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Tuesday, May 21, 2013

Bargain Book Roundup

I mentioned before that I went to see Star Trek Into Darkness in 3D and really liked it. Since we wanted to grab it on Blu-ray when it was released, I signed up to be notified when it could be ordered and today, there it is! Even better, the prices are pretty reasonable, so I pre-ordered the 3D Combo Edition (with Blu-ray 3D + Blu-ray + DVD + Digital Copy) for under $25. If you want to save a few bucks, the Blu-ray Combo is $19.99 and the DVD Only (no digital copy) is $16.99. If you really want to splurge, though, you can also get Star Trek Into Darkness Starfleet Phaser Limited Edition Gift Set, which adds a (non-weaponized, although with a spinning barrel) Phaser to the 3D Combo Edition.

And here's the best part for Kindle readers: You also get a Free Star Trek Comic Book: Pre-Order Star Trek Into Darkness on DVD, Blu-ray Combo,or 3D Blu-ray Combo and receive a promotional credit (valued at $2.99) for a free Star Trek: Countdown to Darkness #1 Comic Book, by Mike Johnson and David Messina (Illustrator). Now, I'll be waiting to order mine after I get the promo credit and the details page claims you can't get it at all unless you are an Into Darkness pre-order customer ... but, right this minute there is a one-click order button on the page (and a $2.99 price tag); I don't know if it will refuse your order if you didn't buy the movie first, but it's there to click, for those that want to try for it.

Boring details: Promotional credit will be sent upon ship date and must be used by September 30, 2013 in order to receive the free download. Download must be used with a Kindle device or through the Kindle app.

It took several days, but 1,001 Best Grilling Recipes: Delicious, Easy-to-Make Recipes from Around the World ($1.99 Kindle, B&N), by Rick Browne [Agate Surrey], finally dropped on Kindle to match the B&N price. If you were holding off on getting it, I'd do it now, as this price may not last long.
Book Description
This newest addition to Surrey's 1,001 line of cookbooks is the definitive book on grilling everything from appetizers and side dishes, to lamb, beef, hamburgers, sausages, fish & shellfish, wild game, chicken, game birds, turkey, pork, and desserts. Also included are dozens of recipes for sauces, marinades, and rubs to use when cooking on a barbecue grill.

Author Rick Browne is one of the country's best-known authorities on grilling. The creator and host of the PBS TV series "Barbecue America," he is the author of seven cookbooks, most dealing with barbecue and grilling. In this new collection, he's created an encyclopedic collection of recipes drawn from cuisines around the world.

Browne begins with a brief, introductory primer on basic grilling techniques, but the real substance of this book is the dazzling array of recipes--all manner of meat and fish, plus numerous vegetarian options, from every corner of the globe, with a particular focus on North American and Asian traditions.

Never before have this many great grilling recipes been collected between two covers. If you love to grill--or know someone else who does--this is a must-have resource. It's the only grilling recipe book you'll ever need.

Cain ($1.39 Kindle; >$10 elsewhere), by Jose Saramago and Margaret Jull Costa (Translator) [Houghton Mifflin Harcourt]; this is the one novel missing from The Collected Novels of Jose Saramago, as it was unfinished when the latter was published. The Audible companion audiobook is $3.99.
Book Description
In this, his last novel, JosĂ© Saramago daringly reimagines the characters and narratives of the Old Testament, recalling his provocative The Gospel According to Jesus Christ. His tale runs from the Garden of Eden, when God realizes he has forgotten to give Adam and Eve the gift of speech, to the moment when Noah’s Ark lands on the dry peak of Ararat. Cain, the despised, the murderer, is Saramago’s protagonist.

Condemned to wander forever after he kills his brother Abel, Cain makes his way through the world in the company of a personable donkey. He is a witness to and participant in the stories of Isaac and Abraham, the destruction of the Tower of Babel, Moses and the golden calf, the trials of Job. The rapacious Queen Lilith takes him as her lover. An old man with two sheep on a rope crosses his path. And again and again, Cain encounters a God whose actions seem callous, cruel, and unjust. He confronts Him, he argues with Him. “And one thing we know for certain,” Saramago writes, “is that they continued to argue and are arguing still.”

A startling book—sensual, funny—and in all ways a fitting end to Saramago’s extraordinary career.

If you don't have a copy of The Great Gatsby ($4.99 Kindle, $10.93 B&N, $1.99-$7.99 Kobo), by F. Scott Fitzgerald [Simon and Schuster], now is the time to pick one up to read before seeing the latest movie version in the theaters. Those that prefer the the audiobook edition may want to grab this edition, as well, as the audiobook price drops to 99 cents once you have the Kindle edition in your libraries.

Note that the lower price editions at Kobo (and elsewhere) are public domain copies, for countries where the copyright has expired, which does not include the US.
Book Description
The exemplary novel of the Jazz Age, F. Scott Fitzgeralds' third book, The Great Gatsby (1925), stands as the supreme achievement of his career. T. S. Eliot read it three times and saw it as the "first step" American fiction had taken since Henry James; H. L. Mencken praised "the charm and beauty of the writing," as well as Fitzgerald's sharp social sense; and Thomas Wolfe hailed it as Fitzgerald's "best work" thus far. The story of the fabulously wealthy Jay Gatsby and his love for the beautiful Daisy Buchanan, of lavish parties on Long Island at a time when, The New York Times remarked, "gin was the national drink and sex the national obsession," it is an exquisitely crafted tale of America in the 1920s that resonates with the power of myth. A novel of lyrical beauty yet brutal realism, of magic, romance, and mysticism, The Great Gatsby is one of the great classics of twentieth-century literature.

Overdraft: The Orion Offensive ($1.99 Kindle), by John Jackson Miller [47North], is a new Kindle Serial from the author of Star Wars: Lost Tribe of the Sith (now available as in a Collected Stories edition), as well as several Star Wars and Mass Effects novels. Half of the episodes have been released and you get the remaining episodes over time, at no extra charge (unlike many indie-published attempts at a serial); if you prefer, you can wait until it is finished and read it all at once (in a single book on your Kindle, no searching for chapters). Also unlike the indie serials I've seen lately, this has both editorial support and the length is known before your purchase (I've seen indie's priced at 99 cents/episode, with dozens of tiny episodes, which will break the bank quickly and is vastly overpriced for all but a huge name author, IMO).
Book Description
This book is a Kindle Serial. Kindle Serials are stories published in episodes, with future episodes delivered at no additional cost. This serial currently contains four episodes out of an estimated eight total episodes, and new episodes will be delivered every two weeks.

After an egotistical stock trader for one of the twenty-second century’s biggest corporations gets greedy and loses his employer a fortune, he has two options: go to jail or make the money back before anyone notices. Unfortunately, the only place such profits can be found is the galactic frontier, a region so dangerous it’ll take an uneasy alliance with a crew of rugged mercenaries to keep him alive and in the black.

You’d have to be insane to trade with the violent denizens of the Orion Arm, but with just one hundred days to recoup $100 billion, Jamie Sturm is feeling a little crazy. Standing between Jamie and a variety of agonizing deaths is Surge Team Sigma, the squad of power-armored mercenaries tasked with protecting him. Their last job ended in disaster thanks to Jamie’s scheming, and, led by the implacable Bridget Yang, the team is determined to keep the hapless Jamie alive long enough to fix their reputation. That is, assuming they can ignore their own growing desire to flush the annoying tagalong out of the nearest airlock.

A space opera fueled by today’s financial bravado, Overdraft: The Orion Offensive strikes a thrilling balance between desperate firefights and trenchant dark humor.

Truly Madly Deeply, A Carly Phillips Collection ($0.99 Kindle), by Carly Phillips [indie], contains three romance novels previously published in paper editions: Perfect Partners (Zebra/1999), Solitary Man (Kensington/2004) and The Right Choice (Kensington/2004).
Book Description
A collection of three full length novels by New York Times Bestselling Author Carly Phillips, originally written and published in 1999 and 2000, and published under her real name, Karen Drogin.

PERFECT PARTNERS
No sooner had Chelsie Russell and Griffin Stuart lost their siblings in a car crash than they find themselves fighting for custody of their two year old niece. Griff wins only to discover Chelsie is the only one who can soothe the child's night terrors and fears. Chelsie and Griff bond over the little girl and their growing sexual desire is mutual. But is it enough? Chelsie's been hurt before and Griff isn't sure he can trust the woman who once tried to take his
niece away. What will it take for them to realize they are ... perfect partners?

THE RIGHT CHOICE
Advice columnist Carly Wexler is planning the perfect wedding with the perfect fiancé. So what if he doesn't make her heart beat faster? He's the right choice. Until sexy photo journalist, Mike Novak, her fiance's adopted brother arrives and Carly experiences all the passion she's convinced herself she doesn't need. Mike is torn by loyalty and a yearning unlike any he's ever known. After spending time with Carly, he is sure the engaged couple are marrying for the wrong reasons. With one week to go before the wedding, can Mike convince Carly he's the only choice for her?

SOLITARY MAN
When tough Boston cop Kevin Manning promised to care for his fatally wounded partner's family, a one night stand with the man's grieving sister wasn't part of the plan. No matter how intense the night had been, a woman like Nikki Welles deserves much more than a broken man like Kevin can give, and he leaves the next day. When he returns months later, everything has changed. Nikki can't forgive Kevin for abandoning her nor can she regret the baby she's now carrying. And she can't stop wanting Kevin. But can this solitary man come to believe he's worthy of love?