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Kindle Reference

There is a large number of reference works on many topics available at the Kindle Store which might be handy to have onboard your Kindle ereader:

The Big English Encyclopedia – the World’s Biggest English Encyclopedia.  Over one million articles.  $9.99.

Encyclopedia of American Cinema (5 stars/1 ratings) $7.69.

The Illustrated Encyclopedia of North American Mammals (5 stars/1 rating) $7.69.

Medical Encyclopedia (3 1/2 stars/6 reviews) $9.99.

Encyclopedia of Observances, Holidays & Celebrations (5 stars/1 review) $9.99. Covers holidays from around the world.

The World Almanac and Book of Facts 2011 (4 stars/36 reviews) $7.90.

The NPR Listener’s Encyclopedia of Classical Music by Ted Libbey (4 1/2 stars/17 reviews) $9.99.

Encyclopedia of Philosophy (3 1/2 stars/6 reviews) $7.99.

Bible Encyclopedia (ISBE) by James Orr (4 1/2 stars/15 reviews) $4.99.

Besides these there are many more reference titles available for the Kindle. Please note that some of the encyclopedias are quite large files.   There are a few that will not work on the Kindle 1 or on the Kindle for PC, Mac and iDevice or other apps, so check for any restrictions before buying.

Dictionaries for Kindle

Besides the ones built-in the Kindle, there are also a number of different dictionaries available at the Kindle Store.  These include translation dictionaries as well as tomes dedicated to particular subjects such as medical, biblical and law dictionaries.

Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, 11th Edition (4 1/2 stars/259 review).  $19.24.  This is an alternative default dictionary choice for the Kindle.  Once you download to your Kindle it can be selected as the default dictionary (from the Home page > Menu > Settings > Menu > “Change Primary Dictionary”).

Kindle Games

There are now a lot of Kindle gamesavailable for the e-ink based Kindle ereaders; below are some of the better rated ones.  Not all of the earlier games will work on the Kindle Touch and none will work on the original Kindle, so check the ‘Available on these devices’ list on the product info page at the Kindle Store to be sure that a game will work on your Kindle before purchase.  Unless otherwise noted the games below will work on all e-ink Kindle ereaders except the first generation.  In some cases the developers may have updated the game to work on the KT since I’ve had a chance to update this list.

Paid Kindle Games

Brick Arcade — Arcade-style brick breaking game.  $0.99 for a limited time.

Bubble Pop — Matching game.  $0.99 for a limited time.

Awale: The Strategy Game — Strategy game based on classic African game.  $0.99 for a limited time.  Does not work on the Kindle Touch.

LetsTans (A Tangram puzzle for Kindle) — Puzzle game requiring the creation of a designated shape using the given pieces.  $2.99.  Not for Kindle Touch.

Cut The Shapes (A Puzzle Game for Kindle) — Visual puzzle game.  $2.99.  Does not work on Kindle Touch.

Puzzle Quizzes (150 Brain Teasers for Kindle) — Pictorial puzzles.  $2.99.  Not available on Kindle Touch.

Throw in the Vowel — Word game.  $1.99.  Not for Kindle Touch.

String of Words (A Word Game for Kindle) — Word puzzle game.  $1.99.

Solitaire Buddy Gold — Solitaire package with 13 popular games.  $0.99 for a limited time. 

Gem Falls — Pattern matching game.  $0.99 for a limited time.

Jungle King — Strategy game based on classic Chinese board game.  $0.99 for a limited time.

Mystery Castle: Winter’s Night — Puzzle adventure game.  $0.99 for a limited time.

Mystery Castle: Dawn of Illusion — Puzzle adventure.  $0.99 for a limited time; regular price is $1.99.

Mahjong Butterfly — Tile matching game.  $2.99.  Does not work on Kindle 4 or Kindle Touch.

Scrabble — Play the classic word game against the Kindle or with friends via Pass N’ Play.  $4.99.  Does not work on Kindle Touch.

Mahjong Solitaire — Classic tile matching game with 10 different board layouts.  $1.99 for a limited time.

Yahtzee — Another classic title from Electronic Arts.  Three different game modes.  $0.99 for a limited time.

POGO Hearts, Spades and More! — 5 popular card games for Kindle: Hearts, Spades, Euchre, Gin and Canasta.  $1.99 for a limited time.

Doodle Fit — Puzzle game in which you must fit a set of blocks into a given shape.  $1.99.  Not available for Kindle Touch.

Slingo — One of the first Kindle games and still popular.  A combination of Bingo and Slots.  $1.99 for a limited time.

Puzzle Baron’s Cryptograms: Volume 1 — Code breaking puzzles for Kindle.  $2.99.  Not for Kindle Touch.

KenKen Vol 1 Presented by Will Shortz — Puzzle game involving simple math and logic from the Puzzle Master of NPR.  $1.99.

Futoshiki — Japanese number logic puzzle.  $0.99.  Not for Kindle Touch.

Blossom — Puzzle game.  Move the tiles around to build a pipe system to water your flowers.  $1.99.  Not for Kindle 4 or Kindle Touch.

Word Quest — Find words hidden in a grid of letters.  $0.99.  Not for Kindle Touch.

Triple Town — Visual puzzle strategy game.  $3.99.  Not for Kindle Touch.

Panda Poet — Form words from the letters on the game board to form words.  Created words form pandas – the object is to create the biggest panda or form the longest possible words.  $2.99.  Does not work on Kindle 4 or Kindle Touch.

EA Solitaire — 12 different Solitaire card games: Klondike, Pyramid, Yukon, Golf, Freecell, Wasp, Peaks, Canfield, Spiderette, Eliminator, Easthaven and Baker’s Dozen.  $1.99 for a limited time.

EA Sudoku — Thousands of built-in Sudoku puzzles and the ability to enter and play puzzles from other sources.  $3.99.  Not for Kindle 4 or Kindle Touch.

Peg Solitaire — The classic board game for Kindle.  $1.99.  Not for Kindle Touch.

Next Puzzle Game — Clear the game board by matching tiles.  $0.99.  Not for Kindle Touch.

Kids’ Classic Card Games — Card games for kids: Crazy 8’s, War, Old Maid and Go Fish.  $1.99.  Not for Kindle Touch.

Hangman 4 Kids — Comes with over 400 puzzles.  $1.99.  Not for Kindle 4 or Kindle Touch.

Tic Tac Toe — Classic game can be played with a friend or against the Kindle with three different difficulty levels.  $0.99.  Not for Kindle Touch.

Checkers — Can be played with a friend or against the Kindle.  $0.99.  Not for Kindle Touch – a version of Checkers from a different developer will work on the KT.

Japanese Puzzles Vol 1 — 20 puzzles each of 5 different logic puzzles: Kakuro, Number Islands, Hitori, Picture Cross and Sudoku.  $0.99.  Will not work on Kindle 4 or Kindle Touch.

Snap Sudoku #1 — Sudoku puzzles for beginners.  $0.99.  Not for Kindle Touch.

Mad About Sudoku #1 — Easy Sudoku.  $0.99.  Not for Kindle Touch.

Red Hot Sudoku #1 — Difficult Sudoku.  $0.99.

Symdoku Unbound #1 — Similar to Sudoku but using symbols rather than numbers.  $2.99.  Not for Kindle Touch.

Sudoku Works ($0.99) will work on the Kindle Touch and gets good reviews.

The New York Times has a series of Crossword Puzzles for the Kindle in both easy and difficult levels.  $1.99 to $4.99.  Will not work on Kindle 4 or Kindle Touch.

CodeWord — Cryptograms and codeword puzzles to decipher.  $0.99.  Not for Kindle 4 or Kindle Touch.

Ultimate Math Skills Quiz — Math quiz game for Kindle.  $1.99.

Digi Ronin Games has a series of flash card sets for Kindle that are designed to help kids learn.  Price from $0.99 to $2.99.  These do not work for Kindle 4 or Kindle Touch.

Math Star — A mathematics learning game for kids.  $2.99.  Not for Kindle 4 or Kindle Touch.

Free Kindle Games

Grid Detective — A free Kindle game that requires deductive and reasoning skills.

Pirate Stash — Visual logic puzzle game.  Not for Kindle Touch.

Jigsaw Words — Word game in which you combine letters to form words to match clues.

Every Word — Make words from scrambled letters.

Every Word: Crossings — Word puzzle in which you unscramble words.

Pixel Perfect Puzzles — Logic puzzle game in which you use the number clues to make a picture.  Not for Kindle Touch.

Thread Words — Find words in a grid of letters.

Dots and Boxes — Players take turns drawing lines between dots and try to make boxes.  The player with most boxes wins.  Played with a friend or against the Kindle. 

Number Slide — Classic sliding tile game for Kindle ereaders.

Blackjack — Classic card game for Kindle.

Shuffled Row — Make as many words as possible from game pieces.

Utilities and Productivity Apps for Kindle

Notepad — Write and edit text notes on the Kindle.  Notes can be sorted by date or alphabetically by title and you can search the text of your notes.  $0.99.

Sticky Notes — Another note-taking tool for Kindle.  Create up to nine notes per screen and multiple pages of notes.  Zoom any note to full screen.  $0.99.  Not for Kindle 4 or Kindle Touch.

Task List Professional — Keep track of long term tasks or make to-do lists.  Assign due dates and set priority.  Can also be use for note taking with notes organized into folders.  $0.99.  Not for Kindle 4 or Kindle Touch.  Not for Kindle 4.

Easy Calculator — Calculator for Kindle.  Besides the basic functions also does percentages, square roots, memory functions and more.  $0.99.  Not for Kindle 4.

Calculator — Another calculator featuring square roots, percentages, trigonometric, sine cosine and tangent functions, memory functions and a calculator history function.  The basic math functions are there too, of course.  $0.99.  Not for Kindle 4.

Converter — Easy unit of measure conversion tool for your Kindle ereader.  $0.99.  Not for Kindle 4.

Calendar — Scheduling and daily planner for Kindle.  $0.99.

Contacts — Keep track of your contacts with your Kindle.  $0.99.  Not for Kindle 4 or Kindle Touch.

Doodle for Kindle — A line drawing app for the Kindle, meant mostly for kids.  Drawings can be saved.  $0.99.  Not for kindle 4 or Kindle Touch.

My Yoga Studio — Yoga workout partner app.  Includes 25 different poses and a timer to tell you how long to hold each pose.  Comes with three routines or you can create your own.  $1.99.

Anywhere Abs — Workout partner app.  $1.99.  Not for Kindle Touch.

Anywhere Legs — Workout partner app.  $1.99.  Not for Kindle Touch.

Everywhere Exercise — Fitness tool for Kindle that helps you integrate movement and basic exercises into your everyday life.  $2.99.  Not for Kindle Touch.

Anywhere Stopwatch — Stopwatch and countdown timer for Kindle.  $0.99.  Not for Kindle 4 or Kindle Touch.

Interactive Fiction for Kindle eReaders

Fluid (An Active Fiction Series) by Travis Sentell (5 stars/10 reviews).  An interactive fantasy story that includes over 500 possible pathways.  $6.99.

Witch’s Brew – Spellspinners 1 (An Active Fiction Series for Kindle) by Heidi R. Kling  (4 1/2 stars/7 reviews).  Interactive fiction: YA Star-crossed paranormal romantic suspense.  $6.99.

Getting Dumped by Tawna Fenske (4 stars/16 reviews) Interactive contemporary fiction.  $4.99.

Arcania – Trial By Fire 1 by Liz Maverick (4 1/2 stars/3 reviews).  Interactive fantasy.  $3.99.

Dead Letter Office – Parish Mail 1 by Kira Snyder (5 stars/5 reviews).  Interactive YA paranormal mystery.  $4.99.

The King of Shreds and Patches — An interactive novel for Kindle.  $3.99.  Not for Kindle 4.

As the main character, you will explore a historically accurate recreation of Elizabethan London, circa 1603, interact with some fascinating characters both historical and fictional, and thwart an occult conspiracy that threatens to bring down the entire city — or worse.

Worldweaver has several interactive stories, three of which are based on the popular Fighting Fantasy game book series by Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone.  $3.99 each.

Inheritance — Text adventure.  $0.99.  Not for Kindle 4 or Kindle Touch.

In the game, you play a character whose crazy uncle Osmo passed away recently, leaving you everything. But there’s a catch. He has turned his house into a series of crazy challenges that you’ll have to overcome if you want to see a dime! What is the deal with that elevator? How do you get past the tiger? And most important of all, where can a person find a decent pair of sneakers?

Choice of the Dragon — Text-based adventure.  $1.99.

Choice of the Dragon is a text-based adventure where your choices control the story. On most pages, you’ll get to choose between a set of options, deciding which action your dragon will take next. Choose between Brutality or Finesse, Cunning or Honor, Disdain or Vigilance. Or just try to gather as much wealth as you can!

Choice of Broadsides — Text-based adventure set on the high seas.  $1.99.