Today's Kindle Daily Deal is The American Patriot's Almanac: Daily Readings on America ($1.99), by William J. Bennett and John T.E. Cribb. I have had this in my library for several years now (and have managed to read quite a bit of it, but eventually forgot to pick it up each morning), but this is a new, revised and expanded edition (although there doesn't seem to be any indication as to what has been added). In any case, it's well worth picking up for the occasional read and each day has a short list of historical events that are interesting to read thru.Book Description
Read here the storied history of these United States.
The stories in this book are part of what Abraham Lincoln called the “mystic chords of memory.” They are the symbols that define the essence of the United States, that mark its historic course, and connect its people. The American Patriot’s Almanac is a daily source of inspiration and information about the history, heroes, and achievements that sum up what this nation is all about.
The Kindle Deal of the day for those in the UK is all three DI Gilchrist series books by TF (Frank) Muir for $1.59 / £0.99 apiece.Eye for an Eye (Main/UK)
One psychopath. One killer. The Stabber.Hand for a Hand (Main/UK)
Six victims, all wife beaters. Each stabbed to death through their left eye. The cobbled lanes and backstreets of St Andrews provide the setting for these brutal killings. But six unsolved murders and mounting censure from the media force DI Andy Gilchrist off the case. Driven by his fear of failure, and desperate to redeem his career and reputation, Gilchrist vows to catch The Stabber alone...
When DCI Andy Gilchrist is called to a crime scene to find an amputated hand clutching a note addressed to him, a note that contains only one word, murder, he is pulled into an investigation that will test him to the limit.Tooth for a Tooth (Main/UK)
Soon other single word clues are found along with amputated body parts and the murderer's vengeful message becomes clear as the identity of the next intended victim is revealed. But when someone close to him disappears, Gilchrist knows he is too late. Together with Nance Wilson, the sexy DC with her own agenda, Gilchrist comes to see the answer to the present murders lies within the secrets of his past.
Forced to confront his demons, Gilchrist must solve the cryptic clues and find the murderer before the next victim, a woman whose life means more to Gilchrist than his own, is served up to him piece by slaughtered piece.
What secrets from the past was he about to uncover?
When a woman's skeleton is discovered in a shallow grave DCI Andy Gilchrist is tasked with finding her murderer. But a psychic's warnings and markings on a rusted cigarette lighter found among the rotted remains set Gilchrist off on a trail that will take him back 35 years back to his past and on course to find his brother's killer in a fatal hit and run accident.
When dental records from an extracted tooth force Gilchrist to confront the unthinkable - that his brother was her killer - he keeps his fears to himself, only to be suspended on suspicion of destroying evidence.
But Gilchrist battles on in his quest for answers. Who was the woman? Why was she murdered? And was the fatal hit and run really an accident?
New York Times Best Illustrated Books Award winning Duck for President ($2.99 Kindle, $2.99 B&N), by Doreen Cronin and Betsy Lewin (Illustrator), is the Nook Daily Find; Book Description
From the New York Times bestselling creators of Click, Clack, Moo, this eBook with audio provides an entertaning introduction to politics.
My fellow Americans:
It is our pleasure, our honor, our duty as citizens to present to you Duck for President. Here is a duck who began in a humble pond. Who worked his way to farmer. To governor. And now, perhaps, to the highest office in the land.
Some say, if he walks like a duck and talks like a duck, he is a duck.
We say, if he walks like a duck and talks like a duck, he will be the next president of the United States of America.
Thank you for your vote.
Age Level: 4 and up
Benjamin Franklin ($14.99 Kindle, $2.99 B&N), by Walter Isaacson, is the Nook Daily Find: Election 2012; Book Description
Benjamin Franklin is the Founding Father who winks at us. An ambitious urban entrepreneur who rose up the social ladder, from leather-aproned shopkeeper to dining with kings, he seems made of flesh rather than of marble. In bestselling author Walter Isaacson's vivid and witty full-scale biography, we discover why Franklin seems to turn to us from history's stage with eyes that twinkle from behind his new-fangled spectacles. By bringing Franklin to life, Isaacson shows how he helped to define both his own time and ours.
He was, during his 84-year life, America's best scientist, inventor, diplomat, writer, and business strategist, and he was also one of its most practical -- though not most profound -- political thinkers. He proved by flying a kite that lightning was electricity, and he invented a rod to tame it. He sought practical ways to make stoves less smoky and commonwealths less corrupt. He organized neighborhood constabularies and international alliances, local lending libraries and national legislatures. He combined two types of lenses to create bifocals and two concepts of representation to foster the nation's federal compromise. He was the only man who shaped all the founding documents of America: the Albany Plan of Union, the Declaration of Independence, the treaty of alliance with France, the peace treaty with England, and the Constitution. And he helped invent America's unique style of homespun humor, democratic values, and philosophical pragmatism.
But the most interesting thing that Franklin invented, and continually reinvented, was himself. America's first great publicist, he was, in his life and in his writings, consciously trying to create a new American archetype. In the process, he carefully crafted his own persona, portrayed it in public, and polished it for posterity.
Through it all, he trusted the hearts and minds of his fellow "leather-aprons" more than he did those of any inbred elite. He saw middle-class values as a source of social strength, not as something to be derided. His guiding principle was a "dislike of everything that tended to debase the spirit of the common people." Few of his fellow founders felt this comfort with democracy so fully, and none so intuitively.
In this colorful and intimate narrative, Isaacson provides the full sweep of Franklin's amazing life, from his days as a runaway printer to his triumphs as a statesman, scientist, and Founding Father. He chronicles Franklin's tumultuous relationship with his illegitimate son and grandson, his practical marriage, and his flirtations with the ladies of Paris. He also shows how Franklin helped to create the American character and why he has a particular resonance in the twenty-first century.
Today's Kindle Teens Daily Deal is Women Heroes of World War II: 26 Stories of Espionage, Sabotage, Resistance, and Rescue ($2.99), by Kathryn J. Atwood.Book Description
Organized by country, this historical exploration includes stories of girls and women from across Europe and the United States who risked their lives to perform extremely dangerous acts against the Nazis during World War II. The 26 profiles bring to life courageous women such as Noor Inayat Khan, a radio operator who parachuted into occupied France and transferred crucial messages; Johtje Vos, the Dutch housewife who hid Jews in her home and was repeatedly interrogated by the Gestapo; and Hannie Schaft, a Dutch law student who became involved in the most dangerous resistance work—sabotage, weapons transference, and assassinations. The profiles are written using dialogue, direct quotes, and document excerpts to lend authenticity and immediacy. Each profile includes one or more informative sidebars and is followed by a list of relevant books, websites, and films, making it an attractive resource for teachers, parents, and libraries.
Grade Level: 7 and up
