Two Free Audiobooks - Once & Letter from Birmingham Jail

It's time for this week's free audiobooks from Sync. I've linked in the info from the ebook or audiobook version of each title (Amazon has the best reviews), followed by the link to get your copies free, with directions to ensure you get the complete download.

Start off with Once ($6.76 Kindle; $16.95 Audible), the first novel in the series by Morris Gleitzman, read by Morris Gleitzman.

Book Description
Felix, a Jewish boy in Poland in 1942, is hiding from the Nazis in a Catholic orphanage. The only problem is that he doesn't know anything about the war, and thinks he's only in the orphanage while his parents travel and try to salvage their bookselling business. And when he thinks his parents are in danger, Felix sets off to warn them--straight into the heart of Nazi-occupied Poland.

To Felix, everything is a story: Why did he get a whole carrot in his soup? It must be sign that his parents are coming to get him. Why are the Nazis burning books? They must be foreign librarians sent to clean out the orphanage's outdated library. But as Felix's journey gets increasingly dangerous, he begins to see horrors that not even stories can explain.

Despite his grim suroundings, Felix never loses hope. Morris Gleitzman takes a painful subject and expertly turns it into a story filled with love, friendship, and even humor.

Letter from Birmingham Jail ($4.95 Audible), by Martin Luther King, narrated by Dion Graham, is the second selection for this week. There are a couple of editions to choose from on Kindle ($2.99+), for those that like to read as they listen.

Book Description
April 16th, the year is 1963. Birmingham, Alabama, has had a spring of nonviolent protests known as the Birmingham Campaign, seeking to draw attention to the segregation against blacks by the city government and downtown retailers. The organizers longed to create a nonviolent tension so severe that the powers that be would be forced to address the rampant racism head on. Recently arrested was Martin Luther King, Jr....

It is there in that jail cell that he writes this letter; on the margins of a newspaper he pens this defense of nonviolence against segregation. His accusers, though many, in this case were not the white racist leaders or retailers he protested against, but eight black men who saw him as "other" and as too extreme. To them and to the world he defended the notion that "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere".

Click HERE to get the free downloads (you'll need to enter your name and an email address. You'll end up clicking about three pages (for each book), before the audiobook actually downloads. Don't stop so long as you still see a button that talks about your Sync download (or until you see the Overdrive software open up; there is a link at Sync, if you don't already have Overdrive installed).

Once in Overdrive, you'll need to tell it where to save the files (just click OK to use the default location, since Overdrive will keep track of them for you), then again to actually start the download (by default, all parts of the book are downloaded; I would suggest not changing this in the last dialog box, just click on OK to get the download started). Make sure your audiobook is fully downloaded before the end of the week, as once the promo period is over, you won't be able to get them free.

You can't get any titles that have been missed, but once they are loaded into Overdrive (which you will need to install, if you are not already using it for library books), they are yours to keep (there is no expiration date).

Daily Deal - Serpent's Kiss (E)

Serpent's Kiss: A Witches of East End Novel ($23.99 $11.99 Kindle), by Melissa de la Cruz [Hyperion/HarperCollins], is today's Deal of the Day at at Diesel E-Books, where it's discounted to $4.80 (9 copies left).

Book Description
The intriguing Beauchamp family, introduced in the New York Times bestselling Witches of East End, returns in Serpent's Kiss, with dizzying plot twists and spellbinding magic.

Joanna and her daughters, bookish Ingrid and wild-child Freya, are just settling into the newfound peace that has been cast over their small, off-the map town of North Hampton. With the centuries-old restriction against practicing magic lifted, casting spells, mixing potions, and curing troubled souls has never felt so good for the three witches. That is, until everything gets turned upside down--from Joanna's organized kitchen to Ingrid's previously nonexistent love life to Freya's once unshakeable faith in her sexy soul mate, Killian Gardiner.

When Freya's twin brother, Freddie, suddenly returns, escaped from Limbo and professing innocence on a long-ago crime, Freya should be ecstatic. The golden boy can do no wrong. Or can he? Freddie blames no other than her fiancÉ Killian for his downfall, and enlists Freya's help to prove it. Now Freya doesn't know who to believe or trust.

And for the first time in--well, forever, really--Ingrid is also busy in love. Matt Noble, the handsome and charming police detective, has won her heart. But can romance work between a virgin witch and a mortal who doesn't believe in magic? Things get even more complicated when it appears Ingrid is harboring the prime suspects in Matt's police investigation.

To add to the chaos, a dead spirit is attempting to make contact with Joanna--but does it mean to bring harm or help? Joanna asks her sort-of ex-husband Norman to help figure it out, only to accidentally invite him to a Thanksgiving dinner with a dapper gentleman she's recently begun dating.

As the witches pull together to discover the serpent within their midst and the culprit behind Freddie's imprisonment, everything is thrown into peril. Will the discovery come too late to save those they love most?

Melissa de la Cruz weaves all this and more in a blockbuster sequel that is not to be missed by her fans, and one that is sure to enchant new readers of the series.

Get the book from Diesel; be sure to check the sales price, as the Deal of the Day often sells out. Deals change at 11AM Eastern Time, USA.

Kindle Daily Deals 6/20

This week's Software Deals at Amazon are 50% off Webroot SecureAnywhere Internet Security Plus 2013 and Antivirus 2013, as well as 38% off Rosetta Stone language courses.

Amazon's Android Free App of the Day is Combat Mission : Touch. (usually $5).

Today's Kindle Teen Daily Deal is Stolen Away ($1.99), a YA stand-alone novel by Alyxandra Harvey [Walker Childrens].

Book Description
When a cute guy dressed like a Victorian pirate kneels in front of Eloise the day after her seventeenth birthday, she knows that something strange is going on-and that's before he vows to be her champion and mentions her flaky aunt, Antonia, who's gone incommunicado once again. But this appearance isn't a coincidence, and when Eloise is attacked and pushed into an alternate world called Faery, she becomes embroiled in the underground politics of this world. Her captor is Lord Strahan, the ruler of Faery who is desperately clinging to his throne and will do anything to keep it. The only one who can break his power is his wife, Eloise's aunt Antonia-and Eloise has become his bargaining chip. Now Eloise must find a way to save her aunt from Lord Strahan, and she'll need the help of her best friends Jo and Devin, along with the other Fae captives of Strahan's hall, including his son, Eldric. With a whole world of Faeries out to get her, Eloise must stop Strahan both worlds are thrust into complete chaos.

Today's Kindle Daily Deal is The Empty Chair ($0.99), the third Lincoln Rhyme novel by Jeffery Deaver [Simon and Schuster]. You can't go wrong at this price and I'm upgrading the sample on my Kindle today.

Book Description
Lincoln Rhyme is back...

From the bestselling author of The Bone Collector and The Devil's Teardrop comes this spine-chilling new thriller that pits renowned criminalist Lincoln Rhyme against the ultimate opponent -- Amelia Sachs, his own brilliant protégée.

A quadriplegic since a beam crushed his spinal cord years ago, Rhyme is desperate to improve his condition and goes to the University of North Carolina Medical Center for high-risk experimental surgery. But he and Sachs have hardly settled in when the local authorities come calling. In a twenty-four-hour period, the sleepy Southern outpost of Tanner's Corner has seen a local teen murdered and two young women abducted. And Rhyme and Sachs are the best chance to find the girls alive.

The prime suspect is a strange teenaged truant known as the Insect Boy, so nicknamed for his disturbing obsession with bugs. Rhyme agrees to find the boy while awaiting his operation. Rhyme's unsurpassed analytical skills and stellar forensic experience, combined with Sachs's exceptional detective legwork, soon snare the perp. But even Rhyme can't anticipate that Sachs will disagree with his crime analysis and that her vehemence will put her in the swampland, harboring the very suspect whom Rhyme considers a ruthless killer. So ensues Rhyme's greatest challenge -- facing the criminalist whom he has taught everything he knows in a battle of wits, forensics, and intuition. And in this adversary, Rhyme also faces his best friend and soul mate.

With the intricate forensic detail, breathtaking speed, and masterful plot twists that are signature Deaver, The Empty Chair is page-turning suspense of the highest order, destined to continue Jeffery Deaver's bestselling track record and thrill his legions of fans worldwide.

Today's Kindle Romance Daily Deal is Daniel's Desire ($0.99), a novella by Callie Hutton [Crimson Romance].

Book Description
When Confederate soldier Lt. Daniel McCoy makes his escape from a Union prison toward the end of the Civil War, his only thought is to get as far away from enemy territory as possible. But he doesn’t count on saving young widow Rosemarie Wilson’s life.

Rosemarie has no use for Rebels soldiers, having lost everything, including her husband, the last time they came to her home. However, Daniel has not only saved her life, but is sticking around to help with the farm and her three children until she recovers.

With Union soldiers searching for him, every day Daniel remains puts him in danger. Or is the beautiful widow who has captured his heart the greater risk?

Sensuality Level: Behind Closed Doors

Today's Kindle SciFi/Fantasy Daily Deal is Heart of Iron ($1.99), the second novel in the London Steampunk series by Bec McMaster [Sourcebooks Casablanca]. With any luck, you have the first, Kiss of Steel, in your libraries, either from when it was on sale at the first of the year or featured as a Daily Deal a couple of months ago. That gives us two to read before My Lady Quicksilver comes out in October.

Book Description
In the mist-shrouded streets of London's dreaded Whitechapel district, werewolves, vampires, and a clockwork army are one step away from battle...

No One to Trust
Dangerous. Unpredictable. That's how people know the hulking Will Carver. And those who don't like pretty words just call him The Beast. No matter how hard Will works to suppress his werewulfen side, certain things drive him beyond all control. And saucy Miss Lena Todd tops the list.

Lena makes the perfect spy against the ruling Echelon blue bloods. No one suspects that under the appearance of flirtatious debutante lies a heart of iron. Not even the ruthless Will Carver, the one man she can't wrap around her finger and the one man whose kiss she can never forget. He's supposed to be protecting her, but he might just be her biggest threat yet...

Nook Daily Find 6/20

A Series of Unfortunate Events Collection, Books 1-3 with Bonus Material ($15.29 Kindle, $2.99 B&N), by Lemony Snicket [HarperCollins], is the Nook Daily Find; this is likely to be price matched on Kindle later today. It's a very good price for those who missed the big pricing snafu a couple of years ago, which saw most of the series titles posted as free, very briefly.

Book Description
Lemony Snicket’s unhappy tale of the unlucky Baudelaire siblings begins with The Bad Beginning. In this short bothersome book alone, the three orphans encounter a greedy and repulsive villain, itchy clothing, a disastrous fire, a plot to steal their fortune, and cold porridge for breakfast.

Should you not mind deadly serpents, slippery salamanders, lumpy beds, large brass reading lamps, long knives, and terrible odors, then proceed with caution to the second book in the miserable series, The Reptile Room.

Readers unbothered by inclement weather, hungry leeches, and cold cucumber soup will want to continue with the third installment, The Wide Window. Others will not.

If you’ve got the stomach to wade through the first three tragic tales in Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events, then this troubling collection might be the one for you. Several loathsome extras, including a compilation of unsettling quotations and a very disturbing portrait, await those who successfully complete the wretched journey. You’ve been warned!

Age Level: 8 and up

UK Kindle Daily Deal 6/20

Diamonds are for Marriage (£0.99 UK), a Diamond Brides anthology by Margaret Way, Trish Wylie and Jennie Adam [Mills & Boon], is the Kindle Deal of the Day for for Romance Fans in the UK (no US edition).

Book Description
The Australian’s Society Bride
Leona has known Boyd, the most eligible bachelor in Australia, since she was a child. He is so out of her league that she hides behind a wall of indifference. Until the kiss that sets tongues wagging and gives Boyd the means he’s been waiting for to make the redhead his…

Manhattan Boss, Diamond Proposal
Manhattan boss Quinn doesn’t believe in love. But since Quinn hired Clare O’Connor, he has less control over his heart. His route to romance has always been easy. But now a real gem is involved. He has to tread softly. And if he does, the way will be paved with diamonds…

Australian Boss: Diamond Ring
Fiona Donner breezed into Brent MacKay’s office with her sunny smile and bouncy enthusiasm – and promptly turned his ordered world topsyturvy. She may be the woman to finally release Brent’s fears – and uncover the secret he’s lived with his whole life…

The Kindle Deal of the day for those in the UK is three fiction novels for £0.99 each (~80% off).

An Exquisite Sense of What is Beautiful (Main/UK), by J David Simons (no US edition)

An eminent British writer returns to the resort hotel in the Japanese mountains where he once spent a beautiful, snowed-in winter. It was there he fell in love and wrote his best-selling novel, The Waterwheel, accusing America of being in denial about the horrific aftermath of the Tokyo firebombings and the nuclear destruction at Hiroshima and Nagasaki. As we learn more about his earlier life, however – as a student in Bloomsbury, involved with a famous American painter – we realise that he too is in denial, trying to escape the past events that are now rapidly catching up with him. An Exquisite Sense of What is Beautiful is a sweeping novel of East and West, love and war, truth and delusion. Featuring richly drawn characters and a narrative that perfectly builds the tension up to the explosive climax, this book has all the hallmarks of a modern classic.

Mr g: A Novel About the Creation (Main/UK), by Alan Lightman (US edition $11.99)

With echoes of Calvino, Rushdie, and Saramago, this is a stunningly imaginative work that celebrates the tragic and joyous nature of existence on the grandest possible scale.

'As I remember, I had just woken up from a nap when I decided to create the universe.'

So begins Alan Lightman's playful and profound new novel, Mr g, the story of Creation as narrated by God. Bored with living in the shimmering Void with his bickering Uncle Deva and Aunt Penelope, Mr g creates time, space, and matter-then moves on to stars, planets, consciousness, and finally intelligent beings with moral dilemmas.

But even the best-laid plans can go awry, and Mr g discovers that with his creation of space and time come unforeseen consequences - especially in the form of the mysterious Belhor, a clever and devious rival. An intellectual equal to Mr g, Belhor delights in provocation: he demands an explanation for the inexplicable, requests that intelligent creatures not be subject to rational laws, and maintains the necessity of evil. As Mr g watches his favourite universe grow into maturity, he begins to understand how the act of creation can change the Creator himself.

The Woman Who Walked into the Sea (Main/UK), by Mark Douglas-Home (US edition $8.79)

Cal McGill watches the young woman through the dirty windscreen of his Toyota. There’s something compelling about her stillness, about the length of time she has been standing square-shouldered, erect, staring out to sea, like an Antony Gormley statue waiting for another of its cast-iron tribe to emerge from the deep. What has brought her to this remote beach, he asks himself. Is she a kindred spirit who finds refuge by the shore? Idle curiosity soon turns into another investigation for oceanographer and loner McGill as he embarks on a quest to discover why, 26 years earlier, another young woman stood on the same beach before walking into the waves. According to the police, she killed herself and her unborn baby. McGill, the Sea Detective, questions this version of events and confronts the jealousies, tensions and threats of a coastal community determined to hold on to its secrets.