Free Book (Kindle/nook) - Analysis Without Paralysis

Analysis Without Paralysis: 10 Tools to Make Better Strategic Decisions, by Craig S. Fleisher and Babette E. Bensoussan, is a repeat freebie in the Kindle store and from Barnes & Noble.

Book Description
If you’re a manager or business owner, you need tools to make better decisions--about business strategy, marketing, competition, positioning, product development, and much more. In Analysis Without Paralysis, two renowned experts on business analysis and strategy bring you those tools, in plain English!

Babette Bensoussan and Craig Fleisher teach you exactly what you need to know, without dragging you through unnecessarily complex concepts or advanced mathematics. They start with a practical, realistic introduction to the analysis process; then they walk you through ten core sets of analysis techniques that every manager can use effectively.

You’ll master classic techniques like SWOT analysis and Porter’s Five Forces, in addition to the latest approaches to competitor, financial, issue, and value chain analysis. Next, Bensoussan and Fleisher guide you through analyzing the global social, political, and macroenvironmental challenges that will increasingly shape the future of your business.

For each tool, the authors present clear descriptions, context, rationales, strengths, weaknesses, step-by-step instructions, and case study examples. The result: a book you can rely on to address your strategic and business challenges--whatever your role, experience, industry, or environment.

Get the free ebook from Barnes & Noble.

Free Book (Kindle/nook) - Even You Can Learn Statistics

Even You Can Learn Statistics: A Guide for Everyone Who Has Ever Been Afraid of Statistics, by David M. Levine and David F. Stephan, is a repeat freebie in the Kindle store and from Barnes & Noble.

Book Description
The easy, practical, up-to-date introduction to statistics–for everyone! Thought you couldn’t learn statistics? You can–and you will! One easy step at a time, this fully updated book teaches you all the statistical techniques you’ll need for finance, quality, marketing, the social sciences, or anything else! Simple jargon-free explanations help you understand every technique. Practical examples and worked-out problems give you hands-on practice. Special sections present detailed instructions for developing statistical answers, using spreadsheet programs or any TI-83/TI-84 compatible calculator. This edition delivers new examples, more detailed problems and sample solutions, plus an all-new chapter on powerful multiple regression techniques. Hate math? No sweat. You’ll be amazed at how little you need. Like math? Optional “Equation Blackboard” sections reveal the mathematical foundations of statistics right before your eyes!

Get the free ebook from Barnes & Noble.

Free Audiobook - Christmas Short Stories

LearnOutLoud and ChristianAudio have teamed up to give you a free download of Christmas Short Stories, by Charles Dickens, narrated by James Adams. You'll need a (free) account at LearnOutLoud for this one. It's an interesting site, with a mix of their own content and links to other sites (be sure to check out their Free Stuff page, which links to content at many sites, some audio and some video, such as a colloquium at MIT by Dr. Sylvia Nasar, author of A Beautiful Mind: Genius, Madness, Reawakening).

Book Description
Charles Dickens is known for writing the greatest of all Christmas stories ... A Christmas Carol, but few know that he wrote a number of other short stories for that holiday season. Here in one wonderful audio collection are six short stories about Christmas--A Christmas Tree, What Christmas is as We Grow Older, The Poor Relation's Story, The Child's Story, The Schoolboy's Story and Nobody's Story.

Free Audiobook - This Is the Story of a Happy Marriage

This Is the Story of a Happy Marriage, by Ann Patchett, is free for everyone as a holiday gift from Audible. This is an exclusive essay from them and will likely disappear (or go up in price) after the holiday season.

Book Description
“Tell the story of your marriage,” my young friend Niki says to me. “Write down how it is you have a happy marriage” But the story of my marriage, which is the great joy and astonishment of my life, is too much like a fairy tale, the German kind, unsweetened by Disney.

This December, we are excited to present our members with a gift that is truly unique: an original essay, available exclusively here at Audible, written and voiced by best-selling author – and fellow listener – Ann Patchett. This Is the Story of a Happy Marriage is a very real love story, and one that is much more about the journey than the destination. Chock full of beauty, truth, and humor, and, in trademark Ann Patchett style, possessing an uncanny ability to feel both surprising and familiar at the same time, this essay is a perfect, if unconventional, holiday listen. We hope you enjoy it as much as we did. Happy holidays and happy listening!

Free Book (Kindle) - The Cloud Roads

The Cloud Roads, by Martha Wells, is free in the Kindle store.

Book Description
Moon has spent his life hiding what he is--a shape-shifter able to transform himself into a winged creature of flight. An orphan with only vague memories of his own kind, Moon tries to fit in among the tribes of his river valley, with mixed success. Just as Moon is once again discovered and cast out by his adopted tribe, he discovers a shape-shifter like himself... someone who seems to know exactly what he is, who promises that Moon will be welcomed into his community.

What this stranger doesn't tell Moon is that his presence will tip the balance of power... that his extraordinary lineage is crucial to the colony's survival... and that his people face extinction at the hands of the dreaded Fell.

Moon must overcome a lifetime of conditioning in order to save and himself... and his newfound kin.