Top 100 book apps: iStoryBooks

Since we believe in the digital future of books as a way to reduce eventually the footprint of books, we also believe in apps. Book apps are integral part of the digital age of books and we want to share with you some great book apps we find and thus we are assembling a list of the top 100 book apps.

In order to get into our list apps need to both book/ebook related and affordable - we chose only apps that are either free or cost less than $2.

From now on, every Monday we will update you with a new app on out list of top book apps. Today we're happy to begin with a great book app for children - iStoryBooks. This app is for iPhone and android and it's free.

Here are more details about iStoryBooks app: Free Interactive Children's Books for the new generation! iStoryBooks comes with free books that read itself to your little ones! Yes the books include text and audio. We publish a new book every 2 weeks. Kids can enjoy these books on their own or you can read to them.

When we publish new books they will appear automatically in the App. All books we publish are picture books with audio. We welcome your valuable comments and suggests. Please post your comments and suggestions, play games, puzzles and download coloring pages at facebook.com/iStoryBooks.

Type of books include children's books, story books, bedtime stories, toddler books, preschool books, nursery school books, kindergarten books and picture books with accompanying audio of the text in each page.

Some of our popular books include:

Fairy Tales
* Cinderella, the classic story about a beautiful girl named Cinderella who always hoped for the best even during hard times and eventually, her wishes come true!
* Snow White, the story of a princess who was as beautiful on the inside as she was on the outside.
* Cenicienta, the spanish (espanol) version our most popular book Cinderella.

Animal Story Books
* The Blue Fox
* The Crow the Doves and the Mouse
* The Mean Lion and the Smart Rabbit
* The Crow, the Doves and the Mouse
* Three Little Pigs

Folk Stories
* Stone Soup
* Little Red Hen
* Little Red Riding Hood

Educational Books
* A to Z Animals, A fun book to learn alphabets with pictures of animals.
* A to Z Fruits and Vegetables - Junior/Preschool/Yummy Riddles - A set of three books to learn alphabets with pictures of fruits and vegetables.
* The World of Trucks - Big and Small - A fun book with pictures and engine sounds of Trucks of various sizes and shapes. Includes Fire Truck with siren and horn, Crane Truck, Garbage Truck, Tow Truck, Picukup Truck, Dump Truck, Road Train etc.
* The World of Dinosaurs - Big and Small
* National Monuments of America
* Things that go - Book with pictures and sounds of cars, trucks, boats and ships.

You can check top 100 book apps at http://www.ecolibris.net/bookapps.asp. As you'll see, this list is in work, but we promise to update it every week until we'll have all 100 book apps.

You're also welcome to check our list of 100 green apps.

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

Eco-Libris: Check our special holiday offer!

The greenest Christmas tree - a book tree!

If you can't decide yet whether to buy a fake or real Christmas tree, because you don't know which option is greener, we have an alternative offer for you - a book tree.

Yes, a colorful tree made of books! Sounds impossible? Just look at the photos sent to GalleyCat with great trees people made from books. And of course, it's not just a unique and fun idea, it's also the greenest tree you can have for Christmas!

To see more great photos of book trees, visit Galleycat flickr's page.

And if you still consider which tree to buy and want to know which tree is greener - plastic or natural you can read the answer here and also check this New York Times video:




Photo credit: galleycat, flickr

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

Eco-Libris: Plant a tree for every book you read!

Top 100 green apps: Every Body Walk! - A Walking App

Last week we updated you on our effort to create a list of the top 100 apps that will help you go green as part of our effort to promote a more sustainable lifestyle. Apps become an integral part of our life and a valuable tool and we believe we should also take advantage of them when it comes go greening up our life.

Every Friday we update you with a new app on the list, and today we're happy to introduce you with a great app that hopefully will get you walking! Our app is Every Body Walk! from everybodywalk.org . This app is for iPhone and android and it's free.

Here are more details about Every Body Walk! app:
Every Body Walk! is committed to get Americans up and moving. The Every Body Walk! app enables you to personalize your walking plan, connect with walking communities, learn about the latest fitness trends and tips and more. Get connected and get walking!

Track and save your own walking routes, build your walking history--then share your progress on Facebook! Discover walking groups and walking paths near you with an interactive map!
Read the latest news about walking, health news, trends and more!

Watch videos that include walking tips, how communities are embracing walking, advice from experts and more!

You can check top 100 green apps at http://www.ecolibris.net/greenapps.asp. As you'll see, this list is in work, but we promise to update it every week until we'll have all 100 green apps.

Last week's green app - MailStop Mobile app from Catalog Choice

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

Eco-Libris: Check our special holiday offer!

My article on Triple Pundit on the evil app of Amazon

Here's an update on a new article I published today on Triple Pundit with the latest news on the new price check app, which is supposed “to guide you in making informed purchase decisions”, and got by now the nickname 'the evil app'. Why? Check the article..

The article is entitled 'Amazon’s Evil App Makes It the New Enemy of Main Street'. Here's the first part of the article:

Amazon has always had a love-hate relationship with small businesses. For some, it provided a well-needed online platform to sell their products, while for others it created a competition that drove them out of business. Now, with Amazon’s new price comparison app, which was promoted last Saturday with further discounts for anyone who goes to brick and mortar retailers, but chooses to buy at Amazon, it looks like things are changing. Amazon is becoming the new villain retailer threatening the future of local economies, a role that Wal-Mart filled until recently

To read the full article go to http://www.triplepundit.com/2011/12/amazon-new-evil-app-makes-new-enemy-main-street/

Links to other articles I wrote for Triple Pundit can be found at http://www.triplepundit.com/author/raz-godelnik/

To read more on how green is your (and my) Kindle, visit our website at http://www.ecolibris.net/kindle.asp

Image credit: Wayne Senville, Flickr Creative Commons

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

Eco-Libris: Plant trees for your books!

Audiobook for the holidays - part 2: Our Choice by Al Gore (and a giveaway!)

Today we continue our series 'Audiobook for the holidays', where we review, recommend and give away 4 great audiobooks. Last week we introduced you to Boomerang by Michael Lewis. Today we're excited to introduce you to an audiobook that is maybe not very new, but given the news from Durban is more relevant than ever.

Our second audiobook on this series is OUR CHOICE: A Plan To Solve the Climate Crisis by Al Gore, read by John Slattery (aka Roger Sterling) and Cynthia Nixon (aka Miranda of Sex and the City).

The audiobook is published by Simon & Schuster Audio. Here's an excerpt from the audiobook narrated by Sex & the City's Cynthia Nixon, Mad Men's John Slattery, and Al Gore:



Here's more about "OUR CHOICE" from Al Gore's introduction to the book:

It is now abundantly clear that we have at our fingertips all of the tools we need to solve the climate crisis. The only missing ingredient is collective will.

Properly understood, the climate crisis is an unparalleled opportunity to finally and effectively address many persistent causes of suffering and misery that have long been neglected, and to transform the prospects of future generations, giving them a chance to live healthier, more prosperous lives as they continue their pursuit of happiness.

Our Choice gathers in one place all of the most effective solutions that are available now and that, together, will solve this crisis. It is meant to depoliticize the issue as much as possible and inspire readers to take action -- not only on an individual basis, but as participants in the political processes by which every country, and the world as a whole, makes the choice that now confronts us.

There is an old African proverb that says, "If you want to go quickly, go alone; if you want to go far, go together." We have to go far, quickly.

We can solve the climate crisis. It will be hard, to be sure, but if we can make the choice to solve it, I have no doubt whatsoever that we can and will succeed.

It sounds like a great book and I warmly recommend to get the audiobook - not only that you'll be saving paper, but you'll have it read by John Slattery and Cynthia Nixon, which is a great added value to the interesting content the book has to offer.

"An Inconvenient Truth" made a difference in the way the world is understanding and dealing with global warming and contributed greatly to the progress we have seen in the last couple of years. We can only wonder what impact this book will have.

The audiobook is available on Amazon: http://amzn.to/rI8RoI and on iTunes: http://bit.ly/uulO2Z

GIVEAWAY ALERT!!

We're giving away two copies of this audiobook, one of them signed by Al Gore, courtesy of the publisher, Simon & Simon audio!

How you can win? Very simple. All you have to do is to retweet this post on twitter with the hashtag #ourchoice at the end of your tweet. We will have a raffle on Wednesday, December 21, 5:00PM EST between all the readers that will retweet by then. The winners will be announced the following day.

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

Eco-Libris: Promoting sustainable reading!

How investors can profit in the event Barnes & Noble file for bankruptcy

We are watching Barnes & Noble for sometime, discussing the possibility of bankruptcy, which after the one Borders went through seems less illusory.

If you looked at their latest financial results which were released two weeks ago you could see that bankruptcy is still an option, given the fact that B&N has no viable strategy for its brick and mortar bookstores and put all its efforts into the Nook. We believe that this is a risky strategy considering that B&N competes with Apple and Amazon, which have much deeper pockets and probably better devices to start with.

We're not the only ones who identified the risk of bankruptcy. Motley Fool analysts Austin Smith and Nick Crow also see this risk and they have an interesting video where they discuss how investors can protect themselves from such an event and even profit from it. You can find their video here.

To view the weekly changes in the index visit Barnes and Noble Bankruptcy Index on our website.

You can find more resources on the future of bookstores on our website at www.ecolibris.net/bookstores_future.asp

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

Eco-Libris: Working to green the book industry!

When Amazon tries to compete with Apple in the tablet market

Amazon tried to penetrate the tablet market lately with its new Kindle Fire, trying to create a cheap yet quality alternative to Apple's iPad, by far the most dominant tablet computer. As we learn today from the New York Times, it might be more difficult than what it looked like to Amazon in the first place.

The article ("As Kindle Fire Faces Critics, Remedies Are Promised") reveals that the Kindle Fire is generating a lot of negative customer feedback and therefore Amazon Amazon, although it does not say so, is soon likely to release an improved version of the device.

What's wrong with the Kindle Fire? The article explains: "A few of their many complaints: there is no external volume control. The off switch is easy to hit by accident. Web pages take a long time to load. There is no privacy on the device; a spouse or child who picks it up will instantly know everything you have been doing. The touch screen is frequently hesitant and sometimes downright balky."

Some analysts think customers can still live with it, given the $199 price tag - “I would have expected things to be even worse at this point,” Gene Munster, an analyst with Piper Jaffray, said, adding that initial buyers were usually the most critical. Pricing will save the Fire, he predicted. At $199 versus $500 for an iPad, “Amazon has a lot of air cover to have a B-level product.”

But Amazon can't count on it, which is why we're going to see soon, according to the article probably in the spring, an improved version of the device.

The lesson to Amazon is clear - you need to come more prepared when you try to penetrate new markets and generate high expectations of your new products.

The lesson to consumers is also clear - don't buy the Kindle Fire now. Save your money and wait for the Kindle Fire 2.

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

Eco-Libris: Check our special holiday offer!