Free Book - The Macintosh Way

Marketing guru Guy Kawasaki recently got the ebook rights back for his first book, The Macintosh Way (out of print), and rather than self-publish it in the usual ebookstores, he has decided to give it away for free. You can get a PDF version or an iPad version (thru the iTunes store) and the only catch is that you have to follow him on Twitter and allow his web page to verify that for long enough to get the download (unfollow at that point, if you want).

Book Description
The Macintosh Way is a "take-no-prisoners guide to marketing warfare" says Jean Louis Gasse, founder and president of Be, Inc. Must reading for anyone in the high-tech industry, it is valuable, insightful guide to innovation management and marketing for any industry.

Click HERE to get the free PDF download and HERE for the IPad version. Now, all he has to do is create a more Kindle friendly version ....

Free Book (nook) - The Cossack

The Cossack, by L. Ron Hubbard, is free in the Barnes and Noble store right now.

Book Description
Young and handsome Lieutenant Mertz Komroff thinks he has left his past behind when he enlists in the Chinese army—only to stumble onto the vengeful Duchess he had spurned in pre-revolutionary Russia. And she has nothing but his immediate death in mind...

Confessions of a Shopaholic under a Buck!

Confessions of a Shopaholic, by Sophie Kinsella, is 99 cents this morning, on Kindle and in other ebookstores. The Kindle and Kobo editions mention containing an excerpt from her upcoming Mini Shopaholic ($9.99 pre-order) and from the file size, the B&N edition has it as well.

Book Description
Rebecca Bloomwood just hit rock bottom. But she's never looked better....

Becky Bloomwood has a fabulous flat in London's trendiest neighborhood, a troupe of glamorous socialite friends, and a closet brimming with the season's must-haves. The only trouble is that she can't actually afford it -- not any of it.

Her job writing at Successful Savings not only bores her to tears, it doesn't pay much at all. And lately Becky's been chased by dismal letters from Visa and the Endwich Bank -- letters with large red sums she can't bear to read -- and they're getting ever harder to ignore.

She tries cutting back; she even tries making more money. But none of her efforts succeeds. Becky's only consolation is to buy herself something ... just a little something...

Finally a story arises that Becky actually cares about, and her front-page article catalyzes a chain of events that will transform her life--and the lives of those around her--forever.

Sophie Kinsella has brilliantly tapped into our collective consumer conscience to deliver a novel of our times -- and a heroine who grows stronger every time she weakens. Becky Bloomwood's hilarious schemes to pay back her debts are as endearing as they are desperate. Her "confessions" are the perfect pick-me-up when life is hanging in the (bank) balance.

Click HERE to get it for 99 cents at B&N.
Click HERE to get it for 89 cents from Kobo.
Click HERE to get it for 99 cents from Sony.

Free Games on Kindle! Every Word and Shuffled Row

Well, we've all wondered (ok, at least I have) where the apps are, once Amazon released a developer's kit. It appears that two of them are now in the Kindle store and both are (currently free) games! The pictures show them being played on the newest Kindle, but I don't see any mention of which Kindle is required in the descriptions .... but, you can only purchase and download this title if you have a 2nd or 3rd generation Kindle or DX, it appears. Also, pick the kindle you send it to carefully. Unlike any books I've purchased, these can only be sent via whispernet once, it seems. After that, you'll have to transfer via USB cable to any of your other Kindle devices.

Every Word

If you like word scrambles then Every Word is the game for you. Test your vocabulary as you try to find as many words from the scrambled letters in this fun and fast-paced word game.

Here's how it works. You are given six or seven scrambled letters with the goal of finding as many words as you can. You score points by filling out the words in each empty spot on the board using only the letters that appear at the top of the game board. Keep at it until time runs out or until you fill up the board. The more words you make, the higher your score!

Your score is comprised of two components: first make a lot of words, second try to make the longest word possible in each scramble. The best way to increase your score is to do both, but it's a huge bonus to find the longest word possible. Why? Because when you do, you earn the right to play a completely new level with a brand new set of letters. As long as you keep finding the longest word, you can move on to a new level with a new jumble of letters and push your score higher and higher.

Shuffled Row
  
Can you keep up with Shuffled Row? See how many words you can make from 60 lettered tiles.

The tiles are added to your row one at a time so you'll constantly be working with a new set of letters. After you submit a word, the letters you used will be removed and new ones will be added. Increase your score by using less common letters. Create longer words and increase your score even more.

If you don't use the letters fast enough, they'll disappear and new ones will take their place, so you'll have to decide if you want to play it safe and use short words or try to wait for more letters to form longer words.

Test your vocabulary and how well you can think on your feet with Shuffled Row - try it today!

Free Book (nook) - Havah

Havah ($9.99 Kindle), by Tosca Lee, is free to download in the Barnes and Noble store.

Book Description
She knew this earth when it was perfect-like her, for a time. Made by God in a manner like no other, she lived in utter peace without flaw in paradise until one fateful decision changed everything. Now, all humanity suffers for her mistake. 

But what did it feel like then to first sin and be exiled, to see all innocence crumble so vividly, and a strange new world take its place? 

Experience the epic dawn of mankind through the eyes and heart of Eve-the woman first known as Havah.

Get the free book HERE.

Atwood's Oryx and Crake under a Buck!

Oryx and Crake, by Margaret Atwood, is on sale for 99 cents in the Kindle store. This title is the follow-up to The Handmaid's Tale, which is still on sale for $3.95 (there are two editions; I linked in the one that I have, as the newer edition doesn't even have a publisher cover image; both are the same price, if someone wants to sample both and report any differences). If you want to read more of the series, The Year of the Flood is now out as well, and currently $8.69.

Book Description
Margaret Atwood's classic novel The Handmaid's Tale is about the future. Now, in Oryx and Crake, the future has changed.
As the story opens, the narrator, who calls himself Snowman, is sleeping in a tree, wearing a dirty old bedsheet, mourning the loss of his beautiful and beloved Oryx and his best friend Crake, and slowly starving to death. In a world in which science-based corporations have recently taken mankind on an uncontrolled genetic-engineering ride, he now searches for supplies in a wasteland. Insects proliferate and pigoons and wolvogs ravage the Pleeblands, where ordinary people once lived, and the Compounds that sheltered the extraordinary. As he tries to piece together what has taken place, the narrative shifts to decades earlier. How did everything fall apart so quickly? Why is Snowman left with nothing but his bizarre memories — alone except for the more-than-perfect, green-eyed Children of Crake, who think of him as a kind of monster? He explores the answers to these questions in the double journey he takes — into his own past and back to Crake’s high-tech bubble dome, where the Paradice Project unfolded and the world came to grief.With breathtaking command of her shocking material and with her customary sharp wit and dark humor, Atwood projects us into an outlandish yet wholly believable space populated by characters who will continue to inhabit your dreams long after the last chapter. This is Margaret Atwood at the absolute peak of her powers.

From the Inside Flap

A stunning and provocative new novel by the internationally celebrated author of The Blind Assassin, winner of the Booker Prize

Margaret Atwood?s new novel is so utterly compelling, so prescient, so relevant, so terrifyingly-all-too-likely-to-be-true, that readers may find their view of the world forever changed after reading it.

This is Margaret Atwood at the absolute peak of her powers. For readers of Oryx and Crake, nothing will ever look the same again.

The narrator of Atwood's riveting novel calls himself Snowman. When the story opens, he is sleeping in a tree, wearing an old bedsheet, mourning the loss of his beloved Oryx and his best friend Crake, and slowly starving to death. He searches for supplies in a wasteland where insects proliferate and pigoons and wolvogs ravage the pleeblands, where ordinary people once lived, and the Compounds that sheltered the extraordinary. As he tries to piece together what has taken place, the narrative shifts to decades earlier. How did everything fall apart so quickly? Why is he left with nothing but his haunting memories? Alone except for the green-eyed Children of Crake, who think of him as a kind of monster, he explores the answers to these questions in the double journey he takes - into his own past, and back to Crake's high-tech bubble-dome, where the Paradice Project unfolded and the world came to grief.

With breathtaking command of her shocking material, and with her customary sharp wit and dark humour, Atwood projects us into an outlandish yet wholly believable realm populated by characters who will continue to inhabit our dreams long after the last chapter. This is Margaret Atwood at the absolute peak of her powers.

You can get the same price on this for the nook, HERE.

Free Book (nook) - The Devil At My Doorstep

The Devil At My Doorstep ($2.56 Kindle), by David Bego, is free to download in the Barnes and Noble ebookstore.

Book Description
A targeted family business owner dedicated to protecting his employees survives full-scale war with the powerful and politically connected Service Employees International Union and its big labor boss, Andy Stern.

Author Biography

The author, Dave Bego, is president and CEO of EMS, an industry leader in the field of environmental workplace maintenance. He is uniquely qualified to write this book, as noted on CNN’s Lou Dobbs program in Spring 2009, due to his firsthand experience while waging war with Andy Stern and the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) from late 2006 until the present.


Click HERE for the free book.

Kindle 3 Sold Out! Reserve Place in Line for Next Batch

 If you've been on the fence about ordering one of the new Kindle models, you may have waited too late; especially if you wanted it before school started this fall. Log into any of the product pages for the Kindle or Kindle Wi-Fi and this is what you'll see:

Temporarily Sold Out. 
Order now to reserve your place in line

Due to strong customer demand, Kindle is temporarily sold out. Order now to reserve your place in line. Orders are prioritized on a first come, first served basis. Orders placed today are expected to ship on or before September 4th.

Ok, yes, Sept 4th is only a week after the original launch dates of August 27, but it is telling that Amazon not only sold out of the Kindle 2 once it lowered the price (no doubt a bit before they really wanted to, as it was a month before the release of the new model), but has now sold out of the production run of all models of the Kindle 3 (yes, even the white ones, which were underselling the graphite ones by a huge margin, from what I've seen).

Free Book (ADE/PDF) - We'll Always Have Paris

We'll Always Have Paris: American Tourists in France since 1930 ($35.00 Hardcover), by Harvey Levenstein, is free this month from the University of Chicago Press.

Book Description
For much of the twentieth century, Americans had a love/hate relationship with France. While many admired its beauty, culture, refinement, and famed joie de vivre, others thought of it as a dilapidated country populated by foul-smelling, mean-spirited anti-Americans driven by a keen desire to part tourists from their money. We'll Always Have Paris explores how both images came to flourish in the United States, often in the minds of the same people.

Harvey Levenstein takes us back to the 1930s, when, despite the Great Depression, France continued to be the stomping ground of the social elite of the eastern seaboard. After World War II, wealthy and famous Americans returned to the country in droves, helping to revive its old image as a wellspring of sophisticated and sybaritic pleasures. At the same time, though, thanks in large part to Communist and Gaullist campaigns against U.S. power, a growing sensitivity to French anti-Americanism began to color tourists' experiences there, strengthening the negative images of the French that were already embedded in American culture. But as the century drew on, the traditional positive images were revived, as many Americans again developed an appreciation for France's cuisine, art, and urban and rustic charms.

Levenstein, in his colorful, anecdotal style, digs into personal correspondence, journalism, and popular culture to shape a story of one nation's relationship to another, giving vivid play to Americans' changing response to such things as France's reputation for sexual freedom, haute cuisine, high fashion, and racial tolerance. He puts this tumultuous coupling of France and the United States in historical perspective, arguing that while some in Congress say we may no longer have french fries, others, like Humphrey Bogart in Casablanca, know they will always have Paris, and France, to enjoy and remember.

Click HERE to sign up for the free book. You'll need to give them an email address and then check for their message to get the download link. The book is a DRM'd PDF and will requires Adobe Digital Editions (ADE) to download and read.

Free Audiobook - Ministries of Mercy

Tim Keller's Ministries of Mercy: The Call of the Jericho Road, narrated by Sean Runnette, is this month's free audiobook at ChristianAudio.

Why would someone risk his safety, destroy his schedule, and become dirty and bloody to help a needy person of another race and social class? And why would Jesus tell us "Go and do likewise"? Like the wounded man on the Jericho road, there are needy people in our path- the widow next door, the family strapped with medical bills, the homeless man outside our place of worship. God call us to be ministers of mercy to people in need of shelter, assistance, medical care, or just friendship.

Get your free audio download HERE; lower down on the order page, you'll find discounted ($4.98) downloads for a few related titles, including one that was on special at B&N and Fictionwise (but not on Kindle) last month, The Shape of Mercy ($9.29 Kindle; $9.99 B&N; $0.99 Fictionwise), by Susan Meissner (and, yes, it's still under a dollar at Fictionwise). Double check your order before purchasing, as the priced don't seem to be updated just yet, early on a Sunday morning; the related title discounts should be good all month. Update: The discounts for the related titles are now showing up correctly.

Enter the coupon code AUG2010 during checkout. After you finishing your order, you will be asked which format you prefer to download - select MP3 if you want to be able to play the book on your Kindle.

Free miniHUGlight!

My Light, makes of the HUGlight and miniHUGlight is giving one away to everyone that Likes them on Facebook (you'll need a Facebook account) and sends them an email (at least, until they run out), as a Back to School Giveaway (can it possibly be that time, already?).

Update: The deal is over and has come down from their facebook page!

Here are the instructions from their site:


Step 1: "Like Us" on Facebook

Step 2: Send us an email so we can verify that you "Like Us"
...Send your email to info@showertek.com. Put "Facebook miniHUGlight" in the subject line. And put your first and last name (or whatever you go by on facebook) along with your shipping address.

Step 3: We'll verify that you "Like Us" and send your miniHUGlight totally FREE OF CHARGE! That's right, shipping and handling is on us!

Last Minute Bargains at Smashwords

Several of these end this month, others should be good for a few days. For the night owls out there, grab these quick.

Ruth Ann Nordin has two new freebies up on Smashwords: Into Her Own and A Matter of Time, the first and second books in her Queens of Raz series, written under her pen name Amanda Winters. You can also pick them on on Kindle for 99 cents each, HERE.

Book Description
Into Her Own
his is a light-hearted fantasy about a regular 21-year-old woman from Earth who learns that she is going to be the Queen on a distant planet called Raz. Hathor is sent to bring her to her new home, but first she must survive attacks from the Palers who seek to kill her before she can assume the crown. She must also choose who will be her king: William or Hathor.

A Matter of Time
Queen Ann from the planet Raz is thrown back in time to when she was a regular 17 year old on Earth. A new leader on Earth emerges, but she has no idea he is targeting her for death before she can become Queen.

The High Wizard Of Silvinesh ($2.99 Kindle), by Rodney Scully, is free on smashwords using coupon code SWS100, HERE.

Book Description
It is a time of darkness . . . only days remain before a deadly war is set to begin, between the minions of the Ever-Night Realm and the White Wizards of Silvinesh. An ancient message is found that gives the elvin heroes a glimmer of hope, and with it, they take a chance, and seek out a lost power, hidden, somewhere within Crystal Mountains. After narrowly escaping with their lives, the heroes return to Thelentia on the eve of battle, to aid their human allies against the deadly dark elvin threat. Journey with the brave group of friends and family, as they unravel the mysteries of the past, and find a way to save the world they love.

Rogue Wave ($1.39), by Maureen A. Miller, is free on smashwords using coupon code SWS50, HERE.

Book Description
U.S. Geological Survey expert, Nick McCord can not account for the destructive waves assaulting the Windward coast of Oahu. The only viable culprit is the new housing development, Manale Palms and its attractive contractor, Briana Holt.

Try as he might to find blame with Briana and her site, the truth remains a mystery as yet another threatening wave attacks the coast. Now allies, Nick and Briana narrow in on the source of these anomalies and find themselves in a struggle to save the island coast and their very lives.

Risen ($4.95), by Jan Strnad, is $1.24 on smashwords using coupon code SWS75, HERE. You can also pick up his The Risen Short Stories there for free.

Book Description
Welcome to Anderson. Look around. It won't take you long.

The movie theater on Main Street is open evenings and weekends. Old man Tippert won't play any of that R-rated trash, so feel free to bring the kids. Ma's Diner is the only restaurant in town, but it's pretty good if you stay out of reach of the meat loaf. Sheriff's office is down the street, not that you'll ever need it. Yeah, it's quiet here and that's how we like it. Except....

Madge Duffy sliced her huband's throat last week. Thought she killed him, but then John walked out of the morgue none the worse for wear. There's a bullet hole in Deputy Haws' shirt that he can't explain.

And that gang of kids that hangs around the reservoir...not one of them can look you in the eye without breaking into a cold sweat. They're keeping a secret, and it's got them all on edge. Something's going on in this town of ours, something that makes your skin crawl and your teeth grind in the night. I don't know what it is, but I know this:

It scares me.

The Quest for Nobility ($2.99 Kindle), by Debra L Martin & David W Small, the first in the The Rule of Otharia series, is free on smashwords using coupon code SWS100, HERE. You can also pick up The Crystal Facade, the second in the series, at half pric using coupon code SWS50, as well as a couple of free post-apocalyptic short stories, The Right Path and Path to War.

Book Description
Darius and Dyla Telkur, royal twins, from one of the most powerful noble families on Otharia...

Add in an evil mastermind bent on eliminating the House of Telkur...

And a telekinetic assassin named Nils...how fast can you run?

The idyllic life of royal teenagers, Darius and Dyla Telkur, from the planet Otharia takes a horrifying turn when their parents are murdered. With their cousin appointed as Regent until Darius comes of age, it doesn’t take the twins long to figure out that he’s bent on stealing their throne one way or another. To escape their cousin’s wrath, they flee to the only safe place they know where no one will find them – the forbidden and quarantined planet Earth.

Safe on Earth for the moment, the only way for them to return home is to find an ancient 10K traveling crystal left behind by their Otharian ancestors who visited Earth 1500 years ago. Enlisting the help of a London university archeologist, they begin their search for the crystal from clues buried deep within the Arthurian lore of Merlin and Lady of the Lake. What they find instead is evidence of a secret trade pact between Otharia and Earth that was established centuries ago. Before Darius and Dyla can understand what it means, they’re in jeopardy again; this time pursued by those on Earth who want the secret to remain hidden. Who is behind the trade pact and what is being traded are the questions the twins need to figure out while trying to stay one step ahead of the Earth assassins. Everything is connected. Otharia and Earth are entwined in secrets and bound by the blood of the other.

Time is running out for the royal pair. They must find the traveling crystal and open a portal home soon before their cousin is crowned the next Duke of Telkur and their lives are forfeited.

Scryer's Gulch: Magic in the Wild, Wild West - Episodes 1-10 ($0.99 Kindle), by MeiLin Miranda, is free on smashwords, HERE. This title is pretty short, about novella length, and appears to be a series of short stories.

Book Description
Treasury Agent Annabelle Duniway is on the trail of a brilliant, twisted spellcaster in a 19th century mining town full of demons, ghosts and werecritters. This ebook collects the first ten episodes of this weekly fantasy western series.

Powerless: The Synthesis ($0.99 Kindle & Smashwords), by Jason Letts, is aimed at young adults. This is the first of a planned five book series, four of which are complete but the next three are not yet published (but should be soon).

Book Description
Mira Ipswich couldn't have ever known the startling difference that separates her from the rest of humanity. But when she discovers a strange anomaly in the midst of her seclusion, her parents are forced to reveal she exists in a world where everyone is imbued with a wondrous natural gift. Everyone except herself that is. Accompany Mira as her attempts to fit in among peers and understand her inconceivable condition embroil her with the dangerous forces threatening her homeland. Protected by nothing more than her imagination and ingenuity, you'll never find a superhero more like you.

The first book in the Powerless series is the tale of Mira’s turbulent and perilous entry into the world around her. And once she’s a part of it, nothing will ever be the same again.

Winner of the Webb Weaver 2010 Writer's Competition.

The Last Legends of Earth ($9.99 Kindle), by AA Attanasio, isn't at Smashwords, but on the publisher's web site, HERE. You'll need to scroll down on the bottom of the page to find the title, then click on the link to get it free, just under the cover picture. On the next page, enter an email address and coupon code 9991300. There isn't a Kindle format, but the epub and PDF are DRM-free, so can be easily converted.

Book Description
The Last Legends of Earth is a magnificent, visionary epic of the far future by one of the 21st century's most exciting creators of imaginative fiction. ****
Seven billion years from now, long after the Sun has died and human life itself has become extinct, alien beings reincarnate humanity from our fossilized DNA drifting as debris in the void of deep space. We are reborn to serve as bait in a battle to the death between the Rimstalker, humankind's reanimator, and the zōtl, horrific creatures who feed vampire-like on the suffering of intelligent lifeforms. ****
The reborn children of Earth are told: "You owe no debt to the being that roused you to this second life. Neither must you expect it to guide you or benefit you in any way." Yet humans choose sides, as humans will, participating in the titanic struggle between Rimstalker and zōtl in ways strange and momentous. ****
Set in the artificial planetary system of Chalco-Doror, which is no more and no less than a vast cosmic machine, The Last Legends of Earth is a love story, a gripping saga of struggle against alien control, and an examination of the machinery of creation and destruction. Above all, it is world-building of the highest and grandest order, on a scale rarely seen in science fiction since the great works of Olaf Stapledon.

Last Chance for The Bum Magnet (for now)

K.L. Brady has just been picked up by Simon & Schuster and The Bum Magnet ($0.99) will be re-released by Gallery/Pocket on March 29, 2011. For now, you can still get it on Kindle, but I suspect it will be pulled from there soon, as has happened with some other indie authors who have landed publishing contracts (such as Sam Landstrom's MetaGame).

Book Description
2010 Next Generation Indie Book Award Winner!
Third Place Winner - Best Fiction of 2010
First Place Winner - Multicultural Fiction

Real estate agent Charisse Tyson seems to have it all-a great job, a dream car, and a McMansion in high-and-mightyville. Everything in her life is just right...except the Mister. While lamenting the break-up with her most recent "the one" during a holiday meltdown, Charisse realizes she has a type when it comes to men—players, players, and more players. A magazine article motivates her to swear off men and examine the complex roots of her romantic fiascos.

Just five simple steps to transform Charisse's love life to the stuff of legends, right? Life is never that easy.

She commences her Do-It-Yourself therapy and barely cracks open her emotional toolbox when she encounters the monkey wrenches: a sexy new beau, two persistent ex-flames, and an FBI agent with life-altering secrets threatening to turn her world topsy-turvy. A tug of war ensues with Charisse dead center, creating chaos as she attempts to distinguish the Don Juans from the Romeos. As her love life is propelled into unpredictable twists not even she could imagine, will a twenty-seven-year-old secret keep Charisse from finding the right "one"?

Laugh loud and often as Charisse discovers whether her choices reflect something more than a penchant for good looks, great sex, and bad judgment.

Karen McQuestion is another author who picked up a publishing contract and A Scattered Life is now available to pre-order for $2.99 on Kindle and 410.17 in paperback (generally, unless they go with hardcover, print copy prices go down when a major publisher gets involved, just due to the economic of scale, even AmazonEncore, in her case). You can still get her self-published edition, but it's the same price; if you like the sample, be sure to sign up for the pre-order of the (most likely) more polished version, instead.

Book Description
“Most people have everything they need to be happy.” The words latched onto some part of Skyla’s brain. She repeated the phrase to herself while she rang up books and stocked shelves. It had a certain resonance to it, but she doubted it was true.

Free-spirit Skyla Plinka has found the love and stability she always wanted in her reliable husband Thomas. Settling into her new family and roles as wife and mother, life in rural Wisconsin is satisfying, but can’t seem to quell Skyla’s growing sense of restlessness. Her only reprieve is her growing friendship with neighbor Roxanne, who has five kids (and counting) and a life in constant disarray – but also a life filled with laughter and love.

Much to the dismay of her intrusive mother-in-law, Audrey, Skyla takes a part-time job at the local bookstore and slowly begins to rediscover her voice, independence and confidence. Throughout one pivotal year in the life of Skyla, Audrey and Roxanne, all three very different women will learn what it means to love unconditionally. With the storytelling ingenuity of Anne Tyler, the writing talent of Jodi Picoult, and the subtlty of Alice Munro, McQuestion offers a satisfying debut that proves she is a gifted portraitist, a natural storyteller and an author to watch.

Free Book (PDF) - The Choir Boats

The Choir Boats (Longing for Yount) ($9.95 Kindle), by Daniel A. Rabuzzi, is a free download from Wowio this month. Since today is the last of the month, I'd download it quick before it disappears.

Book Description
London, 1812 | Yount, Year of the Owl

What would you give to make good on the sins of your past? For merchant Barnabas McDoon, the answer is: everything.

When emissaries from a world called Yount offer Barnabas a chance to redeem himself, he accepts their price—to voyage to Yount with the key that only he can use to unlock the door to their prison. But bleak forces seek to stop him: Yount's jailer, a once-human wizard who craves his own salvation, kidnaps Barnabas's nephew. A fallen angel—a monstrous owl with eyes of fire—will unleash Hell if Yount is freed. And, meanwhile, Barnabas's niece, Sally, and a mysterious pauper named Maggie seek with dream-songs to wake the sleeping goddess who may be the only hope for Yount and Earth alike.

Click HERE for the free download. There are about three different places you can click to get the book once there; it'll be a Secured PDF, but loads in Adobe Reader (ADE isn't required).

Blog Format Update

Apologies to those who stopped by earlier today. I've been working on the formatting, to make the blog more readable on older, non-wide format screens. In the process, there have been some rather, interesting, shall we say, formats shown on and off today.  If anyone cares to comment on the new format, leave me a note, below.

Free Classics from B&N (nook)

Barnes and Noble is continuing their free Classics in the B&N Free Library this week, with a new set of free classics. This weeks theme is 12 Enduring Stories of Romance and Passion:

1. Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton
2. Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
3. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
4. Les Liaisons Dangereuses by Choderlos de Laclos
5. Mansfield Park by Jane Austen
6. My Antonia by Willa Cather
7. Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen
8. Persuasion by Jane Austen
9. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
10. Room with a View by E. M. Forster
11. Wives and Daughters by Elizabeth Gaskell
12. Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte

These editions are not exactly the same as you would find at Gutenberg; Barnes and Noble Classic Series editions generally have been more carefully proofread and have introductions and scholarly notes inserted in the beginning to aid in understanding the text. If you are building a summer reading list for a student, stocking up for lit classes in college or just want to revisit the classics, these are a great (free) resource.These are DRM'd epubs, though, so will only be readable on a nook or one of the B&N reader apps.

Bargain Book Roundup, Part IV

The bargain book roundup for this month continues, this time with non-fiction and humor. These change price frequently and drastically, to check the prices at Amazon before one-clicking. Several that were under $2 last week are anywhere from $10 to $15 this week (so didn't make the roundup).

Fugitive Denim: A Moving Story of People and Pants in the Borderless World of Global Trade ($2.15), by Rachel Louise Snyder

Book Description
Rachel Louise Snyder reports from the far reaches of the multi-billion-dollar denim industry in search of the people who make your clothes. From a cotton picker in Azerbaijan to a Cambodian seamstress, a denim maker in Italy to a fashion designer in New York, Snyder captures the human, environmental, and political forces at work in a complex and often absurd world. Neither polemic nor prescription, Fugitive Denim captures what it means to work in the twenty-first century.

Mike Bloomberg ($2.60), by Joyce Purnick

Book Description
Michael Bloomberg is not only New York City's 108th mayor; he is a business genius and self-made billionaire. He has run the toughest city in America with an independence and show of ego that first brought him great success-and eventually threatened it. Yet while Bloomberg is internationally known and admired, few people know the man behind the carefully crafted public persona.

Hope Leslie: Catharine Maria Sedgwick ($3.79), edited by Mary Kelley

Book Description
Set in seventeenth-century New England, Hope Leslie (1827) portrays early American life and celebrates the role of women in building the republic. A counterpoint to the novels of James Fenimore Cooper, it challenges the conventional view of Indians, tackles interracial marriage and cross-cultural friendship, and claims for women their rightful place in history. At the center of novel are two friends. Hope Leslie, a spirited thinker in a repressive Puritan society, fights for justice for the Indians and asserts the independence of women. Magawisca, the passionate daughter of a Pequot chief, braves her father's wrath to save a white man and risks her freedom to reunite Hope with her long-lost sister, captured as a child by the Pequots and now married to Magawisca's brother. Amply plotted, with unforgettable characters, Hope Leslie is a rich, compelling, deeply satisfying novel.

Forget You Had a Daughter ($4.28), by Michael Tierney

Book Description
Having lived a successful life in Bangkok that included friends, two teaching jobs, and her own apartment, Sandra Gregory recounts how her life took a terrible turn in 1993 and how she experienced a journey from prison to renewal. While recuperating from dysentery and dengue fever, Gregory ran out of money. With mounting medical bills to pay, she met a heroin addict who offered her $1,000 to smuggle his personal supply of heroin to Japan. It was just enough to pay her medical bills and buy a ticket home, but Gregory was arrested at Bangkok airport before she even boarded the plane. Detailing the four and a half years she spent in the notorious Lard Yao prison, dubbed the "Bangkok Hilton," Gregory describes scenes of horrific brutality and suffering before being transferred to a British jail to serve the rest of her 22-year sentence. She tells of her daily fight for survival, of many women who died with no medical care or loved ones around them, and of her acceptance of her guilt and ultimate redemption.

How to Raise a Jewish Dog ($3.99), by Rabbis of Boca Raton Theological Seminary

Book Description
Questions to Ask a Breeder: 1. What kind of job is this, growing dogs? 2. Are these dogs nice? I mean of course they are. But if not, is this refundable? 3. Is this a stable business? Do you make a decent living? 4. Does the insurance kill you or is it okay? 5. Dogs are animals ? does this mean you qualify for some kind of Federal ranch subsidies? 6. What do I say to people who want to know how I can spend $1500 and up on a dog when there are so many dogs to be rescued from the pound?

The (make-believe) Rabbis of the (fictional) Boca Raton Theological Seminary have developed the essential dog training program for raising a Jewish dog. For the first time, the same dynamic blend of passive-aggressiveness and smothering indulgence, that unique alloy of infantilization and disingenuous manipulation that created generations of high-achieving Jewish boys and girls, can be applied to create a generation of high-achieving Jewish doggies. Written (for real) by Ellis Weiner and Barbara Davilman, co-authors of the bestselling Yiddish with Dick and Jane and Yiddish with George and Laura, this essential "guide" is sure to be a complete howl.

Fun with Phone Solicitors: 50 Ways to Get Even ($1.99), by Robert Harris

Book Description
They wake you up Saturday morning, waste your time, and interrupt meals and precious couch time. They're phone solicitors-the only group more despised than lawyers. Now here's your chance to strike back-hustle the hustlers, annoy the annoying-and have a blast with these fifty foolproof ways to get even. Drive 'em nuts with:

• The Receptionist Ruse: Pretend to transfer your tormentor and then press sever
• The Verbatim Variation: Repeat everything the caller says in a singsong tone.
• The Drop-the-phone Drill: The more drops you can get before the solicitor hangs up, the higher your score!

Creative! Relieves stress! Fun for the whole family!

How to Stay Single Forever ($1.99), by Jenny Lombard

Book Description
With this handbook today's independant woman can easily avoid meaningful relationships with aplomb. The 101 strategies are fully explained, may be used alone or in combination and include tips such as using baby talk in bed and be brutally honest.

Things I've Learned from Women Who've Dumped Me ($4.99), by Ben Karlin

Book Description
The Emmy award-winning former executive producer of The Daily Show and The Colbert Report has assembled a stellar lineup of men who have one thing in common: all have been dumped...and are willing to share their pain and the lessons learned.

Relationships end. And in almost all of them, even the most callow among us take something away. This is a book about that something, whether it be major life lessons, like "If you lie, you will get caught," simple truths like, "Flowers work," or something wholly unique like, "Watch out for the high strung brother in the military."

This anthology will be comprised of longer and shorter pieces, drawn from an array of impressive celebrities, writers and public figures. Some pieces may be a paragraph in length while others will be full-blown essays. All of them will be about that salient something men take away from a failed relationship. Yes, men learn.

This is not a touchy-feely book. This is not a self-help book. This is a book packed with smart, funny and insightful stories from men you probably thought never got dumped, or if they did, would never admit it.

Meditations for Men Who Do Next to Nothing (and Would Like to Do Even Less) ($1.99), by N. K. Peske & B.J. Pennacchini

Book Description
As all women know, movies are more than entertainment -- they're self-medication. A good flick is like a soothing tonic that, if administered property, (and in combination with something obscenely high in fat grams), can cure everything from a bad hair day to full-fledged identity crisis. Cinematherapy: The Girl's Guide to_ Movies for Every Mood is a hilarious guide to films to suit women's every emotion (and boy do we have lots of them -- as opposed to men, who basically have 'on' and 'off').

Will Work for Fun: Three Simple Steps for Turning Any Hobby or Interest Into Cash ($3.06), by Alan R. Bechtold

Book Description
Will Work for Fun presents a simple three-step process for turning your favorite hobby or interest into a reliable source of income. Why stay trapped in a job you hate, when you could turn your fun into your job? No matter what your interests are, Alan Bechtold will show you how to what you love into a real moneymaking career. Packed with stories, examples, exercises, and links to online resources, Will Work for Fun is the cure for another dull day at the office.

My Feet Aren't Ugly!: A Girl's Guide to Loving Herself from the Inside Out ($2.85), by Debra Beck

Book Description
Do you sometimes feel like other girls are prettier, more trendy, or more popular than you? Do you ever feel bad about yourself?

In this funny, honest book, teen expert and mentor Debra Beck provides in-depth examples and exercises to develop the tools you need for self-confidence. Learn how to have fulfilling relationships, make good decisions for yourself, respect yourself and others, and love yourself for who you are.

In a humorous, breezy style, this book instructs young women about how to feel good about themselves. Beck uses personal anecdotes from her youth, as well as stories about the young women she knows and works with to illustrate her points and provide examples. She covers topics that include resisting peer pressure, being kind to your body, developing healthy habits, personal responsibility, eating disorders, suicide, and physical intimacy.

The School for Scandal ($2.00), by Richard Brinsley Sheridan

Book Description
Richard Brinsley Sheridan is arguably the only comic dramatist, apart from Shakespeare, who has succeeded in pleasing changing audiences for more than two hundred years. In The School for Scandal he produced a comedy Shakespearean in range, if differing in its components. Its artificial world of heightened wit and heightened folly delights its audience; but at times it engages them with moments of human pain and happiness, before delivering them back to its brilliant comedy. The remarkable poise with which Sheridan holds these various elements together has seen the play consistently hailed as the comic masterpiece of the century. This entirely new edition, prepared for the New Mermaids series by Professor Ann Blake, reappraises and gives full vale to this classic work of comedy.

Rex: A Mother, Her Autistic Child, and the Music that Transformed Their Lives ($1.41), by Cathleen Lewis

Book Description
he inspiring story of Rex, a boy who is not only blind and autistic, but who also happens to be a musical savant.

How can an 11-year old boy hear a Mozart fantasy for the first time and play it back note-for-note perfectly-but struggle to navigate the familiar surroundings of his own home? Cathleen Lewis says her son Rex's laugh of total abandon is the single most joyous sound anyone could hear, but his tortured aversion to touch and sound breaks her heart and makes her wonder what God could have had in mind. In this book she shares the mystery of Rex and the highs, lows, hopes, dreams, joy, sorrows, and faith she has journeyed through with him.

My Three Fathers ($4.05), by Bill Patten

Book Description
Bill Patten grew up in the heart of privileged society to American parents-a debutante mother, a diplomatic father-stationed in Europe. Weekends away from his English boarding school were often spent at the regal country estates of important policy makers and historical figures of the mid-twentieth century. When Bill was twelve years old, his father, William Patten, died, and his mother remarried the renowned columnist Joe Alsop. Patten was swept into Washington during the Kennedy years, where he bore witness to his stepfather's legendary power-brokering, and watched a very different father figure at work. In 1996, when he was forty-seven years old, Bill Patten learned that his biological father was not William Patten, but the noted English diplomat, Duff Cooper. In this quest to know his triumvirate of fathers, Bill Patten offers an unforgettable memoir. My Three Fathers is a search for identity-and a luscious chronicle of a fascinating, bygone era of American aristocracy.

The Think Big Manifesto: Think You Can't Change Your Life (and the World)? Think Again ($3.87), by Michael Port & Mina Samuels

Book Description
Think Bigger. About Who You Are. And What You Offer the World.

Stand for something before someone stands on you. Revolt against the play-it-safe, don't disturb the peace, cynical and silenced society that, more often than not, buries big thoughts.

Michael Port, bestselling author and creator of ThinkBigRevolution.com, knows it's not always easy to think big. But big thinking must happen now; today, tomorrow, and forevermore.

At this very moment, you are the change you want to see in the world—should you choose to accept personal responsibility. Devour every word of The Think Big Manifesto. It is the handbook to your personal revolution.

You are more than you know. And you can do more with less than you think...

• Unhook from the guru track
• Learn how to be comfortable with discomfort
• Join people doing powerful things
• Be one of the big thinkers that others rave about

This book, and life, is not a conceptual, theoretical experiment in how to do big things. No, this is just what you need if you're on, or want to be on, the path to doing big things and are willing to invest in your future.

Join or incite a worldwide revolution that inspires others to follow. All it takes is one big thought and the revolution is unleashed. One thought, one person at a time, quickly followed by another—soon big thinking becomes the norm. Your big thoughts enable you to achieve greatness, be remarkable, and create a better world.

Are you a member of the Think Big Revolution? If so, this is your Manifesto.

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People ($4.95), by Stephen R. Covey

Book Description
The 7 Habits Of Highly Effective People is a comprehensive program based on developing an awareness of how perceptions and assumptions hinder success---in business as well as presonal relationships. Here's an approach that will help broaden your way of thinking and lead to greater opportunities and effective problem solving. Be Pro-Active: Take the initiative and the responsibility to make things happen. Begin With an End in Mind: Start with a clear destination to understand where you are now, where you're going and what you value most. Put First Things First: Manage yourself. Organize and execute around priorities. Think Win/Win: See life as a cooperative, not a comprehensive arena where success is not achieved at the expense or exclusion of the success of others. Seek First to Understand: Understand then be understood to build the skills of empathetic listening that inspires openness and trust. Synergize: Apply the principles of cooperative creativity and value differences. Renewal: Preserving and enhanving your greatest asset, yourself, by renewing the physical, spiritual, mental and social/emotional dimensions of your nature. Stephen R. Covey is the most respected motivator in the business world today. Learn to use his 7 Habits Of Highly Effective People--and see how they can change your life.

Solving Tough Problems: An Open Way of Talking, Listening, and Creating New Realities ($4.48), by Adam Kahane

Book Description
Tough problems usually dont get solved peacefully. They either dont get solved at allthey get stuckor they get solved by force. These frustrating and frightening outcomes occur all the time. Families replay the same argument over and over, or a parent lays down the law. Organizations keep returning to a familiar crisis, or a boss decrees a new strategy. Communities split over a controversial issue, or a politician dictates the answer. Countries negotiate to a stalemate, or they go to war. Either the people involved in a problem cant agree on what the solution is, or the people with powerauthority, money, gunsimpose their solution on everyone else..The way we talk and listen expresses our relationship with the world. When we fall into the trap of telling and of not listening, we close ourselves off from being changed by the world and we limit ourselves to being able to change the world only by force. But when we talk and listen with an open mind and an open heart and an open spirit, we bring forth our better selves and a better world.

First Aid Guide and Home Doctor ($4.28), by MobileReference

Book Description
n illustrated survival guide with step-by-step instructions, a world-wide list of emergency phone numbers, first aid techniques, and detailed description of what-to-do in over 60 medical emergency conditions. Navigate from Table of Contents or search for words or phrases. FREE Basic First Aid, First Aid Techniques, and Bites Chapter in the trial.

The Bartenders Black Book, Updated 9th Edition ($2.78), by Stephen Kittredge Cunningham & Robert M. Parker, Jr.

Book Description
The newest and ninth edition to the Bartenders Black Book franchise adds 143 brand-new recipes that were created by bartenders, professional and laymen, around the world in the last two years. That brings the total beverage count to 3,000, more than double that of any other drink guide. All the sections have been expanded and updated, including Robert M. Parker, Jr. s Vintage Guide and Mr. Cunningham s already vast Martini section. Of course this book still has all its classic features: an index by ingredients, in-depth mixing instructions, metric conversion tables, a list of every possible garnish, sections on hot drinks, frozen drinks, beers, ales, lagers, and malternatives.

Is It Just Me or Is Everything Shit?: Insanely Annoying Modern Things ($4.99), by Steve Lowe & Alan McArthur

Book Description
An encyclopedic attack on modern culture so hilariously bitter that it actually becomes uplifting. Based on two runaway UK bestsellers, this new American edition has been ingeniously adapted and features exclusive new material for US audiences by Brendan Hay, a former Daily Show headline producer and contributing writer to America: The Book.

If you hate chick lit, Che Guevara merchandise, pop Kabbalah, cosmetic-surgery-gone-wrong-as-tv-programming, DVDs with ads you can't skip, or any of a few hundred other insanely annoying modern things, then this book will finally lend creedence to your frustrations.

Say NOto the awful ideas, terrible people, useless products, and infuriating doublespeak that increasingly dominates our lives. Never before has there been a book so completely full of shit.

Clearly, it isn't just you...

Consumed ($4.02), by Benjamin R. Barber

Book Description
A powerful sequel to Benjamin R. Barber's best-selling Jihad vs. McWorld, Consumed offers a vivid portrait of an overproducing global economy that targets children as consumers in a market where there are never enough shoppers and where the primary goal is no longer to manufacture goods but needs. To explain how and why this has come about, Barber brings together extensive empirical research with an original theoretical framework for understanding our contemporary predicament. He asserts that in place of the Protestant ethic once associated with capitalism-encouraging self-restraint, preparing for the future, protecting and self-sacrificing for children and community, and other characteristics of adulthood-we are constantly being seduced into an "infantilist" ethic of consumption.

Debt Cures "They" Don't Want You to Know About ($3.10), by Kevin Trudeau

Book Description
Are you getting deeper and deeper into debt while they make bigger and bigger profits? Not after you read...Debt Cure$ "They" Don't Want You To Know About! In this new book, Kevin Trudeau blows the lid off the banking and credit card industries, exposing the greatest rip off of our citizens in this nation's history. The credit card industry is one of the most profitable industries in this country, but they don't want you to know it. You can fight back! You can apply Kevin's solutions to your debt problems, and keep more money in your pocket today. You can learn how to use credit to build wealth! Read Debt Cure$ and cure your debt forever. You will learn:

• How the credit lending business is rigged against you!
• How the financial industry wants to keep you in debt!
• How the banks and credit card companies are making obscene profits off of you and how you can change that!
• How to reduce or possible totally eliminate your debt!
• How you could cut your payments in half!
• How to correct your credit with two magic words!
• How to improve your credit virtually overnight!
• How to get free money that you never have to pay back!
• Find out why the financial industry wants to keep you in debt.
• Turn bad debt into good credit.
• Create wealth through financial health.

Financial Reckoning Day Fallout: Surviving Today's Global Depression ($1.02), by William Bonner

Book Description
When the first edition of Financial Reckoning Day was published more than six years ago, many critics felt that maverick financial writers Bill Bonner and Addison Wiggin were overly critical of the United States increasing debt and the start of what seemed to be foreshadowing of economic concerns. Fast-forward to 2009, and much of what the authors predicted has come true-high unemployment rates, record setting foreclosures and bankruptcies along with the near global collapse of the financial institutions once thought to be so secure.

With the Second Edition of Financial Reckoning Day, Bonner and Wiggin bring you even more down-to-earth wisdom. This timely guide reveals that the hazards of democratic consumer capitalism and the financial follies of history are not a thing of the past-but an ongoing issue with no end in sight. With this book, you'll gain a better perspective of what's really going on and discover the steps you need to take to survive the difficult times ahead.

• Bonner and Wiggin are astute observers of the global financial arena and perfectly positioned to offer you solid advice in this field
• Discusses what's behind all the financial turbulence, what's in store, and what you can do to safeguard your investments
• Other titles by Bonner: Empire of Debt, Financial Reckoning Day, and Mobs, Messiahs, and Markets
• Other titles by Wiggin: I.O.U.S.A., Demise of the Dollar, and Financial Reckoning Day

Honest and accurate, the Second Edition of Financial Reckoning Day offers you the best chance to protect your assets and grow your portfolio in these difficult financial times.

Thriving in the New Economy: Lessons from Today's Top Business Minds ($2.14), by Lori Ann LaRocco

Book Description
Survive and thrive in today's economy

These are make-or-break times for business leaders. In today's defining moment, the "New Economy," CEOs and other leaders in a wide variety of industries must face unprecedented conditions.

Thriving in the New Economy gives you a unique look into some of today's best economic and business minds. A series of close profiles, the book offers inspirational personal stories, useful advice, and actionable strategies you can use immediately to skirt financial peril, seize opportunities, and flourish in the New Economy.

• Profiles include financial publisher Steve Forbes, The Vanguard Group founder Jack Bogle, Former National Economic Council Director and Former Special Assistant to the President on Economic Policy Lawrence Lindsey, former FDIC chair Donald Powell, Saks CEO Steve Sadove, Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A. President Jim Lentz, legendary vulture investor Wilbur Ross and more
• Looks at how leaders in economics, banking, automobiles, real estate, and retail are not just avoiding the unraveling economy, but actively evolving and growing their businesses
• \Foreword by H. Wayne Huizenga; Afterword by Rudy Giuliani

If you're looking for the way forward through today's business wilderness, Thriving in the New Economy lets you in on how some leaders use challenges not just to survive but thrive.

The Sages ($2.99), by Charles R. Morris, is one of two identically priced editions. The second one has a subtitle, Warren Buffett, George Soros, Paul Volcker, and the Maelstrom of Markets, but also appears to be in topaz format, so I'd pick this mobi formatted edition.

Book Description
Throughout the violent financial disruptions of the past several years, three men have stood out as beacons of judgment and wisdom: Warren Buffett, George Soros, and Paul Volcker. Though their experiences and styles vary-Buffett is the canny stock market investor; Soros is the reader of shifting global tides in trade and currencies; and Volcker is the regulator and governor, sheriff and clean-up crew-they have very much in common. All three men have more than fifty years of deep involvement in markets. All are skeptical of Wall Street frenzies. They believe that markets tend to be right, but usually only over the medium term. They have seen too many cycles of herd-driven, emotion-riding booms and busts to make their views hostage to the sweeping and simplistic assumptions of "efficient-markets" models. With the benefit of his own deep understanding of markets and finance, Morris brilliantly analyzes the records of these men, distilling their wisdom and experience-and argues for the importance of consistent values in navigating the treacherous terrain of today's globalized world.