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Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Today's Deals

Today's free Android App is It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown and it looks like it should be a good one for anyone with kids (or who grew up during or after the 70's and still watches for the Great Pumpkin!).

For those with little ones, Outback Steakhouse is giving away dinner for the kids (with adult entrees) tonight, plus if you find the "surprise" entry in the drink menu, you get a certificate for a free steak dinner, on a return trip, if you show it to the waiter!

Today's Kindle Daily Deal is supposed to be All Cry Chaos ($1.99), the first title in Leonard Rosen's Henri Poincaré series. but the price hasn't dropped. Definitely worth a call to customer support to assist in buying it (or getting them to jostle the pricing computers), since it's regular price is $11.99. For those who prefer audio, the companion audiobook on this one is only $4.99. Update: Wow, that was fast - I reported the issue to Amazon via email and they fixed it while I finished writing this post. The price is now corrected to $1.99!
Book Description
All Cry Chaos, a debut thriller by the immensely gifted Leonard Rosen, is a masterful and gripping tale that literally reaches for the heavens.

The action begins when mathematician James Fenster is assassinated on the eve of a long-scheduled speech at a World Trade Organization meeting. The hit is as elegant as it is bizarre. Fenster's Amsterdam hotel room is incinerated, yet the rest of the building remains intact. The murder trail leads veteran Interpol agent Henri Poincaré on a high- stakes, world-crossing quest for answers.

Together with his chain-smoking, bon vivant colleague Serge Laurent, Poincaré pursues a long list of suspects: the Peruvian leader of the Indigenous Liberation Front, Rapture-crazed militants, a hedge fund director, Fenster's elusive ex-fiancée, and a graduate student in mathematics. Poincaré begins to make progress in America, but there is a prodigious hatred trained on him—some unfinished business from a terrifying former genocide case—and he is called back to Europe to face the unfathomable. Stripped down and in despair, tested like Job, he realizes the two cases might be connected—and he might be the link.

This first installment in the Henri Poincaré series marries a sharp, smart mystery to deep religious themes that will keep both agnostics and believers turning pages until the shattering, revelatory end. Anyone who enjoys the work of John Le Carré, Scott Turow, Dan Brown, and Stieg Larsson will relish Rosen's story telling and his resourceful, haunted protagonist. Others will appreciate his dazzling prose. Still others, the way he bends the thriller form in unconventional ways toward a higher cause, in the vein of Henning Mankell in The Man From Beijing. In short, All Cry Chaos promises to become a critical success that garners a broad readership throughout the nation and across the globe.

Granta 117: Horror (Granta: The Magazine of New Writing) ($2.08 / £1.29 UK), by John Freeman, is the Kindle Deal of the day for those in the UK (the US edition is $1.24!).
Book Description
The Horror issue features original cover artwork by Jake and Dinos Chapman and a line-up of contributors that includes some of the greatest names in contemporary fiction.Stephen King tells the story of a retired judge with a deadly secret. Don DeLillo imagines a moviegoer-turned-stalker and Paul Auster writes of his mother's death. Rajesh Parameswaran dips into the mind of a tiger who escapes from a zoo and terrorizes a neighbourhood. Will Self writes of his blood disease and Daniel Alarcon explores the phenomenon of staged, high-camp blood baths. Mark Doty ruminates on a close encounter between Walt Whitman and Bram Stoker. CONTRIBUTORS: Daniel Alarcon, Paul Auster, Tom Bamforth, Roberto Bolano, Don DeLillo, Mark Doty, Sarah Hall, Stephen King, Kanitta Meechubot (artist), Julie Ostuka, D.A. Powell (poem), Rajesh Parameswaran, Santiago Roncagliolo, Will Self, Joy Williams.

Those Who Hunt the Night ($2.99 Kindle, B&N), the first title in the James Asher series by Barbara Hambly (and also published under the title Immortal Blood), is the Nook Daily Find, price matched on Kindle. An Open Road reprint edition, I would have grabbed this one, if I hadn't already bought it last year.
Book Description
The vampires had been living in London since the time of Elizabeth I, but now they were being ruthlessly murdered by someone who ripped their coffins open for the light of day to burn them to ashes. No vampire could endure the daylight to destroy the murderer. They had to turn to a mortal human for aid.

Thus it was that Professor James Asher, one-time spy, returned home to find his young wife in a strange coma and Simon Ysidro, oldest of the London vampires, waiting for him. Ysidro, although polite, left no doubt of his power to locate his spell on the young woman, wherever she might flee. Asher must agree to find the destroyer of the vampires for them.

But if he found the killer, what must happen to them? What would inevitably be the fate of any mortal human who learned the identities and locations of the vampires? The answer was all too obvious. Whether he succeeded or failed, it seemed that Professor James Asher was doomed!

Someone is killing the vampires of London and Professor James Asher has to find the killer. With his wife a hostage, what would happen if he actually found the killer? Would his fate be doomed by knowing the locations and identities of the vampires? This is a mystery, a history, a fantasy, and a fantastic vampire novel for readers to sink their teeth into.

Manhunt: The 12-Day Chase to Catch Lincoln's Killer ($9.78 Kindle, $2.99 B&N), by James L. Swanson, is the Nook Daily Find: Election 2012.
Book Description
The murder of Abraham Lincoln set off the greatest manhunt in American history. From April 14 to April 26, 1865, the assassin, John Wilkes Booth, led Union cavalry and detectives on a wild twelve-day chase through the streets of Washington, D.C., across the swamps of Maryland, and into the forests of Virginia, while the nation, still reeling from the just-ended Civil War, watched in horror and sadness.

James L. Swanson's Manhunt is a fascinating tale of murder, intrigue, and betrayal. A gripping hour-by-hour account told through the eyes of the hunted and the hunters, this is history as you've never read it before.

Today's Kindle Kids Daily Deal is The Ghost of Crutchfield ($1.99), by Mary Downing Hahn.
Book Description
When twelve-year-old Florence boards the crowded horse-drawn coach in London, she looks forward to a new life with her great uncle and aunt at Crutchfield Hall, an old manor house in the English countryside. Anything will be better, she thinks, than the grim London orphanage where she has lived since her parents' death.

But Florence doesn't expect the ghost of her cousin Sophia, who haunts the cavernous rooms and dimly lit hallways of Crutchfield and concocts a plan to use Florence to help her achieve her murderous goals. Will Florence be able to convince the others in the household of the imminent danger and stop Sophia before it's too late?

Grade Level: 4 and up

Tuesday, October 30, 2012

Today's Deals

Over at Audible, they have Nora Robert's novels on a 3-for-2 Sale, thru the end of the month. If you need extra credits, you should be able to buy some at a discount on the Extra Credits page.

It's also the final week for the Shock-tober Sale, with over 150 audiobooks at $6.95 or less. This week's theme is Ghosts, joining the Werewolves, Zombies and Vampires already on sale; the categories are pretty loosely defined, so you'll find some Urban Fantasy in each week and I spotted The Phantom of the Opera in this week's list. As usual, the sales are only for those with some type of subscription and the extra credit page won't let you see it unless you have 3 fewer credits than you are allowed to carry over for the month (which varies by subscription type).

If you're in the market for a new wireless mouse, the Microsoft 3500, which comes in a huge range of colors and designs, is on sale for 33%-50% off.

Today's Kindle Daily Deal is The Pleasure of My Company ($1.99), by Steve Martin. The companion audiobook is $7.95 and narrated by Martin, himself which should be a treat for his fans.
Book Description
From the bestselling author of Shopgirl comes the tender story of a troubled man who finds love, and life, in the most unexpected place.

Daniel resides in his Santa Monica apartment, living much of his life as a bystander: He watches from his window as the world goes by, and his only relationships seem to be with people who barely know he exists. He passes the time idly filling out contest applications, counting ceiling tiles, and estimating the wattage of light bulbs.

It is through Daniel's growing attachment to Clarissa, and to Teddy, that he finally gains the courage to begin to engage the world outside, and in doing so, he discovers love, and life, in the most surprising places.

Filled with his trademark humor, tenderness, and out and out hilarious wordplay, The Pleasure of My Company is a tour de force sure to delight all of Steve Martin's fans.

The Ritual ($1.59 / £0.99 UK), by Adam Nevill, is the Kindle Deal of the day for those in the UK (the US edition is $9.99).
Book Description
And on the third day things did not get better. The rain fell hard and cold, the white sun never broke through the low grey cloud, and they were lost. But it was the dead thing they found hanging from a tree that changed the trip beyond recognition. When four old University friends set off into the Scandinavian wilderness of the Arctic Circle, they aim to briefly escape the problems of their lives and reconnect with one another. But when Luke, the only man still single and living a precarious existence, finds he has little left in common with his well-heeled friends, tensions rise. With limited fitness and experience between them, a shortcut meant to ease their hike turns into a nightmare scenario that could cost them their lives. Lost, hungry, and surrounded by forest untouched for millennia, Luke figures things couldn’t possibly get any worse. But then they stumble across an old habitation. Ancient artefacts decorate the walls and there are bones scattered upon the dry floors. The residue of old rites and pagan sacrifice for something that still exists in the forest. Something responsible for the bestial presence that follows their every step. And as the four friends stagger in the direction of salvation, they learn that death doesn’t come easy among these ancient trees . . .

Aris Returns: A Vampire Love Story ($1.99 Kindle, B&N), by Devin Morgan, is the Nook Daily Find, price matched on Kindle.
Book Description
Psychologist Sarah Hagan thought she had her life under control. She pulled herself together after a painful (and unexpected) divorce. She’s currently dating a successful but neglectful attorney—a relationship that is adequate, if not totally satisfying. She has a few good friends, lives in a beautiful condo in the heart of Chicago, and loves her work as a therapist. From the outside, it looks like her life is almost perfect.

It only takes one patient -- a handsome younger man named Carlos who is on parole for car theft -- to put her well-ordered life into a tailspin. As she regresses him with hypnotherapy, she discovers an unusual presence. Is this some elaborate alter ego that Carlos has created or is something much stranger going on? In Sarah’s attempt to help Carlos deal with his issues of anger and a troubled past, she is captivated by the persona she uncovers through hypnosis – Aris. Aris reveals that he is a vampire whose story begins in the time of Alexander the Great. His retelling of his lives, involvement and apparent demise in the court of Henry VIII keep her spellbound and hungry for more.

On top of grappling with a phantom vampire, Sarah begins to have the most disturbing (and sensual) dreams. They awake the emotion, passion and vulnerability that she thought she had buried for good. The dreams both terrify and excite her as she struggles to make sense out of her world turned upside down. Sarah genuinely cares about Carlos as a patient and wants to help him find his way to a better life, but he has brought chaos, confusion and danger into her neatly buttoned-up reality. And if that’s not enough to deal with, she is inexplicably drawn to Aris in a way she can’t begin to rationalize. Can Sarah possibly love this vampire “ghost” or will he destroy everything she treasures?

Obama ($1.99 Kindle, B&N), by David Mendell, is the Nook Daily Find: Election 2012, price matched on Kindle, where the companion audiobook is $4.95.
Book Description
Barack Obama is arguably the most dynamic political figure to grace the American stage since John F. Kennedy. His meteoric rise from promise to power has stunned even the cynics and inspired a legion of devout followers. For anyone who wants to know more about the man who would be president, David Mendell's Obama is essential reading. Mendell, who has covered Obama for the Chicago Tribune since the beginning of Obama's campaign for the Senate, had far-reaching access to the senator, the details of which he shares in this compelling biography. Positioning Obama as the savior of a fumbling Democratic party, Mendell shows how Obama conquered Illinois politics and paved the way brick by brick for a galvanizing, historic presidential run. With exclusive contributions by family members and advisers, and details on Obama's voting record, this is a complete, complex, and revealing portrait, a must read for anyone interested in American politics in general and Senator Barack Obama in particular.

Today's Kindle Kids Daily Deal is Three Halloween Picture Books for $1.99 each. The first two are Kindle Fire or Kindle App only, but the last one works on any Kindle device.

By the Light of the Halloween Moon, by Caroline Stutson and Kevin Hawkes (Illustrator)
In this “catchy, lilting cumulative tale with glorious comical/scary illustrations” (Kirkus Reviews), a little girl’s toe taps a tune as her legs dangle from a footbridge that has all sorts of creatures hidden underneath. There are cats and witches, bats and ghosts. With lots of repetition, a rhythmic, bouncy text, and imaginative illustrations, this Halloween title is sure to tickle your bones—your funny bones, that is! And for the first time in over a decade, this Halloween gem is back in print.
We're Going on a Ghost Hunt, by Susan Pearson and S. D. Schindler (Illustrator)
Susan Pearson has written her own unique version of the popular song, “We’re Going on a Bear Hunt,” introducing four children who go out at night in search of a ghost. After squish-squash-squooshing through a swamp, rustle-rustle-rat-a-tattling through a cornfield, and overcoming all kinds of obstacles on their journey, they come face to face with a ghost in a graveyard. Then—RUN! RUN! RUN!—they race back to the safety of their warm, cozy house. S.D. Schindler’s spirited illustrations bring warmth and humor to this lively rhyming read-aloud.
Maddie's Monster Dad, by Scott Gibala-Broxholm
Maddie loves monsters. She loves watching monster movies, eating monster cereal, and drawing monster pictures. She also loves doing things with her dad. But lately her dad has been very busy with work, so Maddie decides to use her Build-a-Beast kit to create a Monster Dad that is never too busy to play. It turns out there are some things that monsters can't do, and maybe a Monster Dad isn't as special as the real thing. The illustrations in gouache and pencil contain clever, fun details that children (and adults) will love.

Monday, October 29, 2012

Get an MP3 Album for $5 (KSO)

This offer is only for those with a Kindle with Special Offers (including any that opts in to Special Offers, but not the Kindle Fire with Special Offers):

Get a select music album for $5

To take advantage of this offer:
  1. First, turn on your Kindle with Special Offers, click Menu, then View Special Offers.
  2. Find the offer: Get a select music album for $5. Click on it, then on the link to Email Me This Offer. You must claim your gift code by Midnight PT, November 4, 2012.
  3. You will get an email from Amazon with your promotional code, right away.
  4. Once you have the promotion code (and have selected your album; see below), click this link, then on the button labeled Enter Your Code, at any time up to the expiration date of 11:59 p.m. (PT) November 11, 2012.
  5. Enter your code and follow the directions.
  6. Choose any MP3 album under $10 and you'll only be charged $5
  7. (up to the expiration date of Midnight, Nov 11).
You'll have a promotion code on your account that will apply to the FIRST album you buy after that (even if it usually costs less than $5). You should save the code and not enter it until you are ready to buy an album (I find this also helps me remember if I've used a code - when I go to apply it, if it isn't accepted, I know I've used that offer).

This promo can't be combined with any others, but you can shop from your Kindle Fire Music App after you've entered the code (although I greatly prefer doing so from my desktop -- in fact, if you buy it as a gift and send it to yourself, you'll see that the promo has been applied when you get the the final confirmation page). I had a lot of problems with the last MP3 promo that Amazon had (the $3 album on the Kindle Fire) and it was because I already had some MP3 credit on my account (from Coinstar). As a result, the fixed-price album promo combined with that credit (which it isn't supposed to do) and I was overcharged for the album (using nearly $8 in credit for a "$3 album"). So, first make sure you use up any MP3 credits (don't worry about a gift card balance; that won't cause an issue), then enter your promo code and buy your $5 album.

Today's Deals

Today's Kindle Daily Deal is Against His Will ($1.99), by Trish Jensen (Bell Bridge Books).
Book Description
They tried to resist each other, but it was impossible. Soon their passions were unleashed, and their self-control went to the dogs . . .FBI agent Jake Donnelly is not the kind of man who names a dog “Muffin.” Especially not a jowly bulldog. But now Jake’s Aunt Sophie has left him her beloved Muffin, along with a sizable inheritance that has some strings attached. Jake and Muffin have to attend a two-week therapy course designed to work out any bonding issues they may have.Enter Leanne Crosby, a pet shrink and owner of a luxury pet spa complete with private counseling sessions, a doggie dating service, and plenty of quirky advice on proper pet parenting.When the gorgeous and brilliant Dr. Crosby sets out to help Jake and Muffin become soulmates, it soon becomes obvious that she and Jake are falling in puppy love.

The Small Hand ($1.59 / £0.99 UK), by Susan Hill, is the Kindle Deal of the day for those in the UK (the US edition is $5.72).
Book Description
Returning home from a visit to a client late one summer's evening, antiquarian bookseller Adam Snow takes a wrong turning and stumbles across the derelict old White House. Compelled by curiosity, he approaches the door, and, standing before the entrance feels the unmistakeable sensation of a small hand creeping into his own, 'as if a child had taken hold of it'. Intrigued by the encounter, he determines to learn more, and discovers that the owner's grandson had drowned tragically many years before. At first unperturbed by the odd experience, Snow begins to be plagued by haunting dreams, panic attacks, and more frequent visits from the small hand which become increasingly threatening and sinister...

Barefoot in the Sand ($5.99 $1.99 Kindle, B&N), the first title in Roxanne St. Claire's Barefoot Bay series, is the Nook Daily Find; this is an Agency priced book, so should be price matched on Kindle later today. now priced matched on Kindle.
Book Description
When all you hold dear is taken away . . .

When a hurricane roars through Lacey Armstrong's home on the coast of Barefoot Bay, she decides all that remains in the rubble is opportunity. A new hotel is just what Mimosa Key needs, and Lacey and her teenage daughter are due for a fresh start. And nothing, especially not a hot, younger architect, is going to distract Lacey from finally making her dreams a reality.

A second chance is the only thing you have left.

Love has already cost Clay Walker everything. And if he's going to have any chance of picking up the pieces of his life, he needs the job as Lacey Armstrong's architect. What's not in the plans is falling for the headstrong beauty. Her vision of the future is more appealing than anything he could have ever drafted for himself. Will Clay's designs on Lacey's heart be more than she can handle, or will she trust him to build something that will last forever?

The Summer of 1787: The Men Who Invented the Constitution ($12.99 Kindle, $2.99 B&N), by David O. Stewart, is the Nook Daily Find: Election 2012. This is also an Agency/Publisher priced book, so watch for a price match on Kindle later today.
Book Description
The successful creation of the Constitution is a suspense story. The Summer of 1787 takes us into the sweltering room in which delegates struggled for four months to produce the flawed but enduring document that would define the nation -- then and now.

George Washington presided, James Madison kept the notes, Benjamin Franklin offered wisdom and humor at crucial times. The Summer of 1787 traces the struggles within the Philadelphia Convention as the delegates hammered out the charter for the world's first constitutional democracy. Relying on the words of the delegates themselves to explore the Convention's sharp conflicts and hard bargaining, David O. Stewart lays out the passions and contradictions of the often painful process of writing the Constitution.

It was a desperate balancing act. Revolutionary principles required that the people have power, but could the people be trusted? Would a stronger central government leave room for the states? Would the small states accept a Congress in which seats were alloted according to population rather than to each sovereign state? And what of slavery? The supercharged debates over America's original sin led to the most creative and most disappointing political deals of the Convention.

The room was crowded with colorful and passionate characters, some known -- Alexander Hamilton, Gouverneur Morris, Edmund Randolph -- and others largely forgotten. At different points during that sultry summer, more than half of the delegates threatened to walk out, and some actually did, but Washington's quiet leadership and the delegates' inspired compromises held the Convention together.

In a country continually arguing over the document's original intent, it is fascinating to watch these powerful characters struggle toward consensus -- often reluctantly -- to write a flawed but living and breathing document that could evolve with the nation.

Today's Kindle Kids Daily Deal is Rise of the Wolf ($2.99), by Curtis Jobling.
Book Description
A thrilling new series for Ranger's Apprentice fans!

Imagine a world ruled by Werelords--men and women who can shift at will into bears, lions, and serpents. When Drew suddenly discovers he's not only a werewolf but the long-lost heir to the murdered Wolf King's throne, he must use his wits and newfound powers to survive in a land suddenly full of enemies. Drew's the only one who can unite the kingdom in a massive uprising against its tyrant ruler, Leopold the Lion. But the king is hot on Drew's tail and won't rest until he's got the rebel wolf's head.

Grade Level: 5 and up

Sunday, October 28, 2012

Today's Deals

For those with a Kindle Fire, several games are on sale for 99 cents in the Kindle Appstore, including VeggieTales: The League of Incredible Vegetables for kids (reg. $3), Router, a circuit puzzle game and a dozen Magic Puzzles (an electronic version of jigsaw puzzles), with themes ranging from kittens to Christmas.

If you are using your Fire or other Android device to listen to music, you might want to pick up iSyncr for PC or for Mac while it is half-price; it lets you sync your iTunes library easily (including via WiFi; DRM-free only, of course), use smart playlists and sync any Amazon MP3 purchases back to iTunes.

Additional formats on free books:
Today is the last day to take advantage of this KSO deal:

Today's Kindle Daily Deal and Nook Daily Find is Blackberry Winter ($2.99 Kindle, B&N; $8.99 companion audiobook), by Sarah Jio.
Book Description
From acclaimed novelist Sarah Jio, a new “mystery-slash-love story [that] will have you racing to the end”

Seattle, 1933. Vera Ray kisses her three-year-old son, Daniel, goodnight and reluctantly leaves for work. She hates the nightshift, but it’s the only way she can earn enough to keep destitution at bay. In the morning—even though it’s the second of May—a heavy snow is falling. Vera rushes to wake Daniel, but his bed is empty. His teddy bear lies outside in the snow.

Seattle, present day. On the second of May, Seattle Times reporter, Claire Hanson, awakens to another late-season snowstorm. Assigned to cover this “blackberry winter” and its predecessor decades earlier, Claire learns of Daniel’s unsolved abduction and vows to unearth the truth—only to discover that she and Vera are linked in unexpected ways.

The Colonel's Mistake ($1.59 / £0.99 UK), by Dan Mayland, is the Kindle Deal of the day for those in the UK (the US edition is $4.99/KLL Eligible). You can also get the companion audiobook for this one very inexpensively ($1.99 US/$2.29 UK).
Book Description
Mark Sava, former CIA station chief of Azerbaijan, lives a quiet life as a professor at Western University in the city of Baku. But his peace is shattered by both the assassination of a high-level American during an international oil conference and the arrest of CIA operations officer Daria Buckingham for the crime.

Sava knows the Iranian American Buckingham well—he personally trained her—and doesn’t believe she had anything to do with the murder, so he visits a CIA control center to discuss the situation with the new station chief. When no one answers the outside intercom, Sava overrides the security code and stumbles upon the grisliest scene of his career. Now, he can’t help but wonder if he really knows Buckingham as well as he thought…

Determined to find out, Sava soon finds himself and a partner caught in the middle of the new Great Game—a deadly intelligence war over oil that has Iran, China, and the United States clawing at each other’s throats. Meanwhile, Colonel Henry Amato, assistant to the US national security advisor, is keeping a close watch on the situation from Washington. His stake in the Great Game is high—and personal.

From the shadows of the world’s most volatile region to the highest levels of Washington politics, The Colonel’s Mistake takes readers on an unforgettable ride where the good, the bad, and the brutal play a deadly chess game of global espionage.

The Portable Patriot: Documents, Speeches, and Sermons That Compose the American Soul ($9.99 Kindle, $2.99 B&N), by Joel Miller and Kristen Parrish, is the Nook Daily Find: Election 2012.
Book Description
What does it mean to think, believe, and act like an American?

The soul of America is far more than a concept—it is a people. Even the most sacred principles mean very little unless lived out passionately by an informed citizenry. In The Portable Patriot you’ll find a carefully assembled sampling of American history’s most formative words, written by the people who made that extraordinary history. Speeches and sermons, essays and extracts, poems and proclamations illumine such values as independence, virtue, humility, bravery, thrift, prayer, enterprise, liberty, and reliance on God. While peering back to the cradle of America’s national identity, The Portable Patriot also points a way forward, compelling us to heed poet John Dickinson’s plea to “rouse your bold hearts at fair Liberty’s call.”

Today's Kindle Kids Daily Deal is Coraline 10th Anniversary Edition ($1.99), by Neil Gaiman.
Book Description
"Coraline discovered the door a little while after they moved into the house. . . ."

When Coraline steps through a door to find another house strangely similar to her own (only better), things seem marvelous.

But there's another mother there, and another father, and they want her to stay and be their little girl. They want to change her and never let her go.

Coraline will have to fight with all her wit and courage if she is to save herself and return to her ordinary life.

Celebrating ten years of Neil Gaiman's first modern classic for young readers, this edition is enriched with a brand-new foreword from the author, a reader's guide, and more.

Saturday, October 27, 2012

$0.99 eInk Halloween Games & Books (K)

For a limited time, you can pick up several Kindle E Ink Halloween Games and Interactive Books for $0.99 each (up to 75% off). For those of you with a Kindle Fire, be sure to check out the daily Free Android App (top/right corner of the blog home page); today's app: Halloween Mahjong.

Interactive Books
Games

Today's Deals

Looking for something different to give out for Halloween this year (or just want a free game)? Then run over to the Stop Zombie Mouth website and print off as many coupons as you want, each one good for a free copy of Plants vs. Zombies at Popcap Games (redeem Oct. 30 - Nov. 10). You can also download some wallpaper for your computer, some coloring pages for kids, invitations for a Halloween party and some masks that you can print.


Today's Kindle Kids Daily Deal is Eight Spooky Halloween Books, most of them for 99 cents.

Zombie Town ($0.99), by R.L. Stine, Tim Jacobus
Three Faces of Me ($0.99), by R.L. Stine, Tim Jacobus
My Alien Parents ($0.99), by R.L. Stine, Tim Jacobus
The 13th Warning ($0.99), by R.L. Stine, Tim Jacobus
The Creatures from Beyond Beyond ($0.99), by R.L. Stine, Tim Jacobus
The Adventures of Shrinkman ($0.99), by R.L. Stine, Tim Jacobus
Blackbriar ($1.99), by William Sleator
An Eyeball in My Garden: And Other Spine-Tingling Poem ($1.99), by Jennifer Cole Judd, Laura Wynkoop and Johan Olander

Today's Kindle Daily Deal is 22 Karen Kingsbury Romances for $1.99 each! That's far too many for me to list them out, so just click the link to see them all. Also, be sure to double check the prices before one-clicking, as I still don't see a price drop and it's well after midnight (PT) as I am posting this (regular prices of $8-$10 are showing). If there are several of these you want, it's probably worth a phone call to Kindle support to see if they can notify someone who can get the prices corrected before this afternoon.
Book Description
Award-winning author Karen Kingsbury is arguably America's favorite inspirational writer with more than 50 novels to her name. Today's deal features 22 of her best-selling novels covering five complete series: Bailey Flanigan, Above the Line, Sunrise, Redemption, and Firstborn.

Death and the Devil ($1.58 / £0.99 UK), by Frank Schätzing, is the Kindle Deal of the day for those in the UK (the US edition is $7.99).
Book Description
Cologne, 1260. The great cathedral, the most ambitious building in all Christendom, is rising above the city. In its shadow seethes a society in ferment: traumatised Crusaders returning from the Holy Land, religious tensions poised to explode into violence, a burgeoning merchant class that despises the old aristocracy and is determined to seize power.Against this backdrop Jacob the Fox, a flame-haired petty thief, witnesses a murder – the cathedral's architect, pushed to his death from the scaffold by a black-clad assassin. Soon Jacob is on the run, convinced the Angel of Death is on his trail, as the killer pursues him through medieval Cologne's seedy underworld. To survive he must uncover a vengeful conspiracy that threatens to tear the city apart and stain the sacred project with blood.

Blood and Bullets ($5.38 $2.99 Kindle, B&N), the first novel in the Deacon Chalk: Occult Bounty Hunter series by James R. Tuck, is the Nook Daily Find, price matched on Kindle, now price matched on Kindle.
Book Description
He lives to kill monsters. He keeps his city safe. And his silver hollow-points and back-from-the-dead abilities help him take out any kind of supernatural threat. But now an immortal evil has this bad-ass bounty hunter dead in its sights. . .

Ever since a monster murdered his family, Deacon Chalk hunts any creature that preys on the innocent. So when a pretty vampire girl "hires" him to eliminate a fellow slayer, Deacon goes to warn him--and barely escapes a vampire ambush. Now he's got a way-inexperienced newbie hunter to protect and everything from bloodsuckers to cursed immortals on his trail. There's also a malevolent force controlling the living and the undead, hellbent on turning Deacon's greatest loss into the one weapon that could destroy him. . .

1948: Harry Truman's Improbable Victory and the Year that Transformed America ($15.87 Hardcover, $1.99 B&N), by David Pietrusza, is the Nook Daily Find: Election 2012 (no Kindle edition).
Book Description
The behind-the-headline true story of Harry Truman's stunning upset!

Everyone knows the iconic news photo of jubilant underdog Harry Truman brandishing a copy of the Chicago Tribune proclaiming “DEWEY DEFEATS TRUMAN.” David Pietrusza goes backstage to explain how it happened, placing the brutal political battle in the context of an erupting Cold War and America's exploding storms over civil rights and domestic communism.

Pietrusza achieves for 1948's presidential race what he previously did in his acclaimed 1960--LBJ vs. JFK vs. Nixon: bringing history to life and intrigue readers with tales of high drama while simultaneously presenting the issues, personalities, and controversies of this pivotal era with laser-like clarity.

Friday, October 26, 2012

Today's Deals

Get 50% off Windows 8 Programming books at O'Reilly, using e WKWNDW8 - Deal expires November 2, 2012 at 11:59pm PT.

Additional formats on free books:

Today's Kindle Daily Deal is Big Maria ($1.99), by Johnny Shaw, which was the UK Daily Deal earlier this week (and one that I was hoping we would get).
Book Description
There’s gold in them thar hills—or more precisely, in Arizona’s Chocolate Mountains, where one hundred years ago a miner stashed a king’s ransom of the stuff. But times have changed. The world has changed. And now the Chocolate Mountains are the home of the largest military artillery range in the world.

Harry’s living on disability and getting liquored up and beaten down. Frank’s a feisty old-timer battling cancer and a domineering daughter. And Ricky’s a good kid in a bad spot, doing everything for family. Together they’re staking what little they have left on a dangerous quest to the Big Maria Mine—and the gold that can offer them a new beginning.

Unfortunately a meth-dealing biker wants a piece, a trigger-happy AWOL soldier wants to play chicken in a live minefield, two stubborn burros want to go home, a starving mountain lion wants his dinner, and the US Army wants to rain on our heroes’ parade with real bombs.

When you’re all out of crazy ideas, you’ve got to try the stupid ones.

Imagine Chuck Palahniuk and Don Winslow’s love child – and that would be ribald author Johnny Shaw. His novel Big Maria is a unfiltered, wild romp in which three men get one chance to find a lost gold mine; the only problem is the Big Maria Mine is right in the middle of a US Army artillery range.

Sightlines ($1.58 / £0.99 UK), by Kathleen Jamie, is the Kindle Deal of the day for those in the UK (no US edition).
Book Description
Five years after Findings broke the mould of nature writing, Kathleen Jamie subtly shifts our focus on landscape and the living world, daring us to look again at the ‘natural’, the remote and the human-made. She offers us the closest of perspectives and the most distant, too: from vistas of cells beneath a hospital microscope, or the pores of a whale’s jawbone under restoration, to satellites rising over a Scottish island, or the aurora borealis lighting up an iceberg-strewn sea. We encounter killer whales circling below cliffs, noisy colonies of breeding gannets, and paintings deep in caves.

Written with precision, delicacy and personal recollection, Sightlines invites us to pause and look afresh at our surroundings.

Sarah's Garden ($9.99 Kindle, $2.40 B&N), the first title in the Patch of Heaven series by Kelly Long, is the Nook Daily Find.
Book Description
Quite by accident, Sarah King has fallen in love. But this love is forbidden, and could cost her everything she holds dear.

Tucked into the majesty of Pennsylvania's Allegheny Mountains is a garden Sarah King has been nurturing for years. She never feels more alive than when she is alone with her thoughts and her Creator among the delicate rows of plants. But then duty calls her away from her beloved garden and into a world she knows little about.

Grant Williams, a handsome young veterinarian, has left the city to open a rural practice among the Amish. Within minutes of meeting shy but feisty Sarah King, he is captivated by her.

As their feelings grow for one another, Sarah insists they can never be together. Marrying Grant would mean being uprooted from her home, her family, and her community. Throughout the cold Pennsylvania winter, with her garden tucked away until spring, Sarah begins crafting a quilt that illustrates her pain. Can anything lasting blossom from a love that's forbidden?

The Future of Power ($9.00 Kindle, $2.99 B&N), by Joseph S. Nye Jr., is the Nook Daily Find: Election 2012.
Book Description
In the era of Kennedy and Khrushchev, power was expressed in terms of nuclear missiles, industrial capacity, numbers of men under arms, and tanks lined up ready to cross the plains of Eastern Europe. By 2010, none of these factors confer power in the same way: industrial capacity seems an almost Victorian virtue, and cyber threats are wielded by non-state actors. Politics changed, and the nature of power—defined as the ability to affect others to obtain the outcomes you want—had changed dramatically. Power is not static; its story is of shifts and innovations, technologies and relationships.

Joseph Nye is a long-time analyst of power and a hands-on practitioner in government. Many of his ideas have been at the heart of recent debates over the role America should play in the world: his concept of "soft power" has been adopted by leaders from Britain to China; "smart power” has been adopted as the bumper-sticker for the Obama Administration’s foreign policy. This book is the summation of his work, as relevant to general readers as to foreign policy specialists. It is a vivid narrative that delves behind the elusive faces of power to discover its enduring nature in the cyber age.

Today's Kindle Kids Daily Deal is Splat the Cat ($2.99), by Rob Scotton.
Book Description
It's Splat's first day of school and he's worried. What if he doesn't make any new friends? Just in case, Splat decides to bring along his pet mouse, Seymour, and hides him in his lunchbox. The teacher, Mrs. Wimpydimple, introduces Splat to the class and he soon starts learning all his important cat lessons. But when Seymour escapes and the cats do what cats do (they chase mice!), Splat's worried again. Maybe now he'll lose all his friends, old and new! Just in time, wise Mrs. Wimpydimple takes charge and teaches everyone an important new lesson. Maybe Cat School is going to be okay after all!

Grade Level: P and up
This book features Kindle Text Pop-Up for reading text over vivid, full-color images when using Kindle Fire/HD or select Kindle Reading Apps (Kindle Cloud Reader, Kindle for iPad or Kindle for Android); unlike some other Text Popup books, this one won't work on any of the eInk Kindles.

Free Audiobook + Charity Donation - Click-Clack the Rattlebag

Click-Clack the Rattlebag, a free short story written and performed by Neil Gaiman, is free on Audible and for every copy downloaded through Halloween, Audible will donate $1 (up to $100,000) to the education charity DonorsChoose.org.
Book Description
A few words from Neil: "Why tell ghost stories? Why read them or listen to them? Why take such pleasure in tales that have no purpose but, comfortably, to scare?

"I don't know. Not really. It goes way back. We have ghost stories from ancient Egypt, after all, ghost stories in the Bible, classical ghost stories from Rome (along with werewolves, cases of demonic possession, and of course, over and over, witches). We have been telling each other tales of otherness, of life beyond the grave, for a long time; stories that prickle the flesh and make the shadows deeper and, most important, remind us that we live, and that there is something special, something unique and remarkable, about the state of being alive. Happy Halloween!"

"'What kind of story would you like me to tell you?' 'Well,' he said, thoughtfully, 'I don't think it should be too scary, because then when I go up to bed, I will just be thinking about monsters the whole time. But if it isn't just a little bit scary, then I won't be interested. And you make up scary stories, don't you?'"

So begins this subtle, witty, deceptive little tale from master storyteller Neil Gaiman. Lock the doors, turn off the lights, and enjoy!
Get the free audiobook from Audible. If you are in the UK, use this link and donations will go to the education charity BookTrust.

Thursday, October 25, 2012

Today's Deals

Today's Kindle Daily Deal is A Life in Stitches: Knitting My Way Through Love, Loss, and Laughter ($1.99), an anthology by Rachael Herron.
Book Description
In these 20 heartfelt essays, Rachael Herron celebrated romance novelist by day, 911 dispatcher by night, shows how when life unravels there s always a way to knit it back together again, many times into something even better. Honest, funny, and full of warmth, Herron s tales, each inspired by something she knit or something knit for her, will speak to anyone who has ever picked up a pair of needles. From her very first sweater (a hilarious disaster, to say the least) to the yellow afghan that caused a breakup (and, ultimately, a breakthrough), every piece has a moving story behind it. This beautifully crafted and candid collection is perfect for the knitter who loves to read and the reader who loves to knit.

Today's Kindle Daily Deal #2 is Unglued: Making Wise Choices in the Midst of Raw Emotions ($1.99), by Lysa TerKeurst .
Book Description
God gave us emotions to experience life, not destroy it! Lysa TerKeurst admits that she, like most women, has had experiences where others bump into her happy and she comes emotionally unglued. We stuff, we explode, or we react somewhere in between. What do we do with these raw emotions? Is it really possible to make emotions work for us instead of against us? Yes, and in her usual inspiring and practical way, Lysa will show you how. Filled with gut-honest personal examples and biblical teaching, Unglued will equip you to: Know with confidence how to resolve conflict in your important relationships. Find peace in your most difficult relationships as you learn to be honest but kind when offended. Identify what type of reactor you are and how to significantly improve your communication. Respond with no regrets by managing your tendencies to stuff, explode, or react somewhere in between. Gain a deep sense of calm by responding to situations out of your control without acting out of control.

Winner of the Best Danish Crime Novel of the Decade, The Dinosaur Feather ($1.58 / £0.99 UK), by Sissel-Jo Gazan and Charlotte Barslund (Translator), is the Kindle Deal of the day for those in the UK (no US edition).
Book Description
Anna Bella Nor is just two weeks away from revealing her controversial research on the evolutionary origin of birds when her supervisor Lars Helland is found dead... his tongue and a copy of her thesis in his lap.

As the police investigate the most brutal and calculated case they've ever known, Anna remains convinced someone is trying to stop her research coming to light. She must fight to prove her innocence... and fight for her life.

Dancers Among Us: A Celebration of Joy in the Everyday ($11.21 paperback, $3.99 B&N), by Jordan Matter, is the Nook Daily Find (no Kindle edition).
Book Description
The mystery of the body in motion. The surprise of seeing what seems impossible. And the pure, joyful optimism of it all. Dancers Among Us presents one thrilling photograph after another of dancers leaping, spinning, lifting, kicking—but in the midst of daily life: on the beach, at a construction site, in a library, a restaurant, a park. With each image the reader feels buoyed up, eager to see the next bit of magic.

Photographer Jordan Matter started his Dancers Among Us Project by asking a member of the Paul Taylor Dance Company to dance for him in a place where dance is unexpected. So, dressed in a commuter’s suit and tie, the dancer flew across a Times Square subway platform. And in that image Matter found what he’d been searching for: a way to express the feeling of being fully alive in the moment, unself-conscious, present.

Organized around themes of work, play, love, exploration, dreaming, and more, Dancers Among Us celebrates life in a way that’s fresh, surprising, original, universal. There’s no photoshopping here, no trampolines, no gimmicks, no tricks. Just a photographer, his vision, and the serendipity of what happens when the shutter clicks.

Still the Best Hope ($1.99 Kindle, B&N), by Dennis Prager, is the Nook Daily Find: Election 2012, price matched on Kindle.
Book Description
In this visionary book, Dennis Prager, one of America's most original thinkers, contends that humanity confronts a monumental choice. The whole world must decide between American values and its two oppositional alternatives: Islamism and European-style democratic socialism.

Prager—a bestselling author, columnist, and nationally syndicated radio talk show host who is read and heard by millions of people in America and abroad—makes the case for the American value system as the most viable program ever devised to produce a good society. Those values are explained here more clearly and persuasively than ever before.

Still the Best Hope deals with three huge themes: The first is perhaps the most persuasive explanation for why Leftism has been and will always be a moral failure, despite its acknowledged appeal to many people of goodwill. The second explains why fundamentalist Islam, despite its historic and growing appeal, cannot make a good society. But Prager holds out hope for an open and tolerant Islam and explains why it will emerge from faithful American Muslims. The third is a singularly persuasive defense and explanation of what Prager calls the "American Trinity": liberty, values rooted in the Creator, and the melting-pot ideal. These values are inscribed on every American coin as "Liberty," "In God We Trust," and "E Pluribus Unum," and they are the reasons for America's greatness. Without them, America will cease to be an exceptional nation, and therefore cease to be America.

Prager shows why these values can and must be adopted by every nation and culture in the world, why Americans must relearn and recommit to these values, and why America must vigorously export them. For if the world does not adopt American values, the result will be chaos and barbarism on an unprecedented scale.

Today's Kindle Teen Daily Deal is Monster ($1.99), by Walter Dean Myers.
Book Description
Sometimes I feel like I have walked into the middle of a movie. Maybe I can make my own movie. The film will be the story of my life. No, not my life, but of this experience. I'll call it what the lady who is the prosecutor called me. MONSTER.

FADE IN: INTERIOR COURT. A guard sits at a desk behind Steve. Kathy O'Brien, Steve's lawyer, is all business as she talks to Steve.

O'BRIEN
Let me make sure you understand what's going on. Both you and this king character are on trial for felony murder. Felony Murder is as serious as it gets. . . . When you're in court, you sit there and pay attention. You let the jury know that you think the case is a serious as they do. . . .

STEVE
You think we're going to win ?

O'BRIEN (seriously)
It probably depends on what you mean by "win."

Sixteen-year-old Steve Harmon is on trial for murder. A Harlem drugstore owner was shot and killed in his store, and the word is that Steve served as the lookout.

Guilty or innocent, Steve becomes a pawn in the hands of "the system," cluttered with cynical authority figures and unscrupulous inmates, who will turn in anyone to shorten their own sentences. For the first time, Steve is forced to think about who he is as he faces prison, where he may spend all the tomorrows of his life.

As a way of coping with the horrific events that entangle him, Steve, an amateur filmmaker, decides to transcribe his trial into a script, just like in the movies. He writes it all down, scene by scene, the story of how his whole life was turned around in an instant. But despite his efforts, reality is blurred and his vision obscured until he can no longer tell who he is or what is the truth. This compelling novel is Walter Dean Myers's writing at its best.

2000 Coretta Scott King Honor Book, 2000 Michael L. Printz Award, 1999 National Book Award Finalist, 01 Heartland Award for Excellence in YA Lit Finalist, 00-01 Tayshas High School Reading List, and 00-01 Black-Eyed Susan Award Masterlist

2000 Best Books for Young Adults (ALA), Hornbook Fanfare 2000, Michael L. Printz Award 2000, 2000 Coretta Scott King Award Author Honor Book, 2000 Quick Picks for Young Adults (Recomm. Books for Reluctant Young Readers), and 2000 Best Books for Young Adults (ALA)

Grade Level: 8 and up

Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Today's Deals

Today's Kindle Daily Deal is The Great Crash of 1929 ($1.99), by John Kenneth Galbraith.
Book Description
Of Galbraith's classic examination of the 1929 financial collapse, the Atlantic Monthly said: "Economic writings are seldom notable for their entertainment value, but this book is. Galbraith's prose has grace and wit, and he distills a good deal of sardonic fun from the whopping errors of the nation's oracles and the wondrous antics of the financial community." Now, with the stock market riding historic highs, the celebrated economist returns with new insights on the legacy of our past and the consequences of blind optimism and power plays within the financial community.

Growing Up bin Laden: Osama's Wife and Son Take Us Inside Their Secret World ($1.58 / £0.99 UK), by Jean Sasson, is the Kindle Deal of the day for those in the UK (the US edition is $9.99).
Book Description
Osama bin Laden was the western world's most wanted terrorist. Intent on secrecy at all costs, his personal life was shrouded in mystery until now. For the first time, Osama's first wife and fourth son break the silence to reveal the truth about the character and life of a man both feared and revered around the globe. Osama married his first cousin Najwa when he was just 17. Here she describes the quiet, serious young man she fell in love with, who would take her from a life of extraordinary wealth in Saudi Arabia to a remote mountaintop in Afghanistan. As his senior wife, she would bear him eleven children and watch him become ever stricter, until his growing fanaticism tore the family apart. Their son, Omar, gives a detailed account of his childhood, vying for his father's love in a household of more than 20 brothers and sisters and a youth spent learning desert survival skills and handling Kalashnikovs. Here we see Osama the authoritarian husband and stern father, the entrepreneur, and the leader of a complex terrorist network. Together, in gripping detail, mother and son reveal their life on the run forced to flee from country to country in response to Osama's increasingly militant activities until their eventual escape from Afghanistan just before the tragic events of 9/11 that would change the world forever. Never before has Osama's own family gone beyond the headlines to show us Osama the man. Now, with unprecedented access, and complete with exclusive family photographs, Jean Sasson, author of the bestselling "Princess: A True Story of Life Behind the Veil in Saudi Arabia", takes us inside the secret world of Osama bin Laden.

Don't Breathe a Word with a Special Excerpt ($8.89 Kindle w/o excerpt, $1.99 B&N), by Jennifer McMahon, is the Nook Daily Find.
Book Description
On a soft summer night in Vermont, twelve-year-old Lisa went into the woods behind her house and never came out again. Before she disappeared, she told her little brother, Sam, about a door that led to a magical place where she would meet the King of the Fairies and become his queen.

Fifteen years later, Phoebe is in love with Sam, a practical, sensible man who doesn’t fear the dark and doesn’t have bad dreams—who, in fact, helps Phoebe ignore her own. But suddenly the couple is faced with a series of eerie, unexplained occurrences that challenge Sam’s hardheaded, realistic view of the world. As they question their reality, a terrible promise Sam made years ago is revealed—a promise that could destroy them all.

Crises of the Republic: Lying in Politics; Civil Disobedience; On Violence; Thoughts on Politics and Revolution ($9.32 Kindle, $1.99 B&N), by Hannah Arendt, is the Nook Daily Find: Election 2012.
Book Description
A collection of studies in which Arendt, from the standpoint of a political philosopher, views the crises of the 1960s and early 1970s as challenges to the american form of government. Index.

Today's Kindle Kids Daily Deal is Six Maisy the Mouse Picture Books by Lucy Cousins, suitable for kids age 2 and up, for $1.99 each.

Maisy Goes to Preschool
Preschool for Maisy means a day filled with friends and things to do, from the time she hangs her coat on a special peg to the time she says good-bye. There’s painting and snack time, stories and nap time (and a bathroom break in between). Soon everyone’s ready to haul out the instruments and make some noise, then head outside for a turn at the sandbox or slide. In a bright, full-size storybook full of familiar scenes, this child-friendly look at a day in the life of a preschooler is one that newcomers and seasoned pros alike will be happy to share.
Maisy Goes Camping
When Maisy sets off to go camping in the country, it’s only natural that all her friends come along, too. But they soon find that pitching a tent is not an easy thing to do. Even if they do manage to keep the tent up, there’s the matter of fitting them all in — Maisy, Charley, Cyril, Tallulah, and finally, the huge elephant, Eddie. What a squeezy squish-squash! Good night, campers! Uh-oh-what’s that popping sound?
Maisy Goes to the Library
Maisy likes going to the library. She loves to read a book in a nice, quiet place. Today, Maisy wants to read a book about fish, but she can only find books about birds or tigers. So she explores some of the other things to do in the library, like using the computer, making copies, listening to music, or looking at fish in the aquarium. Aha! Finally Maisy finds a sparkly book all about fish. But just as she settles into a corner to read, along come Cyril, Tallulah, Eddie, and Ostrich — and they all have noisier activities on their minds!
Maisy Goes on Vacation
How exciting! Maisy has put her sun hat, pajamas, toothbrush, and camera into a bag, and she’s off to the train station with Panda and Cyril. They’re headed for the seashore, but getting there is only half the fun. Coloring and snacks help pass the time on the ride to the beach, where Maisy can’t wait to swim, collect seashells, build sandcastles, and lots more. At nighttime it feels special to go to bed in a hotel—knowing that tomorrow another vacation day awaits!
Maisy Goes to the City
Broom, vroom, beep! Maisy and Charley are in the city visiting their friend Dotty, and there are many things to get used to - noisy traffic, enormous buildings, and sidewalks so crowded they have to walk very slowly (all the better for looking in store windows). Riding the escalator and elevator - and hanging on tight in the subway - are almost as much fun as exploring the giant toy store and eating pizza in a cafe. Even the playground is busy in the city!
Maisy, Charley, and the Wobbly Tooth
Maisy's friend Charley has a wobbly tooth! He's going to the dentist for the first time, and he’s a little nervous. Luckily, Maisy, Tallulah, Eddie, and Cyril are happy to accompany their toothy friend to the dentist’s office, where they make some fun discoveries: a twirly chair that goes up and down, a special cup to spit in, and a proper tooth-brushing demonstration. Charley gets an x-ray, a smiley button, and a book to take home, but what will happen with his wobbly tooth?

Tuesday, October 23, 2012

Today's Deals

Today is the last day to take advantage of this KSO deal:

Today's Kindle Daily Deal is To Marry an English Lord ($1.99), by Gail MacColl and Carol McD. Wallace.
Book Description
From the Gilded Age until 1914, more than 100 American heiresses invaded Britannia and swapped dollars for titles--just like Cora Crawley, Countess of Grantham, the first of the Downton Abbey characters Julian Fellowes was inspired to create after reading To Marry An English Lord. Filled with vivid personalities, gossipy anecdotes, grand houses, and a wealth of period details--plus photographs, illustrations, quotes, and the finer points of Victorian and Edwardian etiquette--To Marry An English Lord is social history at its liveliest and most accessible.

Language of Thieves ($1.58 / £0.99 UK), by Elizabeth Jackson, is the Kindle Deal of the day for those in the UK (the US edition is $7.99).
Book Description
It is 1949 Appleby, Westmorland, where two cultures collide: that of a local squire Tobias Flint and Daisy Latimer resident traveller girl. Trouble arises when the handsome gypsy, Roulson Adams, who after being rejected by the beautiful, unsophisticated Daisy, takes a terrible revenge. Then there is the psychotic behaviour of Lydia Flint, Tobias’s mother, who despises the gypsies gathering for the forthcoming fair. How justice is finally done and love overcomes all barriers makes an unusual and compelling story.

Cuts Like a Knife ($9.99 $2.99 Kindle, B&N), by M. K. Gilroy, is the Nook Daily Find. Update: Now price matched on Kindle.
Book Description
Detective Kristen Conner goes undercover to find a serial killer who selects his victims - all successful young professional women - in the most unlikely of places - only to find herself as his next favorite target.

When Leslie Reed is found dead in her fashionable townhome, a red flag goes up in Washington, D.C. The FBI knows an elusive "organized killer" on a decade-long crime spree is at work again. The problem is the Feds have only one tenuous lead to assist local police in the manhunt ... a most unlikely place the killer likes to find his victims.

Conner is light one her feet and packs a powerful punch - growing up in a cop's home, intense hand-to-hand combat training, and not being able to shoot a handgun straight - all encourage that. Her life is built on faith and family: she coaches her 7-year-old niece's soccer team, the Snowflakes, always shows up hungry for family dinner, and only misses church when she is fighting with her mom and glamorous TV news reporter sister - or relentlessly tracking down a ruthless killer.

Kristen is a good cop but she's never faced an adversary like the man the alternative press has dubbed the Cutter Shark. From the opening chase scene that leads her to a back alley where a punk with a knife awaits her, to the climactic scene where she goes one-on-one with the hauntingly familiar man who is killing innocent women in her town, Cuts Like a Knife, is loaded with action, humor, a dash of romance, and wry introspection through the voice of its irrepressible lead character.

Cuts Like a Knife is the debut book in the Kristen Conner Mystery Series. Every Breath You Take is slated for November 2012 release.

1960-LBJ vs. JFK vs. Nixon: The Epic Campaign That Forged Three Presidencies ($12.98 paperback, $1.99 B&N), by David Pietrusza, is the Nook Daily Find: Election 2012 (no Kindle edition).
Book Description
It was the election that would ultimately give America “Camelot” and its tragic aftermath, a momentous contest when three giants who each would have a chance to shape the nation battled to win the presidency.

Award-winning author David Pietrusza does here for the 1960 presidential race what he did in his previous book, 1920: the Year of the Six Presidents—which Kirkus Reviews selected as one of their Best Books of 2007. Until now, the most authoritative study of the 1960 election was Theodore White’s Pulitzer Prize-winning The Making of the President, 1960. But White, as a trusted insider, didn’t tell all. Here’s the rest of the story, what White could never have known, nor revealed. Finally, it’s all out—including JFK’s poignant comment on why LBJ’s nomination as vice president would be inconsequential: “I’m 43 years old. I’m not going to die in office.”

Combining an engaging narrative with exhaustive research, Pietrusza chronicles the pivotal election of 1960, in which issues of civil rights and religion (Kennedy was only the second major-party Roman Catholic candidate ever) converged. The volatile primary clash between Senate Majority leader LBJ and the young JFK culminated in an improbable fusion ticket. The historic, legendary Kennedy-Nixon debates followed in its wake. The first presidential televised debates, they forever altered American politics when an exhausted Nixon was unkempt and tentative in their first showdown. With 80 million viewers passing judgment, Nixon’s poll numbers dropped as the charismatic Kennedy’s star rose. Nixon learned his lesson—resting before subsequent debates, reluctantly wearing makeup, and challenging JFK with a more aggressive stance—but the damage was done.

There’s no one better to convey the drama of that tumultuous year than Pietrusza. He has 1,000 secrets to spill; a fascinating cast of characters to introduce (including a rogue’s gallery of hangers-on and manipulators); and towering historical events to chronicle. And all of it is built on painstaking research and solid historical scholarship. Pietrusza tracks down every lead to create a winning, engaging, and very readable account.

With the 2008 elections approaching, politics will be on everyone’s mind, and 1960: LBJ vs. JFK vs. Nixon will transform the way readers see modern American history.

Today's Kindle Kids Daily Deal is Tuesdays at the Castle ($1.99), by Jessica Day George.
Book Description
Tuesdays at Castle Glower are Princess Celia’s favorite days. That’s because on Tuesdays the castle adds a new room, a turret, or sometimes even an entire wing to itself. No one ever knows what the castle will do next, and no one - other than Celia, that is - takes time to map out the new additions. But when King and Queen Glower are ambushed and reportedly killed, it’s up to Celia with her secret knowledge of the Castle’s many twists and turns, to protect their home and save their kingdom.

Age Level: 8 and up

Monday, October 22, 2012

30% Off Select Kindle Accessories (KSO)

This offer is only for those with a Kindle with Special Offers (including any Kindle Touch or Kindle Keyboard that opts in to Special Offers, but not the Kindle Fire with Special Offers):

30% Off Select Kindle Accessories

Click on the offer, then click on the link on the offer page sign up and you'll get an email(right away) with the promotion code. This offer is good for one book and only one per account (if you have multiple KSO devices, they need to be registered to different accounts before you sign up to get the promotion code emails; every Kindle on an account gets flagged when you sign up for the special offer and they will all get the same code for that promotion from then on). Sign-up for this offer expires October 28, 2012, and the promo code must be used by November 4.

The email will contain a link to the promotion page. You'll need to add the items you select to your cart, then use the full check out process and enter the Promo code on the summary page (it's not automatic, like the Kindle Fire promo and you can't use one-click and get the discount).

There are a number of sleeves and covers on the promotion page, along with an A/C charger plug at 50% off the $19.99 list price (so, you would get an additional 30% off the $9.99 sale price), which you may need if you've bought one of the current Kindle models (which no longer comes with a A/C charger). Unlike the Fire promos, this discount works a single time on a single order - but you can add a couple of covers and a charger plug or two the same order before you checkout.