Read an eBook Week

Read an eBook Week is an annual event that begins during the first full week of March. This year it is observed from March 6-12, 2022. The concept sprang from the fertile mind of Rita Toews, a Winnipeg, Canada author and book cover designer. She hopes that with awareness, the holiday will convince people to become less skeptical about e-books and give them a chance. 

There are pros and cons to e-books. They are a lot cheaper than print books and many ebooks can be downloaded free. Storage is simple and the books take up no space except in your e-book reader. An e-book reader, such as Kindle, can store and least a thousand books and can increase or decrease the size of the print. To research a particular idea or topic in the book requires just a few keystrokes. It’s fast and simple. The only downside is to avoid reading the e-book in the glare of the sun. 

Paper Angel Press, an Indie publisher based in San Jose, California, has two imprints: Unruly Voices and Water Dragon Publishing. This year, their giveaway offering is Back to the Land in Silicon Valley, by Marlene Anne Bumgarner. It’s a memoir and has been called “’Little House on the Prairie’ for grown-ups.” The publisher is also celebrating “Read An eBook Week” by offering a savings of 50-75% off the price of a print book on e-book purchases. 

Below are a few of my favorite e-books published by Paper Angel Press:

Carnival Farm by Lisa Jacob

Kindle: $3.99

Print: $4.85

Seagn (pronounced Shaun) Conway is a bored veterinarian looking for a change in her life. When she discovers a petting zoo with 20 sickly farm animals living in a heart wrenching condition, she contacts the first person wearing a Rockwell Carnival t-shirt. Then, she hunts down the owner, Fatsy, and buys the animals, trailer, and tent with all the trappings for $8,000. Since Seagn is unhappy with her job at Central Avenue Vet, she decides to join the carnival, nurse the animals back to good health, and display the farm animals to curious city dwellers. It will take a while to get the goats, pigs, sheep, cow and Shetland pony back to good health, but Seagn knows she can do it, and damned with money. 

Carnival Farm is a contemporary romance about a young vet who purchases depressed, malnourished, and neglected farm animals and uses her skills as a vet to present them in their natural habitat to urban dwellers visiting a traveling carnival. 

Due Date  by Nancy Wood

Kindle: $4.99

Paper: $16.99

The Shelby McDougall Mysteries, a three-book series, features Shelby McDougall, an amateur sleuth. The character grows throughout the three novels to become a licensed private detective working for Kathleen Bennette, PI. When Kathleen retires, Shelby buys her practice. 

The theme for the series revolves around surrogate mothers, biologically altered humans, and human trafficking. In book 1 Shelby is in her early 20s, and by the third book, which takes place during the pandemic, she is a decade older. 

The Shelby McDougall Mysteries, a three-book series, features amateur sleuth, Shelby McDougall developing into a certified private detective as she uncovers the mastermind behind a baby trafficking syndicate.

Bubbles of Time  by Lorna Hopkins Keith

Kindle: $4.99

Print: $15.49

(Bubbles of Time is a Water Dragon Publishing imprint from Paper Angel Press.) 

On the world of Peace, Janni must persuade her clan of the danger, and move the colonists from another, larger planet to her world.

On Cityworld, in the community of Starview, leader Samanda Lar, facing earthquakes, and water and food shortages after their disastrous move from dying City, foresees a coming menace and faces the daunting task of convincing her people to move to another world.

The Lip Reader  by Michael Thal

Kindle Price: $3.99

Print: $11.56

Set in Iran during the 1960s and 1970s, and later in Los Angeles, California, Zhila Shirazi tells her story firsthand. She reveals the real-life struggle of being a deaf woman who refuses to allow adversity to stop her from reaching her dreams of living a normal and fulfilling life.

In 1985, disgusted with the treatment of Jews by the new Islamic government, Zhila immigrates to the United States in pursuit of better circumstances and a chance to receive a cochlear implant to improve her hearing. However, it isn’t until she is forty-nine, when she meets her soulmate, Mickey Daniels, that she begins to feel her life truly complete.

A decade later, after they have fallen deeply in love, Zhila learns that she is suffering from an aggressive form of cancer. In the months that follow, Mickey becomes Zhila’s primary caretaker, and the two grow ever closer as they fight the disease together.

Right up to the end, Zhila shows her caring nature, innate intelligence, and will power to overcome almost any challenge. Her courage and the beauty of her memory is certain to inspire all who venture to follow her on their quest for a truly meaningful life.

There are quite a few ebook readers including Kindle from Amazon and Nook from Barnes & Noble costing from $90-$140. There are many more e-books available from Paper Angel Press and other publishers. You’ll find e-books easy to read without any storage problems, and when you go on vacation, all you need to pack is your e-book reader, like a Kindle, and not worry about losing space to fat paperback books. Happy Read an eBook Week.