Free Audiobook - Map of Bones

James Rollins just announced on his blog that you can get a free audiobook edition of Map of Bones ($8.99 Kindle), either as a direct download or on Audible or iTunes (where it will remain in your account), thru June 20. This is a promotion to garner interest in his newest book, The Devil Colony, which is being released next week. A special edition of Map of Bones was briefly free for the nook last summer and available as a $1.99 pre-order on Kindle, but those deals are now gone. If you are a big Rollins fan, be sure to check out Black Order with Bonus Material; it's currently only $1.99, includes an excerpt from The Devil Colony and I expect it to disappear from the Kindle store shortly.

Book Description
During a crowded service at a cathedral in Germany, armed intruders in monks' robes unleash a nightmare of blood and destruction. But the killers have not come for gold; they seek a more valuable prize: the bones of the Magi who once paid homage to a newborn savior . . . a treasure that could reshape the world.

With the Vatican in turmoil, SIGMA Force leaps into action. An elite team of scientific and Special Forces operatives under the command of Grayson Pierce and accompanied by Lieutenant Rachel Verona of Rome's carabinieri, they are pursuing a deadly mystery that weaves through sites of the Seven Wonders of the World and ends at the doorstep of an ancient, mystical, and terrifying secret order. For there are those with dark plans for the stolen sacred remains that will alter the future of humankind . . . when science and religion unite to unleash a horror not seen since the beginning of time.

Click HERE to get the audiobook from Audible.
Click HERE to get the audiobook from iTunes.
Click HERE to get the audiobook MP3 download; it's quite large, though, so there may be some delays in downloading it due to heavy traffic.

Get $50 off Strathwood patio furniture (KSO)

This offer is for those with the Kindle Wi-Fi with Special Offers or Kindle 3G + Wi-Fi with Special Offers only. View the Special Offers on your Kindle (Menu, Special Offers) and you should see a new promotion (if you don't, turn on your wireless, click Menu, Sync & Check for New Items, then after the sync has completed, go to the Special Offers screen):

Get $50 off Strathwood patio furniture when you spend $100

Click on offer, then click on the link on the offer page sign up and get an email with the promotion code. Sign-up for this offer expires on Jun 13 (today).

You'll get an email (right away), a link to Strathwood furniture page and a promotion code to enter at checkout. Once you have the promotional code, you have until July 13 to complete your purchase. Details and terms are on this page. Like previous offers, this one requires you to use the full checkout process in order to enter your promotional code. Also, like all Amazon sales that use promotional codes, if you have a gift card balance, you must use it for the payment (if there is not a sufficient balance, then you can pick which credit card or other payment to use).

The biggest problem I see with this coupon is that finding something that is only $100 (or so) won't be easy. I do see a Gibranta All-Weather Hardwood 2-Seater Bench for $129.99 and a Hardwood Chaise Lounge for $119.99, or I could combine Ryer 17-1/2-Inch Umbrella Base ($59.99) and the St. Thomas Aluminum Market Umbrella ($59.99) onto a single order to use the coupon (we can always use a bit more shade on the deck). Of course, I really like the St. Thomas Cast-Aluminum Round Table with Fire Pit, but it's still a bit pricey and I don't know how often we'd want to sit around the table and roast marshmallows.

I did find it interesting that this deal seems to clarify a question I've seen several times: what if you have more than one Kindle with Special Offers on your account? On the details page for the offer, I found this:

4. Limit one promotional code per device.

So, if you have more than one KSO, you can get this promotion once per device, it seems. Just click on each device to receive the individual promotion codes for each one.

Half Price Magazines

Amazon is having a half-price sale on magazine subscriptions (paper, not Kindle), just in time for Father's Day. I've already identified one that my Dad reads regularly, so may grab him an extension (and for only five bucks). I've copied a few covers, below, of the ones that grabbed my eye, but these are not the only ones in the sale.

Two Buck MP3 Albums

Update: 6/13/11 The Adagio album is still $1.99, but I expect it to change at any time, as Amazon announced it as a one-day deal.

Each of these albums at Amazon are just under two dollars, $1.99, for a limited time.

60 Essential Royal Wedding Classics, by the Royal Wedding Orchestra, is a bit late for the event and may or may not be the selections actually played at the wedding. Still, if you are wanting to give your own event a little more pomp and circumstance, this is the album for your.

Today only, download The 99 Most Essential Adagios at Amazon for only $1.99. This is another one of those mega sampler classical albums, put together by X5 Music and it's an awesome price on 11 hours, 40 minutes of music.

99 Must-Have Chillout Classics ($1.99) is a compilation from Cobra Entertainment LLC, giving X5 some competition in this area. This one is 7:17:15 in length, so it features shorter selections than the album above.

The Book Of Mormon ($1.99), the soundtrack of the musical from the creators of Southpark, features the original Broadway cast. Whether or not you are offended will no doubt depend on your religion (although at least one Latter Day Saint has weighed in via the comments and loves this album), but I have to say the tracks are a bit hilarious, although they also cover some very serious issues in Africa.

Free Audiobook - A Place of Healing

Christianaudio teamed up with David C Cook to give away an unabridged audiobook download of A Place of Healing ($13.19 Kindle), by Joni Eareckson Tada, for free during the month of June. You'll find two more of Tada's audiobooks, marked down to $4.98 each this month, as well as a free interview, at the bottom of the download page.

Book Description
In this eloquent account of her current struggle with physical pain, Joni Eareckson Tada offers her perspective on divine healing, God’s purposes, and what it means to live with joy.

Over four decades ago, a diving accident left Joni a quadriplegic. Today, she faces a new battle: unrelenting pain. The ongoing urgency of this season in her life has caused Joni to return to foundational questions about suffering and God’s will.

A Place of Healing is not an ivory-tower treatise on suffering. It’s an intimate look into the life of a mature woman of God. Whether readers are enduring physical pain, financial loss, or relational grief, Joni invites them to process their suffering with her. Together, they will navigate the distance between God’s magnificent yes and heartbreaking no—and find new hope for thriving in-between.

Get your free audio download HERE and scroll down the page for the discounted titles. The checkout process is very streamlined (a coupon code is no longer required), as isthe download process (no longer do you have to download each part of the book separately). You can also send a gift download of the free audiobook to someone else!

After you finishing your order, you download a zip file with the entire audiobook - select MP3 if you want to be able to play the book on your Kindle. Unzip the contents to the \audiobooks directory on your Kindle (not \music) in order to have audiobook controls and see it on your Kindle home page.