David Ellison sent me news of his memoir being offered FREE right now for kindle on Amazon.

available on Amazon for free

Here’s the overview:

What if you should have died before you were even born? What if, since you knew you were living on borrowed time, you’d lived, taught, traveled and wondered outrageously? Why, sixty years later you’d have one hell of a good story!

A unique memoir/travelogue/reflection-on-life, Santander features poignant short stories that, like pieces of a puzzle, create a captivating whole exploring themes of personal growth, adventure, justice, wonder, disillusionment, and ultimately gratitude. Although Santander recounts a teacher’s wild exploits and perceptive musings, it appeals to anyone who has raised or taught children, who’s traveled the world of countries and ideas (or who’d like to live vicariously though someone who has); anyone who’s struggled to find compassion for oneself and others; who, in the words of Robert Frost, “had a lover’s quarrel with the world” and tried to make a difference. Santander pays homage to living an authentic life.

From Santander:
“Terrified, I finally realized the federal agents answered to no one and could do with me whatever they pleased. I thought of the death squads who had “disappeared” so many others into the Central American jungle.”

“I was filled with awe and gratitude, but with sadness, too…the constant companions, it seems to me, of anyone who dares to travel with an open mind and heart through the world, through history, and through life.”

“Children all have that same amazing power over me—not only to make me laugh, but to make me believe in myself, in them, and in life.”

(link provided by the author and is not an affiliate link for Beth’s Book-Nook Blog)

Each summer brings a refreshing wave of mental energy and more time to me so that I can think about how different aspects of my life are going. This summer I wanted to update my blog to give it a new look. If you know WordPress, you know how EASY this is to do! I love the new look! It’s clean and simple and works better than the old format (which is “no longer supported”). I hope to replace the header picture with a picture of Napa once I find one that is not copywrit, etc. I may have to take one myself! 🙂

The other thing you may notice is that I am no longer an Amazon Associate. This was unforeseen and rather disappointing. I’ve often included a link to see the book I’m talking about on Amazon. Or sometimes I’ve included an indiebound link. Regardless, when I first started with Amazon I made sure to include the proper text in all of my posts. I made some money the first year (about $90) – mainly because someone logged on and bought a book and then bought a laptop and printer and more. Rules apparently changed and the next time I made about $10. With the rise of kindle, I began to make something like 4 cents if someone logged on and bought a book. Rule changes decreed that I couldn’t get paid until I made $10. It really didn’t seem worth my time to post a link for EVERYTHING plus I have NEVER done this for money. I’ve blogged to share my love of books. I had hoped that maybe I’d get a book to review every now and then (I get like 200 a year which is about ten times more than I expected!) and I hoped I’d meet 1 or 2 people who also enjoyed books and didn’t think I was weird for loving to read (I’ve met countless readers, authors, and bloggers – all who love books!!). So imagine my dismay when in early June I received an email saying that Amazon was booting me from their associates program. Not enough sales. Okay, Amazon, that’s fair, I thought. But then I read that I had to take down ALL links to Amazon on my blog! I have blogged for over TEN years and have over 1000 posts!!!! I immediately became quite anxious, fearing that Amazon would somehow blacklist me, but with some constant hacking away, I’ve managed to, to my knowledge, remove ALL my Amazon links. (If you see any, tell me!). And doing this over the past 6 weeks has been like looking through an old yearbook – so many fun memories of books I’ve read and photos of things! While it was a pain in the neck, it was also kind of fun.

So – new look, no Amazon (Sing it: “I’m not worthy!”– Into the Woods reference), but still lots of great books to share and lots of great readers – like you! Thanks for coming along on the journey!!