What to Read? Part 5

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Honestly, the pickings are slim today on the Top 100 Free. Overwhelmingly sexy romance, even the book in 1st place is a romantic mystery. Compare the top six free to the top free paid.





Top 100 Paid for Aug. 27th 2017





First item to draw my attention is that Beneath a Scarlet Sky, about to be made into a movie, is number 5. For $1.99, that’s almost as good as free.

Next, #1, #5, and #6 have over 16,000 reviews with an average above 4 stars. Sixteen thousand readers cannot lie!

It’s an interesting note that two of the top six are tales of courage and love during the Nazi years (Beneath a Scarlet Sky and From Sand and Ash). Three are Thrillers/Suspense. All are priced below $5.00.

However, if what you want is FREE, then you’d be better off searching the Free offerings under specific categories. 

For example, Top Free in Fantasy or Top Free in Science Fiction. Below is a listing for today of the Top Free in “First Contact,” a subgenre of Science Fiction. Notice that even here, you’ll find the erotic romance (i.e.: Her Alien Trader). However, you’ll find a wider scope of pure sci fi.





Here is the equivalent listing of First Contact paid books in the same category for Aug. 27.




You’ll find the list is primarily solid science fiction with prices ranging from $0.99 to $4.99. As you encounter titles by traditional authors, prices do increase because those are set by the publishers and not the authors.

In conclusion, to find a choice of free books that fall into categories such as mystery, fantasy, short reads, suspense/thrillers, science fiction, etc., you must search out the Top Free list for the specific genres. Otherwise, you get bombarded by the erotic romances that seem to populate the Top Free Kindle list. 

If you want a wide selection of true best-selling books, then you’ll have to browse the paid list for each genre. However, those books are reasonably priced, and you’ll seldom have to pay more than a few dollars. Many are on sale for as little as $0.99 and you’ll get excellent choices.

My choice for today from the Top 100 Free is Skeleton's Key. It has an average of 4.5 stars out of 500 reviews. It's first category is Hard-boiled>Mystery>Thriller>Suspense. 



I also got (from the paid list) Beneath a Scarlet Sky for $1.99, which I think is almost free.


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