Free books anyone? There seem to be oodles of sites listing free books lately. Most of them come from the Amazon Kindle store, but there are others that do not.

Three places to get free (or very, very cheap) books:

Books Should Be Free:
http://www.booksshouldbefree.com/

Daily Cheap Reads:
http://dailycheapreads.com/category/free/

Kindle Bestsellers (contains both paid and free bestsellers)

What could be better than a vast library of ebooks to read? How about a vast library of FREE ebooks to read? The site LendInk says: "LendInk is the easiest way to lend and borrow eBooks from friends. LendInk allows you to search and borrow books for the Amazon Kindle and Barnes & Noble Nook."

I signed up for a free account, and in minutes had submitted 2 books to lend and requested another. The lender has 48 hours to tell you if you get the book or not, so I'm still waiting to see what happens there. So far, the site seems to be just what every ebook enthusiast would want: easy to use, with a good selection of books to choose from, and best of all, FREE.

I'm sure you've noticed, but iPad is definitely trending right now! There are iPad Wallpapers, iPad video tutorials, unique bamboo iPad cases and covers, iPad frames (yes, you read that right! A frame for your iPad!), iPad apps to "hide" your iPad from others, etc. Today while browsing to find cool, trending news, I even saw an iPad for Idiots book which promises to be quicker than reading the actual iPad manual!

I think the iPad, and tablets like them, are the wave of the future. I can't wait to report on other trends in the iPad world. There are sure to be quite a few coming up that will fascinate me. Of course, I'm easily fascinated by technology gadgets, apps and gizmos.

Kit Livingston is in for a huge surprise when he gets caught in a storm and runs into this long-lost grandfather. Unbelievably, his grandfather insists that he has discovered that ley lines throughout Britian are actually pathways that cross time and space, and that these same ley lines are responsible for his disappearance long ago.

Kit, in trying to prove the truth to his unbelieving girlfriend, accidentally becomes caught up in his grandfather's mission: to find the Skin Map. The Skin Map is the only known recorded map of the ley lines, and both hero and villain alike seek the map with every resource available. The one who holds the map will have an unbeatable advantage when navigating the ley lines, and in that advantage would lie untold power.

Author Stephen Lawhead has crafted a grand adventure in The Skin Map. The writing is fresh and unique, and the story-line is incredibly original. The novel does suffer a few dry periods in which the plot seems to become bogged down in the details, but for the most part, it was quite an enjoyable read. The one true flaw in the story is the ending - virtually none of the details get wrapped up in the end, leaving readers hanging, waiting for the next book in the series. Perhaps others may love an ending which is not really an ending at all, however, for me, it is one of my greatest pet peeves. I absolutely detest an ending which leaves readers hanging.

I don't usually read writing books, but I thought I'd give STORY ENGINEERING a try. And I'm glad I did.

Author Larry Brooks has packed this book with interesting and pertinent information that every writer will benefit from knowing. Story Engineering is, as the title suggests, a blueprint for writing. The book predominately covers the fiction "blueprint", but the author suggests that the tools described can help writers with some forms of non-fiction as well.

Being a "seat of the pants" writer as described in Brooks's book, I found it quite interesting to read about the "six core competencies of successful writing" and how they apply to my "organic" writing style. These core competencies, Brooks insists, are mandatory if a writer is trying to get published, and he provides a good argument for each.

Brooks has crafted an amazingly informative book in Story Engineering that I think every writer - other than the A-listers of course - will benefit from reading. I know that I certainly found several nuggets of information that I'll be using in future novels!

Nick of Time (A Bug Man Novel) by Tim Downs was a refreshing surprise. The book was out of the ordinary and interesting.

Nick Polchak, otherwise known as the Bug Man, is getting married. At least, that was the plan, but after a friend of Nick's is murdered and he lets himself get pulled into the investigation, he starts to have doubts. While trying to solve a murder, he also tries to sort out his feelings, leaving Alena, his fiance, twiddling her thumbs at home.

Alena is not one for twiddling her thumbs for long, so she sets out after Nick, along with three of her most well-trained dogs, to track him down.

The unpredictable twists and turns in Nick of Time (A Bug Man Novel) will keep you guessing and turning the pages. The story was fast paced and highly enjoyable. I particularly like Nick's acerbic sense of humor and rash disregard for authority.

I hadn't previously read anything by Tim Downs, but I'll now be going out to get the rest of the series. I really want to read the rest of Nick and Alena's story.

If you like suspense laced with a side of humor, I think you'll like Nick of Time (A Bug Man Novel) .

Beyond Talent: Become Someone Who Gets Extraordinary Results by John Maxwell is an inspiring self help book meant to coach those with talent into becoming a "talent plus" person. Maxwell guides readers on a road to implementing the steps to take their talent and maximize it.

Beyond Talent: Become Someone Who Gets Extraordinary Results contains plenty of great examples of people who have used initiative, belief, preparation, practice, character and focus to turn their talent into something big, something great, something that fulfills them and helps them to achieve their purpose in life.

Maxwell's writing style is positive and encouraging and Beyond Talent: Become Someone Who Gets Extraordinary Results is filled with great advice on how to get moving, make your talent work for you, and score in the game of life.

If you're looking for a good book to coach you on how to achieve more with the talent you have, you'll want to read John Maxwell's Beyond Talent: Become Someone Who Gets Extraordinary Results .

The iPad 2 is thinner and lighter than its original counterpart. It weighs only 1.33 pounds, making it an easy device to tote around! The frame has been more streamlined, making it more ergonomic, in my opinion, and less unstable when placed on a flat surface. The iPad 2 sports a new A5 dual-core processor that, when combined with the iOS 4.3 which it ships with, makes it super fast. And the ten-hour battery life allows you to use it for long periods of time without searching for a plug in. The iPad 2 also comes with dual-cameras, one front-facing and one rear-facing. Cameras are a nice addition to the iPad 2, allowing users to chat via Facetime as well as take photos and videos (rear-camera is capable of shooting video at 720p HD). Combine all of these features with new Airprint capabilites, a new Apple Digital AV adapter that lets users output HD video, and some really smart Smartcovers and you've got pure Apple magic. Once again, Apple has outclassed everyone else in the market and provided a top-notch, not-to-be-missed product that once you use it, you'll find it hard to live without. I definately think that everyone would love an iPad 2. I recommend that you get the Apple iPad 2 MC916LL/A Tablet (64GB) if you plan to do a lot of video editing on your iPad 2.

The Stem of Time is a quick, fast, fun read.

Jillian is a scientist, determined to cure cancer, and she has the brains to do it, she just doesn't have the time. In order to make more time, she invents a time stem, enabling her to slow time and allow her to do the work of five people. But, she never expected the consequences this could have: she draws the unwanted attention of the Council, has an assassin sent after her, a bounty placed on her head and gains a new husband, whom she's never met. And all she wanted to do was to cure cancer.

For an inexpensive read, I think you'll like it. Available as an ebook for Kindle and Nook.