Get a Kindle for as little as $14

You still have until June 24 to take advantage of the 6 for $6 deal with Audible, if you already have your Kindle with Special Offers (KSO) and which you can extended to Eight Audible Books for $6, with very little effort and completely allowed by Amazon/Audible. This particular offer did not require you to sign up via the KSO, either, so if you have just received it or will get one by Father's Day, you can still sign up, right up to the expiration date.

If you don't have your Kindle yet, maybe you didn't want the Special Offers model or were considering buying one as a gift for Father's Day (and there is still plenty of time for 2nd day delivery, at this point) and you are the type that likes audiobooks (or, there is at least one person on your account that does), you may also want to check out the current deal that Amazon and Audible are running:

Get $100 Cash Back from Audible on Kindle, iPods and other qualifying products

Here's the deal:

1. Sign up for an AudibleListener Gold plan for a year, at $14.95/month, which gets you one audio book credit each month (most books are only one credit). Click HERE to get started.
2. You'll then a promotion code via email (it can take a few hours, but should be the same day), to use for $100 off when purchasing one of the qualifying products.
3. You then have 90 days from receiving the code to use it for a purchase.
4. This particular offer expires on January 31, 2012, which means that all of us that used the 6/$6 promotion will still have plenty of time to take advantage of this deal in December or just after the first of the year (perhaps in time for a new Kindle version, although the list of qualifying products only includes current generation Kindles).
5. There is a limit of one per customer, per 2-year period on this particular deal, so if you've taken advantage of the $100 off offer recently, you'll have to pass on this one.

You are not limited to Kindle devices for the $100 promotion, although it works on the entire line, from the Kindle WiFi with Special Offers ($14 w/ promo) to the Kindle 3G/WiFi ($89 w/ promo) and even on the Kindle DX ($279 w/ promo). You can also use the credit on selected iPods, GPS's, MP3 players and more. The KSO's are where you'll get the best deal: $14/$64 after promo, plus an upcoming deal to get a $20 gift card for $10, but all the Kindle devices can be used for both background music, as well as both MP3 and Audible audiobooks. All have stereo speakers (the DX is the loudest of the family) and an earphone jack that can be used with earbuds or to plug in to an external speaker or you car's stereo (if your car supports this, you can plug in direct; otherwise, use an FM broadcast adapter). With all but the DX model, you'll also be able to send your Audible books to your Kindle wirelessly (via WiFi, not 3G), eliminating one of the excuses you might have to not starting that next book right away.

If you want to listen to audiobooks on the go, you might want look at the SanDisk Sansa Clip +, which is what I use in the car or when walking. It weighs practically nothing, you can load it up via USB or using microSD/SDHC cards, plus you get a built-in FM radio (and can even buy pre-loaded radio song cards, if you want a quick solution to bad music at the gym). The only real negative is that the controls can be difficult to see for those with eyesight issues, without using magnification (then again, that's true of most anything, for those who need assistance). You can pick one of these up for under $30, so it would be a shame to use your $100 promotion code one of these (sure, you'll get it free, but it isn't much of a savings). We've been listening to Patrick Rothfuss' The Name of the Wind: Kingkiller Chronicles, Day 1, one of the two free books I picked up with my initial trial membership. We are about 6 hours in and still on the first (of four) parts, but I can see why this was one of Amazon's Best Of picks for 2007. If you'd rather read than be read to, it's on Kindle for $8.99.

If you are trying to decide if you want the to get a Special Offers Kindle or the one without, it's true that a few of the really good deals are probably gone (and likely won't be back). However, there are a number of interesting looking offers coming up in the next week or two:

• $10 for $20 Amazon Gift Card
• Spend $10 on eligible Kindle books and get $10 Amazon Gift Card
• Save $20 on portable GPS devices at Amazon GPS store
• Save $25 when you spend $50 on Camping & Backpacking Gear from Amazon
• Save $15 when you spend $20 on Amazon Kindle Skins

Of course, when you are starting off with $100 off, that means it practically pays for itself if you take advantage of even one or two of the offers. If you'd rather get the non-ad/offer Kindle, you still make out, dropping your Kindle price under $100.

Save up to $20 on Swimwear (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):

$10 for $30 of products in the Amazon Swim Shop (save up to $20)

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 June 17.

You'll get an email (right away), a link to Amazon Swim Shop and a promotion code to enter at checkout. Once you have the promotional code, you have until July 17 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).

Once again, this offer can be used more than once per accounts, so long as you have more than one KSO registered:

4. Limit one promotional code per device.

Just click on the ad on each device to receive the individual promotion codes via email.

I have to admit, I'm not big on buying a bathing suit via mail order. However, there are men's suits (where fit is more flexible than with women) and on the women's side I saw long sleeve shirts (for surfing, but wearable in winter while skiing or just under a sweater, just as easily) and cover-ups/swim dresses, in addition to suits of many, many styles (and prices).

Summer Kindle Sales Reminders

Just a reminder that today is the last day of the Amazon Sunshine Deals Sale. If you have any samples from the sale that you haven't read thru, you have until midnight Pacific time to do so (or just buy now and you'll have seven days to do a return, if needed).

Today is also the last day to take advantage of the KSO offer to Spend $5 on Kindle Singles and get a $5 Amazon.com Gift Card. I've already bought one at $1.99 (the Bittman title I mentioned in the post), so I might as well go ahead and buy a few more, since I'll get it all back as a credit on the account, at this point. My biggest problem is that I had already bought a few of the Singles, so now have to look a little deeper to see which ones I might want to read (there are new ones, though, including at least one new one today, so I should be able to find two or three).

For those in the UK, there is also a Summer Sale going on, which includes titles such as Robert Wilton's debut novel, The Emperor's Gold, for £1.00 (not available in the US). Most of the prices don't translate well for those in the US, but a many of the titles do seem to be marked down here, as well (for example, the two titles in the Cornelius Quaint Chronicles are $3.99 each, which means I can pick up the second in this series, as I got the first free in Feb '10). There are four titles in Ken McClure's Dr.Steven Dunbar Mystery series at $2.22 or less and another 17 by the same author at $5 ... cheaper than the UK prices, from what I can tell. David Ashton's Shadow of the Serpent is only $1.10 in the US and the next in the series, Fall from Grace, is only $2.22. Although it's not part of the sale, while looking at these books, I ran across The Innocent, by Vincent Zandri , for 99 cents. I don't like the cover much (too dark), but the reviews look promising.

Last, for those in the US, don't forget to enter the Amazon Father's Day Sweepstakes today, as one of the possible prizes is a $100 Amazon Gift Certificate.

Playstation 3 - $199

These may be gone in minutes, but you can get a Playstation 3, for watching blu-rays (including 3D) or playing games, for $199.99 in the Lightning Deals at Amazon right now.

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.