Today's Deals 12/31

Have a safe New Year's Eve, everyone!

Today's Kindle Teens Daily Deal is Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children ($1.99), by Ransom Riggs, an Amazon Best of the Month Book from June, 2011.

Book Description
A mysterious island. An abandoned orphanage. And a strange collection of very curious photographs. It all waits to be discovered in Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, an unforgettable novel that mixes fiction and photography in a thrilling reading experience. As our story opens, a horrific family tragedy sets sixteen-year-old Jacob journeying to a remote island off the coast of Wales, where he discovers the crumbling ruins of Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children. As Jacob explores its abandoned bedrooms and hallways, it becomes clear that the children who once lived here—one of whom was his own grandfather—were more than just peculiar. They may have been dangerous. They may have been quarantined on a desolate island for good reason. And somehow—impossible though it seems—they may still be alive.

A spine-tingling fantasy illustrated with haunting vintage photography, Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children will delight adults, teens, and anyone who relishes an adventure in the shadows.

Today's Kindle Daily Deal is The Art of Fielding ($1.99), by Chad Harbach, which was Amazon's Best Book of 2011.

Book Description
At Westish College, a small school on the shore of Lake Michigan, baseball star Henry Skrimshander seems destined for big league stardom. But when a routine throw goes disastrously off course, the fates of five people are upended.

Henry's fight against self-doubt threatens to ruin his future. College president Guert Affenlight, a longtime bachelor, has fallen unexpectedly and helplessly in love. Owen Dunne, Henry's gay roommate and teammate, becomes caught up in a dangerous affair. Mike Schwartz, the Harpooners' team captain and Henry's best friend, realizes he has guided Henry's career at the expense of his own. And Pella Affenlight, Guert's daughter, returns to Westish after escaping an ill-fated marriage, determined to start a new life.

As the season counts down to its climactic final game, these five are forced to confront their deepest hopes, anxieties, and secrets. In the process they forge new bonds, and help one another find their true paths. Written with boundless intelligence and filled with the tenderness of youth, The Art of Fielding is an expansive, warmhearted novel about ambition and its limits, about family and friendship and love, and about commitment--to oneself and to others.

Today's Kindle Romance Daily Deal is On the Island ($1.99), by Tracey Garvis Graves.

Book Description
Two people stranded on an island struggle to survive—and slowly fall in love—in the runaway New York Times bestseller from the author of the forthcoming novel COVET.

Anna Emerson is a thirty-year-old English teacher desperately in need of adventure. Worn down by the cold Chicago winters and a relationship that’s going nowhere, she jumps at the chance to spend the summer on a tropical island tutoring sixteen-year-old T.J.

T.J. Callahan has no desire to go anywhere. His cancer is in remission and he wants to get back to his normal life. But his parents are insisting he spend the summer in the Maldives catching up on all the school he missed last year.

Anna and T.J. board a private plane headed to the Callahan’s summer home, and as they fly over the Maldives’ twelve hundred islands, the unthinkable happens. Their plane crashes in shark-infested waters. They make it to shore, but soon discover that they’re stranded on an uninhabited island.

At first, their only thought is survival. But as the days turn to weeks, and then months, the castaways encounter plenty of other obstacles, including violent tropical storms, the many dangers lurking in the sea, and the possibility that T.J.’s cancer could return. As T.J. celebrates yet another birthday on the island, Anna begins to wonder if the biggest challenge of all might be living with a boy who is gradually becoming a man.

Today's Kindle SciFi/Fantasy Daily Deal is The Eyre Affair ($1.99), the first Thursday Next novel by Jasper Fforde.

Book Description
Jasper Fforde’s New York Times bestselling series of Thursday Next novels introduces literary detective Thursday Next and her alternate reality of literature-obsessed England

Fans of Douglas Adams and P. G. Wodehouse will love visiting Jasper Fforde's Great Britain, circa 1985, when time travel is routine, cloning is a reality (dodos are the resurrected pet of choice), and literature is taken very, very seriously: it’s a bibliophile’s dream. England is a virtual police state where an aunt can get lost (literally) in a Wordsworth poem and forging Byronic verse is a punishable offense. All this is business as usual for Thursday Next, renowned Special Operative in literary detection. But when someone begins kidnapping characters from works of literature and plucks Jane Eyre from the pages of Brontë's novel, Thursday is faced with the challenge of her career. Fforde's ingenious fantasy—enhanced by a Web site that re-creates the world of the novel—unites intrigue with English literature in a delightfully witty mix. Thursday’s zany investigations continue with six more bestselling Thursday Next novels, including One of Our Thursdays is Missing and the upcoming The Woman Who Died A Lot. Visit jasperfforde.com.

The Kindle Deal of the day for those in the UK is three titles for £0.99 each (~80% off).

Burning Man (Main/UK), by Alan Russell (US edition $4.99)

LAPD cop Michael Gideon and his police dog partner Sirius became reluctant celebrities after capturing a notorious serial killer in the midst of an inferno. For their heroism, they were chosen to head up the newly formed Special Cases Unit. Now the duo tackles out-of-the-ordinary cases, anything deemed unusual or bizarre even by Hollyweird standards.

When a teenager is found crucified in a city park, Gideon and Sirius are handed the bizarre case. Confronting the gruesome tableau and having to work the case worsens Detective Gideon’s PTSD, a condition he has tried to hide from others. Gideon’s burns may have healed, but the fire haunts him still...in more ways than one.

Eerily prescient since that terrible night of the fire, Gideon has unusual insights into the crimes he investigates, a skill he and Sirius must learn to trust as much as they do each other if they are to solve—and survive—this case.

House of Evidence (Main/UK), by Viktor Arnar Ingolfsson, translated by Andrew Cauthery and Björg Árnadóttir (US edition $4.99)

On a cold January morning in 1973, inside a stately old house in Reykjavik, blood pools around Jacob Kieler Junior from a fatal gunshot wound to his chest. Detective Jóhann Pálsson, an expert in the emerging field of forensics, is called to the scene and soon discovers something more unsettling than the murder itself: the deceased’s father, Jacob Kieler Senior, a railroad engineer, was shot to death in the same living room nearly thirty years earlier. The case was officially closed as a botched robbery.

Pálsson soon uncovers diaries that portray Kieler Senior as an ambitious man dedicated to bringing the railroad to Iceland no matter the cost. Sensing a deeper and darker mystery afoot, the detective and his colleagues piece together through the elder Kieler’s diaries a family history rich with deceit…

Shame (Main/UK), by Alan Russell (US edition $4.99)

Although it’s been many years since the death of his father—an infamous serial killer known as Shame—Caleb Parker still struggles to free himself from his father’s dark shadow. Caleb wishes only for a normal life without being branded a “killer’s son,” but his dreams are shattered when a new string of murders surfaces that are all too reminiscent of Shame’s terrible killings.

When the police label him the prime suspect, Caleb forges an unlikely partnership with true-crime author Elizabeth Line, a writer whose career began when she survived an encounter with Shame and who then went on to document his life—and death. As the body count begins to pile up, Elizabeth and Caleb come to the conclusion that one of them has been targeted by the killer, and a game of cat and mouse begins as they try to uncover the murderer’s identity before becoming his next victims.

Brutal and unapologetic, Shame draws you into the mind of a serial killer with no chance of escape until the last page is turned.

Let's Pretend This Never Happened: A Mostly True Memoir ($12.99 Kindle, $1.99 B&N), by Jenny Lawson, is the Nook Daily Find; it should be price matched on Kindle, as it is from one of the Agency publisher holdouts, Penguin.

Book Description
For fans of Tina Fey and David Sedaris—Internet star Jenny Lawson, aka The Bloggess, makes her literary debut.

Jenny Lawson realized that the most mortifying moments of our lives—the ones we’d like to pretend never happened—are in fact the ones that define us. In the #1 New York Times bestseller, Let’s Pretend This Never Happened, Lawson takes readers on a hilarious journey recalling her bizarre upbringing in rural Texas, her devastatingly awkward high school years, and her relationship with her long-suffering husband, Victor. Chapters include: “Stanley the Magical, Talking Squirrel”; “A Series of Angry Post-It Notes to My Husband”; “My Vagina Is Fine. Thanks for Asking”; “And Then I Snuck a Dead Cuban Alligator on an Airplane.” Pictures with captions (no one would believe these things without proof) accompany the text.

$2 Credit on Apps and Games (KSO)

This offer is only for those with a Kindle Fire with Special Offers (KFSO):

$2 Credit on Apps and Games in the Amazon Appstore

From the home page of your KFSO, swipe the top menu to the left until you see Offers, then press/click in order to see the current offers. Click on the offer, then on the orange button to add the credit directly to your account. It's nearly instant and the next screen offers to take you to Amazon so you can spend that credit away! If you miss that screen, though, don't worry - a document about the offer will appear on your home page.

You can shop from your Kindle Fire or your PC, but you need to check for any individual product that is excluded from this (and all other) promotions, on the product detail page and I don't know if you can see that info on the mobile pages you get on the Fire itself. You must sign up by Midnight January 1, 2013 and use the credit by midnight, Jan 8.

You might as well apply this one to your account right away, since it will apply automatically to any eligible purchase.

This deal drops the cost of premium games such as Angry Birds Star Wars Premium HD or PAC-MAN HD down to 99 cents or is enough pick up a one or two of games such as Skylanders Cloud Patrol or Pudding Monsters HD, at no charge. Always check the compatibility before buying, to make sure it will run on the device you intend to use and don't assume anything from the name (that last one has HD in the name, but works on every device I have, including my phone; others I've seen with HD in the name won't work at all on the Kindle Fire HD devices). To make your credit go the furthest, check out some of the sale games on the New Releases or Bestseller pages, such as Monopoly MILLIONAIRE and Need for Speed Most Wanted for only 99 cents, marked down from $5 and $7! If you are searching for something more educational, for your little ones, Team Umizoomi Math: Zoom into Numbers and several other Nickelodeon games are also 99 cents or less right now.

Today's Deals 12/30

At Tantor Media, they are having another $4.99 audiobook sale, this one good until the 1st, so you have a couple of days to listen to the samples.

If you are an Amazon Prime member, you have two more days to make your Kindle loan selection for this month, if you've forgotten to do. If you bought any of the new Kindle Fires for the holidays, there is a decent chance that Amazon activated a 30 day trial of Prime, when you registered the device, so you might want to check, even if you don't think you are a Prime member

Today's Kindle Daily Deal is continues with year-end deals: "Today only, 50 mysteries and thrillers are each just $1.99 or less, including 14 James Bond novels and suspenseful books by Frank Wheeler Jr., Andrew Peterson, T.R. Ragan, and more" (up to 80% off). Looks like I'll be going thru samples once again, later today.

Today's Kindle Romance Daily Deal is Fire Dance ($0.99), by Delle Jacobs, with the companion audiobook only $4.99.

Book Description
A mysterious castle.
A deadly gift.
A missing, unwilling bride.
And a Norman knight determined to conquer all.

Ordered by his King to carry out a cryptic command—kill a wicked sorcerer lord, seize his castle, and take his daughter as a wife—Alain de Crency expects a fierce battle. Instead he discovers a defenseless castle, the daughter missing, and the sorcerer dead, shrouded in a magnificent purple cloak. With no knowledge of the evil lurking within it, Alain takes the cloak as his own before investigating the whereabouts of his supposed betrothed.

Upon Alain’s arrival, Melisande, the sorcerer’s daughter who begrudgingly learned her father’s sinister trade, hides in plain sight as a servant. But Alain suspects this beautiful blonde knows more than she claims, and he resolves to uncover the truth—if he can resist his burning desire for her.

Soon Melisande realizes her father’s infernal magic reaches beyond the grave—and that only Alain can save her people from the menacing evil. But with Alain’s new cloak dyed in poison, can Melisande save her people’s savior without revealing her dark secrets to the man who’s captured her heart?

Today's Kindle SciFi/Fantasy Daily Deal is The Heart of Matter: Odyssey One ($1.99), by Evan Currie. Published by Amazon's 47North imprint, I'll probably pick this one up, to go with two others of his that I've snagged on sales.

Book Description
After an epic maiden voyage that introduced Earth to a larger universe—and a cosmos full of terrifying new enemies—Captain Eric Weston and the crew of the NAC spacecraft Odyssey have spent months cooling their heels under their admiral’s watchful eye. But when Earth’s newest ally, the Priminae, strike a defense deal with the North American Confederacy, the Odyssey finally receives her orders: return to Ranquil, the Priminae’s war-ravaged homeworld, and lend badly needed support against the invading Drasin.

Weston and his crew are hungry for action, yet once back on Ranquil, they realize not all is as it seems. Yes, the Drasin are a formidable foe, but Weston suspects a powerful unseen force is waging the war that could alter forever the face of the universe. Determined to unmask the mysterious puppet masters, Weston and his motley crew defy NAC protocol and venture into deep space…where they will discover an enemy unlike any they have ever faced. The long-awaited follow-up to the spectacular Into the Black: Odyssey One combines old-school space opera with modern storytelling to create an exhilarating new sci-fi adventure.

Tuesday's Gone (£1.99 UK), the second novel in the Frieda Klein series by Nicci French, is the first Kindle Deal of the day for those in the UK (the US edition is a $14.99 pre-order).

Book Description
Internationally bestselling authors Nicci Gerard and Sean French, writing as Nicci French, have sold more than eight million copies of their books worldwide. But nothing they’ve written written before has grabbed the attention of reviewers and readers like Blue Monday and its iconic heroine, Frieda Klein. In a starred review, Publishers Weekly called it a “superb psychological thriller . . . with brooding atmosphere, sustained suspense, a last-minute plot twist, and memorable cast of characters.”

In Tuesday’s Gone, a London social worker makes a routine home visit only to discover her client, Michelle Doyce, serving afternoon tea to a naked, decomposing corpse. With no clues as to the dead man’s identity, Chief Inspector Karlsson again calls upon Frieda for help. She discovers that the body belongs to Robert Poole, con man extraordinaire. But Frieda can’t shake the feeling that the past isn’t done with her yet. Did someone kill Poole to embroil her in the investigation? And if so, is Frieda herself the next victim?

A masterpiece of paranoia, Tuesday’s Gone draws readers inexorably into a fractured and faithless world as it brilliantly confirms Frieda Klein as a quintessential heroine for our times.

The Enemy (£0.99 UK), by Charlie Higson, is the second Kindle Deal of the day for those in the UK (the US edition is $6.99).

Book Description
The first unputdownable adventure story in this phenomenal series, from the author of the bestselling Young Bond series and award-winning comedy writer and performer (The Fast Show, Down the Line), Charlie Higson.

They'll chase you.
They'll rip you open.
They'll feed on you . . .

When the sickness came, every parent, policeman, politician - every adult - fell ill. The lucky ones died. The others are crazed, confused and hungry.

Only children under fourteen remain, and they're fighting to survive.

Now there are rumours of a safe place to hide. And so a gang of children begin their quest across London, where all through the city - down alleyways, in deserted houses, underground - the grown-ups lie in wait.

But can they make it there - alive?

Think of a Number (£0.99 UK), by John Verdon, is the third Kindle Deal of the day for those in the UK (the US edition is $9.99).

Book Description
Think of a Number is the chilling debut from John Verdon.

It begins with a letter . . . The letter contains a request - think of a number, any number - and a sealed envelope. Inside the envelope is that number.

When Dave Gurney, retired NYPD homicide detective, is contacted by an old college acquaintance about some startling letters he's been receiving, it is at first little more than a diverting but sinister puzzle. Until the acquaintance is brutally killed.

Suddenly Gurney finds himself in the middle of a murder investigation that makes no sense. The killer seems to have known his victim intimately. How else was he able to predict his victim's thoughts, even his actions? How did he know his darkest secrets?

The killer is smart and he is playing with the police. Gurney needs to be smarter if he's going to catch him, but this seems only to be the beginning. And the killer alone knows where it will end.

Think of a Number is the debut from John Verdon and is the first in a series starring the retired detective Dave Gurney. In the tradition of Harlan Coben and Linwood Barclay, John Verdon's unique high-concept plot and memorable cast of series characters will be a major hit with thriller fans. Subsequent titles include let The Devil Sleep and Shut Your Eyes Tight.

Rainshadow Road ($2.99 Kindle, B&N), the second Friday Harbor novel by Lisa Kleypas, is the Nook Daily Find, price matched on Kindle.

Book Description
Lucy Marinn is a glass artist living in mystical, beautiful, Friday Harbor, Washington. She is stunned and blindsided by the most bitter kind of betrayal: her fiancé Kevin has left her. His new lover is Lucy’s own sister. Lucy's bitterness over being dumped is multiplied by the fact that she has constantly made the wrong choices in her romantic life. Facing the severe disapproval of Lucy's parents, Kevin asks his friend Sam Nolan, a local vineyard owner on San Juan Island, to "romance" Lucy and hopefully loosen her up and get her over her anger. Complications ensue when Sam and Lucy begin to fall in love, Kevin has second thoughts, and Lucy discovers that the new relationship in her life began under false pretenses. Questions about love, loyalty, old patterns, mistakes, and new beginnings are explored as Lucy learns that some things in life—even after being broken—can be made into something new and beautiful.

Today's Kindle Teen Daily Deal is Flat-Out Love ($0.99), by Jessica Park.

Book Description
He was tall, at least six feet, with dirty blond hair that hung over his eyes. His T-shirt read Nietzsche Is My Homeboy.

So, that was Matt. Who Julie Seagle likes. A lot. But there is also Finn. Who she flat out loves.

Complicated? Awkward? Completely.

But really, how was this freshly-minted Boston transplant and newbie college freshman supposed to know that she would end up living with the family of an old friend of her mother's? This was all supposed to be temporary. Julie wasn't supposed to be important to the Watkins family, or to fall in love with one of the brothers. Especially the one she's never quite met. But what does that really matter? Finn gets her, like no one ever has before. They have connection.

But here's the thing about love, in all its twisty, bumpy permutations—it always throws you a few curves. And no one ever escapes unscathed.

New York Times best-selling author Jessica Park mines the territory of love’s growing pains with wit, sharp insights, and a discernible heat and heartbeat. Her previous novels include Relatively Famous, and she authored the e-shorts What the Kid Says (Parts 1 and 2) and Facebooking Rick Springfield.

Today's Deals 12/29

In a repeat of the sale after last Christmas, Amazon has over 2,000 MP3 Albums for $5, so you can fill up your Cloud Player (or your new Kindle Fire) at a discount. This list of albums is separate from their usual 100 MP3 Albums for $5 monthly deal. The sale lasts thru the end of January (although I suspect some albums have a limit on the number included in the sale and that the total selection may decline as the sale continues.

For those that missed it when it was free in a bonus edition (two years ago), this is now free on Kindle, in addition to B&N (but may not last long):

• Executive Privilege (K/N)

Today's Kindle Kids Daily Deal is Bridge to Terabithia ($1.99), by Katherine Paterson and Donna Diamond (Illustrator).

Book Description
All summer, Jess pushed himself to be the fastest boy in the fifth grade, and when the year's first school-yard race was run, he was going to win.But his victory was stolen by a newcomer, by a girl, one who didn't even know enough to stay on the girls' side of the playground. Then, unexpectedly, Jess finds himself sticking up for Leslie, for the girl who breaks rules and wins races. The friendship between the two grows as Jess guides the city girl through the pitfalls of life in their small, rural town, and Leslie draws him into the world of imaginations world of magic and ceremony called Terabithia. Here, Leslie and Jess rule supreme among the oaks and evergreens, safe from the bullies and ridicule of the mundane world. Safe until an unforeseen tragedy forces Jess to reign in Terabithia alone, and both worlds are forever changed.

In this poignant, beautifully rendered novel, Katherine Paterson weaves a powerful story of friendship and courage.

Grade Level: 4 and up

Today's Kindle Daily Deal is is another blockbuster sale! "Save up to 90% on a diverse selection of more than 200 books, including literary fiction, mysteries and thrillers, biographies and memoirs, and more." I actually see 233 titles, at $1.99 each, in the sale and once on the deals page, you can narrow the list by genre, using the menu on the left sidebar. There are way too many to list, so I'll leave you to explore on your own (good thing it isn't a workday for most of you!). My problem will be narrowing down my choices, as I've already spotted such interesting titles as Kitty Cornered: How Frannie and Five Other Incorrigible Cats Seized Control of Our House and Made It Their Home by Bob Tarte, Midnight Assassin: A Murder in America's Heartland by Thomas Wolf and Patricia L. Bryan, The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating by Elisabeth Tova Baileyand An Arsonist's Guide to Writers' Homes in New England by Brock Clarke.

Today's Kindle Romance Daily Deal is Last Bite: A Novel of Culinary Romance ($1.99), by Nancy Verde Barr. I bought this in September, but haven't managed to get to it yet.

Book Description
After ending a bad relationship, Casey Costello, an executive chef at a morning television show, swears off men. Who has the time anyway? She's busy overseeing a rambunctious food-prep crew in a kitchen the size of a closet; trying to please high-maintenance celebrity guest chefs; and dealing with her large extended Italian American family, who believe that the solutions to life's problems involve food. And in the midst of her high-energy, stress-inducing career—punctuated by a steady stream of parties and restaurant openings that must not be missed—she's trying to uncover why Sally Woods, a grand old dame of the culinary world and regular on the television show, is suddenly ready to jump ship and find a new station and a new executive chef.

When Danny O'Shea, a handsome chef from one of New York's hottest new restaurants, makes a guest appearance on the show, Casey smells trouble. But feelings ignite faster than a flambé dessert, especially when Danny whips up a few surprises during a television shoot in Italy.

Narrated in Casey's smart and refreshingly disarming voice, Last Bite is an irresistible culinary caper, with characters whose appetites are as big as their personalities.

Today's Kindle SciFi/Fantasy Daily Deal is Hillary Jordan's When She Woke, Steve Stern's The Frozen Rabbi, Carrie Brown's Rose's Garden, and Jack O'Connell's The Resurrectionist, each on sale for $1.99 (up to 90% off).

When She Woke, by Hillary Jordan

Bellwether Prize winner Hillary Jordan’s provocative new novel, When She Woke, tells the story of a stigmatized woman struggling to navigate an America of a not-too-distant future, where the line between church and state has been eradicated and convicted felons are no longer imprisoned and rehabilitated but chromed—their skin color is genetically altered to match the class of their crimes—and then released back into the population to survive as best they can. Hannah is a Red; her crime is murder.

In seeking a path to safety in an alien and hostile world, Hannah unknowingly embarks on a path of self-discovery that forces her to question the values she once held true and the righteousness of a country that politicizes faith.

The Frozen Rabbi, by Steve Stern

Award-winning novelist Steve Stern’s exhilarating epic recounts the story of how a nineteenth-century rabbi from a small Polish town ends up in a basement freezer in a suburban Memphis home at the end of the twentieth century. What happens when an impressionable teenage boy inadvertently thaws out the ancient man and brings him back to life is nothing short of miraculous.

Rose's Garden, by Carrie Brown

Conrad and Rose met as children, fell in love as teenagers, and married young. Conrad earned a living as a gilder, raised homing pigeons, and worshipped Rose. Rose gardened. They lived together for more than fifty years, and then Rose died. At seventy-five, Conrad found himself alone, staring at the walls of his house and neglecting Rose's garden. Then an angel came to the garden, the last person he ever thought to see wearing wings. Startled, he felt compelled to spread the news throughout his town, and to his surprise, people he'd known all his life began to reveal their deepest selves to him. ROSE'S GARDEN tells an unforgettable story of a woman whose garden extended far beyond the boundaries of property and time, and the man who came into full blossom in its bower.

The Resurrectionist, by Jack O'Connell

The Resurrectionist is a wild ride into a territory where nothing is as it appears. Part classic noir thriller, part fabulist fable, it is the story of Sweeney and his comatose son, Danny. Hoping for a miracle, Sweeney has brought Danny to the fortresslike Peck Clinic, whose doctors claim to have "resurrected" patients who were similarly lost in the void. but the real cure for his son's condition may lie in Limbo, a comic book world beloved by Danny before he slipped into a coma.

O'Connell has crafted a spellbinding novel about stories and what they can do for and to those who create them and those who consume them. About the nature of consciousness and the power of the unknown. And, ultimately, about forgiveness and the depth of our need to extend it and receive it.

The Kindle Fire edition of Guinness World Records 2013 ($2.09 / £1.29 UK) is the first Kindle Deal of the day for those in the UK (the US edition is $9.99). Don't have a Kindle Fire? Grab the e-Ink Edition ($2.09 / £0.99 UK) at an even lower price.

Book Description
The Guinness World Records 2013 eBook (Kindle Fire) has been specifically designed for the Kindle Fire and features thousands of brand new inspirational achievements and exclusive pictures in full colour chronicling Guinness World Records from all over the world! With more than 4,000 records and a dozen chapters Guinness World Records 2013 is the must-have eBook of the year for aspiring record-breakers of all ages. From Wacky Vehicles and Animalympics to special pages devoted to a world tour of superlatives and an exploration of the extremes of record-breaking, Guinness World Records 2013 is lavishly designed and brings to you the world of record-breaking like you’ve never seen it before!

Do Cats Have Belly Buttons?: And Answers to 244 Other Questions on the World of Science: And Answers to 249 Other Curious Questions ($1.60 / £0.99 UK), by Paul Heiney, is the second Kindle Deal of the day for those in the UK (the US edition is $9.32).

Book Description
Why do jellies wobble? Why don't the oceans overflow? Why do racing cars have fat tyres? How do widgets in beer cans work? How many bones does a giraffe have in that long neck? I've been told that dogs only see in black and white. Is that true? How do we know that no two snow crystals are the same? Why is the earth round? And how do we know it is? why do camels have such bad breath? What is a bruise? Are chemicals in my brain responsible for my falling in love? Will they fade as I grow older? How long can love last? Do Cats Have Belly Buttons? is a follow-up to the successful Can Cows Walk Down Stairs?. Answering life's big questions, as well as the small, it unravels the science behind those things we take for granted, and explains just why the world and its contents are as they are. Informative, entertaining, humorous, it is the perfect present for quizaholics, science addicts, the insatiably questioning, and anyone curious about life on earth.

Can Cows Walk Down Stairs?: Perplexing Questions Answered: The Best Brains Answer the Biggest and Smallest Scientific Questions ($1.60 / £0.99 UK), by Paul Heiney, is the third Kindle Deal of the day for those in the UK (the US edition is $8.15).

Book Description
What is ear wax for? Do bacteria have sex? How do they put stripes in toothpaste? Does your nose run in space? What are stars made of? This book answers those tantalising or perplexing questions for which you thought you'd never find an answer. A book for the naturally curious, as well as those seekers after scientific truths, it unravels both those things we take for granted, such as wehn you boil an egg, why does the yolk stay in the middle, or why is the sky blue, as well as questions which probe deeply, such as, what does an atom look like, or what was there before the beginning of time? if you were to write in the dust on the moon, how big would the letters have to be so you could see them from earth without a telescope? Drawing on the expertise of a team of enthusiastic scientists around the world, authoritative, entertaining, and often a touch humorous, it will appeal to anyone who's ever been curious about life on earth.

A Will & a Way ($4.99 Kindle, $1.99 B&N), by Nora Roberts, is the Nook Daily Find; it's likely to be price matched on Kindle later today.

Book Description
It was worse than winning the lottery—much worse. This bequest might mean more money, but the strings attached had Pandora McVie tied up in knots. Respecting Uncle Jolley's last wishes meant spending time isolated in the Catskills with Michael Donahue, her least favorite—though best looking—distant relative and cobeneficiary.

Living with a carrottopped termagant wasn't Michael's idea of a good time, either, but he realized they were stuck. Jolley was a matchmaker to the end—and apparently for some time beyond. What could happen in six months? Michael answered that one himself: almost anything.

RSS and Email Update

For those who get the Emailed version of the RSS Feed, I believe the new Feedblitz subscription is working and now delivers once a day, between 4 and 7 PM Eastern US time (more or less). So, I'll shut off the old feedburner emails this weekend (so those who only get that subscription will see this message and subscribe to the new feed, instead).

Note that the new subscription allows YOU to change how often you want it to be updated. You can keep the default once/day update or use the Click here to change your preferences link at the very bottom of any email to change your Delivery schedule. Options available are Default, Every 4 Hours, Every 8 Hours and Every 12 Hours. Any of these additional options may result in more than one email per day, but they'll also get you any late-breaking articles (like this one) many hours before the default subscription time.

Today's Deals 12/28

Today's Gold Box at Amazon has up to 60% Off Select Crucial and Lexar Memory and SSD Drives.

Amazon's Android Appstore spotlight today is on Pudding Monsters, a new game from the creators of Cut the Rope. It comes in a free and 99 cent HD version.

Today's Kindle Kids Daily Deal is 11 books from the award-winning, best-selling series starring independent-minded third-grader Judy Moody, by Megan McDonald and Peter H. Reynolds (Illustrator), for just $1.99 each.

Ages: 6+ | Grades: 1+

Today's Kindle Daily Deal is Under the Dome ($1.99), by Stephen King.

Book Description
On an entirely normal, beautiful fall day in Chester's Mill, Maine, the town is inexplicably and suddenly sealed off from the rest of the world by an invisible force field. Planes crash into it and fall from the sky in flaming wreckage, a gardener's hand is severed as "the dome" comes down on it, people running errands in the neighboring town are divided from their families, and cars explode on impact. No one can fathom what this barrier is, where it came from, and when -- or if -- it will go away.

Dale Barbara, Iraq vet and now a short-order cook, finds himself teamed with a few intrepid citizens -- town newspaper owner Julia Shumway, a physician's assistant at the hospital, a select-woman, and three brave kids. Against them stands Big Jim Rennie, a politician who will stop at nothing -- even murder -- to hold the reins of power, and his son, who is keeping a horrible secret in a dark pantry. But their main adversary is the Dome itself. Because time isn't just short. It's running out.

Today's Kindle Romance Daily Deal is These Old Shades ($1.99), by Georgette Heyer (Sourcebooks Casablanca).

Book Description
Set in the Georgian period, about 20 years before the Regency, These Old Shades is considered to be the book that launched Heyer's career. It features two of Heyer's most memorable characters: Justin Alastair, the Duke of Avon, and Leonie, whom he rescues from a life of ignomy and comes to love and marry.

The Duke is known for his coldness of manner, his remarkable omniscience, and his debauched lifestyle. Late one evening, he is accosted by a young person dressed in ragged boy's clothing running away from a brutal rustic guardian. The Duke buys "Leon" and makes the child his page. "Leon" is in fact Leonie, and she serves the Duke with deep devotion. When he uncovers the true story of her birth, he wreaks an unforgettable revenge on her sinister father in a chilling scene of public humiliation.

Today's Kindle SciFi/Fantasy Daily Deal is Odd Thomas ($1.99), by Dean Koontz.

Book Description
“The dead don’t talk. I don’t know why.” But they do try to communicate, with a short-order cook in a small desert town serving as their reluctant confidant. Meet Odd Thomas, the unassuming young hero of Dean Koontz’s dazzling New York Times bestseller, a gallant sentinel at the crossroads of life and death who offers up his heart in these pages and will forever capture yours.

Sometimes the silent souls who seek out Odd want justice. Occasionally their otherworldly tips help him prevent a crime. But this time it’s different. A stranger comes to Pico Mundo, accompanied by a horde of hyena-like shades who herald an imminent catastrophe. Aided by his soul mate, Stormy Llewellyn, and an unlikely community of allies that includes the King of Rock ’n’ Roll, Odd will race against time to thwart the gathering evil. His account of these shattering hours, in which past and present, fate and destiny, converge, is a testament by which to live—an unforgettable fable for our time destined to rank among Dean Koontz’s most enduring works.

The Kindle Deal of the day for those in the UK is three titles for £0.99 each (80% off).

The Lighthouse (Main/UK), by P. D. James (US edition $11.99)

A secure and secluded retreat for the rich and powerful becomes the setting for an unsettling series of murders.Combe Island off the Cornish coast is a restful haven for the elite. But when one of its distinguished visitors is found hanging from the island’s famous lighthouse in what appears to have been a murder, the peace is shattered. Commander Adam Dalgliesh is called in to handle the sensitive case, but at a difficult time for him and his depleted team. He is uncertain about his future with his girlfriend Emma Lavenham; his principle detective Kate Miskin is going through an emotional crisis; and the ambitious Sergeant Francis Benton-Smith is not happy about having a female boss. After a second brutal killing, the whole investigation is jeopardized, and Dalgliesh is faced with a danger even more insidious than murder.

The Dinner (Main/UK), by Herman Koch and Sam Garrett (Translator) (US edition $11.99)

An evening in Amsterdam and two couples meet for dinner. They need to discuss their teenage sons. The boys have committed a horrifying act, caught on CCTV. They remain unidentified - except by their parents. How far will each couple go to protect their child?

Hamish Macbeth Omnibus: Books 1-4 (Main/UK), by M.C. Beaton (no US edition)

DEATH OF A GOSSIP: When society widow and gossip columnist Lady Jane Winters joins the local fishing class she wastes no time in ruffling feathers - or should that be fins? - of those around her.Among the victims of her sharp tongue is Lochdubh constable Hamish Macbeth, yet not even Hamish thinks someone would seriously want to silence Lady Jane's shrill voice permanently - until her strangled body is fished out of the river.Now with the help of the lovely Priscilla Halburton-Smythe, Hamish must steer a course through the choppy waters of the tattler's life to find a murderer. But with a school of suspects who aren't willing to talk, and the dead woman telling no tales, Hamish may well be in over his head for he knows that secrets are dangerous, knowledge is power, and killers when cornered usually do strike again.

DEATH OF A CAD: When Priscilla Halburton-Smythe brings her London playwright fiancé home to Lochdubh, everyone in town is delighted... except for love-smitten Hamish Macbeth. Yet the affairs of his heart will have to wait.Vile, boorish Captain Bartlett, one of the guests at Priscilla's engagement party, has just been found murdered - shot while on a grouse hunt. Now with so many titled party guests as prime suspects, each with their own reason for snuffing out the despicable captain, Hamish must smooth ruffled feathers as he investigates the case... and catch a killer, before they fly the coop!

DEATH OF AN OUTSIDER: The most hated man in the most dour town in Scotland is sleeping with the fishes, or - more accurately - has been dumped into a tank filled with crustaceans. All that remains of the murdered victim are his bones. But once the lobsters have been shipped off to Britain's best restaurants, the whole affair quickly lands on the plate of Constable Hamish Macbeth.Exiled to the dreary outpost of Cnothan, Macbeth sorely misses his beloved Lochdubh, but before he can head back home he has to contend with a detective chief inspector who wants the murder hushed up, a dark-haired lassie who is out to seduce him, and a killer who has made mincemeat of his last victim, and will no doubt strike again...

DEATH OF A PERFECT WIFE: Hamish Macbeth is savouring the delights of a Highland summer, but as fast as the rain rolls in from the loch his happy life goes to hell in a handbasket.The trouble begins when his beloved Priscilla Halburton-Smythe returns to Lochdubh with a new fiancé on her arm. His miseries multiply when clouds of midges descend on the town. And then a paragon of housewife perfection named Trixie Thomas moves into Lochdubh with her cowed husband in tow.The newcomer quickly convinces the local ladies to embrace low-cholesterol meals, ban alcohol and begin bird-watching. Soon the town's menfolk are up in arms and Macbeth must solve Lochdubh's newest crime - the mysterious poisoning of the perfect wife.

The Last Lion: Volume 1: Winston Churchill: Visions of Glory, 1874 - 1932 ($4.99 Kindle, B&N), by William Manchester, is the Nook Daily Find, price matched on Kindle, where the companion audiobook is $4.95.

Book Description
William Manchester met Winston Churchill on January 24, 1953. Their encounter on the Queen Mary sparked an intense curiosity in Manchester that would eventually result in his classic three-volume magnum opus The Last Lion.

In this, the first volume, we follow Churchill from his birth to 1932, when he began to warn against the remilitarization of Germany. Born of a lovely, wanton American mother and a gifted but unstable son of a duke, his childhood was one of wretched neglect. He sought glory on the battlefields of Cuba, Sudan, India, South Africa and the trenches of France. In Parliament he was the prime force behind the creation of Iraq and Jordan, laid the groundwork for the birth of Israel, and negotiated the independence of the Irish Free State. Yet, as Chancellor of the Exchequer he plunged England into economic crisis, and his fruitless attempt to suppress Gandhi's quest for Indian independence brought political chaos to Britain.

Throughout, Churchill learned the lessons that would prepare him for the storm to come, and as the 1930's began, he readied himself for the coming battle against Nazism--an evil the world had never before seen.

Today's Deals 12/27

Today's Kindle Daily Deal is 20 novels for adults and teens by top romance authors for just $1.99 each (two are only $0.99).

1. Risky Business, by Nora Roberts
2. Big Sky Mountain, by Linda Lael Miller
3. Catching Fireflies (The Sweet Magnolias), by Sherryl Woods
4. All He Ever Needed (The Kowalskis), by Shannon Stacey
5. Wicked Nights, by Gena Showalter
6. The Unholy (Krewe of Hunters), by Heather Graham
7. Playing Dirty, by Susan Andersen
8. Undone by Her Tender Touch, by Maya Banks ($0.99)
9. Within Reach, by Sarah Mayberry ($0.99)
10. Real Men Will, by Victoria Dahl
11. Lakeside Cottage (The Lakeshore Chronicles), by Susan Wiggs
12. The Wrangler, by Lindsay McKenna
13. Secrets of the Lost Summer (A Swift River Valley Novel), by Carla Neggers
14. Dreams of Forever: Seduction, Westmoreland Style\Spencer's Forbidden Passion, by Brenda Jackson
15. The Iron King, by Julie Kagawa
16. The Goddess Test, by Aimée Carter
17. Pushing the Limits, by Katie McGarry
18. The Immortal Rules (Blood of Eden), by Julie Kagawa
19. Speechless, by Hannah Harrington
20. Forever Buckhorn: Gabe\Jordan (Buckhorn Brothers), by Lori Foster

Today's Kindle SciFi/Fantasy Daily Deal is Touch of Power ($1.99), the first title in the Avry of Kazan series by Maria V. Snyder.

Book Description
Laying hands upon the injured and dying, Avry of Kazan absorbs their wounds and diseases into herself. But rather than being honored for her skills, she is hunted. Healers like Avry are accused of spreading the plague that has decimated the Fifteen Realms, leaving the survivors in a state of chaos.

Stressed and tired from hiding, Avry is abducted by a band of rogues who, shockingly, value her gift above the golden bounty offered for her capture. Their leader, an enigmatic captor-protector with powers of his own, is unequivocal in his demands: Avry must heal a plague-stricken prince—leader of a campaign against her people. As they traverse the daunting Nine Mountains, beset by mercenaries and magical dangers, Avry must decide who is worth healing and what is worth dying for. Because the price of peace may well be her life….

The Kindle Deal of the day for those in the UK is three titles for £0.99 each (~80% off).

Swimming Home (Main/UK), by Deborah Levy (US edition $8.53)

Shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize 2012.

Swimming Home is a subversive page-turner, a merciless gaze at the insidious harm that depression can have on apparently stable, well-turned-out people. Set in a summer villa, the story is tautly structured, taking place over a single week in which a group of beautiful, flawed tourists in the French Riviera come loose at the seams.

The Firemaker (Main/UK), by Peter May US edition $7.99)

A burned corpse is a disturbing mystery for Beijing Detective Li Yan, until he enlists forensic pathologist Margaret Campbell. Having abandoned a broken life in Chicago for her work, she’s as determined as Li to ask difficult questions about the man’s death. But some questions have answers that they’d rather not hear; facts that others are desperate to conceal.

Peter May is the author of The Blackhouse, The Lewis Man and The Chessmen. The Firemaker is the first of his China thrillers. He lives in France.

The Eagle of the Ninth Chronicles (Main/UK), by Rosemary Sutcliff (US edition $8.99)

The Ninth Legion marched into the mists of northern Britain-and they were never seen again. Four thousand men disappeared and their eagle standard was lost. It's a mystery that's never been solved, until now . . . So begins the story of The Eagle of the Ninth, set against a backdrop of Roman Britain and featuring a young soldier, Marcus Aquila, who sets off into the unknown north to find out what happened to the lost legion. Following on from this are The Silver Branch in which two young soldiers uncover a plot to overthrow the Emperor, and The Lantern Bearers which is set at a time when the Romans are leaving the shores of Britain and tells of Aquila who, having served in the Roman army, is now returning home to his farm-but when he gets there everything he knows and loves has been destroyed and so he sets out to seek revenge. To have three such exciting stories in one volume is a treat for fans old and new.

The Shoemaker's Wife ($7.99 Kindle, $1.99 B&N), by Adriana Trigiani, is the Nook Daily Find.

Book Description
The fateful first meeting of Enza and Ciro takes place amid the haunting majesty of the Italian Alps at the turn of the last century. Still teenagers, they are separated when Ciro is banished from his village and sent to hide in New York's Little Italy, apprenticed to a shoemaker, leaving a bereft Enza behind. But when her own family faces disaster, she, too, is forced to emigrate to America. Though destiny will reunite the star-crossed lovers, it will, just as abruptly, separate them once again—sending Ciro off to serve in World War I, while Enza is drawn into the glamorous world of the opera . . . and into the life of the international singing sensation Enrico Caruso. Still, Enza and Ciro have been touched by fate—and, ultimately, the power of their love will change their lives forever.

A riveting historical epic of love and family, war and loss, risk and destiny, inspired by the author's own family history, The Shoemaker's Wife is the novel Adriana Trigiani was born to write.

Today's Deals 12/26

Today is Amazon is having a recap of 2012 Free Apps for Android Greatest Hits and if you missed some of the best deals of the year, you get another chance to get them for free, including OfficeSuite Professional 6 (reg. $15). There is also a remote access app, a calendar/tracking app, an internet radio app and a number of games; I even found one I had missed, myself!

For those with young children or grandkids, you definitely will want to check out the Dr. Seuss sale, which has a number of my childhood favorites marked down to 99 cents, regularly $4-$5. There are more than two dozen titles in the sale, with some priced at $1.99 or $2.99, so you should be able to stock up your or you kids' new Kindle Fires with a lot of entertainment at a low cost.

If you "buy" any of the free apps created by Smule, Amazon will give you a $1 MP3 credit.

For those with eInk Kindles, be sure to check out the Best Kindle E Ink Games of 2012 for $0.99, which includes Uno, Scrabble, Brain Trainer and more.

At Audible, the Holiday Relief sale has 100+ books at $7.95.

At BooksonBoard, get 50% off and 5% rewards on non-Agency books using coupon code eKlaus (capitalization is important).

In the UK, the 12 Days of Kindle sale is back, with "great books from as low as £0.99 [and] at least 50 books [added] to the selection every day."

Also for those in the UK (and Australia), iTunes is having a 12 Days of Christmas givewaway, with a new gift free each day.

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

• Get 1 of 50 Books for $1

Today's Kindle Romance Daily Deal is The Host ($1.99), by Stephenie Meyer, author of the Twilight series. Audible listeners can get the companion audiobook for only $3.95.

Book Description
Now available as a special edition eBook: New Bonus Chapter and Reading Group Guide, including Stephenie Meyer's Annotated Playlist for the book with linking to and back from text.

Melanie Stryder refuses to fade away. The earth has been invaded by a species that take over the minds of human hosts while leaving their bodies intact. Wanderer, the invading "soul" who has been given Melanie's body, didn't expect to find its former tenant refusing to relinquish possession of her mind.

As Melanie fills Wanderer's thoughts with visions of Jared, a human who still lives in hiding, Wanderer begins to yearn for a man she's never met. Reluctant allies, Wanderer and Melanie set off to search for the man they both love.

Featuring one of the most unusual love triangles in literature, THE HOST
is a riveting and unforgettable novel about the persistence of love and the essence of what it means to be human.

Today's Kindle Daily Deal saves up to 93% on biographies and memoirs by Caitlin Moran, Neil Young, Patti Smith, Ellen DeGeneres, and more, all $2.99 or less (up to 93% off).

• When We Were the Kennedys: A Memoir from Mexico, Maine, by Monica Wood
• Bad Habits: Confessions of a Recovering Catholic, by Jenny McCarthy
• Washington: A Life , by Ron Chernow; companion audiobook $3.95
• Until Tuesday: A Wounded Warrior and the Golden Retriever Who Saved Him, by Luis Carlos Montalvan; companion audiobook $3.95 (I listened to this last year; recommended)
• Just Kids, by Patti Smith
• My Horizontal Life, by Chelsea Handler; companion audiobook $3.95
• How to Be a Woman, by Caitlin Moran
• Waging Heavy Peace, by Neil Young (this one has been on our wishlist!)
• Seriously...I'm Kidding, by Ellen DeGeneres (I listened to the audiobook on this one last year and it was hilarious; from what I read, the book is different from the audiobook, but just as funny)
• Let's Pretend This Never Happened: (A Mostly True Memoir), by Jenny Lawson

Today's Kindle SciFi/Fantasy Daily Deal is The Handmaid's Tale ($1.99), by Margaret Atwood. Check your libraries though, as I have it in mine, but in an edition that is no longer available.

Book Description

The Handmaid's Tale is not only a radical and brilliant departure for Margaret Atwood, it is a novel of such power that the reader will be unable to forget its images and its forecast. Set in the near future, it describes life in what was once the United States, now called the Republic of Gilead, a monotheocracy that has reacted to social unrest and a sharply declining birthrate by reverting to, and going beyond, the repressive intolerance of the original Puritans. The regime takes the Book of Genesis absolutely at its word, with bizarre consequences for the women and men of its population.

The story is told through the eyes of Offred, one of the unfortunate Handmaids under the new social order. In condensed but eloquent prose, by turns cool-eyed, tender, despairing, passionate, and wry, she reveals to us the dark corners behind the establishment's calm facade, as certain tendencies now in existence are carried to their logical conclusions. The Handmaid's Tale is funny, unexpected, horrifying, and altogether convincing. It is at once scathing satire, dire warning, and tour de force. It is Margaret Atwood at her best.

The Kindle Deal of the day for those in the UK is six titles for £0.99 each (~80% off).

Angels (Main/UK), by Marian Keyes (US edition $7.99)

Marian Keyes' sixth novel is a truly captivating story about a marriage that's gone wrong and a sensible girl who suddenly just wants to let her hair down.

"We will shortly be landing at Los Angeles International Airport. Please ensure your seat is in the upright position, that you weigh less than a hundred pounds and that you have excellent teeth."

Maggie Walsh has always done everything right. Sensibly. By the book. Until the day she leaves her husband and runs away to Hollywood, that is.

Follow her on a journey of discovery, from suburbia to a suntan - taking in some heartache and lots of martinis along the way - as she discovers what she really wants in life and why she really walked out of her marriage.

Artemis Fowl (Main/UK), by Eoin Colfer (US edition $5.69)

Twelve-year-old villain, Artemis Fowl, is the most ingenious criminal mastermind in history. His bold and daring plan is to hold a leprechaun to ransom. But he's taking on more than he bargained for when he kidnaps Captain Holly Short of the LEPrecon (Lower Elements Police Reconnaissance Unit). For a start, leprechaun technology is more advanced than our own. Add to that the fact that Holly is a true heroine and that her senior officer Commander Root will stop at nothing to get her back and you've got the mother of all sieges brewing!

A Long Way Down (Main/UK), by Nick Hornby (US edition $11.99)

A Long Way Down - Nick Hornby's hilarious bestseller about strangers and secrets

'Can I explain why I wanted to jump off the top of a tower block?'

For disgraced TV presenter Martin Sharp the answer's pretty simple: he has, in his own words, 'pissed his life away'. And on New Year's Eve he's going to end it all . . . but not, as it happens, alone. Because first single-mum Maureen, then eighteen-year-old Jess and lastly American rock-god JJ turn up and crash Martin's private party. They've stolen his idea - but brought their own reasons.

Yet it's hard to jump when you've got an audience queuing impatiently behind you. A few heated words and some slices if cold pizza later and these four strangers are suddenly allies. But is their unlikely friendship a good enough reason to carry on living?

Shortlisted for the 2005 Whitbread Award and the Commonwealth Writers Prize, A Long Way Down is a darkly hilarious and moving novel by bestselling author Nick Hornby. If you like Jonathan Coe, David Sedaris and David Nicholls, you will love this book.

The Chase: The Isaac Bell Adventures #1 (Main/UK), by Clive Cussler (US edition $9.99)

In The Chase Clive Cussler introduces a historical hero- Isaac Bell.

1950: the rusting hulk of a steam locomotive is raised from the depths of a Montana lake. Inside are three bodies, bloody clue to a fortune lost for over forty years . . .

1906: For two years banks across the western United States have been living in terror of the 'Butcher Bandit'. This cold-blooded bank robber empties safes and murders all witnesses, vanishing without trace. In desperation, the US Government calls in Isaac Bell, the best detective in the country. From Arizona to Colorado to the streets of San Francisco during the great quake, Bell uses all his guile and ingenuity to catch up with the murderous Bandit.

But when Bell has him almost cornered - the Bandit turns really nasty. And suddenly the stakes have changed. Bell isn't just battling to get his man. He's fighting for his very survival . . .

Bestseller Clive Cussler - author of the Dirk Pitt novels Arctic Drift and Crescent Dawn - sends hero Isaac Bell to solve a mysterious series of bank-robberies and murders in the first novel of historical thriller series The Isaac Bell Adventures. The Chase is followed by The Wrecker and The Spy.

The Kane Chronicles: The Red Pyramid (Main/UK), by Rick Riordan (US edition $7.99)

A brilliant new adventure series from the best-selling author of Percy Jackson.

Carter and Sadie have nothing in common but their parents: their father Dr. Julius Kane, a brilliant Egyptologist, and their mother, a famed archaeologist who died under mysterious circumstances when they were young.

The siblings barely know each other, but one night, their father brings them together at the British Museum, promising a 'research experiment' that will set things right for their family.

His plans go horribly wrong.

An explosion unleashes an ancient evil - the Egyptian god Set who banishes Dr. Kane to oblivion and forces the children to flee for their lives. Now orphaned, Carter and Sadie must embark on a dangerous quest - from Cairo to Paris to the American Southwest, to save their father and stop Set from destroying everything they care about . . .

Never Look Back (Main/UK), by Lesley Pearse (no US edition)

One good deed takes her into another world . . .

Sixteen-year-old Matilda is a poor Covent Garden flower girl until the day she saves the life of Tabitha, a minister's daughter. Welcomed into Tabitha's family, Matilda is offered the chance of a lifetime.

She leaves behind London's slums and enters the darkest corners of New York. And she travels across the plains to the Wild West, where San Francisco is in the grip of the gold rush.

Streetwise and strong-willed, Matilda forges a new life for herself and Tabitha among pioneers like Captain James Russell - a man to whom she is deeply attracted. Yet a civil war will soon rip apart this new nation.

Can Matilda and those she loves brave separation and carry on, never looking back?

Black List ($2.99 Kindle, B&N), the eleventh and latest thriller in Brad Thor's Scot Harvath series, is the Nook Daily Find, price matched on Kindle.

Book Description
A stunning masterwork of action, intrigue, and ingenious plot twists.

#1 New York Times bestselling author Brad Thor returns with his most explosive thriller ever. Somewhere deep inside the United States government is a closely guarded list. Members of Congress never get to see it—only the President and a secret team of advisers. Once your name is on the list, it doesn’t come off . . . until you’re dead.

Someone has just added counterterrorism operative Scot Harvath’s name.

Somehow Harvath must evade the teams dispatched to kill him long enough to untangle who has targeted him and why they want him out of the way.

Somewhere, someone, somehow can put all the pieces together. The only question is, will Harvath get to that person before the United States suffers the most withering terrorist attack ever conceived?

An intense, page-turning novel that is action-packed and frighteningly real, Black List blurs the line between fiction and reality and once again reaffirms why Brad Thor “is arguably the best thriller writer of our time” (Suspense Magazine) and “America’s favorite author” (KTTX).

Today's Kindle Kids Daily Deal is Diary of a Wimpy Kid ($1.99), by Jeff Kinney.

Book Description
Boys don't keep diaries—or do they?

The launch of an exciting and innovatively illustrated new series narrated by an unforgettable kid every family can relate to.

It's a new school year, and Greg Heffley finds himself thrust into middle school, where undersized weaklings share the hallways with kids who are taller, meaner, and already shaving. The hazards of growing up before you're ready are uniquely revealed through words and drawings as Greg records them in his diary.

In book one of this debut series, Greg is happy to have Rowley, his sidekick, along for the ride. But when Rowley's star starts to rise, Greg tries to use his best friend's newfound popularity to his own advantage, kicking off a chain of events that will test their friendship in hilarious fashion.

Author/illustrator Jeff Kinney recalls the growing pains of school life and introduces a new kind of hero who epitomizes the challenges of being a kid. As Greg says in his diary, "Just don’t expect me to be all 'Dear Diary' this and 'Dear Diary' that." Luckily for us, what Greg Heffley says he won't do and what he actually does are two very different things.

Since its launch in May 2004 on Funbrain.com, the Web version of Diary of a Wimpy Kid has been viewed by 20 million unique online readers. This year, it is averaging 70,000 readers a day.

Free Audiobook from Downpour

While it lasts, download a free audiobook from Downpour.com (Blackstone Audio's new consumer site). There are twenty to choose from and you can download either an MP3 (Kindle compatible) or MP4 (iTunes) format after the audiobook is in your library.

40% Off Qualifying Kindle Accessories (AL)

This is another AmazonLocal deal, so you must be in the US, but don't have to find a special offer on your Kindle: 40% Off Qualifying Kindle Accessories. Grab a voucher now, before they sell out and you'll have over a week to look thru the qualifying items and decide which ones you want (although popular ones may sell out, as always with these offers).

Deal Description
Whether you've owned your Kindle Fire or Kindle E-reader for years, or just got one as a gift, today's deal from the Kindle Accessories Store is the perfect opportunity to personalize -- and protect -- your device. Get a free voucher for 40% off qualifying purchases ($40 maximum discount) in the Kindle Accessories Store.

• Free voucher for 40% off select Kindle accessories
• Choose from a wide selection of qualifying Amazon Branded Accessories and Made for Kindle Accessories from brands like Marware, Verso, Punchcase and more
• Voucher will expire if not used toward a qualifying purchase in the Kindle Accessories Store by January 5, 2013
• Voucher is valid for a 40% discount on your order total (up to the first $100 spent) for qualifying items in the Kindle Accessories Store; your order total can be over $100, but the maximum discount is $40.

Today's Deals 12/25

Merry Christmas, everyone! I'll be checking on the free books later, but will be busy with family on and off, so it may later this afternoon.

Be sure to grab today's free Android App, World of Goo (usually $5). I also see that Need for Speed Most Wanted (Kindle Tablet Edition) and Asphalt 7: Heat (Kindle Tablet Edition) are on sale for 99 cents (down from $6.99). All are great choices for any new Kindle Fire HD's under the tree.

Today's Kindle Daily Deal is The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo ($1.99), by Stieg Larsson and Reg Keeland (Translator).

Book Description
An international publishing sensation, Stieg Larsson's The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo combines murder mystery, family saga, love story, and financial intrigue into one satisfyingly complex and entertainingly atmospheric novel.

Harriet Vanger, a scion of one of Sweden's wealthiest families disappeared over forty years ago. All these years later, her aged uncle continues to seek the truth. He hires Mikael Blomkvist, a crusading journalist recently trapped by a libel conviction, to investigate. He is aided by the pierced and tattooed punk prodigy Lisbeth Salander. Together they tap into a vein of unfathomable iniquity and astonishing corruption.

Today's Kindle Romance Daily Deal is five sensual, seasonal romances by Debbie Macomber, Sherryl Woods, Brenda Novak, RaeAnne Thayne, and Susan Mallery for just $1.99 or less.

The Perfect Christmas ($1.99), by Debbie Macomber

What would make your Christmas perfect?

For Cassie Beaumont, it's meeting her perfect match. Cassie, at thirty-three, wants a husband and kids, and so far, nothing's worked. Not blind dates, not the internet and certainly not leaving love to chance.

What other options are there? Well…she could hire a professional matchmaker. Simon Dodson has quite a reputation, but he's very choosy about the clients he takes on—and very expensive. Cassie considers him a difficult, acerbic know-it-all, and she's astonished when he accepts her as a client.

Claiming he has her perfect mate in mind, Simon assigns her three tasks to complete before she meets this paragon. Three tasks that are all about Christmas: being a charity bell-ringer, dressing up as Santa's elf at a mall and preparing a traditional turkey dinner for her neighbors (most of whom she happens to dislike). Despite a number of comical mishaps, Cassie does it all—and then she's finally ready to meet her match.

But just like the perfect Christmas gift, he turns out to be a wonderful surprise!

An O'Brien Family Christmas ($1.99), by Sherryl Woods

Dating Matthew O'Brien—a playboy and a younger man—cost Laila Riley her career and her parents' respect. A high price, even for love—and when Laila decides it was just a fling, she breaks it off, despite Matthew's objections.

But the O'Brien family has other ideas, and they conspire to get Laila to join them on a Dublin holiday. It's a great time to get away from it all, but Laila has reservations about the trip. Matthew's bound to be there, and she's far from immune. What if she can't resist temptation?

Meanwhile, the O'Briens are in an uproar over matriarch Nell's unexpected romance with an old flame. Will she follow her heart, despite the risks? And will Laila discover that some risks are actually once-in-a-lifetime opportunities?

When Snow Falls ($1.99), by Brenda Novak

After growing up in cheap motels, moving from town to town with her sister and mother, Cheyenne Christensen is grateful to be on her own. She's grateful, too, for the friends she found once her family settled in California. But she's troubled by the mystery of her earliest memories, most of which feature a smiling blonde woman. A woman who isn't her mother.

Although Cheyenne has repeatedly asked for explanations, the people who could help aren't talking. Cheyenne is set on finding answers, but without so much as a birth certificate, it won't be easy.

Things get even more complicated when her closest friend is attracted to the man Cheyenne has secretly loved for years. For Eve's sake, she decides to step aside—which lands her right in the arms of Dylan Amos, oldest and baddest of the hell-raising Amos brothers. He's the kind of guy she's sworn to avoid. She can't afford to make a mistake, not when she finally has a chance to learn who she really is and change her life for the better. But…maybe there's more to Dylan than she thought. Maybe letting him go would be a bigger mistake.

A Cold Creek Noel ($0.99), by RaeAnne Thayne

Caidy Bowman had been the apple of her family's eye—until a devastating tragedy forced her to hide from the world. She was used to devoting her time to the animals on her family's ranch. Then widower Ben Caldwell and his two adorable children arrived in Pine Gulch, and suddenly, Caidy wanted more than a life in the shadows….

As the town's new vet, Ben needed a place to stay for the holidays—and for his family to heal from their own loss. He absolutely wasn't looking for love again! But Caidy Bowman's sparkling green eyes and sweet smile touched Ben's broken heart, giving him hope for a new future. Their future—if he could convince the beautiful cowgirl that Christmas was a time for new beginnings….

A Christmas Bride: Only Us: A Fool's Gold Holiday\The Sheik and the Christmas Bride ($1.99), an anthology by Susan Mallery

Only Us
Pet groomer Carina Fiore wants nothing more than to confess her feelings to the man she loves. She's drawn to veterinarian Cameron McKenzie's good looks, caring nature and especially his devotion to his young daughter. There's just one problem—he's her boss. Putting her heart on the line could cost Rina both her job and their friendship forever. But when a kiss under the mistletoe unlocks the simmering passion between them, Rina and Cameron may just find love for the holidays after all….

The Sheik and the Christmas Bride
When Prince As'ad of El Deharia agrees to adopt three orphaned American girls, he does so on one condition—that their beautiful teacher, Kayleen James, become their nanny. His plan is to leave her to deal with the children as he continues his life, undisturbed. But all that changes when Kayleen and the girls invade the palace—and As'ad's heart—and change it for the better.

Today's Kindle SciFi/Fantasy Daily Deal is Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter ($1.99), by Seth Grahame-Smith.

Book Description
Indiana, 1818. Moonlight falls through the dense woods that surround a one-room cabin, where a nine-year-old Abraham Lincoln kneels at his suffering mother's bedside. She's been stricken with something the old-timers call "Milk Sickness."

"My baby boy..." she whispers before dying.

Only later will the grieving Abe learn that his mother's fatal affliction was actually the work of a vampire.

When the truth becomes known to young Lincoln, he writes in his journal, "henceforth my life shall be one of rigorous study and devotion. I shall become a master of mind and body. And this mastery shall have but one purpose..." Gifted with his legendary height, strength, and skill with an ax, Abe sets out on a path of vengeance that will lead him all the way to the White House.

While Abraham Lincoln is widely lauded for saving a Union and freeing millions of slaves, his valiant fight against the forces of the undead has remained in the shadows for hundreds of years. That is, until Seth Grahame-Smith stumbled upon The Secret Journal of Abraham Lincoln, and became the first living person to lay eyes on it in more than 140 years.

Using the journal as his guide and writing in the grand biographical style of Doris Kearns Goodwin and David McCullough, Seth has reconstructed the true life story of our greatest president for the first time-all while revealing the hidden history behind the Civil War and uncovering the role vampires played in the birth, growth, and near-death of our nation.

The Millennium Trilogy ($3.70 / £2.29 UK), by Stieg Larsson , is the first Kindle Deal of the day for those in the UK (the US edition is $29.99, so a better deal is to start with The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo at $1.99 and pick up the other two volumes, later).

Book Description
Together in ebook for the very first time, discover the novels millions of readers worldwide could not put down:

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Forty years ago, Harriet Vanger disappeared from a family gathering on the island owned by the powerful Vanger clan. Her uncle employs disgraced journalist Mikael Blomkvist and tattooed hacker Lisbeth Salander to investigate. When the pair link Harriet's disappearance to a number of grotesque murders, they begin to unravel a dark family history…

The Girl Who Played With Fire
Lisbeth Salander is now a wanted woman, on the run from the police. Mikael Blomkvist, editor-in-chief of Millennium magazine, is trying to prove her innocence. Yet Salander is more avenging angel than helpless victim. She may be an expert at staying out of sight – but she has ways of tracking down her most elusive enemies.

The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' Nest
Salander is plotting her final revenge – against the man who tried to kill her, and against the government institutions that very nearly destroyed her life. With the help of journalist Mikael Blomkvist and his researchers at Millennium magazine, Salander is ready to fight to the end.

A Taste for Death ($1.60 / £0.99 UK), by P. D. James, is the second Kindle Deal of the day for those in the UK (the US edition is $11.99).

Book Description
When the quiet Little Vestry of St. Matthew's Church becomes the blood-soaked scene of a double murder, Scotland Yard Commander Adam Dalgliesh faces an intriguing conundrum: How did an upper-crust Minister come to lie, slit throat to slit throat, next to a neighborhood derelict of the lowest order? Challenged with the investigation of a crime that appears to have endless motives, Dalgliesh explores the sinister web spun around a half-burnt diary and a violet-eyed widow who is pregnant and full of malice--all the while hoping to fill the gap of logic that joined these two disparate men in bright red death. . . .

Thrill! ($1.63 / £0.99 UK), by Jackie Collins, is the third Kindle Deal of the day for those in the UK (no US Kindle edition; Audible).

Book Description
From chic New York and the exclusive Hamptons to the hungry heart of L.A., this high-suspense tale pulses with deadly obsessions and relentless desires in the seemingly perfect world of a gorgeous film actress.

She could have any man - but the one she can't resist is a mysterious lover with a shadowed past. As their jolting affair skyrockets with electric passion, shocking secrets break through their hidden traps - in a brilliantly twisting story that sparks with the explosive Jackie Collins touch

Caught ($2.99 Kindle, B&N), by Harlan Coben, is the Nook Daily Find, price matched on Kindle.

Book Description
Reporter Wendy Tynes is making a name for herself, bringing down sexual offenders on nationally televised sting operations. But when social worker Dan Mercer walks into her trap, Wendy gets thrown into a story more complicated than she could ever imagine. Dan is tied to the disappearance of a seventeen-year-old New Jersey girl, and the shocking consequences will have Wendy doubting her instincts about the motives of the people around her, while confronting the true nature of guilt, grief, and her own capacity for forgiveness.…

Today's Kindle Kids Daily Deal is two wonderful recent classics for young readers--Rick Riordan's The Lightning Thief (Percy Jackson and the Olympians) and Chris Van Allsburg's The Polar Express --are just $2.99 each.

The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan.

Percy Jackson is a good kid, but he can't seem to focus on his schoolwork or control his temper. And lately, being away at boarding school is only getting worse-Percy could have sworn his pre-algebra teacher turned into a monster and tried to kill him. When Percy's mom finds out, she knows it's time that he knew the truth about where he came from, and that he go to the one place he'll be safe. She sends Percy to Camp Half Blood, a summer camp for demigods (on Long Island), where he learns that the father he never knew is Poseidon, God of the Sea. Soon a mystery unfolds and together with his friends -- one a satyr and the other the demigod daughter of Athena -- Percy sets out on a quest across the United States to reach the gates of the Underworld (located in a recording studio in Hollywood) and prevent a catastrophic war between the gods.

Grade Level: 5 and up

The Polar Express by Chris Van Allsburg.

Since its publication in 1985, Chris Van Allsburg’s holiday classic has sold millions of copies and has come to signify the essential spirit of Christmas for countless readers. Now, after more than twenty-five celebrated years of publication, the Caldecott Award-winning The Polar Express is available as a read-aloud e-book, featuring dramatic audio of the timeless tale as read by Liam Neeson. Readers young and old are sure to treasure this inspiring book, which brings to life the magic of Christmas for all who believe.

Age Level: 5 and up