Free Blogs on Kindle

Good news for those who want more control over what they receive in their Amazon Daily Blog on their Kindle: Amazon now lets you pick amongst eight different free blogs to subscribe to, rather than having the combined blog as the only choice. At last, I can get book news and the food blog, without wading thru page after page of kid's toys and fashion models. All of the blogs listed below are free (in the US), so feel free to sign up for as many or as few as you want. If you are headed overseas for a trip, though, be sure to cancel the individual blogs and either get only the Daily or wait to restart them after you return, as you won't want to pay the overseas Whispernet charges on multiple blogs while you are there.

Amazon's Omnivoracious Blog
Omnivoracious is a blog run by the books editors at Amazon.com. We aim to share our passion for the written word through news, reviews, interviews, and more. This is our space to talk books and publishing frankly and we welcome participation through comments.

Amazon's Al Dente Blog
We're an unruly bunch of Amazon.com editors who love to cook, decorate, garden, and most importantly...eat! We're in the know about the hottest products for the kitchen and home, including top-of-the-line kitchen appliances, unique cook's tools, chompable dog toys, must-have grills, mouthwatering gourmet food, and much, much more. Come back and visit us on our blog frequently to get our latest takes on the hippest things for your kitchen and home.

Amazon's Armchair Commentary Blog
Among this motley bunch of editors lie fans of big-budget Bruckheimers, off-the-cuff indies, golden-age classics, military documentaries, and everything in between… and that’s just movies. We’re here to share the latest news and observations about film and television, show you cool things in the DVD and Unbox stores and riff on things we like. Whether it be on a bombastic home theater system or a broken-down laptop, you can trust that we’re watching. Everything. And we’re ready to discuss.

Amazon's Chordstrike Blog
Amazon’s staff of Music Editors share their perspectives and persuasions on all things interesting and relevant in today’s music world. Whether touching on subjects in the media, unearthing musical gems that are under the radar, or featuring live streaming concerts, the Chordstrike blog offers a regular dose of musical commentary for Amazon’s community to read and comment on posts written by music lovers like you.

Amazon's Car Lust Blog
Car Lust is, very simply, where interesting cars meet irrational emotion. It's a deeply personal exploration of the hidden gems of the automotive world; a twisted look into a car nuts' mind; and a quirky look at the broader automotive universe - a broader universe that lies beneath the new, the flashy, and the trendy represented in the car magazines.

Amazon's Toy Whimsy Blog
At Toy Whimsy, we are all just a bunch of big kids. Former teachers, copy writers, parents, and long time toy industry experts, what we all have in common is a love of toys. We’re here to bring you the best of what’s new, toy reviews by parents and kids, and information on playthings of all types. From toddler to teen, we have your play time covered.

Amazon's EndUser Blog
We editors get to spend a lot of time around cool toys, but when it comes to the Amazon.com site, we like to let the customers do the talking. End User is our space to talk about and share with you the stuff that makes us excited about electronics. While our focus is mainly on gadgets--that is, portable electronics you can hold in your hand such as iPods, GPS, cell phones, etc.--we're also branching out to cover new things like home audio, computers and software, and more. Basically anything with a current in it is fair game.

Amazon Daily Blog
Commenting on the catchy and trendy, the trivial and tremendous, the Amazon Daily blog highlights the best from the world's largest online retailer. Whether you're interested in the tops in technological toys, the quirkiest gadgets or preeminent foreign films, Amazon Daily offers a plethora of diverse opinions from the editors of Amazon.com. From the perfect holiday dinner to the craziest car accessories, Amazon Daily covers Amazon.com's huge catalog of items, gizmos, books and food.

Bargain Book Roundup - $4.99

All the books on this sale are $4.99 from Sony and/or Amazon (and one is on sale at B&N). A few are higher at one or the other though, so feel free to tell Amazon about the lower price (it might make a difference) and be sure to check the product pages before one-clicking.

A Cool Breeze on the Underground: A Neal Carey Mystery ($9.99 Kindle; $4.99 Sony), by Don Winslow

Book Description
Book one of the Neal Carey mystery series: Streetwise and book-smart PI Neal Carey pursues a dangerous teenage runaway through London in Don Winslow’s debut novel

Neal Carey is a humble graduate student who dreams of becoming a literature professor. But he’s also the employee of the Kitteredges, a secretive New England banking family that knows how to make the embarrassing problems of its most powerful clients disappear. When Allie Chase—the troubled daughter of a U.S. senator and presidential hopeful—falls into drug use and runs away to England, the Kitteredge family calls on Carey to track her down. The raucous trail leads through London’s darkest, dingiest corners as the brilliant and cynical Carey matches wits with his spoiled but precocious quarry.

This ebook features an illustrated biography of Don Winslow, including rare photos from the author’s personal collection.

Trap Line ($9.99 Kindle; $4.99 Sony), by Carl Hiaasen and Bill Montalbano

Book Description
The gripping thriller from New York Times bestselling author Carl Hiaasen—now available as an ebook

A Key West fishing captain takes on Florida’s drug lords in an underground war that could cost him his freedom—and his life

Though he is one of Key West’s most skilled fishing captains, Breeze Albury barely ekes out a living on the meager earnings of his trade. Meanwhile, Cuban and Colombian drug smugglers thrive all around—and they have their sights set on Albury and his fishing boat. After the smugglers cut his three hundred trap lines and crush his livelihood, Albury is forced to run drugs to survive. But when he gets busted by the crooked chief of police and becomes a target of the drug machine’s brutal hit men, Albury becomes a vigilante on the seas of South Florida, unleashing a fiery and relentless vengeance on Key West’s most dangerous criminals.

The Blue Edge of Midnight: A Max Freeman Mystery (Book One) ($4.99 Kindle, Sony), by Jonathon King

Book Description
The Edgar Award–winning debut of the bestselling Max Freeman mystery series: A tormented ex-cop’s mission to solve a grisly murder and earn redemption for his dark past

After a shootout during a convenience store holdup led to the accidental death of a twelve-year-old, Max Freeman left behind the Philadelphia police department for a life in exile in the Florida Everglades. Since then, he has lived in seclusion, haunted by guilt, with the humid night and the nocturnal predators of the swamp as his only company. But everything changes when Freeman discovers a young girl’s body floating in the muddy waters and becomes the prime suspect for her murder. To prove his innocence, Freeman must uncover the real murderer—and confront his own tortured soul—before it’s too late.

This ebook contains an illustrated biography of the author featuring never-before-seen photos.

No Score: A Chip Harrison Mystery ($9.99 Kindle; $4.99 Sony), by Lawrence Block

Book Description
In this sinfully silly coming-of-age adventure, a young orphan works a series of very odd jobs, attempting to make his fortune and lose his virginity in one fell swoop

Chip Harrison thought he was normal until his parents blew their brains out. An orphan at seventeen, he is cast out of his prep school with nothing in his pocket but $27.46 and a vintage prophylactic, determined to make his fortune as soon as he manages to lose his virginity. He has no experience in business or bed, but no amount of rotten jobs, irate husbands, or loaded revolvers will stop him.

This ebook features an illustrated biography of Lawrence Block, including rare photos and never-before-seen documents from his personal collection, and a new afterword written by the author.

Eight Million Ways To Die ($4.99 Kindle; $6.99 Sony), by Lawrence Block

Book Description
Nobody knows better than Matthew Scudder how far down a person can sink in this city. A young prostitute named Kim knew it also—and she wanted out. Maybe Kim didn't deserve the life fate had dealt her. She surely didn't deserve her death. The alcoholic ex-cop turned p.i. was supposed to protect her, but someone slashed her to ribbons on a crumbling New York City waterfront pier. Now finding Kim's killer will be Scudder's penance. But there are lethal secrets hiding in the slain hooker's past that are far dirtier than her trade. And there are many ways of dying in this cruel and dangerous town—some quick and brutal ... and some agonizingly slow.

Bloody Passage ($4.99 Kindle, Sony), by Jack Higgins

Book Description
The classic Jack Higgins thriller—now available as an ebook

One man must fight to the death to save his sister from the Mafia’s wrath

Oliver Grant is an American intelligence officer, a hero of the Vietnam War. But when the Mafia kidnaps his sister, his life is turned upside down and he agrees to complete a dangerous assignment for the powerful mob boss Dimitri Stavrou in order to gain her freedom: Grant must save Stavrou’s son from a secret cliff-top prison in Libya.

To accomplish this mission, he must scale the rocky crag and somehow get Stavrou’s son out alive. His sister’s life—and his own—hang in the balance.

A Field of Darkness ($4.99 Kindle, B&N; $8.99 Sony), by Cornelia Read

Book Description
Madeline Dare would be the first to tell you her money is so old there's none left. A former socialite from an aristocratic family in decline, Maddie is a tough-talking, would-be journalist exiled to the rust belt of upstate New York. Her prospects for changing her dreary lifestyle seem dim--until a set of dog tags found at a decades-old murder site is linked to her family. Shocked into action, Maddie embarks on a search that takes her from the derelict smokestacks of Syracuse to the posh mansions of Long Island's Gold Coast. But instead of the warm refuge of home, this prodigal daughter soon uncovers dark, sinister secrets that will violently challenge everything she believes in and holds dear.

The Intruders: Book Two of the Jake Grafton Series ($4.99 Kindle, Sony), by Stephen Coonts

Book Description
A war-weary Navy pilot confronts the deadly skies of the South Pacific, training Marine pilots and battling Soviets MiGs in the wake of the Vietnam War

Fighter pilot Jake Grafton is adrift following combat in Vietnam. With no place in the States to call home, Grafton sticks to what he knows best: taking on the world’s most treacherous skies from the cockpit of a Grumman A-6 Intruder.

Now, stationed in the South Pacific on the U.S.S. Columbia, Grafton must teach the Marines aboard the art of flying from an aircraft carrier—a mission that, thanks to the unruly Marine Captain Le Beau, is as joyless as it is dangerous. But when an unexpected enemy appears from above, Grafton and Le Beau must put aside their differences and work together to save the lives of all onboard.

This ebook features an illustrated biography of Stephen Coonts, including rare photos from the author’s personal collection.

Student Deal of the Day - How to Write a Lot

How to Write a Lot: A Practical Guide to Productive Academic Writing ($1.99), by Paul J. Silvia, PhD, is today's Student Deal of the Day from Amazon.

Book Description
All students and professors need to write, and many struggle to finish their stalled dissertations, journal articles, book chapters, or grant proposals. Writing is hard work and can be difficult to wedge into a frenetic academic schedule. In this practical, light-hearted, and encouraging book, Paul J. Silvia explains that writing productively does not require innate skills or special traits but specific tactics and actions. Drawing examples from his own field of psychology, he shows readers how to overcome motivational roadblocks and become prolific without sacrificing evenings, weekends, and vacations. After describing strategies for writing productively, the author gives detailed advice from the trenches on how to write, submit, revise, and resubmit articles; how to improve writing quality; and how to write and publish academic work.

Student Deal of the Day - Chicken Soup for the College Soul

Chicken Soup for the College Soul: Inspiring and Humorous Stories for College Students ($1.99), by Jack Canfield, et al, is today's Student Deal of the Day from Amazon.

Book Description
This latest helping of loving inspiration follows the millions of loyal readers of the Chicken Soup for the Teenage Soul series to the next stage of their lives, beyond adolescence and into young adulthood. Readers will love having this invaluable collection to guide, inspire, support and encourage them throughout their college experience. If readers are devotees of the series, they will recognize this book as an instant source of strength and comfort; if this book is their introduction to the series, they will come to treasure it quickly.

College is a time of excitement, exuberance and triumph, as well as one of anxiety, doubt and confusion. Readers will identify with the stories that express feelings they undoubtedly share as they stand at the brink of adulthood, sometimes ready to take the world by storm, other times wondering whether they will ever be ready. This book deals with the myriad issues of college life, from homesickness to partying to G.P.A.s and everything in between.

Whether freshmen, sophomores, juniors or seniors, this book is a must-read for all college students-as they'll be sure to agree. College graduates, too, will enjoy reminiscing about those unforgettable years as they read the stories in this collection. Chicken Soup for the College Soul is sure to be a hit with all readers.

Free Book (EPUB) - Looking For Love On Mongo Tongo

Looking For Love On Mongo Tongo ($12.95 paperback), by Margaret J. McMaster, a relatively short children's book, the second in her Babysitter Out Of Control! series, is free in the Borders ebookstore and from Kobobooks.

Book Description
When Petey suffers a broken heart and starts losing his feathers, Mrs. Chairbottom decides to retrieve his one true love from the island of Mongo Tongo.

Click HERE to get the books from Borders. If you have problems getting it to add to your library from the book page, open up the Borders Desktop or the Borders app on your phone or iThing and search for it by name in the Store. You should see a Download button there, click and it will add to your library for free (I had to do this, myself). Once in your library, you can read it in any Borders app or download the EPUB for most readers (not Kindle compatible).
Click HERE to get the EPUB from Kobobooks.