The Princess and the Goblin - by George McDonald.

Free US/UK Kindle Classic

The Princess and the Goblin is an 1872 fantasy by Scottish writer George McDonald.  It is certainly an overlooked classic.  (US Edition)  (UK Edition) 

Let's let the Amazon Reader Reviewers have their say:

"It must first be understood that George MacDonald inspired such authors as J.R.R. Tolkien, W.H. Auden, Madeline L'Engle and E. Nesbit. C.S. Lewis regarded him as his master. If you are a fan of these authors then you might want to seriously consider exploring the works of one who inspired them.. . . MacDonald knows magic and weaves magic in his tale. He also knows how Faerie and the realms of Faerie works. Having been a fan of Tolkien most of my life I have read many of his essays on the realm and I recognize the strange laws of the realm that are difficult to put down to paper but you recognize them even if you can't communicate them yourself."

" . . . it's a mixture of shimmering magic and dark grimy bleakness, written in lushly fantastical prose. The childlike princess can be a little annoying at times, but otherwise this book is a gem."

I have to say that one reviewer described the heroine as a bit "twee."  If you need help with that, it means treacly.  Well we can't all be "Jo" of Little Women.  I suppose you might say "Beth" was a bit twee . . .

Now in these subterranean caverns lived a strange race of beings, called by some gnomes, by some kobolds, by some goblins. There was a legend current in the country that at one time they lived above ground, and were very like other people. But for some reason or other, concerning which there were different legendary theories, the king had laid what they thought too severe taxes upon them, or had required observances of them they did not like, or had begun to treat them with more severity, in some way or other, and impose stricter laws; and the consequence was that they had all disappeared from the face of the country. According to the legend, however, instead of going to some other country, they had all taken refuge in the subterranean caverns, whence they never came out but at night, and then seldom showed themselves in any numbers, and never to many people at once. It was only in the least frequented and most difficult parts of the mountains that they were said to gather even at night in the open air. Those who had caught sight of any of them said that they had greatly altered in the course of generations; and no wonder, seeing they lived away from the sun, in cold and wet and dark places.

That's a good beginning!

This blog is a guide to the best free and inexpensive classic literature for the US & UK Kindle. If you enjoy my suggestions, please tell your friends who read to give my blog a try. 

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For a nominal fee of 99 cents/pence, you can subscribe to this blog and have it automatically download on your Kindle. This gives you the convenience of being able to download the books directly to your Kindle, instead of downloading them to your computer and then transferring them to your Kindle. It also helps support my blog.

UK readers may go to this Amazon link to subscribe.  (Slightly more than half my readers are from the UK)

US readers may go to this Amazon link

Thank to all my readers, whether you subscribe on your Kindle or whether you read it online.  I love to get good reviews!  Who wouldn't?  Should you care to leave a review, follow these links for UK readers or US readers.

The Yellow Wallpaper - by Charlotte Perkins Gilman

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The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman is famous as one of the first works of feminist fiction.  It is an 1892 novella length work that enjoyed a renaissance in the 70's when many women writers were rediscovered.  Of course as an early movement member, she had not been forgotten; but her short story was not commonly anthologized. (US Edition)  (UK Edition) 

With on the one hand, women's roles in the US military being redefined and on the other hand, horrible crimes against women in India being in the news, maybe it is time once again to see what women's lot was in 1892.

It is so discouraging not to have any advice and companionship about my work. When I get really well, John says we will ask Cousin Henry and Julia down for a long visit; but he says he would as soon put fireworks in my pillow-case as to let me have those stimulating people about now.

I wish I could get well faster.

AND

I cry at nothing, and cry most of the time. Of course I don't when John is here, or anybody else, but when I am alone.

This book is also a psychological thriller crossed with early gothic literature, so it is a thought provoking read.  Give it a try as an end to easy summer fiction.
Just an update on my 97 year old mother's introduction to the Kindle.  After she enjoyed reading a book on a borrowed Kindle, I bought her a Kindle 3G(keyboard model) with a cover that has a light.  Although an older model, I prefer being able to page with buttons and I felt that would be easier for her than a touch screen as she has never used a touch screen. She retired before computers.  For Mom, the next big thing was the electric typewriter.

She has had no problems with the Kindle and is reading Robert Caro's first book on Johnson.  This book would be too heavy for her to read a printed copy.  She moved to the Kindle because her eyesight is poor and printed books were just too difficult to read.  Now she can scale the type, has a restful background, standard typeface and a book that is not heavy.  I found the Kindle a real boon following my cataract surgery when my eyesight changed every day for awhile.

It is a real shame that older readers don't consider the Kindle because they see it as giving up books.  In fact the Kindle is ideally suited for the older reader.

This blog is a guide to the best free and inexpensive classic literature for the US & UK Kindle. If you enjoy my suggestions, please tell your friends who read to give my blog a try. 

Join me on Twitter, FaceBook, or Pinterest.

-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-

For a nominal fee of 99 cents/pence, you can subscribe to this blog and have it automatically download on your Kindle. This gives you the convenience of being able to download the books directly to your Kindle, instead of downloading them to your computer and then transferring them to your Kindle. It also helps support my blog.

UK readers may go to this Amazon link to subscribe.  (Slightly more than half my readers are from the UK)

US readers may go to this Amazon link

Thank to all my readers, whether you subscribe on your Kindle or whether you read it online.  I love to get good reviews!  Who wouldn't?  Should you care to leave a review, follow these links for UK readers or US readers.

Diana of the Crossways-by George Meredith

Free US/UK Kindle Classic

Diana of the Crossways is an 1885 novel by British writer George Meredith.  It is about politics and marriage.  I find the prose style a little dense and there are no reviews on either Amazon US or Amazon UK; but this book is on a list of free Kindle books worth reading and that piqued my attention. (US Edition)  (UK Edition)  It wasn't a long list and didn't comment on the book, but I thought the book must have somehow been handed down from reader to reader over the generations until the only thing left was the sense that it was "worth reading."

A woman, Sir Lukin held, was by nature a mute in politics. Of the thing called a Radical woman, he could not believe that she was less than monstrous: 'with a nose,' he said; and doubtless, horse teeth, hatchet jaws, slatternly in the gown, slipshod, awful. As for a girl, an unmarried, handsome girl, admittedly beautiful, her interjections, echoing a man, were ridiculous, and not a little annoying now and them, for she could be piercingly sarcastic. Her vocabulary in irony was a quiverful. He admired her and liked her immensely; complaining only of her turn for unfeminine topics.

There is a typo in the paragraph above, but the conversion is good. That typo may have been in the original . . . 

Give it a try, the British authors are masters at writing about politics and relationships.  American writers tend to write about such topics separately.

This blog is a guide to the best free and inexpensive classic literature for the US & UK Kindle. If you enjoy my suggestions, please tell your friends who read to give my blog a try. 

Join me on Twitter, FaceBook, or Pinterest.

-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-

For a nominal fee of 99 cents/pence, you can subscribe to this blog and have it automatically download on your Kindle. This gives you the convenience of being able to download the books directly to your Kindle, instead of downloading them to your computer and then transferring them to your Kindle. It also helps support my blog.

UK readers may go to this Amazon link to subscribe.  (Slightly more than half my readers are from the UK)

US readers may go to this Amazon link

Thank to all my readers, whether you subscribe on your Kindle or whether you read it online.  I love to get good reviews!  Who wouldn't?  Should you care to leave a review, follow these links for UK readers or US readers.

The Three Musketeers - by Alexandre Dumas

US/UK Kindle Classic

The Three Musketeers is an 1844 novel  by French writer Alexandre Dumas.  (US Edition)  (UK Edition)  

I once explained to a first-grader armed with a Lego rapier, who claimed to be “Puss in Boots” (of Shrek movie fame), that there were also three soldiers with swords called “The Three Musketeers.”  I was trying to inspire group play, not recommend reading material.  He was not impressed.  You have to know your audience and I was just his substitute teacher.

For this group, I do suggest the book that I enjoyed as a child, but now want to return to as an adult. If you have not read the book, you may think d'Artagnan was one of the three Musketeers of the title.  He was not, but makes his way to Paris to join them.  (They are like the Coldstream Guards.)

It was, then, into the midst of this tumult and disorder that our young man advanced with a beating heat, ranging his long rapier up his lanky leg, and keeping one hand on the edge of his cap, with that half-smile of the embarrassed a provincial who wishes to put on a good face. When he had passed one group he began to breathe more freely; but he could not help observing that they turned round to look at him, and for the first time in his life d'Artagnan, who had till that day entertained a very good opinion of himself, felt ridiculous. 

Arrived at the staircase, it was still worse. There were four Musketeers on the bottom steps, amusing themselves with the following exercise, while ten or twelve of their comrades waited upon the landing place to take their turn in the sport.

One of them, stationed upon the top stair, naked sword in hand, prevented, or at least endeavored to prevent, the three others from ascending. These three others fenced against him with their agile swords. 

D'Artagnan at first took these weapons for foils, and believed them to be buttoned; but he soon perceived by certain scratches that every weapon was pointed and sharpened, and that at each of these scratches not only the spectators, but even the actors themselves, laughed like so many madmen.

Alas, you have to be en garde against the free version of this classic.  I am unable to download the UK version, but as you can see from this short passage from the US version – it looks to be a great tale marred by editing errors and a poor translation.

I suggest instead The Three Musketeers (Annotated) (Page & Screen) Dana Hand (Editor)  ($0.99 US Edition)  (£0.77 UK Edition) The name may be unwieldy, but an Amazon reviewer (who may not be impartial) gives it high marks for editing.

"There are too many sloppy editions of e-books on Amazon, but this is definitely the best available: everything works, the layout is clear and handsome, and the easy-to-use study-discussion guide and various extras are by Princeton profs who obviously enjoy literature and movies both, and share that enthusiasm in a non condescending way. At first I could not believe I was getting all this for 99 cents, but then noticed that sales go to benefit America's libraries and literacy programs, a huge plus to my way of thinking."

"all for one, one for all!"

This blog is a guide to the best free and inexpensive classic literature for the US & UK Kindle. If you enjoy my suggestions, please tell your friends who read to give my blog a try. 

Join me on Twitter, FaceBook, or Pinterest.

-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-

For a nominal fee of 99 cents/pence, you can subscribe to this blog and have it automatically download on your Kindle. This gives you the convenience of being able to download the books directly to your Kindle, instead of downloading them to your computer and then transferring them to your Kindle. It also helps support my blog.

UK readers may go to this Amazon link to subscribe.  (Slightly more than half my readers are from the UK)

US readers may go to this Amazon link

Thank to all my readers, whether you subscribe on your Kindle or whether you read it online.  I love to get good reviews!  Who wouldn't?  Should you care to leave a review, follow these links for UK readers or US readers.