There was one word that kept popping up in articles and readers comments about Random House's recent decision to increase the price of its library e-books by as much as 300 percent: indefensible.
Under the new pricing system, a book that sold for $28 in February, costs $84 as of March. Why? Basically, Random House claims indestructible e-books will have a much longer shelf-life than their ink-and-paper counterparts and so should cost more.
Librarians will have to make hard choices about what books to buy with their limited budgets. One Random House e-book or three hardbacks? Some librarians might decide to ditch Random House e-books altogether and spend their money on more affordable titles. If that does happen, here are some of the March release e-books you won't be seeing at your local library:
Beyond The Aegean by Elia Kazan Writer/director Elia Kazan's sweeping novel is set just after WWI and follows a Greek immigrant as he makes his way to America and back to Greece again, trading his dreams of wealth in for a chance at happiness.
Last Word, Final Scenes from Your Favorite Motion Pictures by Josh Gross A must-have for film fanatics, Last Word recounts the closing scenes of of such classic movies as The African Queen, Gone With the Wind and Rosemary's Baby.
The Good Father by Noah Hawley What do you do when you 20-year old son is accused of being a political assassin? No, wait, what do you do when there is video tape of your 20-year old son committing a political assassination? In Noah Hawley's novel, The Good Father, dad Paul Allen is determined to learn the truth about what happened, no matter how traumatic it might be for his family.
It's Not About the Pom-Poms: How a 40-Year-Old Mom Became the NFL's Oldest Cheerleader--and Found Hope, Joy and Inspiration Along the Way by Laura Vikmanis and Amy Sohn At 40 years old, Laura Vikmanis, a divorced, single mom decided to try out for the Ben-Gals, the cheerleaders for the NFL team Cincinnati Bengals. Shaking her pom-poms next to candidates young enough to be her daughter, Vikmanis made it through multiple auditions and finally earned a spot on the squad. From there it was on to exhausting workouts, low pay, constant weigh-ins, and finding friends among her fellow squad mates, who, like Vikmanis, are chasing the spotlight.
Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret by Judy Blume Yes, Blume's classic young adult novel has been around for a while, but it's just now making it into Kindle format (so all those teens that got a Kindle Fire for Christmas can read it). In fact, several of Blume's books are being released in Kindle format this month, including Blubber and Deenie.
