Tarrano the Conqueror, the racist pub domain book where the Venusians served as surrogates for immigrants, turned out to be a dud as recreation, too—not just in the PC Department.
Here is a far more promising freebie, with the important caveat that it may be worth as much to you as what you paid for the link. On the other hand, consider buying the p-edition if this one pans out.
“This one” is Mothers & Other Monsters—author Maureen F. McHugh‘s Small Beer Press book that Nancy Pearl, a Seattle librarian well-known to NPR listeners, describes as a “fabulous collection of short stories.” Pearl says: “Your start with ordinary situations, and when the fantastical occurs, you’re so comfortable with the world that she’s created that you don’t question it as being strange or unsettling.” For example, a woman meets a potential SO at a dog obedience school, a rather prosaic situation, except her problem is how to endear him to her dead brother, who’s picky about her male companions. As for M Day connections, you’re on your own. (Spotted via Mike Cane.)
Two other good possibilities from SB, already mentioned here, are The Baum Plan for Financial Independence and Other Stories by John Kessel and Stranger Things Happen by Kelly Link. Meanwhile, the latest giveaway from TOR is Reiffen’s Choice by S.C. Butler. Sign up here for TOR’s freebie program.
In the area of nonfiction, the Encyclopedia Britannica 2008 Book of the Year: The World in 2007 is among the latest offerings of the ad-supported Wowio service, unfortunately available only to people in the States for the moment. Includes items on MyFace and Facebook, among others. Wowio has also just released a freebie of the novel Child of the Dark Star by Moyra Caldecott, a long-time booster of e-books.
For people outside the States: Mother’s Day is the second Sunday of May in the U.S. Here’s a list of the dates in other countries.
Related: Tor.com causing an odd guilty sensation, posted in the Digital Copyright Canada.
