I Heart Ed Small by Shirley Johnson

From Goodreads.com:
   In the summer of 1968 Baby Hunnicutt's mama dies and her daddy gives her to her aunt to raise. The only trouble is Aunt Clem works all day and leaves Baby in the hands of her teenage twins. Stoic protector Allen and kind and gentle Jeffrey, along with the help of their best friend, the unwashed and untamed Ed, raise up Baby the best they know how.
   I Heart Ed Small takes the reader back in time to the late sixties, when adventure and friendship were to be found outside in the hot sun of public pools and the smoky haze of pool halls. It's the story of how one little girl gets three lazy hippie boys to get of the couch, clean up their language, and grow up. I Heart Ed Small is the coming of age story of how Baby Hunnicutt captures the wildest heart from the very beginning and never relinquishes it from her sweet little hand.
   As the twins and Ed raise Baby they teach her about everything they deem important from playing pool and cussing to smoking and belching and yet she still remains pure and innocent and follows her own path as she grows up. These three smart-mouthed ruffians are the ones who are left with the responsibility to guide Baby as she begins her journey through puberty. They are the ones left  to help her deal with something Ed knows a lot about; the tricky persistence that is boys. But just as Baby needs the three of them most, they leave her life. The Vietnam War, marriage, and the call of adventure pull the boys away until the tragic threads of life reunite them all once again.

   I found I Heart Ed Small through one of my many daily emails for free! It took me a couple weeks to get around to reading it, but once I did, I just kept right on reading. The writing was nice and flowing, there isn't anything to get caught up on.
   I felt the gamut of emotions while growing up with Baby Hunnicutt. Grief at the loss of her mother, confusion, happiness, contentment, more confusion, love, hope, and grief of a different kind. The boys really stepped up for Baby helping her through times a teenage boy shouldn't have to help a young girl through. They took care of Baby as much and as best as they could. Even though the title is very leading, I still enjoyed the journey getting there.
   If you're looking for a simple book to just get lost in, this would be a great choice (not that the story is "simple" but the book is just easy to read and follow.) Also, I just read that there will (hopefully) be a sequel to this book, which I am very much looking forward to, so read this before it comes out.

6 Pages for Free and Bargain Kindle Books

   In my unending quest to find free or inexpensive Kindle books I've discovered a few websites that make my goal that much simpler. I receive multiple daily emails, two weekly emails and the occasional surprise! I prefer the sites that send me an email, that way I don't have to visit each site daily to find deals.

     1. Amazon

         Of course everything Kindle starts with Amazon. They offer a multitude of free and inexpensive Kindle books.
         By adjusting your email subscriptions (here) you can receive daily emails (Kindle Daily Deals) of books that generally range from $.99 to $2.99. You can also decide to get a monthly email (Amazon Kindle Delivers) that keeps you posted on monthly Kindle deals, which are normally $3.99 and lower.
         Another monthly email you may want to subscribe to is Kindle First. Prime members can choose one of four pre-release books for free (I just recently discovered this and feel ill about all the missed months behind me.) If you are not a Prime member you can still subscribe to this email and purchase one of these books at a reduced price.
         Last but not least, Prime members can borrow one book a month from the Kindle Owner's Lending Library with no due date, but you can only borrow one book at a time. Amazon will prompt you to return your current book before allowing you to borrow the next. Your borrowed book can only be read on an Amazon device, not with a Kindle reading app.

     2. eReaderIQ

         Though it is one of the first sites I discovered to help me find Kindle books, eReaderIQ has remained one of my favorites. This site will track the pricing of Kindle books on your Amazon wishlist and email you when a book hits the price you've selected. I've gotten so many great deals from this feature. It's fantastic if you don't mind waiting for the price to drop. I tend to borrow books from my library before making the decision to purchase them, so waiting for the right price doesn't bother me at all. This is the only website I've found that will actively check the books on your wishlist.

         There are numerous other ways to find deals on this super website. You can subscribe to a daily email, browse recent price drops, books under $1, and freebies. Each of these categories can be filtered by genre and length so you only see what you're interested in. You can also filter it to only see what's been added since your last visit to the site, so you don't have to sort through books you've already viewed. 

     3. OverDrive

         This is an app used with your local library (if your library has a membership.) As with traditional library books the lending is for a limited time, usually a couple weeks. I have practically forced all my Kindle loving friends to download this app! 

         Other than getting to read books for free without having to leave the comfort of my home, my favorite feature is the highlighting. Since you typically download the book directly from Amazon, you get the book in full Kindle format. Any highlights or notes you make are saved so that if you decide to purchase the book in the future you don't lose your marks from your first read. 

         This differs from the Kindle Owner's Lending Library. The book selection is more broad, you can get more than one book at a time, and most importantly, you can sync your progress to any device you read on with a Kindle app.

     4. BookBub

         BookBub is another that I receive daily emails from. I simply selected my favorite genres and my e-reader preference and each day they send me a list of books $2.99 and under. While the previous two sites focus on Kindle books, BookBub offers books in other formats including Google, Apple, Kobo, and Barnes & Noble. This site often has the date the deal will expire.

      5. Reading Deals

         Reading Deals doesn't have the ability to browse books but they will email you daily. Like BookBub they offer books from multiple retailers, you simply select the genres and retailers you're interested in.

     6. The eReader Cafe

         This is a site I recently discovered that emails me daily. On their site you can browse books by category. I'm still pretty new to this one but so far have found a couple books through their emails. 

   You would think getting so many daily emails would result in seeing a lot of the same book, but that doesn't happen too often. Of course it does happen on occasion but there are so many free books and I select a wide range of genres to be emailed about. 

   I also found this article that lists 25 Places to Get Free Kindle Books, some of the sites are new to me and I'm looking forward to checking out more great free books.