Free Book (Kindle) - Milking the Rhino

Milking the Rhino: Dangerously Funny Lists, by Chris Rush, is free in the Kindle store.

Book Description
Comedian Chris Rush was one of the original contributors to National Lampoon magazine. He can be heard on Sirius and XM satellite radio and on the Joey Reynolds radio show every Friday at 1 a.m. Eastern Standard Time.

In Milking the Rhino, Rush uses a series of unforgettable surreal images to create hilarious verbal cartoons presented in a seductive list form to transport you into a world of nonstop laughter.

Lists include:

• Seven Examples of Truth in Advertising You Will Never See
• Twenty-Five Really Lousy Jobs
• The Ten Worst Pickup Lines
• Ten Bizarre Hobbies
• Fourteen Novelty Items That Never Took Off
• Four Things You Shouldn't Do in Zero-Gravity Conditions
• Four UFO Incidents That Are Weirder Than Usual

Free Book (Kindle/EPUB) - WTF? Work

Update: 10/8/11 Now free from Sony.

WTF? Work, by Gregory Bergman and Jodi Miller, is free on Kindle. From the reviews, you'll either love it or hate it (as is true for so many humor titles).

Book Description
As if your HR Department didn't have enough to worry about, WTF? is holding its own office orientation. From dealing with workplace politics and romancing coworkers to climbing the success ladder or getting canned, WTF? Work shows you how to handle the daily lows of holding down a j-o-b.

Whether you're sitting in the cubes or in the corner office, working the counter or bussing the tables, WTF? provides an employee handbook that's actually worth reading. It leaves the PC stuff to the professionals and instead delivers some not-safe-for-work advice for when your job has you saying, "WTF?"

Get the free ebook from Sony.

Free Book (Kindle) - OMG

Update: The book that was free this morning has turned out to be the full edition and a new book is now free, that is clearly only the excerpt. I've updated the listing below to reflect just the teaser that is now free.

OMG, by David Javerbaum and God, is a free pre-order in the Kindle store, courtesy of Simon and Schuster. Despite the cover and the link to the hardcover, I'm fairly certain this is going to end up being a teaser title for the full book, as it actually releases three weeks after this Kindle edition. If it isn't, though, I'd expect this one to return to full price when that occurs.

Book Description
In this ultimate celebrity autobiography, bestselling author God will “telleth-all” for the first time, going behind-the-chapters of the Old Testament, offering frank and hilarious insights about fatherhood and bringing the gospels into modernity with a New New Testament.

From the creation of the universe to jeggings, the Lord Almighty has been a pivotal player in nearly all the major decisions of the past twenty epochs. Now, for the first time since He wrote whichever holy book you happen to believe in, God offers startling “dish” about all aspects of the universe and creatures therein, starting with Adam and Steve (you read right) and ending with Snooki. He will also address hot-button topics like prayer in school and evolution; put to rest long-standing disputes concerning which athletes and teams He actually supports; and offer His “inside picks” for the next ninety-three Super Bowls. OMG is sure to appeal to a broad base of readers, from the most ardent apocalyptist to the most blasphemous Darwinian.

God on The 10 Commandments:

Ah, the Ten Commandments.

I hate the Ten Commandments in exactly the same way as Don McLean hates “American Pie.”

For when I wrote those words, they meant something very personal to Me; they expressed My worldview; I put My heart and soul into them; and I issued them forth as any writer does, hoping they would find their audience.

Never did I suspect how popular the work would prove; never did I imagine it would remain My best-known selection; the one people still cite, and debate, and quote from start to finish, all these years later.

I suppose I should be glad for it; glad that humanity has taken it to heart, and extracted so much meaning from it, and embraced its simple AAAAAAAAAA structure.

But I have grown weary of it defining Me; of being regarded as a one-list wonder; of remaining locked forever in the public consciousness, as “that deity who wrote ‘The Ten Commandments.’”

Free Book (ADE-PDF) - Revel with a Cause

Revel with a Cause: Liberal Satire in Postwar America ($12.60 Kindle), by Stephen E. Kerche, is this month's free book from The University of Chicago Press.

Book Description
We live in a time much like the postwar era. A time of arch political conservatism and vast social conformity. A time in which our nation’s leaders question and challenge the patriotism of those who oppose their policies. But before there was Jon Stewart, Al Franken, or Bill Maher, there were Mort Sahl, Stan Freberg, and Lenny Bruce—liberal satirists who, through their wry and scabrous comedic routines, waged war against the political ironies, contradictions, and hypocrisies of their times.

Revel with a Cause is their story. Stephen Kercher here provides the first comprehensive look at the satiric humor that flourished in the United States during the 1950s and early 1960s. Focusing on an impressive range of comedy—not just standup comedians of the day but also satirical publications like MAD magazine, improvisational theater groups such as Second City, the motion picture Dr. Strangelove, and TV shows like That Was the Week That Was—Kercher reminds us that the postwar era saw varieties of comic expression that were more challenging and nonconformist than we commonly remember. His history of these comedic luminaries shows that for a sizeable audience of educated, middle-class Americans who shared such liberal views, the period’s satire was a crucial mode of cultural dissent. For such individuals, satire was a vehicle through which concerns over the suppression of civil liberties, Cold War foreign policies, blind social conformity, and our heated racial crisis could be productively addressed.

A vibrant and probing look at some of the most influential comedy of mid-twentieth-century America, Revel with a Cause belongs on the short list of essential books for anyone interested in the relationship between American politics and popular culture.

Sign up for the free book from the University of Chicago. You'll need to enter your email address, then check your email for the link to download the book. Mine arrived within seconds -- you get a .ACSM file, which, when opened, will load the PDF book inside of Adobe ADE. This is a DRM'd PDF and is not compatible with the Kindle.

Free Book (Kindle/EPUB/nook) - A Brisket, A Casket

Update: 10/3/11 Now free from Sony.

A Brisket, A Casket, the starting title in the Deadly Deli Mystery series by Delia Rosen, is free in the Kindle store and from Barnes & Noble.

Book Description
Murder’s on the menu in this savory debut.

Gwen (nee Katz) Silver heard the brisket at her uncle’s Jewish deli, Murray the Pastrami Swami—the only one of its kind in Nashville, Tennessee—was “to die for.” But she didn’t realize that meant literally…

When Gwen learns she’s inherited Murray’s, the native New Yorker leaves her chaotic career and messy divorce behind to start over in Nashville. But the venture seems doomed from the start. Murray’s taken his recipes and secret list of food suppliers to the grave with him, and ruthless real estate developer Royce Sinclair will stop at nothing to try and sandwich Murray’s into his already overstuffed portfolio. Then, on Kosher Karaoke Night, longtime customer Buster Sergeant bites into his brisket…and bites the dust. The coroner says food poisoning, but Gwen’s not convinced. Now, with the help of hunky police detective Beau McClintock, “Nashville Katz”—as Gwen is quickly nicknamed—will find herself adding “private investigator” to her resume—and a new love to her life.

Get the free book from Barnes & Noble.
Get the free ebook from Sony.

Free Book (Kindle/nook) - Elvis and The Dearly Departed

Elvis and The Dearly Departed, the first in the Southern Cousins series by Peggy Webb, is a repeat freebie in the Kindle store and from Barnes & Noble. You can pick up the next in the series, Elvis and The Grateful Dead, for $4.47.

Book Description
They say you can't get to Heaven without passing through the Eternal Rest Funeral Home. And no one gets into Eternal Rest without passing muster with Elvis--the basset hound who's convinced he's the reincarnation of the King of Rock 'n' Roll. Brewing up a big ol' pitcher of Mississippi mystery, Peggy Webb's delightful new series is as intoxicating as the Delta breeze.

Normally, Callie Valentine Jones spends her days fixing up the hairdos of the dead, but when the corpse of local, prominent physician Dr. Leonard Laton goes missing, it's bad for business. So Callie and her cousin Lovie (Eternal Rest's resident wake caterer) have no choice but to go in hot pursuit of the recently embalmed, last seen bound for Vegas by way of downtown Tupelo.

In Vegas, Callie and Lovie hit the jackpot when they find the dearly departed inside a freezer owned by his showgirl mistress, Bubble Malone. But their luck runs out when Bubble decides to join her man in the afterlife. With the poisonous Laton family tree providing plenty of rotten suspects, Callie, along with some help from her basset hound, Elvis, is determined to crack this case--and have a killer singing "Jailhouse Rock" in time for her next haircutting appointment....

Get the free book from Barnes & Noble.

Free Book (EPUB/nook) - Emperors' Clothes

Emperors' Clothes ($3.19 Kindle), by Catherine McGuinness, is free from Barnes & Noble, Kobo and Sony.

Book Description
Part cautionary tale, part farce, Emperors' Clothes tells the story of two executives and one mob boss who put a Sopranos' style spin on corporate strategy.

Stewart Narciss, whose accomplished father prefers the company of his hairless cats to that of his only son, equates executive status with self-worth. To impress the movers and shakers, Stewart hooks his career to the rising power of human resources. Unfortunately for the employees on his watch, lying prostrate before his cold-fish father is the closest this executive comes to touchy feely. As his efforts to bond with his father, and his company’s CEO, are rebuffed, Stewart manipulates the succession process at TMC, assuring his place as consiglieri to a future boss.

Enter Carol Himmler, a beautiful yet ruthless executive who chews up employees with the indifference of a wild animal eating her young. When a chemical spill results from workforce cuts she made, Carol hires mobster Sal Scruci to make the problem go away. Only problem is Scruci never goes away. All hell breaks loose when Sal reinvents himself as an executive talent scout--not a guy who takes no for an answer.

As self-centered agendas drive shortsighted decisions, TMC Corporation heads down a bumpy road--and everything from carefully cultivated allegiances to personal integrity suffers.

Emperors' Clothes is a rollicking tale told with trenchant wit and insight, leaving readers to wonder who's really the bad guy and if the emperors ever had any clothes.

Get the free ebook from Barnes & Noble.
Get the free ebook from Kobo.
Get the free ebook from Sony.

Today's Deals and Bargain Books

Bike Snob: Systematically and Mercilessly Realigning the World of Cycling ($1.99), by BikeSnobNYC and Christopher Koelle, is today's Kindle Deal of the Day.

Book Description
Cycling is exploding -- in a good way. Urbanites everywhere, from ironic hipsters to earth-conscious commuters, are taking to the bike like aquatic mammals to water. BikeSnobNYC -- cycling's most prolific, well-known, hilarious, and anonymous blogger -- brings a fresh and humorous perspective to the most important vehicle to hit personal transportation since the horse. Bike Snob treats readers to a laugh-out-loud rant and rave about the world of bikes and their riders, and offers a unique look at the ins and outs of cycling, from its history and hallmarks to its wide range of bizarre practitioners. Throughout, the author lampoons the missteps, pretensions, and absurdities of bike culture while maintaining a contagious enthusiasm for cycling itself. Bike Snob is an essential volume for anyone who knows, is, or wants to become a cyclist.

Timequake is just one of 18 novels by Kurt Vonnegut that are currently marked down to $3.99 each.

Book Description
TIMEQUAKE (1997) exists in two conjoined versions ("Timequake One"/"Timequake Two") and in meta-fictional mode is a novel about a novel, composed in short, arbitrary chapters and using its large cast of characters and disoriented chronology to mimic the "timequake" which is its subject. Some cosmic upheaval has hurled the entire population a decade back where, in full consciousness (but helplessly entrapped) everyone’s pitiable and embarrassing mistakes are helplessly enacted again. By this stage of his life - he was 72 the year the novel was published - Vonnegut was still wearing his luminescent bells and Harlequin's cape, but these had become dusty and the cape no longer fitted; here, Vonnegut’s exasperation and sense of futility could no longer be concealed or shaped, and this novel is a laboratory of technique (deliberately) gone wrong, a study of breakdown. Vonnegut had never shown much hope in his work for human destiny or occupation; the naive optimism of Eliot Rosewater in GOD BLESS YOU, MR. ROSEWATER had in the damaged veteran Billy Pilgrim of SLAUGHTERHOUSE-FIVE become a naive fantasy of escape to a sexual heaven. In the nihilism of TIMEQUAKE the only escape is re-enactment but re-enactment has lost hope and force. This is no Groundhog Day in which Vonnegut traps his various refugees (many escaped from his earlier works) but a hell of lost possibility. The temporal timequake of the title is the actual spiritual fracture of the 20th century, and in his 73rd year Vonnegut envisions no hope, not even the hollow diversions of SLAPSTICK. Vonnegut’s imaginative journey, closely tracked by his work, is one of the most intriguing for any American writer of the twentieth century.

Spider's Bite ($1.99), the first title in the Elemental Assassin series by Jennifer Estep, looks like the start of another urban fantasy series that you won't be able to put down. I've already sent it to my Kindle to read next.

Book Description
My name is Gin, and I kill people.

They call me the Spider. I'm the most feared assassin in the South -- when I'm not busy at the Pork Pit cooking up the best barbecue in Ashland. As a Stone elemental, I can hear everything from the whispers of the gravel beneath my feet to the vibrations of the soaring Appalachian Mountains above me. My Ice magic also comes in handy for making the occasional knife. But I don't use my powers on the job unless I absolutely have to. Call it professional pride.

Now that a ruthless Air elemental has double-crossed me and killed my handler, I'm out for revenge. And I'll exterminate anyone who gets in my way -- good or bad. I may look hot, but I'm still one of the bad guys. Which is why I'm in trouble, since irresistibly rugged Detective Donovan Caine has agreed to help me. The last thing this coldhearted killer needs when I'm battling a magic more powerful than my own is a sexy distraction...especially when Donovan wants me dead just as much as the enemy.

In Pursuit of a Scandalous Lady ($1.99), by Gayle Callen, is the start of her Scandalous Lady historical romance series.

Book Description
Entranced by a portrait, haunted by scandal, he would stop at nothing to learn the truth . . . even if it led to their utter ruin.

Hold Zero! ($1.99), by Jean Craighead George, The Kid from Tomkinsville ($1.99), by John R. Tunis, and The Planet of Junior Brown ($2.99), by Virginia Hamilton, are all for middle-grade readers and published by Open Road.

Hold Zero!
Craig and his friends have a big secret—they’ve built a real, working rocket. But will the countdown to takeoff begin before they’re discovered?

Best friends Craig, Steve, Johnny, and Phil have spent months building a rocket—not some model or a toy, but a real rocket, with boosters and a launch pad and a remote control panel. Even better, they’ve managed to pull off the whole project in secret.

The boys can’t wait to launch their rocket . . . but then their parents find out what they’ve been up to and tell the police. When they see how sophisticated the rocket really is, the police insist on inspecting all the blueprints and calculations, and the boys find themselves in a lot of trouble. Will their project go up in smoke?

This ebook features an illustrated biography of Jean Craighead George, including rare photos from the author’s personal collection.

The Kid from Tomkinsville
Rookie pitcher Roy Tucker is full of hope for his first season with the Brooklyn Dodgers—and hope might be what the team needs most

Roy Tucker—a small-town kid from Tomkinsville, Connecticut—has quit his job at the drugstore and packed up for Dodgers training camp in Clearwater, Florida, hoping to make the team as a rookie pitcher. He expects the field to be competitive and realizes he might not pass muster, but after just one practice, he discovers just how difficult a goal he has set.

But the Dodgers are an aging team, and owner Jack MacManus is getting tired of the smart remarks from sports reporters and the manager of the rival Giants, Bill Murphy. With a little coaching and encouragement from Dave Leonard, the oldest catcher in the big leagues, this kid from Tomkinsville might be just what the team needs.

The Planet of Junior Brown
Junior Brown is a musical prodigy losing touch with reality and everyone around him—except for one important friend.

Junior Brown is different than the other kids in his eighth-grade class. For one, he weighs three hundred pounds. He’s also a talented musician with a serious future as a professional pianist—if he survives middle school. With an overbearing mom, disappointed teachers, and fellow students who tease him mercilessly, Junior starts to slip away into his own mind. His last hope may be his only friend, Buddy Clark, a boy in his class without a home or family who has already learned some of life’s toughest lessons.

Four of Donna Leon's Commissario Guido Brunetti Mystery titles are marked down to $4.80 each.

Uniform Justice #12
As Uniform Justice opens, Venetian detective Commissario Guido Brunetti is called to investigate a parent's worst nightmare. A young cadet has been found hanged, a presumed suicide, in Venice's elite military academy. Brunetti's sorrow for the boy, so close in age to his own son, is rivaled only by his contempt for a community that is more concerned with protecting the reputation of the school, and its privileged students, than understanding this tragedy. The young man is the son of a doctor and former politician, a man of an impeccable integrity all too rare in Italian politics. Dr. Moro is clearly and understandably devastated by his son's death; but while both he and his apparently estranged wife seem convinced that the boy's death could not have been suicide, neither appears eager to talk to the police or involve Brunetti in any investigation of the circumstances in which he died. As Brunetti pursues his inquiry, he is faced with a wall of silence. Is the military protecting its own? And what of the other witnesses? Is this the natural reluctance of Italians to involve themselves with the authorities, or is Brunetti facing a conspiracy far greater than this one death?

Doctored Evidence #13
Donna Leon's riveting new novel, Doctored Evidence, follows Commissario Guido Brunetti down the winding streets of contemporary Venice as he throws open the doors of a case his superiors would rather leave closed. When a miserly spinster is found brutally murdered in her Venice apartment, police immediately suspect her Romanian housekeeper. They are certain their job is done after the immigrant dies while fleeing arrest, but weeks later; a neighbor comes forward to defend the innocence of the accused. The only investigator who believes the alibi is Brunetti, who will have to go behind the backs of his superiors to vindicate the Romanian and find her employer's actual killer. As always, the indispensable hacking skills of the ever-loyal Signorina Elettra are the perfect complement to Brunetti's meticulous detective work. She discovers mysterious deposits in the old woman's bank account, but who made them? As Brunetti investigates, his wife, at home, reads him teachings on the Seven Deadly Sins. In a modern world of intrigue and nebulous morality, how do they relate to the murder at hand? Doctored Evidence is charged with suspense and evokes a contemporary Venice with Donna Leon's masterful flair.

Blood from a Stone #14
Blood from a Stone brings Donna Leon's celebrated character Commissario Guido Brunetti back on the scene: On a cold Venetian night shortly before Christmas, a street vendor is killed in a scuffle in Campo San Stefano. The closest witnesses to the event are the tourists who had been browsing the man's wares before his death-fake handbags of every designer label. The dead man is one of the many African immigrants purveying goods outside normal shop hours and trading without a work permit.

Like everybody involved, Commissario Brunetti wonders why anyone would kill an illegal immigrant. But once Brunetti begins to investigate this unfamiliar Venetian underworld, he discovers that matters of great value are at stake within the secretive society.

Warned by Patta, his superior, to resist further involvement in the case, Brunetti only becomes more determined to unearth the truth behind this mysterious killing. Reluctant as he is to let this event be smugly relegated to the category of "not worth dealing with," how far will Brunetti be able to penetrate the murky subculture in this illegal community? Blood from a Stone is an exquisite and irresistible mystery offering an unexpected take on life in contemporary Venice.

Through a Glass, Darkly #15
Donna Leon opens doors to the hidden Venice like no one else. With her latest novel, Through a Glass, Darkly, Leon takes us inside the secretive island of Murano, home of the world-famous glass factories. On a luminous spring day in Venice, Commissario Brunetti and his assistant Vianello play hooky from the Questura in order to help Vianello's friend Marco Ribetti, arrested during an environmental protest. They secure his release, only to be faced by the fury of the man's father-in-law, Giovanni De Cal, a cantankerous glass factory owner who has been heard in the bars of Murano making violent threats about Ribetti. Brunetti's curiosity is piqued, and he finds himself drawn to Murano to investigate. Is De Cal the type of man to carry out his threats? Then one morning the body of De Cal's night watchman is found. Over long lunches, on secret boat rides, in quiet bars, and down narrow streets, Brunetti searches for the killer. Will he unravel the clues before the night watchman's death is allowed to be forgotten?

A fascinating novel set in the intersection between tourism and native Venetian society, Through a Glass, Darkly is Donna Leon at her finest.

Chasing the Night ($2.99), by Iris Johansen, is the eleventh title in her popular Eve Duncan series.

Book Description
A CIA agent’s two-year-old child was stolen in the night as a brutal act of vengeance. Now, eight years later, this torment is something Catherine Ling awakens to every day. Her friends, family, and colleagues tell her to let go, move on, accept that her son is never coming back. But she can’t. Catherine needs to find someone as driven and obsessed as she is to help her— and that person is Eve Duncan. She knows that Eve shares her nightmare, since closure is also something that eludes Eve after the disappearance of her daughter Bonnie. Now, Eve must take her talents as a forensic sculptor to another level, using age progression as a way to unite Catherine with her child. As Eve gets drawn deeper into Catherine’s horror, she must face looming demons of her own.

Bonnie’s killer is still out there. And a new killer is taunting Eve and Catherine at every turn. Is Catherine’s son alive, or not? These two women endure the worst fear any mother can imagine in Iris Johansen’s latest thrill ride, a gut-wrenching journey into the darkest places of the soul.

Free Book (iBooks) - In Her Shoes

In Her Shoes ($11.99 Kindle), by Jennifer Weiner, is free in the iBooks store. This one was a bit tricky to find (it doesn't show up in a search), but if you use the link below, you should go straight to it.

Book Description
Meet Rose Feller. She's thirty years old and a high-powered attorney with a secret passion for romance novels. She has an exercise regime she's going to start next week, and she dreams of a man who will slide off her glasses, gaze into her eyes, and tell her that she's beautiful. She also dreams of getting her fantastically screwed-up little sister to get her life together.

Meet Rose's sister, Maggie. Twenty-eight years old, drop-dead gorgeous and only occasionally employed, Maggie sings backup in a band called Whiskered Biscuit. Although her dreams of big-screen stardom haven't progressed past her left hip's appearance in a Will Smith video, Maggie dreams of fame and fortune -- and of getting her dowdy big sister to stick to a skin-care regime.

These two women with nothing in common but a childhood tragedy, shared DNA, and the same size feet, are about to learn that their family is more different than they ever imagined, and that they're more alike than they'd ever believe. In Her Shoes -- Jennifer Weiner's follow-up to her critically acclaimed debut, Good in Bed -- observes Rose and Maggie, the brain and the beauty, as they make journeys of discovery that take them from the streets of Philadelphia to Ivy League libraries to a "retirement community for active seniors" in Boca Raton. Along the way, they'll encounter a wild cast of characters -- from a stepmother who's into recreational Botox to a small, disdainful pug with no name. They'll borrow shoes and clothes and boyfriends, and make peace with their most intimate enemies -- each other.

Funny and poignant, richly detailed and wrenchingly real, In Her Shoes will speak to anyone who has endured the bonds of big -- or little -- sisterhood, or longed for a life different from the one the world has dictated, and dreamed of trying something else on for size.

Click HERE for the free book from iTunes.

Free Book (EPUB/nook) - Bake Sale Murder

Bake Sale Murder ($4.30 Kindle), by Leslie Meier, the thirteenth in her Lucy Stone series, was previously free on Kindle (Aug '10) and is free today from both Barnes and Noble and from Kobo. There's a new book in the series coming this month, English Tea Murder, so I expect this one to be free for Kindle, as well. If you haven't tried the series before, it's fun, light mysteries and there are now seven titles under $5.

Book Description
Ever since local developer Fred Stanton and his wife, Mimi, built five modular homes next door to Lucy Stone's farmhouse, life just hasn't been the same. With Mimi complaining about everything from the state of Lucy's lawn to another neighbor's lovable dog, quaint Tinker's Cove, Maine, is now entangled in cul-de-sac politics and backstabbing. And when Mimi doesn't show up for her shift at The Hat and Mitten Fund bake sale, the scent of burnt sugar leads Lucy to a shocking discovery: Mimi, face down on her kitchen floor--with a knife in her back.

While the police start their investigation, Lucy gets busy writing up the murder for the local Pennysaver--and following a few leads of her own. Lucy knows the women in her neighborhood didn't like Mimi, but they certainly didn't want her dead...right?

Click HERE to get the free book from B&N.
Click HERE to get the free book from Kobo.

Free Audiobook - Go the F--k to Sleep

You can get the unabridged edition of one of the odder kid's bedtime books I've seen, Go the F--k to Sleep [Unabridged], by Adam Mansbach, for free from Audible. It's definitely not the language you'll want your kids to hear at bedtime (ok, it's actually a MOCK bedtime story and for adults, not kids), but should be appreciated by those how struggle to get their little ones to sleep (including the 4-legged little ones; I have one now sitting with his head drooping, refusing to go to sleep in the other room, so long as I am also up and about -- at least he's now past the cranky/sleepy time of the evening where he is fighting to stay awake and is chewing everything in site).

Book Description
Academy Award nominee Samuel L. Jackson (Pulp Fiction) rocks this mock bedtime story, capturing a hilarious range of emotions as the voice of a father struggling to get his child to sleep.

Go the F**k to Sleep is a bedtime book for parents who live in the real world, where a few snoozing kitties and cutesy rhymes don't always send a toddler sailing blissfully off to dreamland. California Book Award-winning author Adam Mansbach's profane, affectionate, and radically honest verses perfectly capture the familiar - and unspoken - tribulations of putting your little angel down for the night. In the process, he opens up a conversation about parenting, granting us permission to admit our frustrations and laugh at their absurdity.

Beautiful, subversive, and pants-wettingly funny, Go the F**k to Sleep is a book for parents new, old, and expectant. Due to its explicit language, you probably should not play it for your children.

Go the F**k to Sleep is available free for a limited time. Feel free to share the link to this page with tired parents and other people who could use a good swear and a laugh.

Free Book (Kindle) - The Twelve Sacred Traditions of Magnificent Mothers-in-Law

The Twelve Sacred Traditions of Magnificent Mothers-in-Law, by Haywood Smith, is a repeat freebie in the Kindle store (Mar '10).

Book Description
A very Southern mother-in-law's humorous advice to mothers-in-law everywhere. From the multiple New York Times bestselling author of The Red Hat Club. Bestselling author Haywood Smith and her pals have lots of personal experience in the joys, sorrows, pitfalls and flat-out hysteria of Mother-in-Lawness. Now Smith offers a handy and fun booklet of pithy advice to mothers-in-law everywhere. Smiths sassy observations and gentle wisdom are delivered with her trademark southern charm, packing the sweet, heady punch of bourbon ice cubes melting in a mint julep. The Twelve Sacred Traditions of Magnificent Mothers-in-Law is the perfect gift book for showers, engagement parties, family celebrations or just to share with that special DIL (Daughter-in-Law) or SIL (Son-in-Law). It can even safely be given to a Mother-in-Law.

Free Book (EPUB/nook) - In Between

Update: 3/15/11 Now free at Christianbook.com and Sony

In Between ($7.99 Kindle), by Jenny B. Jones, which was free on Kindle last June, is free to download in the B&N store for the nook. This is the start of the teen christian fiction Katie Parker Production series and has almost all 5-star reviews.

Book Description
Unlike most kids, teenage Katie Parker never got a fair shot at a normal life. With a mother in jail and a missing-in-action dad, she's never known what it's like to truly be loved. Low on options and family members, she's soon shipped off to a foster home. Now in an unfamiliar town, Katie's rebellious attitude is at odds with her new family, school, and classmates. And after falling in with all the wrong people at school, things go from bad to really bad after she takes the blame for vandalizing the local performing arts theater. But in the midst of a dark situation, Katie finds light in the most unexpected places: through her new friendship with an eccentric senior, the commitment of her foster family, and a tragic secret that changed them forever. And as she inches closer to acceptance and forgiveness, she finds that God has been there all along.

Click HERE to get the free download from B&N.
Click HERE to get the free download from Christianbook.
Click HERE to get the free download from Sony.

Free and Bargain Book Roundup

Tonight's theme is going to be fitness and New Year's Resolutions. I've turned up a few bargains from major publishers (and one that's a bit higher priced than usual), but if you are already fit and on top of your diet, then keep reading for some bargains and free reads from indie authors.

In today's KindlePost, there is guest post by Kris Gethin, athlete and author Body By Design ($9.99 [Kindle Edition with Audio/Video]). He has several good (and common sense) tips in the interview to help with sticking with a diet and exercise plan, but I thought it odd that he didn't mention the enhanced version of his book, which is cheaper than standard Kindle edition. Nothing on the product page talks about the added features (and there are no examples in the sample you can download), but there is one review that says there are embedded videos that demonstrate the exercises (and there are recipes in the back). I might have to buy this one, just to see how well it all works together (although, I have to admit, I am also tempted by Hello, Cupcake! and What's New Cupcake: Ingeniously Simple Designs for Every Occasion (both $7.45), which do have videos in their free samples).

Book Description
FROM KRIS GETHIN, editor in chief of the world’s leading online fitness site Bodybuilding.com, comes a revolutionary 12-week diet and exercise program—supported by two million members and thousands of real-life success stories. Body by Design is a plan that promotes health from the inside out, starting by breaking down the mental blocks that are holding you back, then by building up the muscles on your body, and finally by adding delicious, healthy food onto your plate.

Rather than subtracting things from your life— cutting out calories, losing weight, banishing your belly—here's how to add more of the right things: more muscle, more support, and more success. Motivation is the key factor that drives permanent change, and with Body by Design you can finally learn how to activate your inner motivation and with the proper balance of weight training, make fit happen forever. cardiovascular exercise, and nutrition—along with the motivational tools to stick with that program for the long term—even people who have struggled with fitness for their entire lives can achieve spectacular, lasting results. Join the “Transformation Nation” and create your own story that will inspire others—with Body by Design.

In Body by Design, you’ll learn the optimal balance of weight training, cardiovascular exercise, and nutrition—along with the motivational tools to stick with your goals and achieve dramatic results. Rather than subtracting things from your life (cutting calories, losing weight, banishing your belly), here's how to more muscle, more support, and more success.

Based on the best practices found at Bodybuilding.com (the world’s leading online fitness site), Body by Design shows that amazing things can happen when people get the tools they need to achieve their fitness goals.

Neris And India's Idiot-Proof Diet: A Weight-Loss Plan For Real Women ($1.99 Kindle, B&N and Kobo), by Neris Thomas India Knight, may be just what I need if I succumb to those cupcake books.

Book Description
Ever hankered for a diet book by and for real people--people who, you know, actually have a life? Congratulations: you've just picked it up.

Before we began our diet, Neris and I weighted 434 pounds between us. Our goal was to lose 140 pounds between us in under a year, to go from a size 22 to a size 14. And we did it. If two unusually greedy, cocktail-loving moms can lose this amount of weight without much effort, so can anyone.

This book tells you how two friends did it, and how you can do it too. It's not a diet devised by some bossy string bean who has never been more than 7 pounds overweight, nor by a fat middle-aged doctor, but a real, long-term, workable diet for real people. A modified and therefore bearable low-carb, high-protein way of eating, the diet really works and includes meal plans, recipes, advice on clothes, make-up and hair at every stage from fat to thin. It doesn't include impossible exercise routines or disgusting things to eat. Above all, it gets to the bottom of why we overeat--and shows you how to stop. There's never been a diet book like it--for women, by women, with jokes and useful tips, and advice that is truly simple to follow. What other diet book tells you to pour yourself a large drink at the end of the day, because you've earned it?

Calorie Queens: Living Thin in a Fat World ($1.99 Kindle, Kobo), by Jackie Scott, Diane Scott Kellum, and Brett A. Scott

Book Description
Jackie Scott and her daughter Diane had tried just about every diet under the sun, from low-carb to low-fat, sometimes losing weight but always gaining it back. Frustrated, they decided to figure out why popular diets failed them and came up with Eucalorics - a practical eating plan based on taking in the number of calories needed to maintain a healthy weight. This is not a starvation diet, nor is it a fad. In fact, it's not really a diet at all. It's about learning how to eat well for a lifetime from two real women who have been there and are making it work.

UltraLongevity: The Seven-Step Program for a Younger, Healthier You ($2.99 Kindle, B&N and Kobo), by Mark Liponis, was briefly free on Kindle in January of last year.

Book Description
Medical director of the world-famous Canyon Ranch Health Resorts, Dr. Mark Liponis presents his extraordinary new idea: that aging and aging-related diseases---including heart disease, cancer, and diabetes---are autoimmune problems, and that a well-managed immune system is the key to healthy aging.

Cutting-edge research makes UltraLongevity the first and only book to explore aging within the context of the immune system, and it will change the way we look at health forever. Starting with a quiz---"How Fast Are You Aging?"---Liponis explains the new science, lays out an accessible and proven 7-step program with an 8-day meal plan, and motivates readers to put the program into practice so that they can keep their minds sharp, become more physically fit, be more resistant to infections and disease, and feel and stay younger than they ever imagined. Through the UltraLongevity program, Liponis promises more than a long life; he promises a long, healthy life.

Woman's Day Living Fiscally Fit ($2.99 Kindle, B&N and Kobo), from the Editors Of Woman's Day

Book Description
Read by over 21 million readers, Woman's Day is one of the top woman's magazines. They are consistently delivering style, substance and service to their readers. Now the editors of Woman's Day have compiled the most cost-effective financial tips from their popular WD Solutions column. Covering all kinds of issues from getting rid of debt and reducing the mortgage to managing children & money and growing your nest egg, this useful guide offers quick and simple advice on how to make the smartest money moves.

Sin And Vengeance ($2.99) is from the author of The End of Marking Time (which you can still get free), CJ West and is the first in his Randy Black series. Like the one he's giving away, this one has good reviews and is worth getting a sample.

Book Description
When his knee shatters on the playing field, Charlie Marston is plunged into turmoil. The fallen college superstar joins the family winemaking business, but working alongside his parents is not the future he had planned. He escapes work whenever he can and soon finds a new friend named Randy Black. Randy is part stunt-pilot, part Casanova, and part drunken Pied Piper. Randy introduces Charlie to Deirdre Deudon, the provocative wife of a French farmer. They come together in an ill-conceived stunt that explodes into consequences that chase Charlie and Randy back home to Massachusetts and change Deirdre's life forever. The after-effects of this tragic mistake bind the three of them together and threaten everything they hold dear.

Thanks to NetGalley, I received a review copy of The Naperville White House: How One Mans Fantasy Changed Governments Reality ($6.99 Kindle), by Jerome Bartels. If you enjoy reading thrillers, investigative reporting, about politics or fantasy gaming (or wonder how all of those could tie together), definitely get a sample of this humorous (but serious) novel. I'll admit I was a bit lost at the beginning of the book, until I could figure out all the players (and which White House was being discussed), but the mystery kept drawing me along. I can't comment on the formatting, since NetGalley only supplies a print-ready PDF or a pdf converted to the Kindle and (as usual), the formatting is pretty off in the result.

Book Description
FANTASY GOVERNMENT BY THE PEOPLE AND FOR THE PEOPLE

Not just the United States, but the entire world, remembers that fateful November day back in 2018 when Al Qaeda terrorists held the entire nation hostage in exchange for the public disclosure of an anti-terrorist bioweapon that may not have even existed.

In that darkest hour, salvation came not from the United States government, but from fantasy government. This cabinet of independent thinkers from Naperville, Illinois—a librarian, a customer service representative, a gas station owner, and an obsessive gamer—was led by insurance adjustor and President Jay Weise.

Now, thanks to the tireless efforts of crusading vagabond journalist, former White House press secretary, and part-time Radio Shack employee Jerome Bartels, here for the first time is the true story of the Stockdale Hostage Crisis from the people who lived it.

The publisher, Bancroft Press, tried to get the book released either free or at 99 cents at Amazon, but as a very small publisher, just wasn't able to work anything out. So, instead, they have set a price of $1.24 for today (and today only) over on lulu.com. The only negative is that the format is EPUB and requires Adobe ADE (not Kindle compatible).

Kevin Domenic has just released Eye of the Tornado ($2.99 Kindle), the third in his The Fourth Dimension series and to celebrate, he is giving away copies of it, the first two in the series, and a non-fiction title he has on Smashwords.

Book Description
A fourteen year old boy.

Kindel Thorus hailed from the remote planet of Zo'rhan, a planet populated by a space-faring warrior race of the same name. Unmatched in combat and skilled in even the most advanced sorcery, Kindel led an armada of battle-hardened soldiers against those who sought to impose their might upon the weak and defenseless. Many feared him. Others revered him.

And now his biggest threat was a fourteen year old boy.

Use these links and coupon codes for the free book:
Volume I, Key to the Stars: Coupon Code - BF98D
Volume II, Alliance of Serpents: Coupon Code - RV44M
Volume III, Eye of the Tornado: Coupon Code - KR27C
Retail Ramblings: Coupon Code - KU75X

Alain Gomez is also giving away copies of his short story Payroll ($0.99 Kindle) and two others on Smashwords.

Book Description
Jimmy Cochran thought that he had left his rough past behind him. But Ralph McCormick, the brother of the man he killed, didn't forget... or forgive... so easily. Jimmy knows he should just hightail it out of town to avoid getting into trouble. That is until Ralph puts the woman he loves into danger...

Use these links and coupon codes for the free downloads:
Payroll: Coupon Code - BB45J
Celebrity Space: Coupon Code - XG22Z
The Sacrifice: Coupon Code - RX43U

If you picked up Carol Berg's The Soul Mirror: when it was accidentally free for a few hours, you'll want to grab The Spirit Lens, the first novel in her Collegia Magica series, now that it's been marked down to $6.99. You'll also want to head over to Carol's website, as she has posted copies of Lianelle's letter and note in Chapter 3 and Bernard's letter that appear in the former volume, as they are pretty much unreadable in the Kindle edition.

Book Description
Reduced to tending the library at Sabria's last collegia magica, Portier de Savin-Duplais, failed student of magic, fights off despair with scholarship. But when the King of Sabria charges him to investigate an attempted murder that has disturbing magical resonances, Portier believes his dreams of a greater destiny might at last be fulfilled.

Kindle Student Deal - Worst-Case Survival Handbook: College

The Worst-Case Scenario Survival Handbook: College ($0.99, by David Borgenicht, is today's Kindle Student Deal of the Day. Just the thing to load up on your new or upcoming grad's shiny new Kindle they got for Christmas.

Book Description
The college years are a time of noble pursuit of knowledge, self-betterment -- and unending peril! Students are at risk from the moment they receive their acceptance letters. Fortunately, the authors of the phenomenally best-selling Worst-Case Scenario Survival Handbook series have come to the rescue, offering all-new, hands-on, step-by-step instructions for surviving the worst that higher education has to offer, on campus and off. Learn how to identify a party school, engineer a hookup, survive "the spins," and escape a stadium riot. Discover the best way to sleep in class, pass a test you haven't studied for, avoid the "freshman fifteen," and pull an all-nighter. With practical advice for avoiding laundry and identifying unsafe institutional food, along with an appendix of excuses for missed deadlines and a back-up diploma, this is truly required reading for all college students -- and a perfect high school graduation present.

Free Book (nook) - Every Zombie Eats Somebody Sometime

Every Zombie Eats Somebody Sometime: A Book of Zombie Love Songs ($8.99 Kindle), by Michael P. Spradlin, was a free pre-order in the Kindle store back in August, before disappearing from the store completely, then having it's publication date pushed back several times. It's no longer free at Amazon (but it downloaded to my Kindle at no charge, this morning, as I caught it during the pre-order time period), but it is free from B&N for the nook (at least, for the moment). I just ordered it there as well and confirmed that I wasn't charged on my receipt.

Book Description
Who says zombies don't have feelings? Losing a limb might not hurt them, and they don't seem to mind being shot, but that doesn't mean the undead can't love, right? This collection features more than two dozen classic love songs aimed right at the rotting hearts of zombie romantics everywhere. Perfect for a cozy evening at home with an infected loved one, this book is sure to get the blood pumping and the juices flowing in even the most decayed zombies. With timeless tunes such as "You Blight Up My Life", "I Ate You Babe", and "Can You Feel Your Thumb Tonight", and heart-melting illustrations to go with each song, this is destined to be an apocalyptic classic!

Click HERE for the free download.

Spotlight on SourceBooks

Rather than focusing on an author, today's bargain roundup focuses on a single publisher. This publisher has started featuring bargain prices on a number of books and changing up the offerings every week or so. Since this isn't one of the big-5 Agencies, Amazon is then discounting them even more. I'll start out with the officially discounted books and then throw in a few others I found while searching.

All three titles in Helen Hollick's Pendragon's Banner Trilogy are on sale for $2.39, starting with Kingmaking, followed (in order) by Pendragons Banner and Shadow of the King.

Who was THE MAN
Who became THE LEGEND
We know as KING ARTHUR?

Kingmaking
"You are the Pendragon, rightful Lord of Dumnonia and the Summer Land; Lord of less Britain. By all that is right, you ought be seated where Vortigern sits…You ought to be King."

Here lies the truth of the Lord of the Summer Land.

This is the tale of Arthur flesh and bone. Of the shaping of the man, both courageous and flawed, into the celebrated ruler who inspired armies, who captured Gwenhyfar's heart, and who emerged as the hero of the Dark Ages and the most enduring hero of all time.

This is the unexpected story of the making of a king — the legend who united all of Britain.

* Book One of the Pendragon's Banner Trilogy
* Includes bonus reading group guide

Pendragons Banner
... covering 459-465 A.D. This is not a fairy tale or fantasy. There is no Merlin, no sword in the stone, and no Lancelot. This is the most accurate Arthurian legend ever written, based on historical evidence and meticulous research.

At age twenty-four, King Arthur has the kingdom he fought so hard for and a new young family. But keeping the throne of Britain—and keeping his wife and three sons safe—proves far from easy. Two enemies in particular threaten everything that is dear to him: Winifred, Arthur's vindictive first wife, and Morgause, priestess of the Mother and malevolent Queen of the North. Both have royal ambitions of their own.

In this story of harsh battles, secret treasonous plots, and the life-threatening politics of early Britain's dark ages, author Helen Hollick boldly reintroduces King Arthur as you've never seen him before.

Shadow of the King
They knew what was coming.Man and beast knew what lay ahead.After the war cry.Bitter the grave.At long last, the peace King Arthur was born to usher in has settled over the realm. But Arthur was also born to be a warrior… and all true warriors are restless without a fight. Yearning for battle and ever-loyal, Arthur is easily deceived into setting sail for Gaul to defend its territories—leaving his country vulnerable and leaderless.A beacon of hope in a land of desolation, he was to be the Lord of the Summer Land for now and forever. But first, the Pendragon must face the ultimate test, one that will take all his courage, strength of will, and honor to survive.Because once destiny is fulfilled, can you ever truly win again?

Zombies for Zombies ($3.99), by David Murphy & Daniel Heard

Book Description
So, you've been bitten by a zombie?

Bummer.

But there's no need to panic! Yes, your life will be undergoing a major transformation, but this doesn't have to be the end-all it once was when the Disaster first hit. There have been significant breakthroughs in the last decade in helping you keep significant parts of your wit and dignity. Together we can limit the damage.

Zombies for Zombies is a motivational guide designed specifically to make a profound difference in your accidental, strange new life. You say you don't want to become another one of those ghastly creatures you see on the news out in the Tempe Containment Zone? You don't have to—if you follow the great advice inside, including:

• How to dress for your new lifestyle Handy recipes for brains
• Fitness ideas for keeping you somewhat energetic
• New skin-care techniques to help ward off "rotting flesh syndrome"
• How to overcome that darned zombie social stigma
• Dance steps for the motor-impaired

Completely Revised and Updated Since the Containment Zone Disaster!

Kama Pootra ($3.99), by Daniel Cole Young

Book Description
52 Mind-Blowing Ways to Poop

The only known translation of an ancient manual instructing readers in the art of enlightened bathroom experience, the Kama Pootra offers a thrilling rediscovery of the tiled path to porcelain nirvana.

Willing seekers will find fifty-two progressive positions designed to maximize how you do number two.

Every time the bathroom door closes, a new experience awaits.

Do Ants Have Assholes? ($3.99), by Jon Butler & Bruno Vincent

Book Description
A venerable and historic newspaper, the Old Geezer is read and respected by the world's most conscientious, upright citizens. When these beacons of
respectability have serious questions, they turn to the Old Geezer's "Questionsand Answers" page.

Do Ants Have Assholes? collects the enlightening answers to thought-provoking questions such as:

• If you see an endangered animal eating an endangered plant, what do you do?
• How many men would it take to kill an elephant with their bare hands?
• If one synchronized swimmer drowns, do they all have to drown?
• Are "crabs" related to crabs?
• What if there were no hypothetical questions?

Coloring Outside Autism's Lines ($2.39), by Susan Walton

Book Description
Your Road Map to Rediscovering Joy, Fun, and Togetherness

Having a child with an autism spectrum disorder may mean that you have to change your life. It can seem as though there are so many things you just can’t do. But there are adventures—large and small—that kids with autism love, and they are waiting for your whole family! Just think outside of the ordinary, look for reachable sensory experiences, come prepared, and keep an open mind, and everyone in your family can go along for a great ride. This book is packed with exciting ideas for families living with autism, with everything you need to know to make them a reality. Including:

• Unconventional backyard fun: zip lines, trampolines, tree stumps, and even exercise bikes!
• Easy ways to adapt public places such as bowling alleys, ice skating rinks, and swimming pools into stress-free outings
• Surprising activities that can lead to lifelong interests
• Dreaming big: there’s a world of amusement parks, water slides, camping, and other family getaways that are truly within reach
• Special activities for grandparents and extended family members
• How to team up with other parents to maximize the fun

With tips and advice from dozens of creative families who have found fun with autism and want you to do the same!

25,001 Best Baby Names ($3.99), by Lesley Bolton

Book Description
In a time when brand new names appear every day and classic names keep making comebacks, 25,001 Best Baby Names comes to the aid of frazzled parents-to-be with the easiest to use, most convenient and most up-to-date book available.

The perfect reference to make naming girls and boys quick and painless, 25,001 Best Baby Names is thoroughly researched and updated to reflect recent trends in baby names. In a compact format and with incredible variety, 25,001 Best Baby Names includes names with origins from around the world.

Including 30 fun lists to help you choose the perfect name - or just to make you laugh while browsing - 25,001 Best Baby Names makes naming your baby easier than ever!

It may be the wrong season for Best Summer Drinks ($3.99), by Ray Foley, but that just means you get a head start for next year (or for your beach themed "let's pretend it isn't winter" party this winter).

Book Description
Perfect summer promo or cash-wrap title, from the ultimate authority on bartending, Bartender Magazine.

From Bartender Magazine, the number one publication for the bartending trade and the most respected name in bartending, comes The Best Summer Drinks, the perfect recipe guide for the hottest drink time of year.

Written by the ultimate authority on bartending, this book contains 500 summer cocktail and appetizer recipes submitted by the world's best bartenders, including:

• Summer Breeze
• Fourth of July
• Blue Lemonade
• South Wind
• Sun Stroked

Perfect for impulse purchase at cash-wrap areas, The Best Summer Drinks is sure to find its way into the pocket of anyone who loves libations.

If you picked up Rebecca Ann Collins's Pemberley Chronicles when it was free earlier this month, you may want to grab up two more in the same series, Ladies of Longbourn ($2.99) and Recollections of Rosings ($2.84). Both are Amazon discounts, so could change at any moment. These are the fourth and eighth in the series, respectively.

Ladies of Longbourn
Anne-Marie Bradshaw is the granddaughter of Charles and Jane Bingley. Her father now owns Longbourn, the Bennet's estate in Hertfordshire. A young widow after a loveless marriage, Anne-Marie and her stepmother Anna, together with Charlotte Collins, widow of the unctuous Mr. Collins, are the Ladies of Longbourn. These smart, independent women challenge the conventional roles of women in the Victorian era, while they search for ways to build their own lasting legacies in an ever-changing world.

The ladies find strength, companionship, and friendship together as they work to build a children's hospital, deal with a deadly outbreak of influenza, and help a gentle lady flee a violent and destructive marriage.

Jane Austen's original characters - Darcy, Elizabeth, Bingley, and Jane - provide a framework of solid values and commentary to anchor a dramatic story full of wit and compassion.

Recollections of Rosings
Sisters Catherine Harrison and Becky Tate, daughters of Charlotte Lucas and Mr. Collins, have very different personalities and temperaments. Both grew up in the shadow of Rosings Park, domain of the formidable Lady Catherine de Bourgh, but as adults their paths diverged dramatically.

When a catastrophe at Rosings Park brings Becky back to visit her sister, the two clash about their aspirations for the marriage of Catherine’s young daughter, and both women are forced to confront the ghosts of the past—in particular, Lady Catherine’s cruelty and deception.

As the shocking truth emerges, the Darcy and Bingley families rally. But it may be too late for the sisters to find the love and happiness they were denied so long ago.

Rogues Handbook ($2.99), by Jeff Metzger

Book Description
The Rogue’s Handbook contains everything you need to know to be the most desired man in your city or nation. If you wish to reinvent yourself as someone who leaves clenched fists and flushed, heaving bosoms in your wake, read on carefully.

About the Author
Jeff Metzger was born in Portland, Oregon. His fondest memories include masterminding a jailbreak in Cuba, rendezvousing with history's most infamous ex-CIA agent, and being chased through the streets of Madrid. At home in Austin, Mr. Metzger enjoys quiet mornings of writing and reading.

Horrid Henry's Christmas ($3.99), by Tony Ross & Francesca Simon, is just one of nine titles in the Horrid Henry series that are selling for $3.99. This is a bestselling series from the UK, for kids in grades 1-4.

Book Description
In this installment in a best-selling chapter-book series from the U.K., self-centered Horrid Henry wreaks total havoc at the Nativity play, destroys the Christmas tree, and almost ruins the holiday lunch. His irreverent actions are made tolerable through the ridiculousness of the incidents and the appeal to the naughty side in readers' personalities. Ross's mischievous black-and-white cartoon drawings are the perfect choice to carry them off. Large print and simple vocabulary make this title an easy read and a fun read-aloud.

Invasion of the Party Snatchers ($2.86), by Victor Gold, is definitely not a title for children (and doesn't have anything to do with throwing a party)..

Book Description
Victor Gold wants his party back.

Gold is the former press aide to Barry Goldwater and the former speechwriter and senior advisor for George H. W. Bush. He is incensed that the Neo-Cons and the Evangelical Right have betrayed the ideals of the conservative cause. Now he's fighting back.

A Republican insider for 40 years, Gold is ready to tell all about the war being waged for the GOP's soul, the elder Bush's opinion of his son's presidency, the significance of the Democratic resurgence, and how Goldwater would have reacted to it all.

Among Gold's explosive disclosures is the truth about Cheney's manipulation of George W., and the chilling, puppet-like role of the President amongst Neo- and Theo-Conservatives.

My Favorite Midlife Crisis (Yet) ($2.51), by Toby Devens

Book Description
Dr. Gwyneth Berke has a perfect life…until one day she walks into her pantry, lets out a little scream of disbelief and begins the following list: What to do when you find out that your husband is in love with your interior decorator, Brad (or, A Midlife Crisis Checklist)

• Get divorced (this is a must!)
• Quickly discover a lifetime supply of humor (this will also help with your children and your mentally deteriorating father)
• Stop sulking, show a little spirit and start a new life plan (also a must)
• Recruit your two very dear, newly single friends to help you with it
• Don’t look back and enjoy the ride!

Embedded ($2.64), by Ross Dale, is also a title for adults (the subtitle is "Confessions of a Sex Journalist").

Book Description
ROSS DALE is a Wesleyan graduate serenely sailing through post-college life when he gets the offer he can't refuse. For double his pay, Playboy TV wants him to produce their show Sexcetera, an explicit experience in journalism billed as "true stories from the sexual frontier." A prep student from a sheltered home, Dale finds himself everywhere he never imagined he'd go: shooting gang bangs with the West Coast Gang Bangers, attending the annual Nudes-A-Popping Festival at an Indiana nudist resort, brothels in Amsterdam, swinger parties and more.

Behind Dale's initial shock, a fascination grows for the characters in front of the camera: some funny, some gross, all facing the pressure of trying to balance humdrum, day-to-day existence with outrageous sex lives. Plus one of his leading ladies, a gorgeous and naked soft-core movie queen, just might have a thing for him. Dale's odd job becomes a life-changing adventure, and he's enjoying the ride.

By turns hilarious, wry, and deliciously erotic, Dale evokes the bizarre world of pornography and the people who inhabit it, and gives readers a story about finding love in the least likely of places.

Best St. Louis Sports Arguments ($1.68), by Bryan Burwell

Book Description
Who’s the best? Who’s the worst?

Every St. Louis fan knows that the only thing better than watching sports is arguing about them-picking the best, the worst and who will come out on top. And no city tears its sports teams apart like we do in the Gateway City.

St. Louis Post–Dispatch sports columnist Bryan Burwell takes you inside the 100 best debates in St. Louis sports. Covering the Rams, Cardinals (football and baseball), Blues and beyond, every question you want to debate is here-as well as a few surprises.

Cardinals–Cubs:

• Is it really a “great” rivalry?
• Does Mark McGwire belong in the Hall of Fame?
• Whitey, Red or Tony: Who’s the best all-time Cardinal manager?
• Who was more responsible for the Rams’ Super Bowl victory: Dick Vermeil or Mike Martz?
• Did the Blues make the right move in trading Brendan Shanahan?
• Should St. Louis have an NBA franchise?

SEALed with a Ring ($3.99), by Mary Daughtridge, is the third book in her SEALed series. I already have SEALed with a Kiss ($4.69) and may pick this one up out of sequence. Like the first book in the series, this one is over 400 pages, in print.

Book Description
She’s got it all…except the one thing she needs most

Smart, successful businesswoman JJ Caruthers has a year to land a husband or lose the empire she’s worked so hard to build. With time running out, romance is not an option, and a military husband who is always on the road begins to look like the perfect solution…

He’s a wounded hero with an agenda of his own Even with the scars of battle, Navy SEAL medic Davy Graziano is gorgeous enough to land any woman he wants, and he’s never wanted to be tied down. Now Davy has ulterior motives for accepting JJ’s outrageous proposal of marriage, but he only has so long to figure out what JJ doesn’t want him to know…