Comprar Con Nosotros

Of the roughly 5 million books in print in the U.S., almost 377,000 are now available in Kindle editions. You might assume that these books are those that are most in demand by Kindle readers. Actually the Kindle library is just growing like topsy, based I assume on which titles publishers want to convert to Kindle format.

Here's my current top ten list of some of the weird and esoteric books you may never wish to purchase for your Kindle.

1. How To Trapping - Build Snares, Deadfalls, Homemade Traps & More by Lee Overton. If you're an avid trapper, you may want this one, but I'd venture a guess that illustrations of the snares, deadfalls and traps would be helpful and (hopefully) they're in the Kindle version. The author recommends this work, also, for folks who want to protect their personal property with booby traps and/or those who want to build a cabin and live "off the grid". I wonder if the Unabomber had this one. But wait, the description says it includes over 180 illustrations in 300 pages as maybe this is just what the trapper ordered.

2. A System of Instruction in the Practical Use of the Blowpipe. by Anonymous. At first I thought this might be about the use of the blowgun as a weapon in South America or Southeast Asia. But then I saw the subtitle: Being a Graduated Course of Analysis for the Use of Students and All Those Engaged in the Examination of Metallic Combinations. So it looks like we're talking chemistry. Although the Kindle edition on Amazon lists the author as "Anonymous", it appears that the book may have been written by one G. W. Plympton. If you are one of the - probably - minority of Kindle readers who DO want to read this book, check it out for free at Google Books.

3. Frictional Electricity by Charles Heber Clark. No, this is not a scientific treatise on electricity. Turns out it's a humorous short story (20 pages) reprinted from The Saturday Evening Post. If you're interested, don't buy from Amazon for $3.65 when you can get it free from Manybooks.

4. Bwe Karen Dictionary: With Texts and English-Karen Word List by Eugenie J. A. Henderson and Anna J. Allott. If you have been waiting breathlessly for this Bwe-Karen dictionary, you'd do better purchasing the paperback edition for $99.95. The Kindle edition will cost you $108.05. Why the 50 cents? Your guess is as good as mine. But wait! While I was preparing this article, the Kindle price was reduced to $91.96. Maybe it wasn't selling too well. The Karen languages and Bwe are spoken in Burma (Myanmar).

5. Telling Fortunes By Tea Leaves by Cicely Kent. Hey, don't laugh, this one's free in two different Kindle editions. And believe it or not, this is only one of two different books on fortune-telling with tea leaves available on Amazon. The other one is Tea-Cup Reading and Fortune-Telling by Tea Leaves, by a "Highland Seer". Enjoy!

6. Rick & Bubba's Guide to the Almost Nearly Perfect Marriage by Rick Burgess and Bill Bussey. You might actually want to read this one - it's gotten a bunch of good reviews on Amazon. I put it on the list because the title struck me as funny. It includes the ten worst ways to say "I'm Sorry" and discussions of communication in marriage (Grunting Is Not a Language), finances (I Thought You Paid the Gas Bill) and playing sports together (I Did Too Let You Win).

7. Water Baby Outfit: Child's Knitted Swim/Bathing Suit (Vintage Pattern). Knit this vintage bathing suit for your young Shirley Temple look-alike. Knitters may not want to struggle with this vintage pattern when so many others are available on the web for free. Just saying.

8. Building Bat Houses by Dale Evva Gelfand. One of the volumes in the Storey Country Wisdom series, this one would actually be indispensable for those Kindle owners planning to build their own bat houses on (hopefully) land in the country. If this is one of the country skills you hope to master, looks like you've found the perfect reference. Other titles in this series cover such practical subjects as growing and using garlic, use and maintenance of axes and chainsaws and building a small barn for your horse. All kidding aside, this is really a great series of books about all aspects of country living. I purchased another book in the series (The Knitting Problem Solver) in paperback some years ago and still refer to it on occasion.

9. Aunt Prune's Sweet, Sweet Photo Captions by Cynthia Mollanen Rakes. Who is Aunt Prune and how is she captioning photos on the Kindle? No clue, but it costs $12.95 to find out. Yummy looking cover though.

10. Violin Making by Walter H. Mayson. (The Strad Library, 9). For aspiring violin makers, the Amazon Kindle bookstore features three editions of this classic work - one of which is free. I'd venture to say, however, that you would have a better chance of making a playable violin if you purchased a modern hardcover well-illustrated book on the subject.