Free Book - A Child al Confino (K/N/E)

Update: 1/23/12 Now free from Sony.

A Child al Confino: The True Story of a Jewish Boy and His Mother in Mussolini's Italy, by Eric Lamet, is a repeat freebie in the Kindle store and from Barnes & Noble.

Book Description
Eric Lamet was only seven years old when the Nazis invaded Vienna—and changed his life and the lives of all European Jews forever. Five days after Hitler marched in, Eric Lamet and his parents fled for their lives. Unable to remain together, the family split—he and his mother hid out in Italy, while his father returned to his native Poland and an even darker fate.

In this remarkable feat of memory and imagination, Lamet recreates the Italy he knew from the perspective of the scared and lonely child he once was. We not only see the hardships and terrors faced by foreign Jews in Fascist Italy, but also the friends Eric makes and his mother's valiant efforts to make a home for him.

In a style as original as his story, the author vividly recalls a terrible time yet imbues his recollections with humor, humanity, and wit. With a rare compassion toward friend and foe alike, little Eric Lamet shows us that there is light to be found in the darkest places—and that we should remember the good as well as the bad.

Get the free ebook from Barnes & Noble.
Get the free ebook from Sony.

Free Book - Play to Your Team's Strengths (K/N/E)

Update: 1/23/12 Now free from Sony.

Play to Your Team's Strengths: The Manager's Guide to Boosting Innovation, Productivity, and Profitability, by JoAnn Warcholic Ashman, is free in the Kindle store and from Barnes & Noble.

Book Description
Why is it a struggle for managers to get their staff to meet or exceed their goals? The answer is simple: employees are working at jobs that are not based on their individual strengths. JoAnn Warcholic Ashman and Susan Shelly, seasoned management consultants, show managers how to tap into the true potential of their staff and create the workplace that keeps them challenged and working at peak efficiency by using the latest strength-based management principles and techniques.

Get the free ebook from Barnes & Noble.
Get the free ebook from Sony.

Free Book - Kidz Bop: Be a Pop Star! (K/N/E)

Update: 1/23/12 Now free from Sony.

Kidz Bop: Be a Pop Star!, by Kimberly Potts, is a repeat freebie in the Kindle store and from Barnes & Noble.

Book Description
Everything kids need to know to make their rock star dreams come true! From writing cool songs and getting a group together to putting on shows and shooting music videos, this is all aspiring rockers need to take the world by stage--just like the Kidz Bop kids do!

Plus! As an added bonus, these enthusiastic song lovers will be able to participate online with Kidz Bop and vote on storylines, upload original videos for e-book inclusion, and access special bonus content

Get the free ebook from Barnes & Noble.
Get the free ebook from Sony.

Free Audiobook - You Are Not Your Brain

The audiobook edition of You Are Not Your Brain: The 4-Step Solution for Changing Bad Habits, Ending Unhealthy Thinking, and Taking Control of Your Life ($12.99 Kindle), by Jeffrey Schwartz MD and Rebecca Gladding MD, narrated by Mel Foster, is free from Tantor Audio.

Tantor is having a 50% off, New Year, New You sale that you may also want to check out, while you are there.

Book Description
Two neuroscience experts explain how their 4-Step Method can help break destructive thoughts and actions and change bad habits for good.

A leading neuroplasticity researcher and the coauthor of the groundbreaking books Brain Lock and The Mind and the Brain, Jeffrey M. Schwartz has spent his career studying the structure and neuronal firing patterns of the human brain. He pioneered the first mindfulness-based treatment program for people suffering from OCD, teaching patients how to achieve long-term relief from their compulsions.

For the past six years, Schwartz has worked with psychiatrist Rebecca Gladding to refine a program that successfully explains how the brain works and why we often feel besieged by bad brain wiring. Just like with the compulsions of OCD patients, they discovered that bad habits, social anxieties, self-deprecating thoughts, and compulsive overindulgence are all rooted in overactive brain circuits. The key to making life changes that you want-to make your brain work for you-is to consciously choose to starve" these circuits of focused attention, thereby decreasing their influence and strength.

As evidenced by the huge success of Schwartz's previous books, as well as Daniel Amen's Change Your Brain, Change Your Life, and Norman Doidge's The Brain That Changes Itself, there is a large audience interested in harnessing the brain's untapped potential, yearning for a step-by-step, scientifically grounded and clinically proven approach. In fact, readers of Brain Lock wrote to the authors in record numbers asking for such a book. In You Are Not Your Brain, Schwartz and Gladding carefully outline their program, showing readers how to identify negative brain impulses, channel them through the power of focused attention, and ultimately lead more fulfilling and empowered lives.

Get the free audiobook from Tantor Audio.

Free Audiobook - METAtropolis: Cascadia

A special audiobook edition of METAtropolis: Cascadia (regulary $14.95 Audible), by Jay Lake, Mary Robinette Kowal, Elizabeth Bear and Ken Scholes, is free from Audible.

Audible is also having a $7.95 sale for subscribers, with the theme of "Wishes Granted". There are 100 titles in the sale and thru 3PM, Jan 21, you can get one or all of them for $7.95 apiece (about half what they usually cost if you use credits). A couple of the more interesting titles I spotted: One Second After, by William R. Forstchen, and American Gods: The Tenth Anniversary Edition (A Full Cast Production), by Neil Gaiman, narrated by Dennis Boutsikaris, Daniel Oreskes, Ron McLarty and Sarah Jones.

Book Description
This provocative sequel to the Hugo and Audie Award nominated METAtropolis features interconnected stories by today's top writers of speculative fiction - performed by a galaxy of Star Trek stars.

As the mid-20th century approaches, the Pacific Northwest has been transformed - politically, economically, and ecologically - into the new reality of Cascadia. Conspiracies and secrets threaten the tenuous threads of society. The End of Days seems nearer than ever. And the legend of the mysterious Tygre Tygre looms large.

METAtropolis: Cascadia is the creation of Hugo and World Fantasy Award nominee Jay Lake; Mary Robinette Kowal, winner of the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer; New York Times best-selling author Tobias S. Buckell; Hugo Award winner Elizabeth Bear; Aurora Award winner Karl Schroeder; and critically acclaimed author Ken Scholes. The team of narrators is any Star Trek fan's dream: Rene Auberjonois ("Odo"); Kate Mulgrew ("Capt. Kathryn Janeway"); Wil Wheaton ("Wesley Crusher"); Gates McFadden ("Dr. Beverly Crusher"); Jonathan Frakes ("Cmdr. William Riker"); and LeVar Burton ("Geordi La Forge"). Jay Lake, who also served as Project Editor, introduces this stunning sequel, written and produced exclusively for digital audio.

Get the free audiobook from Audible.