Online Read Books

Archive for May, 2012

Even as we get more and more technology, there’s something to be said about a good book, and even more to be said about reading to children. Even if your children are ready to read on their own, books and children flow together as well as eggs and ham. There are a few books that have stood the test of time as the top 10 bestsellers books for children. Here’s a quick list that you might want to look at if you need fresh ideas to add to your children’s book collection.

1. Charlotte’s Web, by E. B. White

Charlotte’s Web tells the story of a special pig named Wilbur and a talented spider named Charlotte, and the web the spider spun to eventually save Wilbur’s life. It’s a charming story of the littlest pig that overcomes what seemed to be impossible and ends up living a long and happy life.

2. Green Eggs and Ham, by Dr. Seuss

This classic children’s book is a great start for young readers, and Dr. Seuss’s books are well known for improving reading skills over time by introducing new vocabulary.

3. The Indian in the Cupboard, by Lynne Reid Banks

This book allows the young reader to step into a magical world where even the ordinary toy comes alive! It’s a fantasy book that will definitely get your child’s imagination going!

4. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, by J. K. Rowling

Few children haven’t heard about Harry Potter, but this is the book that started the entire series. Harry’s adventures of learning his new life have spawned a massive media enterprise that only seems to get larger as time goes by.

5. Where the Red Fern Grows, by Wilson Rawls

This book is a little sad, but it tells a compelling story about the love of family, the love of family pets, and the triumph over the simple challenges of life.

6. A Wrinkle in Time, by Madeleine L’Engle

This fantasy book is about joy, power, evil and the triumph of good over evil through the power of love. It’s not for the youngest children in the middle, but middle schoolers should have no problem.

7. The Poky Little Puppy, by Janette Sebring Lowrey

If you’re looking for a book that will entertain your youngest readers, this should definitely be on the list, and the puppy is adorable! It’s done with large pictures that make it easy for your young children to gain the confidence to read out loud.

8. The Outsiders, by S. E. Hinton

This little number is a classic coming of age story — if you have older children, they’ll definitely resonate with the themes in this book.

9. The Cat in the Hat, by Dr. Seuss

Another classic children’s book form Dr. Seuss that is still well read — and well cherished! — to this day.

10. Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing, by Judy Blume

It isn’t just fourth graders that will delight in this story — just about any child that’s ever felt like they didn’t fit in will enjoy it. It’s definitely a hit!

Remember the Lindy Hop? How about Sally Rand’s Nude Ranch? Even if you don’t you’ll still enjoy this noir mystery, a story that will transport you back to the big band era

SWING was written by noted songwriter and playwright Rupert Holmes. He also wrote the book, lyrics and score for the Broadway musical “The Mystery of Edwin Drood” which won several Tony Awards. And remember the Piña Colada Song, he wrote that too. My copy of SWING was missing the accompanying CD of original music composed by Holmes, but it didn’t affect my enjoyment of the story.

The time period is 1940, the big-band era, and the hero is Ray Sherwood, a talented but down on his luck arranger and saxophone player. Ray is still grieving the death of his young daughter when he goes on the road with the Jake Donovan Orchestra. They’re playing a gig at the Claremont Hotel at the Golden Gate International Exposition, the West Coast equivalent to the New York World’s Fair. He meets Gail Prentice a young Berkeley student who wants him to orchestrate her musical composition, “Swing.”

Ray is attracted to Gail, but doesn’t have much time to pursue the coed. Terrifying events start unfolding almost immediately. A woman plunges to her death from the island’s Tower of the Sun and lands at Ray’s feet. Suddenly he’s enmeshed in murder and intrigue and nothing is as it seems.

It’s a complex plot with a lot going on, dead bodies, espionage, betrayal and politics. Holmes’ musical knowledge shows throughout and adds a lot of depth to the story. The musical CD provided is said to contain clues to the mystery. As I said my copy did not come with the CD and I’m afraid it wouldn’t have helped me anyway, the plot took some twists and turns I didn’t see coming.

Although the mystery was somewhat contrived and there were a few too many coincidences for me, I did enjoy the characters, the witty dialogue and the historical elements. It takes place shortly before World War II, and there are spies and lots of good period detail. Music lovers will be fascinated by details of the craft and a musician’s life on the road.

The story is fun and engaging and I recommend it highly.

Publisher: Random House (March 15, 2005)

Pages: 384

ISBN: 978-1400061587

The Skinny On Time Management: How to Maximize Your 24-Hour Gift, Jim Randel, 2010, ISBN 9780984139392

Here is another in a series of books that attempts to boil down a large subject area into an easy-to-read format. Intended for busy people who want just the bullet points, this book looks at how to best manage your time.

Write out a time journal for an entire week to see just how you are spending your time. You may think that you are being efficient and productive, but seeing it on paper may change your mind. Can changes be made in your schedule, with more time given to more productive activities? You need to set goals for yourself, whether long-term or short-term. Then you will know how to get from where you are to where you want to be. If your goal is important enough to you, then some other thing you are doing may have to be dropped totally. Choices were never meant to be easy.

The book then covers many ways to maximize your time. Fight the urge to procrastinate. Touch a piece of paper, or email, only once; either respond to it, get rid of it or put it in your file to be worked on later. Are there gaps in your day, like when you are sitting in a waiting room, when you could be working on your Blackberry? Are you a “morning person” or a “night owl?” Work on your hardest and most unpleasant tasks when you are most alert and awake. Learn to plan your day, but don’t go overboard with the planning. Prioritize your tasks; which ones come first, and which ones can wait. Break a huge task into smaller, more manageable pieces. Can you batch several appointments, for instance, and get them done in one day? Doing crossword puzzles is a good way to improve your memory. Learn how to focus when you are on a task, and not let distractions get in your way. De-cluttering your office, and your email inbox, will always help. The act of writing a daily To Do list helps focus your mind on what you need to do that day.

Instead of reading a bunch of books on how to manage your time, read this book. It can be read in an hour or so, and does an excellent job of telling the busy person just what they need to know. It is a gem of a book.

Did you know that 12% of all Americans own a small business of some type? Many of these businesses are home businesses, nearly 35% and of those over a third are Internet businesses. It’s amazing how many people have businesses on the Internet or derive at least some of their income through website sales or other Internet endeavors; such as selling stuff on eBay, consulting over the Internet or selling content. It’s a huge industry.

Still, most people do not even know how the Internet works and yet they derive income from doing business online. If you do any type of business online you should know exactly how the Internet works, how things are connected and how the flow of information actually happens. Perhaps, this is why I recommend that Internet entrepreneurs and people that sell online do a little reading so they understand the dynamics and all the behind-the-scenes of the Internet.

Therefore, I’d like to recommend a very good book for you. Although this book was printed some time ago, over a decade ago; it still has very good information about the inner workings of the Internet and its history. This will give you a good basis of knowledge and then you can catch up on the latest and greatest things the Internet has to offer, all of which came later. The book is titled;

“The Internet Business Book,” by Jill H. Ellsworth and Matthew V. Ellsworth; John Wiley and Sons; 1994.

On this book subtitle, it claims it is also a Complete Guide to;

1.) What the Internet is and how to gain access;
2.) Marketing and creating a corporate presence;
3.) Sales, advertising and customer support;
4.) Business, marketing and sales resources

Indeed the book lives up to this claim and I highly recommend it, as I have a copy in my own personal library and every once in a while I take a peek to remind me exactly how the Internet works when I am scheming up some new type of entrepreneurial endeavor online. So, please consider this.

Hello,

Perhaps you are an avid reader like myself? I am constantly looking to find ebooks online or searching for the next ebook to devour and sometimes just seeking the next self help ebook to learn from. Well, if you are any of these things then I may be able to suggest the top 5 ebook sites which can quickly fulfill your quest for literary adventure, knowledge, self help or just fun reading!

In light of the many hours I spend daily reading and trying to find ebooks on my iPad, increase brain capacity, or just finding good online websites, I thought I might be able to offer some suggestions to assist others in diagnosing the best of the best ebook sites and what they REALLY offer so I can assist my fellow ebook readers to avoid wasting time searching the laborious ebook websites as so many of us have done!

Well, I have found that in evaluating websites for ebooks it can be tricky. Most of the paid ebook websites offer some free books but you will quickly find that the free ebook websites are just disguised marketing tactics upselling you on another product at some point down the line in your ebook read.

My selection of the top 5 ebook websites is based on what they offer best! Not which is the better website. One company offers good novels and the other one excellent self help ebooks. The websites vary greatly and are NOT the same.

1. Ebooks.com is a General Reading Website: Now, the best website hands down for getting well priced novels, and some excellent general read ebooks. This website offers an easy to understand interface and many good books for novels, poems, fiction and non-fiction, as well as several excellent cooking books. Pricing is affordable.

2. AMAZON.COM Novels, Poems, Creative reading: For these type of ebooks I highly recommend the good old Amazon.com as they are still the best for books of entertainment and recently written novels of excellent level. In general, Amazon offers all books, but NOT AT THE best prices.

3. IFINDEBOOKS.COM is a Self Help ebook website. This website offers help and books to solve any of lives difficulties. Such as children’s obesity, how to tell your child about the divorce, how to make money online, and many other interesting self help titles. This is a moderately priced website with many ebooks coming with one purchase.

4. offers excellent video and audio footage of their books with some decent self help as well. They are very expensive and not well priced.

5. EREADINGSITE.COM provides a subscription based reading opportunity where you can download a series of books and read the novels (primarily) as much as you want and as many as you want for a decent price. This site has many great books and is focused primarily on novels in the past 10 years. I hope this short informative article will help you in your search for the right ebook site for you!

Regards,

Andres Chann