Today's Deals

Sorry for the late post today, but I wasn't in all morning and the Kindle Fire definitely isn't a good choice for writing a lot text or for copying in links to these deals (although it surfs the web better than the iPad at the same place, which could not connect to the weak WiFi).

Another Kobo promo code, Save30Sep28, gets you 30% off specific crime books (may be US/UK only; exp. Oct 5).

If you pre-ordered JK Rowling's newest novel, The Casual Vacancy, you probably could not read it - as the only font choices are small enough to require a magnifying glass or so large a single word won't fit across the page. Hatchette has uploaded a new edition (and ignore any press/blogs telling you to try buying it again) and you need to go to the Manage Your Kindle page and click on the Actions button and choose to get the updated version. For other book readers, try re-downloading and see if that gets you the updated edition (as this was a problem in all the stores - apparently Hatchette didn't feel they should test the file before releasing it or thought that you should only get the print size the author preferred ... although who knows on which device). If you haven't ordered it yet, you might want to read thru the decidedly mixed reviews before doing so (and I know I'll be waiting for it to hit my library or for a large price drop, if I even read it at all). During this video of the author reading an excerpt, Rowling jokes that it is a very short work, as well; however, the Kindle edition claims to be about 400 pages, while the hardcover clocks in at over 500 pages (no doubt due to the use of the same overly large font size I always saw in the H.Potter print editions).

Download a free edition of The Devil's Dictionary at Copia and scribble your own definition into the margin using their app and you could win $2,000 in eBooks and eTextbooks.

The Audubon Insects & Spiders app, which works on Kindle Fire and most Android Tablets and phones, is 99 cents in the Amazon Appstore and on iTunes for those using Apples devices. Their Audubon Birds app is supposed to be on sale for $4.99, but it is $2.99 at Amazon as I type this.

At Google Play, the new day's list of 25 cent apps has been released. May not be price matches yet at Amazon (but they can be reported and will hopefully be matched by morning). I know I want to get Cut the Rope HD, but would much rather only pay 25 cents.

Today is the last day to take advantage of this KSO deal:

• $5 Instant Amazon Instant Video Credit (you can rent today and usually have up to 30 days to start watching, the 24-48 hours to watch)

Today's Kindle Daily Deal is 10 globetrotting mystery and thriller novels for just $1.99 each. "Featuring masterfully developed characters, tense action, and page-turning plot twists, the novels span a range of settings, from the austere and secretive confines of the Vatican to the wooded spaces of rural Maine, and more."

It's getting late, so I'm not going to list them all - click the link above and you'll get all ten on one page. There are some good deals and a couple I had picked out for a bargain post already and are now $2 less than when I looked yesterday.


Catcher, Caught ($1.61 / £0.99 UK), by Sarah Collins Honenberger, is the Kindle Deal of the day for those in the UK (the US edition is $3.99/KLL Eligible). This was the Kindle Young Adult Deal in the US earlier this month and is part of the $3.99 or less sale for this month.

Book Description
After an earth-shattering diagnosis of leukemia, 15-year-old Daniel Landon sees a reflection of himself in the words of J.D. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye. Inspired by Holden Caulfield, Daniel begins to question the intentions and authority of those around him in his own search for identity as he faces death. Tired of his cramped surroundings and hippie parents’ alternative approaches to his treatment, he follows the footsteps of Caulfield to New York City in search of the same eternal truths, only to discover the importance of home when death looms. A coming of age story, a love story, and a new classic, Catcher, Caught will engage the imagination of more than one generation, searching for lasting values.

Threat Warning ($2.99 Kindle, B&N), the third title in John Gilstrap's Jonathan Grave series, is the Nook Daily Find, price matched on Kindle and where you can get the companion audiobook for $4.95. The first in the series, No Mercy, was free on Kindle a couple of years ago and it and the second in the series, Hostage Zero, are both under $5 right now.

Book Description
In his most terrifying thriller yet, New York Times bestselling author John Gilstrap exposes the darkest threat to America’s freedom, a secret society of merciless killers, watching and waiting to strike…

The first victims are random. Ordinary citizens, fired upon at rush hour by unseen assassins. Caught in the crossfire of one of the attacks, rescue specialist Jonathan Grave spies a gunman getting away-with a mother and her young son as hostages. To free them, Grave and his team must enter the dark heart of a nationwide conspiracy. But their search goes beyond the frenzied schemes of a madman’s deadly ambitions. This time, it reaches all the way to the highest levels of power…

Home of the Brave: Honoring the Unsung Heroes in the War on Terror ($2.99 Kindle, B&N), by Caspar Weinberger, is the Nook Daily Find: Election 2012, price matched on Kindle.

Book Description

They are nineteen of the most highly decorated soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marines in the United States military, and yet most Americans don't even know their names. In this riveting, intimate account, former Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger and Wynton C. Hall tell stories of jaw-dropping heroism and hope in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Home of the Brave takes readers beyond the bullets and battles and into the hearts and minds of the men and women who are fighting terrorists overseas so that America doesn't have to fight them at home. These are the powerful, true-life stories of the hopes, fears, and triumphs these men and women experienced fighting the War on Terror. But more than that, these are the stories of soldiers who risked everything to save lives and defend freedom. Including:

• Lieutenant Colonel Mark Mitchell, the Green Beret leader whose 15-man Special Forces team took 500 Al Qaeda and Taliban prisoners, and posthumously repatriated the body of the first American to die in combat in the War on Terror, CIA agent Johnny "Mike" Spann.
• Army National Guard Sergeant Leigh Ann Hester, the first woman ever to be awarded the Silver Star for combat, whose sharp-shooting and bravery played an enormous role in fighting off over fifty Iraqi insurgents while her ten-person squad protected a convoy of supplies on the way to fellow soldiers.
• Sergeant Rafael Peralta, a Mexican immigrant, enlisted in the Marines the same day he received his green card. Wounded from enemy fire, Peralta used his body to smother the blast of an enemy grenade and gave his life so that his marine brothers could live.

These real-life heroes remind us of American history's most enduring lesson: Ours would not be the land of the free if it were not also the home of the brave.

At the publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management software (DRM) applied.

Today's Kindle Teens Daily Deal is Spinning Out ($1.99), by David Stahler Jr. With a list price of $14, I'd bet this is usually $10 or more.

Book Description
High school senior Frenchy is just getting by, smoking pot with his best friend Stewart and skating through life. But Stewart is up to something and he wants Frenchy to join in--by trying out for the high school musical, Man of La Mancha. A perfect plan for Stewart's most legendary prank ever, right? Wrong. Stewart is serious, and convincing. The next thing Frenchy knows they have won the lead parts of Don Quixote and his sidekick Sancho. Stewart's passion infuses the whole production, but his antics begin to border on obsessive, and Frenchy has to step in more and more often to reign him in. Ultimately, like Quixote, Stewart is spiralling into the beginning stages of schizophrenia. Frenchy embodies and then explodes his role as sidekick both in the play and in life as he figures out how to be a friend, a leader, and a man.

David Stahler has delicately woven a layered story about class, friendship, and the uncertainty of adulthood. With all the fun of High School Musical with a depth and grace of reality, this is a memorable coming of age novel that will resonate with a variety of readers.

Amazon Goldbox Kindle Deals

All morning Amazon is running Kindle case deals in the Gold box & Lightning deals page. I'm typing on my Fire, so will not add more other than go check it out.

Bargain Book and Free Magazine Roundup

Amazon is still offering a free issue for 62 magazines and several of them have updated to a newer issue that originally offered. I opened up the Manage Your Kindle page in one tab, and limited the display to just Magazines, then compared the current issue of the ones I was interested in to the ones I had purchased. You can just click to buy on any of the ones that are interesting; the worst that happens is you get a "you already bought this" page if it is the exact same issue. For those loading these to their Kindle Fires, it can take quite some time (and a lot of space) to get several of them; you don't have to get them all at once though - individual issues of magazines stay in your library forever (unlike subscriptions: you lose all your issues if you ever cancel a subscription).

Google has update their 25 cent apps for the day. Rovio's Amazing Alex program is included tonight and hopefully Amazon will match the price in the morning; also interesting: a radio tuner, passwords manager, PDF reader that allows annotations and several more games.

If you are a student, get Mom to send you a care package and you'll get $5 in MP3 credit. Not a student (or a Mom)? You too can get the same credit by purchasing any three items from the same page.

If you are a Mom (or just signed up with the Amazon Mom program, which is open to any parent or caregiver .. or anyone else, really), then check your email -- I got a 25% off coupon (up to $100 in savings) to use on select baby items.

For UK readers that use EPUB, Sony is having a big sale, with several books at £0.20.

Amazon UK customers can pick up some good deals in the Bloomsbury Reader series, with numerous titles for £2.99.

Sex and the Single Girl: The Unmarried Woman's Guide to Men ($0.99), by Helen Gurley Brown, is marked down in a price match to the Google sales this week.

Book Description
The trailblazing book that jump-started the sexual revolution

Helen Gurley Brown, the iconic editor in chief of Cosmopolitan for thirty-two years, is considered one of the most influential figures of Second Wave feminism. Her first book sold millions of copies, became a cultural phenomenon, and ushered in a whole new way of thinking about work, men, and life. Feisty, fun, and totally frank, Sex and the Single Girl offers advice to unmarried women that is as relevant today as it was when it burst onto the scene in the 1960s. This spirited manifesto puts women—and what they want—first. It captures the exuberance, optimism, and independence that have influenced the lives of so many contemporary American women.

Winter of the World ($0.32 / £0.20 UK), the latest in the Century Trilogy series by Ken Follett, is on sale in a price match to Sony, but only for those in the UK (the US edition is $19.99).

Book Description
Berlin in 1933 is in upheaval. Eleven-year-old Carla von Ulrich struggles to understand the tensions disrupting her family as Hitler strengthens his grip on Germany. Into this turmoil steps her mother’s formidable friend and former British MP, Ethel Leckwith, and her student son, Lloyd, who soon learns for himself the brutal reality of Nazism. He also encounters a group of Germans resolved to oppose Hitler - but are they willing to go so far as to betray their country? Such people are closely watched by Volodya, a Russian with a bright future in Red Army Intelligence.

The international clash of military power and personal beliefs that ensues will sweep over them all as it rages from Cable Street in London’s East End to Pearl Harbor in Hawaii, from Spain to Stalingrad, from Dresden to Hiroshima.

At Cambridge Lloyd is irresistibly drawn to dazzling American socialite Daisy Peshkov, who represents everything his left-wing family despise. But Daisy is more interested in aristocratic Boy Fitzherbert - amateur pilot, party lover and leading light of the British Union of Fascists.

Back in Berlin, Carla worships golden boy Werner from afar. But nothing will work out the way they expect as their lives and the hopes of the world are smashed by the greatest and cruellest war in the history of the human race.

Winter of the World is the second novel in Ken Follett’s uniquely ambitious and deeply satisfying trilogy 'The Century'. On its own or read in sequence with Fall of Giants, this is a magnificent, spellbinding epic of global conflict and personal drama.

The Sins of the Father ($0.32 / £0.20 UK), the latest in the Clifton Chronicles series by Jeffrey Archer, is another UK only deal, price matched to Sony (the US edition is $12.99). If you haven't started the series, UK readers can also pick up Only Time Will Tell ($3.23 / £1.99 UK) at a great price.

Book Description
New York, 1939. Tom Bradshaw is arrested for first degree murder. He stands accused of killing his brother. When Sefton Jelks, a top Manhattan lawyer, offers his services for nothing, penniless Tom has little choice but to accept his assurance of a lighter sentence. After Tom is tried, found guilty and sentenced, Jelks disappears, and the only way for him to prove his innocence would be to reveal his true identity – something that he has sworn never to do in order to protect the woman he loves. Meanwhile, the young woman in question travels to New York, leaving their son behind in England, having decided she'll do whatever it takes to find the man she was to marry – unwilling to believe that he died at sea. The only proof she has is a letter. A letter that has remained unopened on a mantelpiece in Bristol for over a year. In Jeffrey Archer's epic novel, family loyalties are stretched to their limits as secrets unravel, and the story moves from the backstreets of Bristol to the boardrooms of Manhattan. Join the great storyteller on a journey where there are no stop signs, no cul-de-sacs and no dead ends.

A Pirate's Love ($2.81), by Johanna Lindse, is just one of many of her titles on sale by HarperCollins (I counted 39 under $4 each).

Book Description
A Pirate's Love

Sailing westward toward the Caribbean sun, young Bettina Verlaine obediently sets out to fulfill the promise made by her father--but not by her heart -- a prearranged marriage destined not to be...once the notorious Captain Tristan's pirate ship appears on the horizon.

Abducted by the bold and handsome brigand, the pale-haired beauty surrenders her innocence in the warm caress of the tropical winds -- detesting her virile captor for enslaving her. . .yet loving him for the passionate spell he casts over fragile, yearning heart.

Fanged & Fabulous ($2.99), the second title in the Immortality Bites series by Michelle Rowen, has pretty good reviews (and, hey, there's the first one in the series in my TBR list...).

Book Description
My name is Sarah Dearly, and I've got major problems. Last month, I was turned into a vampire by the world's worst blind date. Then I may have, totally by accident, started a war between the mostly peaceful bloodsuckers and a bunch of sociopathic vamp hunters who have nicknamed me the Slayer of Slayers. Now I'm being used as bait to draw out the hunters' bad-ass leader, while my gorgeous 600-year-old boyfriend Thierry seems to be blowing me off, and my sizzle-hot, fanged friend Quinn is trying to turn my self-defense lessons into make-out sessions. So you know what? I'm done. I've had it. There comes a time when a vamp has to just suck it up and go after what she wants. And as soon as I figure out what that is, that's exactly what I'll do...

World Enough, and Time ($0.99), by James Kahn, is self-published, but looks to be worth downloading a sample.

Book Description
WORLD ENOUGH, AND TIME is the first book of this spell-binding action adventure trilogy. In a post-apocalyptic world 200 years from now, humans are a dying species. When Joshua’s wife is kidnapped by a gryphon and a vampire, he and his comrades—a centaur and an android—set out to rescue her across a surreal landscape filled with seemingly mythological creatures. But the explanation for the existence of these beasts is based in science, and informed by nightmare. And the odyssey isn’t over until they confront the evil cabal whose goal is nothing less than the extinction of the human race.

About the Author:
Best-selling author, James Kahn—doctor, writer, and musician—has worked with celebrated filmmaker Steven Spielberg, Star Wars creator George Lucas, and renowned sci-fi editor Judy Lynn Del Rey. Not only do his fiction credits include Return of the Jedi (on the New York Times Best-seller List for months), Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, The Goonies, and Poltergeist; he’s also written for such television shows as Star Trek: Voyager and Xena: Warrior Princess.

Further Confessions of a Slightly Neurotic Hitwoman ($2.99), by JB Lynn, is a short follow-up to Confessions of a Slightly Neurotic Hitwoman ($3.49), both published by HarperCollins. Pre-order it now and it'll download to your Kindle on Oct 16.

Book Description
Take three wacky aunts, two talking animals, one nervous bride, and an upcoming hit, and you've got the follow-up to JB Lynn's wickedly funny Confessions of a Slightly Neurotic Hitwoman.

Knocking off a drug kingpin was the last thing on Maggie Lee's to-do list, but when a tragic accident leaves her beloved niece orphaned and in the hospital, Maggie will go to desperate lengths to land the money needed for her care.

But the drug kingpin is the least of her worries. Maggie's aunts are driving her crazy, her best friend's turned into a bridezilla…and a knock on the head has given Maggie Dr. Dolittle abilities—she can talk to animals. Unfortunately, they talk back.

It's just another day in the life of this neurotic hitwoman…

Undeniably Yours ($2.99), by Shannon Stacey (Carina Press

Book Description
One-night stand + two percent condom failure rate = happily ever after?

Bar owner Kevin Kowalski is used to women throwing their phone numbers at him, but lately he's more interested in finding a woman to settle down with. A woman like Beth Hansen. If only their first meeting hadn't gone so badly...

Beth's tending bar at a wedding when she comes face-to-face with a tuxedo-clad man she never thought she'd see again. She tries to keep her distance from Kevin but, by last call, she can't say no to his too-blue eyes or the invitation back to his room. Then she slips out before breakfast without leaving a note and, despite their precautions, pregnant.

Kevin quickly warms to the idea of being a dad and to seeing where things go with Beth. After all, he's not the player she thinks he is. But she's not ready for a relationship and, given his reputation, it's going to take a lot to convince her to go on a second date with the father of her child...

The first three novels in Tasha Alexander's Emily Ashton historical suspense series are on sale for $1.99 each. The lastest in the series, Death in the Floating City, is now available for pre-order.

And Only to Deceive

From gifted new writer Tasha Alexander comes a stunning novel of historical suspense set in Victorian England, meticulously researched and with a twisty plot that involves stolen antiquities, betrayal, and murder....

For Emily, accepting the proposal of Philip, the Viscount Ashton, was an easy way to escape her overbearing mother, who was set on a grand society match. So when Emily's dashing husband died on safari soon after their wedding, she felt little grief. After all, she barely knew him. Now, nearly two years later, she discovers that Philip was a far different man from the one she had married so cavalierly. His journals reveal him to have been a gentleman scholar and antiquities collector who, to her surprise, was deeply in love with his wife. Emily becomes fascinated with this new image of her dead husband and she immerses herself in all things ancient and begins to study Greek.

Emily's intellectual pursuits and her desire to learn more about Philip take her to the quiet corridors of the British Museum, one of her husband's favorite places. There, amid priceless ancient statues, she uncovers a dark, dangerous secret involving stolen artifacts from the Greco-Roman galleries. And to complicate matters, she's juggling two very prominent and wealthy suitors, one of whose intentions may go beyond the marrying kind. As she sets out to solve the crime, her search leads to more surprises about Philip and causes her to question the role in Victorian society to which she, as a woman, is relegated.

A Poisoned Season

London's social season is in full swing, and Victorian aristocracy is atwitter over a certain gentleman who claims to be the direct descendant of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette. Adding to their fascination with all things French, an audacious cat burglar is systematically stealing valuable items that once belonged to the ill–fated queen.

But things take a dark turn. The owner of one of the pilfered treasures is found murdered after the theft is reported in the newspapers, and the mysterious thief develops a twisted obsession with Lady Emily Ashton. It takes all of Lady Emily's wit and perseverance to unmask her stalker and ferret out the murderer, while faced with a brewing scandal that threatens both her reputation and her romance with the dashing Colin Hargreaves.

A Fatal Waltz

At her friend Ivy's behest, Emily reluctantly agrees to attend a party at the sprawling English country estate of Lord Fortescue, a man she finds as odious as he is powerful. But if Emily is expecting Lord Fortescue to be the greatest of her problems, she is wrong. Her host has also invited Kristiana von Lange, an Austrian countess who was once linked romantically with Emily's fiancé, the debonair Colin Hargreaves. What Emily believes will be a tedious evening turns deadly when Fortescue is found murdered, and his protégé, Robert Brandon—Ivy's husband—is arrested for the crime.

Determined to right this terrible wrong and clear Robert's name, Emily begins to dig for answers, a quest that will lead her from London's glittering ballrooms to Vienna's sordid backstreets. Not until she engages a notorious anarchist in a game of wits does the shocking truth begin to emerge: the price of exonerating Robert can be paid only by placing Colin in deadly peril. To save her fiancé, Emily must do the unthinkable: bargain with her nemesis, the Countess von Lange.

Raising Wrecker ($0.99), by Summer Wood

Book Description
After foster-parenting four young siblings a decade ago, Summer Wood tried to imagine a place where kids who are left alone or taken from their families would find the love and the family they deserve. For her, fiction was the tool to realize that world, and Wrecker, the central character in her second novel, is the abandoned child for whom life turns around in most unexpected ways. It's June of 1965 when Wrecker enters the world. The war is raging in Vietnam, San Francisco is tripping toward flower power, and Lisa Fay, Wrecker's birth mother, is knocked nearly sideways by life as a single parent in a city she can barely manage to navigate on her own. Three years later, she's in prison, and Wrecker is left to bounce around in the system before he's shipped off to live with distant relatives in the wilds of Humboldt County, California. When he arrives he's scared and angry, exploding at the least thing, and quick to flee. Wrecker is the story of this boy and the motley group of isolated eccentrics who come together to raise him and become a family along the way.

For readers taken with the special boy at the center of The Story of Edgar Sawtelle, Wrecker will be a welcome companion.

The Book of Lost Things ($3.99), by John Connolly

Book Description
New York Times bestselling author John Connolly's unique imagination takes readers through the end of innocence into adulthood and beyond in this dark and triumphantly creative novel of grief and loss, loyalty and love, and the redemptive power of stories.

High in his attic bedroom, twelve-year-old David mourns the death of his mother. He is angry and alone, with only the books on his shelf for company. But those books have begun to whisper to him in the darkness, and as he takes refuge in his imagination, he finds that reality and fantasy have begun to meld. While his family falls apart around him, David is violently propelled into a land that is a strange reflection of his own world, populated by heroes and monsters, and ruled over by a faded king who keeps his secrets in a mysterious book... The Book of Lost Things.

An imaginative tribute to the journey we must all make through the loss of innocence into adulthood, John Connolly's latest novel is a book for every adult who can recall the moment when childhood began to fade, and for every adult about to face that moment. The Book of Lost Things is a story of hope for all who have lost, and for all who have yet to lose. It is an exhilarating tale that reminds us of the enduring power of stories in our lives.

The Heart of Matter ($5.99), the second title in the Odyssey One series by Evan Currie, was on my "recommended" list at Amazon. It's published by 47North and I'm considering getting it for my Prime Lending Library choice this month.

Book Description
After an epic maiden voyage that introduced Earth to a larger universe—and a cosmos full of terrifying new enemies—Captain Eric Weston and the crew of the NAC spacecraft Odyssey have spent months cooling their heels under their admiral’s watchful eye. But when Earth’s newest ally, the Priminae, strike a defense deal with the North American Confederacy, the Odyssey finally receives her orders: return to Ranquil, the Priminae’s war-ravaged homeworld, and lend badly needed support against the invading Drasin.

Weston and his crew are hungry for action, yet once back on Ranquil, they realize not all is as it seems. Yes, the Drasin are a formidable foe, but Weston suspects a powerful unseen force is waging the war that could alter forever the face of the universe. Determined to unmask the mysterious puppet masters, Weston and his motley crew defy NAC protocol and venture into deep space…where they will discover an enemy unlike any they have ever faced. The long-awaited follow-up to the spectacular Into the Black: Odyssey One combines old-school space opera with modern storytelling to create an exhilarating new sci-fi adventure.

Get an MP3 Album for $3 (KSO)

This offer for those with a Kindle Fire with Special Offers only.

On your Kindle Fire with Special Offers (2nd Generation or HD), swipe the top menu to the left until you see Offers, then press/click in order to see the current offers. At the bottom, you should see the offer to Get a Select Music Album for $3. Click on the offer, then on the orange button to add the credit directly to your account. It's nearly instant and the next screen offers to take you to Amazon MP3 store so you can start shopping. You can also shop the Amazon MP3 store from your PC or other Android device and the credit will automatically be used on the next qualifying purchase (I prefer to browse on my PC, as you can do a "play all" on the samples).

Other than picking out an album that has a price of $10 or less, there doesn't seem to be any restriction on which albums you can choose.

Offer is good for one album and only one per account (if you have multiple KSO devices, they need to be registered to different accounts when you apply the credit to any of the accounts). The credit must be claimed by Oct 2 and used by midnight (PT) October 10.

Today's Deals

Some new coupon codes and deals at Kobo:

• Save 30% on bestsellers from Bloomsbury using Promo Code Bloomsbury30Spec (Canada and USA only; expire Oct 2)
• Save 30% off Select Bloomsbury Titles using Promo Code bloom3028 (Canada and USA only; expire Oct 1)
• Save 50% on The New Jack Reacher Title using Promo Code WantedMan30 (AU/NZ only; expire Oct 4)
• Save 25% on The New Ken Follett Title using Promo Code Winter25UK (UK Exclusive; expire Oct 2)

While they last, Ice Monkey is selling factory recertified Kindle Keyboards (WiFi only) for $59.99.

Packt, which specializes in fairly technical books, is celebrating publishing their 1,000th book. According to the email I received, you can log into your account or create a new one and "access our library, PacktLib, for free for a week, and choose any of our eBooks to download and keep." I have been having problems logging in (seems their servers are a bit swamped), but I'm going to keep trying over the next two days, to see if I can get a book.

Today's Kindle Daily Deal is Black April: The Fall of South Vietnam, 1973-75 ($2.99), by George J Veith.

Book Description
The defeat of South Vietnam was arguably America’s worst foreign policy disaster of the 20th Century. Yet a complete understanding of the endgame—from the 27 January 1973 signing of the Paris Peace Accords to South Vietnam’s surrender on 30 April 1975—has eluded us.

Black April addresses that deficit. A culmination of exhaustive research in three distinct areas: primary source documents from American archives, North Vietnamese publications containing primary and secondary source material, and dozens of articles and numerous interviews with key South Vietnamese participants, this book represents one of the largest Vietnamese translation projects ever accomplished, including almost one hundred rarely or never seen before North Vietnamese unit histories, battle studies, and memoirs. Most important, to celebrate the 30th Anniversary of South Vietnam’s conquest, the leaders in Hanoi released several compendiums of formerly highly classified cables and memorandum between the Politburo and its military commanders in the south. This treasure trove of primary source materials provides the most complete insight into North Vietnamese decision-making ever complied. While South Vietnamese deliberations remain less clear, enough material exists to provide a decent overview.

Ultimately, whatever errors occurred on the American and South Vietnamese side, the simple fact remains that the country was conquered by a North Vietnamese military invasion despite written pledges by Hanoi’s leadership against such action. Hanoi’s momentous choice to destroy the Paris Peace Accords and militarily end the war sent a generation of South Vietnamese into exile, and exacerbated a societal trauma in America over our long Vietnam involvement that reverberates to this day. How that transpired deserves deeper scrutiny.

Talent Is Overrated: What Really Separates World-Class Performers from Everybody Else ($2.09 / £1.29 UK), by Geoff Colvin, is the Kindle Deal of the day for those in the UK (the US edition is $12.99).

Book Description
What if everything you know about raw talent, hard work, and great performance is wrong? Few, if any, of the people around you are truly great at what they do. But why aren't they? Why don't they manage businesses like Jack Welch or Andy Grove, play golf like Tiger Woods or play the violin like Itzhak Perlman? Asked to explain why a few people truly excel, most of us offer one of two answers: hard work or a natural talent. However, scientific evidence doesn't support the notion that specific natural talents make great performers.

In one of the most popular Fortune articles in years, Geoff Colvin offered new evidence that top performers in any field – from Tiger Woods and Winston Churchill to Warren Buffett and Jack Welch – are not determined by their inborn talents. Greatness doesn’t come from DNA but from practice and perseverance honed over decades. And not just plain old hard work, but a very specific kind of work. The key is how you practise, how you analyse the results of your progress and learn from your mistakes, that enables you to achieve greatness.

Now Colvin has expanded his article with much more scientific background and real-life examples. He shows that the skills of business – negotiating deals, evaluating financial statements, and all the rest – obey the principles that lead to greatness, so that anyone can get better at them with the right kind of effort. Even the hardest decisions and interactions can be systematically improved. This new mind-set, combined with Colvin’s practical advice, will change the way you think about your job and career – and will inspire you to achieve more in all you do.

The Prague Cemetery ($1.99 Kindle, B&N), by Umberto Eco, is the Nook Daily Find, price matched on Kindle. If I hadn't replaced my paper copy last year, when we had those great $1 Kindle book Special Offers, I'd grab it a this price.

Book Description
Nineteenth-century Europe—from Turin to Prague to Paris—abounds with the ghastly and the mysterious. Jesuits plot against Freemasons. Italian republicans strangle priests with their own intestines. French criminals plan bombings by day and celebrate Black Masses at night. Every nation has its own secret service, perpetrating forgeries, plots, and massacres. Conspiracies rule history. From the unification of Italy to the Paris Commune to the Dreyfus Affair to The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, Europe is in tumult and everyone needs a scapegoat. But what if, behind all of these conspiracies, both real and imagined, lay one lone man? What if that evil genius created the world’s most infamous document?

Umberto Eco takes his readers on a remarkable journey through the underbelly of world-shattering events. Here is Eco at his most exciting, a book immediately hailed as a masterpiece.

Yes We Can: A Biography of President Barack Obama ($2.99 Kindle, B&N), by Garen Thomas, is the Nook Daily Find: Election 2012, price matched on Kindle, where you can get the companion audiobook for $6.96. Note that this appears to geared towards middle-grade readers, from the reviews and the inclusion of a reading level in the synopsis.

Book Description
THIS IS OUR MOMENT

“This is our time—to put people back to work and open doors of opportunity for our kids; to restore prosperity and promote the cause of peace; to reclaim the American dream and reaffirm that fundamental truth—that out of many, we are one; that while we breathe, we hope; and where we are met with cynicism and doubt, and those who tell us that we can’t, we will respond with that timeless creed that sums up the spirit of a people: Yes, we can.”

— President Barack Obama, Acceptance Speech; Chicago, IL; November 4, 2008

Born in the U.S.A., the son of an African father and an American mother, a boy who spent his childhood in Indonesia and Hawaii, Barack Obama is truly a citizen of the world. In kindergarten, he wrote an essay titled, “I Want to Become President,” and now, with his fierce optimism, exuberant sense of purpose and determination, and above all, his belief that change can happen, Barack Obama, the first African-American president of the United States, has made that dream come true.

Garen Thomas takes us through the life of Barack Obama, from his struggle to fit in with his classmates, and concern about not knowing his biological father, through his term as an Illinois senator, and the long campaign for president, to his historic victory.

Grade Level: 3 and up

Today's Kindle Kids Daily Deal is Silly Tilly ($1.99), by Eileen Spinelli and David Slonim (Illustrator). This book features Kindle Text Pop-Up for reading text over vivid, full-color images when using Kindle Fire or select Kindle Reading Apps (Kindle Cloud Reader, Kindle for iPad or Kindle for Android); unlike some other Text Popup books, this one won't work on any of the eInk Kindles.

Book Description
"Tilly is not an ordinary goose. She takes her baths in apple juice. She wears a pancake as a hat. She tries to ride the farmer’s cat."

But the barnyard animals complain that she’s too silly. When she stops entertaining her friends with her antics, the farm becomes a quiet and unhappy place. David Slonim’s acrylic, pencil, and ballpoint pen illustrations add to the hilarity in this story about a one-of-a-kind silly goose.

Grade Level: 1st and up