Today's Deals 4/1

It's Listening Rewards Month once again at Audible: buy four audiobooks with a regular price of $14.95 or more, between April 1 and April 30, 2013, and you'll earn a $10 Listening Reward coupon (credited no later than May 5, 2013). As in the past, the "regular" price must be of the specified level, but that doesn't mean that you have to pay that much - all those companion audiobook prices can work to your advantage and I've picked up 4 books for under $8 in the past and receive the coupon.

Today's Kindle Daily Deal is Chasing Rainbows ($1.99), by Kathleen Long [AmazonEncore]. Includes Reader’s Guide for book club discussions; the companion audiobook is $1.99.

Book Description
Chocolate. Tattered robe. Wedding video. Wine.

Things aren’t looking so good for Bernadette Murphy.

With the breakup of her marriage, the sudden death of her father, and the announcement of her best friend’s pregnancy, Bernadette finds herself careening toward rock bottom. So why stop short? She quits her job, gets herself banned—for life—from the mall, and goes on a late-night-infomercial spending spree. To top it all off, her dog gets kicked out of obedience school—again.

Just when she thinks there’s nothing left for the universe to throw at her, she discovers the one thing she needs the most: a reminder of her father’s love. In the book of cryptograms he left behind, Bernie’s father helps guide her through the pain that’s consuming her. With each solved puzzle, her father’s encoded lessons give Bernie the courage to face life head-on. And as her father always said, “In life, you either choose to sing a rainbow, or you don’t.”

For Bernie, the singing is about to begin.

Today's Kindle Romance Daily Deal is Hidden Secrets ($1.99), by Carolyn Brown [Montlake Romance].

Book Description
Kim Brewster’s ill-fated marriage was annulled so quickly that she thought she could keep the whole thing a secret…until she found out she was pregnant. But before her confession can blow a hole in the seemingly perfect lives of the Brewster women, her great-grandmother, Hannah, drops a bomb of her own. She’s selling her hotel and moving to a farm in Oklahoma—and all the Brewsters are coming with her. Kim is sure her grandmother, Karen, and mother, Sue, won’t go along with the plan, but Hannah can be very convincing. Soon the women are working the farm, selling their wares from a roadside stand, and finally feeling like a family.

And as the Brewster women’s lives take shape in ways they never expected, Kim may have found another shot at love. Luke thought he’d washed his hands of women, but when he stops by the vegetable stand and meets Kim, he’s instantly smitten. To find love, though, they’ll both have to dig past their hidden secrets.

Today's Kindle SciFi/Fantasy Daily Deal is To Have and To Code ($1.99), by Debora Geary [Fireweed], the #1 Kindle bestselling author of A Modern Witch. The companion audiobook is $1.99.

Book Description
... [a] modern romance with a touch of magic.

Nell Sullivan is fiery, easily distracted by cookies, and doomed to wear the peach monstrosity at her best friend’s wedding.

And she’s a witch.

Daniel Walker is a former baseball player turned bored hacker looking for a challenge. Hacking Nell's online gaming world is going to get him a lot more than he bargained for.

A prophecy says they will make babies together – but when it comes to the love life of a modern witch and a hacker, prophecy might not get a vote.

Dear Lupin... Letters to a Wayward Son (£0.99 UK), by Charlie Mortimer and Roger Mortimer, is the Kindle Deal of the day for those in the UK (no US edition).

Book Description
Nostalgic, witty and filled with characters and situations that people of all ages will recognise, Dear Lupin is the entire correspondence of a Father to his only son, spanning nearly 25 years.

Roger Mortimer's sometimes hilarious, sometimes touching, always generous letters to his son are packed with anecdotes and sharp observations, with a unique analogy for each and every scrape Charlie Mortimer got himself into. The trials and tribulations of his youth and early adulthood are received by his father with humour, understanding and a touch of resignation, making them the perfect reminder of when letters were common, but always special.A racing journalist himself, Roger Mortimer wrote for a living, yet still wrote more than 150 letters to his son as he left school, and lived in places such as South America, Africa, Weston-super-Mare and eventually London. These letters form a memoir of their relationship, and an affectionate portrait of a time gone by.

Bonnie ($3.99 Kindle, B&N), the third title in the Eve, Quinn and Bonnie series by Iris Johansen, is the Nook Daily Find, price matched on Kindle [St. Martin's Press]. The companion audiobook $2.99.

Book Description
The truth has eluded her for years. . . . Now is she ready to face it?

When Eve Duncan gave birth to her daughter, she experienced a love she never knew existed. Nothing would stand in the way of giving Bonnie a wonderful life---until the unthinkable happened and the seven-year-old vanished into thin air. Eve found herself in the throes of a nightmare from which there was no escape. But a new Eve emerged: a woman who would use her remarkable talent as a forensic sculptor to help others find closure in the face of tragedy. Now with the help of her beloved Joe Quinn and CIA agent Catherine Ling, Eve has come closer than ever to the truth. But the deeper she digs, the more she realizes that Bonnie’s father is a key player in solving this monstrous puzzle. And that Bonnie’s disappearance was not as random as everyone had always believed . . .

Today's Kindle Kids Daily Deal is Barnyard Fun ($1.99), by Maureen Wright and Paul Rátz de Tagyos (Illustrator) [Amazon Children's Publishing]. For the Kindle Fire/HD or select Kindle Reading Apps (Kindle Cloud Reader, Kindle for iPad or Kindle for Android) only.

Book Description
When Sheep found out it was April One, he said, "It's time to have some fun"! Sheep set his alarm an hour ahead. It woke up Rooster in his bed. Sheep plays April Fool's jokes on Rooster, Dog, Pig and Cow. Then Horse decides to play a trick on Sheep-and the farm animals have the biggest laugh of all!

Bargain Book Roundup

Just a few quick picks today, as the month draws to a close (don't forget to also do your last scan of the $3.99 or less picks for March, as most will go back up in price tomorrow). Hope those of you observing Easter have a good holiday weekend. Since I'm a bit pressed for time today, only Kindle links below, but you should find matching prices at B&N and Kobo on at least a couple.

Death in High Heels ($1.99 Kindle), by Christianna Brand [Open Road]

Book Description
Inspector Charlesworth investigates a strange murder in a dress shop

The sales room at Christophe et Cie is staffed by five young women. Each is beautiful in her own way—and each could be a murderer. One morning, two of the women purchase some oxalic acid to clean a stain off a Panama hat. No one knows how the poison gets into Miss Doon’s system, but it doesn’t take long to kill her. When Inspector Charlesworth steps into the little shop, he finds a dozen motives and no clear solution.

Everyone in the shop was jealous of Miss Doon, for as the owner’s girlfriend she was the favorite to head up the store’s new Riviera branch. Romantic feelings for his chief suspect sidetrack Charlesworth, and it takes a second murder to put him back on the trail of the killer.

Glorious Angel ($1.99 Kindle), by Johanna Lindsey [HarperCollins]

Book Description
She was the beautiful daughter of a dirt-poor Alabama farmer. But Angela Sherrington had a dream: to love dashing Bradford Maitland, the handsome heir to magnificent Golden Oaks.

In the satin boudoir of a Yankee bordello, Angela's prayers are answered in the loving arms of the man she lived for. But scandal, cruelty and a shocking family secret threaten to tear apart two passionate hearts newly joined, imperilling a bold and forbidden romance too overpowering to deny.

Wedded in Scandal ($1.99 Kindle), by Jade Lee [Berkley (Penguin)]

Book Description
For his whole life, Robert Percy, Viscount Redhill, has worked hard to maintain a sterling reputation. And while it's socially acceptable to seduce delectable dress designer Mrs. Mortimer, Robert learns too late the heartbreaking truth about who she used to be. No one would fault him for taking Mrs. Mortimer as his lover, but Robert knows that she should be the wife of a peer of the realm, not a mistress in hiding...

If I Fall ($1.99 Kindle), by Kate Noble [Berkley (Penguin)]

Book Description
Every great romance comes with a risk...

After a duke's betrayal, the resilient Sarah Forrester reinvents herself as the Golden Lady: society's leading light, the beautiful and witty life of the party. It's all a façade of course-one that protects her from another intimate disloyalty. When her old friend, Lieutenant Jackson Fletcher, returns to London, he is determined to rediscover the true and trusting Sarah he once knew. It'll take more than a kiss and a promise. It might even call for an innocent and necessary deception.

Then Jackson is enlisted to help capture the lead suspect in a murder-- a man who happens to be Sarah's most ardent suitor. Jack must continue the deception, and weathering this newest and gravest betrayal will be Sarah's ultimate test. But as Jack's passion for her grows, he must also reveal his own secrets. And as the killer turns his attention to his pursuers, more than love and trust is put at risk.

The Joy of Hobby Farming ($1.99 Kindle), by Michael Levatino and Audrey Levatino [Skyhorse ]

Book Description
When the farm is a lifestyle, not just a way to earn a living, that’s hobby farming. Most of us want to live a sustainable life in which we protect the land and keep it safe from development and overproduction. But we can take this a step further by learning how to grow and savor what we can produce ourselves—while still maintaining an alternative career to fund this passion. Michael and Audrey Levatino here share how to grow your own food, raise chickens, horses, llamas, bees, and more, practice being (a little) off the grid, sell the bounty in your local community, and balance a professional career with a rural lifestyle. The Joy of Hobby Farming is a book that will excite armchair farmers and inspire any do–it–yourselfer.

Free Audiobook - The Tale of Peter Rabbit

For Easter, get a free Audible download of The Tale of Peter Rabbit, by Beatrix Potter, narrated by Pauline Brailsford. It's short, but should be a nice listen with kids.

Book Description
Mother rabbit cautions her children against entering a vegetable garden grown by Mr. McGregor. Her three daughters obey, but Peter, the naughty rabbit, helps himself to the crops from Mr. MacGregor's garden, to the dismay of all.

Today's Deals 3/31

For those with Amazon Prime, just a remember that today is the last day to borrow your book from the Kindle Lending Library for the month.

Today's Kindle Daily Deal is Deadly Farce ($1.99), by Jennifer McAndrews [Thomas & Mercer].

Book Description
When Hollywood heavyweight Shepard Brown fears someone is trying to kill him, he asks newly licensed private investigator Lorraine Keys to keep him safe. Friends with Shepard since elementary school, Lorraine knows he can be more than a little melodramatic. Though she agrees to meet him on location in Atlantic City, New Jersey, to review the situation, the last thing she expects is to find truth in his claims. After all, a poisoned pizza? But after getting caught in the center of yet another attempt on Shepard's life, Lorraine is forced to admit he's right about the danger - and determined to find a way to protect him while searching for the culprit. With her meddling friend Barb along for the ride and her boss anxiously tracking her every move, Lorraine must juggle the chaos of a film set, the lure of the casinos, the mutual attraction of a hunky co-star, and a minefield of Shepard's ex-girlfriends all while keeping Shepard safe and uncovering the identity of the killer … before she becomes the next target.

Today's Kindle Romance Daily Deal is The Lady Is a Vamp: An Argeneau Novel ($0.99), by Lynsay Sands [HarperCollins].

Book Description
The Argeneau’s are hungry for love—and Lynsay Sands’s bestselling paranormal romance series starring the enormously popular vampire family is hotter than ever! In this New York Times and USA Today bestselling author’s spicy-sweet sixteenth Argeneau novel, the lady is a gorgeous vampire enchantress who finds herself kidnapped by one desperate—and devastatingly handsome—man. The Lady is a Vamp is Lynsay at her best—and fans of the hit HBO series True Blood, as well as the Charlaine Harris Sookie Stackhouse novels it’s based on, will eagerly drink in every tasty drop of this sexy, suspenseful paranormal winner.

Today's Kindle SciFi/Fantasy Daily Deal is The Marching Morons ($0.99), by C. M. Kornbluth [RosettaBooks]. This is a part of the Galaxy Project, which is bringing back into publication some of the best stories from Galaxy magazine; others titles in the series are only $2.99 apiece.

Book Description
About the Story: Published more than 60 years ago, this dark and prescient story of a future devolved to idiocy remains one of the most frightening visions to have emerged from the science fiction of that decade. Envisioning a future United States overwhelmed by a citizenry of low IQ (a consequence of the overbreeding of the stupid) Kornbluth was in fact writing of an observed present. The steady, inexorable descent of human intelligence obsessed Kornbluth, was one of his major themes and reached its truest statement in this novelette. The secret masters of Kornbluth’s future are a small population of the intelligent who in subterranean fashion run the country but the “marching morons” overwhelm them and they summon a cynical entrepreneur from the past to help them deal with the dilemma. Weak on technology (a time machine is employed scoop the entrepreneur into their present) the novelette is deadly accurate in its portrait of a society sunk in stupid television, ornate, worthless automobiles and catchphrases which substitute for thought. The denouement is absolutely uncompromising and its utter bleakness is refractory not of a speculative future (which it may well be) but a present which Kornbluth found omnipresent and unbearable. In terms of social statement and extrapolation THE MARCHING MORONS stands with Orwell’s 1984 or Forster’s THE MACHINE STOPS as shattering anatomization of an inevitable future.

About the Author:
Cyril Kornbluth (1924-1958) was the youngest and perhaps the most brilliant of that great group of satirists (Frederik Pohl, Robert Sheckley, Damon Knight, William Tenn) whom Horace Gold drafted to become the characteristic voice of his magazine. Kornbluth was a child prodigy (writing at 16 stories which became classics of the field) and auto-didact, first-generation fan and newspaperman (a Chicago-based wire service) whose heart and health were wrecked by active combat duty at the Battle of the Bulge and other venues; after the war he became a fully committed science fiction writer who moved from journalism in Chicago to a career in the New York area. In collaboration with Frederik Pohl he wrote THE SPACE MERCHANTS (1952) for GALAXY which became the classic satirical novel of advertising and GLADIATOR-AT-LAW which brought the same satirical force to the housing industry. There were several other novels, science fiction and mainstream, written with Pohl, two with Judith Merril and several (TAKEOFF, NOT THIS AUGUST) written alone. He struggled for years with health, economic and familial obligations (he was married to a sculptress and had two young sons) and died suddenly on a train platform, sprinting for a New York bound train in March 1958. A recent (2009) biography by Mark Rich gives much detail about his painful life and brilliant career.

The Chronicles of Narnia series by CS Lewis for £0.99 each (75% off). In the US, only the first title, The Magician's Nephew, is currently on sale ($1.99), but the The Chronicles of Narnia Complete 7-Book Collection with Bonus Book: Boxen for $12 gets you the series at a bargain price (pre-order for Nov 5).

1. The Magician's Nephew (Main/UK)
2. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (Main/UK)
3. The Horse and His Boy (Main/UK)
4. Prince Caspian (Main/UK)
5. The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (Main/UK)
6. The Silver Chair (Main/UK)
7. The Last Battle (Main/UK)

Falling to Pieces: A Quilt Shop Murder ($1.99 Kindle, B&N), the first novel in Vannetta Chapman's Shipshewana Amish series [HarperCollins], is the Nook Daily Find, price matched on Kindle.

Book Description
In this first book of a three-book series, author Vannetta Chapman brings a fresh twist to the popular Amish fiction genre. She blends the familiar components consumers love in Amish books---faith, community, simplicity, family---with an innovative who-done-it plot that keeps readers guessing right up to the last stitch in the quilt. When two women---one Amish, one English---each with different motives, join forces to organize a successful on-line quilt auction, neither expects nor wants a friendship. As different as night and day, Deborah and Callie are uneasy partners who simply want to make the best of a temporary situation. But a murder, a surprising prime suspect, a stubborn detective, and the town's reaction throw the two women together, and they form an unlikely alliance to solve a mystery and catch a killer. Set in the well-known Amish community of Shipshewana, Falling to Pieces will attract both devoted fans of the rapidly-growing Amish fiction genre, as well as those who are captivated by the Amish way of life.

Today's Kindle Kids Daily Deal is three Chitty Chitty Bang Bang books for $1.99 each [Candlewick]. The first is, of course, the classic written by Ian Fleming that many of us grew up reading, along with two new additions to the series, recently commissioned by Fleming's heirs (who hold the copyright). Age Range: 9 and up

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, by Ian Fleming and Joe Berger (illustrator)

Ian Fleming’s beloved original text — newly illustrated by Joe Berger! "Crackpot" is what everybody calls the Pott family. So when they go to buy a new car and come back with a wreck, nobody is surprised. Except for the Potts themselves. First, the car has a name. And she tells them what it is. Then they find out that she can fly. And swim. . . . Chitty Chitty Bang Bang is a car on a mission to stop a criminal gang in its tracks — and she is taking the Potts with her! Jump into the world’s most loved magical car for her first adventure.

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang Flies Again by Frank Cottrell Boyce and Joe Berger (illustrator)

Buckle your seatbelt for the first-ever follow up to Ian Fleming's only children's story. When the Tooting family finds an old engine and fits it to their camper van, they have no idea what kind of adventure lies ahead. The engine used to belong to an extraordinary car . . . and it wants its bodywork back! But as the Tootings hurtle across the world rebuilding the original Chitty, a sinister baddie is on their trail - one who will stop at nothing to get the magnificent car for himself. Fueled by wry humor , this much-anticipated sequel to the children's classic by Ian Fleming, creator of James Bond - featuring a contemporary family and a camper van with a mind of its own - is driven by best-selling, award-winning author Frank Cottrell Boyce and revved up by Joe Berger's black-and-white illustrations.

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and the Race Against Time by Frank Cottrell Boyce and Joe Berger (illustrator)

Everyone’s favorite flying car shifts into another dimension as the intrepid Tooting family zooms back and forth through time. When the Tootings return to Zobrowski Terrace at the end of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang Flies Again, they find that "home" is looking a lot like Jurassic Park. But this is no theme park — a very real and very hungry T. rex is charging them! Thanks to Dad’s inadvertent yanking of Chitty’s "Chronojuster" lever, the spirited car has ushered them back to prehistoric times, where the family (and especially Baby Harry) make a narrow escape. But Chitty has a mind of her own, and the Tootings will get an unexpected tour of exciting times and places from Prohibition-era New York (where Chitty wants to compete in the famous Prix d’Esmerelda’s Birthday Cake race) to the lost city of El Dorado and back again, with misadventures and surprise stowaways along the way. Get ready for a hilarious high-flying adventure, with celebrated author Frank Cottrell Boyce behind the wheel.

20 Kids' Kindle Books for $2 (AL)

This offer is set up via AmazonLocal and anyone (in the US) can participate.

Free Voucher to Purchase Select Kindle Kids' Books for $2 Each

Click to "purchase" the voucher, sign in (to Amazon) and click thru a few more pages and you'll find the voucher code you need under "Your Vouchers" (link in top/right corner of the page). Sign-up for this offer expires April 1, 2013 or when the number of vouchers set aside by Amazon have been exhausted (which is often sometime the first day).

To use the Voucher, just click back to Amazonlocal and then on View Code next to the offer title. Click to copy the code, the on the link in step #2, to apply the code to your account (make sure you see the green "Success" message after entering the code). It works like a gift card and once applied to your account, you can shop from your Kindle or desktop, picking any of the 20 qualifying titles. You should also be able to gift any of the books to someone else (I have in the past; the full price shows all the way thru, but on the invoice summary, you will see the $2 promotional price), but the total number of books you can get at this price is 32 (so, you can give them as gifts and overlap titles). The voucher will expire if not used toward qualifying Kindle book purchases from Amazon.com by 11:59 p.m. PST April 10, 2013.

One title you may want to check out, even if you don't have kids is The 2nd International Cookbook for Kids by Matthew Locricchio; after all, if kids are supposed to be able to follow the directions, they shouldn't be too hard, yet there are the recipes have a wide scope, from lamb curry to shrimp stew.

Deal Details:

Kids love to read -- it's good for their growing vocabularies and developing imaginations, and with today's deal in the Amazon Kindle Store, you can own great titles like The Last Day of Kindergarten, A Field Guide to Aliens, and many more at a substantial discount.

• Free voucher to purchase select Kindle Kids' books for $2 each
• Wonderful variety of subjects including The 2nd International Cookbook for Kids and My Name is Not Easy, a marvelous story about a rivalry between Native American students
• A great opportunity to build a junior library