Almost Free Single + Audiobook from Stephen King (K)

The companion audiobook for Guns ($0.99), a Kindle Single by Stephen King (liberal and gun owner), is free with purchase or if your borrow the title using your Prime Lending choice for the month (personally, I'd save it for something usually more expensive, as the audiobook is 69 cents by itself or you can get book+audiobook for 99 cents).

Book Description
In a pulls-no-punches essay intended to provoke rational discussion, Stephen King sets down his thoughts about gun violence in America. Anger and grief in the wake of the shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School are palpable in this urgent piece of writing, but no less remarkable are King’s keen thoughtfulness and composure as he explores the contours of the gun-control issue and constructs his argument for what can and should be done.

King's earnings from the sale of this essay will go the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence.

STEPHEN KING is the author of 11/22/63, Under the Dome, Carrie, The Shining and many other bestselling works.

Of course, with such a controversial subject, there are a variety of books that take a contrary view. Guns at Stephen King's Head: A Satire ($0.99), by Sammy Sneeze, takes King's title and uses it as a launchpoint/impetus of the imagined world after massive gun control has been enacted (some seem content to just attack King personally, rather than contribute to the debate). Most reviews are "average", with a few either in the love it/hate it camp.

Book Description
America has been disarmed.

Thanks in large part to Stephen King's popular essays on gun control, the country has finally banned semi-automatic weapons and high-capacity magazines. And everyone is finally safe.

But safety can be as fleeting as liberty, as King learns when the monsters, in an ironic twist, come after him.

Guns at Stephen King's Head is a piece of satire. One that, like the essays it satirizes, is intended to stir debate on an issue that affects everyone.

Six Free Audiobooks from Audible

Audible has a special Valentine's Day gift for all account holders, whether you have a subscription membership or not: Six Free Audiobooks. The email I received said you could get one for yourself and give one away, the page is confusing vague and it looks like you have to choose to get one or give one, but, it turns out you can add all of them to your cart and once (and give as many away as you like, I suspect) and checkout without using any credits or cash.

Here are your choices (the last is a very short story):

• Attached: The New Science of Adult Attachment and How It Can Help You Find - and Keep - Love, by Amir Levine, Rachel S. F. Heller, Narrated by Walter Dixon, Length:7 hrs and 9 mins
• Undead Sublet: A Free Story from 'The Undead in My Bed', by Molly Harper, Narrated by Sophie Eastlake, Length:4 hrs and 29 mins
• Romeo and Juliet (Dramatized), by William Shakespeare, Narrated by Calista Flockhart , Matthew Wolf , Julie White , Alan Mandell , Richard Chamberlain , Nicholas Hormann , Josh Stamberg, Length:2 hrs and 53 mins
• Love in the Afternoon, by Alison Packard, Narrated by Gia St. Claire, Length:10 hrs
• Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen, Narrated by Flo Gibson, Length:11 hrs and 32 mins
• Eureka: A Free Story from 'The Last Girlfriend on Earth', by Simon Rich, Narrated by Simon Rich, Length:3 mins

Free Audiobook - Listening Is an Act of Love

The audiobook edition of Listening Is an Act of Love: A Celebration of American Life from the StoryCorps Project ($12.99 Kindle), by Dave Isay, is free on Audible thru Nov 29.

Book Description
As heard on NPR?a wondrous nationwide celebration of our shared humanity

StoryCorps founder and legendary radio producer Dave Isay selects the most memorable stories from StoryCorps? collection, creating a moving portrait of American life.

The voices here connect us to real people and their lives?to their experiences of profound joy, sadness, courage, and despair, to good times and hard times, to good deeds and misdeeds. To read this book is to be reminded of how rich and varied the American storybook truly is, how resistant to easy categorization or stereotype. We are our history, individually and collectively, and Listening Is an Act of Love touchingly reminds us of this powerful truth.

Get the free audiobook from Audible.

Free Audiobook - The Interpretation of Dreams

The audiobook edition of The Interpretation of Dreams ($0.99 Kindle; $24.49 Audible or $7.95 as a companion edition), by Sigmund Freud and Michael Page, is free direct from Tantor Media.

While you are over at Tantor, be sure to also check out their 50% Off Holiday Listening sale.

Book Description
What are the most common dreams and why do we have them? What does a dream about death mean? What do dreams of swimming, failing, or flying symbolize?

First published by Sigmund Freud in 1899, The Interpretation of Dreams considers why we dream and what it means in the larger picture of our psychological lives. Delving into theories of manifest and latent dream content, the special language of dreams, dreams as wish fulfillments, the significance of childhood experiences, and much more, Freud, widely considered the "father of psychoanalysis," thoroughly and thoughtfully examines dream psychology.

Encompassing dozens of case histories and detailed analyses of actual dreams, this landmark text presents Freud's legendary work as a tool for comprehending our sleeping experiences.

Get the free ebook from Tantor Media.

Bargain Book Roundup

The Atria Holiday Cooking Collection has finally shipped and it's quite a nice little selection of recipes, running 108 "pages" for the EPUB edition from Sony (which has the wrong title shown in the listing). I've updated the post with links for the Nook, EPUB and iBooks editions.

I was going to do a quick 3-book list tonight, but stumbled upon a number of pre-order deals for the last author; I'm going to include them all in this post, just in case they disappear.

The Master of Disguise: My Secret Life in the CIA ($0.99 Kindle, B&N), by Antonio J. Mendez (HarperCollins).

Book Description
From the author of Argo comes an unforgettable behind-the-scenes story of espionage in action. In the first ever memoir by a top-level operative to be authorized by the CIA, Antonio J. Mendez reveals the cunning tricks and insights that helped save hundreds from deadly situations.

Adept at creating new identities for anyone, anywhere, Mendez was involved in operations all over the world, from "Wild West" adventures in East Asia to Cold War intrigue in Moscow. In 1980, he orchestrated the escape of six Americans from a hostage situation in revolutionary Tehran, Iran. This extraordinary operation inspired the movie Argo, directed by and starring Ben Affleck.

The Master of Disguise gives us a privileged look at what really happens at the highest levels of international espionage: in the field, undercover, and behind closed doors.

Plum Island ($8.99 $0.99 Kindle, B&N), by Nelson DeMille (Hatchette). This is supposed to be Agency Priced, so the same everywhere, but hasn't dropped at Amazon. I've reported the lower price and hopefully that will help get it fixed. It stayed up in price all day, but dropped in minutes after reporting it! Grab it quick, before it goes back up.

Book Description
Taking the best elements from two of his most outstanding bestsellers, The Gold Coast and The General's Daughter, Nelson DeMille combines the breathless suspense of an expertly wrought murder mystery with his wry perspective on a peculiarly American social scene to deliver an enthralling and compelling story.

Wounded in the line of duty, NYPD homicide detective John Corey convalesces in the Long Island township of Southold, home to farmers, fishermen -- and at least one killer. Tom and Judy Gordon, a young, attractive couple Corey knows, have been found on their patio, each with a bullet in the head. The local police chief, Sylvester Maxwell, wants Corey's big-city expertise, but Maxwell gets more than he bargained for.

The early signs point to a burglary gone wrong. But because the Gordons were biologists at Plum Island, the offshore animal disease research site rumored to be involved in germ warfare, it isn't long before the media is suggesting that the Gordons stole something very deadly. Suddenly a local double murder becomes a crime with national and worldwide implications.

John Corey doesn't like mysteries, which is why he likes to solve them. His investigations lead him into the lore, legends, and ancient secrets of northern Long Island -- more deadly and more dangerous than he could ever have imagined. During his journey of discovery, he meets two remarkable women, Detective Beth Penrose and Mayflower descendant Emma Whitestone, both of whom change his life irrevocably. Ultimately, through his understanding of the murders, John Corey comes to understand himself.

Fast-paced and atmospheric, marked by entrancing characters, incandescent storytelling, and brilliant comic touches, Plum Island is Nelson DeMille at his thrill-inducing best.

To close out, I have four pre-orders by Stephanie Laurens (Avon), all for 99 cents on Kindle or from B&N. It's the second time that Devil's Bride with Bonus Material ($0.99 Kindle or B&N) has been released in a bonus edition (there was an edition last year, which no longer exists in either store, which was free for Australians and 99 cents for everyone else, so double check your library before ordering this one. Checkout a sample from the full-priced edition. First title in the Cynster series.

Book Description
Where it all began. . . The Cynsters!

When Devil, the most infamous member of the Cynster family, is caught in a compromising position with plucky governess Honoria Wetherby, he astonishes the entire town by offering his hand in marriage. No one dreamed this scandalous rake would ever take a bride. And as society mamas swooned at the loss of England's most eligible bachelor, Devil's infamous Cynster cousins began to place wagers on the wedding date.

But Honoria wasn't about to bend society's demands and marry a man "just" because they'd been found together virtually unchaperoned. No, she craved adventure, and while solving the murder of a young Cynster cousin fit the bill for a while, she decided that once the crime was solved she'd go off to see the world. But the scalding heat of her unsated desire for Devil soon had Honoria craving a very different sort of excitement. Could her passion for Devil cause her to embrace the enchanting peril of a lifelong adventure of the heart?

Now with special bonus material, including Q&As with the author and a sneak peek at other books by Stephanie Laurens!

The Untamed Bride with Bonus Material ($0.99 Kindle or B&N); use the full-priced edition to try a sample. First title in the Black Cobra Quartet.

Book Description
For a limited time and at a special price, discover #1 New York Times bestselling author Stephanie Laurens's The Black Cobra Quartet with The Untamed Bride, plus special excerpts from the next three novels in the series.

In The Untamed Bride, They're battle-hardened, sinfully wealthy, completely unstoppable—and all male: Four officers of the Crown, fighting against a deadly foe known only as the Black Cobra.

He is a man who has faced peril without flinching, determined to fight for king and country.

She is a bold, beautiful woman with a scandalous past, destined to become an untamed bride.

Together they must vanquish the ruthless enemy, while confronting the dangers of the heart...

The Lady Chosen with Bonus Material ($0.99 Kindle or B&N); use the full-priced edition to try a sample. A standalone novel.

Book Description
For a limited time and at a special price, discover #1 New York Times bestselling author Stephanie Laurens's Bastion Club series with The Lady Chosen, plus special excerpts from the next four novels in the series.

In The Lady Chosen, Tristan Wemyss, Earl of Trentham, never expected he'd need to wed within a year or forfeit his inheritance. But he is not one to bow to the matchmaking mamas of the ton. No, he will marry a lady of his own choosing. And the lady he chooses is the enchanting neighbor living with her family next door. Miss Leonora Carling has beauty, spirit and passion; unfortunately, matrimony is the last thing on her mind . . .

To Leonora, Tristan's kisses are oh-so-tempting, but once bitten, forever shy, she has determinedly turned her back on marriage. But Tristan is a seasoned campaigner who will not accept defeat. And when a mysterious man attempts to scare Leonora and her family from their home, Tristan realizes he's been given the perfect excuse to offer his services—as protector, seducer and, ultimately, husband.

A Fine Passion with Bonus Material ($0.99 Kindle or B&N); use the full-priced edition to try a sample. Sixth title in the Bastion Club series.

Book Description
The men of the Bastion Club are powerful, loyal, and not averse to overcoming danger if they must. Now, after years of loyal service to the Crown, they each -- one by one -- must face that greatest danger of all ...love.

The last of his line, Jack, Baron Warnefleet, has fled London after nearly being compromised into marrying a dreadful female. Turning his back on the entire notion of marriage, he rides home to the estate he has not seen for years, determined to set in motion an alternative course of action.

But then in the lane before his gate, Jack rescues a startlingly beautiful lady from a menacing, unmanageable horse. However, while he begins by taking command, the lady continues by taking it back. Lady Clarice Altwood is no meek and mild miss. She is the very antithesis of the woolly-headed young ladies Jack has rejected as not for him. Clarice is delectably attractive, beyond eligible, undeniably capable, and completely unforgettable. Why on earth is she rusticating in the country?

That enigma is compounded by mystery, and it's quickly clear that Clarice is in danger. Jack must use every ounce of his cunning and wit to protect this highly independent and richly passionate woman ... who has so quickly stolen his heart.

Free Book - Curious Folks Ask (K/N)

Curious Folks Ask: 162 Real Answers on Amazing Inventions, Fascinating Products, and Medical Mysteries (Main/UK), by Sherry Seethaler, is a repeat freebie in the Kindle store and from Barnes & Noble.

Book Description

• Why does the flu change every year?
• What makes glue sticky?
• What causes out-of-body experiences?
• Are all brands of gas the same?
• Will adult stem cells work as well as embryonic stem cells?
• Is one “horsepower” really equal to the power of one horse?
• Why can’t you sneeze with your eyes open?
• How much does a cremated body weigh?

These are just a few of the fascinating science and health questions real people have asked top science writer and San Diego Union-Tribune columnist Sherry Seethaler. Curious Folks Ask brings together 162 of her best answers–all crystal-clear, accurate, quick, and a pleasure to read. Seethaler is one of this generation’s best science explainers, and it shows: Every answer is accurate, fun to read, and distilled to a single page or less! Want to know how canned air works…or nuclear bombs? What causes goose bumps, earwax, dandruff, headaches? Whether it’s healthy to crack your knuckles, drink decaf, eat chocolate? What it costs to run all those LED lights around your house? It’s all here–and a whole lot more!

Get the free ebook from Barnes & Noble.

Free Book - The Everything Songwriting Book (K)

The Everything Songwriting Book: All You Need to Create and Market Hit Songs, by C. J. Watson, is free in the Kindle store, courtesy of Adams Media (sponsor of yesterday's Kindle Deal of the Day).

Book Description
The Everything Songwriting Book provides you with all the tools you need to create, perform, and sell hit songs. In easy-to-follow language, professional songwriter and consultant C.J. Watson gives you tried-and-tested instruction on choosing a song style, getting your story across, and finding the right music to match the words. From developing an idea and creating a hook to recording your songs and getting heard, The Everything Songwriting Book contains all you need to bring your talent to the next level. Features professional advice on how to: find and develop song ideas; formulate a catchy rhyme scheme; incorporate unique phrasing; create colorful imagery and word play; get compositions into the right hands; and much more. Whether you're just starting out or are looking for inspiration, The Everything Songwriting Book is your first step toward achieving songwriting success.

Free Book - Stop Smoking Effortlessly (K)

Stop Smoking Effortlessly, by Leo White, is free in the Kindle store, courtesy of micro-press Starlight Studio. Be sure to check the price before one-clicking, as I'm posting this one pretty late in the evening.

Book Description
A Dose of Truth with a Twist of Zen

A new book released on New Year's Eve 2012....have you found yourself unable to stop smoking using every method out there, including the use of your willpower?

Does stopping or quitting smoking seem like a huge, monumental and complicated ordeal? Has your willpower failed you when trying to stop smoking? Have you tried everything to stop without success? Let me guide you towards the effortless, simple, free way to stop smoking, without the use of drugs, other forms of nicotine, complicated techniques, or endless reading of anxiety-provoking "tips and tricks" which only complicate the process and make it more dreadful.

After reading Stop Smoking Effortlessly™ and trying my effortless, simple and straightforward way to stop smoking, you will realize that it is the "easier, softer" way; your joy and excitement will increase each day as you become smoke-free one day after another, and a new hope and brightness will begin to return to your life as each day progresses and you find yourself joyously free of the deadly slavery of nicotine addiction.

This is a new way out that you will find so effortless and easy, you will wonder how it could ever have seemed so difficult to stop. Yet everything you have done to try to stop has brought you to this point where you are now, and this is the perfect time for you to finally be released from this deadly addiction to nicotine. This book is for anyone who has a sincere and desperate desire to stop. The author was addicted to nicotine for 27 yrs and sober in AA for 10 yrs before stopping smoking. The book Stop Smoking Effortlessly™ is about how the author found the way out, and highlights for you this same path of freedom from nicotine addiction. Although not a twelve step book per se, this book was inspired by the twelve steps and will appeal to smokers familiar with the twelve steps of recovery or with an interest in spirituality, and will also be easily digestible to readers outside of this group who are desperate to stop smoking. It's more like a dose of truth with a twist of Zen.

Free Book - Everything Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Book (K/N)

Everything Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Book: A portrait of an American icon (Main/UK), by Kathleen Tracy, is free in the Kindle store and from Barnes & Noble.

Book Description
Jacqueline Lee Bouvier Kennedy Onassis-better known as Jackie O. to the tabloids, "the deb" to the Kennedy clan, and the 35th First Lady to historians-is easily one of the most recognizable Presidential wives. She remains the model of the proper American woman. But what was Jackie O. hiding behind those big, dark shades?

From her New York society upbringing to her time in the White House to her days spent as a Doubleday editor, this is the ultimate biography of a woman everyone recognized but few knew. Did you know that:

• Her first job was as the "Inquiring Camera Girl" for the Washington Times-Herald?
• Before she started dating Jack Kennedy, she hadn't even voted in a national election?
• She was the only family member strong enough to remove Robert Kennedy from life-support measures after he was shot?
• She asked Rose Kennedy for her blessing before she married Aristotle Onassis?

She was American royalty and is now an American icon. The Everything Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Book delivers everything you always wanted to know about this captivating woman.

Get the free ebook from Barnes & Noble.

Free Book - Grow Your Own Tree Hugger (K/N)

Grow Your Own Tree Hugger: 101 activities to teach your child how to live green (Main/UK), by Wendy Rosenoff, is free in the Kindle store and from Barnes & Noble.

Book Description
Teach your kids to be eco-conscious and spark their imagination with 101 interactive science, food and craft-based activities in Grow Your Own Tree Hugger. Each of the activities in this easy-to-follow book includes step-by-step instructions you can use to pass on sensible sustainable living behaviors your child will understand and enjoy.

Perfect for children ages 4 to 10, each activity includes a chat point for discussion, plus hundreds of websites for furthering your sustainable knowledge.

Learn to Grow Your Own Tree Hugger - Our Planet is Counting on You!

Get the free ebook from Barnes & Noble.

Free Book - The Myths, Legends, and Lore of Ireland (K/N)

Update: 3/12/12 Now free in the US Kindle store and from Barnes & Noble..

The Myths, Legends, and Lore of Ireland (Main/UK), by Amy Hackney Blackwell, is free for UK customers in the Kindle store. It should be free for US customers by morning and most likely at Barnes & Noble, as well.

Book Description
More than 20 million Americans claim some sort of Irish heritage. But how much do you really know about this amazing country? Forget about shamrocks, leprechauns, and all that blarney--this book is a concise and authoritative guide that dispels the myths and tells the true stories of the Irish. Highlights include:

• Who St. Patrick really was
• The story behind "Sunday Bloody Sunday"
• Scandals in the Irish church
• Coming to America and the real gangs of New York
• The spooky truth behind changelings, leprechauns, and fairies

Complete with an Irish language primer and pronunciation guide, this book is an informative pot of gold for everyone who loves the Irish!

Get the free ebook from Barnes & Noble.

Free Book - Curious Folks Ask 2 (K/N)

Update: 3/8/12 Now free from Barnes & Noble.

Curious Folks Ask 2: Our Fellow Creatures, Our Planet, and Beyond, by Sherry Seethaler, is a repeat freebie in the Kindle store.

Book Description
Why do lizards do pushups? What will happen if the Earth’s magnetic field reverses? How does water get from the roots to the tops of trees? Why and how do stars die? Is there really such a thing as the green flash? In Curious Folks Ask 2: 188 Answers about Our Fellow Creatures, Our Planet, and Beyond, gifted science explainer Sherry Seethaler presents 188 of the most fascinating new questions real people have asked about science–together with answers that are clear, accurate, honest, and a pleasure to read.

Like her previous book, Curious Folks Ask, the Q&As in this book are collected from Seethaler’s popular weekly column in the San Diego Union-Tribune. From the Earth’s strangest lifeforms to the deepest reaches of the universe. Seethaler introduces exciting areas of research, cuts through myths, offers real insight into what science has learned–and reveals the continuing mysteries scientists are still working to understand.

Written in Seethaler’s trademark style, Curious Folks Ask 2: 188 Answers about Our Fellow Creatures, Our Planet, and Beyond presents sophisticated science in a lighthearted, amusing way. Seethaler’s answers will help rekindle the wonder of science in readers of all ages and backgrounds–and help them intelligently interpret the latest news about science and medicine for years to come.

Get the free ebook from Barnes & Noble.

Free Book - The Bond (K-OTHER)

The Bond: Our Kinship with Animals, Our Call to Defend Them, by Wayne Pacelle, is free in the Kindle store, but only for customers in selected regions: Asia & Pacific, India, the Middle East and Latin America & the Carribean. The book is listed on the Limited Time Offers page at Amazon, so it doesn't appear that the free price is a mistake, but it is a bit odd that most countries were overlooked (it's either $13 or more or completely unavailable in the primary regions for Amazon books: US, UK, AU, EU and CA).

Book Description
A fascinating exploration of humanity's eternal bond with animals, and an urgent call to answer the needs of millions of at-risk creatures

A landmark work, The Bond is the passionate, insightful, and comprehensive examination of our special connection to all creatures, written by one of America's most important champions of animal welfare. Wayne Pacelle, the president of the Humane Society of the United States, unveils the deep links of the human-animal bond, as well as the conflicting impulses that have led us to betray this bond through widespread and systemic cruelty to animals.

Pacelle begins by exploring the biological and historical underpinnings of the human-animal bond and reveals our newfound understanding of animals, including their remarkable emotional and cognitive capacities. In the book's second section, Pacelle shows how the bond has been disastrously broken. He takes readers to a slaughter plant shuttered for inhumane practices, as well as the enormous egg factory farms of California. We visit Leavenworth Federal Penitentiary in Kansas to speak with NFL star Michael Vick, then serving his sentence for dogfighting. Pacelle paints a portrait of New Orleans in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, and highlights the heroic actions of residents and volunteers to reunite pets with their owners. Pacelle's narrative also leads the reader to remote locations in which conflicts over the killing of wildlife continue to play out—from the fields outside of Yellowstone National Park where bison are slaughtered with the encouragement of federal authorities, to the ice floes of Atlantic Canada where seal nurseries turn into killing fields.

In its final section, The Bond takes on the arguments of opponents and critics of animal protection and spotlights the groups and industries standing in the way of progress—from the National Rifle Association and agribusiness organizations like the American Farm Bureau, to surprising adversaries like the American Veterinary Medical Association and the American Kennel Club. Ultimately, Pacelle points the way to a new, humane economy—one not built on extraction, suffering, and killing, but on the celebration, stewardship, and care of animals.

An eye-opening must-read, The Bond reminds us that animals are at the center of our lives, they are not just a backdrop. How we treat them is one of the great themes of the human story.

Free Book - Pilgrimage to the End of the World (P)

Pilgrimage to the End of the World: The Road to Santiago de Compostela ($11.36 paperback), by Conrad Rudolph, is this month's free book from The University of Chicago Press (no Kindle edition).

Book Description
Traveling two and a half months and one thousand miles along the ancient route through southern France and northern Spain, Conrad Rudolph made the passage to the holy site of Santiago de Compostela, one of the most important modern-day pilgrimage destinations for Westerners. In this chronicle of his travels to this captivating place, Rudolph melds the ancient and the contemporary, the spiritual and the physical, in a book that is at once travel guide, literary work, historical study, and memoir.

Spring is the season for a pilgrimage, observed Chaucer. Rudolph traces the famous Camino de Santiago—the Way of St. James—a pilgrimage route from La Puy in France, through the Pyrenees, to Santiago de Compostela in northwestern Spain. It’s a route followed by millions from medieval times to the present (and was also followed by Martin Sheen in the 2010 film, The Way.) Rudolph’s book is at once travel guide, literary work, historical study, and memoir.

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 - 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.

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 Book - Best of TOC 2012 (K)

For all the authors and publishers out there (and from my emails, I know there are quite a few reading), you might want to check out the O'Reilly Team's Best of TOC 2012, currently free in the Kindle store.

Book Description
Covering everything from ebook design to reading devices to social media strategies, best of TOC 2011 draws from O'Reilly Radar's extensive publishing coverage. This anthology highlights the important trends and developments that shaped the publishing world throughout 2011 and it points the way to publishing's near-term future.

Free Book - Blood, Sweat and Tears (N)

Blood, Sweat, and Tea: Real-Life Adventures in an Inner-City Ambulance ($7.69 Kindle), by Tom Reynolds, is free from Barnes & Noble, where it appears the author has a new publisher (HarperCollins Publishers instead of Andrews McMeel at Amazon).

Book Description
An alluring mix of humor, bravery, cynicism, and compassion. --London Daily Telegraph

It's the stuff of Grey's Anatomy, House, and ER--only these events aren't unfolding on a Hollywood soundstage.

Have you ever wondered what's going on inside the ambulance screaming past you during your rush-hour commute? Since 2003, Tom Reynolds (writing under an alias so as not to get sacked from his job), has kept a blog where he chronicles the day-in, day-out realities of his life on the job as an EMT with the London Ambulance Service.

By turns both poignant and profound, Reynolds's writing captures the very essence of life and death. From the mundane to the surreal, from the heartwarming to the cynical, from the calm to the frenetic, more than 300 entries from his popular blog at randomreality.blogware.com are included in the book.

Dear Mr. Alcoholic:

Would you mind awfully not swearing at me, taking a swing at me, or exposing yourself to me? I have quite enough abuse from the nondrunks out there. . . . Still, at least your fists are easy to dodge, and if I stop holding you up, you fall over.

The author's hugely popular blog, Random Acts of Reality, has been named Medgadget Best Medical Blog and Best Literary Medical Blog.

Get the free ebook from Barnes & Noble.

Free Book - Class War? (P)

Class War?: What Americans Really Think about Economic Inequality ($3.70 Kindle), by Lawrence R. Jacobs, is this month's free book from The University of Chicago Press (and greatly discounted on Kindle).

Book Description
Recent battles in Washington over how to fix America’s fiscal failures strengthened the widespread impression that economic issues sharply divide average citizens. Indeed, many commentators split Americans into two opposing groups: uncompromising supporters of unfettered free markets and advocates for government solutions to economic problems. But such dichotomies, Benjamin Page and Lawrence Jacobs contend, ring false. In Class War? they present compelling evidence that most Americans favor free enterprise and practical government programs to distribute wealth more equitably.

At every income level and in both major political parties, majorities embrace conservative egalitarianism—a philosophy that prizes individualism and self-reliance as well as public intervention to help Americans pursue these ideals on a level playing field. Drawing on hundreds of opinion studies spanning more than seventy years, including a new comprehensive survey, Page and Jacobs reveal that this worldview translates to broad support for policies aimed at narrowing the gap between rich and poor and creating genuine opportunity for all. They find, for example, that across economic, geographical, and ideological lines, most Americans support higher minimum wages, improved public education, wider access to universal health insurance coverage, and the use of tax dollars to fund these programs.

In this surprising and heartening assessment, Page and Jacobs provide our new administration with a popular mandate to combat the economic inequity that plagues our nation.

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.

While you are there, check out their The Great Chicago Book Sale! 600 books with prices starting at $5! Use promo code AD9626

Free Book - How to Survive The Hunger Games (K)

How to Survive The Hunger Games: A Brief Look at Katniss's Survival Strategy, by Lois H. Gresh, is free to pre-order in the Kindle store.

Book Description
Katniss Everdeen operates in survival mode on a daily basis. How to Survive The Hunger Games explores how Katniss’s childhood experience, combined with her survival instinct, makes her the ultimate opponent in The Hunger Games.

How to Survive The Hunger Games is a chapter taken straight from The Hunger Games Companion, the ultimate companion guide to the blockbuster Hunger Games trilogy—this book is not authorized by Suzanne Collins, Scholastic Press or anyone involved in the Hunger Games movie.