Look what I got! A gift from my friend Bart, whom I met for dinner last night.
I have browsed Amazon today and found a book I didn’t know was even out, House Of The Patriarch, a brand new Benjamin January mystery by Barbara Hambly. The Benjamin January series in now eighteen books long and, unlike other series I have read, still going strong and enjoyable, not a single one of them a disappointment. Plus, you can buy her self published novellas and short stories from Smashwords, Benjamin January tales among them. She has created some wonderful universes in books that really can’t be sold in bookshops any more, but are easily available in ebook, so has extended them on Smashwords.
My local library has a copy of the new book, but it won’t be available to me till January 22, a whole month. Should I reserve it and wait, or should I spend half my gift card on the Kindle edition? What do you think, my readers?
The Apple Book edition is slightly cheaper, but still quite expensive for an ebook, where the regular price tends to be between $12 and $15. And I can’t spend my Amazon card on an Apple Book, can I? Decisions, decisions!
Today I’m going into the city to finally spend my gift cards that have been hanging around far too long and are about to expire. Well, one still has a year on it, but if I leave it too long, I will never get around to it. I have an eftpos card which I am going to spend at Dymock’s Bookshop, and keep an eye out for House Of The Patriarch while there.
Meanwhile... how do I spend that lovely Amazon card? Any suggestions?
In these days of great uncertainty, I say spend half your gift card on the Kindle edition of House Of The Patriarch. By the end of January 2020, you don't know about the family's and friends' health, your income, the summer heat.. or trade with China. Grab your reading pleasure whenever you are ready.
ReplyDeleteVery true, Hels! Okay, perhaps I will get that ebook. I prefer Apple Books, but I have an Amazon voucher.
ReplyDeleteI tend to get a lot of Amazon gift cards this time of year. I leet the balance s add up and draw it down down throughout the yea.But if a person is going to ask how you spent it, then it is best to use it on something now.
ReplyDeleteGift cards burn a hole in our pocket just as surely as actual money does! Go for it!
ReplyDeleteHi Brian! My friend won’t ask. He had thought I could use it towards my Amazon Prime subscription, but I pay that via my Apple account, so I said I would use it for books. This is my second Amazon card ever - the first time it was a competition prize - so I think I will spend it now. But if you get a lot, your way is wise. I do that with my Apple gift cards, which family and friends give me often.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Debra! I will.
ReplyDeleteOooh, I haven't heard of the Benjamin January books. Must resist the temptation... I have way to many unread books.
ReplyDeleteYour library probably has some of those books, why not borrow the first one? It’s called A Free Man Of Color. They are set in New Orleans in the 1830s. The hero is Ben January, a trained surgeon(via his mother’s late protector) who has to make a living as a musician, because nobody wants to trust a black surgeon, even the free POC. His two best friends are both white, an Irish fiddler whose Stradivarius tells you he comes from a much wealthier family than he admits to, and a policeman who likes and respects him. Between them, they solve mysteries! A wonderful series, and they have NOT gone downhill.
ReplyDeleteThey don't have the first one, although they have a couple in print and more in digital. My anal nature needs me to read book 1 first *gnashing teeth*
ReplyDeleteYou can always ask them to get in the first book, but you can read from Book 2 meanwhile, without any problems. Think of the first as a prequel. 😉
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