure, part comic opera, part geek nirvana. Sounds like a fantastic book and if you think so too join our book club and tell us what you think: Gone-Away World on Booktagger. Don't forget to add the book to your "I want to read" shelf.

There's also an extract that you can view to judge the writing style before registering.

Nick Harkaway (pseudonym) is the son of the master John Le Carre (aka David Cornwell). The Random House website describes the book as "a story about friendship and love (and ninjas)."


Tell your friends!