Ebook Bargain Basement

This is the place for your best bargain ebook reads. Some of the most popular sources are Kindle Unlimited, BookBub, KoboPlus, Gutenberg, Faded Page and the Internet Archive, but there must be others. Please suggest!

Please recommend the diamonds you've found, with a brief description, their genres and their sources.

The spaces below are for collating everyone's suggestions.

Sources
Kindle Unlimited
BookBub
KoboPlus
Gutenberg
Faded Page
ManyBooks
Internet Archive
Sribd and Everand

Crime

Kindle Unlimited

Vintage Crime

Blood Upon the Snow by Hilda Lawrence Vintage US mystery, first published 1944.
They Rang up the Police by Joanna Cannan Vintage British Mystery
The Party at No. 5 by Shelley Smith - Crime, H.R.F. Keating's 100 Best Crime Novels
Murder in the Basement by Anthony Berkely British Library Crime Classic

Contemporary Crime

The Northminster Mysteries by Harriet Smart British Historical Mysteries
Outback by Patricia Wolf - Australia
Reunion and Revenge by Karen Musser Nortman (light cozy mystery featuring two senior citizen sisters, first in series)
Still Waters by Vivica Sten Swedish (first book in the Sandham Murder series)
The Godmother by Hannelore Cayre French (won many prizes including CWA Dagger)

Open Library

Vintage crime by Michael Innes

Romance

Kindle Unlimited

Miss Fleming Falls in Love by Emma Melbourne Steamless, humorous, historical romance.
Sweet Shop of Second Chances by Hannah Lynn (sweet romantic comedy set in Cotswolds, first in a series)
A Highly Respectable Marriage by Sheila Walsh RNA (British Romance Novelists Assocation) winner, steamless historical
Georgian romances and mysteries by Lucinda Brant

Cosy domestic romances from the forties, fifties and sixties by D. E. Stevenson and Elizabeth Cadell

Free on Kindle

The Work of Art by Mimi Matthews Steamless historical

Non-fiction

Kindle Unlimited

Chelsea Concerto by Frances Faviell British WWII memoir.
The Story of Classic Crime in 100 Books by Martin Edwards

Literary Fiction

Kindle Unlimited

Monk Dawson by Piers Paul Read British, sixties, Hawthornden Prize
British Library Women Writers

Kindle Freebies and Cheapies

The Human Comedy by Honore de Balzac

Historical Fiction

Along the Broken Bay by Flora J. Solomon - Historical Fiction - WW II
Ghost Warrior by Lucia St. Clair Robson - Historical Fiction - Apaches

Science Fiction and Fantasy

Kindle Unlimited

The Silent Land by Graham Joyce - Suspense, Supernatural
Aurora: CV-01 by Ryk Brown - Episode 1 in The Frontiers Saga
Reunion and Revenge by Nancy Warren Cosy mystery, first in series The Vampire Knitting Club
The Great Witches Baking Show by Nancy Warren Cosy mystery, first in series of same name
Strange Journey by Maud Cairnes (British Women Writers of the 1930s)
The Beast Master series by Andre Norton

Christian

Kindle Unlimited

A Blessed Amish Christmas by Mary Lantz Romance

Everand Scribd

Master and Commander by Patrick O'Brian, the first in the Aubrey-Maturin series of novels
The Marlow Murder Club by Robert Thorogood

Audible Plus

Moriarty: The Devil's Game and Moriarty: The Silent Order Podcasts

Children's and YA

Kindle Unlimited

Kobo Plus

Margery Sharp Humour
Leo Bruce Crime
Michael Gilbert Crime
Laura Kinsale Historical Romance

Spare

Open for business.

Books come and go from Kindle Unlimited, so please check that the books you recommend are still available. There's no way of knowing whether the books available in one country are available in another, so please let me know, if so, and I'll add the country.

Can we add Everand to the sources? Scribd is splitting into two: Everand for published works and Scribd for member-uploaded works. I assume the recent craziness with books appearing and disappearing has something to do with that.

>13 Robertgreaves: Done. And there are more free sites like ManyBooks, as well.

The following are books that I read from Kindle Unlimited that I particularly enjoyed. I am in Canada and these books are still on offer:

The Silent Land by Graham Joyce - Suspense, Supernatural
The Party at No. 5 by Shelley Smith - Crime
Along the Broken Bay by Flora J. Solomon - Historical Fiction - WW II
Outback by Patricia Wolf - Crime
Ghost Warrior by Lucia St. Clair Robson - Historical Fiction - Apaches

These are my recent reads from Kindle Unlimited.

Cat's Paws and Curses by Nancy Warren
Gingerdead House by Nancy Warren
Stockings and Spells by Nancy Warren

These are cozy mysteries with a slight paranormal twist, but not too much!

ETA
Bells and Blazes by Karen Musser Nortman (light cozy mystery featuring two senior citizen sisters, set at Christmas)
Sweet Shop of Second Chances by Hannah Lynn (sweet romantic comedy set in Cotswolds, first in a series)

>15 DeltaQueen50:, >16 LadyoftheLodge: Thank you! I've added them to the list.

I'm enjoying the Vivica Sten series Sandhamn which Kindle Unlimited is offering.

ETA: also currently reading Aurora: CV-01 by Ryk Brown which is also Kindle Unlimited.

Thanks! I've listed the first book of each series: Still Waters (Crime) and Aurora: CV-01 (SFF).

I just read A Blessed Amish Christmas by Mary Lantz, free from KU. (The story focuses on the plight of poverty and homelessness that is right amongst us, sometimes unnoticed.)

>16 LadyoftheLodge: Went back and added the first book in each series instead. They're in Science Fiction and Fantasy.

Reunion and Revenge by Nancy Warren Cosy mystery, first in series The Vampire Knitting Club
The Great Witches Baking Show by Nancy Warren Cosy mystery, first in series of same name

Strange Journey by Maud Cairnes (British Woman Writers of the Thirties) Gentle, good-natured SFF

Murder in the Basement by Anthony Berkely British Library Crime Classic
The Story of Classic Crime in 100 Books by Martin Edwards Non-fiction
A Highly Respectable Marriage by Sheila Walsh Romance, RNA winner, Steamless

The Work of Art by Mimi Matthews is a free Kindle book. Steamless romance.

I have a wishlist on my Amazon account for KU so I can just add them when I see them. It is very big! It would take me years to read all the books I want to on KU! But still I do not seem to get to them as quickly as I would like!

>23 JayneCM: I have a wishlist like that too! When I return a KU book, I look at my wishlist to see what to read next. I have 2 months left on my free trial of KU, but I will probably continue it when my freeby is up.

>24 LadyoftheLodge: I am keeping mine, if only for cosy mysteries. They are expensive to buy here and libraries in Australia don't tend to stock them (probably because there are just so many in each series - they'd never keep up!) There are lots of books on KU that I cannot get anywhere else, so it is worth the money for me.

>25 JayneCM: I agree with your thoughts. There are books that would cost me more than the monthly fee if I bought them all. Sometimes I do not care about owning a book, but I want to read it, and the library here does not have the books either, especially those that are small publishers or self-pub. It took me awhile to see how KU works, and I got some help from others here in LT. The idea that a subscriber pays a fee to access the titles, sort of like a lending library or private club library, made sense to me.

I've just bought The Magician by Colm Toibin. The Kindle ebook is $A.99 today in Australia.

For fans of cosy, vintage, domestic romances, there are quite a few books by Elizabeth Cadell and D. E. Stevenson on Kindle Unlimited. Gentle humour, happy endings, low angst. But very, very conservative. I'd like to see a female character go to university!

>28 pamelad: I do love D.E. Stevenson. Off to have a look now!
I love the Dean Street Press editions of lots of these older books.

Recommending a steamless Regency Romance on Kindle Unlimited: Romance Me, Viscount by Kate Archer. Light and cheerful.

>30 pamelad: Ooh, intriguing!

I think this is going to be a dangerous thread for me! Cheap books are my opioid!

Currently reading and enjoying The Marlow Murder Club by Robert Thorogood found on Everand (what used to be Scribd)

>30 pamelad: I don't have kindle unlimited, but it's only 0,99€, so I bought this. This thread is very dangerous!

Starting Master and Commander by Patrick O'Brian, the first in the Aubrey-Maturin series of novels. The whole series of 21 books is on Everand and over the years I've consistently heard a lot of good things about it.

>35 Robertgreaves: On Everand?

>34 MissBrangwen: I hope you like it. It's quite silly, which is OK by me.

>36 pamelad: Yes, what used to be Scribd.

>36 pamelad: Good choice, Robert. I really enjoyed Master and Commander but found Post Captain less entertaining. I'm looking forward to continuing the series.

Started an Everand list in >8 pamelad: and a KoboPlus list in >9 pamelad:.

Kobo Plus has lots of vintage crime, and a good selection of books by Margery Sharp, who is one of my favourites.

https://www.amazon.com.au/s?k=british+library+women+writers&i=digital-text&a...

On Kindle Unlimited in Australia (hopefully elsewhere as well) - a whole list from the British Library Women Writers, including Elizabeth von Arnim, Rose Macaulay, Mollie Panter-Downes, E.M. Delafield and more.
I need to read Tea Is So Intoxicating for sure! Just for the title.

And I just had a fun thought for 2024!
I bet there would be a KU book for every single challenge so I am going to find one! Even if I do not end up reading the KU book for a challenge, I still think I will look for one. It will be a challenge of KU as many people I know say they do not use it as it only has limited genres available. I have found plenty on there, all across genres and age suitability, etc, so I will be interested to see if I can find a book for everything.
It will also encourage me to use my KU more. I pay for it but must admit sometimes a few months go by when I read nothing on there. Must make the most of it!

>41 JayneCM: Yes, it is available in US on KU too. I've just started using KU and while they don't always have what I want, in the space of a couple of months I've read 5 and downloaded 2 so it's been useful. It had my bookclub book this month.

>41 JayneCM: I just added it to my KU list!

>41 JayneCM: I liked Strange Journey by Maud Cairnes and will check out some of the others. Awaiting your recommendations.

>42 JayneCM: Two to start: Monk Dawson by Piers Paul Read won the Hawthornden Prize; A Highly respectable Marriage by Sheila Walsh won an RNA Award and fits the History CAT.

>45 pamelad: Strange Journey looks great! I loved Freaky Friday as a kid and it is giving me those vibes.

Added the other two to my list as well.

>1 pamelad: You might add Audible Plus which is providing members with free audiobooks, much like KU.

>47 majkia: I've put it in >10 pamelad:. Any recommendations?

https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B0CH3BYMYH?binding=kindle_edition&qid=170045403...

This set of five books (The Gift-Wrapped Romances) just came on KU. Billed as sweet clean romantic comedy.

>49 JayneCM: Often the sweet and clean description means it’s Christian fiction.

Currently reading Execution by S.J. Parris. All of this series casting Giordano Bruno as a spy/detective working for Sir Francis Walsingham in Elizabethan England are available on Everand except for the latest one.

>42 JayneCM: Here's a Kindle Unlimited book for multiple challenges: Sharpe's Eagle by Bernard Cornwell, which is the first published book in a series that Birgit is reading here. It would count for the HistoryCAT, the Historical Fiction Challenge and the PrizeCAT (it's on the Guardian 1000 list).

And the Warriors and Mercenaries square of the BingoDOG!

I just finished a Kindle Unlimited book that I recommend: An Afternoon to Kill by Shelley Smith. Short, with a surprise ending.

>50 pamelad: Just checked on the series. I don’t think it’s Christian fiction this time. Seems more like romantic comedy.

>52 pamelad: Perfect! I have been meaning to read Bernard Cornwell for ages.

>48 pamelad: I've just put Moriarty The Devil's Game and Moriarty The Silent Order in my TBR from Audible Plus.

>54 LadyoftheLodge: Good to know. Thank you.

>56 majkia: They're podcasts?

Queuing up some books for next year and found a great bargain on Kindle for The Human Comedy by Balzac. All 13, 625 pages for just $.99!

Just read The Godmother by Hannelore Cayre, which won the International CWA Dagger as well as other prizes. It's available in Kindle Unlimited. It's short!

>59 pamelad: Found somewhere to fit this in this year's challenges - it looks great!

Just found Edgar Allan Cozy on Kindle Unlimited - perfect for January MysteryKIT. Short stories in the cozy mystery style based on Poe's stories. Looks like fun!

And I definitely have The '86 Fix down for April SFFKIT - time travel. As a teen of the 80s (I was 16 in '86, just like the main character), this is a must read for me!

Are we including audiobooks here? The entire Audible (US) site is on sale right now, some titles up to 85% off.
I might have gotten a little carried away last night and picked up several books from series I haven't been able to find at any of my libraries, most of them were under $3.

>62 staci426: Absolutely! Congratulations on your Audible bargains.

>62 staci426: I purchased all 11 books for my thingaversary from Audible and paid anywhere from 99 cents to $5.99, but most of them less than $4.

The Internet Archive doesn't have all of Michael Innes's works but at a glance it does seem to have about 20

>63 pamelad: Thanks!

>64 Tess_W: Nice! You just reminded me that November was my 18th Thingaversary, I ended up with 19, so one for good luck :)

The Matrimonial Advertisement by Mimi Matthews is $1.49 today on Amazon Australia.

Recommending the Georgian romances and historical mysteries by Lucinda Brant.

The Beast Master series by Andre Norton is on Kindle Unlimited now. Some of her other books are also.

>69 SilverWolf28: As a tween, she was one of my favourite authors, especially the Witch World series.

>68 pamelad: Oh, good! I have Midnight Marriage on my kindle because it was for free last December.

>69 SilverWolf28: Thank you! I own all the books in the Magic Sequence but have found it difficult to find other books. I definitely want to get to Witch World finally.

Fortune Favors the Viscount by Caroline Linden is currently $A1.49 on Kindle. Perhaps it's available in other countries too?

>73 pamelad: Fortune Favors the Viscount is not offered by Kindle Unlimited here in Canada but it is on at a lower price. $6.99 Cdn.

Merlin's Booke by Jane Yolen is available on Kindle (US) fro $1.99 today.

>75 markon: Purchased today! TY! I also had 59 cents of credit (for allowing 2-day delivery from Amazon on another item) so it was a bargain for me @ $.140

Currently reading some of Dana Stabenow's Kate Shugak series of mysteries set in Alaska, which is available on Scribd/Everand.

I have not read any of these so far, but there is a list on medievalists.net that shows twenty books about the middle ages that can currently be downloaded for free:

https://www.medievalists.net/2023/12/20-open-access-books-middle-ages/

(Some of them only offer a few chapters, but for most it is the whole book.)

I have just seen that Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow is available on kobo UK for 99p. I've noticed that books discounted on kobo are often also discounted on kindle, so it might be worth you having a look (no idea if this is UK-only or wider).

>79 Jackie_K: No bargain in Kindle in US--$14.99

I just bought Courtney Milan's The Duke Who Didn't for $A.99 on Kindle. Milan is of Chinese heritage, and so is her heroine, so I'm planning to read the book for a Bingo square.

Rebecca F Kuang's Yellowface is currently for sale on kobo UK at 99p.

Out is in sale for $1.99 on Kindle (US)

>83 lsh63: LOL too late! Today it is $11.99!

>84 Tess_W: Wow when they say for a limited time they really mean it!

https://americanwritersmuseum.org/new-works-to-enter-the-public-domain-in-2024/

A few notable works entering the public domain this year. Including Tigger! The real Tigger, not the Disney Tigger :) As The House At Pooh Corner enters public domain this year.

Expect more retellings this year - although I don't think we will get as many as when The Great Gatsby hit the public domain!

I couldn't resist The String Diaries by Stephen Lloyd Jones on sale today for the Kindle for $2.99. Fingers crossed - I am always on the lookout for good horror.

I just noticed that the first six books in the Murderbot Diaries series are on Kindle Unlimited.

KoboPlus has a lot of readable historical romances, including plenty of steamless and closed-door books from the eighties and nineties, which I've labelled Vintage. I find more books I want to read on KoboPlus than on KindleUnlimited because KP has big selection of re-published oldies, whereas Kindle Unlimited has a lot of books that are published straight to Kindle. KP also has lots of vintage crime novels.

Regency Pirates by Jennifer Ashley KoboPlus (Three books)
Miss Gordon's Mistake by Anita Mills KoboPlus (Vintage)
The Country Cousins by Dinah Dean KoboPlus (Vintage)

Some other oldies worth trying are Barbara Metzger and Edith Layton.

>89 pamelad: Jennifer Ashley also writes historical mysteries as Ashley Gardner and two of those series are also on KP: Leonidas the Gladiator Mysteries and Captain Lacey Regency Mysteries

>90 Robertgreaves: She’s prolific! I’ve tried a Captain Lacey mystery, but couldn’t get into it. Recommending The Northminster Mysteries by Harriet Smart. Kindle Unlimited.

Another Ashley Gardner historical crime series: Below Stairs Mysteries. KoboPlus. Will try one.

>90 Robertgreaves: That's interesting. When I looked on KoboPlus, the Below Stairs Mysteries were not included

>92 Robertgreaves: Had another look and found that A Soupcon of Poison, which I've downloaded, is a novella, as are the only other two books of this series available on KP. The others are expensive in the Kobo shop. They're much cheaper ($A4.99) in the Kindle shop.

Gerald Durrell's The Corfu Trilogy is in the kobo UK store today for £0.99. When it's there, it's usually discounted elsewhere too (I found out about it thanks to bookbub). I snapped it up, 3 books for 99p is alright! :)

Currently reading some of Aliette de Bodard's Xuya Universe novellas on KoboPlus, set in a universe where the main cultural origin of Earth's spacefaring peoples is Vietnamese.

>95 Robertgreaves: That sounds interesting. I found some on Everand also. Will add to the wish list.

If anyone liked West With Giraffes, the author's new book Mockingbird Summer is 99p on Kindle in the UK today.

If anyone else took a BB from JayneCM for Pemberley: Mr. Darcy's Dragon. The book is currently FREE on Kindle (Amazon US) and the second in the series is only $0.99. The series is also part of Kindle Unlimited.

Today is the Romance Book Blast, if anyone's interested in some romance freebies: https://www.romancebooklovers.com/

>98 lowelibrary: Thanks for the tip! Just downloaded it!

>99 susanj67: My goodness, so many that sound good! My Kindle is happy, happy! Thanks for the tip. I love my Library Thing friends!

>98 lowelibrary: Ooh yay, thanks for sharing! Snapping it up at Barnes & Noble now (it's free there too).

>99 susanj67: Thanks. I snatched a Beauty and the Beast retelling.

>101 LadyoftheLodge:; >103 lowelibrary:; Always happy to help!

Today we have the Cozy Mystery Book Blast, with 170 books to download: https://cozymysterybookclub.com/bookblast/

>104 susanj67: Thanks again for the tip! I like cozy mysteries!

>105 LadyoftheLodge: I downloaded 15, and then started getting "You bought this last year" message, suggesting I need to get on and read them!

Today is the Witchy Book Blast, with 90 titles available. http://www.witchybookworms.com/

>106 susanj67: Thank you for the link. I blew my book buying ban here, thankfully they were all free.

>107 lowelibrary: I don't think freebies are caught by a buying ban, as you're not actually buying them ;-) Yes, this is why my Kindle is groaning with random stuff. I did start a cosy mystery yesterday so I can convince myself I'm making a dent in the pile.

>108 susanj67: Agreed! I have way too much stuff on my Kindle, but the freebies are too good to pass up. I see it as giving authors a chance to have their work read by new audiences.

In Australia, Julia Quinn's Bridgerton series is now available on KindleUnlimited. Don't know whether it's available in other countries, but worth checking.

>110 pamelad: I don't use Kindle Unlimited, but just from looking at the US Amazon website, it looks like only the first three Bridgerton book are free on KU. But still a good deal if you're looking to catch up with the series before the next season of the TV show hits Netflix!

>111 christina_reads: Thanks Christina. On a closer look, it's just the first three in Australia too. I got carried away!