Free Audiobook - The Tempest

Get a free audiobook download of The Tempest ($4.99 Kindle), by William Shakespeare, with David Warner as Prospero, as part of their Radio 3 Shakespeare series.

Book Description
David Warner is Prospero, with Carl Prekopp as Ariel, Rose Leslie as Miranda and Don Warrington as Gonzalo in Shakespeare's play of magic, romance and revenge. With music by the Devil's Violin Company. Broadcast as part of the Shakespeare Unlocked season and the third in the series of Radio 3 Shakespeare dramas.

Generally agreed to be Shakespeare's last play, THE TEMPEST was most likely written in 1610. Twelve years before the action begins, Prospero--Duke of Milan--and his daughter, Miranda, were stranded by Prospero's brother, Antonio, on a remote and idyllic island where Miranda has grown up happily among the beasts and flowers, never seeing any man but her father. Many years later, Prospero uses his powers and the help of Ariel, the sprite, to effect a shipwreck--hence the play's title--that brings Antonio to the island, along with the king of Naples and his son, Ferdinand, who promptly falls in love with Miranda. Their love story, juxtaposed with Prospero's revenge on his brother and his final act of mercy, form the basis of a simple plot. A combination of tragedy and romantic comedy, the play includes a happy ending that, finally, leans toward the latter. Unlike Shakespeare's other plays, THE TEMPEST is full of magic and exoticism and what we now think of as special effects, using evocative music and extravagant imagery to create a mood of enchantment that, nonetheless, confronts serious questions about reality and illusion. Some interpretations of the play see Prospero--who, in his dazzling last speech, renounces his magic powers--as the aging Shakespeare bidding farewell to the theater. THE TEMPEST is also interesting because its events take place in a 24-hour period. And it is, of course, the source of a famous phrase: when the sheltered Miranda first lays eyes on Ferdinand, she exclaims, "Oh brave new world, that has such people in it!"

Get the free audiobook from the BBC. You can also listen online to their rendition of Twelfth Night and Romeo and Juliet, thru Saturday (actually sometime Sunday, UK, time, but I wouldn't push it).

If you prefer to read (or read along), you can get a well-formatted (and free) copy of Shakespeare's Comedies, over on MobileRead, which includes two of the three titles in the series.

If you crave even more Shakespeare and history, then grab the podcasts for Shakespeare’s Restless World, a 20-part series that you can download direct or via iTunes, or get A History of the World in 100 Objects.

Today's Deals

Today's Kindle Deal of the Day is What the Heart Knows ($0.99), the first title in Mara Purl's Milford-Haven series.

Book Description
Is the heart smarter than the head? Artist Miranda Jones begins to trust her heart enough to escape from her life of privilege and start over in Milford-Haven, the small town of undiscovered beauty on California's Central Coast. She connects with environmentalist Samantha Hugo-a brilliant PhD twenty years her senior who gave up a son years earlier; and with restaurant owner Sally O'Mally who left Arkansas to create her own dream. Each woman wrestles with her own core issues while balancing demanding careers with the attentions of interesting men. None is aware that journalist Christine Christian has just been murdered while investigating a half-built house. Though the book stands alone, it is also Book 1 in the critically acclaimed, popular series, a multi-generational saga. Based on Purl's BBC Radio drama Milford-Haven U.S.A.

Partitions ($1.60 / £0.99 UK), by Amit Majmudar, is the Kindle Deal of the day for those in the UK (the US edition is $11.99).

Book Description
As India is rent overnight into two nations, sectarian violence explodes on both sides of the new border, with tidal waves of refugees fleeing the blood and chaos. Fighting to board the last train to Delhi, Shankar and Keshav, six-year-old Hindu twins, lose sight of their mother and plunge into the whirling human mass to find her. A young Sikh woman, Simran Kaur, flees her father, who would rather poison his daughter than see her defiled. And Ibrahim Masud, an elderly Muslim doctor driven from the town of his birth, limps towards the new Muslim state of Pakistan. As the displaced face a variety of horrors, this unlikely quartet come together, defying every rule of self-preservation to forge a future of hope. A luminous story of families and nations broken and formed, Partitions introduces an extraordinary novelist who writes with the power and lyricism of poetry.

The Mosquito Coast ($9.66 Kindle, $2.99 B&N), by Paul Theroux, is the Nook Daily Find.

Book Description
In a breathtaking adventure story, the paranoid and brilliant inventor Allie Fox takes his family to live in the Honduran jungle, determined to build a civilization better than the one they've left. Fleeing from an America he sees as mired in materialism and conformity, he hopes to rediscover a purer life. But his utopian experiment takes a dark turn when his obsessions lead the family toward unimaginable danger.

The Amulet of Samarkand ($7.69 Kindle, $2.99 B&N), the first title in the Bartimaeus trilogy by Jonathan Stroud, is the Nook Daily Find for Families.

Book Description
Nathaniel is a magician's apprentice, taking his first lessons in the arts of magic. But when a devious hot-shot wizard named Simon Lovelace ruthlessly humiliates Nathaniel in front of his elders, Nathaniel decides to kick up his education a few notches and show Lovelace who's boss. With revenge on his mind, he summons the powerful djinni, Bartimaeus. But summoning Bartimaeus and controlling him are two different things entirely, and when Nathaniel sends the djinni out to steal Lovelace's greatest treasure, the Amulet of Samarkand, he finds himself caught up in a whirlwind of magical espionage, murder, and rebellion.

Harry Potter Joining Kindle Lending Library

If you are tired of waiting for the Harry Potter books in your library (or they don't have them, at all), are in the US and somehow resisted buying the set the instant they were released, rejoice! Not quite in time for Mother's Day, but early enough for summer break and beach reading, the entire Harry Potter collection is coming to the Kindle Lending Library, just one of the many benefits of being an Amazon Prime member (although, of course, you'll need seven months of lending privileges to get thru the series).

Today's Deals

Just in time for Mother's Day, Amazon is having a 25% Off Kindle Covers Sale, with sleeves and covers for your Kindle Fire, Kindle Touch, or Kindle, including some of the pricy Kate Spade covers. It's perfect timing, too, for those that managed to snag a heavily discounted refurbished Fire on the recent Daily Deal. If you still need to order a Kindle or Kindle Fire for Mom, then you can get 30% Off selected covers if purchased in the same order.

Additional formats on free books:

• Pearl in the Sand (K/N/E)
• Words Spoken True (K/N/E)

Today's Kindle Deal of the Day is 7 Money Rules for Life® ($1.99), by Mary Hunt. There's nothing revolutionary about her ideas, but it does look like a good one for those starting out (or high schoolers learning how budget finances or new graduates going out on their own).

Book Description
Americans young and old are flunking their finances. A shocking 77 percent live paycheck to paycheck with no savings. And 43 percent of Americans have less than $10,000 saved for retirement, while 49 percent could cover less than one month's expenses if they lost their income. In the face of this bleak financial picture, bestselling author and finance expert Mary Hunt offers 7 Money Rules for Life®. This no-nonsense and encouraging book gives readers the keys to get their money under control and get prepared financially for the rest of their lives. In her warm and engaging style, Hunt takes everything that she's learned over the past twenty years and boils it all down. Presented in a conversational style and readable in a weekend, this book offers applications for each of the seven rules as well as practical advice for how to recover from past financial mistakes. These simple, unchanging, basic rules work in every financial situation, for every income level, and for every stage of life.

Money mastery isn't really that hard. 7 Money Rules for Life® can help readers change their futures from uncertain to rock-solid with principles they can apply right away.

Churchill's Wizards: The British Genius for Deception 1914-1945 ($1.60 / £0.99 UK), by Nicholas Rankin, is the Kindle Deal of the day for those in the UK (the US edition is $9.58 and was the Kindle Deal of the Day during this past March).

Book Description
The story of how the British really won two world wars – by conning the Kaiser, hoaxing Hitler and using brains to outwit brawn. By June 1940, most of Europe had fallen to the Nazis and Britain stood alone. To protect itself, the nation fell back on cunning and camouflage. With Winston Churchill in charge, the British bluffed their way out of trouble – lying, pretending and dressing up in order to survive. The British had developed this uncommon talent during the trench and desert fighting of the First World War, when writers and artists created elaborate camouflages and fiendish propaganda. So successful were these deceptions they gave rise to the German belief that they hadn’t been beaten fairly – in which case why not ‘have a second go’? By the Second World War, the British were masters of the art. Churchill adored stratagems, ingenious devices and special forces: pretend German radio stations broadcast outrageous British propaganda in German. British geniuses broke German secret codes and eavesdropped on their messages. Every German spy in Britain was captured and many were used to send back false information to their controllers. Forged documents misled their Intelligence. Bogus wireless traffic from entire phantom armies, dummy airfields with model planes, disguised ships and inflatable rubber tanks created a vital illusion of strength. Culminating in the spectacular misdirection that was so essential to the success of D-Day in 1944, Churchill’s Wizards is a thrilling work of popular military history. Above all, Nicholas Rankin reveals the true stories of those brave and creative mavericks who helped win what Churchill called ‘the war of the Unknown Warriors’.

Need ($3.99 Kindle, $1.99 B&N), the first of the series by Carrie Jones, is the Nook Daily Find.

Book Description
Zara collects phobias the way other high school girls collect lipsticks. Little wonder, since she’s had a pretty rough life. Her father left when she was a baby, and her stepfather just died. Her mother’s pretty much checked out - in fact, Mom’s sent her to live with her grandmother in cold and sleepy Maine to "keep Zara safe." Whatever that means. Zara doesn’t think she’s in danger; she thinks her mother just can’t deal.

Zara’s wrong. The man she sees everywhere - the tall creepy guy who points at her from the side of the road - yeh, he’s not a figment of her imagination. He’s a pixie. And not the cute, sweet kind with little wings. Maine’s got a whole assortment of unbelievable creatures, like pixies and were-people. And they seem to need something - something from Zara...

Look for the other exciting books in the Need series: Captivate, Entice, and coming next year, Endure!

Bella ($3.74 Kindle, $1.99 B&N), the 22nd in the Puppy Place series by Ellen Miles, is the Nook Daily Find for Families.

Book Description
Welcome to the Puppy Place--where every puppy finds a home!

Charles and Lizzie Peterson love puppies. They enjoy taking care of the dogs themselves, but the best part is finding a perfect new owner for these adorable animals. Bella is an orphaned newborn cocker spaniel. She is very weak and almost doesn't survive her first night. Lizzie is determined to save the pint-sized pup. The Peterson's bottle-feed her around the clock until she's healthy enough to be adopted. But who will give this sweet little dog the home she deserves?

Audible 3-for-2 Sale

Audible has brought back their 3-for-2 sale, this time with a number of complete trilogies (although you can mix and match any way that you want, from what I can tell). Billed as the Get a Complete Trilogy for just 2 Credits sale, you need to use the specially created page to put three audiobooks into your cart, then check out. This process will take two credits from your account. You can then return to the same sale page and start again to use additional credits, thru May 15 at 11:59 PM ET (US). If you need to add credits to your account first, be sure to visit the Extra Credits page at Audible, giving you another discount of roughly 20%, plus, it should automatically use the $10 discount, if you qualified for it last month (note that, if Audible decides you aren't eligible for the extra credits offer, they just display a rather annoying error page).

The selection of books seems to be mostly fantasy and science fiction, but I did see several thrillers, some romance and at least one zombie apocalypse in the bunch. They are all sorted by author name, though, so you'll need to check out all the pages to see what is available for each genre.

ETA: I've confirmed that if you are not a subscription member, you can't see this sale at all (and may not see it you don't have at least two credits). Same with the Extra Credits page - you can't see the deal if you are not a subscription member OR if adding 3 credits would push you over the monthly accumulation limit allowed on your account. If you spend down your credits, though, you will see the offer to get 3 credits for $35.88 (and can use your $10 discount towards that purchase).