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CoverMatcher is a simple game of matching book covers and has found a loyal following among book reviewers and bloggers. To date, the game has been played 835,201 times by avid readers.

I absolutely love playing CoverMatcher on Freado! It’s a great way to unwind after a stressful day, and unlike most games it has real prizes instead of virtual prizes! I love the selection of books available, and have been able to bid on books everyone in my family will enjoy – Teresa Delaney

Now based on the feedback that power readers like you have provided, we’ve taken CoverMatcher to a whole new level of awesome. You can now win, not just the best-seller that we list on the page, but also use the nifty search feature to hunt through Amazon’s book lists and select a book of your choice.

In case you’ve had your nose stuck in a book for the last few years and don’t know what CoverMatcher is …

CoverMatcher is a game where you can win a hard copy of your favorite best seller (priced $15 or less) by simply matching the most number of book covers in a day. We show the books of our participating authors in the game. The game is a form of advertising for them. As you play the game, you land up discovering new books. It’s a win for you. A win for our authors. And a win for us. Even if you don’t win the contest of the day, you will still enjoy the mental exercise and potential exposure to your next great read. Try it.

Here is a new review for The Secret of the Missing Arch written by Robin Leigh Morgan.

Here is a link for a free kindle copy of the book, only available this week.

What does astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson recommend for reading? According to Brain Pickings, Tyson (pictured, via) participated in a Reddit AMA session and named the books he feels “every intelligent person on the planet should read.”

Below, we’ve collected links to download free digital editions for all eight titles which include a mix of both fiction and nonfiction choices. Will you be tackling Tyons’s suggestions in the year 2015?
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This month, I am giving away Samuel T. Moore of Corte Magore. Twenty-four autographed books will go to one special PK or K-5 teacher and her classroom. All you have to do is write individually on my Author’s Page on Facebook- not here in this post – why “your” teacher deserves the gift of books in his or her classroom. The story with the most likes on my wall gets the books. Contest ends 12/31. Who knows, I might even pay that class a visit sometime in 2015. Approximate retail value of the books is $500. Happy Holidays!

Tonia

Writer Sophie Kinsella decided to give an early holiday gift to her fans. She announced on Facebook that she has written a new short story called “Shopaholic on Honeymoon.”

The title was released today as a free eBook in the United Kingdom, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and India. Readers in the United States and Canada will be able access this digital book on December 16th.

Follow this link to read the full piece online. Back in October, Dial Press released the seventh installment of the main series which is called Shopaholic to the Stars.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Breaking Bad actor Bryan Cranston recorded a four-minute audiobook of Adam Mansbach‘s new children’s book for adults, You Have to F***ing Eat. In an interview with The New York Times, Mansbach commented that Cranston “reads with such nuance.”

Audible has made the digital audiobook available for free until December 12th. Follow this link to download it.

Pulp Fiction actor Samuel L. Jackson served as the narrator for the audiobook edition of Mansbach’s previous title, Go the F*** to Sleep. Reading Rainbow host LeVar Burton read the story out loud during an appearance on the Rooster Teeth podcast; click here to watch a video that captured Burton’s recitation.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Back in September, I was lucky enough to join the Emblazoners, a group of middle grade authors–some indie, some traditionally published–who strive to produce top-notch literature for kids. We have a shared goal of creating lifelong readers and all our books are geared toward tweens. Wouldn’t you know it, we’re already hosting a giveaway, and […]

And then there was book three of the trilogy...! Well, almost anyway--Double Vision: The Alias Men hits the shelves on October 14th. I hope you'll add it to your collection!

It wouldn't be a book release without a cool blog tour, so here's where you can find Linc and me for the next few weeks. I hope you'll follow along...

Scholastic has published a free eBook entitled Open a World of Possible: Real Stories About the Joy and Power of Reading to celebrate the launch of its new literacy initiative.

This anthology contains over 100 stories and essays written by literacy experts and authors. The dedication in this book honors the late Walter Dean Myers and features his quote: “Once I began to read, I began to exist.”

Some of the contributors include bestselling author James Patterson, former National Ambassador of Young People’s Literature Jon Scieska, and education expert Karen L. Mapp. Follow this link to download the digital book.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Need some new books for your YA collection? Consider applying for the Great Books Giveaway administered by YALSA. Each year, the YALSA office receives approximately 2000 newly published books, videos, CDs and other materials targeted primarily towards young adults. These are awarded to libraries that submit winning applications to the Great Books Giveaway. For more information, visit this page and review the guidelines below.
Guidelines

1. Applicants must be personal members of YALSA as well as ALA. Organizational members are not eligible.
2. All applications must be received complete in the YALSA office no later than December 1.
3. All entries must include the cover sheet provided by YALSA.
4. The application must be signed by the director of the public library, the superintendent of schools, the building-level administrator or the director of the institution.
5. Applicants must agree to accept all the materials, understanding this collection is material targeted primarily for young adults, ages 12-18.
6. The cover sheet, supplementary materials and an electronic copy of the current, board-approved collection development policy must be submitted via email by December 1. Incomplete applications will not be considered.
7. Shipping and handling charges are the responsibility of the institution selected to receive the award.

This content originally appeared in an email from YALSA.

Today’s guest blog post is by Libby Martinez, co-author of the new children’s book “I Pledge Allegiance,” on teaching kids to be proud of the place they were born while being a proud American.

Libby’s book is available at deeply discounted prices on the First Book Marketplace to educators and programs serving children in need.

“I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America….” Every time I say those twelve simple words, I smile because of all the unspoken things they represent—abstract concepts like community, safety, freedom and the American Dream. But how do you explain these concepts to a child who is five or six years old? How do you explain what it means to be an American in a concrete and real sense?

My mother and I felt that the answer to these questions was through story—in this case, the story of our aunt who came to the United States during the Mexican Revolution of 1910.  By putting a name and face to the Pledge of Allegiance and by talking about words and phrases like “indivisible” and “liberty and justice for all” in simple and kid-friendly terms, we hope that children will understand more fully this special promise we make as Americans.

We hope they will also understand that they can be proud of the place they were born (even if that place is not the United States) and still proud to be an American at the same time. One of the wonders of picture books is that they allow for the creation of a rich, visual narrative to accompany sometimes complicated and complex topics.

As July 4^th approaches and flags are raised across our nation, we are called to ponder what individually and collectively we can all do to continue to “lift [our] lamp beside the golden door“—our enduring legacy as Americans.

If you work with kids in need, sign up with First Book by June 27 and you’ll be eligible to receive a free classroom set (25 copies) of “I Pledge Allegiance” for your students.

*All educators at Title I or Title I eligible schools, and program leaders serving 70% or more of children in need are eligible to sign up. The recipient of the  classroom set will be notified the week of June 30th.

The post I Pledge Allegiance appeared first on First Book Blog.

Play Blankety Books and WIN Books!

5pm every Friday on Twitter

Follow @boomerangbooks and #blanketybooks to be part of the action!

How do you play?

We will post on twitter a book title and author with all the letters missing.

eg

_ _ _ _ _ _ / _ _ _ _ _ by _ _ _ _ _ _ / _ _ _ _

Guess a letter by tweeting at us using the #blanketybooks hashtag

eg

“ @boomerangbooks I guess the letter A #blanketybooks ”

We will slowly reveal the book title and author as more letters are guessed (you can guess as many times as you like but only one letter per tweet)

eg

_ _ _ _ A _ / _ _ _ _ _ by _ A _ _ A _ / _ _ _ _ #blanketybooks

_ _ _ _ A _ / _ _ _ _ _ by H A _ _ A H / _ _ _ _ #blanketybooks

B _ _ _ A _ / _ _ _ _ _ by H A _ _ A H / _ _ _ _ #blanketybooks

B _ _ I A _ / _ I _ _ _ by H A _ _ A H / _ _ _ _ #blanketybooks

First correct answer wins the book!

eg BURIAL RITES by HANNAH KENT #blanketybooks

We will contact the winner to post out the prize!

(Australian residents only)

Looking for some scary books to prepare for Halloween? Below, we’ve collected 25 free scary books you can download right now.

In 2010, novelist Neil Gaiman created the “All Hallow’s Read,” literary holiday, a night to give someone you love a scary book. The writer explained the new tradition in the video embedded above–here’s more from the official site:

Obviously, we support bookshops and authors, but more than that, this is about making a holiday tradition of book-giving. So feel free to give second-hand books or books from your own shelves. And feel just as free to buy a beautiful new book from a small independent bookseller, or from online or… look, there’s no wrong way to buy a book. You can even gift it to their Kindle … If you do not know what scary book to give someone, talk to a bookseller or a librarian. They like to help. Librarians will not mind even if you admit that you are not planning to take out a book, but instead you are going to buy one and give it to someone.

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I have been signed up with First Book for several years. I teach kindergarten and first grade at Dayton Public Schools in the poverty-stricken inner city of Dayton, Ohio. I get plenty of emails from First Book, but have never received one book. Most books seem to be located in a warehouse in a large metropolitan area. You would have to drive a truck through states to get there.

– Mary Reed
Dayton Public Schools

Hi Mary,

It sounds like you signed up with First Book to get new books for your students, but we haven’t been able to help you make that happen yet. Let’s fix that.

There are actually two different ways you can get books from First Book.

The First Book Marketplace: Over 5,000 popular and award-winning titles, from board books to college prep, available exclusively to educators serving kids in need. This channel is great for teachers like you, who often need specific titles for their students.

The First Book National Book Bank: The nation’s only clearinghouse for large-scale book donations from publishers. These brand-new books are available free of charge (plus a shipping & handling fee), in carton quantities, and are perfect for educators or program leaders who want to help children start home libraries of their own.

Books from the The First Book Marketplace are available 24 hours a day, while books from the The First Book National Book Bank are available as new donations come in, usually once a month.

When we receive new books from publishers for the National Book Bank, they’re sent to a (borrowed) warehouse and we ship them out to everyone who requested books. We try to hold these local book distributions in different cities around the country, which helps people who can’t afford even the shipping charges.

But you don’t have to wait until there’s a book distribution near you. Once you’re sign up with First Book, you’re eligible for free books from every single distribution, whether the warehouse is in San Diego or Boston.

So the next time you get an email letting you know about a book distribution, check out the title list and let us know which books your kids will love and we’ll do everything we can to help you get them.

And we’ll put Dayton on our list of cities to visit someday soon.

Thanks for writing!

The post We’re Coming to Your Town Someday… But It Doesn’t Matter appeared first on First Book Blog.

What was your favorite novel this year?

The first-ever longlist for the 2013 National Book Award in fiction has been revealed.

Below, we’ve collected free samples of the books on the longlist for your reading pleasure. We also found free samples of the young people’s literature longlist, the nonfiction longlist and the poetry longlist for 2013.

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Happy birthday, Roald Dahl! To celebrate the author of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and other classic kid’s books, we’ve dug up free eBooks that inspired him as a young boy.

In his autobiographical book, Boy, Dahl explained how an English teacher named Mrs. O’Connor inspired him as writer. We’ve collected free eBooks from his early reading list–follow the links below to download. The Telegraph has an excerpt:

In two and a half hours, we grew to love Langland and his Piers Plowman. The next Saturday, it was Chaucer, and we loved him, too. Even rather difficult fellows like Milton and Dryden and Pope all became thrilling when Mrs O’Connor told us about their lives and read parts of their work to us aloud. And the result of all this, for me at any rate, was that by the age of 13 I had become intensely aware of the vast heritage of literature that had been built up in England over the centuries. I also became an avid and insatiable reader of good writing.

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“I really loved being able to do something hands on for First Book.  Knowing that the backpack I put together at the convention gave each child five new books was extremely rewarding.”

- Pi Beta Phi Virginia Gamma Chapter President and senior at the College of William and Mary, Caroline Davis

First Book aims to help families from all walks of life and loves to do so hand in hand with partners. We recently teamed up with Pi Beta Phi Fraternity for Women at their 69^th biennial Convention in San Diego to assemble backpacks full of Disney titles, including the popular series, “Doc McStuffins”, to benefit the children of military families in Camp Pendelton.  Blue Star Families, a non-profit organization started by military families for military families, also partnered to make this gift possible.

Thousands of spirited Pi Beta Phi members, both college students and alumnae of all ages, gathered together to sort and pack 1,000 backpacks with 5,000 brand new books, bookplates, and bookmarks, as well as handwritten notes to the children receiving the backpacks.  Photos were snapped of smiling faces waving books and backpacks in the air and holding signs with messages such as ‘I gave a child their first book today’ to share on social media.  The finished product, an impressive sight of 1,000 backpacks, lined the stage at the closing session of the 2013 Convention and inspired pause.  It was a moment filled with a sense of pride at the completed effort and collective impact Pi Beta Phi had on the local community.

First Book’s continued partnership with Pi Beta Phi to support their Read > Lead > Achieve reading initiatives will continue to directly impact local communities across North America.  Stay tuned as we continue to partner together this spring with Pi Beta Phi sponsored book distributions, culminating around their Fraternity Day of Service in March.

The post One Thousand Brand New Books to Kids From Military Families from Pi Beta Phi appeared first on First Book Blog.

Is there a teacher in your life who works with kids in need?

First Book needs your help in connecting 5,000 new teachers, librarians, reading specialists and school administrators with brand new books and resources for back-to-school.

Anyone working at a Title I school is eligible to sign up now with First Book (or any program serving kids in need; it doesn’t have to be a school).

Once they’re signed up, they’ll:

1) have access to the First Book Marketplace, where they can find over 4,000 titles, including books for reluctant readers, Common Core resources, Caldecott and Newbery award-winners and graphic novels.

2) receive regular email updates about new, free books donated by publishers and available through the First Book National Book Bank.

Encourage the educators in your life to sign up today at firstbook.org/join.

Or share this message via the social media buttons below.

The post Help Your Favorite Teacher Get New Books for Back-to-School appeared first on First Book Blog.

Goodreads has created a massive William Shakespeare flowchart to celebrate the famous author’s birthday today.

We’ve embedded the complete chart below–visit AppNewser to download free copies of all these plays.

If you want all these poems and plays in a single place, you can download a free copy of The Complete Works of William Shakespeare. If you don’t feel like reading a whole play, try Shakespeare’s Sonnets.

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What is the worst book ever written? For the last century, many readers have argued that Amanda McKittrick Ros wrote the worst books ever.

Download a free copy of Ros’ Irene Iddesleigh novel and decide for yourself. Published in 1887, the book has a long history among critics. In his Kindle Single “Epic Fail,” author Mark O’Connell rounded up some famous fans of Ros’ unique “accidental surrealism.” Here’s an excerpt:

There were Amanda McKittrick Ros societies at Oxford and Cambridge. C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, and their fellow Inklings were largely responsible for this enthusiasm: the informal Oxford literary group held sporadic Ros reading competitions, in which the winner was the member who could read from one of her novels for the longest without breaking into laughter … She was a sort of Bizarro World Oscar Wilde: an Irish author who became a London cause célèbre for the complete witlessness of her writing. Her fame even reached the shores of the New World, with no less a figure than Mark Twain crowning her “Queen & Empress of the Hogwash Guild.”

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

What’s your favorite children’s book setting?

The travel site cheapflights.co.uk has published an infographic exploring some of the most beautiful real-life locations from children’s books.

We’ve embedded the complete infographic below along with free digital book links to some of the books for your for your Kindle, iPad or other eReader.

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The great author Virginia Woolf drowned 72 years ago today. To remember her literary legacy, we’ve rounded up four free Woolf books for your Kindle, iPad or other eReader–follow the links below to download. You can find the rest of her books at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

Over at Brain Pickings, Maria Popova has collected condolence letters from other authors and linked to Patti Smith‘s tribute to Woolf. Here’s an excerpt from the letters post:

On March 28, 1941, at the gruesome onset of WWII, Virginia Woolf filled the pockets of her overcoat with rocks, treaded into the River Ouse behind the house in East Sussex where she lived with her husband Leonard, and drowned herself. She had succumbed to a relapse of the all-consuming depression she had narrowly escaped in her youth. Once news of her death broke, an outpour of condolence letters captured the enormous collective grief, mourning at once the deeply personal emptiness left behind by a remarkable woman and a loyal friend, and the severe cultural loss of a brilliant mind and a transcendent artist.

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Happy Extraterrestrial Abduction Day!

To help you celebrate, we’ve rounded up some free fiction, nonfiction and audio about alien abductions–inspiring reading for all kinds of writers. Yahoo News had more about the holiday:

Extraterrestrial Abduction Day, sometimes called Alien Abduction Day, could be the answer to your financial, mortgage and bad boss troubles. Maybe a UFO will land, abduct you and relocate you to a better world. In previous years, people (or aliens?) have celebrates this odd holiday with festivals or movie marathons … Stay safe indoors, and away from alien abduction hot spots.

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The great novelist Philip Roth turned 80 years old today. To celebrate his birthday, we’ve linked to a long list of free eBooks that inspired his long career as a novelist–follow the links below to download for your Kindle, Nook, iPad or other popular reader.

The New Yorker has more details: “Roth told Les inRocks that when he turned seventy-four he reread his favorite authors—Dostoyevsky, Conrad, Turgenev, Hemingway.”

You can also explore more free eBooks at Project Gutenberg: our 50 Free eBooks To Be Thankful For list, our Free Books for Halloween collection, our Free Edgar Allan Poe books collection, our Downton Abbey poetry reading list, our Free Books That Inspired David Foster Wallace list and our Free Books Neil deGrasse Tyson Thinks Everybody Should Read collection.

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New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.