Two Free Audiobooks - Skulduggery Pleasant and Dead Men Kill

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.

Start off with Scepter of the Ancients ($7.99 Kindle; $16.95 Audible), the first title in the Skulduggery Pleasant series by Derek Landy, narrated by Rupert Degas. If you've been following the blog for a while, you have the ebook in your library, as it was free in all formats last October.

Book Description
Meet Skulduggery Pleasant

• Ace Detective
• Snappy Dresser
• Razor–tongued Wit
• Crackerjack Sorcerer
and
• Walking, Talking, Fire-throwing Skeleton

—as well as ally, protector, and mentor of Stephanie Edgley, a very unusual and darkly talented twelve-year-old.

These two alone must defeat an all-consuming ancient evil.

The end of the world?

Over his dead body.

Grade Level: 5 and up

Dead Men Kill ($0.00 Kindle $2.95 Audible), by L. Ron Hubbard, narrated by Jennifer Aspen and a Full Cast, is the second selection for this week.

Book Description
When several of the city's most respected citizens are inexplicably killed by what appear to be zombies, all Detective Terry Lane has to go on is a blue-grey glove, a Haitian pharmacy bill for some very unusual drugs, and a death threat from a mysterious stranger.

Matters are soon complicated when a beautiful nightclub singer shows up, claiming to have information that could solve the case. But her motives are plainly suspect. Against his better judgement, Terry investigates her lead, only to find himself sealed in a coffin en route to the next zombie murder - his own.

First published in 1934 in Thrilling Detective magazine, Hubbard's rollicking horror yarn just happens to tap into the current craze for zombies. Heroic Det. Sgt. Terrence "Terry" Lane looks into a deeply disturbing series of murders of powerful businessmen. Dawn Drayden, a pretty Club Haitian entertainer, confirms Lane's hunch that the killers are dead men "coming back from the grave and killing their employers." The zombie mastermind is the nefarious Dr. Leroux, originally of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, aka Loup-garou (or human hyena).

In the end, Drayden and Lane must face heart-pounding dangers once Dr. Leroux's secrets are revealed. This fun, campy novella reflects a contemporary revenge vibe felt by those who wouldn't mind dispatching a few zombies to punish criminally inclined businessmen.

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!

Goodbye Kindle Touch?

If you've been thinking about buying a Kindle Touch, you may have waited too long. Specifically, the 3G edition is now marked as Currently unavailable, which usually indicates a Kindle model has been removed as an active item (although you can still buy some refurbished units, at least, for now). The WiFi only model appears to still be available, with Ads, but is on a 8-9 day backorder (the no-Ads model is gone and no refurbs appear to be available, either).

Rumors have been swirling for some time of a new Kindle model, perhaps in reaction to the nook Glow (which I've seen comments on returns and hassles with the lighting - I'm not surprised, as my Sony with edge lighting wasn't that great, either and it caused glare on the eInk screen due to the added glass layer). In the Kindle Store, you'll see the new picture above, which claims the Kindle family has only two entries now - the low end Kindle and the high end Kindle Fire. Left out are the Kindle Keyboard 3G and Kindle DX 3G, both of which are still available. I expect that sometime this month, that family will grow again, with a new eInk Kindle that is WiFi only and has some type of side-lighting (Amazon often reacts to a perceived lack of product features, even if it does mean the new model is less desirable by current customers, pandering to press reviews, rather than it's customers). I do know one thing - it most likely won't be called the "Kindle Glow", not only because the NOOK already is using Glow in it's name, but also because there is an outdoor space heater of that name (which, I suppose, you could use to read your current Kindle while staying warm outside, at night).

There are also rumors of a new, larger Kindle Fire. I'd love to see it; I already see that Amazon now allows us to view their new Kindle Textbooks on Android, not just on Apple's proprietary devices. Now, we just need to be able to view our Enhanced Content Kindle Books, complete with the embedded music and videos, on our Fires and I'll have one less reason to upgrade to Apple's new iPad. Hopefully, too, Amazon will add both a camera and the ability to add an SD/microSD card to their new tablet - the 8GB Fire is extremely limited (especially if you have a large library, as it wastes space on thumbnail cover images for every book in your library, space you can't get back if you keep any Kindle books on it). It would put them one step up on features vs. the iPad, but just keep them even with all the other Android Tablets out there (most of which are far superior to Amazon's device, but lack the integration with Amazon's content, something the iPad has been catching up on, since you can now watch Amazon Instant Videos on it).

I do know that one of Amazon's cover vendors, M-Edge, is in on the secret - they have already announced the new Kindle on their Facebook page (if it hasn't been pulled) and are running a sign-up list for the date the new covers are available for sale. Their contest ends TODAY, so the release must be imminent.

Did you know a new Kindle device is coming soon? What do you think will be the new, prime feature?

Answer in the comment box below for a chance to win any one FREE product from our website! Contest ends Thursday the 9th 5 pm EST.

Also, sign up here to be notified when your favorite M-Edge accessories hit the market:
http://app.medgestore.com/promos/newamazondevices.psp

Update: One rumor mentions that the current $47.40 price on the Kindle (see coupon code on right sidebar) will end on Aug 15. It's very unlikely that a new Kindle model will ship before then and we may even see the 16th as the date that pre-orders begin. It will be a long time without a touch model available, but the mini-Kindle will fill the void for those that don't want to step all the way up to a Kindle Keyboard or who don't want the heavier and less reading-friendly Kindle Fire tablet.

Today's Deals

Additional formats on free books:

• Convincing Quinn (K/N/DF)

Today's Kindle Deal of the Day is Jesus, My Father, The CIA, and Me: A Memoir. . . of Sorts ($1.99), by Ian Morgan Cron.

Book Description
"When I first discovered the grainy picture in my mother's desk-me as a towheaded two year old sitting in what I remember was a salmon-orange-stained lifeboat-I was overwhelmed by the feeling that the boy in the boat was not waving and laughing at the person snapping the photo as much as he was frantically trying to get the attention of the man I am today. The boy was beckoning me to join him on a voyage through the harrowing straits of memory. He was gambling that if we survived the passage, we might discover an ocean where the past would become the wind at our back rather than a driving gale to the nose of our boat. This book is the record of that voyage."

At the age of sixteen, Ian Morgan Cron was told by his mother that his father, a motion picture executive, also worked for the CIA in Europe. This astonishing revelation, coupled with his father's dark struggles with alcoholism, upended the world of a boy struggling to become a man. Decades later, as he faces his own personal demons, Ian realizes the only way to find peace is to voyage back through a childhood marked by extremes--privilege and hardship, violence and tenderness, truth and deceit--that he's spent years trying to forget. In this surprisingly funny and forgiving memoir, Ian reminds us that no matter how different the pieces may be, in the end we are all cut from the same cloth, stitched by faith into an exquisite quilt of grace.

Sworn to Silence ($1.55 / £0.99 UK), by Linda Castillo, is the Kindle Deal of the day for those in the UK (the US edition is $9.99).

Book Description
Some secrets are too terrible to reveal . . . Some crimes are too unspeakable to solve . . . Painter's Creek, Ohio may be a sleepy, rural town with both Amish and 'English' residents, but it's also the place where a series of brutal murders shattered the lives of an entire community over a decade ago. When the killing stopped, it left in its aftermath a sense of fragility, and for the young Amish girl, Katie Burkholder, a realization that she didn't belong. Now, 15 years, two dead parents and a wealth of experience later, Katie has been asked to return as Chief of Police. Her Amish background combined with her big-city law enforcement expertise make her the perfect candidate. Katie is certain she has come to terms with the past. Until the first body of a slaughtered young woman is found in a pristine, snowy field...

Billy Graham in Quotes ($3.99 Kindle, B&N), by Franklin Graham, Donna Lee Toney and Billy Graham, is the Nook Daily Find, price matched on Kindle.

Book Description
God Speaks His Word Straight Into The Hearts Of Men And Women.

The Word Of God Is Alive And Active Today In The Lives Of Millions.

With the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ as his singular focus, Billy Graham has faithfully, passionately, and unapologetically preached God's Word for more than seventy years. At the age of ninety-two, during an exclusive Fox News interview in 2010, Dr. Graham told Greta van Susteren, "I have a tremendous amount of hope for the future because of Jesus Christ."

In this stunning collection of quotes by Billy Graham comes a historic anthology covering seven decades of ministry, drawing from both his published and personal works. These pages are filled with hope, truth, and redemption and seek the hearts of a lost people who need God now more than ever.

Today we are putting our hopes in materialism, in technological progress, and in freedom from moral absolutes. They have all failed. They have failed because they have been powerless to change the human heart.

Join Billy Graham as he seeks to bring God's Word to the heart of daily life. Reconnect and be drawn like never before. "Hearing Billy Graham express hope for the world gives me hope that my life can be worthwhile," comments one twenty-two-year-old. Arranged topically for easy reference, Billy Graham in Quotes provides insight on more than one hundred topics anchored in Scripture. This gifted evangelist takes the focus off of the messenger and shines the Light on the Message of God's Word.

Earth's troubles fade in the light of heaven's hope.

Swipe ($7.69 Kindle, $1.99 B&N), the first title in the series by Evan Angler, is the Nook Daily Find for Families. The second title in the series, Sneak, will be released in the first week of September.

Book Description
Everyone gets the Mark. It gives all the benefits of citizenship. Yet if getting the Mark is such a good thing, then why does it feel so wrong?

Set in a future North America that is struggling to recover after famine and global war, Swipe follows the lives of three kids caught in the middle of a conflict they didn’t even know existed. United under a charismatic leader, every citizen of the American Union is required to get the Mark on their 13th birthday in order to gain the benefits of citizenship.

The Mark is a tattoo that must be swiped by special scanners for everything from employment to transportation to shopping. It’s almost Logan Langly’s 13th birthday and he knows he should be excited about getting the Mark, but he hasn’t been able to shake the feeling he’s being watched. Not since his sister went to get her Mark five years ago . . . and never came back.

When Logan and his friends discover the truth behind the Mark, will they ever be able to go back to being normal teenagers? Find out in the first book of this exciting series that is Left Behind meets Matched for middle-grade readers.

Bargain Book Roundup

Amazon has two new promos with Kindle Books Up to 75% Off. First Travel to Another Time:

From the dirt streets of ancient Jerusalem to Manhattan's concrete jungle in the 1990s, this diverse selection of 50 books contains the time-traveling keys to some of the most exciting periods and events in human history. Through August 13, this entertaining collection is available for up to 75% off.

and then the Get a Better Read on Conspiracy Sale:

Looking for some entertainment this August? We have action-packed titles full of tangled deceptions that build to shocking finales. Try these mysteries and thrillers full of conspiracies from Amazon Publishing for $4.99 or less on Kindle and up to 60% off in print.

The titles I've highlighted below are not necessarily a part of these sales, but are at similar savings.

The Cake Mix Doctor Bakes Gluten-Free ($2.99), by Anne Byrn. I bought this the last time it was on sale and have tried a couple of recipes, with good results.

Book Description
Thirty million Americans are gluten-intolerant or have a gluten sensitivity, eliminating it from their diets because gluten—a protein found in wheat, rye, and barley—has been implicated in health issues ranging from respiratory problems and abdominal discomfort to anemia, anxiety, and infertility. The food industry has bullishly taken notice. Gluten-free baking products, including cake mixes from Betty Crocker, King Arthur, Whole Foods, and others, have increased sevenfold on grocery shelves in recent years, and the number of other gluten-free products has grown as well—832 were introduced in 2008 alone. And gluten-free options are on the menu of national restaurants like Boston Market, Chili’s, Ruby Tuesday, Outback Steakhouse, and others.

Now comes even sweeter news for people looking to cut gluten from their diets: Anne Byrn shows how to transform gluten-free cake mixes into 76 rich, decadent, easy-to-make, impossible-to-resist desserts. Performing the magic that’s made her a bestselling baking author with over 33 million copies of her books in print, she doctors mixes with additions like almond extract, fresh berries, cocoa powder, grated coconut, cinnamon, lime zest, and more—naturally, all gluten-free ingredients—and voilà: Tres Leches Cake with Whipped Cream and Summer Berries, Almond Cream Cheese Pound Cake, Chocolate Cupcakes with Milk Chocolate Ganache, Caramel Melted Ice Cream Cake, Warm Tarte Tatin Apple Cake, plus brownies, bars, muffins, and cookies. Dessert is back on the menu.

The Weepers: The Other Life ($1.99), by Susanne Winnacker, from Amazon's new publishing imprint: Amazon Children's Publishing. I've sent a sample of this one to my Kindle (even if it is yet another zombie apocalypse).

Book Description
Sherry has lived with her family in a bunker for more than three years. Her grandfather's body has been in the freezer for the last six months, her parents are at each other's throats and two minutes ago, they ran out of food. Sherry and her father must leave the safety of the bunker. What they find is an empty Los Angeles, destroyed by bombs and haunted by Weepers - savage humans infected with a rabies virus. While searching for food, Sherry's father disappears and Sherry is saved by Joshua, a hunter. He takes her to Safe-haven, a vineyard where a handful of survivors are picking up the pieces of their other lives, before the virus changed everything. Sherry must find a way to help her family, stay alive, and decide whether Joshua is their savior or greatest danger as his desire for vengeance threatens them all. This debut novel is a page-turner that is not easy to forget.

Grade Level: 8th and up

The Wednesday Wars ($1.99), by Gary D. Schmidt, was the Nook Daily Find a couple of days ago; now it's even cheaper in the Kindle store.

Book Description
Gary D. Schmidt was awarded a Newbery Honor in 2008 for The Wednesday Wars, the story of seventh grader Holling Hoodhood from suburban Long Island in 1967 who is stuck spending his Wednesday afternoons with his teacher Mrs. Baker… who is clearly trying to kill him with Shakespeare. As time rolls on, Shakespeare starts to grow on Holling, and even when he’s not playing the yellow-tighted role of the fairy Ariel, he can’t help but hurl the occasional Elizabethan insult. Laugh-out-loud scenes involving overfed escaped classroom rats and chalk-dusted cream puffs mix seamlessly with more poignant moments, some related to the Vietnam War. Holling is courageous, funny, and unique… and readers will love seeing him evolve beyond the expectations of others to become his own fabulous self.

Grade Level: 5 and up

The Eat, Drink, and Be Gorgeous Project: Three Months to a New You ($1.99), by Esther Blum and James Dignan (Illustrator)

Book Description
Have your cosmopolitan and drink it, too. In Eat, Drink, and Be Gorgeous, Esther Blum, a nutritionist at the famed Dr. Perricone, MD flagship store in Manhattan, outlines everything a girl needs to know to live it up yet maintain her youthful beauty. There are no diets, no gimmicks, just real solutions. It's all about balance. It is about indulging to satiate, not saturate. She provides pointers on how to nip a hangover in the bud, how to dine out without packing on the pounds, what to eat to rev up the sex drive, what to eat to prevent wrinkles and acne, what to take to combat out-of-control hormones, and much, much more.

More Than Words Can Say ($0.99), by Robert Barclay, author of If Wishes Were Horses.

Book Description
... a novel of long-buried secrets and self-discovery, showing us that sometimes what goes unsaid is more powerful than words. . . .

Chelsea Enright never expected to inherit her grandmother's lakeside cottage deep in the Adirondacks—a serene getaway that had been mysteriously closed up decades ago. This is no simple bequest, however, because when Chelsea finds her grandmother's WWII diaries, she's stunned to discover that they hold secrets she never suspected . . . and they have the power to turn her own life upside down.

Even more surprising is the compelling presence of local doctor Brandon "Yale, and Chelsea soon finds her "short stay" has stretched into the entire summer. She cannot put this cottage and her family's past behind her easily—and the more she learns about the woman her grandmother truly was, the more Chelsea's own life begins to change . . . and nothing will ever be the same again.

Black Water Rising ($1.99), by Attica Locke, called by Publishers Weekly an "extraordinary debut".

Book Description
Writing in the tradition of Dennis Lehane and Greg Iles, Attica Locke, a powerful new voice in American fiction, delivers a brilliant debut thriller that readers will not soon forget.

Jay Porter is hardly the lawyer he set out to be. His most promising client is a low-rent call girl and he runs his fledgling law practice out of a dingy strip mall. But he's long since made peace with not living the American Dream and carefully tucked away his darkest sins: the guns, the FBI file, the trial that nearly destroyed him.

Houston, Texas, 1981. It is here that Jay believes he can make a fresh start. That is, until the night in a boat out on the bayou when he impulsively saves a woman from drowning—and opens a Pandora's box. Her secrets put Jay in danger, ensnaring him in a murder investigation that could cost him his practice, his family, and even his life. But before he can get to the bottom of a tangled mystery that reaches into the upper echelons of Houston's corporate power brokers, Jay must confront the demons of his past.

With pacing that captures the reader from the first scene through an exhilarating climax, Black Water Rising marks the arrival of an electrifying new talent.

Eat Free: No Gluten. No Sugar. No Guilt. ($3.93), by Rhiannon Lawrence (Note: many recipes are not truly sugar free, as natural sweeteners are used).

Book Description
Created with the gluten-intolerant and diabetic in mind, this collection of gluten- and sugar-free recipes will leave you with delicious meals, desserts, and snacks - all made with fresh, organic, and whole ingredients - that are guaranteed to please your family's pickiest food critic. And the next time someone says, "You are what you eat," you'll take it as a compliment.

Buy Ketchup in May and Fly at Noon ($0.99), by Mark Di Vincenzo

Book Description
Have you ever wanted to know the best day of the week to buy groceries or go out to dinner?

Have you ever wondered about the best time of day to ask someone out on a date—or for a raise?

Buy Ketchup in May and Fly at Noon tells you the best time—of the day, of the week, of the month or of the year—to do almost anything. Do you know:

The best time of day to be operated on?
The best month to buy an iPod?
The best day of the week to avoid lines at the Louvre?
The best day of the month to make an offer on a house?

Get more for your money, maximize your time, take better care of your health and be savvier about your career—all by doing certain things at the right time.

Remember: Timing is everything!

A Three Dog Life ($1.99), by Abigail Thomas

Book Description
When Abigail Thomas's husband, Rich, was hit by a car, his brain shattered. Subject to rages, terrors, and hallucinations, he must live the rest of his life in an institution. He has no memory of what he did the hour, the day, the year before. This tragedy is the ground on which Abigail had to build a new life. How she built that life is a story of great courage and great change, of moving to a small country town, of a new family composed of three dogs, knitting, and friendship, of facing down guilt and discovering gratitude. It is also about her relationship with Rich, a man who lives in the eternal present, and the eerie poetry of his often uncanny perceptions. This wise, plainspoken, beautiful book enacts the truth Abigail discovered in the five years since the accident: You might not find meaning in disaster, but you might, with effort, make something useful of it.

The Cleaner Plate Club: Raising Healthy Eaters One Meal at a Time ($2.51), by Beth Bader and Ali Benjamin

Book Description
Childhood obesity. Diabetes. Developmental delays and disorders. Today’s parents know that what their kids eat is key to their health. Their kids are bombarded with a relentless parade of ads for junk food, fast food, and empty calorie “treats.” How can parents get their kids to eat meals that don’t come out of a box? The Cleaner Plate Club comes to the rescue. Mommy-bloggers Beth Bader and Alison Benjamin offer simple solutions, recipes, meal suggestions, and tips to help parents get kids to eat non-processed food that’s been grown locally or organically and — guess what? — enjoy it. They recognize that cooking real food isn’t difficult, but it does require some know-how, which they supply with humor and compassion. Beth and Alison show readers how to prepare foods found at the farmers’ market (and how to substitute, say, asparagus for string beans if need be), plan ahead and estimate prep time, and get used to cooking food that doesn’t come with printed directions. Their fresh advice will help parents eliminate food waste, plan for leftovers, present foods that are appealing to kids, and quit fighting with their children — finally — about food.

The Cleaner Plate Club offers kid-tested recipes for every meal, basic vegetable preparations for farmers’ market finds, and more healthful recipes for sweets and snacks. Readers will also find shopping strategies, the reasons kids like the foods they do, and vegetable profiles (including nutrition information and tips on selection, storage, and preparation). Expert advice and innovative ideas about feeding kids make this book a must-have for any parent. Fresh, funny, and nonjudgmental, The Cleaner Plate Club is a recipe for healthier kids and happier parents.

Half Baked: The Story of My Nerves, My Newborn, and How We Both Learned to Breathe ($1.88), by Alexa Stevenson

Book Description
Author Alexa Stevenson had spent most of her life preparing for the wrong disasters. When her daughter is born 15 weeks early, she is plunged into the strange half-light of the Newborn Intensive Care Unit, where she learns the Zen of medical uncertainty and makes the surprising discovery that a worst-case scenario may just be the best thing that’s ever happened to her. The absurdities of the medical system, grappling with mortality, and coming into one’s own are all explored in this wryly heartfelt memoir.

From the indignities of infertility treatments to managing bedrest and parenting a preemie (how does one wrangle an oxygen tank while changing a diaper?), Alexa recounts her rocky road to motherhood with a uniquely sharp, funny, yet poignant voice.

Still the One ($1.99), by Robin Wells

Book Description
Robin Wells takes us back to Chartreuse, Louisiana, for a deeply moving story of forgiveness and second chances.

After Katie Charmaine's husband is killed in Iraq, all she has left is a closet full of his clothes, a few pictures, and fond memories. She not only lost her love, but her last chance to have the children she's always wanted. Until Zack Ferguson shows up in town . . . with the daughter Katie gave up for adoption nearly seventeen years ago.

Zack Ferguson has never forgotten Katie, or the one magical night they spent together. Seeing her again brings up a tidal wave of emotions: regret over the way he left her, anger at the secret she kept, and desire he hasn't felt in years. But he's in town for Gracie. Their daughter is sixteen, angry at the world, and-worst of all-pregnant. She needs the love of her two parents now more than ever. Can these three forgive the hurts of the past and open their hearts to each other?

Takeover ($0.99), by Lisa Black

Book Description
In the tradition of Kathy Reichs and Jeffery Deaver, a talented novelist introduces a gutsy forensic investigator caught in the middle of an explosive crisis

Early one Thursday morning, forensic scientist Theresa MacLean is called to the scene of a gruesome murder. The body of a man has been found on the front lawn of a house in suburban Cleveland, the back of his head bashed in. Although it's not the best start to her day, Theresa has been through worse. What unfolds during the next eight hours, though, is nothing she could ever have imagined.

Downtown at the Federal Reserve Bank, her police detective fiancÉ is taken hostage with six others in a robbery masterminded by two clever criminals. When she arrives at the scene, Theresa discovers that the police have brought in the city's best hostage negotiator: handsome, high-profile Chris Cavanaugh. He hasn't lost a victim yet, but Theresa wonders if he might be too arrogant to save the day this time around.

When her fiancÉ is injured, she seizes the opportunity to trade places with him. Once on the inside, she will use all her wiles, experience, and technical skills to gain control of the situation. But what initially appears to be a bank heist turns into something far more complex and deadly, and Theresa must decide how much more she is willing to sacrifice in order to save the lives of innocent people as well as her own.

I'm tempted to get Population: 485 ($1.99), by Michael Perry, as I visit family in an even smaller town in a part of the country not too distant from the one Perry returns to.

Book Description
Here the local vigilante is a farmer's wife armed with a pistol and a Bible, the most senior member of the volunteer fire department is a cross-eyed butcher with one kidney and two ex-wives (both of whom work at the only gas station in town), and the back roads are haunted by the ghosts of children and farmers. Michael Perry loves this place. He grew up here, and now -- after a decade away -- he has returned.

Unable to polka or repair his own pickup, his farm-boy hands gone soft after years of writing, Mike figures the best way to regain his credibility is to join the volunteer fire department. Against a backdrop of fires and tangled wrecks, bar fights and smelt feeds, he tells a frequently comic tale leavened with moments of heartbreaking delicacy and searing tragedy.

Today's Deals

If you picked up the free audiobbook, The End of the Affair, there is a problem with the Enhanced Format -- it won't download to your PC and can't be sent to your Kindle (it gets stuck at 0% download). If you change the format to 4, you can download it with MP3 quality and listen on your computer or any Audible compatible device. My favorite is the SanDisk Sansa Clip + or newer SanDisk Sansa Clip Zip, which are tiny, have a battery life of many hours and work well in the car or the gym. Both use microSD/microSDHC cards to expand memory, so you can buy the smallest size and exchange cards as needed (counterfeits abound on flash memory though - I ONLY buy if sold direct by Amazon, not even 'fulfilled' by Amazon, so that I get what I paid for and can return it if there is a problem).

Additional formats on free books:

• When We Touch (K/N/E)
• The Night Everything Changed (K/DF)

The Night Everything Changed is the first free read for the Samhain Horror Bookclub. They are also discounting Rufty's The Lurkers by an additional 30% this week, if you use coupon code BOOKCL1. That gets you a net price of $2.63 (it's $4.95 on Kindle)! Kristopher Rufty will be on their Facebook page to discuss both stories.

On OceanView Publishing's Facebook page, you can pick up a coupon good on their webstore (not for Kindle books, though) - mine was for 35% off.

Today's Kindle Deal of the Day is Random Harvest ($1.99), by James Hilton.

Book Description
A veteran’s comfortable life is upended when long-buried memories of his time in the trenches of World War I come rushing back

Charles Rainier’s family feared him lost along with so many of Britain’s youth during the First World War. But two years after he was reported MIA, he appears in a Liverpool hospital with no memory of his missing years. Even after marriage and a life of relative success, he can’t recall his time on the battlefield—until the first bombs of the Second World War begin to fall. Suddenly, his memories flood back. Recollections of a violent battlefield, a German prison, and a passionate affair all threaten to fracture the peaceful life he has worked so hard to create.

Random Harvest is a moving account of the trauma of war and the courage required to find redemption in the face of the most overwhelming circumstances.

Into the Arena: The World of the Spanish Bullfight ($2.49 / £1.59 UK), by Alexander Fiske-Harrison, is the Kindle Deal of the day for those in the UK (the US edition is $9.99).

Book Description
'I stopped halfway along the wall, slowly turned, put my hands on the safety-rail and looked down at the explosive paranoia of horn and muscle less than five feet away from me. I moved the little finger of my left hand and his head flicked towards it. Then I moved the little finger on my right, and his head shot towards that.'

Alexander Fiske-Harrison spent a season studying the matadors and breeders of famous "fighting bulls". He ran with the bulls in Pamplona and found himself invited to enter the ring with 500lb training cows. This developed into a personal quest to understand the bullfight at its deepest levels, and he undertook months of damaging and dangerous training with one of the greatest matadors of all, Eduardo Dávila Miura, to prepare himself to experience the bullfight in its true essence: that of man against bull in a life or death struggle from which only one can emerge alive.

The Yiddish Policemen's Union ($9.99 Kindle, $2.99 B&N), by Michael Chabon, is the Nook Daily Find. This is supposed to be identically priced in all stores (HarperCollins), so I've reported the price difference to Amazon; they usually get these dropped by late afternoon.

Update: Now price matched on Kindle!

Book Description
For sixty years Jewish refugees and their descendants have prospered in the Federal District of Sitka, a "temporary" safe haven created in the wake of the Holocaust and the shocking 1948 collapse of the fledgling state of Israel. The Jews of the Sitka District have created their own little world in the Alaskan panhandle, a vibrant and complex frontier city that moves to the music of Yiddish. But now the District is set to revert to Alaskan control, and their dream is coming to an end.

Homicide detective Meyer Landsman of the District Police has enough problems without worrying about the upcoming Reversion. His life is a shambles, his marriage a wreck, his career a disaster. And in the cheap hotel where Landsman has washed up, someone has just committed a murder—right under his nose. When he begins to investigate the killing of his neighbor, a former chess prodigy, word comes down from on high that the case is to be dropped immediately, and Landsman finds himself contending with all the powerful forces of faith, obsession, evil, and salvation that are his heritage.

At once a gripping whodunit, a love story, and an exploration of the mysteries of exile and redemption, The Yiddish Policemen's Union is a novel only Michael Chabon could have written.

The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane ($5.79 Kindle, $2.99 B&N), by Kate DiCamillo, is the Nook Daily Find for Families.

Book Description
Once, in a house on Egypt Street, there lived a china rabbit named Edward Tulane. The rabbit was very pleased with himself, and for good reason: he was owned by a girl named Abilene, who adored him completely. And then, one day, he was lost... Kate DiCamillo takes us on an extraordinary journey, from the depths of the ocean to the net of a fisherman, from the bedside of an ailing child to the bustling streets of Memphis. Along the way, we are shown a miracle--that even a heart of the most breakable kind can learn to love, to lose, and to love again.

Grade Level: 2 and up