Anyone who knows me knows I love my Kindle - for lots of reasons. Just one of those reasons is the fact that most days there are free titles. And, I do love a freebie!

Sure, these vary in genre and quality, and there's obvious promotional  agendas in them being made available: to hook readers into a series, to promote new authors, to clear slow-moving titles, for example. But, with three happy Kindlers in my family, I work on the principle that most titles are worth a look - and if nobody's interested in reading them: left-flick, delete, gone! 

So, this morning I was pretty excited to see that publishing heavyweight, Harper Collins, has made available more than 120 titles for FREE to Australian readers. (Most Kindlers know there are geographic restrictions that limit what books are available where, and these titles appear to be Australian-only at the moment.)

Titles span all genres and include fiction and non-fiction, adults and children's fiction. There are several well-known authors amongst the list including:

• Irish writer, Cecelia Ahern
• Historical writer, Bernard Cornwell, has a three title omnibus of his Sharpe's Company titles.
• Two titles from Dean Koontz
• Jack Higgins

...Just to list a few of the titles I grabbed as downloads for pre-orders.

You can browse the list of 40+ pre-orders HERE and the full list of 120+ titles HERE.

I'll happily confess to being a literature geek. So when I received my morning email from Flavorwire.com with a subject header of 'Incredibly adorable baby pictures of famous authors' of course I was going to click through!

I love peeking through family albums of old pics, and it's even better that these days social media, like Facebook, makes sharing such pictures even easier. While I would not trade the convenience of today's digital photography, there's something special about the faded greys of black and white photos from the past. Maybe it's because there is a nostalgic-value associated with such images and the past itself? Perhaps it's the capturing of a moment in time, and the act  of freezing it to preserve it - as is the strength of any family pic? It could also be that it is just a little bit of fun to ooh and ahh, and giggle and point, and compare and contrast with ourselves and loved ones today. For me, it's a little of each, but I also like that it helps to add a depth and reality to my perceptions of people. Seeing images of younger days brings home that those I know, or know of, had full, complete lives, with all the joys, irritations and general range of life's ups and downs - just like me and my immediate family.

Flavorwire features 15 baby and child photos of famous authors and poets, including (as above) Ernest Hemingway, Sylvia Plath, Roald Dahl and James Joyce among others. I particularly like the faded photo of John Steinbeck (Of Mice and Men, The Grapes of Wrath) holding his pony. Also, there is a great image of Rudyard Kipling as a child, arms folded and face set in stubbornness or a sulk - at least that's how I imagine him to have been the day the picture was taken.

The slideshow of images features a range of American and European/British authors. I would like to have seen some Australian writers represented, but a quick search before writing this post was unsuccessful in finding any similar-aged shots of Australian composers such as Henry Lawson (my favourite), Barbara Baynton, CJ Dennis or AB (Banjo) Paterson. I did find some early images of Miles Franklin, including a very early baby picture and a family picture taken 1894. You can see them HERE.

If you, too, are a literature geek, then check out the junior author pics at Flavorwire. You might also find another feature at this site interesting: 10 Bestselling books that were originally rejected.

I try and keep up with my digital reading by using Google Reader. I use it to read the varied subscriptions I have to blogs and other online content in an organised, linear fashion. I find Google Reader handy as a news reader because I also use Gmail for email and Google Docs, and these apps are all accessible from the one central log-in, which works for me. There are, however, other news readers you could use for the same purpose - do a search for 'RSS' or 'news readers'.

I thought I'd share with you some of the web finds and blog posts I've enjoyed catching up on over the last week....

1. Introducing Google Docs to your class
There would be few schools who have money to spare when it comes to ICT resourcing. English educational consultant and blogger, Tom Barrett, has prepared a slideshow promoting ways for teachers to use the freely available Google Docs in their classes. You can view it HERE.

2. Do YOU use Facebook to spy on YOUR kids?
I've never been a particularly visual learner, but OnlineSchools.com often features some really interesting studies as infographics - a visual representation of a topic, with facts gathered from various sources. Check out the stats on How Parents use Facebook to Keep Tabs on their Kids.