Today's Deals 1/14

Amazon's Android Appstore free app today Audubon Butterflies - A Field Guide to North American Butterflies. A great deal for those of you that didn't buy it on sale last year (as I did; at least it was only a buck).

Today's Kindle Daily Deal is The Devil Colony ($1.99), the seventh novel in the Sigma Force series by James Rollins. The latest in the series, The Eye of God, can now be pre-ordered for delivery in June. Looking thru my records, it appears I've picked up all but the first and last two in this series at steep discounts over the years.

Book Description
From New York Times bestselling author James Rollins comes a novel of boundless imagination and meticulous research, a book that dares to answer a frightening question at the heart of America: Could the founding of the United States be based on a fundamental lie? The shocking truth lies hidden within the ruins of an impossibility, a lost colony of the Americas vanished in time and cursed into oblivion. A place known only as The Devil Colony.

Deep in the Rocky Mountains, a gruesome discovery--hundreds of mummified bodies--stirs international attention and fervent controversy. Despite doubts about the bodies' origins, the local Native American Heritage Commission lays claim to the prehistoric remains, along with the strange artifacts found in the same cavern: gold plates inscribed with an unfathomable script.

During a riot at the dig site, an anthropologist dies horribly, burned to ashes in a fiery explosion in plain view of television cameras. All evidence points to a radical group of Native Americans, including one agitator, a teenage firebrand who escapes with a vital clue to the murder and calls on the one person who might help--her uncle, Painter Crowe, Director of Sigma Force.

To protect his niece and uncover the truth, Painter will ignite a war among the nation's most powerful intelligence agencies. Yet an even greater threat looms as events in the Rocky Mountains have set in motion a frightening chain reaction, a geological meltdown that threatens the entire western half of the U.S.

From the volcanic peaks of Iceland to the blistering deserts of the American Southwest, from the gold vaults of Fort Knox to the bubbling geysers of Yellowstone, Painter Crowe joins forces with Commander Gray Pierce to penetrate the shadowy heart of a dark cabal, one that has been manipulating American history since the founding of the thirteen colonies.

But can Painter discover the truth--one that could topple governments--before it destroys all he holds dear?

Today's Kindle Romance Daily Deal is The Soldier ($1.99), the second novel in the Duke's Obsession series by Grace Burrowes.

Book Description
Be among the first to discover rising star Grace Burrowes, whose searing debut, The Heir, captured awards, rave reviews, and a crusade of fans who can't stop talking about it.

Even in the quiet countryside he can find no peace...

His idyllic estate is falling down from neglect and nightmares of war give him no rest. Then Devlin St. Just meets his new neighbor...

Until his beautiful neighbor ignites his imagination...

With her confident manner hiding a devastating secret, his lovely neighbor commands all of his attention, and protecting Emmaline becomes Deviln's most urgent mission.

Today's Kindle SciFi/Fantasy Daily Deal is SWELL ($1.99), by Corwin Ericson.

Book Description
Reminiscent of Christopher Moore’s ‘Fluke’ and Neil Gaiman’s ‘American Gods,’ this slightly fantastical tale is told from the perspective of ever reluctant Orange Whippey, the story of his involvement in the comically unnecessary Whale Network unfolds as rival whaling factions, Korean smugglers/ultra tourists/storytellers, and a privacy advocating talking head all do their best to keep him from doing what he would ultimately prefer to do: Nothing. Set on the tiny, fictional island of Bismuth, it moves at a languid pace as Orange is dragged, far too often, to writhing lagoons, rusted ship hulks, hellish saunas, and private islands, creating a subtly farcical, always absurd setting for numerous misadventures.

The Extinction Club ($1.60 / £0.99 UK), by Jeffrey Moore, is the Kindle Deal of the day for those in the UK (no US edition).

Book Description
Nile Nightingale, a troubled man in search of refuge, arrives in the Laurentian mountains of Quebec: a remote land home to rare wildlife and a violent hunting community. He soon finds haven, in the form of a run-down country church for sale.

Until, that is, he stumbles upon something in its snow-covered graveyard. A bloody sack, tied with Christmas ribbon. Inside, slashed and beaten, is fourteen-year-old Céleste Jonquères, whose recent testimony has put the hunters' leader, a man who's killed more animals than a hundred winters, behind bars.

What follows is a darkly comic tale, in which the very urban Nile and the country-smart Céleste teach each other about life and death, love and loss. Inspired by true events, The Extinction Club is a powerful portrayal of wildlife plunder and those who dare to oppose it.

Abuse of Power ($2.99 Kindle, B&N), by Michael Savage, is the Nook Daily Find, price matched on Kindle.

Book Description
From New York Times bestselling author and nationally syndicated radio talk-show host Michael Savage comes a high-intensity debut thriller, the story of a smeared network journalist who uncovers a chilling terrorist plot.

Jack Hatfield is a hardened former war correspondent who rose to national prominence for his insightful, provocative commentary. But after being smeared as a bigot and extremist by a radical leftist media-watchdog group, he ultimately loses his job and finds himself working in obscurity as a freelance news producer in San Francisco.

One afternoon Hatfield is on a ride-along with the SFPD bomb squad when a seemingly routine carjacking turns deadly, after police find several pounds of military-grade explosives in the jacked car. And when the FBI urges Hatfield to stay out of it, he knows he's onto something big.

This event will open up a shadowy trail that leads Hatfield from San Francisco to Tel Aviv, London, Paris, and back again, as he works with a stunning Yemeni intelligence agent and a veteran Green Beret to expose a terrorist group known as the Hand of Allah—and a plot within the highest corridors of power that will dwarf 9/11.

Abuse of Power is a lightning-paced thriller, spanning the globe from Europe and Israel to the back alleys of San Francisco's Chinatown. Jack Hatfield must make the choice between protecting his own life and investigating a terrorist cell whose goal is nothing less than total political control—no matter what the cost.

Today's Kindle Kids Daily Deal is Charlie the Ranch Dog ($1.99), by Ree Drummond and Diane deGroat.

Book Description
Meet Charlie. He's a ranch dog. Breakfast is his life, especially when bacon is involved. Charlie has dangly ears, floppy skin, and big fat paws. And he loves living in the country. That's because he works like a dog...fixing fences, gardening, and helping his family out on the range. Yep, it's all work, all the time for Charlie the ranch dog. In fact, he's probably working right now... Zzzzzzz.... A ranch dog's work is never done! Come along as Ree Drummond, The Pioneer Woman, introduces us to her beloved short-legged pioneer dog named Charlie.

Grade Level: P and up

This book features Kindle Text Pop-Up for reading text over vivid, full-color images when using Kindle Fire/HD 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.

Bargain Cookbooks (K/E)

I know, I'm supposed to be looking thru the list of today's Daily Deal books, but I got distracted over in the cookbook section. For those that are on sale at Kobo, you can use promo code vouchercodes40 for an additional 40% off (non-Agency only, of course).

Top Chef: The Cookbook ($3.99 Kindle) with a foreword by Tom Colicchio. A must for fans of the show, there are also a lot of recipes for those more enticed by the food than the behind the scenes tidbits (and none of them are for liver covered with chocolate, which received a vote for the most vile food produced on the show from one of the judges). I took a look thru the cookbook while at the bookstore the other day and there were enough good recipes that I grabbed it at this price (which isn't matched in the other stores that I checked).

Book Description
Top Chef presents the official companion cookbook to the No. 1 rated food show on cable television! Featuring 100 fabulous recipes from the first three seasons of the show, including dishes from the Elimination Rounds and the Quick-Fire Challenges. In-depth discussions with contestants, judges, and crew reveal the inner workings of the show, and lavish photographs take readers behind-the-scenes into the Top Chef pantry and the competition sites. This cookbook will have aspiring culinary contenders reliving classic show moments and relishing new recipes just in time to obsess over Padma's outfits in Season 4.

Raw Energy: 124 Raw Food Recipes for Energy Bars, Smoothies, and Other Snacks to Supercharge Your Body ($2.99 Kindle, Kobo), by Stephanie L. Tourles

Book Description
It’s time to rescue snacks from the realm of empty-calorie packaged junk food and transform everyday pick-me-ups into healthful, satisfying mini meals. Why waste calories on cookies or chips that have no nutritional value and provide only short-term satisfaction when raw foods are delicious, simple to prepare, and bursting with natural energy boosters that everybody needs to stay fit and healthy?

Thanks to Raw Energy, it has never been easier to add a full spectrum of raw ingredients to a healthful lifestyle. Author Stephanie Tourles’s 125 recipes for trail mixes, parfaits, energy bars, juice blends, smoothies, soups, vegetable chips, zippy dips, candies, and cookies combine raw ingredients in delicious snacks that are chock-full of nutrients and long-term energy boosters.

Made from real, whole foods that are uncooked, unadulterated, and unprocessed, these snacks are 150- to 250-calorie packages of health and vitality, dense with naturally occurring vitamins, minerals, fiber, and enzymes. The snacks in Raw Energy do not rely on refined white flour or sugar, they are not cooked in any way, and, with the exception of honey, they do not use animal products.

They do include raw nuts and seeds, nut butters, dried and fresh fruits, oats, carob, cocoa, freshly extracted juices, and vegetables. They taste great and are easy to digest. Tourles provides a complete overview of the benefits of raw foods, along with an introduction to "uncooking" techniques and an ingredient-by-ingredient food guide. For anyone looking for more nutritional punch from low-calorie snacks, Raw Energy provides 125 tasty starting points.

Push-up Pops ($1.99 Kindle), by Courtney Dial Whitmore and Kyle Dreier (Photographer)

Book Description
A well-known stylist and writer in the field of party design and décor, Courtney Dial Whitmore knows what’s hot! Capitalizing on the popular trend of push-up pops, Courtney’s love of entertaining turns Push-Up Pops into the perfect party resource. These treats use the ordinary off-the-shelf clear plastic molds but transform them into frozen fruit Popsicles, cake and pudding parfaits, cupcakes and 40 other treats. These beautiful layers are sweet additions to any party!

Courtney Dial Whitmore’s expertise has been seen in HGTV.com, Pawsh Magazine, Nashville Lifestyles Magazine, Ladies Home Journal, AOL’s DIY Life, Get Married Magazine, MarthaStewart.com, and more. In addition to designing everything from children’s birthday celebrations to chic dinner parties, she is also a writer for several online food and lifestyle publications including SHE KNOWS, Hostess With the Mostess, and Tablespoon. She lives in Nashville, Tennessee.

Sweet additions for any party

The Big Book of Soups and Stews: 262 Recipes for Serious Comfort Food ($2.99 Kindle), by Maryana Vollstedt

Book Description
Where the best-selling Big Book of Casseroles brought bubbling cheese and golden bread crumbs, The Big Book of Soups and Stews brings succulent meats, tender vegetables, and creamy, savory goodness with 262 comforting recipes for soups, chowders, and stews. From a hot and hearty stew for a cold night to a cool, refreshing Vichyssoise for a sizzling afternoon, there's a recipe here for every occasion. Also included are nostalgic classics (like everyone's favorite Chicken Noodle Soup) as well as innovative new creations inspired by the cuisines of the world—from Thai Ginger Chicken to Mexican Seafood. With a wonderful selection of quick bread recipes and a crockpot full of tips and hints to help soup-makers hone their skills, The Big Book of Soups and Stews is the ultimate one-stop comfort food cookbook.

The Big Book of Casseroles: 250 Recipes for Serious Comfort Food ($2.99 Kindle), by Maryana Vollstedt

Book Description
Bubbling cheese, golden bread crumbs, tender vegetables, and succulent meats - what's not to like about casseroles? Comfort food just doesn't get any cozier, or more convenient. Now, thanks to Maryana Vollstedt, busy cooks don't have to call up Mom in order to make delicious one-dish meals for family and friends. The Big Book of Casseroles boasts over 250 recipes (including low-fat and vegetarian dishes), plus handy planning, freezing, and storage tips. For hot-from-the-oven dinners equally at home in the dining room or on the kitchen table, cooks need look no further than The Big Book of Casseroles, because serious comfort food never goes out of style.

The Italian Slow Cooker ($3.99 Kindle), by Michele Scicolone

Book Description
Finally a book that combines the fresh, exuberant flavors of great Italian food with the ease and comfort of a slow cooker. Michele Scicolone, a best-selling author and an authority on Italian cooking, shows how good ingredients and simple techniques can lift the usual “crockpot” fare into the dimension of fine food. Pasta with Meat and Mushroom Ragu, Osso Buco with Red Wine, Chicken with Peppers and Mushrooms: These are dishes that even the most discriminating cook can proudly serve to company, yet all are so carefree that anyone with just five or ten minutes of prep time can make them on a weekday and return to perfection.

Simmered in the slow cooker, soups, stews, beans, grains, pasta sauces, and fish are as healthy as they are delicious. Polenta and risotto, “stir-crazy” dishes that ordinarily need careful timing, are effortless. Meat loaves come out perfectly moist, tough cuts of meat turn succulent, and cheesecakes emerge flawless.

The G-Free Diet: A Gluten-Free Survival Guide ($2.99 Kindle, Kobo), by Elisabeth Hasselbeck; this has been on sale before (and I snapped it up the first time it dropped this low). There is a free companion app, Eating Out G-Free, which you can find in the iTunes store (and use even if you don't get the book).

Book Description
For years, Elisabeth Hasselbeck couldn't figure out what was making her sick. She asked doctors and consulted nutritionists, but no one seemed to have any answers. It wasn't until spending time in the Australian Outback, living off the land on the grueling Survivor TV show, that, ironically, her symptoms vanished. Returning home, she pinpointed the food that made her sick -- gluten, the binding element in wheat. By simply eliminating it from her diet, she was able to enjoy a completely normal, healthy life. But that wasn't all. Hasselbeck discovered the myriad benefits that anyone can enjoy from a gluten-free diet: from weight loss and increased energy to even the alleviation of the conditions of autism.

In this all-inclusive book, Hasselbeck shares her hard-earned wisdom on living life without gluten and loving it. She gives you everything you need to know to start living a gluten-free life, from defining gluten - where to find it, how to read food labels - to targeting gluten-free products, creating G-Free shopping lists, sharing recipes, and managing G-Free living with family and friends.

Wheat-Free Recipes & Menus ($5.99 Kindle, Kobo), by Carol Fenster Ph.D., who wrote some of my earliest gluten-free cookbooks, is one worth looking at (note that although the title "wheat free", it is, in fact, a gluten-free cookbook, also eliminating barley and rye, as well).

Book Description
Hundreds of delicious, easy, and nutritious recipes and menus for the home cook—all without wheat or gluten

The millions of people who avoid wheat and gluten due to celiac disease, allergies, or intolerance—or simply to improve their health—know how difficult creating balanced, tasty meals can be. Gluten is found not just in bread, pasta, and cereal, but in unexpected items like cream soups, sauces, and condiments. Preparing a simple, homemade meal without gluten-based products can seem daunting.

Carol Fenster, Ph.D., has been using her expert knowledge and cooking know-how to keep herself and her gluten-free family happy and healthy for over ten years. In Wheat-Free Recipes and Menus, Fenster shares her years of experience, explaining how to incorporate new ingredients into down-home, easy to prepare meals, free of wheat but full of taste. Employing easy-to-find substitutes for gluten-based ingredients, Dr. Fenster’s meals are rich and flavorful without relying on excess fat and salt. Recipes range from simple snacks to elaborate dinners, and include gluten-free recipes for favorites like breads, pizza, dumplings, and all kinds of baked goods.

Avoiding wheat and gluten no longer means resigning to dietary boredom or risking an unhealthy diet. Dr. Fenster's recipes emphasize fresh, wholesome ingredients and clear instructions that make for fail-proof preparation of mouthwatering, gluten-free meals.

Today's Deals 1/13

Amazon's Android Appstore free app today is Stack 'N Puzzles - an Educational Puzzling Adventure for Kids.

Today's Kindle Daily Deal is Up to 80% on More Than 2,000 Kindle Books for Students. Everything is broken down into categories and there is a lot there that is of general interest and not just for students (such as Brain Rules, which is in the Business & Investing as well as the Medical category, or Bounce: Living the Resilient Life, which is in Social Sciences - both are marked down to $1.99), so plan to spend the afternoon looking thru the selections.

Today's Kindle Romance Daily Deal is Faerie ($0.99), by Delle Jacobs, with the companion audiobook at $4.99.

Book Description
Like her mother before her, Leonie of Bosewood carries Faerie blood in her veins, a secret she harbors to protect her own life. For although the people of eleventh-century England believe in magic, their ignorance and fear have made being different a very dangerous prospect. Caught between the human and Faerie worlds, yet belonging in neither, Leonie must guard her heart…no matter how strong the temptations.

As the king’s emissary, Philippe le Peregrine has watched Leonie mature from gangly girl to alluring woman. With each encounter, his attraction grows, but he knows a match between them can never be. For Philippe hides his own secret, one that has condemned him to a life of lonely celibacy for fear of harming the woman he loves. But when powerful forces prompt them to unite against a sorcerer intent on conquering the world, Leonie and Philippe realize that only together are they strong enough to combat the evil threatening to engulf them.

Today's Kindle SciFi/Fantasy Daily Deal is Empire ($1.99), the sixth novel in the Star Force military science fiction series by B. V. Larson.

Book Description
Kyle Riggs has been away from Earth for a long time…what’s happening back home?

In EMPIRE, the sixth book of the Star Force Series, the story moves in a new direction. Earth falls quiet, and the few reports coming out of the homeworld are increasingly strange. Isolated in the Eden system, Riggs realizes his enemies are forming an alliance against him. Crushed between two monstrous fleets, the last defenders of Star Force must forge their own alliance with the biotic aliens. But which alien race can Riggs truly trust?

Bleak Expectations ($1.59 / £0.99 UK), by Mark Evans, is the Kindle Deal of the day for those in the UK (the US edition is $8.79).

Book Description
A fantastically funny and inventive novel from the hit Radio 4 comedy series.

You think you know the entire story of Bleak Expectations but look! Now it's also a big, fat, juicy book. Like the radio series, but with added jokes, extra bits of story, additional dimensions to characters and masses more paper. Unless you're reading it as an e-book in which case... masses more digital information bits.

Bleak Expectations recounts the remarkable adventures of young Pip Bin as he tries to repair his destroyed family and distinctly damaged life, aided by his best friend Harry Biscuit and definitely not aided by his cruel and ironically named guardian Mr Gently Benevolent and his accomplices, the fearsome Hardthrasher siblings.

Weep! As Pip is sent to Britain's nastiest boarding school, St Bastard's.

Gasp! As the true extent of his despicable guardian's plan becomes clear.

Worry! As our hero is committed to the Workhouse, where he meets the hideous poverty-punishments of the treadmill, the grindstone and the painwheel.

Sigh! As Pip finds love with London's most eligible frail beauty, Miss Flora Dies-Early.

Find a tenterhook and sit on it!

Grim circumstances, mistaken identities, unlikely inheritances, nightmarish court cases, ridiculous names, convenient coincidences to resolve plot problems, over-sentimental death scenes and lots and lots of adjectives: Bleak Expectations is the novel Charles Dickens might have written after drinking far too much gin.

The Lemonade War ($4.49 Kindle, $1.99 B&N), the first title in the children's series by Jacqueline Davies, is the Nook Daily Find.

Book Description
For a full hour, he poured lemonade. The world is a thirsty place, he thought as he nearly emptied his fourth pitcher of the day. And I am the Lemonade King.

Fourth grader Evan Treski is people-smart. He’s good at talking with people, even grownups. His younger sister, Jessie, on the other hand, is math-smart, but not especially good with people. So when the siblings’ lemonade-stand war begins, there really is no telling who will win—or even if their fight will ever end. Brimming with savvy marketing tips for making money at any business, definitions of business terms, charts, diagrams, and even math problems, this fresh, funny, emotionally charged novel subtly explores how arguments can escalate beyond anyone’s intent. This book features a teaser chapter from book two of the Lemonade War series, The Lemonade Crime.

Grade Level: 3 and up

Today's Kindle Teen Daily Deal is Torn ($1.99), by Stephanie Guerra.

Book Description
Stella Chavez is your classic good girl: straight As, clean-cut boyfriends, and soccer trophies. You'd never guess that Stella's dad was a drug addict who walked out when she was a kid. Or that inside, Stella wishes for something more. New girl Ruby Caroline seems like Stella's polar opposite: cursing, smoking, and teetering in sky-high heels. But with Ruby, Stella gets a taste of another world a world in which parents act like roommates, college men are way more interesting than high school boys, and there is nothing that shouldn't be tried once. It's not long before Stella finds herself torn: between the best friend she's ever had and the friends she's known forever, between her family and her own independence, between who she was and who she wants to be. But Ruby has a darker side, a side she doesn't show anyone not even Stella. As Stella watches her friend slowly unravel, she will have to search deep inside herself for the strength to be a true friend, even if it means committing the ultimate betrayal.

Amazon AutoRip

You may have received an email recently from Amazon, introducing their new AutoRip program. Essentially, it bridges the gap for those who prefer to buy a CD, but want to have the music on their Cloud Player, for use when the CD isn't as easily used, but don't want to buy both versions or pay Amazon to move up from the 250 songs you are allowed to add to your Cloud Player for free. Even better, Amazon went back to 2008 and added all the CDs you've purchased that are AutoRip eligible (some are not, as they are out of print or an MP3 version isn't available) and added the MP3s to your Cloud Player for you. I had purchased a number of the $3-$4 CDs during the Black Friday week sales, so found a nice bonus in my account from those.

Sure, you could rip them yourself (and I will, as lossless files to play on my main stereo), but that both takes a bit of time and you would then have to add the MP3s to your Cloud Player account. Instead, with AutoRip, Amazon puts the MP3s in your account as soon as the CD ships (for most CDs, you can start listening right away) and you can download them, the same as any other MP3 on your account), to put on your MP3 player or iPod.

There are a few conditions, of course. The program is limited to those in the US (presumably the only area where Amazon has negotiated rights to distribute the MP3 "companion versions" and if you return the CD and have already downloaded the MP3 files, they'll charge you for the MP3 version of the album (you still have the usual refund restrictions on the CD). If you haven't downloaded the MP3 files, then they simply remove them from your account if you return the CD. If you like to trade CDs at a local store or sell them off after a while, then the MP3s stay in your account, since that is outside of anything to do with Amazon.

I browsed thru the AutoRip eligible CDs at Amazon and noticed something rather interesting - they often display an import CD (at a very high price), but there will be a US version of the CD at a price much closer to the MP3 album and it will also be AutoRip eligible. For some of the albums I looked at, you paid only about 50 cents more for the physical CD (especially if you are a Prime member and get free shipping), but had all the immediate listening benefits of the MP3 purchase.

Bargain Book Trio

A Rake's Vow with Bonus Material ($0.99 Kindle, Kobo), the second book of the Bar Cynster series by Stephanie Laurens.

Book Description
In A Rake's Vow, Vane Cynster vowed he′d never marry.

To Vane, Bellamy Hall seems like the perfect place to temporarily hide from London′s husband hunters. But when he encounters irresistible Patience Debbington,
Vane realizes he′s met his match ...

She vowed no man would catch her.

Patience isn′t about to succumb to Vane′s sensuous propositions. Yes, his kisses leave her dizzy and his caresses made her melt; but Patience has promised herself she′ll never become vulnerable to a broken heart. Is this one vow that was meant to be broken?

Firelight ($2.99 Kindle, Kobo), the first novel in the Darkest London series by Kristen Callihan; you may also want to pick up the prequel novella, Ember, which is only 99 cents.

Book Description
London, 1881.
Once the flames are ignited . . .
Miranda Ellis is a woman tormented. Plagued since birth by a strange and powerful gift, she has spent her entire life struggling to control her exceptional abilities. Yet one innocent but irreversible mistake has left her family's fortune decimated and forced her to wed London's most nefarious nobleman.

They will burn for eternity . . .
Lord Benjamin Archer is no ordinary man. Doomed to hide his disfigured face behind masks, Archer knows it's selfish to take Miranda as his bride. Yet he can't help being drawn to the flame-haired beauty whose touch sparks a passion he hasn't felt in a lifetime. When Archer is accused of a series of gruesome murders, he gives in to the beastly nature he has fought so hard to hide from the world. But the curse that haunts him cannot be denied. Now, to save his soul, Miranda will enter a world of dark magic and darker intrigue. For only she can see the man hiding behind the mask.

Blackberries, Blackberries ($3.99 Kindle), an AmazonEncore edition by Crystal Wilkinson, which I selected solely based on the background description from the author.

Book Description
Winner of the 2002 CHAFFIN LITERARY AWARD

An enchanting, haunting collection of stories by Crystal Wilkinson, a self-described Black, country girl and poet from rural Kentucky. The stories explore the joys and pain of the women of "Affrilachia", and will touch the reader profoundly.

"I grew up on a farm in Indian Creek, Kentucky during the seventies. I swam in creeks and roamed the knobs and hills. We had an outhouse and no inside running water. Our house was heated by coal and wood-burning stoves and we lived so far back in the woods that we could get only one television station. But it was a place of beauty - trees, green grass and blue sky as far as you could see. I am country. Being country is as much a part of me as my full lips, wide hips, dreadlocks and high cheek bones. There are many Black country folks who have lived and are living in small towns, up hollers and across knobs. They are all over the South—scattered like milk thistle seeds in the wind. The stories in this book are centered in these places.” - Crystal E. Wilkinson