UK Kindle Daily Deal 4/21

From Last to First: How I Became a Marathon Champion (£0.99 UK), by Charlie Spedding, is the Kindle Deal of the day for those in the UK (no US edition).

Book Description
Charlie Spedding describes himself as 'not particularly talented' -- at least compared to the group of people he had chosen to find himself among. These were the athletes in the Olympic marathon. So how did he end up with a bronze medal? How did he win the London marathon? And why does he still hold the English record for the distance?

In this remarkable autobiography, he explains how -- how someone who was almost the bottom of the class when he first went to school, and even worse at sport, eventually turned himself into a world-class athlete, competing in top marathons all over the world, and genuinely going from last to first.

As well as the enthralling life story of one of our finest distance runners, this book is a wonderfully clear and inspiring piece of life coaching for anyone who wants to make the most of their talents. But more than this, as Spedding says at the start, 'I believe that on occasions you can create the circumstances in which you can perform at a higher level than your talent says you can.' Spedding's own story, and his chronicle of the big races he excelled in, proves it's true

For anyone aspiring to run a marathon, or indeed anyone who wants to set themselves a goal they think beyond their reach -- and achieve it -- this is an essential book.

Kindle Daily Deals 4/20

Today's Gold Box at Amazon is with "Up to 62% Off Select Ken Burns Documentaries" and 33% off the forthcoming release of "Central Park Five".

At Sony, get 25% Off your next eBook purchase using code 25APRIL13 through Monday (April 22, 2013).

Today's Kindle Daily Deal is The Thirteenth Tale ($1.99), by Diane Setterfield [Simon and Schuster].

Book Description
When Margaret Lea opened the door to the past, what she confronted was her destiny.

All children mythologize their birth...So begins the prologue of reclusive author Vida Winter's collection of stories, which are as famous for the mystery of the missing thirteenth tale as they are for the delight and enchantment of the twelve that do exist.

The enigmatic Winter has spent six decades creating various outlandish life histories for herself -- all of them inventions that have brought her fame and fortune but have kept her violent and tragic past a secret. Now old and ailing, she at last wants to tell the truth about her extraordinary life. She summons biographer Margaret Lea, a young woman for whom the secret of her own birth, hidden by those who loved her most, remains an ever-present pain. Struck by a curious parallel between Miss Winter's story and her own, Margaret takes on the commission.

As Vida disinters the life she meant to bury for good, Margaret is mesmerized. It is a tale of gothic strangeness featuring the Angelfield family, including the beautiful and willful Isabelle, the feral twins Adeline and Emmeline, a ghost, a governess, a topiary garden and a devastating fire.

Margaret succumbs to the power of Vida's storytelling but remains suspicious of the author's sincerity. She demands the truth from Vida, and together they confront the ghosts that have haunted them while becoming, finally, transformed by the truth themselves.

The Thirteenth Tale is a love letter to reading, a book for the feral reader in all of us, a return to that rich vein of storytelling that our parents loved and that we loved as children. Diane Setterfield will keep you guessing, make you wonder, move you to tears and laughter and, in the end, deposit you breathless yet satisfied back upon the shore of your everyday life.

Today's Kindle Romance Daily Deal is Highland Surrender ($1.99), by Tracy Brogan [Montlake Romance], with the companion audiobook also $1.99.

Book Description
To seal a fragile truce, Fiona Sinclair’s brothers trade her in marriage to their sworn enemy. Though devastated by their betrayal, she has little choice in the matter, for if she refuses, her innocent young sister must take her place. The spirited Fiona is willing to sacrifice her freedom to protect her kin, but she vows never to surrender her heart.

As the eldest son of a clan chief, Myles Campbell is accustomed to having his own way. But when the king of Scotland commands he wed a defiant Highland lass instead of a French mademoiselle, Myles must obey his royal duty. Meeting his bride for the first time on their wedding day, he is pleased to discover the lass is a beauty, but she quickly proves she’d just as soon kill him as kiss him.

When two such warrior spirits collide, sparks fly, igniting a fiery passion that strains against the bonds of family honor, clan loyalty—and the ultimate surrender—love.

Today's Kindle SciFi/Fantasy Daily Deal is Born of Shadows ($1.99), the fourth novel in the League series by Sherrilyn Kenyon [Grand Central Publishing/Hatchette]. Kenyon is probably best known for her bestselling Dark-Hunter series and has had more than 50 novels on the NYT list; the first novel in the League series predates Dark-Hunter, but she has recently released three novels in this series and this is the first of those newer novels.

Book Description
In a world where the League and its assassins rule, where betrayal and treachery are everywhere . . . the only survivors are those ones who are . . .

BORN OF SHADOWS

For Caillen Dagan, a defiant soldier of fortune, survival isn't a right, it's a brutal daily battle. Moving through the Ichidaian universe like a wraith, his brushes with the law and death are legendary. But when an act of rare heroism reveals his hidden birthright, he's forced into a world much more dangerous and cold-hearted than the bloody streets where he was raised-one of obscene wealth and lethal politics.

Ferocious and determined, Desideria serves as an official bodyguard for her queen. Born of questionable genetics, she will do anything to prove herself worthy of the weapons she carries and the position she's won by combat. But when she uncovers a ruthless plot to assassinate the queen and overthrow her country's government, Desideria is caught in the crosshairs.

With assassination contracts out on both of them, Caillen and Desideria must learn to fight together or die alone. And if they fail, their governments will fall into the hands of an unimaginable evil.

Today's Kindle Kids Daily Deal is My Life in Pink & Green ($1.99), by Lisa Greenwald [Amulet Books/ABRAMS], with the the companion audiobook for $3.49.

Book Description
Twelve-year-old Lucy Desberg is a natural problem solver. After the local homecoming queen shows up at her family’s struggling drugstore with a beauty disaster that Lucy helps to fix, Lucy has a long line of makeover customers for every school dance and bat mitzvah. But all the makeup tips in the world won’t help save the pharmacy. If only she could find a way to make the pharmacy the center of town again—a place where people want to spend time, like in the old days. Lucy dreams up a solution that could resuscitate the family business and help the environment, too. But will Lucy’s family stop fighting long enough to listen to a seventh-grader?

This book is a funny and sweet debut featuring an unforgettable narrator who knows what she wants, whether it’s great makeup, a killer business plan, or a better world.

Nook Daily Find 4/20

Two Graves ($9.99 Kindle, $1.99 B&N), the twelfth (and latest) title in the Special Agent Pendergast series by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child, is the Nook Daily Find (and likely to be price matched on Kindle later this morning). You can also pick up the tenth in the series, Fever Dream, at a discount right now ($3.99 Kindle).

Two Graves

For twelve years, he believed she died in an accident. Then, he was told she'd been murdered. Now, FBI Special Agent Aloysius Pendergast discovers that his beloved wife Helen is alive. But their reunion is cut short when Helen is brazenly abducted before his eyes. And Pendergast is forced to embark on a furious cross-country chase to rescue her.
But all this turns out to be mere prologue to a far larger plot: one that unleashes a chillingly-almost supernaturally-adept serial killer on New York City. And Helen has one more surprise in store for Pendergast: a piece of their shared past that makes him the one man most suited to hunting down the killer.
His pursuit of the murderer will take Pendergast deep into the trackless forests of South America, to a hidden place where the evil that has blighted both his and Helen's lives lies in wait . . . a place where he will learn all too well the truth of the ancient proverb:
Before you embark on a journey of revenge, dig two graves.

Fever Dream

Yesterday, Special Agent Pendergast still mourned the loss of his beloved wife, Helen, who died in a tragic accident in Africa twelve years ago.

Today, he discovers she was murdered.

Tomorrow, he will learn her most guarded secrets, leaving him to wonder: Who was the woman I married? Why was she murdered? And, above all . . . Who murdered her?

FEVER DREAM

Revenge is not sweet: It is essential.

UK Kindle Daily Deal 4/20

Cell 8 (£0.99 UK), by Anders Roslund and Börge Hellström, translated by Kari Dickson, is the Kindle Deal of the day for those in the UK (no US edition).

Book Description
ONE CELL: Convicted murderer John Meyer Frey dies awaiting execution on Ohio's death row.

ONE CRIMINAL: Six years later, John Meyer Frey is found alive in Sweden.

ONE CONSPIRACY: DS Ewert Grens has a dead man in his custody, and an explosive case on his hands.

Free Bonnaroo MP3s

Over at Noisetrade, you can download a free sampler album of the artists that will be appearing at Bonnaroo 2013 (that little bitty outdoor concert they have just south of here each year).

Sampler contents:
Lord Huron - Time To Run
Glen Hansard - High Hope
Drew Holcomb and The Neighbors - Wine We Drink
Father John Misty - Hollywood Forever Cemetery Sings
Allen Stone - Celebrate Tonight
Aoife O'Donovan - Briar Rose
Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit - Alabama Pines
Sea Wolf - Old Friend
Trixie Whitley - I Need Your Love
Two Gallants - My Love Won't Wait
Futurebirds - Serial Bowls
Raptar - Houseboat Babies
Bombino - Azamane Tiliade
Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue - Do To Me