You may have heard of this thing called “enhanced ebooks” and wondered what that was all about. Enhanced ebooks take advantage of the digital format and (oftentimes) your device’s internet connectivity to include short videos, audio clips, web links to more information about the content or locations in the book, and so on. It’s kind of like getting a DVD or Blu-ray with extras, only these are books! Here are some prime examples.
11/22/63 by Stephen King (4.5/5 stars, currently on sale for $2.99)
This Enhanced eBook Edition contains a 13-minute film, written and narrated by Stephen King and enhanced with historic footage from CBS News, that will take you back—as King’s novel does—to Kennedy era America.
On November 22, 1963, three shots rang out in Dallas, President Kennedy died, and the world changed. What if you could change it back? Stephen King’s heart-stoppingly dramatic new novel is about a man who travels back in time to prevent the JFK assassination—a thousand page tour de force.
Following his massively successful novel Under the Dome, King sweeps readers back in time to another moment—a real life moment—when everything went wrong: the JFK assassination. And he introduces readers to a character who has the power to change the course of history.
Jake Epping is a thirty-five-year-old high school English teacher in Lisbon Falls, Maine, who makes extra money teaching adults in the GED program. He receives an essay from one of the students—a gruesome, harrowing first person story about the night 50 years ago when Harry Dunning’s father came home and killed his mother, his sister, and his brother with a hammer. Harry escaped with a smashed leg, as evidenced by his crooked walk.
Not much later, Jake’s friend Al, who runs the local diner, divulges a secret: his storeroom is a portal to 1958. He enlists Jake on an insane—and insanely possible—mission to try to prevent the Kennedy assassination. So begins Jake’s new life as George Amberson and his new world of Elvis and JFK, of big American cars and sock hops, of a troubled loner named Lee Harvey Oswald and a beautiful high school librarian named Sadie Dunhill, who becomes the love of Jake’s life – a life that transgresses all the normal rules of time.
A tribute to a simpler era and a devastating exercise in escalating suspense, 11/22/63 is Stephen King at his epic best.
The Book Thief: Enhanced Movie Tie-in Edition by Markus Zusak (4.5/5 stars, currently priced at $9.12)
The extraordinary #1 New York Times bestseller that hit movie theaters in November 2013, Markus Zusak’s unforgettable story is about the ability of books to feed the soul.
This enhanced ebook edition is perfect for new fans and collectors alike. It includes:
• An exclusive video welcome to the enhanced edition from Markus Zusak.
• The official movie trailer for The Book Thief.
• Videos featurettes introducing Sophie Nélisse (Leisel Meminger) and Geoffrey Rush (Hans Hubermann) and their roles in the film.
• Clips from the film embedded in the original text.
• A video interview with Markus Zusak.
It is 1939. Nazi Germany. The country is holding its breath. Death has never been busier, and will become busier still.
Liesel Meminger is a foster girl who scratches out a meager existence by stealing when she encounters something she can’t resist: books. With the help of her accordion-playing foster father, she learns to read and shares her stolen books with her neighbors during bombing raids, as well as with the Jewish man hidden in her basement.
In superbly crafted writing that burns with intensity, award-winning author Markus Zusak, author of I Am the Messenger, has given us one of the most enduring stories of our time.
Border Field Blues – App Edition for Kindle by Corey Lynn Fayman (text-only version is rated 4.5/5 stars across 15 reviews as of this writing, currently priced at $4.99)
Have you ever read a novel and wondered if any of it was true? Where did the author get his ideas? What do the locations really look like? How did the author came up with some of the plot ideas and characters?
Border Field Blues – App Edition is a new way to experience fiction, a tablet-based version of the award-winning mystery novel that provides a behind-the-scenes look at the story behind the book. It includes photos, videos and maps, as well as notes from the author. Find out more about the locations, how they’ve been changed, where the characters came from and the real stories behind the events in the book.
Add your voice to the book by adding your own comments and questions via the app interface. Share your thoughts and opinions with other readers or email the author directly. You can also use your FaceBook account to share and comment on individual chapters.
Chapter by chapter extras include the following:
Author’s notes
YouTube videos
Interactive Maps
Reader comments
Email the author directly from the book
Facebook sharing and comments
Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns) Enhanced Edition by Mindy Kaling (4.5/5 stars, currently priced at $4.99)
Mindy Kaling has lived many lives: the obedient child of immigrant professionals, a timid chubster afraid of her own bike, a Ben Affleck–impersonating Off-Broadway performer and playwright, and, finally, a comedy writer and actress prone to starting fights with her friends and coworkers with the sentence “Can I just say one last thing about this, and then I swear I’ll shut up about it?”
Perhaps you want to know what Mindy thinks makes a great best friend (someone who will fill your prescription in the middle of the night), or what makes a great guy (one who is aware of all elderly people in any room at any time and acts accordingly), or what is the perfect amount of fame (so famous you can never get convicted of murder in a court of law), or how to maintain a trim figure (you will not find that information in these pages).
If so, you’ve come to the right book, mostly! In Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me?, Mindy invites readers on a tour of her life and her unscientific observations on romance, friendship, and Hollywood, with several conveniently placed stopping points for you to run errands and make phone calls. Mindy Kaling really is just a Girl Next Door—not so much literally anywhere in the continental United States, but definitely if you live in India or Sri Lanka.
This enhanced eBook includes an audio introduction from the author; audio commentary from Mindy’s friends, including The Office costar B. J. Novak and Parks and Recreation creator Michael Schur; bonus photos, including an exclusive “Avalanche of Awkwardness” slideshow of never-before-seen childhood photos with audio commentary; and four full chapters read by the author.