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Saturday, September 22, 2012

Bargain Book Roundup

Another big publisher classic with free companion audiobook: Jane Eyre ($1.99 Harper Perennial Classics), by Charlotte Bronte (also linked to free edition).

Amazon has a Kid-Friendly, Parent-Approved, Fun for the Entire Family sale with 39 Kindle books at $3.99 or less (there are 44 print books in the sale, too).

Cool Dog, School Dog ($3.99), by Deborah Heiligman and Tim Bowers (Illustrator)
Book Description
Tinka is a cool dog, a school dog, a breaking all the rules dog.A hall dog, a ball dog, a crash-into-the-wall dog.

Join Tinka, a dandy, sandy Golden Retriever, as she unexpectedly visits her owner at school and helps his class learn to read. Bright illustrations rendered in acrylic paint add to the excitement in this playful back-to-school story about a boy and his "loves-to-hear-a-book" dog.

Grade Level: Pre K and up

The Thorn Birds ($2.99 Kindle; $4.99 companion audiobook), by Colleen McCullough
Book Description
Now, 25 years after it first took the world by storm, Colleen McCullough's sweeping family saga of dreams, titanic struggles, dark passions, and forbidden love in the Australian Outback returns to enthrall a new generation. As powerful, moving, and unforgettable as when it originally appeared, it remains a monumental literary achievement—a landmark novel to be read . . . and read again!

I ran across Basic Fishing ($0.99), by Wade Bourne, when writing up the free listing for Basic Freshwater Fishing earlier today. This volume is from Skyhorse Publishing, who have also given us several free books in the past (and whose books I've bought in print over the years).
Book Description
New to fishing and have no idea how to start? With Basic Fishing, you’ll be an accomplished angler in no time at all. Expert fisherman and award winning outdoor writer Wade Bourne has created a step–by–step guide that masterfully breaks down the art of fishing with diagrams, vivid photographs, and lessons on:· Different types of fishing equipment and how to select the best tackle· Baiting techniques for artificial and natural baits· Tips for selecting the best fishing spot· Handy methods for cooking and cleaning fish· And more!

Driving Mr. Dead ($1.99 Kindle; $4.99 companion audiobook), by Molly Harper, claims to be a novella, but at 166 pages it is a fairly long one (and not much shorter than novels often were not too many years ago).
Book Description

A standalone novella introducing a new side of Half Moon Hollow—featuring a freewheeling courier and the stuffy vampire she has to transport.

Miranda Puckett has failed at every job she’s ever had. Her mother just wants her to come home, join the family law firm, and settle down with Jason, the perfect lawyer boyfriend. But when Jason turns out to be a lying cheater, Miranda seizes on a job that gets her out of town: long-distance vampire transportation. Her first assignment is to drive vampire Collin Sutherland from Washington to sleepy Half Moon Hollow without incident—no small feat for a woman whom trouble seems to follow like a faithful hound dog! And she has to do it without letting her passenger—the most persnickety, stuffy, devastatingly handsome vamp she’s ever met—drive her crazy. As she and Collin find disaster on the roads, they also find an undeniable spark between them.

Could Miranda have found the perfect job and the perfect guy for her?

Eat Free: No Gluten. No Sugar. No Guilt. ($3.93), by Rhiannon Lawrence (Cedar Fort)
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.

The God Engines ($2.99 Kindle; $1.99 companion audiobook), by John Scalzi and Vincent Chong (Illustrator)
Book Description
Captain Ean Tephe is a man of faith, whose allegiance to his lord and to his ship is uncontested. The Bishopry Militant knows this -- and so, when it needs a ship and crew to undertake a secret, sacred mission to a hidden land, Tephe is the captain to whom the task is given.

Tephe knows from that the start that his mission will be a test of his skill as a leader of men and as a devout follower of his god. It’s what he doesn’t know that matters: to what ends his faith and his ship will ultimately be put -- and that the tests he will face will come not only from his god and the Bishopry Militant, but from another, more malevolent source entirely...

Author John Scalzi has ascended to the top ranks of modern science fiction with the best-selling, Hugo-nominated novels Old Man’s War and Zoe’s Tale. Now he tries his hand at fantasy, with a dark and different novella that takes your expectations of what fantasy is and does, and sends them tumbling.

Say your prayers... and behold The God Engines

The Rancher and the Rock Star ($0.99), by Lizbeth Selvig
Book Description
To the world, Gray Covey is a rock superstar. But to his runaway son, he's simply the father who never has any time for him. To prove that he's more than his rock star lifestyle, for the next few weeks Gray must put aside his fame and become...a farmhand?

Abby Stadtler has built the perfect, quiet life for herself. Neat and orderly is the name of the game for her and her beloved farm. When Gray shows up on her doorstep, looking like he stepped straight off the front cover of a magazine, she is determined that he won't upset her routine.

But what neither counts on is the love that springs up between them. Abby knows that life on a ranch in Minnesota can never compete with an exciting world tour. But for Gray, it's time to decide what's really important. With Abby's help, will he be able to decide, once and for all, that love and family are the answer?

Any Given Christmas: A Sugar Shack Novel ($0.99), by Candis Terry
Book Description
Dean Silverthorne’s mother may be dead, but she still has matchmaking to do.

When an injury dashes NFL Quarterback Dean Silverthorne's Super Bowl dreams, he heads back to Deer Lick, Montana with a chip on his wounded shoulder, more determined than ever to get back in the game. He loves his kooky family, but this trip home is going to be a very brief Christmas visit.

His game plan doesn't include an instant attraction to Emma Hart, a feisty kindergarten teacher who seems to be the only person in Deer Lick not interested in the hometown hero. Or his dearly departed mom popping up with mistletoe in hand and meddling on the mind. Now Dean can't help but wonder if there’s more to love than life between the goal posts.

Flat-Out Love ($3.19), by Jessica Park (Amazon Children's Publishing)
Book Description
He was tall, at least six feet, with dirty blond hair that hung over his eyes. His T-shirt read Nietzsche Is My Homeboy.

So, that was Matt. Who Julie Seagle likes. A lot. But there is also Finn. Who she flat out loves.

Complicated? Awkward? Completely.

But really, how was this freshly-minted Boston transplant and newbie college freshman supposed to know that she would end up living with the family of an old friend of her mother's? This was all supposed to be temporary. Julie wasn't supposed to be important to the Watkins family, or to fall in love with one of the brothers. Especially the one she's never quite met. But what does that really matter? Finn gets her, like no one ever has before. They have connection.

But here's the thing about love, in all its twisty, bumpy permutations—it always throws you a few curves. And no one ever escapes unscathed.

New York Times Best-selling author Jessica Park mines the territory of love’s growing pains with wit, sharp insights, and a discernible heat and heartbeat. Her previous novels include Relatively Famous and she authored the e-shorts What the Kid Says (Parts 1 and 2) and Facebooking Rick Springfield.

Bedbugs ($2.79), by Ben H. Winters
Book Description
FOR RENT: Top two floors of beautifully renovated brownstone, 1300 sq. ft., 2BR 2BA, eat-in kitchen, one block to parks and playgrounds. No broker’s fee.

Susan and Alex Wendt have found their dream apartment.

Sure, the landlady is a little eccentric. And the elderly handyman drops some cryptic remarks about the basement. But the rent is so low, it’s too good to pass up.

Big mistake. Susan soon discovers that her new home is crawling with bedbugs . . . or is it? She awakens every morning with fresh bites, but neither Alex nor their daughter Emma has a single welt. An exterminator searches the property and turns up nothing. The landlady insists her building is clean. Susan fears she’s going mad—until a more sinister explanation presents itself: she may literally be confronting the bedbug problem from Hell.

Susanna's Choice and Claiming the Heart, by Sara Luck, $2.99 apiece (Simon and Schuster).

Susanna's Choice
Set in the tumultuous frontier days of the American West, this thrillingly authentic debut novel illuminates the passionate choices of one woman’s heart.

A chance encounter . . .

Wealthy entrepreneur Rab Trudeau is seething mad. A Nevada newspaper is printing fraudulent stock prices that could force his silver mine to close. Posing as an investigator from San Francisco’s Great Western Detective Agency, which he happens to own, Rab travels to Nevada to uncover who’s behind the false claims. Soon after stepping off the train, he rescues a beautiful woman from an oncoming carriage—and in one blinding moment, both are consumed by the powerful strength and seduction of their embrace.

An uncertain destiny . . .

An aspiring writer for The Pioneer, Susanna agrees to interview the stranger whom everyone is talking about, and is shocked to discover he’s Rab Trudeau—the gentleman who saved her life. Promised in marriage to the wayward son of the couple who raised her after her parents died on a westward-bound wagon train, Susanna fights her overwhelming desire for Rab. But as the mine scandal heats up and turns violent, Susanna must make an impossible choice—one that could bind her to Rab forever or destroy any hope of their future happiness.

Claiming the Heart
As the Texas and Pacific Railroad expands across the wide-open frontier, a spirited young woman finds a triumphant love amidst the tracks and tumult.

History in the making . . .

July 1876: Building a railroad that reaches Fort Worth city limits by a midnight deadline is an all-consuming obsession for track supervisor Gabriel Corrigan—while his socialite wife, Marthalee, daughter of a powerful Louisiana politician, heads home to arrange a marriage annulment. But when Gabe crosses paths with Josie Laclede, a vivacious businesswoman from St. Louis, he sees a sassy lady bold enough to stake her claim in the wild Texas plains—yet soft and sweet enough to win his heart.

Love for the keeping . . .

Though her past is a mystery—Josie was a foundling, raised by a kind widower who now runs a shop and hotel with her—Gabe dreams of a bright future with Josie by his side. Tantalized by his gentle kisses, and swept up in the thrilling track-laying race that has all of Fort Worth pitching in, Josie is tempted to fall hard for Gabe. But Marthalee returns, vying for the T&P fortune he stands to make. And when her father offers Gabe a senate seat and a chance to get back into his well-connected family, a heartbroken Josie vanishes with the prairie breeze. Will their dream of a once-in-a-lifetime love go up in smoke?

Friday, September 21, 2012

Free Audiobook & Ebook - Varieties of Religious Experience

The ebook and audiobook edition of Varieties of Religious Experience, a Study in Human Nature (free to $12.99 Kindle; $27.99 Audible), by William James, narrated by John Pruden, is free direct from Tantor Media, thru the end of September.
Book Description
Using the language of psychology, William James explains religious phenomena—including conversion, repentance, mysticism, and saintliness—as psychic energy that arises from the unconscious mind in times of trouble.

First published in 1905, The Varieties of Religious Experience is a collection of lectures given at the University of Edinburgh in 1901 and 1902. William James was a psychologist and, as such, his interest in religion was not that of a theologian but of a scientist. In these twenty lectures, he discusses the nature and origin of religious belief.

The average believer is one who has inherited his religion, but this will not do for James's inquiry. He must find those believers who have a voracious religious faith because these people have also often experienced a number of peculiar psychological episodes, including having visions, hearing voices, and falling into trances.

Students of psychology and those interested in the mental process of belief will find these lectures informative.
Get the free ebook from Tantor Media. This audiobook edition is in MP3 format, so will work on most Kindles and MP3 players. You'll also get the PDF edition of the ebook (download the complete ZIP file).

Free Audiobook - Unlocked

The audiobook edition of Unlocked ($9.99 Kindle; $19.93 Audible), by Karen Kingsbury, narrated by Roxanne Hernandez, is free from BooksonBoard, courtesy of Christian publisher Zondervan.
Book Description
Before You Take a Stand ... You Got to Take a Chance.

Holden Harris is an eighteen-year-old locked in a prison of autism. Despite his quiet ways and quirky behaviors, Holden is very happy and socially normal---on the inside, in a private world all his own. In reality, he is bullied at school by kids who only see that he is very different. Ella Reynolds is part of the 'in' crowd. A cheerleader and star of the high school drama production, her life seems perfect. When she catches Holden listening to her rehearse for the school play, she is drawn to him ... the way he is drawn to the music. Then, Ella makes a dramatic discovery---she and Holden were best friends as children.

Frustrated by the way Holden is bullied, and horrified at the indifference of her peers, Ella decides to take a stand against the most privileged and popular kids at school. Including her boyfriend, Jake. Ella believes miracles can happen in the unlikeliest places, and that just maybe an entire community might celebrate from the sidelines. But will Holden's praying mother and the efforts of Ella and a cast of theater kids be enough to unlock the prison that contains Holden? This time, friendship, faith, and the power of a song must be strong enough to open the doors to the miracle Holden needs.
Get the free ebook from BooksonBoard (plus 23 cents in rewards added to your account!). This audiobook edition is in MP3 format, so will work on most Kindles and MP3 players.

Free Audiobook - Hostage in Havana

The audiobook edition of Hostage in Havana ($9.99 Kindle; $10.49 Audible), by Noel Hynd, is free from GoBible, courtesy of Christian publisher Zondervan. The ebook edition was offered for free last summer, so you may find it in your library; this audiobook edition is in MP3 format, so will work on most Kindles and MP3 players (but is a large download at 700 MB).
Book Description
From bestselling ABA author Noel Hynd comes this new series set against the backdrop of Havana, an explosive capital city of faded charm locked in the past and torn by political intrigue. U.S. Treasury Agent Alexandra LaDuca leaves her Manhattan home on an illegal mission to Cuba that could cost her everything. Accompanying her is the attractive but dangerous Paul Guarneri, a Cuban-born exile who lives in the gray areas of the law. Together, they plunge into subterfuge and danger. Without the support of the United States, Alex must navigate Cuban police, saboteurs, pro-Castro security forces, and an assassin who follows her from New York. Bullets fly as allies become traitors and enemies become unexpected friends. Alex, recovering from the tragic loss of her fiance a year before, reexamines faith and new love while taking readers on a fast-paced adventure. Readers of general market thrillers, such as John le Carre, David Baldacci, and Joel Rosenberg, will eagerly anticipate this first installment.
Get the free ebook from GoBible. You will need to set up an account (complete with address and phone number) and don't forget to click on the No Payment Information Required button at the upper left of the checkout page (or you can't get past it). Once ordered, go to My Account (menu at top) and click on My Downloadable Products on the left sidebar menu to get to your audiobooks.

Today's Deals

A new Kobo coupon code for 30% off: win_g7om1n1 (Exp 9/27), plus all book purchases thru 9/27 qualify you to win a new Kobo Glo or Mini. I also got a "come back" code for 25% off - this one may only work for one person, but I'm not going to use it: 56b6c125 (exp 9/25). For those who are also bloggers, Kobo is having a sale on blogging guides thru Sept 26 - 25% off and no coupon necessary!

Today's Kindle Daily Deal is Valeria's Last Stand ($1.99), by Marc Fitten, Amazon's Best of the Month, May 2009. His latest novel, Elza's Kitchen, was released this summer.
Book Description
When it comes to the sizes of fishes and ponds, Valeria is a whale in a thimble. She harrumphs her daily way through her backwater Hungarian village, finding equal fault with the new, the old, the foreign and the familiar. Her decades of universal contempt have turned her into a touchstone of her little community - whatever she scorns the least must be the best, after all. But, on a day like any other, her spinster's heart is struck by an unlikely arrow: the village potter, long-known and little-noticed, captures her fancy, and Valeria finds herself suddenly cast in a new role she never expected to play. This one deviation from character, this one loose thread, is all it takes for the delicately woven fabric of village life to unravel. And, for the first time in a long time, Valeria couldn't care less.

Valeria's Last Stand is a joyfully wise small-town satire that takes an hilariously honest look at later-in-life romance and the notion that it's never too late to start anew.

The Heat of the Sun ($1.61 / £0.99 UK), by David Rain, is the Kindle Deal of the day for those in the UK (the US edition is $12.99).
Book Description
When recently orphaned Woodley Sharpless encounters Ben Pinkerton -- known to all as 'Trouble' -- for the first time at the exclusive Blaze Academy, he is instantly enraptured. They are polar opposites; Ben is exotic and daring; Woodley is bookish and frail, yet their lives quickly become inextricable intertwined. First at school, then in the staccato days of twenties New York, Woodley sees flashes of another person in his friend and slowly discovers a side of Ben's nature that belies a dark and hidden history.

As the curtain falls on the frivolity of the twenties and rises to reveal the cruelty of a new decade, Woodley and Ben's friendship begins to fragment. Over the coming years the two men meet intermittently; in Japan before the outbreak of the Second World War and then in the midst of the Manhattan Project at Los Alamos. Change in both their lives, their relationship and their suffering, stand for a generation; one dispersed by depression and upheaval, brutality and confusion.

David Rain's novel, The Heat of the Sun, is an ambitious and assured debut that captures perfectly two friends, two loves: two lives.

Identity: Your Passport to Success ($9.43 Kindle, $1.99 B&N), by Stedman Graham, is the Nook Daily Find. At Amazon, there is a link for a bonus PDF from the author.
Book Description
Features a foreword by John Maxwell and afterword from Steven R. Covey.

Have you ever thought about the connection between knowing who you are and success? Identity can serve as your greatest asset. Enduringly successful people know who they are, are clear about what matters to them, have established powerful identities, and create value in the world.

In this book, the process for discovering and understanding your identity is brought to life through Stedman Graham's personal experiences and the stories of individuals who've resolved their questions of identity, building a life that matters to themselves and those around them.

Take control of who you are. Take control of your life. Achieve lasting success.

Now a Wall Street Journal bestseller!

Field Notes from a Catastrophe: Man, Nature, and Climate Change ($9.39 Kindle, $1.99 B&N), by Elizabeth Kolbert, is the Nook Daily Find: Election 2012. This one has a very good review from Scientific American on the Amazon page that is worth reading (and I've reported the lower price there, in hopes it will drop on Kindle).
Book Description
Long known for her insightful and thought-provoking political journalism, author Elizabeth Kolbert now tackles the controversial and increasingly urgent subject of global warming. In what began as groundbreaking three-part series in the New Yorker, for which she won a National Magazine Award in 2006, Kolbert cuts through the competing rhetoric and political agendas to elucidate for Americans what is really going on with the global environment and asks what, if anything, can be done to save our planet. Now updated and with a new afterword, Field Notes from a Catastrophe is the book to read on the defining issue and greatest challenge of our times.

About the author
Elizabeth Kolbert was a reporter for the New York Times for fourteen years before becoming a staff writer covering politics for the New Yorker. She and her husband, John Kleiner, have three sons. They live in Williamstown, MA.

Today's Kindle Kids Daily Deal is Flora Segunda: Being the Magickal Mishaps of a Girl of Spirit, Her Glass-Gazing Sidekick, Two Ominous Butlers (One Blue), a House with Eleven Thousand Rooms, and a Red Dog ($1.99), by Ysabeau S. Wilce, has one of the longer titles I've recently seen on a book. Lots of good review and you'll get your money's worth at 431 pages in print.
Book Description
Flora knows better than to take shortcuts in her family home, Crackpot Hall--the house has eleven thousand rooms, and ever since her mother banished the magickal butler, those rooms move around at random. But Flora is late for school, so she takes the unpredictable elevator anyway. Huge mistake. Lost in her own house, she stumbles upon the long-banished butler--and into a mind-blowing muddle of intrigue and betrayal that changes her world forever.

Full of wildly clever plot twists, this extraordinary first novel establishes Ysabeau Wilce as a compelling new voice in teen fantasy.

Grade Level: 7 and up