This weeks ebooks available from Microsoft...

[Steven Cedrone]

A Walk in the Woods
by Bill Bryson

Bill Bryson decided in 1996 to walk the 2,100-mile Appalachian Trail. Winding from Georgia to Maine, this uninterrupted "hiker's highway" sweeps through the heart of some of America's most beautiful and treacherous terrain. Bryson risked snakebite and hantavirus to trudge up unforgiving mountains, plod through swollen rivers, and yearn for cream sodas and hot showers. This amusingly ill-conceived adventure brings Bryson to the height of his comic powers, but his acute eye also observes an astonishing landscape of silent forests, sparkling lakes, and other national treasures that are often ignored or endangered. The Lost Continent, Bill Bryson's hilarious first travel book, chronicled a trip in his mother's Chevy around small-town America. Born in Des Moines, Iowa, in 1951, he lived in England for almost two decades. He now lives in Hanover, New Hampshire, with his wife and four children. His other notable bestsellers are I'm A Stranger Here Myself, In a Sunburned Country and, most recently, A Short History of Nearly Everything. A Walk in the Woods is a laugh-out-loud account of an outrageously rugged hike by a beloved comic author.

The Company
by Robert Littell

The Company, the magnum opus of acclaimed espionage novelist Robert Littell is a mesmerizing, dazzlingly plotted epic that tells the life and death struggle of two generations of CIA operatives during a long Cold War. Littell's book spans nearly fifty years of postwar espionage, offering perspectives on excursions as varied as the Rosenberg trial, the Bay of Pigs invasion, the alleged 'assassination' of Pope John Paul I in 1978 and the great winding down of perestroika. “A gold mine for true conspiracy theorists Robert Littell's The Company reads like a breeze and is guaranteed to suck you right back into the Alice-in-Wonderland world of spy vs. spy.” Former Newseek journalist Robert Littell is the bestselling author of thirteen novels, published in twelve languages around the world. The New York Times bestseller, The Company, is his most recent.

Savage Night
by Jim Thompson

First class criminal Carl Bigelow has a difficult job ahead of him. How can he kill one-time hoodlum Jake Winroy without making it look like a hit? The man is about to turn evidence in to the authorities, threatening to bring the law down on the powerful crime syndicate that runs the city. Allowing Jake Winroy to live could be very bad for the career of Carl's boss, not to mention several prominent but corrupt Long Island politicians. Luckily for Carl, Winroy's beautiful wife is bored with his drunken behavior and anxious to become a widow. It seems that she could easily be implicated in the plot by her eagerness to take up with Carl, the handsome young hoodlum. Jim Thompson was born in 1906 in Anadarko, Oklahoma. He sold his first story to the True Detective at the age of fourteen and went on to write twenty-nine novels, dozens of short stories and two screenplays.

If you have trouble with the links, go here...

Steve

[Steven Cedrone]

A Walk in the Woods
by Bill Bryson

Bill Bryson decided in 1996 to walk the 2,100-mile Appalachian Trail. Winding from Georgia to Maine, this uninterrupted "hiker's highway" sweeps through the heart of some of America's most beautiful and treacherous terrain. Bryson risked snakebite and hantavirus to trudge up unforgiving mountains, plod through swollen rivers, and yearn for cream sodas and hot showers. This amusingly ill-conceived adventure brings Bryson to the height of his comic powers, but his acute eye also observes an astonishing landscape of silent forests, sparkling lakes, and other national treasures that are often ignored or endangered. The Lost Continent, Bill Bryson's hilarious first travel book, chronicled a trip in his mother's Chevy around small-town America. Born in Des Moines, Iowa, in 1951, he lived in England for almost two decades. He now lives in Hanover, New Hampshire, with his wife and four children. His other notable bestsellers are I'm A Stranger Here Myself, In a Sunburned Country and, most recently, A Short History of Nearly Everything. A Walk in the Woods is a laugh-out-loud account of an outrageously rugged hike by a beloved comic author.

The Company
by Robert Littell

The Company, the magnum opus of acclaimed espionage novelist Robert Littell is a mesmerizing, dazzlingly plotted epic that tells the life and death struggle of two generations of CIA operatives during a long Cold War. Littell's book spans nearly fifty years of postwar espionage, offering perspectives on excursions as varied as the Rosenberg trial, the Bay of Pigs invasion, the alleged 'assassination' of Pope John Paul I in 1978 and the great winding down of perestroika. “A gold mine for true conspiracy theorists Robert Littell's The Company reads like a breeze and is guaranteed to suck you right back into the Alice-in-Wonderland world of spy vs. spy.” Former Newseek journalist Robert Littell is the bestselling author of thirteen novels, published in twelve languages around the world. The New York Times bestseller, The Company, is his most recent.

Savage Night
by Jim Thompson

First class criminal Carl Bigelow has a difficult job ahead of him. How can he kill one-time hoodlum Jake Winroy without making it look like a hit? The man is about to turn evidence in to the authorities, threatening to bring the law down on the powerful crime syndicate that runs the city. Allowing Jake Winroy to live could be very bad for the career of Carl's boss, not to mention several prominent but corrupt Long Island politicians. Luckily for Carl, Winroy's beautiful wife is bored with his drunken behavior and anxious to become a widow. It seems that she could easily be implicated in the plot by her eagerness to take up with Carl, the handsome young hoodlum. Jim Thompson was born in 1906 in Anadarko, Oklahoma. He sold his first story to the True Detective at the age of fourteen and went on to write twenty-nine novels, dozens of short stories and two screenplays.

If you have trouble with the links, go here...

Steve

[xendula]

Thanks Steve! If it wasn't for you I'd always forget. :ladysman:

[Jolard]

I have read a few of Bill Bryson's books, they are always a lot of fun. I was excited that A Walk in the Woods was on the list, since I haven't read that one yet. He is funny, and easy to read. I am looking forward to this one (Have two more Fire and Ice trilogy books to get through first, a Game of Thrones has me hooked, thanks to those of you who recommended it!)

[dh]

Cheers Steve!
I had completly forgotten this week. Nice books this week, thanks MS.

[upplepop]

Originally Posted by xendula

Thanks Steve! If it wasn't for you I'd always forget.

Originally Posted by dh

I had completly forgotten this week.

Come on people! Didn't we get Pocket PC's so we wouldn't forget stuff

I have an Appointment set up to remind me every Friday to get the new books.

[Steven Cedrone]

Originally Posted by upplepop

I have an Appointment set up to remind me every Friday to get the new books.

But how many times has your reminder gone off, you dismissed it, and then forgot completely about it??? :wink:

Steve

[dh]

I'm ashamed to say, I've never even thought to use my PPC to remind me of this. ops:

Now it's well into November, it's probably a bit late now.

[xendula]

Originally Posted by dh

I'm ashamed to say, I've never even thought to use my PPC to remind me of this. ops:

Now it's well into November, it's probably a bit late now.

Same here ops:

[theon]

Anyone having trouble downloading the books? I can't get The Company and Savage Night. The download starts and Reader opens, but it doesn't show the books in My Library AND the files aren't there either!

[davidspalding]

Originally Posted by upplepop

Come on people! Didn't we get Pocket PC's so we wouldn't forget stuff

I have an Appointment set up to remind me every Friday to get the new books.

Um ... I keep all sorts of lists, appointments, deadlines, recurring events and deadlines, in my PDA. Things like oil changes, vehicle inspections, air return filter changes, monthly online bill payment, and yes weekly ebook downloads. Not to mention a few hundred close, personal contacts from work, home, e-mail, etcs, shopping lists for a dozen different stores (Tasks), and various Notes about home and family topics.

Isn't that what Outlook and Pocket PC is for?? You mean people buy these things and don't use them as PDAs? 8O

Originally Posted by theon

Anyone having trouble downloading the books? I can't get The Company and Savage Night. The download starts and Reader opens, but it doesn't show the books in My Library AND the files aren't there either!

Do the downloads finish? What I do, open an Explorer window on \My Library\, and watch to see the title (blahblahblah[1].lit) appear, before closing any browser window.