Free Short Story (Kindle) - The Quaint Christmas (UK)

The Quaint Christmas, a part of the Cornelius Quaint Chronicles by Darren Craske, is free for UK customers in the Kindle store. So far, it isn't available for US customers, but both of the titles in the series are there, so it should cross over, eventually. Speaking of the series, it's also on sale - it's a fantastic deal for those in the UK, but a decent markdown for those in the US, as well.

Book Description
A superbly festive short story.

It is Christmas Eve and Cornelius Quaint arrives at a tavern in a most contemptible part of Victorian London. His mission – to procure a Christmas feast for his travelling circus, armed with nothing but a penny, his Eskimo valet Butter, and his own dazzlingly brilliant mind. Can Quaint pull off his con, or will he and Butter find themselves strung up by their gizzards before the night is through?

For readers of The Equivoque Principle and The Eleventh Plague, The Quaint Christmas sees the welcome return of dashing magician and part-time sleuth, Cornelius Quaint. For those yet to be acquainted, prepare to discover a fantastic adventure series inspired by the penny dreadfuls and newspaper serials of the Victorian age.

The Equivoque Principle ($3.99 US; $4.52 CA; £0.49 UK) is the first title in the Cornelius Quaint Chronicles. This one was free on Kindle early last year, so long time readers may already have it.

Book Description
An outrageous Victorian adventure in the spirit of The Vesuvius Club and Glass Books of the Dream Eaters, inspired by the penny dreadfuls and newspaper serials of the Victorian age.

Prometheus the strongman winds up behind bars and it falls to ringmaster and master conjuror Cornelius Quaint, ably assisted by his Eskimo valet Butter, to investigate the killings and to clear his name.

But Quaint, an irresistible mix of Sherlock Holmes and Harry Houdini, soon finds that these seemingly random killings are actually linked to dark secrets from his own past. Secrets that he may not be prepared to face.

The Eleventh Plague ($3.99 US; $2.25 CA; £0.99 UK) is the second title in the Cornelius Quaint Chronicles.

Book Description
Picking up where The Equivoque Principle left off, The Eleventh Plague sees Cornelius Quaint embark on his most perilous adventure yet.

Bidding an emotional farewell to Dr Marvello’s Travelling Circus, Quaint leaves for Egypt with only fortune-teller Madame Destine by his side. Once in the land of the pyramids they must do battle with desert thieves, unearth long-buried secrets and attempt to foil the villainous Hades Consortium's plans to poison the River Nile.With a whole new cast of characters this is a ripping Victorian adventure story featuring Cornelius Quaint - part Sherlock Holmes, part Indiana Jones, part Harry Houdini.

Today's Deals

Additional formats on free books:

• Liberation of Alice Love (Kindle/nook/EPUB)
• The God's Wife (Kindle/nook/EPUB)
• Finding Christmas (Kindle/nook/EPUB)

To Defy a King ($1.49), the fourth in the William Marshal series by Elizabeth Chadwick, is today's Kindle Deal of the Day. Sadly, I have this one (if anyone is taking requests, please make The Scarlet Lion a choice, so I can fill in the series!); if you are just starting with the series, Greatest Knight is only $1.99.

Book Description
Privileged daughter of William Marshal, Mahelt marries Hugh Bigod, heir to the earldom of Norfolk. But when King John sets out to subdue the Bigods, Mahelt faces the worst alone, knowing neither she, nor her marriage, are likely to survive. A story of emotional power set against the road to Magna Carta and the fight to bring a tyrant king to heel, To Defy a King is Elizabeth Chadwick at her best.

Last Man in Tower ($1.56/ £0.99 UK), by Aravind Adiga, is the Kindle Deal of the day for those in the UK (the US Edition is $13.99).

Book Description
Ask any Bombaywallah about Vishram Society – Tower A of the Vishram Co-operative Housing Society – and you will be told that it is unimpeachably pucca. Despite its location close to the airport, under the flight path of 747s and bordered by slums, it has been pucca for some fifty years. But Bombay has changed in half a century – not least its name – and the world in which Tower A was first built is giving way to a new city; a Mumbai of development and new money; of wealthy Indians returning with fortunes made abroad.

When real estate developer Dharmen Shah offers to buy out the residents of Vishram Society, planning to use the site to build a luxury apartment complex, his offer is more than generous. Initially, though, not everyone wants to leave; many of the residents have lived in Vishram for years, many of them are no longer young. But none can benefit from the offer unless all agree to sell. As tensions rise among the once civil neighbours, one by one those who oppose the offer give way to the majority, until only one man stands in Shah’s way: Masterji, a retired schoolteacher, once the most respected man in the building. Shah is a dangerous man to refuse, but as the demolition deadline looms, Masterji’s neighbours – friends who have become enemies, acquaintances turned co-conspirators – may stop at nothing to score their payday. A suspense-filled story of money and power, luxury and deprivation; a rich tapestry peopled by unforgettable characters, not least of which is Bombay itself, Last Man in Tower opens up the hearts and minds of the inhabitants of a great city – ordinary people pushed to their limits in a place that knows none.

Words That Work ($2.99 Kindle; $3.50 B&N), by Frank I. Luntz, is the Nook Daily Find, with an even lower price on Kindle.

Book Description
The nation's premier communications expert shares his wisdom on how the words we choose can change the course of business, of politics, and of life in this country.

In Words That Work, Luntz offers a behind-the-scenes look at how the tactical use of words and phrases affects what we buy, who we vote for, and even what we believe in. With chapters like "The Ten Rules of Successful Communication" and "The 21 Words and Phrases for the 21st Century," he examines how choosing the right words is essential.

Nobody is in a better position to explain than Frank Luntz: He has used his knowledge of words to help more than two dozen Fortune 500 companies grow. He?ll tell us why Rupert Murdoch's six-billion-dollar decision to buy DirectTV was smart because satellite was more cutting edge than "digital cable," and why pharmaceutical companies transitioned their message from "treatment" to "prevention" and "wellness."

If you ever wanted to learn how to talk your way out of a traffic ticket or talk your way into a raise, this book's for you.

I'm a couple of days late on finding it, but you may want to grab 99 Must-Have Thanksgiving Classics while it is 99 cents. I will admit not having known that there were classics for this holiday, but if you are a classics fan, this is over 7 hours of solid performances. There are a couple of one-star reviews, but they have nothing to do with the music (although it does appear one actually bought it), while the other two are 5-stars. It's mostly light fare that you can easily listen to while doing something else, whether that is entertaining family during the holidays or reading.

Some Black Friday Deals

If you have a new Kindle Fire (or any Android device), you may want to check out the Black Friday Deals in the Amazon Appstore. Interestingly, I'm starting to see some labeled as "Kindle Fire Editions" (such as Plants vs. Zombies; I have the regular version, but now there is a special tablet version labeled for the KFire). One I highly recommend is the Audible for Android app - right now, you'll get a free download of Bossypants, by Tina Fey, with it, if you are setting up a new account and/or just installing the app. It's entirely possible that you might have a problem with getting the free audiobook, though (hubby did, requiring a call to Audible, not Amazon); if you do, try this link to get the audiobook for free. In fact, it appears that anyone can use this link to get the free audiobook....

There are several deals on USB Flash Drives and Flash Memory Cards at Amazon today. I use the Kingston DataTraveler USB 16GB Flash Drive with my XBOX for saving game data (and speeding up Sims Pets) and have been using the AmazonBasics 32GB SDHC Card to back up my ebooks and audiobooks. I'm going to pick up at least one of the Kingston 32GB USB Hi-speed Flash Drives for music, too, since those can be plugged into the Roku box (although the controls are minimal, so I will separate each genre onto it's own drive). I know several people setting up their nooks for dual book swear by Sandisk Memory Cards, which are also on sale.

Once I had more than two or three memory cards, though, I found that keeping track of them was a bit of an ordeal (and stacking those flash memory boxes up is a bit tricky). I've started using Pioneer 10 Compartment Memory Card Organizer (a great stocking stuffer) and the Case Logic JDS-6 USB Drive Shuttl to keep them contained a bit better.

For those outside the US, you can pick up Young Wizards Series by Diane Duane in a bundle deal from the author. Usually $39.99, use coupon code YWBLACKFRIDAY to get it for $13.60. The details of the offer are here or use this link to order. If you just want one or two books, or some of her books from other series, use coupon code BLACKFRIDAYDIRECT for 50% off all weekend.

Angry Robot Bookstore has a deal on their website, from Black Friday (Nov 25) until Monday 28th: Two for the Price of One on all eBook novels! Enter the code nov241 at the checkout to get this. Note that the offer does not include subscriptions, short stories, or physical books and that the books on the website are not Kindle compatible directly, but are DRM-free, so can be easily converted using Calibre.

Free Book (Kindle) - Barefoot Sisters: Southbound

Barefoot Sisters: Southbound, by Lucy and Susan Letcher, is free in the Kindle store.

Book Description
At the ages of twenty-five and twenty-one, Lucy and Susan Letcher set out to accomplish what thousands of people attempt each year: through-hike the entire 2,175 miles of the Appalachian Trail. The difference between them and the others? They decided to hike the trail barefoot. Quickly earning themselves the moniker of the Barefoot Sisters, the two begin their journey at Mount Katahdin and spend eight months making their way to Springer Mountain in Georgia. As they hike, they write about their adventures through the 100-mile Wilderness, the rocky terrain of Pennsylvania, and snowfall in the Great Smoky Mountains - a story filled with humour and determination. It's as close as one can get to hiking the Appalachian Trail without strapping on a pack.

23 Free CookBooks (Kindle)

There are currently 23 free cookbooks on Kindle, all from Hippocrene Books. I'll be back to update this post in a bit, after I get a complete list together.

A number of these are repeats from June of this year, but they generally sell for above $10 when not on special promotion. If you are new to Kindle, be sure to grab these now, as they probably won't stay free until Christmas. If a new Kindle and account are being given to someone for Christmas, I'd consider setting up an account for them, just to grab the books or tipping them off to get these ("to read on their PC"). None are lendable.

1. Cuisines of the Alps, by Kay Shaw Nelson
2. The Kerala Kitchen: Recipes and Recollections from the Syrian Christians of South India, by Lathika George and Latha George Pottenkulam
3. The Best of Ukrainian Cuisine, by Bohdan Zahny
4. A Taste of Haiti, by Mirta Yurnet-Thomas and Jay H. Moskowitz
5. The Art of Uzbek Cooking, by Lynn Visson
6. Gypsy Feast: Recipes and Culinary Traditions of the Romany People, by Carol Wilson
7. The Best of Polish Cooking, by Karen West
8. Flavors of Burma: Myanmar : Cuisine and Culture from the Land of Golden Pagodas, by Susan Chan
9. The Best of Korean Cuisine, by Karen Hulene Bartell
10. All Along the Rhine: Recipes, Wines and Lore from Germany, France, Switzerland, Austria, Liechtenstein and Holland, by Kay Shaw Nelson
11. Cuisines of the Caucasus Mountains: Recipes, Drinks, and Lore from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Russia, by Kay Shaw Nelson
12. Sephardic Israeli Cuisine: A Mediterranean Mosaic, by Sheilah Kaufman
13. The Scottish-Irish Pub and Hearth Cookbook: Recipes and Lore from Celtic Kitchens, by Kay Shaw Nelson
14. Healthy South Indian Cooking, by Alamelu Vairavan, Patricia Marquardt
15. Polish Heritage Cookery, by Robert Strybel, Maria Strybel
16. Fine Filipino Food, by Karen Hulene Bartell
17. Hungarian Cookbook: Old World Recipes for New World Cooks, Expanded Edition, by Yolanda Nagy Fintor
18. Cooking from China's Fujian Province: One of China's Eight Great Cuisines, by Jacqueline M. Newman
19. Nile Style: Egyptian Cuisine and Culture: Ancient Festivals, Significant Ceremonies, and Modern Celebrations, by Amy Riolo
20. Old Havana Cookbook: Cuban Recipes in Spanish and English, by Rafael Marcos and Rosemary Fox (Illustrator)
21. Aprovecho: A Mexican-American Border Cookbook, by Teresa Cordero-Cordell and Robert Cordell
22. Taste of Romania: Its Cookery and Glimpses of Its History, Folklore, Art, Literature, and Poetry, by Nicolae Klepper
23. Brazil: A Culinary Journey, by Cherie Hamilton