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Sunday, August 15, 2010

Bargain Book Roundup - Canadian Edition

For my Canadian readers, here is an eclectic collection of bargain books in the Kindle store. A few have been free or low priced for US readers in the past, but now are under a dollar for Canadians (many previously had the $2 international fee tacked on). I've included a few religious non-fiction titles at the end (in case the earlier post didn't have any that were bargains in Canada) and finish with what is possibly the book that has the worst reviews I have ever seen; you can pick up this "gem" for 50 cents (if you dare), rather than the $5 or so that all the reviewers claim to have paid.

A note for US readers: -Most of the books in this post will have considerably higher prices than Canadian readers will see (I've indicated next to each title if the sale price is valid in the US). Amazon uses the country location set on the Manage My Kindle page to determine which price you will see (and even whether or not you can purchase a book). Always double check the prices before one-clicking and I recommend also always checking either the Order Summary (linked in when you order via the web), your confirmation email or the Manage My Kindle page to verify the price you have paid (prices can change between the time you display a page and when you click, especially on very popular books that seem to often be marked down or free in error). In particular, if you purchased in the last couple of days The Conflict Resolution Toolbox: Models and Maps for Analyzing, Diagnosing, and Resolving Conflict, by Gary T. Furlong, check your receipt - it appears that a few readers paid the full US price of $41.21 for this book that was free for UK readers only.

Eye of the Beholder ($0.99), by Jayne Ann Krentz, is available to pre-order. I would not rely on the price staying the same as the release date nears.

Book Description
After a career-stalling tangle with a fraudulent gallery owner, Art Deco expert Alexa Chambers is ready to get back in the game. But when she secretly consults on an exquisite collection for Arizona's luxurious Avalon Resorts, she doesn't know she will cross paths with enigmatic business titan J. L. Trask.

Years ago, Trask accused Alexa's stepfather of murder -- and vowed he would get revenge. Now, their meeting is inevitable -- and attraction immediate -- as they trade sizzling sparks and snappy repartee. But when a killer emerges from the shadows, these sensual sparring partners team up to solve a deadly crime from the past. Following a trail of clues to a trendy but decidedly strange New Age spa, Trask and Alexa don't need a crystal ball to see that their survival -- and their chances of bliss -- will depend on a little help from a higher power: a true and trustworthy love.


A Clearing in the Wild ($0.76), by Jane Kirkpatrick

Book Description
Young Emma Wagner chafes at the constraints of Bethel colony, an 1850s religious community in Missouri that is determined to remain untainted by the concerns of the world. A passionate and independent thinker, she resents the limitations placed on women, who are expected to serve in quiet submission. In a community where dissent of any form is discouraged, Emma finds it difficult to rein in her tongue–and often doesn’t even try to do so, fueling the animosity between her and the colony’s charismatic and increasingly autocratic leader, Wilhelm Keil.

Eventually Emma and her husband, Christian, are sent along with eight other men to scout out a new location in the northwest where the Bethelites can prepare to await “the last days.” Christian believes they’ve found the ideal situation in Washington territory, but when Keil arrives with the rest of the community, he rejects Christian’s choice in favor of moving to Oregon.

Emma pushes her husband to take this opportunity to break away from the group, but her longed-for influence brings unexpected consequences. As she seeks a refuge for her wounded faith, she learns that her passionate nature can be her greatest strength–if she can harness it effectively.


Plum Spooky ($0.97), by Janet Evanovich, the first full length Stephanie Plum Between-the-Numbers novel

Book Description
Turn on all the lights and check under your bed. Things are about to get spooky in Trenton, New Jersey.

According to legend, the Jersey Devil prowls the Pine Barrens and soars above the treetops in the dark of night. As eerie as this might seem, there are things in the Barrens that are even more frightening and dangerous. And there are monkeys. Lots of monkeys.

Wulf Grimoire is a world wanderer and an opportunist who can kill without remorse and disappear like smoke. He’s chosen Martin Munch, boy genius, as his new business partner, and he’s chosen the Barrens as his new playground.

Munch received his doctorate degree in quantum physics when he was twenty-two. He’s now twenty-four, and while his brain is large, his body hasn’t made it out of the boys’ department at Macy’s. Anyone who says good things come in small packages hasn’t met Munch. Wulf Grimoire is looking for world domination. Martin Munch would be happy if he could just get a woman naked and tied to a tree.

Bounty hunter Stephanie Plum has Munch on her most-wanted list for failure to appear in court. Plum is the all-American girl stuck in an uncomfortable job, succeeding on luck and tenacity. Usually she gets her man. This time she gets a monkey. She also gets a big guy named Diesel.

Diesel pops in and out of Plum’s life like birthday cake – delicious to look at and taste, not especially healthy as a steady diet, gone by the end of the week if not sooner. He’s an über bounty hunter with special skills when it comes to tracking men and pleasing women. He’s after Grimoire, and now he’s also after Munch. And if truth were told, he wouldn’t mind setting Stephanie Plum in his crosshairs.

Diesel and Plum hunt down Munch and Grimoire, following them into the Barrens, surviving cranberry bogs, the Jersey Devil, a hair-raising experience, sand in their underwear, and, of course . . . monkeys.


Rage of Angels ($0.95), by Sidney Sheldon

Book Description
A memorable, mesmerizing heroine

Jennifer -- brilliant, beautiful, an attorney on the way up until the Mafia's schemes win her the hatred of an implacable enemy -- and a love more destructive than hate.

A dangerous, dramatic world
The Dark Arena of organized crime and flashbulb lit courtrooms where ambitious prosecutors begin their climb to political power.


Pressing the Bet: A Cole Springer Mystery ($1.02), by W. L. Ripley

Book Description
The word is that Jesse Robinson is dead. But when Cole Springer goes to Vegas at the behest of Jesse's father, he finds Jesse very much alive. Unless Springer can figure out what's going on--he won't be alive for very long. Jesse believes that whoever killed his "double" was really trying to kill him, only he doesn't know why--or who was killed in his place. The Vegas strip is full of murder, robberies and red-hot former flames in this fast-paced tale.


Hide ($0.76), by Lisa Gardner

Book Description
This eBook includes the full text of the novel plus the following bonus content:
  • Lisa Gardner on Detective D.D. Warren: Who was the inspiration for D.D. Warren? Find out in this exclusive essay.
  • A Sneak Preview from Lisa Gardner’s Live to Tell, on sale in hardcover July 13, 2010
You have good reason to be afraid. . . .

It was a case that haunts Bobby Dodge to this day—the case that nearly killed him and changed his life forever. Now, in an underground chamber on the grounds of an abandoned Massachusetts mental hospital, the gruesome discovery of six mummified corpses resurrects his worst nightmare: the return of a killer he thought dead and buried. There’s no place to run. . . . Bobby’s only lead is wrapped around a dead woman’s neck. Annabelle Granger has been in hiding for as long as she can remember. Her childhood was a blur of new cities and assumed identities. But what—or who—her family was running from, she never knew. Now a body is unearthed from a grave, wearing a necklace bearing Annabelle’s name, and the danger is too close to escape. This time, she’s not going to run. You know he will find you. . . .

The new threat could be the dead psychopath’s copycat, his protégé—or something far more terrifying. Dodge knows the only way to find him is to solve the mystery of Annabelle Granger, and to do that he must team up with his former lover, partner, and friend D. D. Warren from the Boston P.D. But the trail leads back to a woman from Bobby’s past who may be every bit as dangerous as the new killer—a beautiful survivor-turned-avenger with an eerie link to Annabelle. From its tense opening pages to its shocking climax, Hide is a thriller that delves into our deepest, darkest fears. Where there is no one to trust. Where there is no place left to hide.


Faeries Gone Wild ($0.64), by Michele Hauf, MaryJanice Davidson, Lois Greiman & Leandra Logan

Book Description
MARYJANICE DAVIDSON “Tall, Dark and Not So Faery”
Scarlett is not your typical pint-sized faery. At six feet, four inches tall, she’s an unlikely candidate for a match made in heaven. But when she ventures to Cannon Falls, Minnesota, on royal orders to survey its extraordinary residents, she stumbles upon the one man who just may measure up to size…

LOIS GREIMAN “Pixie Lust”
William Timber is a cutthroat developer who refuses to let a few trees come between him and his next million. But when Avalina—a sparkling faery charged to protect all things green—comes to town, William is forced to choose between life as he knows it and the unknown reaches of his heart.

MICHELE HAUF “Dust Me, Baby, One More Time”
A librarian by day and a tooth faery by night, Sidney has absolutely no time to find Mr. Right. Until she flies smack dab into sexy, sun-bronzed Dart Sand, a man who makes her wings a-flutter…and whose allure could get her banished from the Mortal Realm.

LEANDRA LOGAN “A Little Bit Faery”
Tia is mystified when she strikes out on the Luna faery singles scene, in spite of her hourglass curves and vivacious charm. Then she takes off for Manhattan and lands on the doorstep of a steamy firefighter who sets her soul on fire—and shares a strong connection to her secret past.


Love Lessons ($0.83 Canada and US), by Margaret Daley

Book Description
Homeschooling his daughter is new to devoted single father Ian Ferguson. To ensure his child gets a good education, the busy CPA hires a temporary tutor. Twenty-three-year-old college student Alexa Michaels is too young--and too pretty--to be right for the job. Yet his daughter is coming out of her shell and learning. Still, Ian is traditional, and sweet Alexa--who graduated from the school of hard knocks--is challenging some of his old-school ways. Can this dad learn some valuable lessons about love, family and faith from the least likely teacher?

Holiday Kisses ($1.02 Canada and US), by Gwynne Forster

Book Description
Kisha Moran knows next to nothing about Craig Jackson--which seems to be just the way he likes it. The TV-news anchor arrived at Kisha's dental practice for emergency treatment and ever since, she's been unable to get him out of her mind. Her body's reaction to him is undeniable, and their first incredible night together tells her it's mutual. But getting this sexy, enigmatic man to open up would take a Christmas miracle...and Kisha isn't waiting for one of those.

Craig has no time for the string of women who'll do anything to get close to a celebrity. Maybe Kisha's different, maybe not. But suddenly, brushing her off isn't a problem--because feisty Kisha has gone ice-cold on him. And with the holidays approaching, Craig realizes that the only gift he wants is another chance to show her the man behind the mystery....


Courage ($0.73), by Alan Littell

Book Description
The Year is 1950. In the North Atlantic west of Ireland the destinies of two ships fuse. One, an English tramp, breaks apart in a winter storm. Five survivors cling to the wreckage. Chance puts the novel's central character--an officer of a nearby liner--at the helm of a boat that must battle its way through the mountainous waves in a desperate attempt to reach the castaways. In this evocation of the life of the sea, author Alan Littell has created a world of isolation, frailty and endurance whose overarching theme is the test of courage.

Mafia Son: The Scarpa Mob Family, the FBI, and a Story of Betrayal ($0.89), by Sandra Harmon

Book Description
Bestselling author Sandra Harmon uses her inside access to the Mob, law enforcement, and jailed Mafioso Gregory Scarpa Jr. to tell an epic true story of crime and betrayal.

The Scarpas were a Mafia dynasty led by Greg Scarpa Sr., so notorious for his addiction to violence and murder that he was nicknamed “The Grim Reaper.” His son, Gregory Jr., a promising young athlete, worshipped his ruthless and manipulative father, and slowly he was drawn into his father’s dark world. What no one but father and son knew was that for thirty years, starting in the 1960s, Scarpa Sr. was an informant, working intimately with FBI handlers. For decades, his connection to the FBI—including the much-publicized agent Lin DeVecchio—protected him, granting him a virtual license to kill. However, when faced with arrest in the late 1980s, Scarpa asked his son to leave his wife and children, and take the fall for his father.

In 1995, after years in prison, Gregory Jr. was transferred to Metropolitan Correctional Center in Manhattan and re-indicted on superseding charges. There he was imprisoned alongside Ramzi Yousef, the mastermind behind the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, and made a deal with the government to get information from Yousef in exchange for leniency. A year later, he furnished the feds with detailed intelligence on what would eventually result in the September 11 attacks. But, incredibly, Gregory’s desperate warnings were unheeded, and he was sentenced to forty-years-to-life in isolation at the notorious ADMAX, the most secure federal prison in the country, in Florence, Colorado. There, he would supply the FBI with intelligence on Oklahoma City bomber and fellow prisoner Terry Nichols. Again, his contribution was ignored, and Gregory remains at ADMAX, where he believes he will one day be murdered.

A story that gained national notoriety in 2007 as a result of former FBI agent Lin DeVecchio’s sensational murder trial, at which Sandra Harmon testified, this is an unforgettable tale of violence, wealth, and sex, set in a world where a man’s word is both everything and nothing.


Tiger's New Swing: An Analysis of Tiger Woods' New Swing Technique ($0.85), by John Andrisani

Book Description
Tiger Woods, the world's greatest golfer, has switched teachers and everybody is talking about his new swing. There have been numerous changes to his technique since renowned author and golf instructor John Andrisani's bestselling The Tiger Woods Way hit the shelves in 1997. And the overall improvement in Woods' game has everyone asking the same question: what is he doing differently since switching to teaching guru Hank Haney and how can I use these lessons to improve my own game?

Drawing from interviews with golf instructors familiar with Tiger's swing, professional golfers who have played with Tiger, television golf analysts, and his own independent study and analysis of Tiger's game, Andrisani offers detailed, easy-to-follow instructions on Woods' new swing in short, simple chapters for the first time anywhere. With numerous photos--clearly showing the differenced btwn Tiger's new and old swing--this book is a must-have for Tiger fans and golfers everywhere.


Loving Your Work ($0.91 Canada and US), by Fifty Lessons

Book Description
Featuring interviews with: Kay Koplovitz, USA Networks; Howard Lester, Williams-Sonoma; Jerry Rice, San Francisco 49ers; and, Peter Seligmann, Conservation International. Learn how the most accomplished leaders from around the globe have tackled their toughest challenges with "Lessons Learned". Concise and engaging, each volume in this book series offers fourteen insightful essays by top leaders in industry, the public sector, and academia on the most pressing issues they've faced. "The Lessons Learned" series also offers all of the lessons in their original video format, free bonus videos, and other exclusive features online. A crucial resource for today's busy executive, "Lessons Learned" gives you instant access to the wisdom and expertise of the world's most talented leaders.

Please Don't Remain Calm: Provocations and Commentaries ($0.82 Canada and US), by Michael Kinsley

Book Description
A lucid deconstruction of the politics and public figures shaping the social, financial, and military disasters of our times. This selection of Michael Kinsley's trenchant editorial writing in Slate (and elsewhere) since 1995 covers the end of the Clinton era (Monica, impeachment, etc.) and two terms of George W. Bush (9/11, the War on Terror, Iraq, etc.).

During this time Kinsley left Washington for Seattle and founded Slate, was opinion editor of the Los Angeles Times, underwent brain surgery for Parkinson's disease, and had other adventures that are reflected here. Although mostly about politics, there are articles and essays about other things, such as the future of newspapers, the existence of God, and why power women love Law and Order.

This is the work of a writer at the top of his form. Kinsley's wit is a weapon that any talk-show host or elected blowhard should envy and fear, and the reader will cherish his sense of humor, which enlivens even the toughest subject matter....


Heart Care for Life: Developing the Program That Works Best for You ($0.94 Canada and US), by Dr. Barry L. Zaret M.D. & Mr. Genell J. Subak-Sharpe M.S.

Book Description
More than 70 million Americans have some form of heart disease. For each of them, obtaining accurate information about the disease and the many options for dealing with it can be both empowering and life saving. In this book, cardiologist Dr. Barry L. Zaret and Genell Subak-Sharpe offer up-to-date facts about the best treatments available and an innovative approach that shows how treatment programs can be tailored to meet the needs of each unique patient.

There are no short-term fixes and no one-size-fitsall programs, explain Zaret and Subak-Sharpe. Although certain characteristics are common to each form of heart disease and its treatments,these constants must be tempered against individual variables. The authors outline the constants for the full range of cardiovascular conditions, from angina and heart attacks to high blood pressure and cardiac arrhythmias. They then guide readers through the process of assessing personal variables to develop an individual treatment and life-style program.

Written in a warmly reassuring style, this indispensable guide to heart care offers realistic hope and specific directions for designing a lifelong heart care program. Filled with practical advice, instructional case histories, a philosophy for controlling your health, self-tests to assess risk, and questions to ask your doctor, it looks toward an even better future for those with heart disease.


Breakthroughs in Literacy: Teacher Success Stories and Strategies, Grades K-8 ($0.67 Canada and US), by Susan E. Israel

Book Description
Teachers share advice on creating successful literacy classrooms for all students, including those who struggle

This much-needed resource is filled with lively and inspiring stories from teachers who overcame challenges with underperforming and struggling learners-many of them special needs students-to make significant breakthroughs in reading and writing instruction. The teachers reveal their trials, errors, and triumphs in how they discovered particular instructional strategies or incorporated modeling and motivational techniques that best addressed students' learning needs and opened a path to success. Compelling and absorbing, the book includes unusual and often surprising approaches for connecting with students, including books that made a difference.

  • Offers wisdom, inspiration, and guidance on working with varied students to improve reading and writing skills
  • Contains 29 stories from real-world teachers who have had success in teaching literacy
  • Summary sections focus on key breakthrough strategies, lessons learned, reflection questions, actions tips, and recommended resources
  • Describes effective modeling, motivational, and engagement practices
2009 Photographer's Market Complete ($0.77 Canada and US), by Editors of Writers Digest Books

Book Description
With 1,500 market listings, 2009 Photographer-s Market is the essential resource for freelance photographers looking to market their work. No other book contains as many market listings for magazines, book publishers and stock agencies all over the world. Easy to use with clearly marked sections and four indexes, this accessible guide also helps photographers narrow down the markets that interest them. Plus, articles about successful photographers and how they built their businesses shows readers how to succeed in an ever-evolving industry. Up-to-date information on technology and market trends arms readers with the facts they need to establish themselves as working photographers.

Lost In Transmission?: What We Can Know About the Words of Jesus ($0.93 Canada and US), by Nicholas Perrin

Book Description
Bart Ehrman, in his New York Times bestseller, Misquoting Jesus, claims that the New Testament cannot wholly be trusted. Cutting and probing with the tools of text criticism, Ehrman suggests that many of its episodes are nothing but legend, fabricated by those who copied or collated its pages in the intervening centuries. The result is confusion and doubt. Can we truly trust what the New Testament says?

Now, Wheaton College scholar Nicholas Perrin takes on Ehrman and others who claim that the text of the New Testament has been corrupted beyond recognition. Perrin, in an approachable, compelling style, gives us a layman's guide to textual criticism so that readers can understand the subtleties of Ehrman's critiques, and provides firm evidence to suggest that the New Testament can, indeed, be trusted.


David C. Cook Lesson Commentary 2008-2009 ($0.86 Canada and US), by David C. Cook (don't see why this one can't be used for any year)

Book Description
The David C. Cook Lesson Commentary 2008-2009 is an invaluable study resource that all teachers and students of Bible-in-Life curriculum should maximize. In this easy to use tool you will discover:
  • Introductions, discussion questions, and practical life application for each Bible-in-Life lesson
  • In depth, Bible-based insights that drill right to the heart of each passage
  • 52 adult-class lessons that follow the Bible-in-Life adult curriculum
Based on the The New International Version of the Bible (NIV), The David C. Cook Bible-in-Life Lesson Commentary combines careful biblical scholarship with a user-friendly style that will bring new vitality to any Bible study or teacher's lesson preparation every week.

Bad Girls of the Bible: And What We Can Learn From Them ($0.85), by Liz Curtis Higgs

Book Description
Women everywhere marvel at those “good girls” in Scripture–Sarah, Mary, Esther–but on most days, that’s not who they see when they look in the mirror. Most women (if they’re honest) see the selfishness of Sapphira or the deception of Delilah. They catch of glimpse of Jezebel’s take-charge pride or Eve’s disastrous disobedience. Like Bathsheba, Herodias, and the rest, today’s modern woman is surrounded by temptations, exhausted by the demands of daily living, and burdened by her own desires.

So what’s a good girl to do? Learn from their lives, says beloved humor writer Liz Curtis Higgs, and by God’s grace, choose a better path. In Bad Girls of the Bible, Higgs offers a unique and clear-sighted approach to understanding those “other women” in Scripture, combining a contemporary retelling of their stories with a solid, verse-by-verse study of their mistakes and what lessons women today can learn from them.

Whether they were “Bad to the Bone,” “Bad for a Season, but Not Forever” or only “Bad for a Moment,” these infamous sisters show women how not to handle the challenges of life. With her trademark humor and encouragement, Liz Curtis Higgs teaches us how to avoid their tragic mistakes and joyfully embrace grace.


Finally, here it is: the book with the worst reviews I've seen: Genesis ($0.50), by Ken Shufeld. For those in the US -- sorry (LOL!), this one is still full price!

Book Description
A strange 100,000 year-old manuscript in a long-forgotten language has been the basis for all the major religions throughout history. Lost and buried in a sarcophagus during the Second Iraq War, it holds the secrets of human birth-and extinction.

Two children are born with transcendent talents and preternatural powers beyond human comprehension. Only they understand the magnitude of the disaster to come. They are the last, best hope for human survival.

Indelibly bonded, these enigmatic youths-this brave new Adam and Eve-are thrown against their wills into a headlong race to save the world.