Free App - Evolution (I)

Evolution: Making Sense of Life, an app from Roberts & Company Publishers, is free in the iTunes store (requires iPad/iThing with iOS 5.1). This is a tie-in to their new textbook, Evolution: Making Sense of Life ($100 paperback pre-order or you can pre-order from the publisher for $80). I've been trying to get the app to let me buy it for two days and it is finally working -- I suspect it's a pricing mistake, though, so don't wait too long on it. Haven't had a chance to play with it yet, but it looks like it should be good, especially if it follows the textbook.

App Description
Science writer Carl Zimmer and evolutionary biologist Douglas Emlen have teamed up to write a textbook intended for biology majors that will inspire students while delivering a solid foundation in evolutionary biology.

Zimmer brings the same story-telling skills he displayed in The Tangled Bank, his 2009 non-majors textbook that the Quarterly Review of Biology called “spectacularly successful.”

Emlen, an award-winning evolutionary biologist at the University of Montana, has infused Evolution: Making Sense of Life with the technical rigor and conceptual depth that today’s biology majors require.

Students will learn the fundamental concepts of evolutionary theory, such as natural selection, genetic drift, phylogeny, and coevolution.

Get the free app from iTunes.

Free Audiobook - The Two

The Two ($8.99 Kindle), by Will Carver and narrated by Richard Aspel and Nicki Paull, is free from Audible (Random House Audiobooks). There may be some geographic restrictions, but you shouldn't need a monthly membership to grab it.

Book Description
They Kill Without Mercy.

Disappear Without Trace.

They are The Two.

And now the stakes are raised once more for Detective January David. 5 lie dead, brutally murdered - the first taken on the night of Halloween and as autumn bleeds into winter more ritualistic murders are discovered. January must battle his demons, for in his mind lies the clue to stopping a ruthless murderer. But his worst nightmares have literally come true when he discovers there's not one but two twisted killers on the loose ...

Get the free audiobook from Audible.

Today's Deals

BooksOnBoard is having a Big Bang! sale all week, with "40%-50% OFF ALL DISCOUNT ELIGIBLE eBooks this week, across the board, no limits." Note that the total discount often includes their reward bucks, which you can use for future purchases. Also, if you see a book cheaper elsewhere, you can email their support and they'll price match it (however, I don't know how long that process takes).

After finding the deal at Fandango that gives you a free $2 Amazon MP3 credit movie tickets purchases this month, I signed up with them as an affiliate (so, clicking my links will result in a small commission), so I could see what other deals I could find. Just in time, too, as it turns out that on Fridays, you can get 2 for 1 movie tickets when you use your Visa Signature card. I've added a link on the right sidebar, for those who want to take advantage of their deals; I'm going to use this deal today to go see the new Spiderman in 3D!

Today's Kindle Deal of the Day is Macbeth: A Novel ($1.99), by A.J. Hartley and David Hewson. Definitely not the edition you struggled with in high school, it received a starred review from Booklist.

Book Description
This is not your parents’ Macbeth or the one you read in high-school English class. A dark and bloody tale of a Scottish lord and his beloved wife, Macbeth: A Novel hurtles toward readers in gripping contemporary prose, thanks to novelists David Hewson and A. J. Hartley.

Set in eleventh-century Scotland, Macbeth: A Novel is rich with ancient clans battling fiercely against one another and against the foreign marauders raiding their borders. Macbeth, Lord of Moray, and his wife, Skena, are loyal patriots, willing to kill or be killed to protect the Scottish kingdom. Yet the greatest danger to their beloved homeland is proving to be the king himself, Duncan, whose corrupt, bloody reign threatens to destroy the country. After Macbeth meets a trio of witches, the frustrated hero begins to think that perhaps Scotland needs a new king—him. But what begins as a plan fueled by the best of intentions soon spirals into murder, treachery, and personal collapse. In the language of today’s fast-paced thrillers, Hewson and Hartley create an electrifying tapestry out of Shakespeare’s tale, relaunching two of the most powerful characters ever created.

The Taliban Cricket Club ($1.55 / £0.99 UK), by Timeri N Murari, is the Kindle Deal of the day for those in the UK (the US edition is $11.99).

Book Description
Set in war-torn Kabul, a harrowing yet tender novel - Bend it Like Beckham in a burqua - about one woman's courage and guile in the face of tyranny.

Rukhsana, a spirited young journalist in Kabul, is summoned to the infamous Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice to face its terrifying minister, Zorak Wahidi. A cricket tournament is announced, with the winning team to travel to Pakistan for training and then represent Afghanistan at an international level.

In reality, the idea is surreal. The Taliban will never embrace a game rooted in civility, fairness and equality. And no one in Afghanistan even knows how to play cricket, except Rukhsana. The tournament offers hope - a means of escape for her brother and young cousins. And for Rukhsana, escape is essential - Wahidi wants to marry her, a frightening proposition which will enslave her in his home.

With the help of her cousins, Rukhsana devises an audacious plan that could ensure their freedom. All they have to do is learn to play cricket - and win.

A soaring novel of resilience, strength, hope and tenderness, The Taliban Cricket Club reveals how love can overcome, and outwit, the power of tyrants.

They're Watching ($2.99 Kindle, B&N), by Gregg Hurwitz, is the Nook Daily Find, price matched on Kindle. This standalone novel has starred reviews from both Publisher's Weekly and Booklist.

Book Description
Patrick Davis is a man with troubles. First his Hollywood dreams crumble and then his storybook marriage hits a snag. Now, DVDs start being delivered to his house—DVDs which show that someone is watching him and his wife, that the two of them are being stalked and recorded by cameras hidden in their house. Then the e-mails start, and someone offers to fix everything, to take the mess his life has become and make it all right. Patrick figures it’s the offer of a lifetime.

But Patrick couldn’t be more wrong. With every step he falls deeper into a web of intrigue that threatens everything he values in this world. Before he knows it, he’s in and in deep—and his only escape is to outwit and outplay his unseen opponents at their own game.

Adam Canfield of the Slash ($5.79 Kindle, $1.99 B&N), by Mike Winerip, is the Nook Daily Find for Families.

Book Description
Adam Canfield has to be the most over-programmed middle-school student in America. So when super-organized Jennifer coaxes him to be co-editor of their school newspaper, THE SLASH, he wonders if he’s made a big mistake. But when a third-grader’s article leads to a big scoop, Adam and his fellow junior journalists rise to the challenge of receiving their principal’s wrath to uncover some scandalous secrets. From a Pulitzer Prize-winning author and NEW YORK TIMES columnist comes a funny, inspiring debut that sneaks in some lessons on personal integrity — and captures the rush that’s connected to the breaking of a really great story.

Grade Level: 3 and up

Free Audiobooks - Anna Dressed in Blood & The Woman in White

There are two new free audiobook from Sync today. First, I've linked in the info from the ebook or audiobook version of each title (Amazon has the best reviews), followed by the link to get your copies free, with directions to ensure you get the complete download.

The first free audiobook is Anna Dressed in Blood ($2.99 Kindle), by Kendare Blake, narrated by August Ross. This is a 2011 Kirkus Best Teen Books of the Year title and one of NPR's Top 5 Young Adult Novels of 2011. As you can see, it's also on sale at Amazon, in preparation for the upcoming release of Girl of Nightmares, the next book in the same series, so if you think you'd prefer to read rather than listen (or do both), be sure to grab it now.

Book Description
Cas Lowood has inherited an unusual vocation: He kills the dead.

So did his father before him, until he was gruesomely murdered by a ghost he sought to kill. Now, armed with his father's mysterious and deadly athame, Cas travels the country with his kitchen-witch mother and their spirit-sniffing cat. Together they follow legends and local lore, trying to keep up with the murderous dead—keeping pesky things like the future and friends at bay.

When they arrive in a new town in search of a ghost the locals call Anna Dressed in Blood, Cas doesn't expect anything outside of the ordinary: track, hunt, kill. What he finds instead is a girl entangled in curses and rage, a ghost like he's never faced before. She still wears the dress she wore on the day of her brutal murder in 1958: once white, now stained red and dripping with blood. Since her death, Anna has killed any and every person who has dared to step into the deserted Victorian she used to call home.

But she, for whatever reason, spares Cas's life.

The unabridged edition of The Woman in White ($26.95 Audible), by Wilkie Collins, narrated by Ian Holm, is the second selection for this week. There are several Kindle editions, ranging from free to a few dollars, for those that like to read along with the audio.

Book Description
One night on the road to London, a young drawing master, Walter Hartright, meets a mysterious woman dressed all in white and answers her pleas for help. But who is she and why is she being followed by two men? And what is her connection with his pupil Laura Fairlie, the woman he secretly loves? Wilkie Collins’ masterpiece of terrible secrets, concealed identities, abductions, fraud, cruel aristocrats and sinister foreigners is a mesmerising read.

This gripping tale of murder, intrigue, madness and mistaken identity has never been out of print since its publication.

Click HERE to get the free downloads (you'll need to enter your name and an email address. You'll end up clicking about three pages (for each book), before the audiobook actually downloads. Don't stop so long as you still see a button that talks about your Sync download (or until you see the Overdrive software open up; there is a link at Sync, if you don't already have Overdrive installed).

Once in Overdrive, you'll need to tell it where to save the files (just click OK to use the default location, since Overdrive will keep track of them for you), then again to actually start the download (by default, all parts of the book are downloaded; I would suggest not changing this in the last dialog box, just click on OK to get the download started). Make sure your audiobook is fully downloaded before the end of the week, as once the promo period is over, you won't be able to get them free.

You can't get any titles that have been missed, but once they are loaded into Overdrive (which you will need to install, if you are not already using it for library books), they are yours to keep (there is no expiration date). Two new titles each Thursday!

$3 Instant Amazon MP3 Credit

This offer is displayed on my Kindle with Special Offers (which is just an Kindle with Ads, lately), but is not limited to those with a KSO or any Kindle device. Instead, you can either order this one direct from your KSO or just go online to AmazonLocal and grab it there:

Free Voucher for $3 to Spend at Amazon MP3

You will need one-click turned on for your Amazon account AND you must have a credit card registered for one-click (even though you won't be charged). You can turn this off and remove the card (do this by choosing to supply a new payment type, then just clicking on your address without entering any other info), once you've signed up. Sign-up for this offer expires at midnight (PT) or when supplies are exhausted (check other cities if yours is out).

You'll receive the promo code on your KSO home page and can retrieve it from the Vouchers link at AmazonLocal (you should also get an email telling you when it is ready) and will need to load the credit onto your account (which you can redeem HERE), just like a gift card, before going shopping. Once you have entered the promotional code(s), you have until midnight, July 11, 2012 to complete your purchases. I'd recommend that you apply the credit right away, since it works on any MP3 purchase - then you can shop on the web OR from your Kindle Fire and it will be used automatically.

If you were holding off on any of yesterday's bargain albums, now's the time to grab one (the credit will buy an entire Soundtrack!).