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Wednesday, November 14, 2012

Today's Deals

Today's Kindle Daily Deal is Freedom from Fear: The American People in Depression and War, 1929-1945 ($2.99), by David M. Kennedy (Oxford University Press, USA).
Book Description
Between 1929 and 1945, two great travails were visited upon the American people: the Great Depression and World War II. This book tells the story of how Americans endured, and eventually prevailed, in the face of those unprecedented calamities.

The Depression was both a disaster and an opportunity. As David Kennedy vividly demonstrates, the economic crisis of the 1930s was far more than a simple reaction to the alleged excesses of the 1920s. For more than a century before 1929, America's unbridled industrial revolution had gyrated through repeated boom and bust cycles, wastefully consuming capital and inflicting untold misery on city and countryside alike. Freedom From Fear explores how the nation agonized over its role in World War II, how it fought the war, why the United States won, and why the consequences of victory were sometimes sweet, sometimes ironic. In a compelling narrative, Kennedy analyzes the determinants of American strategy, the painful choices faced by commanders and statesmen, and the agonies inflicted on the millions of ordinary Americans who were compelled to swallow their fears and face battle as best they could.

Both comprehensive and colorful, this account of the most convulsive period in American history, excepting only the Civil War, reveals a period that formed the crucible in which modern America was formed.

The Oxford History of the United States
The Atlantic Monthly has praised The Oxford History of the United States as "the most distinguished series in American historical scholarship," a series that "synthesizes a generation's worth of historical inquiry and knowledge into one literally state-of-the-art book. Who touches these books touches a profession."

Conceived under the general editorship of one of the leading American historians of our time, C. Vann Woodward, The Oxford History of the United States blends social, political, economic, cultural, diplomatic, and military history into coherent and vividly written narrative.

The Kindle Deal of the day for those in the UK is The Best Daily Deals of the Last Year; six of the year's deals are repeating at £0.99 each (75% off).
To celebrate one year of Kindle Daily Deals, we're repeating six of the most popular deals from the last year, just in case you missed them first time round. Crime, Thrillers and MysteryA Dark Redemption: A Dark Redemption by Stav Sherez, Historical Fiction: The Misremembered Man by Christina McKenna, Literary Fiction: The Secret Intensity of Everyday Life by William Nicholson Non-fiction: The 15 Minute Rule by Caroline Buchanan, Best Customer Review Score: Paw Tracks in the Moonlight by Denis O'Connor and Richard Morris, Literary Award Winner: The Secret River by Kate Grenville.

A Dark Redemption (Main/UK), by Stav Sherez
A Dark Redemption introduces DI Jack Carrigan and DS Geneva Miller as they investigate the brutal rape and murder of a young Ugandan student. Plunged into an underworld of illegal immigrant communities, they discover that the murdered girl's studies at a London College may have threatened to reveal things that some people will go to any lengths to keep secret... Unflinching, inventive and intelligent, A Dark Redemption explores a sinister case that will force DI Carrigan to face up to his past and DS Miller to confront what path she wants her future to follow.
The Misremembered Man (Main/UK), by Christina McKenna ($3.00 US Edition)
The Misremembered Man is a beautifully rendered portrait of life in rural Ireland which charms and delights with its authentic characters and gentle humor. This vivid portrayal of the universal search for love brings with it a darker tale, heartbreaking in its poignancy.
The Secret Intensity of Everyday Life (Main/UK), by William Nicholson
Laura is content enough with her marriage, her two children and her part-time job - until an ex-lover whom she had thought was ‘the one' gets in touch out of the blue. Suddenly passion and excitement are rekindled, and she realises how stagnant her life has become. But how much happiness has she a right to expect, and what of the pain she might cause to achieve it? Unknown to Laura, many others in her Sussex village are living with their own unresolved inner dramas. None of them guesses at her crisis. Yet every decision they take has an impact on those around them. The hidden longings of a large cast of characters interweave in a gripping plot that reveals ordinary life at its richest: comic and tragic, poignant and cruel, surprising and moving.
The 15 Minute Rule (Main/UK), by Caroline Buchanan
The Fifteen Minute Rule sets out to help us tackle those things that we are always putting off: starting an exercise regime, looking for a new job, doing our tax returns or learning a new skill. Or perhaps doing something to improve the quality of life, by learning to fight depression or confront an annoying habit. Perhaps it's simply clearing the huge pile of clutter from your desk. Whatever it is, all you need is fifteen minutes and before you know it, some weeks later, you have accomplished a task you couldn't bring yourself to start.

The hardest thing to overcome when you're trying to start something daunting and new is to actually start. That mountain of paperwork in front of you that looks like it will take hours to go through and hours of mind-numbing sorting is hard to contemplate for most - but fifteen minutes isn't. Fifteen minutes is manageable and can bring minor and major results, each one providing satisfaction and a boost in self-esteem.

This book is for those people who need instant gratification and also those long-term players who recognise the benefits of consistency and dedication.
Paw Tracks in the Moonlight (Main/UK), by Denis O'Connor and Richard Morris
When Denis O'Connor rescues a three-week-old kitten from certain death during a snowstorm, little does he know how this tiny creature will change his life forever. Against all odds the kitten - who he names Toby Jug - survives and forms an unusually strong bond with his rescuer. Set against the rural splendour of Northumberland, Paw Tracks in the Moonlight charmingly chronicles the adventures of one man and his Maine Coone cat.

From an invasion of bees at Owl Cottage to the case of the disappearing tomatoes, life with Toby Jug - who believes himself to be human - is never dull. Nevertheless, it is only when Denis and Toby Jug embark on a summer camping trip on horseback in the Cheviot Hills that a new world opens up for them both.
The Secret River (Main/UK), by Kate Grenville ($1.99 US Edition)
London, 1807. William Thornhill, happily wedded to his childhood sweetheart Sal, is a waterman on the River Thames. Life is tough but bearable until William makes a mistake, a bad mistake for which he and his family are made to pay dearly. His sentence: to be transported to New South Wales for the term of his natural life. The Thornhills arrive in this harsh and alien land that they cannot understand and which feels like a death sentence. But among the convicts there is a rumour that freedom can be bought, that 'unclaimed' land up the Hawkesbury offers an opportunity to start afresh, far away from the township of Sydney. When William takes a hundred acres for himself he is shocked to find Aboriginal people already living on the river. And other recent arrivals - Thomas Blackwood, Smasher Sullivan and Mrs Herring - are finding their own ways to respond to them. Soon Thornhill, a man neither better nor worse than most, has to make the most difficult decision of his life.

Pretty Little Secrets (Pretty Little Liars Series) ($2.99 Kindle, B&N), by Sara Shepard, is the Nook Daily Find, price matched on Kindle. Be careful searching on your Kindle, though, as you may only find a $10.99 priced edition, which has the buy button disabled (many of HarperCollins titles are duplicated, with one edition disabled, right now, apparently due to Amazon's getting ready to remove or disable the Agency priced titles.
Book Description
Rewind to junior year in Rosewood, Pennsylvania, to a winter break no one has ever heard about. . . .

Fat snowflakes fall onto manicured lawns, quilted stockings hang over marble fireplaces, and everyone is at peace, especially Hanna, Emily, Aria, and Spencer. Now that Alison’s murderer is in jail and A is dead, they can finally relax. Little do they know there’s a new A in town. . . .

Rule number one of being an effective stalker: Get to know your prey. So I watch these liars day and night, keeping an eye on the trouble they get into, the messes they make, and the secrets they keep. Hanna’s desperate for a very personal session with her gym trainer. Emily is number one on Santa’s naughty list. Aria’s old flame from Iceland is about to land her in hot water. And Spencer’s resorting to some backhanded tactics to get what she wants.

What happens on holiday break stays on holiday break—right? But guess what. I saw. And now I’m telling.

Taking place between Unbelievable and Wicked, Pretty Little Secrets is a very special Pretty Little Liars tale revealing the liars’ never-before-seen misadventures over their junior-year winter break.

Today's Kindle Kids Daily Deal is Potty ($1.99), by Leslie Patricelli.
Book Description
There comes a point in a toddler’s life when going in one’s diaper is only one possible option, and the question must be raised: Should I go in my potty? With pitch-perfect humor and pacing, Leslie Patricelli follows the inner dialogue (sure to have little ones shouting responses) and hilarious actions of everyone’s favorite Baby, winding up with an over-the-top look of surprise and delight that will have both parents and offspring laughing out loud. "I did it!"

Age Level: 1 and up

Tuesday, November 13, 2012

Kindle Fire Lightning Deal - $129

While they last, the current Lightning Deal at Amazon is for a Kindle Fire - 7" LCD Display, Wi-Fi, 8GB for only $129 - that's $30 off.

Note that this is NOT the new HD Kindle Fire, but the older generation hardware (essentially) with an updated interface.

Today's Deals

I'm usually all about ebooks and reducing the paper on the shelves, but today's Amazon Gold Box Deal has a number of collectible booksets, at up to 60% off, that would be nice gifts, for collectors or those who haven't joined the digital reading revolution. Several of these were just released today, so if you already had one of them on pre-order, you'll automatically get the GoldBox price. Limit two per customer and while supplies last.

This past weekend's Fictionwise coupon, 110912, good for 45% off, is still working (probably thru Wed). The discount combines with the new release discount, so it might be a good time to pick up the new issues from Dell Magazines (Fantasy/ SciFi/ Ellory Queen Mysteries; DRM-free, multiple formats).

Today's Kindle Daily Deal is Lit ($1.99), by Mary Karr.
Book Description
The Liars' Club brought to vivid, indelible life Mary Karr's hardscrabble Texas childhood. Cherry, her account of her adolescence, "continued to set the literary standard for making the personal universal" (Entertainment Weekly). Now Lit follows the self-professed blackbelt sinner's descent into the inferno of alcoholism and madness—and to her astonishing resurrection.

Karr's longing for a solid family seems secure when her marriage to a handsome, Shakespeare-quoting blueblood poet produces a son they adore. But she can't outrun her apocalyptic past. She drinks herself into the same numbness that nearly devoured her charismatic but troubled mother, reaching the brink of suicide. A hair-raising stint in "The Mental Marriott," with an oddball tribe of gurus and saviors, awakens her to the possibility of joy and leads her to an unlikely faith. Not since Saint Augustine cried, "Give me chastity, Lord—but not yet!" has a conversion story rung with such dark hilarity.

Lit is about getting drunk and getting sober; becoming a mother by letting go of a mother; learning to write by learning to live. Written with Karr's relentless honesty, unflinching self-scrutiny, and irreverent, lacerating humor, it is a truly electrifying story of how to grow up—as only Mary Karr can tell it.

Sipping from the Nile: My Exodus from Egypt ($1.57 / £0.99 UK), by Jean Naggar, is the Kindle Deal of the day for those in the UK (the US edition is $5.99/KLL Eligible). The companion audiobook is $1.99 for those in the US (and appears to be $2.29 for those in the UK).
Book Description
Born into a prominent, sophisticated Jewish family who spend time in Europe and live in the Middle East, author Jean Naggar’s coming of age memoir tells the story of her protected youth in an exotic multicultural milieu. To Naggar her childhood seemed a magical time that would never come to an end. But in 1956, Egyptian President Nasser’s nationalizing of the Suez Canal set in motion events that would change her life forever.

An enchanted way of life suddenly ended by multinational hostilities, her close-knit extended family is soon scattered far and wide. Naggar’s own family moves to London where she finishes her schooling and is swept into adulthood and the challenge of new horizons in America. Speaking for a different wave of immigrants whose Sephardic origins highlight the American Jewish story through an unfamiliar lens, Naggar traces her personal journey through lost worlds and difficult transitions, exotic locales and strong family values. The story resonates for all in this poignant exploration of the innocence of childhood in a world breaking apart.

Angel of Darkness ($3.99 Kindle, B&N), by Cynthia Eden, is the Nook Daily Find, price matched on Kindle. Not a bad price and I don't see it in the libraries I belong to.
Book Description
He Fell For Her

Nicole St. James was a nice woman. An innocent, pretty, twentysomething schoolteacher with her life ahead of her. But as the angel of death, it's Keenan's job to take that life away. So when a vampire attacks Nicole, Keenan is not supposed to snap and take out the vampire instead. It cost him his wings--but she's worth it.

Except when Keenan catches up to his pretty schoolteacher, she's not so innocent anymore. Hot red lipstick, tight black shorts and long white fangs--she's ready to kick the asses of anyone who helped turn her into a damn bloodsucker. Unless that ass is unusually shapely and attached to a certain fallen angel. Even with all of heaven and half of hell after them, someone will have to teach Keenan about the fun kinds of sin. . .

Today's Kindle Kids Daily Deal is The Elephant's Child ($0.99), by Rudyard Kipling and Tim Raglin (Illustrator).
Book Description

Rudyard Kipling’s story of how the elephant got its trunk has always delighted children with its playful use of language and sense of high adventure. Never has there been a more satisfying rendering of Kipling’s most beloved “Just So” story, which explains what the world was like “in the beginning of years when the world was new and all…”

Age Level: 3 and up

Monday, November 12, 2012

Today's Deals

Baen is having a contest and giving away five free books to anyone who has served in the military (contest ends tonight). Just send an email to contest@baen.com and tell them your branch of service. Note: Open to those who have served/are serving in other countries' militaries as well as the US.

Amazon now has Single Issue Comics on sale in the Kindle store. At the same time, they've released an update for the Kindle Paperwhite that lets you refresh the page in comics more easily (and turn off the "recommended content" on the home page! yay!). It looks like many of the comics are $2.99 per issue (which probably beats the newsstand price by quite a bit), but I also saw at least a couple of series for 99 cents: Green Lantern (2011- ) #1 and Arrow (2012- ) #1; the latter has five issues that are currently under a dollar.

Get 50% off a comic book at Kobo, as they celebrate Comic Week, using coupon code comics50 (offer self-destructs Nov 17).

Get a $5 Instant Video Credit if you register a Sony TV or BluRay player at Amazon (must be on their Instant Video compatibility list).

Today's Kindle Daily Deal is Robert Kroese's Hilarious Mercury Trilogy, marked 80% off at $1.99 per volume. Looks like a great time to grab the ending to the trilogy, since I have the first two titles. Not technically a part of the sale, you'll also want to pick up the two short stories in the series, Mercury Swings and Mercury Begins, at 99 cents apiece. Already read the series? Then check out Kroese's new Kindle Serial, Disenchanted.
By turns epic and explosive, Robert Kroese's Mercury trilogy draws inspiration from the impertinent, side-splitting, and madcap adventures of Douglas Adams’s "Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy." The books chronicle the universe-saving slacker angel, Mercury. Destined to be cult favorites, today the Mercury Trilogy books are only $1.99 each (80% off).
Mercury Falls
While on assignment in Utah, Christine Temetri isn’t surprised when yet another prophesied Apocalypse fails to occur. After three years of reporting on End Times cults for a religious news magazine, Christine is seriously questioning her career choice. But then she meets Mercury, a cult leader whose knowledge of the impending Apocalypse is decidedly more solid than most: he is an angel, sent from heaven to prepare for the Second Coming but distracted by beer, ping pong, and other earthly delights. After Christine and Mercury inadvertently save Karl Grissom—a film-school dropout and the newly appointed Antichrist—from assassination, she realizes the three of them are all that stand in the way of mankind’s utter annihilation. They are a motley crew compared to the heavenly host bent on earth’s destruction, but Christine figures they’ll just have to do. Full of memorable characters, Mercury Falls is an absurdly funny tale about unlikely heroes on a quest to save the world.
Mercury Rises
Jaded religion reporter Christine Temetri and Mercury, a renegade angel, have just thwarted two diabolical plots to destroy the world. But their work isn’t finished yet: mysterious powers outranking even the Heavenly bureaucracy seem intent on keeping the Apocalypse on track. While the world is plagued by natural disasters and nations prepare for war, crazed billionaire Horace Finch plots to use a secret device hidden beneath the African desert to discover the deepest secrets of the Universe—even if he has to destroy the Universe to do it. Meanwhile, unassuming FBI investigator Jacob Slater tries in vain to find a rational explanation for the mysterious destruction of downtown Anaheim—a quest that ultimately brings him to Kenya, where he meets Christine and Mercury. Together, the three must stop Finch from activating the device and tearing reality to pieces. Uproarious and wildly entertaining, Mercury Rises proves that the devil is in the details!
Mercury Rests
After foiling an attempt to destroy the universe, Mercury has gone missing. And with the devil already putting the final fiendish touches on his next scheme to bring about the apocalypse, all that stands between Lucifer and his dreams of a hellfire holocaust are two misfit humans: jaded religion reporter Christine Temetri and mild-mannered forensic analyst Jacob Slater.

But the pair soon realize that the Prince of Darkness has set his sights higher than they can reach; he’s planning to bring his battle for domination straight to the pearly gates. They’ll need the wisecracking, ping-pong loving, apathetic angel Mercury to help save the day, the world, and heaven before the clock ticks down to the End Times…if they can find him.

By turns epic and explosive, Mercury Rests concludes the trilogy that Booklist describes as a “hilarious romp” that has “cult favorite written all over it.”

Winner of the Commonwealth Book Prize, Pacific Region 2012, Me and Mr Booker ($1.57 / £0.99 UK), by Cory Taylor, is the Kindle Deal of the day for those in the UK (no US edition).
Book Description
Looking back, Martha could’ve said no when Mr Booker first tried to kiss her. That would’ve been the sensible thing to do. But Martha is sixteen, she lives in a small dull town – a cemetery with lights – her father is mad, her home is stifling, and she’s waiting for the rest of her life to begin. Of course Martha would kiss the charming Englishman who brightened her world with style, adventure, whisky, cigarettes and sex. But Martha didn’t count on the consequences. Me and Mr Booker is a story about feeling old when you’re young and acting young when you’re not. Located in small town Australia, Cory Taylor’s first novel is already a smash hit in her home country. Martha’s adventures with Mr Booker will keep you on the edge of your seat and leave you with plenty to think about; maybe be angry about, then again maybe not.

The Scroll ($0.99 Kindle, B&N), a novella by Anne Perry, is the Nook Daily Find, price matched on Kindle. This is a part of the multi-author Bibliomystery series, with other titles by Jeffrey Deaver, Ken Bruen and CJ Box (so far).
Book Description
An ancient scroll draws a bookseller into a chilling mystery

Monty Danforth finds the tin buried beneath a shipment of leather-bound classics. Inside is a millennia-old vellum manuscript written in an unfamiliar but unmistakably ancient language. Danforth tries to photocopy and photograph it, but he ends up with blank images, as though the ink were made of something impervious to modern technology. As the scroll’s mystery enchants him, this hapless bookseller falls into a cutthroat conspiracy that he may never escape.

Soon a dead-eyed old man and his granddaughter come calling for the scroll. Danforth refuses to sell them the manuscript, but they will not be the last to demand it. Powerful forces crave the secrets locked within this ancient document, and Danforth will survive only if he can master its power.

Today's Kindle Teens Daily Deal is The Named ($1.99), the first novel in Australian author Marianne Curley's Guardians of Time Trilogy (two of which are now on Kindle). It has mostly good reviews from adults as well as teens, with the caveat that it takes a while to get into the writing style (chapters alternate viewpoints of the two main characters, Isabel and Ethan). From the synopsis, it looks like a good blend of Harry Potter meets Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever. The author has just come back from her fight against bone cancer and has a new series slated to start publication next Spring.
Book Description
Ethan is a member of the Named, sworn to fight the Order of Chaos, an evil group determined to permanently change the course of history. But he is also a normal high school student trying desperately to keep up with his homework and fit in. When he is assigned to mentor Isabel, a cute classmate and future member of the Named, the line between his two lives begins to blur. So begins an epic quest as Ethan, Isabel, and others travel through time to battle dark forces and protect the future.

Grade Level: 7 and up

Sunday, November 11, 2012

Free & 99 Cent MP3 Albums

In addition to today's free MP3 (a Christmas album, the Green Hill Christmas Music Sampler by Beegie Adair), you can pick up Veterans Day Honor, by The Bands and Ensembles of the US Armed Forces, for free today at Amazon; this has been free for previous Veterans Days and will likely go back up in price at midnight (Seattle time).

Some 99 cent albums you may want to check out:
If you don't mind spending a bit more, these are on sale for $3.99:
Last, this one is $5.99, but still a great bargain: 100% Christmas - The Greatest Artists 100 Hits, from Vista Music