I've finished the chart on the
Free Classics from Audible page for now, including adding a section for inexpensive ebooks with free audiobooks.
A great new discount code at
Kobo:
GBSave50Sept gets you 50% off any non-Agency book, valid through 9/12/12. As a reminder, the
Romance50 code gets you 50% off
Romance Bestsellers and you can use it more than once (but only on the selected list of titles).
GBSave50Sept can only be used once, but there are a number of nice looking gluten-free cookbooks I've been considering, that it will work on:
Mastering Your Gluten- and Dairy-Free Kitchen,
Blackbird Bakery Gluten-Free and
Artisanal Gluten-Free Cooking amongst them (although, it appears
an updated edition of the latter is going to be released on Kindle at the end of this month, with a few new recipes, many new photos and includes a Snickerdoodles recipe; both editions include Blueberry Pie, though).
Additional formats on free books:
Today's Kindle Kids Daily Deal is all four books of Newbery Honor-winning author Shannon Hale's young-adult fantasy series, The Books of Bayern Series, for $1.99 apiece. This series is intended for children in grade level 5 and up (7 & up for the later titles).
The Goose Girl
Anidori-Kiladra Talianna Isilee, Crown Princess of Kildenree, spends the first years of her life under her aunt's guidance learning to communicate with animals. As she grows up Ani develops the skills of animal speech, but is never comfortable speaking with people, so when her silver-tongued lady-in-waiting leads a mutiny during Ani's journey to be married in a foreign land, Ani is helpless and cannot persuade anyone to assist her. Becoming a goose girl for the king, Ani eventually uses her own special, nearly magical powers to find her way to her true destiny. Shannon Hale has woven an incredible, original and magical tale of a girl who must find her own unusual talents before she can become queen of the people she has made her own.
Enna Burning
When her mother dies, Enna leaves the city and her friends to move back home with her brother, Leifer. She thought life would be simpler and more manageable in the forest. But Enna's was not meant to be a simple life, and when Leifer brings home a mysterious piece of vellum and starts setting fires-without a spark, without flint-something seems wrong. Enna cannot decide if that something is a power she wants for herself, or if it's a power that should be extinguished forever. And when her country, Bayern, goes to war, that choice becomes unbearable as her friendships are tested and her sense of self nearly lost in the fires she creates. Ultimately Enna and her best friend, Isi, take a nearly impossible journey in search of a cure for the war around them-and for the wars within themselves.
River Secrets
Razo has no idea why he was chosen to be a soldier. He can barely swing a sword, and his brothers are forever wrestling him to the ground. Razo is sure it's out of pity that his captain asks him to join an elite mission--escorting the ambassador into Tira, Bayern's great enemy.
But when the Bayern arrive in the strange southern country, Razo discovers the first dead body. He befriends both the high and low born, people who can perhaps provide them with vital information. And Razo is the one who must embrace his own talents in order to get the Bayern soldiers home again, alive.
Forest Born
Rin, Razo's little sister, is haunted by the Forest she has always loved. When Razo invites her back to the city to be one of Queen Ani's waiting women, she happily accepts...only to end up on the adventure of her lifetime, following the queen, Enna, and Dasha into the countryside in search of a fire-starting enemy that no one can see. As she learns more about the three women's magical talents, she finds her own strength comes from places both expected--trees--and unexpected--the sound of her own voice. A brilliant addition to the Books of Bayern, this book is a treat for fans of this series, and stands alone for readers who might be discovering the joys of Shannon Hale's writing for the first time.
Today's Kindle Daily Deal is Winston S. Churchill's WWII Collection, the volumes of which were instrumental in his being awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1953. Although the current covers and listings have dropped the middle initial, these are indeed written by the former British Prime Minister (as Winston Churchill was an immensely popular US author and politician at the turn of the 20th century, which forced the British politician to use his middle initial to avoid confusion).
The Gathering Storm
Winston Churchill’s monumental The Second World War, is a six volume account of the struggle between the Allied Powers in Europe against Germany and the Axis. Told by British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, this book is also the story of one nation’s heroic role in the fight against tyranny. Having learned a lesson at Munich they would never forget, the British refused to make peace with Hitler, defying him even after France had fallen and it seemed as though the Nazis were unstoppable.
What lends this work its tension is Churchill’s inclusion of primary source material. We hear Churchill’s retrospective analysis of the war, but we are also presented with memos, letters, orders, speeches, and telegrams that give day-by-day accounts of the reactions as the drama unfolds. We listen as strategies and counter-strategies unfold in response to Hitler’s conquest of Europe, his planned invasion of England, and his assault on Russia. All contrive to give a mesmerizing account of the crucial decisions that must be made as the fate of the world hangs in the balance.
While in some ways a continuation of Churchill’s history of World War I, The World Crisis, The Gathering Storm is his attempt to understand the terrible circumstance that gave rise to Nazi Germany and a second, even more destructive world conflict. Churchill was perhaps the only person who held such prominent positions of power in both world wars and as such, was uniquely qualified to tell the story from war to peace and back again.
The Gathering Storm covers the Treaty of Versailles, the rise of Adolf Hitler, the capitulation of Munich and the entry of Britain into the war. This book makes clear Churchill’s feeling that the Second World War was a largely senseless but unavoidable conflict.
Their Finest Hour
In Their Finest Hour, Churchill describes the invasion of France and a growing sense of dismay in Britain. Should Britain meet France's desperate pleas for reinforcements or husband their resources in preparation for the inevitable German assault? In the book's second half, entitled simply "Alone," Churchill discusses Great Britain's position as the last stronghold against German conquest: the battle for control of the skies over Britain, diplomatic efforts to draw the United States into the war, and the spreading global conflict.
The Grand Alliance
The Grand Alliance describes the end of an extraordinary period in British military history in which Britain stood alone against Germany. Two crucial events brought an end of Britain's isolation. First is Hitler's decision to attack the Soviet Union, opening up a battle front in the East and forcing Stalin to look to the British for support. The second event is the bombing of Pearl Harbor. U.S. support had long been crucial to the British war effort, and Churchill documents his efforts to draw the Americans to aid, including correspondence with President Roosevelt.
The Hinge of Fate
The Hinge of Fate is the dramatic account of the Allies' changing fortunes. In the first half of the book, Churchill describes the fearful period in which the Germans threaten to overwhelm the Red Army, Rommel dominates the war in the desert, and Singapore falls to the Japanese. In the span of just a few months, the Allies begin to turn the tide, achieving decisive victories at Midway and Guadalcanal, and repulsing the Germans at Stalingrad. As confidence builds, the Allies begin to gain ground against the Axis powers.
Closing the Ring
Churchill shows in Volume Five, Closing the Ring, the Allied forces going on the offensive. Mussolini falls, Hitler is besieged on three sides, and the Japanese find it near impossible to maintain a grip on the territories they had recently overtaken. Stalin, Churchill, and Roosevelt work towards keeping their uneasy partnership moving in concert and much of this volume is dedicated to describing the intricate negotiations that went on to sustain this partnership toward one single end goal.
Triumph and Tragedy
In Triumph and Tragedy, Churchill provides in dramatic detail the endgame of the war and the uneasy meetings between himself, Stalin, and Truman to discuss plans for rebuilding Europe in the aftermath of devastation, beginning with invasion of Normandy, the heroic landing of the Allied armies and the most remarkable amphibious operation in military history. Churchill watches as the uneasy coalition that had knit themselves together begins to fray at Potsdam, foreshadowing the birth of the Cold War.
The Conductor (
$1.57 / £0.99 UK), by Sarah Quigley, is the Kindle Deal of the day for those in the UK (no US edition).
Book Description
June 1941: Nazi troops surround the city of Leningrad, planning to shell and starve the people into submission. Most of the cultural elite is evacuated, but the famous composer Shostakovich stays behind to defend his city. That winter, the bleakest in Russian history, the Party orders Karl Eliasberg, the shy, difficult conductor of a second-rate orchestra, to prepare for the task of a lifetime. He is to conduct a performance of Shostakovich's Seventh Symphony - a haunting, defiant new piece, which will be relayed by loudspeakers to the front lines. Eliasberg's musicians are starving, and scarcely have the strength to carry their instruments. But for five freezing months the conductor stubbornly drives on his musicians, depriving those who falter of their bread rations. Slowly the music begins to dissolve the nagging hunger, the exploding streets, the slow deaths... but at what cost? Eliasberg's relationships are strained, obsession takes hold, and his orchestra is growing weaker. Now, it's a struggle not just to perform but to stay alive.
On the Line (
$2.99 Kindle,
B&N), by Serena Williams, is the Nook Daily Find, price matched on Kindle.
Book Description
One of the biggest stars in tennis, Serena Williams has captured every major title. Her 2009 Australia Open championship earned her the #1 world ranking for the third time in her illustrious career - and marked only the latest exclamation point on a life well and purposefully lived. As a young girl, Serena began training with an adult-sized racquet that was almost as big as her. Rather than dropping the racquet, Serena saw it as a challenge to overcome-and she has confronted every obstacle on her path to success with the same unflagging spirit. From growing up in the tough, hardscrabble neighborhood of Compton, California, to being trained by her father on public tennis courts littered with broken glass and drug paraphernalia, to becoming the top women's player in the world, Serena has proven to be an inspiration to her legions of fans both young and old. Her accomplishments have not been without struggle: being derailed by injury, devastated by the tragic shooting of her older sister, and criticized for her unorthodox approach to tennis. Yet somehow, Serena always manages to prevail. Both on the court and off, she's applied the strength and determination that helped her to become a champion to successful pursuits in philanthropy, fashion, television and film. In this compelling and poignant memoir, Serena takes an empowering look at her extraordinary life and what is still to come.
Overtreated: Why Too Much Medicine Is Making Us Sicker and Poorer (
$2.99 Kindle,
B&N), by Shannon Brownlee, is the NOOK Daily Find: Election 2012, price matched on Kindle.
Book Description
Our health care is staggeringly expensive, yet one in six Americans has no health insurance. We have some of the most skilled physicians in the world, yet one hundred thousand patients die each year from medical errors. In this gripping, eye-opening book, award-winning journalist Shannon Brownlee takes readers inside the hospital to dismantle some of our most venerated myths about American medicine. Brownlee dissects what she calls "the medical-industrial complex" and lays bare the backward economic incentives embedded in our system, revealing a stunning portrait of the care we now receive.
Nevertheless, Overtreated ultimately conveys a message of hope by reframing the debate over health care reform. It offers a way to control costs and cover the uninsured, while simultaneously improving the quality of American medicine. Shannon Brownlee's humane, intelligent, and penetrating analysis empowers readers to avoid the perils of overtreatment, as well as pointing the way to better health care for everyone.
Today's Kindle Daily Deal is Night Swim ($1.99), by Jessica Keener. You may have this one in your library, as it was free last April.
Red Flags ($1.58 / £0.99 UK), by Jurjevics Juris, is the Kindle Deal of the day for those in the UK (the US edition is $1.24). This is a definite buy at this price (I paid more for my copy) and it's great that those in the US are getting a price break on it, as well.
My American Unhappiness ($2.99 Kindle, B&N), by Dean Bakopoulos, is the Nook Daily Find, price matched on Kindle.
The New Geography of Jobs ($14.99 Kindle, $3.99 B&N), by Enrico Moretti, is the Nook Daily Find: Election 2012.
Today's Kindle Daily Deal #2 is Brave New World ($1.99), by Aldous Huxley. If you don't have this in your library, it's a must buy; some of it is a bit dated, but the themes are just as relevant today (if not more so than when it was written). His later work, Brave New World Revisited, a follow-up rather than a sequel, is also worth considering, if you haven't already replaced your worn out paperback copy.
