Free Book - Stupid History (E)

Stupid History: Tales of Stupidity, Strangeness, and Mythconceptions Through the Ages ($7.99 Kindle), by Leland Gregory, is free over at Copia. This was free on Kindle back in Nov '10, but under a different ASIN (feel free to report the lower price on the new edition; maybe it will go free too) and then for NOOK in June of last year. Might as well collect a full set, though, so I've downloaded this one.

While you are at Copia, you might also want to check out their $0.99 Humor Books Sale, which features titles such as I Love You More Than Beer, Women Are from Venus Men Are Idiots and Idiots in Charge (amongst a few others).

Book Description
If it would shock you to learn that Benjamin Franklin didn't discover electricity, you'll appreciate this take on hundreds of historical legends and debacles. Historians and humorists alike may be surprised to learn that:

Samuel Prescott made the famous horseback ride into Concord, not Paul Revere. As a member of Parliament, Isaac Newton spoke only once. He asked for an open window. On April 24, 1898, Spain declared war on the U.S., thus starting the Spanish-American War. The U.S. declared war the very next day, but not wanting to be outdone, had the date on the declaration changed from April 25 to April 21.With these and many other stories, leading humorist Leland Gregory once again highlights both the strange and the funny side of humankind.

Get the free ebook from Copia.

2 Free Books from New Word City (K)

New Word City has another batch of free books in the Kindle store, which are likely to only remain free for a day or so.

1. What America Was Really Like In 1776, by Thomas Fleming
2. Martin Luther King Jr.: Brother Martin Has A Dream, by Willard Sterne Randall and Nancy Nahra

Free Book - Michal (K/N/E)

Michal (Main/UK), by Jill Eileen Smith, is a repeat freebie in the Kindle store and from Barnes & Noble and ChristianBook, courtesy of Christian publisher Revell.

Book Description
As the daughter of King Saul, Michal lives a life of privilege--but one that is haunted by her father's unpredictable moods and by competition from her beautiful older sister. When Michal falls for young David, the harpist who plays to calm her father, she has no idea what romance, adventures, and heartache await her. As readers enter the colorful and unpredictable worlds of King Saul and King David, they will be swept up in this exciting and romantic story. Against the backdrop of opulent palace life, raging war, and desert escapes, Jill Eileen Smith takes her readers on an emotional roller-coaster ride as Michal deals with love, loss, and personal transformation as one of the wives of David. A sweeping tale of passion and drama, readers will love this amazing story.

Get the free ebook from Barnes & Noble.
Get the free ebook from ChristianBook.

Free Book - Journey to the Well (K/E)

Journey to the Well (Main/UK), by Diana Wallis Taylor, is a repeat freebie in the Kindle store and from ChristianBook, courtesy of Christian publisher Revell.

Book Description
One of the most well-known and loved stories of Jesus's ministry is the encounter with the Samaritan woman at Jacob's well. Now the creative mind of Diana Wallis Taylor imagines how the Samaritan woman got there in the first place. Marah is just a girl of thirteen when her life is set on a path that will eventually lead her to a life-changing encounter with the Messiah. But before that momentous meeting she must traverse through times of love lost and found, cruel and manipulative men, and gossiping women. This creative and accurate portrayal of life in the time of Jesus opens a window into a fascinating world. Taylor's rich descriptions of the landscapes, lifestyles, and rituals mesh easily with the emotional and very personal story of one woman trying to make a life out of what fate seems to throw at her. This exciting and heartwrenching story will fascinate readers and lend new life to a familiar story.

Get the free ebook from ChristianBook.

Free Book - Bringing the Thunder (K)

Bringing the Thunder: The Missions of a World War II B-29 Pilot in the Pacific, by Gordon Bennett Robertson Jr., is free in the Kindle store, courtesy of Stackpole Books; this title is part of the Stackpole Military History series.

Book Description
The B-29 bomber was made to soar in thin, cold air, dropping its massive bomb load from heights so great that the crews might never see their targets through the clouds below. That was just fine with Ben Robertson, pilot in command of one of the big four engine bombers hammering Japan to its knees in a nonstop bombing campaign in the Pacific. When General LeMay ordered the B-29s to switch tactics from daylight, high-altitude bombing runs to nighttime, low-level runs, Ben's attitude changed. What was once seen as simply dangerous--bombing Japan--now seemed a whole lot more like suicide.

• Features dozens of never-before-seen photos of the B-29 in action
• A fast-paced, riveting account that puts the reader in the cockpit of a four-engine bomber over enemy territory
• Detailed account of combat, mission by mission

Free Book - Michael Wittmann and the Waffen SS Tiger Commander (K)

Michael Wittmann and the Waffen SS Tiger Commanders of the Leibstandarte in WWII, Vol. 1, by Patrick Agte, is free in the Kindle store, courtesy of Stackpole Books; this title is part of the Stackpole Military History series.

Book Description
The story of one of the most successful and decorated tank commanders of all time. Contains maps, official documents, newspaper clippings, and orders of battle.

German Panzer ace Michael Wittmann was by far the most famous tank commander on any side in World War II, destroying 138 enemy tanks and 132 anti-tank guns with his Tiger. This classic of armored warfare is both combat biography and unit history, as Patrick Agte focuses on the life and career of Wittmann but also includes his fellow Tiger commanders in the 1st SS Panzer Division Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler. Volume One covers the Eastern Front, where Wittmann racked up more than 100 kills and participated in the Battle of Kursk in 1943.

Free Book - Southern Seahawk: (K/N)

Southern Seahawk, the first novel in the Seahawk Trilogy by Randall Peffer, is free in the Kindle store and from Barnes & Noble.

Book Description
Southern Seahawk: A Novel of the Civil War at Sea grows from the true story of Commander Raphael Semmes’ rise to infamy, becoming the Union’s “Public Enemy Number One.”

In June, 1861, Semmes’ Confederate cruiser Sumter makes a daring escape through the Federal Blockade of the Mississippi. So begins the commander’s career as the Southern Seahawk. With a hand-picked crew of Southern officers and mercenary seamen, Semmes seizes eight enemy ships in four days, a record never surpassed by any other captain of a warship. By the time the cruises of the Sumter and her successor Alabama end, Semmes will have taken and burned more than eighty prizes, making him the most successful maritime predator in history.

For two and a half years Semmes eludes a pack of pursuers and almost single-handedly drives marine insurance rates so high in the North, that many Yankee ships refuse to sail until he is caught. Back in Washington, Semmes’ predations fuel feuds within the Lincoln cabinet and incite the spy games of historical figures like courtesans Rose Greenhow, Betty Duval, detective Allan Pinkerton and the commander’s mistress.

Get the free ebook from Barnes & Noble.

Free Books from Coffeetown Press (K)

Small publisher Coffeetown Press, located in Seattle, is apparently trying for a big splash in the Kindle store. They just made several of their titles free (presumably for one to five days, under KDP rules) and those who read academic non-fiction (their specialty) or historical fiction are sure to find at least one or two worth grabbing (although at least one is more humor/men's adventure than anything else).

A Reader's Companion to J. D. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye, by Peter Beidler

Book Description
This second edition of Peter G. Beidler's Readers Companion builds on the success of the first edition. It will be an indispensable guide for teachers, students, and general readers who want fully to appreciate Salinger's perennial bestseller. Now six decades old, The Catcher in the Rye contains references to people, places, books, movies, and historical events that will puzzle many twenty-first century readers. This edition includes a new section on reactions to Salinger's death in January, 2010.

Beidler provides some 250 explanations to help readers make sense of the culture through which Holden Caulfield stumbles as he comes of age. He provides a map showing the various stops in Holden’s Manhattan odyssey. Of particular interest to readers whose native language is not English is his glossary of more than a hundred terms, phrases, and slang expressions.

In his introductory essay, “Catching The Catcher in the Rye,” Beidler discusses such topics as the three-day time line for the novel, the way the novel grew out of two earlier-published short stories, the extent to which the novel is autobiographical, what Holden looks like, and the reasons for the enduring appeal of the novel.

The many photographs in the Reader’s Companion give fascinating glimpses into the world that Holden has made famous. Beidler also provides discussion of some of the issues that have engaged scholars down through the years: the meaning of Holden’s red hunting hat, whether Holden writes his novel in an insane asylum, Mr. Antolini’s troubling actions, and Holden’s close relationship with his sister and his two brothers.

Risk Teaching: Reflections from Inside and Outside the Classroom, by Peter G. Beidler (same author as above, but with initial used)

Book Description
Must we always teach from the inside of a classroom? Do periodic exams encourage learning as well as daily quizzes do? Do you schedule individual conferences with each student at the start of the term? Is lecturing an effective way to teach? If a student falls in love with you—or vice versa—are you doing something right or something wrong? If you have a pedagogical idea that will probably fail, should you try it anyhow? How do we know when it is time to retire from a profession we love? Such questions may make readers uncomfortable, but they may also lead them to change the way they think about the profession. Teachers may reconsider their methods, causing students to reconsider their attitudes. In choosing the title Risk Teaching, Peter G. Beidler hopes to convey multiple meanings of the word “risk.” “Risk” the verb, as in “take a chance on an amazing profession.” “Risk” the adjective, as in “risky”—teaching that diverges from the safe and traditional path. “Risk” the noun, as in “teach students to take risks” and learn outside their comfort zones. Beidler's book, like his teaching, is saucy, innovative, and challenging.

The Addiction of Mary Todd Lincoln, by Anne Beidler (I'd say it's safe to assume a relationship with the author above)

Book Description
Mary Todd Lincoln, wife of the president we have immortalized, has ­always been difficult for us to understand. She could appear poised and ­brilliant one moment, yet rude and ugly the next. Sometimes competent and strong, able to entertain dignitaries from around the world, at other times she ­appeared dependent and weak. At times she seemed utterly beside ­herself with sobbing and screaming.

Historians have mostly avoided saying very much about Mary Todd ­Lincoln except in reference to her husband, Abraham. To many it would seem that Mary Todd Lincoln is still an embarrassment in the tragic story of her martyred husband. But Mary Todd Lincoln lived her own tragic story even before Abraham was murdered. She was an addict, addicted to the opiates she needed for her migraine headaches.

Seeing Mary Todd Lincoln as an addict helps us understand her and give her the compassion and admiration she deserves. In her time there had been no courageous First Lady like Betty Ford to help people ­understand the power of addiction. There was no treatment center. In Mary Todd Lincoln’s time there were many addicts at all levels of society, as there are now, but it was a more socially acceptable condition for men to have than for women. More importantly, addiction was not very well understood, and it was often mistreated.

Because Mary Todd Lincoln’s only surviving son, Robert Lincoln, made a great effort to protect his mother and his family from journalists and ­historians, he intentionally destroyed most of Mary Todd Lincoln’s medical records and many of her letters. What he could not destroy, however, is the record of Mary Todd Lincoln’s pain and the record of how she behaved while living with this pain.

In The Addiction of Mary Todd Lincoln, we can see clearly, for the first time, what Mary Todd Lincoln had to live with and the courage it took for her to carry on.

Eating Owen, by Anne Beidler

Book Description
In the autumn of 1819, the unthinkable happened. Out in the middle of the Pacific Ocean a whale rammed into the Essex, sinking it within minutes. (The event that helped inspire Moby-Dick.)
The crew had no refuge except to jump in the three small and very flimsy wooden boats they carried on board to help them chase the whales. So during the the next three months, bobbing around aimlessly out there on the ocean, the men suffered terribly. They ran out of food to eat and some of them died.

And some of them ate each other. Including Owen.

The few survivors returned to Nantucket with the story that Owen had been fairly elected to be executed--before he was eaten. But no one knows for sure what happened. Or do we?

Eating Owen is the story of Owen Coffin and his family before the Essex tragedy. It is a story about a family, a story about surviving and not surviving. A story about a whale’s revenge.

Sacred Ground & Holy Water: One Man's Adventures in the Wild, by Lyn Fuchs

Book Description
Sacred Ground and Holy Water, the first book by writer and professor Lyn Fuchs, is a collection of travel stories filled with humor, tragedy, adventure, sexual innuendo, and spiritual insight. Lyn should be called Lyndiana Jones. He has survived enraged grizzlies, erupting volcanoes, Japanese swordfights, and giant squid tentacles. He has been entrapped by FBI agents and held at gunpoint by renegade soldiers. He has sung with Bulgaria’s bluesmaster Vasko the Patch and met with Mexico’s Zapatista Army commander Marcos. He has been thrown out of forbidden temples in southern India and passed out in sweat lodges off the Alaskan coast. His navel has been inhabited by beetles and his genitals have been cursed by eunuchs. He has shared coffee with presidents, beer with pirates, and goat guts with polygamists. He has contracted malaria, typhoid, salmonella, and lovesickness around the world.

Entry-Level, by Bobby Casella

Book Description
A "deranged young professional" is hell-bent on making a million bucks because he thinks life without money is not worth living. Entry-Level is an outrageous and ultimately heart-warming adventure comedy about a young man's battle with cynicism.

Free Audiobook - The Ascent of George Washington

Tantor Audio is giving away the audio download edition of The Ascent of George Washington: The Hidden Political Genius of an American Icon ($9.99 Kindle; $23.95 Audible), by John Ferling, narrated by Norman Dietz. This is a Presidents' day special, so grab it fast, before it goes away (once on your bookshelf, you can download it anytime, though).

Book Description
Even compared to his fellow founders, George Washington stands tall. Our first president has long been considered a stoic hero, holding himself above the rough-and-tumble politics of his day. Now John Ferling peers behind that image, carefully burnished by Washington himself, to show us a leader who was not only not above politics but a canny infighter—a master of persuasion, manipulation, and deniability.

In the War of Independence, Washington used his skills to steer the Continental Army through crises that would have broken less determined men; he squeezed out rival generals and defused dissent from those below him. Ending the war as a national hero, Washington "allowed" himself to be pressed into the presidency, guiding the nation with the same brilliantly maintained pose of selfless public interest. In short, Washington deftly screened a burning ambition behind his image of republican virtue—but that image, maintained not without cost, made him just the leader the overmatched army, and then the shaky young nation, desperately needed.

Ferling argues that not only was Washington one of America’s most adroit politicians—the proof of his genius is that he is no longer thought of as a politician at all.

Bestselling historian John Ferling draws on his unsurpassed knowledge of the Founding Fathers to provide a fresh and provocative new portrait of the greatest of them all, George Washington.

Get the free audiobook from Tantor Audio.

Bargain Book Roundup

For the first bargain of the day, I have three books in a Blood Singer series by Cat Adams (pen name of USA Today bestselling authors C.T. Adams and Cathy Clamp): Blood Song, Siren Song and Demon Song. Despite having way too many books in my TBR list, I bought all three after reading the sample and have nearly finished the first one (in one day)! All three are currently marked down to $2.99 apiece, in anticipation of the latest in the series, The Isis Collar, being released in March. The series is classified as urban fantasy, but there is nothing (at least in the first one, so far) that I would not expect to see in a YA series (no overt sex; some violence, of course).

Blood Song
Bodyguard Celia Graves has definitely accepted her share of weird assignments, both human and supernatural. But her newest job takes the cake. Guarding a Prince from terrorists and religious fundamentalists is hard enough, but it seems like the entire supernatural world is after this guy too. When she is betrayed by those she is employed to help, and everything goes horribly wrong, Celia wakes to find herself transformed.

Neither human nor vampire, Celia has become an Abomination—something that should not exist—and now both human and supernatural alike want her dead. With the help of a few loyal friends—a sexy mage, a powerful werewolf, and a psychic cop—Celia does her best to stay alive. On the run from her enemies, Celia must try to discover who is behind her transformation…before it’s too late.

Siren Song
Nothing if not resilient, Celia Graves is slowly adjusting to being a half-human, half-vampire Abomination. But her troubles are far from over. Her best friend’s murder is still unsolved, the cops are convinced she should be in jail, and her old lover, the magician Bruno DeLuca, has resurfaced in her life, saying he has something important to tell her.

The vampire attack that transformed Celia kicked her latent Siren abilities into high gear, and now she’s been summoned to the Sirens’ island to justify her existence—and possibly fight for her life—in front of the Siren Queen. Celia isn’t sure she’ll survive to make the trip. The demon she defeated in Blood Song hasn’t exactly gone quietly—he’s left Celia suffering from a powerful curse.

Demon Song
In a world where magic is real and the supernatural is almost normal, bodyguard Celia Graves has survived a vampire attack which made her a half-vampire and awakened her latent Siren abilities. She’s battled a Siren Queen to the death and twice faced down a demon that wants to kill her--slowly. She’s also had her heart broken--twice--by her old flame, magician Bruno DeLuca.

Perhaps the worst thing was the discovery that Celia’s life has been warped by a curse laid on her during childhood--the cause of everything from the death of her little sister to the murder of her best friend the same night that Celia became an Abomination.

An ancient rift between the demonic dimension and our own--sealed during the destruction of Atlantis--begins to open, threatening to loose all the demons of hell on humanity (including the one personally bent on destroying Celia). Celia’s hellish recent experiences have given her the unique combination of abilities needed to close the rift. But to overcome the curse, which nearly guarantees her failure, she’ll need to join forces with people she no longer trusts...and put people she has come to care about directly in harm’s way.

Moon's Fury ($4.99) is from the same writing team of C. T. Adams and Cathy Clamp, but under their own names. This is the fifth title in their Tales Of The Sazi series, which is more paranormal romance than the series above.

Book Description
Cara Salinas has been leading the small Mexican red wolf pack in Tedford County, Texas, since she was thirteen.

Adam Mueller, formerly a beat cop from the toughest part of Minneapolis and now the new county sheriff, must find a way to integrate his exiled Minnesotan wolves with Cara's red wolves.

Cara and Adam clash in the way only fated mates ever do--and both refuse to accept their destiny. But when a pack of vicious Sazi raptors start to feed on the wolf-children of both packs, Cara and Adam must learn to respect each other, and embrace their future together to save the future of the Texan wolves.

Hailed as the "premiere authors of paranormal romance" and "true genre luminaries" by Romantic Times BOOKreviews, and winners of the 2006 Romantic Times Award for Best Werewolf Romance for Moon's Web, Cathy Clamp & C. T. Adams are back with another tale of shapeshifters, passion, and pack politics in Moon's Fury.

Magic Bites ($4.99), the first in the Kate Daniels series by Ilona Andrews, is one I read in paper long ago and recommend; it's from Penguin, so this might be their new "low promotional pricing" point for a while. It appears that a new novel in the series will be released in July (Gunmetal Magic), but there is no description yet to go with the pre-order page (the paperback page claims 448 pages, but it's the same price and eligible for the 4-for-3 promotion that Amazon is running).

Book Description
Mercenary Kate Daniels cleans up urban problems of a paranormal kind. But her latest prey, a pack of undead warriors, presents her greatest challenge....

Atlanta would be a nice place to live, if it weren’t for magic… One moment magic dominates, and cars stall and guns fail. The next, technology takes over and the defensive spells no longer protect your house from monsters. Here skyscrapers topple under onslaught of magic; werebears and werehyenas prowl through the ruined streets; and the Masters of the Dead, necromancers driven by their thirst of knowledge and wealth, pilot blood-crazed vampires with their minds. In this world lives Kate Daniels. Kate likes her sword a little too much and has a hard time controlling her mouth. The magic in her blood makes her a target, and she spent most of her life hiding in plain sight. But when Kate’s guardian is murdered, she must choose to do nothing and remain safe or to pursue his preternatural killer. Hiding is easy, but the right choice is rarely easy…

Some Girls Bite ($4.99), the first title in the Chicagoland Vampires series by Chloe Neill, is also a Penguin release, as well as one I read in paper (and have already replaced as an ebook, to keep it for re-reading). Another in the series looks to be set to release in August (Biting Cold), but there's no Kindle pre-order for it, yet.

Book Description
Sure, the life of a graduate student wasn’t exactly glamorous, but it was Merit’s. She was doing fine until a rogue vampire attacked her. But he only got a sip before he was scared away by another bloodsucker—and this one decided the best way to save her life was to make her the walking undead.

Turns out her savior was the master vampire of Cadogan House. Now she’s traded sweating over her thesis for learning to fit in at a Hyde Park mansion full of vamps loyal to Ethan “Lord o’ the Manor” Sullivan. Of course, as a tall, green-eyed, four-hundred- year-old vampire, he has centuries’ worth of charm, but unfortunately he expects her gratitude— and servitude. But an inconvenient sunlight allergy and Ethan’s attitude are the least of her concerns. Someone’s still out to get her. Her initiation into Chicago’s nightlife may be the first skirmish in a war—and there will be blood.

The Door into Summer ($2.99), by Robert A. Heinlein, is one I'd recommend if you are more of a SF than Fantasy fan.

Book Description
Electronics engineer Dan Davis has finally made the invention of a lifetime: a household robot with extraordinary abilities, destined to dramatically change the landscape of everyday routine. Then, with wild success just within reach, Dan's greedy partner and greedier fiancée trick him into taking the long sleep--suspended animation for thirty years. They never imagine that the future time in which Dan will awaken has mastered time travel, giving him a way to get back to them--and at them . . .

Once again, the author of Stranger in a Strange Land and Starship Troopers displays his genius. The Door in to Summer proves why Robert Heinlein's books have sold more than 50 million copies, winning countless awards, and earning him the title of Grand Master of Science Fiction.

Transgressions ($6.99), compiled/edited by McBain, is a large collection of novellas, all by names you'll recognize if you are a mystery/thriller fan.

Book Description
Forge Books is proud to present ... a quintessential classic of never-before-published tales from today's very best novelists. Featuring:

• "Walking Around Money" by Donald E. Westlake: The master of the comic mystery is back with an all-new novella featuring hapless crook John Dortmunder, who gets involved in a crime that supposedly no one will ever know happened. Naturally, when something it too good to be true, it usually is, and Dortmunder is going to get to the bottom of this caper before he's left holding the bag.
• "Hostages" by Anne Perry: The bestselling historical mystery author has written a tale of beautiful yet still savage Ireland today. In their eternal struggle for freedom, there is about to be a changing of the guard in the Irish Republican Army. Yet for some, old habits-and honor-still die hard, even at gunpoint.
• "The Corn Maiden" by Joyce Carol Oates: When a fourteen-year-old girl is abducted in a small New York town, the crime starts a spiral of destruction and despair as only this master of psychological suspense could write it.
• "Archibald Lawless, Anarchist at Large: Walking the Line" by Walter Mosley: Felix Orlean is a New York City journalism student who needs a job to cover his rent. An ad in the paper leads him to Archibald Lawless, and a descent into a shadow world where no one and nothing is as it first seems.
• "The Resurrection Man" by Sharyn McCrumb": During America's first century, doctors used any means necessary to advance their craft-including dissecting corpses. Sharyn McCrumb brings the South of the 1850s to life in this story of a man who is assigned to dig up bodies to help those that are still alive.
• "Merely Hate" by Ed McBain: When a string of Muslim cabdrivers are killed, and the evidence points to another ethnic group, the detectives of the 87th Precinct must hunt down a killer before the city explodes in violence.
• "The Things They Left Behind" by Stephen King: In the wake of the worst disaster on American soil, one man is coming to terms with the aftermath of the Twin Towers-when he begins finding the things they left behind.
• "The Ransome Women" by John Farris: A young and beautiful starving artist is looking to catch a break when her idol, the reclusive portraitist John Ransome offers her a lucrative year-long modeling contract. But how long will her excitement last when she discovers the fate shared by all Ransome's past subjects?
• "Forever" by Jeffery Deaver: Talbot Simms is an unusual cop-he's a statistician with the Westbrook County Sheriff Department. When two wealthy couples in the county commit suicide one right after the other, he thinks that it isn't suicide-it's murder, and he's going to find how who was behind it, and how the did it.
• "Keller's Adjustment" by Lawrence Block: Everyone's favorite hit man is back in MWA Grand Master Lawrence Block's novella, where the philosophical Keller deals out philosophy and murder on a meandering road trip from one end of the America to the other.

Faces of the Gone ($2.99), is the first in the Carter Ross series by Brad Parks

Book Description
Four bodies, each with a single bullet wound in the back of the head, stacked like cordwood in a weed-choked vacant lot: That’s the front-page news facing Carter Ross, investigative reporter with the Newark Eagle-Examiner. Immediately dispatched to the scene, Carter learns that the four victims—an exotic dancer, a drug dealer, a hustler, and a mama’s boy—came from different parts of the city and didn’t seem to know one another.

The police, eager to calm jittery residents, leak a theory that the murders are revenge for a bar stickup, and Carter’s paper, hungry for a scoop, hastily prints it. Carter doesn’t come from the streets, but he understands a thing or two about Newark’s neighborhoods. And he knows there are no quick answers when dealing with a crime like this.

Determined to uncover the true story, he enlists the aide of Tina Thompson, the paper’s smoking-hot city editor, to run interference at the office; Tommy Hernandez, the paper’s gay Cuban intern, to help him with legwork on the streets; and Tynesha Dales, a local stripper, to take him to Newark’s underside. It turns out that the four victims have one connection after all, and this knowledge will put Carter on the path of one very ambitious killer.

Faces of the Gone won the Shamus Award for Best First Novel and the Nero Award for Best American Mystery--it is the first book to receive both awards. The book was named to lists of the year's best mystery debuts by the Chicago Sun-Times and South Florida Sun-Sentinel.

Dear Money ($1.63), by Martha McPhee

Book Description
In this Pygmalion tale of a novelist turned bond trader, Martha McPhee brings to life the greed and riotous wealth of New York during the heady days of the second gilded age. India Palmer, living the cash-strapped existence of the writer, is visiting wealthy friends in Maine when a yellow biplane swoops down from the clear blue sky to bring a stranger into her life, one who will change everything.

The stranger is Win Johns, a swaggering and intellectually bored trader of mortgage-backed securities. Charmed by India's intelligence, humor, and inquisitive nature and aware of her near-desperate financial situation Win poses a proposition: Give me eighteen months and I'll make you a world-class bond trader. Shedding her artist's life with surprising ease, India embarks on a raucous ride to the top of the income chain, leveraging herself with crumbling real estate, never once looking back...Or does she?

With a light-handed irony that is by turns as measured as Claire Messud's and as biting as Tom Wolfe's, Martha McPhee tells the classic American story of people reinventing themselves, unaware of the price they must pay for their transformation.

On Violence ($2.99), by Hannah Arendt, is a non-fiction title currently discounted by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

Book Description
An analysis of the nature, causes, and significance of violence in the second half of the twentieth century. Arendt also reexamines the relationship between war, politics, violence, and power. “Incisive, deeply probing, written with clarity and grace, it provides an ideal framework for understanding the turbulence of our times”(Nation).

About the Author
Hannah Arendt (1906-1975) taught political science and philosophy at the New School for Social Research in New York, Brooklyn College, and the University of Chicago. She also wrote political studies "Origins of Totalitarianism" 1951, "The Human Condition" 1958, "Eichmann in Jerusalem" 1963

Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter : The Georgia Years, 1924-1974 ($1.99), by E. Stanly Godbold Jr., is another of the Oxford University Press discounted books I've run across lately.

Book Description
Covering their lives from childhood to the end of the Georgia governorship, Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter is one of the few major biographies of an American president that pays significant attention to the First Lady. So deeply were their lives and aspirations intertwined, a close friend once remarked: "You can't really understand Jimmy Carter unless you know Rosalynn." The story of one is the story of the other.

To recount their remarkable lives, E. Stanly Godbold, Jr. draws on academic and military records, the governor's correspondence, the recollections of the Carters themselves, as well as original, unpublished interviews with a wide variety of participants in the Carters' political and personal lives. The book reveals a man who was far more complex than the peanut farmer of popular myth, a man who cited both Reinhold Niebuhr and Bob Dylan as early influences on his legal philosophy, was heir to a sizable fortune, and who, with the help of Rosalynn, built a lucrative agribusiness. Nicknamed "Hotshot" by his father, Carter was the first president born in a hospital, rode a motorcycle before entering politics, counted Tolstoy, Dylan Thomas, William Faulkner, and James Agee among his favorite authors, and claimed his wife Rosalynn as the most influential person in his life.

Volume I in this two-volume biography details how the Carters rose to power, managed their private and public lives, governed Georgia, and seized control of the national Democratic party. The cast of colorful characters includes "Miss Allie" Smith, "Mr. Earl" and "Miss Lillian," brother Billy, Rachel Clark, Admiral Rickover, George Wallace, Lester Maddox, Richard Nixon, daughter Amy, Charles Kirbo, Hamilton Jordan, Jody Powell, and many more. It is a sweeping, Faulknerian tale of individuals who would change the image of the South in the national mind and the role of the South in the presidency. Indeed, Carter shocked the state of Georgia and the entire country by calling for an end to racial discrimination in 1971, thus launching his national political career.

Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter neither sanctifies nor vilifies the Carters but offers instead an even-handed, brilliantly researched, and utterly absorbing account of two ordinary people whose lives together took them to the heights of power and public service in America.

I'm going to close out with several presidential themed books on sale from publisher Sourcebooks, in recognition of today's holiday (Presidents' Day, here in the States). I'll include a link both the Kindle edition and the publisher's site, where you can pick up the EPUB or PDF editions (DRM'd), which should work for all the non-Kindle readers out there.

George Washington’s Rules of Civility and Decent Behavior ($2.51 Kindle; $2.99 Sourcebooks), by George Washington
George Washington was known as a remarkably modest and courteous man. Humility and flawless manners were so ingrained in his character that he rarely if ever acted without them.

The "Rules of Civility and Decent Behavior" that governed Washington's etiquette were by turns practical, inspirational and curious. These rules are as instructive and invaluable today as they were hundreds of years ago.

George Washington's Rules of Civility and Decent Behavior includes the complete text of the rules, as well as famous Washington writings such as "Farewell to the Armies speech"; "Inaugural Address"; "Retirement Address"; and "Address at the End of His Presidency".

George Washington's War: The Forging of a Revolutionary Leader and the American Presidency ($2.99 Kindle, Sourcebooks), by Bruce Chadwick
The American Revolution was won not on the battlefields, but in the mind of George Washington. A compulsively readable narrative and extensive history, George Washington's War illuminates how during the war's winter months the young general created a new model of leadership that became the model for the American presidency.

About the Author
Bruce Chadwick, Ph.D., lectures in American history at Rutgers University while also teaching writing at New Jersey City University. He is a former journalist and the author of four other historical books: Brother against Brother: The Lost Civil War Diaries of Lt. Edmund Halsey, Two American Presidents: Abraham Lincoln and Jefferson Davis 1861-1865, Traveling the Underground Railroad and The Reel Civil War: Mythmaking in American Film.

General and Mrs. Washington: The Untold Story of a Marriage and a Revolution ($2.51 Kindle; $2.99 Sourcebooks), by Bruce Chadwick
Until now the story of the American Revolution has been incomplete. Many have told the stories of blood and battle, of heroes and traitors, but no one has told the tale of the union that helped form the Union.

The history of America's First Family is inexorably tied to the workings of the revolution. Martha's son Jackie (she had four children and George had none) was 28 when he died at Yorktown. George's own life would have been lost on multiple occasions if not for Martha. Only she could bring comfort and grace to the winter camps and it was in this manner that the revolutionaries came to see Martha not only as a kindred spirit, but as a beloved heroine.

Here is the story of the fateful marriage of the richest woman in Virginia and the man who could have been king. In telling their story, Chadwick explains not only their remarkable devotion to each other, but also why the wealthiest couple in Virginia became revolutionaries who risked the loss of not only their vast estates, but also their very lives.

Lincoln for President: An Unlikely Candidate, An Audacious Strategy, and the Victory No One Saw Coming ($2.51 Kindle; $2.99 Sourcebooks), by Bruce Chadwick
The untold story of the drama, controversy, and incredible political genius of Lincoln's first presidential campaign

In May of 1860, Republican delegates gathered in Chicago for their second-ever convention, with the full expectation of electing William Seward their next presidential candidate. But waiting in the wings was a dark horse no one suspected, putting the final touches on a plan that would not only result in a most unexpected candidacy, but the most brilliant, innovative, and daring presidential campaign in American history. He went by the name of Lincoln.

Lincoln for President is the incredible story of how Lincoln overcame overwhelming odds to not only capture his party's nomination but win the presidency. His amazingly modern strategy included the first media campaign blitz, convention tactics that originated the concept of "Chicago politics," and a deft manipulation of the electoral college. His bold tactics changed forever the way presidential campaigns are won?not to mention the course of American history.

Abraham Lincoln: Quotes, Quips, and Speeches ($2.99 Kindle, Sourcebooks), by Abraham Lincoln and Gordon Leidner
More than 140 years since his death, the enduring legacy of a great president, an American success story, and the celebrated leader of the Civil War continues. Abraham Lincoln: Quotes, Quips, and Speeches captures the essence of the sixteenth president. In addition to Lincoln's own words, Gordon Leidner includes insights into the man by those who knew him best, from his wife, Mary Todd Lincoln, to his greatest political opponent, Stephen A. Douglas. Numerous photographs add to the charm and usefulness of the book.

1858: Abraham Lincoln, Jefferson Davis, Robert E. Lee, Ulysses S. Grant and the War They Failed to See ($2.99 Kindle, Sourcebooks), by Bruce Chadwick
As 1858 dawned, the men who would become the iconic figures of the Civil War had no idea it was about to occur: Jefferson Davis was dying, Robert E. Lee was on the verge of resigning from the military, and William Tecumseh Sherman had been reduced to running a roadside food stand. By the end of 1858, the lives of these men would be forever changed, and the North and South were set on a collision course that would end with the deaths of 630,000 young men.

This is the story of seven men on the brink of a war that would transform them into American legends, and the events of the year that set our union on fire.

What Would Lincoln Do?: Lincoln's Most Inspired Solutions to Challenging Problems and Difficult Situations ($2.99 Kindle, Sourcebooks), by David Acord
A fun and insightful guide to common problems people face and how the Great Emanicaptor would tackle them.

Using actual tactics Lincoln recorded in his letters and speeches, readers will learn how to:

• Deal with unpleasant coworkers
• Give advice to a close friend without hurting his feelings
• Say no to a relative's request for a loan
• Respond to unfair rumors and accusations at the office
• Clear the air after an argument
• Stand your ground in difficult circumstances
• Inspire the people around you

How much easier would it be to tackle your everyday problems if you could have Lincoln advising you? What Would Lincoln Do? is a must-have guide for Lincoln fans and anyone wishing to benefit from the advice from one of history's top leaders.

Free Book - Just A Kiss Away (K)

Just A Kiss Away, by Jill Barnett, is free in the Kindle store, courtesy of Bell Bridge Books.

Book Description
Arriving on a lush Pacific island, Eulalie Grace LaRue was soon to be reunited with the father she hadn't seen since childhood. Yet before Lollie's dreamed-of meeting could take place, the lovely Southern belle was caught in the crossfire of a violent revolution — and thrown into the rugged arms of Sam Forester.On the run in the jungle, the battle-scarred soldier of fortune didn't know what to do with the pampered blonde placed in his care. Survival was his top priority, but he could not resist Lollie's seductive charm...or deny the growing attraction between them. Though Sam thrived on chance and risk, falling in love was the one chance he wasn't willing to take.Powerless against the desire that consumed them both, Lollie surrendered to his passionate embrace. But when he dismissed her affections, she was determined to fight for him...to prove that in the steamy heat of paradise, two hearts would find the love of a lifetime....

7 Free Books from Kaplan and New Word City (K)

New Word City has another batch of free books in the Kindle store, which are likely to only remain free for a day or so, and Kaplan Test Prep has added a couple of intro books for those planning for college entrance exams.

1. Intro to ACT, by Kaplan Test Prep
2. Intro to SAT, by Kaplan Test Prep
3. Marlon Brando, A Life In Film, by Richard Schickel
4. George Washington, Spymaster Extraordinaire, by Thomas Fleming
5. George Washington's First Love, by Thomas Fleming
6. Ernest Shackleton, Exploring Leadership, by Nancy F. Koehn
7. Clint Eastwood, A Life

22 Free Books from New Word City (K)

New Word City has another batch of free books in the Kindle store, which are likely to only remain free for a day or so.

1. Heart of Dark Chocolate, by Rowan Jacobsen *
2. Parma: Ham, Cheese, and the Taste of Time, by Rowan Jacobsen *
3. The Perfect Chef, by Todd Kliman
4. Me, Myself, and Ribeye, by Steven Rinella (from the Travel Channel)
5. Murder In Yosemite, by Joshua Hammer
6. The Quest for the North Pole, by Charles F. Horne
7. The Earthquake of Messina, by F. Marion Crawford
8. Managing Up, by Captain D. Michael Abrashoff
9. Lead from the Front, by Edwin D. Fuller
10. How McDonald's Got Its Groove Back
11. How Coca-Cola Got Its Fizz Back
12. Andrew Carnegie: From Rags To Richest (American Lives), by Willard Sterne Randall, Nancy Nahra
13. L. Frank Baum: The Wonderful Creator Of Oz, by Bruce Watson
14. Frank Capra: A Life In Film, by Richard Schickel
15. John Ford: A Life In Film, by Richard Schickel
16. Ronald Reagan, A Life In Film, by Richard Schickel
17. What Presidents Say About Each Other, by Thomas Fleming (repeat)
18. George Patton Leads The Charge, by Willard Sterne Randall, Nancy Nahra
19. As Auschwitz Crumbles, by Andrew Curry
20. Unconditional Surrender: The Policy That Prolonged World War II, by Thomas Fleming
21. The Real Lafayette, by Thomas Fleming
22. The Real Stalin, by Andrew Curry

* Rowan Jacobsen is an award winning food writer and has several books put out by Bloomsbury that look interesting, including Fruitless Fall: The Collapse of the Honey Bee and the Coming Agricultural Crisis

Free Book - All Different Kinds Of Free (K)

Update: 2/9/12 Now free for UK and Canadian Kindlers.

All Different Kinds Of Free (Main/UK), by Jessica McCann, is a repeat freebie in the Kindle store, courtesy of Bell Bridge Books.

Book Description
A free woman of color in the 1830s, Margaret Morgan lived a life full of promise. One frigid night in Pennsylvania, that changed forever. They tore her family apart. They put her in chains. They never expected her to fight back.In 1837, Margaret Morgan was kidnapped from her home in Pennsylvania and sold into slavery. The state of Pennsylvania charged her kidnapper with the crime, but the conviction was later overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court. It was the first time a major branch of the federal government had made a pro-slavery stand, and the ruling in Prigg v. Pennsylvania sewed the bitter seeds of the states' rights battle that eventually would lead to the Civil War.Yet, the heart of this story is not a historic Supreme Court ruling. It is the remarkable, unforgettable Margaret Morgan. Her life would never be the same. Her family had been torn apart. Uncaring forces abused her body and her heart. But she refused to give up, refused to stop fighting, refused to allow her soul to be enslaved.

Jessica McCann's work as an award-winning journalist has been published in Business Week, The Writer, and many other publications. ALL DIFFERENT KINDS OF FREE is her first novel.

Free Book - Walking with Lincoln (N)

Walking with Lincoln: Spiritual Strength from America's Favorite President ($8.99 Kindle), by Thomas Freiling, is free from Barnes & Noble, courtesy of Christian publisher Revell (which means it's likely only to be free for today).

Book Description
Abraham Lincoln faced many serious challenges during his life. Yet he rose above it all--and his faith in God was the indispensible ingredient in his life's journey. Even generations later we can still learn from Lincoln's faith-filled principles to overcome our own challenges and to find our unique God-given destinies.

Walking with Lincoln offers readers fifty spiritual principles from the life and words of Lincoln, from his days as a youth to his presidency. Anyone looking for inspiration to rise above life's hardships will find encouragement and strength through this look at the faith of America's favorite president.

Get the free ebook from Barnes & Noble.

Six Free Books from New Word City (K)

New Word City has another batch of free books in the Kindle store, which are likely to only remain free for a day or so.

1. Alfred Hitchcock: A Life In Film, by Richard Schickel
2. John Muir's Yosemite, by Tony Perrottet
3. Greta Garbo: A Life In Film, by Richard Schickel
4. Banished from Boston, by Willard Sterne Randall and Nancy Nahra
5. Poor Little Swift Girl, by Steve Friedman
6. Charlie Chaplin: A Life In Film, by Richard Schickel

Free Book - Winston's War (K/N)

Winston's War: A Novel of Conspiracy, by Michael Dobbs, is free in the Kindle store and from Barnes & Noble.

Book Description
An intriguing tale of espionage and treason?this is a work to enthrall." ? Daily Mail

Michael Dobbs' thrilling novel about the dawn of World War II, and Winston Churchill's rise to power.

It is the dawn of World War II, and Neville Chamberlain believes he has bought "peace for our time" from Adolph Hitler, who has just seized Czechoslovakia's Sudetenland. The English are alarmed by the huge German army, while the soldiers that would defend London don't even have steel helmets. For many, compromise and appeasement seem to be England's best defense.

But there are a few leaders who don't agree. Among them is Winston Churchill, who understands that the relentless march of fascism will be democracy's death knell. In October 1938, Churchill pleads his case in the press to the BBC's Guy Burgess. One of these two will become the most revered man of his time, and the other will be known as the greatest of traitors.

This stunning novel brings to life the surprising political intrigues that set the stage for World War II, and brings alive the passionate, grumpy, whiskey-drinking Winston Churchill, as he inspires his fellow countrymen to take on the world's mightiest army.

Includes bonus reading group guide.

Get the free ebook from Barnes & Noble.

Free Audiobook - Sophie's World

The third free audiobook that The Guardian (a UK newspaper) is giving away as part of their Head Start program is Sophie's World: A Novel About the History of Philosophy ($9.99 Kindle), by Jostein Gaarder and Paulette Moller.

Book Description
A page-turning novel that is also an exploration of the great philosophical concepts of Western thought, Sophie's World has fired the imagination of readers all over the world, with more than twenty million copies in print.

One day fourteen-year-old Sophie Amundsen comes home from school to find in her mailbox two notes, with one question on each: "Who are you?" and "Where does the world come from?" From that irresistible beginning, Sophie becomes obsessed with questions that take her far beyond what she knows of her Norwegian village. Through those letters, she enrolls in a kind of correspondence course, covering Socrates to Sartre, with a mysterious philosopher, while receiving letters addressed to another girl. Who is Hilde? And why does her mail keep turning up? To unravel this riddle, Sophie must use the philosophy she is learning--but the truth turns out to be far more complicated than she could have imagined.

Get the free Audiobook from The Guardian UK. You'll need to enter a name and email address, click to submit the info, then click a link that takes you to AudioGo (NOTE: This link is missing the "s" at the end of "sophie", which you have to to manually add to the URL if you get a 404 error, as I did Audiogo has fixed their site and their link now works, no editing required); be sure to note the coupon code on that page, as you'll need it to get the book for free. Once at Audiogo, click on the ad, then click Checkout; log in (or create an account), then enter the promotional Code and click Update. Don't click on Continue until after you've confirmed that a total of $0.00/£0.00 is shown. You'll need an account with AudioGo, but should not need to enter any credit card info. Once you've added the audiobook to your account, you can download at any time (I'd expect download times to be very slow this week).

Six Free Books from New Word City (K)

There are six newly free titles from New Word City in the Kindle store today.

• Oprah, Leading With Heart, by Nancy F. Koehn
• What You Can Learn From Warren Buffett, by Donna Sammons Carpenter and Maurice Coyle
• How to get People to Take the Initiative, by Captain D. Michael Abrashoff
• Mary Lincoln's Insanity: The Discovery of Her Lost Letters, by Jason Emerson
• Ambrose Bierce: The Devil's Cynic, by Bruce Watson
• Winston Churchill, A Life

Seven Free Books from New Word City (K)

There are seven new free titles from New Word City today (and three still free from their earlier promotions). Here are the new titles:

1. The Real Pirates of the Caribbean, by Colin Woodard
2. The Making of The Constitution, by Thomas Fleming
3. George Washington's First Test, by Thomas Fleming
4. The Story of Flight, by Andrew Curry
5. Harry Truman Gives 'Em Hell, by Willard Sterne Randall and Nancy Nahra
6. What You Can Learn from Dwight D. Eisenhower, by Maurice Coyle and Donna Sammons Carpenter
7. The Wikinomics Way, by Don Tapscott and Anthony Williams