Chasing Tale (1/19/13): Does Canada Really Need Its Own Kindle Store?

Chasing Tale is a regular look at the e-books I've recently downloaded and added to my to-be-read pile. Some are review copies forwarded to me, some are purchases from Amazon's Kindle Store or elsewhere, and others are freebies that caught my eye.

Amazon.ca finally has a Kindle Store, and my reaction to the promotional push from them is: so what?

If you've ever been to that site, you know it's like a hotdog stand compared to the sprawling megamart that is its American counterpart, Amazon.com.

Now, maybe I'd be a little excited if Canada's new Kindle Store had better deals, but from what I've seen the whole enterprise strikes me as utterly redundant. Things are working adequately enough on the U.S. site for me, so registering my Kindle with the new Canadian site would wind up causing more trouble than its worth. I mean, why even bother? It's not like Canada isn't already the 51st state.

Is it the language barrier? Yeah, that's probably it.

Bah, enough ranting. My last Chasing Tale blog post highlighted my Christmas shopping spree leading up to the big day, with well over a dozen books on that list. Well, after I received an Amazon gift card for Christmas, I went bazonkers buying even more.

The Best Horror of the Year: Vol. One edited by Ellen Datlow - After getting three free e-books from Night Shade (Wastelands, Rob Ziegler's Seed, E.J. Swift's Osiris) through a promotional offer over the holidays, I couldn't help but go out and buy one more. Ireviewed VolumeTwo a couple years ago, but hadn't read this one yet, so I figured I'd add it to the TBR pile.

Soft Kiss, Hard Death (Sam Truman Mystery #3) by Tobin Elliott - All right, I officially have all four Sam Truman novellas. Now, I just have to read them. I liked the first one, with its hard-boiled approach to urban fantasy, so I'm hopeful for the other three.

The Burning Time by J.G. Faherty - Faherty will be stopping by with a guest post on the blog in February as part of his blog tour, and I received an advance review copy of his new novel. Kudos to Darkeva for organizing everything.

Hoodtown by Christa Faust - I haven't been a rasslin' fan for years, but Christa is a helluva writer, which is the real hook for this book. I love her Angel Dare series, so I'm curious to see what her imagination has cooked up with this book.

The Dead Man Vol. 4 created by Lee Goldberg and William Rabkin - I found this one tucked away in my Kindle archives. Not sure why it went there and didn't download straight to my Kindle like most good little ARCs. I'm just starting my way through Volume 3, but at least I'm catching up on the Dead Man series, finally. This one has stories from Joel Goldman, Lisa Klink, and Phoef Sutton.

Ink by Damien WaltersGrintalis - I mentioned this new novel in the Samhain Horror line just a few weeks ago (WLW#124). Again, Samhain is doing a pretty good job scouting talent, and my gut tells me Damien's debut novel won't disappoint.

Corktown by Ty Hutchinson - There was an indy author giveaway hop during mid-December, so I checked a bunch of the authors' blogs out, including that of Ty Hutchinson. This one about a feisty FBI agent looked quite promising, so I threw my name in the hat. And, wouldn't ya know, I won a copy.

Hyenas by Joe R. Lansdale - A Hap & Leonard novella? Sold.

Berserk by Tim Lebbon - This one sounds like a wicked little tale involving an undead child aiding a grieving man out for revenge. I enjoyed Lebbon's novel, Bar None, but I haven't read any other of his novels since. I guess if I need a second dose of his storytelling, this book ought to suit me fine.

Rough Cut by Gary McMahon - Honestly, I saw Gary McMahon's name, then a 99 cent price tag. I couldn't buy it fast enough.

Inheritance by Joe McKinney - Evil Jester Press and Joe McKinney offered up this haunted house novel as a freebie over the holidays. Joe McKinney? Ghosts? Free? That's a trifecta, I'd say.

Fangs in Vain and After: The Shock by Scott Nicholson - Scott Nicholson is one of those tried-and-tested authors that I've come to appreciate, not just for being a really good storyteller, but also for the obscene number of bargains he's offered up to would-be readers over the last couple years.

White Picket Prisons by Kelli Owen - I'm already a fan of Kelli's work (The Neighborhood and Waiting Out Winter), and I already have another of her novels on my to-be-read pile (Six Days), so when I saw this novel on sale for a dollar, I just had to get it.

The Last Deep Breath, Frayed and Fuckin' Lie Down AlreadybyTom Piccirilli - While I was giving away a gift certificate to Crossroad Press on my blog last month, which sells quite a few of Tom's e-books, I bought a few books for myself, too.

Fast Lane by Dave Zeltserman - A little before Christmas, Dave Zeltserman put a few of his e-books on sale. This was the only one I hadn't already bought. A P.I. novel that sounds gritty as hell, I have a hunch it'll be another departure in style and tone from the other two of his books that I've read so far, Lorne Field and Blood Crimes.

That, boys and girls, is an effing ton of books. And ya know what? There are even more, but I'll highlight those next week.