Bargain Book Roundup - Holiday Reads and Music

I've uncovered a number of good buys on books for the holiday season, including one free from the author, and the link for 25 Days of Free Music from Amazon. I've tried to eliminate any repeats from recent posts, so if you are a new reader, be sure to check out Blog Tags on the right side menu, to find recent posts on Bargain books. Don't forget, for any non-Agency books you find at Kobobooks.com (EPUB only), be sure to use the coupon code dec3ww30 or dec3us30 for an additional 30% off.

First up, one for those boycotting Christmas: Festivus: The Holiday for the Rest of Us ($1.99 Kindle, B&N, Kobo), by Allen Salkin

Book Description
Looking to add a little bitterness to your holiday season? Then FESTIVUS is the book you cannot do without!

Take Frosty out behind the woodshed and hide your menorahs, kinaras, diyas and whatevahs…the time has come for Festivus! The event celebrated by Frank Costanza (Jerry Stiller) on Seinfeld, in which a bare aluminum pole replaces all holiday and religious symbols, where participants compete in "feats of strength" and undertake the "airing of grievances," has transcended television to become a worldwide phenomenon. In this side-splitting romp through the Festivus landscape, Allen Salkin meets Miss Festivus, tastes Festivus beer, and ponders the Festivus snail (along with Festy the cat), showing how anyone with a little creativity-and a dash of Costanza-can celebrate a Happy Festivus!

My Man Plautus: Learn how (and dear God, why?) the ancient Romans invented Festivus.

Mom, is that you? Peruse dozens of photos and illustrations of Festivus celebrants in their natural habitat.

Be sure to wash the nails: Learn to cook tasty Festivus recipes like Shrimp impaled on mini Festivus poles and Ham with Junior Mint and Snapple glaze.

There she is, Miss Festivus! Criteria for judging your own Miss Festivus contest (hint: the abilities to bowl a 170 and clean a carburetor count big).

Are those my chestnuts roasting? Lyrics and chords to that surefire smash "O Festivus!"and the chart-topping hit all the kids are singing: "Gather 'Round the Pole."

No fire hazards here: Tips on acquiring a gloriously inflammable aluminum pole.

A foreword by Father Festivus himself, Jerry Stiller! See why Festivus is more fun than being killed by a giant boulder.

One movie we watch ever year during the holidays is A Christmas Story. Now you can get "The Book That Inspired the Hilarious Classic Film" ($3.89 Kindle, Kobo; $3.99 B&N), by Jean Shepherd.

Book Description
A beloved, bestselling classic of humorous and nostalgic Americana—the book that inspired the equally classic Yuletide film.

The holiday film A Christmas Story, first released in 1983, has become a bona fide Christmas perennial, gaining in stature and fame with each succeeding year. Its affectionate, wacky, and wryly realistic portrayal of an American family’s typical Christmas joys and travails in small-town Depression-era Indiana has entered our imagination and our hearts with a force equal to It’s a Wonderful Life and Miracle on 34th Street.

This edition of A Christmas Story gathers together in one hilarious volume the gems of autobiographical humor that Jean Shepherd drew upon to create this enduring film. Here is young Ralphie Parker’s shocking discovery that his decoder ring is really a device to promote Ovaltine; his mother and father’s pitched battle over the fate of a lascivious leg lamp; the unleashed and unnerving savagery of Ralphie’s duel in the show with the odious bullies Scut Farkas and Grover Dill; and, most crucially, Ralphie’s unstoppable campaign to get Santa—or anyone else—to give him a Red Ryder carbine action 200-shot range model air rifle. Who cares that the whole adult world is telling him, “You’ll shoot your eye out, kid”?

The pieces that comprise A Christmas Story, previously published in the larger collections In God We Trust, All Others Pay Cash and Wanda Hickey’s Night of Golden Memories, coalesce in a magical fashion to become an irresistible piece of Americana, quite the equal of the film in its ability to warm the heart and tickle the funny bone.

The Christmas Bus ($4.69 Kindle, Kobo; $4.79 B&N), by Melody Carlson, seems to go on sale every year about this time, but this is the first time I've noticed a drop on The Christmas Dog ($4.69 Kindle, Kobo; $4.79 B&N), which was nearly $10 just last month. For an even better deal, pick up one of her two anthologies, The Treasure of Christmas: A 3-in-1 Collection and The Joy of Christmas: A 3-in-1 Collection ($9.99 each).

Christmas Dog
Betty Kowalski isn't looking forward to the holidays. She just can't seem to find Christmas in her heart. There's church, of course. But who can she bake for these days? And who would care whether or not she pulled out the Christmas decorations? Her new neighbor just adds to the problem. He's doing home improvements that don't appear to be improving much of anything. These days when Betty looks out the window, she sees a beat-up truck, a pile of junk, lots of blue tarps, and--horror of horrors--an old pink toilet. But when a mangy dog appears at her doorstep, the stage is set for Betty to learn a very important lesson about what Christmas is all about. This contemporary Christmas story is a timely yet gentle reminder that God can work miracles through something as seemingly insignificant as a little brown dog.

Christmas Bus
The people of Christmas Valley always celebrate Christmas to the fullest extent. The mayor plays Santa, every business is holiday themed, and there's a nativity for the kids each Christmas Eve. This town knows Christmas. But this year nothing goes according to plan. Shepherd's Inn is full of strangers, Mad Myrtle is causing problems, and a young couple with a baby due any minute rolls in to the middle of town in their Partridge Family-style bus. It's hardly the holiday Christmas Valley wanted--but it may be just what they need. This charming novella is sure to become a new Christmas tradition for readers who love a great holiday story.

A Highland Christmas ($1.99 Kindle, B&N, Kobo), by M. C. Beaton, is the sixteenth in her Hamish Macbeth series. Two selections from the Agatha Raisin series are still priced at $2.99: The Quiche of Death (#1) and Kissing Christmas Goodbye (#18).

Book Description
Christmas is an ancient Roman festival, not to be celebrated by decent folk in the Scottish Highlands. Police Constable Hamish Macbeth has always loved the festivities, but this year his family is vacationing in sunny Florida. He is stuck with the long, lonely Christmas shift in freezing Lochdubh. A cranky old lady kicks off the holidays by reporting her cat missing. Then the Christmas lights and tree in a nearby village disappear soon after the local council voted to allow decorations. As Hamish finds a way to bring Christmas to the Highlands and make a little girl's dreams come true, he finds -- to his delight -- that he has the best Christmas ever.

Holiday Magic ($4.99 Kindle, Kobo; $5.11 B&N), by Fern Michaels, Cathy Lamb, Mary Carter & Terri DuLong

Book Description
Mistletoe, magic, twinkling lights, and stolen kisses.... Experience all the wonders of the holiday season with these four irresistible stories....

"Holiday Magic" by Fern Michaels
Ski shop manager Stephanie Marshall is counting on a holiday bonus so she can put a down payment on a home for herself and her daughters. But her handsome boss, Eddie O'Brien, has his own Christmas wish--one that could lead to a lifetime of loving....

"A Very Merry Christmas" by Cathy Lamb
Meredith Ghirlandaio's to-do list is already overflowing, between keeping her B&B afloat, directing the town's holiday concert, and trying to avoid rancher Logan Taylor. Doesn't he know Meredith's through with men--even rugged, alpha, drop-dead-gorgeous men? Then again, some vows were meant to be broken....

"A Very Maui Christmas" by Mary Carter
Tara Lane has the perfect plan to avoid another hellish family holiday--fly to Maui. Too bad her family decided to follow suit. But a laid-back handyman is about to prove you don't need snow to have a sparkling, sexy Christmas....

"A Cedar Key Christmas" by Terri DuLong
Single mom Josie Sullivan is proud of her young daughter, Orli, for helping local fisherman Mr. Al restore his crumbling home. And when Mr. Al's nephew, Ben, pays a visit, Josie realizes just how much Christmas magic one good deed can bring....

Kissing Santa Claus ($4.39 Kindle, Kobo; $5.59 B&N), By Donna Kauffman, Jill Shalvis & HelenKay Dimon

Book Description
Three hottie humbugs find holiday magic where they least expect it...

Donna Kauffman Lock, Stock and Jingle Bells
Holly hates the yuletide season more than ever since she inherited her mother’s Christmas novelty shop, but her childhood pal Sean’s determined to warm her up—to Christmas and to him. When they uncover a diary concealing secrets involving both their families, this could be the Christmas that changes their lives forever…

Jill Shalvis Bah Handsome!
Behind on her bills, B&B owner Hope receives an unlikely guest—stranded solicitor Danny, who’s been threatening to put her out of business. Hope’s staff sees more fire than fight in the sparks that fly as they try and bring Hope and Danny together, but only a Christmas miracle can help these unlikely lovers see the light…

Helenkay Dimon It’s Hotter at Christmas
Hawaii’s no paradise for Marissa, who, thanks to a series of unfortunate events, can’t seem to get away from the sand to enjoy her Christmas East Coast style—with plenty of snow and slush. But tall, dark, and serious police officer Ted’s about to give this bad Santa in heels a Mele Kalikimaka she’ll never forget…

Kiss Me, Katie! & Hug Me, Holly! ($4.29 Kindle, Kobo; $4.32 B&N), by Jill Shalvis

Book Description
Kiss Me, Katie!
All Katie Wilkins wanted for Christmas was to get Santa Claus under the mistletoe, because beneath that Santa suit was her ideal man--or so she thought. But it wasn't nice, safe Mr. Perfect who kissed her senseless. Horrors! It was Bryan Morgan--wild man, stunt pilot and all-around daredevil. And, heaven help her, she'd really liked that kiss. Which just proved what she'd known all along--she was Christmas cursed!

Hug Me, Holly!
Sheriff Riley McMann couldn't believe his ears when Holly Stone announced that she'd be taking over the only café in Little Paradise. She looked as if she hadn't worked a day in her life, and besides, he had to eat there! But he was soon working up quite an appetite for "Calamity Holly" when he discovered there was more to her than designer clothes and an attitude. Maybe his Christmas wishes were going to come true after all...

An Amish Christmas ($3.99 Kindle, B&N; $3.89 Kobo), by Patricia Davids

Book Description
When Karen Imhoff finds a beaten man lying unconscious by the road in her Amish community, she doesn't hesitate to help. "John Doe" needs a place to stay while he regains his memory, and she has a room to rent. The handsome Englisher proves invaluable around the family farm, yet his presence wreaks havoc with her emotions. Karen has her younger siblings to care for. She can't fall for an outsider who doesn't know his own identity. But as Christmas draws closer, the simple grace of this life—and this woman—could inspire John to make Karen's dreams come true….

Drowning in Christmas ($1.99 Kindle), by Judith Ivie, was previously published by Mainly Murder Press, a small New England publisher. This is the fourth in her Kate Lawrence Mystery series, all of which is now on Kindle for $1.99 each.

Book Description
When a mysterious death occurs at Hartford’s venerable Wadsworth Atheneum, Kate knows the holidays are really going to be murder this year.

Christmas has never been Kate’s favorite time of year, but this holiday season is enough to make her crazy. MACK Realty is on hiatus due to the down economy. Armando might not make it home by December 24th. Kate is mourning the loss of her adored cat Simon. Daughter Emma has persuaded Kate to stage a Norman Rockwell-type Christmas Eve for her loathsome new beau. And to top off the merriment, her ex-husband has coaxed her to host an at-home wedding for their nephew. Ho ho ho.
To get her mind off her troubles, Kate helps out with a charity fundraiser to be held during the Wadsworth Atheneum’s famous Festival of Trees & Traditions. It’s an evening that’s full of surprises, none of them good.

Kate’s positively drowning in Christmas. Can pals Margo and Strutter come to her rescue before she goes down for the third time?

A Merry Little Murder ($2.99 Kindle; $5.60 B&N), by Mary Welk, is the first in her A Rhodes to Murder Mystery series

Book Description
It was nobody's fault, unless you counted the mice, and even they didn't mean to start trouble. A forgotten candy cane lured them to the Christmas tree stored in the basement of St. Anne's Hospital. The nibbling and gnawing just went on from there. Now there are holes in the trunk where none should be and not a single branch will stay in place. Despite this disaster, the nurses of Psychiatric Ward One are determined to deck the blues by decking the halls. When an anonymous donor sends them an artificial balsam, they happily press their patients into decorating it. But lighting the new tree ends with a bang!

Who planted the bomb that wrecks havoc in the little town of Rhineburg? A frustrated employee fired by St. Anne's despised administrator? A student terrorist from Bruck University? Or Caroline Rhodes, a nurse with a suspicious past who survived the explosion but refuses to discuss it?

Tagged as a suspect by the FBI, Caroline must prove her innocence by unraveling a devilish plot devised to eliminate one man's nemesis. Aided by history professor Carl Atwater, Caroline cuts through a maze of conflicting stories, red herrings, and downright lies to bring a killer to justice.

A Christmas Wedding ($2.99 Kindle, B&N, Kobo), by Andrew M. Greeley

Book Description
"Happy families are all alike," said Tolstoy, and the O'Malley's are one of the happiest, if slightly crazy, families in current fiction. A Christmas Wedding continues the saga of Chucky, the youngest son who wants to live the quiet life of an accountant and raise a nice Catholic family. Fate, of course, has other plans for Chucky, in the person of the beautiful Rosemarie, his off-again on-again nemesis from the time he saved her life when he was a young man.

Thrown out of Notre Dame on trumped up charges, Chucky ends up going to the University of Chicago. The only problem: his lifelong enemy Rosemarie is a fellow student. They decide to be "just friends," and while they battle with each other, "just friends" turns into something neither of them expected.

Christmas Miracles ($2.99 Kindle, B&N, Kobo), by Marley Gibson & Cecil Murphey

Book Description
Celebrate the season of hope and miracles with these inspiring true stories that will warm the heart and touch the soul…

A man lies gravely ill in the hospital on Christmas when he hears angels singing and immediately makes a full recovery. A little boy with dyslexia sits down to read a Christmas book and realizes that his disability has vanished. And a woman’s faith is renewed by the chance discovery of a simple nativity set.

Many ordinary people experience God’s grace during those special moments when Christmas becomes more than just a holiday, but a time for miracles. Cecil Murphey and Marley Gibson bring you the real-life stories of everyday people who have experienced these life-changing moments of hope, comfort, and transformation—all during the most wonderful time of the year.

A Treasury Of Christmas Miracles ($1.99 Kindle, Kobo), by Karen Kingsbury

Book Description
This collection of true stories from bestselling author Karen Kingsbury celebrates the mystery and wonder of Christmastime.

A chance encounter that changes everything . . . help that appears from nowhere . . . kindness when it's least expected . . . We've all experienced miracles in our lives. Now Karen Kingsbury has collected a series of real-life stories about people whose lives were changed by the mystery and wonder of Christmastime. In each of these stories, Karen brings undeniable proof of God's presence in our lives. And with an uplifting voice, she gives us a joyous reminder of the true meaning of Christmas: the greatest miracle of all is opening our hearts to love.

The Paper Bag Christmas ($1.99 Kindle, B&N, Kobo), by Kevin Alan Milne

Book Description
Dr. Christopher Ringle is the last person you'd expect to find moonlighting as Santa Claus at the mall on the day after Thanksgiving. But it is there that he meets a young man named Molar Alan, who desperately needs a new perspective on the underlying value of Christmas. Dr. Ringle recruits Mo and his older brother as volunteers at a nearby children's hospital for the holiday season. At the hospital, Mo is tasked to help bring holiday cheer to the young cancer patients on the fifth floor. His biggest challenge is befriending a decidedly angry girl who is so embarrassed by her scarred appearance that she hides her face behind the safety of a paper bag. Almost in spite of himself, Mo finds that Christmas joy emanates from a source far greater than the North Pole, while the young girl learns that she is more beautiful than she had ever imagined.

Last up, a completely free download of Miss Humbug ($8.95 Paperback), directly from the author, Marnie L Pehrson.

Book Description
It's Christmastime and cold, competitive Elaina Houston would rather work than celebrate. Not only is Christmas a complete waste of time and money in her opinion, but also it brings with it haunting memories that drive Elaina further into her frigid shell. Work is the only answer, but she's surrounded by coworkers who bask in the holiday glow, constantly reminding her of painful memories from Christmases gone by. Then one night, a week before Christmas, her past comes back to haunt her, and she's given an ultimatum. Either she learns the Spirit of Christmas or she won't live to see another December 25th. Will Elaina be able to understand and act on the truth before time runs out?

To sign up for the free book (in HTML or text, both of which will display on the Kindle or can be easily converted), visit www.misshumbug.com. You'll also get a chance to pass on the offer to three friends (or three throw-away email addresses); if you do, you'll also be able to download the audiobook version for free.

Two More Kindle Games: Jumble, 50 Puzzles and Jumble, 20 Puzzles

Two new games for Kindle today, although they are both the same, in essence, just with different puzzles and prices. I'll probably skip these, simply because (a) Jumble isn't my thing and (b) they seem a bit overpriced for the limited selection of puzzles (then again, had the 10 puzzle version been free, I might have grabbed it and changed my mind ... hint, hint). I'm apparently in the minority on this, though, as I see these two are already the 33 and #4 bestselling Kindle titles this morning (right behind EA Sudoku and Mahjong Solitaire, both of which I have and enjoy playing).

Update: Puzux replaced the 10 Jumble game with a 20 Jumble title. The ASIN is the same, but the cover and description now show that you get 20 puzzles for your 99 cents. If you have already purchased, be sure to upgrade. Also, the price on the 50 Jumble version has been dropped to $2.49, which is more in-line with it's limited size.

Jumble, 10 Puzzles Jumble, 20 Puzzles ($0.99)

Book Description
Solve ten twenty Jumble puzzles on Kindle with this new interactive version of the popular word scramble game.

Each Jumble puzzle features four jumbled words for you to unscramble, which gradually reveals letters that can be used to solve the bonus phrase. Unscramble the bonus phrase to complete the puzzle. Each puzzle contains a cartoon clue, that will help you crack it, but watch out for puns!

Jumble contains a Solve Puzzle feature if you get stuck and want to see the answer, a Reset Puzzle feature if you want to start over, and a Hints feature to help you out along the way.

Jumble: That Scrambled Word Game! is one of the longest continuously running word games in the world. Try out Jumble on Kindle today and find out why!

Please note: This version of Jumble contains 10 20 puzzles.

Jumble, 50 Puzzles ($3.99 $2.49)

Book Description
Solve fifty Jumble puzzles on Kindle with this new interactive version of the popular word scramble game.

Each Jumble puzzle features four jumbled words for you to unscramble, which gradually reveals letters that can be used to solve the bonus phrase. Unscramble the bonus phrase to complete the puzzle. Each puzzle contains a cartoon clue, that will help you crack it, but watch out for puns!

Jumble contains a Solve Puzzle feature if you get stuck and want to see the answer, a Reset Puzzle feature if you want to start over, and a Hints feature to help you out along the way.

Jumble: That Scrambled Word Game! is one of the longest continuously running word games in the world. Try out Jumble on Kindle today and find out why!

Please note: This version of Jumble contains 50 puzzles.

Bargain Book Roundup

A few of these are bargain priced at more than one bookstore. For any that you find at Kobobooks.com (EPUB only), be sure to also use the coupon code dec3ww30 for an additional 30% off.

The Hangman's Daughter ($0.99), by Oliver Pötzsch & Lee Chadeayne (Translator), is currently a pre-order. You can, however, read the first three chapters for free (just remember to permanent delete it on your Manage My Kindle page when done, to avoid cluttering your library).

Book Description
Germany, 1660: When a dying boy is pulled from the river with a mark crudely tattooed on his shoulder, hangman Jakob Kuisl is called upon to investigate whether witchcraft is at play in his small Bavarian town. Whispers and dark memories of witch trials and the women burned at the stake just seventy years earlier still haunt the streets of Schongau. When more children disappear and an orphan boy is found dead—marked by the same tattoo—the mounting hysteria threatens to erupt into chaos.

Before the unrest forces him to torture and execute the very woman who aided in the birth of his children, Jakob must unravel the truth. With the help of his clever daughter, Magdelena, and Simon, the university-educated son of the town’s physician, Jakob discovers that a devil is indeed loose in Schongau. But it may be too late to prevent bloodshed.

A brilliantly detailed, fast-paced historical thriller, The Hangman’s Daughter is the first novel from German television screenwriter Oliver Pötzsch, a descendent of the Kuisls, a famous Bavarian executioner clan.

A Glimpse of Darkness ($0.99), by is a collaboration between Lucy A. Snyder, Lara Adrian, Stacia Kane, Harry Connolly & Kelly Meding and their readers, who chose the direction of the story at the end of each chapter. The title at Amazon says it is a short story, but the file size is over 800K and there are six total chapters (at least, according to the Suvudu site, where it used to be available to read freely, as it was being written). I've read two of the author's works before, so it's in my pre-order queue.

Book Description
An original collaboration among five of the genre’s brightest authors, A Glimpse of Darkness is urban fantasy as it’s never been done before. Originally featured on Suvudu.com, this is Random House’s first multicontributor chain story in which the readers voted on the outcome—now published here in its entirety as a thrilling eBook.

Munira bint Azhar, the half-human daughter of a djinn, is a skilled Retriever in the city of Port Nightfall. Now the powerful sorcerer Temesis has given Munira a dire ultimatum: steal a magical lantern—the Light of Ta’lab—from the horrific undead kingdom below the city, or watch her father die at Temesis’s hand. Will she be able to retrieve the lantern and save her father’s life, or will they both perish in the process?

With an Afterword featuring the choices readers were given at the end of each chapter.

The Lost Symbol ($3.99), by Dan Brown, you may want to pick up the Special Illustrated Edition ($3.99) as well, just for the photographs. Both editions claim 528 pages, but this new edition is 7MB larger due to inclusion of over 100 images.

Book Description
The most explosive bestseller of 2009 . . .
Over 5 million copies sold . . . Now available in a beautifully illustrated gift edition just in time for the holidays!

Dan Brown’s record-breaking novel The Lost Symbol weaves a breathtaking trail through the hidden artwork, chambers, tunnels, and temples of our nation’s capital. Now the fascinating visuals appear right before your eyes, making for a sumptuous reading experience that brings alive Robert Langdon’s heart-stopping race through a little-known Washington, D.C. Revealing a world of ancient mysteries, stunning history, and secret societies, this Special Illustrated Edition unveils a whole new level of intrigue and fascination within The Lost Symbol. Over one hundred full-color images are featured throughout this lavishly illustrated gift edition—an essential companion to the original.

Note: This eBook edition of The Lost Symbol, Special Illustrated Edition, includes photographs that will appear on black-and-white devices but are optimized for devices that support full-color images.

If you want to give it as a gift to someone who doesn't have a Kindle, a Kindle app and won't read on a computer, you can also get the Hardcover for $21, only $2 more than the non-illustrated edition.

Drop Dead, Gorgeous ($4.47), by MaryJanice Davidson

Book Description
Fast. Powerful. Deadly. With bitchin' highlights.

Ah, weddings--every single woman's reminder that she'll probably die alone, covered in cat hair and dressed in unflattering sweatpants. And as far as bad wedding experiences go, my friend Stacy's could take the cake. 1) I'm dateless 2) I'm a bridesmaid, and 3) Someone just attempted to whack the groom in the middle of the ceremony. Whoa. . .hang on. Anyone who tries to ruin a girlfriend's big day by bumping off her true love will have to go through me first.

So now I, assistant hairdresser Jenny Branch, am helping to hunt down a real-life bad guy, and the prime suspect is Kevin Stone, who claims to be working undercover for a group called Covert Ops Protection. Riiiight. All of this is hard to believe--especially the way this unbelievably sexy villain/double agent/whatever Kevin is makes every (and I mean every) nerve-ending tingle the second he comes into view. . .

Bloated Goat ($0.99), by Manley Peterson, is an indie-published title aimed at tweens. It's short (90K), but not illustrated, so it's all text.

Book Description
When Granny Hammy finds Bloated Goat face down in her front yard's drainage ditch, her grandson Cocky Doodle thinks nothing of it. In fact, he says that’s just another normal day for his best friend. But when they discover that Bloated Goat has little black Xs for eyes and is even more bloated than normal, they realize it is much more serious.

Come join the humorous adventure filled with jewel thieves, a despondent wolf, an alligator gangster, a kingdom of hungry mushrooms, a shocking skunk wedding, and a mysteriously powerful chameleon known as Crazy Ned.

Johnny One-Eye: A Tale of the American Revolution ($1.40), by Jerome Charyn

Book Description
Johnny One-Eye is bringing about the rediscovery of one of the most "singular and remarkable [careers] in American literature" (Jonathan Yardley, Washington Post Book World).

In this picaresque tour de force that reanimates Revolutionary Manhattan through the story of double agent John Stocking, the bastard son of a whorehouse madam and possibly George Washington, Jerome Charyn has given us one of the most memorable historical novels in years. As Johnny seeks to unlock the mystery of his birth and grapples with his allegiances, he falls in love with Clara, a gorgeous, green-eyed octoroon, the most coveted harlot of Gertrude's house. The wild parade of characters he encounters includes Benedict Arnold, the Howe brothers, "Sir Billy" and "Black Dick," and a manipulative Alexander Hamilton.

Not since John Barth's The Sotweed Factor and Gore Vidal's Burr has a novel so dramatically re-created America's historical beginnings. Reading group guide included.

The Rosy Crucifixion: Sexus, Plexus, Nexus ($9.95), by Henry Miller, is a 3-in-1 volume, with roughly 625 pages in print.

Book Description
Henry Miller's Rosy Crucifixion, his second major trilogy, took more than 10 years for the author to complete. Beginning in 1949 with Sexus, a work so controversial all of Paris was abuzz with L'Affaire Miller, (and publisher Maurice Girodias saw himself threatened with jail), following in 1952 with Plexus, and finally concluding with 1959's Nexus, the three works are a dazzling array of scenes, sexual encounters and ideas, covering Miller's final days in NY, his relationship with June Miller and her lover, his take on the arts, his favorite writers, his thoughts, his insights, his days and his nights, finally ending with a glorious farewell to the life he'd known and an anticipation of the life he would lead.

The War Behind Me ($1.57), by Deborah Nelson

Book Description
In 2005, Deborah Nelson joined forces with military historian Nick Turse to investigate an extraordinary archive: the largest compilation of records on Vietnam-era war crimes ever to surface. The declassified Army papers were erroneously released and have since been pulled from public circulation. Few civilians have seen the documents. The files contain reports of more than 300 confirmed atrocities, and 500 other cases the Army either couldn't prove or didn't investigate. The archive has letters of complaint to generals and congressmen, as well as reports of Army interviews with hundreds of men who served. Far from being limited to a few bad actors or rogue units, atrocities occurred in every Army division that saw combat in Vietnam. Torture of detainees was routine; so was the random killing of farmers in fields and women and children in villages. Punishment for these acts was either nonexistent or absurdly light. In most cases, no one was prosecuted at all. In The War Behind Me Deborah Nelson goes beyond the documents and talks with many of those who were involved, both accusers and accused, to uncover their stories and learn how they deal with one of the most awful secrets of the Vietnam War.

Dark Legacy ($2.89), by Anna DeStefano

Book Description
Maddie Temple finds her life spiraling out of control as the mental link she shares with her twin sister pushes her closer and closer toward madness and her only hope for redemption lies with a psychiatrist who could end her career.

Overnight Socialite ($2.96), by Bridie Clark

Book Description
Lucy Ellis moved to the Big Apple to pursue her lifelong dream of becoming a fashion designer, but the native Midwesterner has just about had it with the city. A mousy, self-conscious girl trapped in a job at a designer sweatshop, Lucy has been mistreated, road-blocked, and otherwise insulted since her arrival. Overwhelmed by city life, Lucy is about to pack it all in and return home to Minnesota. Then she meets Wyatt.

Succubus Blues ($4.99), by Richelle Mead, author of Thorn Queen, which was free in July of last year. This is the first in her Georgina Kincaid series (I've got the next one, Succubus On Top, in paperback).

Book Description
When it comes to jobs in hell, being a succubus seems pretty glamorous. A girl can be anything she wants, the wardrobe is killer, and mortal men will do anything just for a touch. Granted, they often pay with their souls, but why get technical?

But Seattle succubus Georgina Kincaid's life is far less exotic. At least there's her day job at a local bookstore—free books; all the white chocolate mochas she can drink; and easy access to bestselling, sexy writer, Seth Mortensen, aka He Whom She Would Give Anything to Touch but Can't.

But dreaming about Seth will have to wait. Something wicked is at work in Seattle's demon underground. And for once, all of her hot charms and drop-dead one-liners won't help because Georgina's about to discover there are some creatures out there that both heaven and hell want to deny…

Love ($3.09), by Toni Morrison

Book Description
Nobel Prize laureate Toni Morrison’s spellbinding new novel is a Faulknerian symphony of passion and hatred, power and perversity, color and class that spans three generations of black women in a fading beach town.

In life, Bill Cosey enjoyed the affections of many women, who would do almost anything to gain his favor. In death his hold on them may be even stronger. Wife, daughter, granddaughter, employee, mistress: As Morrison’s protagonists stake their furious claim on Cosey’s memory and estate, using everything from intrigue to outright violence, she creates a work that is shrewd, funny, erotic, and heartwrenching.

From the Inside Flap
May, Christine, Heed, Junior, Vida?even L: all women obsessed with Bill Cosey. The wealthy owner of the famous Cosey?s Hotel and Resort, he shapes their yearnings for father, husband, lover, guardian, and friend, yearnings that dominate the lives of these women long after his death. Yet while he is either the void in, or the center of, their stories, he himself is driven by secret forces?a troubled past and a spellbinding woman named Celestial.

This audacious exploration into the nature of love?its appetite, its sublime possession, its dread?is rich in characters, striking scenes, and a profound understanding of how alive the past can be.

The Van Alen Legacy ($4.89), by Melissa de la Cruz

Book Description
With the stunning revelation surrounding Bliss's true identity comes the growing threat of the sinister Silver Bloods. Once left to live the glamorous life in New York City, the Blue Bloods now find themselves in an epic battle for survival. Not to worry, love is still in the air for the young vampires of the Upper East Side. Or is it? Jack and Schuyler are over. Oliver's brokenhearted. And only the cunning Mimi seems to be happily engaged. Young, fanged, and fabulous, Melissa de la Cruz's vampires unite in this highly anticipated fourth installment of the Blue Bloods series.

I Am Nujood, Age 10 and Divorced ($2.69), by Nujood Ali & Delphine Minoui

Book Description
Nujood Ali, a ten-year old Yemeni girl forced into marriage with a repulsive older man, refuses to put up with the injustice of the terrible abuse she suffers daily at his hands. Against tremendous odds, she will not back down until she gets what she wants: a divorce.

Najood tells her own amazing story with the help of co-author Delphine Minoui. This inspiring book, which comes out out in February 2010, has already been translated into 16 languages. The eleven chapters, plus epilogue, alternate between her determined legal battle beginning at the court house in the capital city of Sana'a, and the idealic early childhood in a remote village, leading up to her the disasterous union with her abuser.

Bucking the forces of age-old customs, family disapproval, and the tabu of quot;bringing shame to her familyquot;, Nujood's bravery and determination never flicker nor flag. She is completely sure of the justice of her cause, of her own self worth, and her faith in God. Really, Nujood is just an regular kid, like any other; she likes to play, to draw pictures and learn to read, and she loves her familynot so different really than millions of other girls who live in this mostly impoverished society, where men have the final word, no questions asked. But she has an internal strength to never question herself, and the simple belief that right will win out.

I think that, although Nujood's world may seem impossibly remote to our own, her book has universal appeal. It's the story of courage, of human rights, of passion and of compasssion. Little Nujood manages to find powerful allies within the justice system, including a remarkable attorney named Shada, and international support from women's and human right's groups, such as Oxfam. Her success has already inspired a few other young girls in similar situations to obtain justice. And it can inspire people like me, who, by comparison, live blessed lives, to believe in, and stand up for ourselves.

Thankfully, Nujood is recovering from the trauma of her ordeals. Hopefully, she will still enjoy being a child for a while longer. Gratefully, she has been able to return to school and sate her thirst for learning. Wonderfully, she has found a great reservoir of compassion for others who suffer. Inspiringly, she has set her sights on higher education and tireless work in the cause of justice, as an attorney or, possibly a journalist. You go, Nujood, the world is watching!

High Heels Mysteries Boxed Set ($9.99), by Gemma Halliday, might be a bit mis-named for a Kindle edition, but is a great bargain at (just) under $2 each for this five-volume set. The individual titles in the High Heels Mysteries series are also currently marked down to $3.99 each, but even though I already have the first in this series, I'd be better off getting the full set (especially since the one I have is in Adobe ADE, not on Kindle).

Book Description
Boxed set of all five High Heels Mystery novels featuring fashion designer turned amateur sleuth, Maddie Springer, including:

SPYING IN HIGH HEELS
L.A. shoe designer, Maddie Springer, lives her life by three rules: Fashion. Fashion. Fashion. But when she stumbles upon the work of a brutal killer, her life takes an unexpected turn from Manolos to murder.

KILLER IN HIGH HEELS
Maddie straps on her stilettos and, along with her trigger-happy best friend, makes tracks for Sin City in search of her MIA dad.
Maddie finds not only her dad, but also a handful of aging drag queens, an organized crime ring smuggling fake Prada pumps, and one relentless killer. Plus, it seems the LAPD's sexiest cop is doing a little Vegas moonlighting of his own. In a town where odds are everything, Maddie bets it all on her ability to out-step a vicious murderer.

UNDERCOVER IN HIGH HEELS
Secret affairs, hunky gardeners, and housewives desperate enough to bare it all... welcome to Magnolia Lane, TV's hottest new prime time show... where a rising young starlet is found dead on the show's set. Now it's up to Maddie to sift through a leading lady with a secret, an actor on the verge of a nervous breakdown, a sexy cyber scandal, and one tabloid reporter who'll stop at nothing to get the story of the century. Not to mention Maddie's hot-cold relationship with the case's familiar lead detective, Jack Ramirez. In a world where secrets, lies, and deception can earn you an Oscar, Maddie plays the role of a lifetime to catch Hollywood's hottest killer. But if she doesn't watch her step, Maddie's fifteen minutes of fame just may be her last.

ALIBI IN HIGH HEELS
Baguettes, bodies, and haute couture galore! Shoe designer turned amateur sleuth, Maddie Springer, is at it again, this time in fabulously fashionable Paris. When Europe's designer de jour, Jean Luc LeCroix, invites Maddie to show her creations at Paris Fashion Week, Maddie's sure she's died and gone to heaven. That is until Jean Luc's top model is found dead on the runway, stabbed with a familiar stiletto heel. Sure someone is trying to frame her, Maddie enlists the help of her friends, including the sexy Detective Jack Ramirez, to uncover a daring jewel heist, a devious blackmailer, and even a few skeletons lurking in the closets of those closest to her. But as the evidence mounts, Maddie becomes the prime suspect and Ramirez is stuck between a badge and a cute blonde with a tendency for trouble. Will he stand by her as she attempts to track down an international killer, or will this be the case that finally comes between them? One thing's for sure, if Maddie doesn't uncover the real killer soon, she may be saying her final adieu.

MAYHEM IN HIGH HEELS
Maddie Springer is finally walking down the aisle with the man of her dreams. And she's got the perfect wedding planner to pull it all off in style. Well, perfect, that is, until the woman winds up dead - murdered in buttercream icing. With the help of her fellow fashionista friends, Maddie vows to unveil the cold-blooded killer, but as the wedding day grows closer, tempers flare, old flames return, and Maddie's race to the altar turns into a race against time.

Free Book (nook) - Anna Karenina

This week's Free Fridays book at B&N is one of their Barnes & Noble Classics Series, Anna Karenina, by Leo Tolstoy & Amy Mandel. A nice edition of a well-known classic, this one was also free last July.

Book Description
Anna Karenina, by Leo Tolstoy, is part of the Barnes & Noble Classics series, which offers quality editions at affordable prices to the student and the general reader, including new scholarship, thoughtful design, and pages of carefully crafted extras. Here are some of the remarkable features of Barnes & Noble Classics:

• New introductions commissioned from today's top writers and scholars
• Biographies of the authors
• Chronologies of contemporary historical, biographical, and cultural events
• Footnotes and endnotes
• Selective discussions of imitations, parodies, poems, books, plays, paintings, operas, statuary, and films inspired by the work
• Comments by other famous authors
• Study questions to challenge the reader's viewpoints and expectations
• Bibliographies for further reading
• Indices & Glossaries, when appropriate

All editions are beautifully designed and are printed to superior specifications; some include illustrations of historical interest. Barnes & Noble Classics pulls together a constellation of influences—biographical, historical, and literary—to enrich each reader's understanding of these enduring works.

Amy Mandelker, Associate Professor of Comparative Literature at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York, is the author of Framing Anna Karenina: Tolstoy, the Woman Question, and the Victorian Novel and coeditor of Approaches to Teaching Anna Karenina.

Bargain Book Roundup

The Griffin Mage: Books 1 & 2 ($7.99), by Rachel Neumeier, is Orbit's discounted book of the month. This contains the full contents of Lord of the Changing Winds ($7.99) and Land of the Burning Sands ($7.99) in a single volume. If you recognize the author's name, it might be because the third book in the series, Law of the Broken Earth ($7.99), was on of this week's pricing error bargains, free for a few hours in the morning. If you managed to snag it, that means you can get the entire trilogy for under $8. I'm reading the sample now and will probably end up getting it.

Book Description
Book 1: LORD OF THE CHANGING WINDS
Little ever happens in the quiet villages of peaceful Feierabiand. For Kes, the course of her life seems set: she'll grow up to be an herb-woman and healer, never quite fitting in but always more or less accepted. And she's content with that path - or she thinks she is. Until the day the griffins come down from the mountains, bringing with them the fiery wind of their desert and a desperate need for a healer. But what the griffins need is a healer who is not quite human...or a healer who can be made into something not quite human.

Book 2: LAND OF THE BURNING SANDS
Gereint Enseichen of Casmantium knows little and cares less about the recent war in which his king tried to use griffins and fire to wrest territory from the neighboring country of Feierabiand. Now, his kingdom's unexpected defeat offers him a chance to escape from his own servitude.

But now that the griffins find themselves in a position of strength, they are not inclined to forgive and the entire kingdom finds itself in a deadly peril. Willing or not, Gereint is caught up in a desperate struggle between the griffins and the last remaining mage...

The Good, the Bad, and the Undead with Bonus Material ($1.99), by Kim Harrison, is the second book in her Hollows series. This edition is a pre-order, so if you want to sampler first, you can get it from this edition: The Good, the Bad, and the Undead ($7.99. If you've been a reader here for a while, there's a good chance you already have the first in the series, Dead Witch Walking ($7.99), as it was free in February. The bonus material is an excerpt from her upcoming title, Pale Demon ($12.99) and the only reason I don't have it on pre-order myself is that I lucked into a review copy.

Book Description
For a limited time, discover Kim Harrison's The Good, the Bad, and the Undead including an early excerpt from her new novel, Pale Demon, on sale February 22, 2011.

It's a tough life for witch Rachel Morgan, sexy, independent bounty hunter, prowling the darkest shadows of downtown Cincinnati for criminal creatures of the night.

She can handle the leather-clad vamps and even tangle with a cunning demon or two. But a serial killer who feeds on the experts in the most dangerous kind of black magic is definitely pressing the limits.

Confronting an ancient, implacable evil is more than just child's play -- and this time, Rachel will be lucky to escape with her very soul.

The Breach with Bonus Material ($1.99), by Patrick Lee, is another pre-order, re-release. Get a sample of this one from The Breach ($7.99. If you do pick up this one, you'll have a week to read it before Ghost Country ($9.99) is released.

Book Description
For a limited time, discover New York Times bestselling author Patrick Lee's The Breach, including a special note from the author and an exclusive excerpt from the hotly anticipated sequel, Ghost Country, available December 28th.

Thirty years ago, in a facility buried beneath a vast Wyoming emptiness, an experiment gone awry accidentally opened a door.

It is the world's best-kept secret—and its most terrifying.

Trying to regain his life in the Alaskan wilds, ex-con/ex-cop Travis Chase stumbles upon an impossible scene: a crashed 747 passenger jet filled with the murdered dead, including the wife of the President of the United States. Though a nightmare of monumental proportions, it pales before the terror to come, as Chase is dragged into a battle for the future that revolves around an amazing artifact.

Allied with a beautiful covert operative whose life he saved, Chase must now play the role he's been destined for—a pawn of incomprehensible forces or humankind's final hope—as the race toward Apocalypse begins in earnest.Because something is loose in the world.

And doomsday is not only possible . . . it is inevitable.

My Goat Ate Its Own Legs ($1.99), by Alex Burrett, is a short story collection. This appears to be the full collection; there are eight volumes with the same title, all of which appear to be a single story from the collection. The paperback is 256 pages and contains 31 short stories.

Book Description
In a voice so unfailingly chipper it's suspicious, Alex Burrett poses in fiction some disturbing yet certainly possible futures for the human race (and other ambitious, earthbound mammals). Always ready with an impeccable phrase or a sly wink, he shares stories of the most darkly ironic sort, including a field report from a human abattoir, a chronicle of dating Death, and, of course, the tale of the goat that ate its own legs. These thirty brilliant, bizarre, and morbidly hilarious "tales for adults" will delight anyone who doesn't take life (or death) too seriously.

Flyboys: A True Story of Courage ($1.99), by James Bradley, author of Flags of Our Fathers ($6.29), is the story of eight individuals in WWII whose story, including their deaths, classified until recently.

Book Description
FLYBOYS is the true story of young American airmen who were shot down over Chichi Jima. Eight of these young men were captured by Japanese troops and taken prisoner. Another was rescued by an American submarine and went on to become president. The reality of what happened to the eight prisoners has remained a secret for almost 60 years. After the war, the American and Japanese governments conspired to cover up the shocking truth. Not even the families of the airmen were informed what had happened to their sons. It has remained a mystery--until now. Critics called James Bradley's last book "the best book on battle ever written." FLYBOYS is even better: more ambitious, more powerful, and more moving. On the island of Chichi Jima those young men would face the ultimate test. Their story--a tale of courage and daring, of war and of death, of men and of hope--will make you proud, and it will break your heart.

Queen of Babble Bundle with Bonus Material ($9.99), by Meg Cabot, contains the entire Queen of Babble, three volumes that are currently selling for $9.99 each in the Kindle store. It's a pre-order, but you can sample the first in the series, Queen of Babble Bundle ($9.99), to get an idea of the writing.

Book Description
Available for a limited only, this special Meg Cabot Bundle with Bonus Material features all three of the novels in her funny and heartwarming Queen of Babble series (Queen of Babble, Queen of Babble in the Big City, and Queen of Babble Gets Hitched) as well as an extended excerpt from the New York Times bestselling Insatiable, the first book in Meg's newest series.

Queen of Babble
Lizzie Nichols has a problem, and it isn't that she doesn't have the slightest idea what she's going to do with her life or that she's blowing what should be her down payment on a cute little Manhattan apartment on a trip to London to visit her long-distance boyfriend, Andrew. But what's the point of planning for the future when she's done it again? See, Lizzie can't keep her mouth shut. And it's not just that she can't keep her own secrets, she can't keep anything to herself.

This time when she opens her big mouth, her good intentions get Andrew in major hot water. So now Lizzie's stuck in London with no boyfriend and no place to stay until the departure date on her nonrefundable airline ticket.

Fortunately, there's Shari, Lizzie's best friend and college roommate, who's spending her summer in southern France, catering weddings with her boyfriend, Chaz, in a sixteenth-century château. One call and Lizzie's on a train to Souillae. Who cares if she's never traveled alone in her life and only speaks rudimentary French? One glimpse of gorgeous Château Mirac -- not to mention the gorgeous Luke, the son of Château Mirac's owner -- and she's smitten.

But while most caterers can be trusted to keep a secret, Lizzie's the exception. And no sooner has the first cork been popped than Luke hates her, the bride is in tears, and it looks like Château Mirac is in danger of becoming a lipo-recovery spa. As if things aren't bad enough, her ex-boyfriend Andrew shows up looking for "closure" (or at least a loan), threatening to ruin everything, including Lizzie's chance at finding real love. . . .

Unless she can figure out a way to use that big mouth of hers to save the day.

Burned Alive: A Victim of the Law of Men ($1.99), by Souad

Book Description
The first true account ever published by a victim of an "honor crime," this shocking, moving, and harrowing tale has already become an international sensation.

Souad was a 17-year-old girl living in a small village in Jordan when she had the misfortune of falling in love--an emotion that would lead to an unspeakable act of violence and a lifetime of exile from her homeland. With a childhood marked by hard labor and physical abuse at the hands of her father, who is humiliated by the birth of many daughters and only one son, Souad is desperate to leave home. Enticed into a relationship with a handsome neighbor, her short-lived romance leaves her pregnant. Forbidden to marry until her older sisters find husbands and having brought shame to her family, Souad faces the only acceptable punishment: death. How her family plots to kill her, her harrowing struggle to survive burns over 90% of her body after her brother-in-law douses her with gasoline and sets her on fire, her dramatic escape from Jordan, and her resolve to build a new life for herself is a tale of heartbreaking drama and remarkable courage.

The Ritual Bath ($0.99), by Faye Kellerman

Book Description
Detective Peter Decker of the LAPD is stunned when he gets the report. Someone has shattered the sanctuary of a remote yeshiva community in the California hills with an unimaginable crime. One of the women was brutally raped as she returned from the mikvah, the bathhouse where the cleansing ritual is performed.

The crime was called in by Rina Lazarus, and Decker is relieved to discover that she is a calm and intelligent witness. She is also the only one in the sheltered community willing to speak of this unspeakable violation. As Rina tries to steer Decker through the maze of religious laws the two grow closer. But before they get to the bottom of this horrendous crime, revelations come to light that are so shocking that they threaten to come between the hard-nosed cop and the deeply religious woman with whom he has become irrevocably linked.

Harlequin Half Price EBooks

eHarlequin.com is having an ebook sales as part of their 12 Days of Christmas. All ebooks are 50% off LIST price (not 50% off whatever the sale price might already be, but still a good deal).

Use coupon code HALFEBOOKS once you have your cart filled up. The coupon is only good today (Dec 2) and I suspect can only be used once, so add all the books to your cart at one time before checking out. Also, nearly every book I've ordered from eHarlequin.com has had DRM, so you won't be able to read these on a Kindle, but the EPUB format should work fine on most other ebook readers (the Mobi and PDF, of course, work fine on a PC).

New Kindle Game - Mahjong Solitaire

There is a new game on Kindle: Mahjong Solitaire ($3.99), the second entry into the Kindle Games market for Mobigloo. I've already played thru one game on the "easy" tileset (letters and numbers, rather than the traditional mahjong characters) and it works pretty well (the tiles are sometimes tricky to get to, as you only stop on a playable tile and only have up/down and left/right movement on the Kindle). There are ten different layouts, so between those and the traditional tiles, I suspect I'll waste spend many hours playing this one.

Game Description
Play the popular matching game Mahjong Solitaire on Kindle - anytime, anywhere.

In Mahjong Solitaire, you match pairs of identical tiles in order to remove them from the board. Only free tiles can be matched. Tiles are considered free if they do not have other tiles to either the left or right of them, or on top of them. The objective of the game is to clear all the tiles from the board. The game ends when all tiles have been removed or when there are no more free tiles left to match.

Mahjong Solitaire tracks the number of pairs of free tiles available to be matched for you. In addition, the game allows for unlimited undos, and contains a Hint feature that will give you suggestions for your next move, as well a Shuffle feature that will rearrange the tiles when you get stuck.

Mahjong Solitaire provides 10 different game board layouts to choose from. The game maintains game statistics that track your best time for each layout finished.

Enjoy Mahjong Solitaire on Kindle today!

Free Book (nook) - Every Zombie Eats Somebody Sometime

Every Zombie Eats Somebody Sometime: A Book of Zombie Love Songs ($8.99 Kindle), by Michael P. Spradlin, was a free pre-order in the Kindle store back in August, before disappearing from the store completely, then having it's publication date pushed back several times. It's no longer free at Amazon (but it downloaded to my Kindle at no charge, this morning, as I caught it during the pre-order time period), but it is free from B&N for the nook (at least, for the moment). I just ordered it there as well and confirmed that I wasn't charged on my receipt.

Book Description
Who says zombies don't have feelings? Losing a limb might not hurt them, and they don't seem to mind being shot, but that doesn't mean the undead can't love, right? This collection features more than two dozen classic love songs aimed right at the rotting hearts of zombie romantics everywhere. Perfect for a cozy evening at home with an infected loved one, this book is sure to get the blood pumping and the juices flowing in even the most decayed zombies. With timeless tunes such as "You Blight Up My Life", "I Ate You Babe", and "Can You Feel Your Thumb Tonight", and heart-melting illustrations to go with each song, this is destined to be an apocalyptic classic!

Click HERE for the free download.

Free Book (EPUB) - The 7th Victim

If you missed The 7th Victim ($2.99 Kindle), by Alan Jacobson, when it was free on Kindle and from B&N and Kobo, you have another chance at it, as Borders bookstore now has it free (one of the few freebies I've found there). It isn't Kindle compatible there, but Amazon does have it marked down for Kindle right now (it's above $6 at B&N and over $15 at Kobo).

Book Description
The Dead Eyes Killer lurks in the backyard of the famed FBI Profiling Unit. His brutal murders confound the local task force, despite the gifted profiling skills of Special Agent Karen Vail. But along with Vail's insight and expertise comes considerable personal and professional baggage. On leave pending a review of her assault on her abusive ex-husband, Vail must battle forces determined to bring her down, as she fights to find Dead Eyes before he murders more young women. But the seventh victim is the key to all that stirs this killer...the key that will unlock secrets perhaps too painful for Vail to bear. These are secrets that threaten to destroy her, secrets that will bring down her storied career. For Karen Vail, the truth rests at the heart of a lie. And uncovering it could get her killed... With material meticulously researched during seven years of study with the Bureau's vaunted profiling unit, Alan Jacobson brings refreshing realism and unprecedented accuracy to his pages. The 7th Victim is a page-turner as only Alan Jacobson can write, with a stunning twist of an ending that will satisfy even the most discerning thriller reader.

Click HERE to get the free ebook from Borders.

Super Magazine Sale at Amazon

I've already mentioned that Amazon is running a contest for free Kindles that is tied to magazine subscriptions, but when I clicked over there today, I found that they have sweetened the pot. Not only are a number of $5 and $7 subscriptions back, but they are giving you $10 back in credit (good for any Amazon purchase), if you spend $30 on magazines, thru today, November 30.  I've already seen two that I want, so all I have to do is finish up a bit of my Christmas shopping, early, to have that credit waiting for me next week!

I found more discounted magazines HERE.

Free Book (nook) - Twelve Hidden Days of Christmas

Twelve Hidden Days of Christmas ($11.66 Hardcover; not available on Kindle), illustrated by Macky Pamintuan, is free in the B&N store. This one's for kids and I'd recommend you read it to them on the largest color screen you have. That is, if you can get it to download. It's in my library, but I can't get it to download on my pc (in the B&N reader, Nookstudy or from the library) or phone (although it did tell me it was too large to download via 3G) or my nook. I'm still trying on the iPad, but suspect this one either is completely broken or will require customer service (such as it is) to get straightened out.

Update: Hey, maybe I should read all the notes - this one works ONLY with NOOKcolor, not on any of their apps (which begs the question of why not) and not on the original nook. Unlike Amazon, who makes the basic text and pics available no matter which Kindle you own, when you buy the Audio/Video enhanced editions (and they all work on the Apps, as well), B&N appears to have decided to support enhanced editions ONLY on the (not very well reviewed) NOOKcolor.

Book Description
Kids love searching for Christmas gifts, and they can get a head start on the holiday with this joyful twist on the popular carol. You’ll recognize most of the words from “The Twelve Days of Christmas,” but instead of “my true love” giving the presents, jolly Santa’s leaving them all around the house. Sharp-eyed children can accompany a curious little bear to look for St. Nick’s cheerful handiwork—as well as some festive extras that artist Macky Pamintuan has playfully added to the art, including jingle bells, a candy cane in the toothbrush cup, and bright snowflakes floating over the bathtub. As the items accumulate, the delight heightens, with ten frog lords a-leaping and sliding; nine pretty pink pig ladies dancing a ballet; and cow maids ready to do their milking.

The best is saved for last in a big ending: a huge double gatefold that’s actually four pages long, containing all the items delivered during the twelve days.

Click HERE to get the free download.

Free Book (EPUB/nook) - Holman Christian Standard Bible

Previously free in the Kindle store (but now missing, as Holman changes the ASIN's, once again), The Holy Bible: HCSB Digital Text Edition, is now free in the B&N store and from Sony.

Book Description
This text edition of the HCSB has been optimized for easy reading on digital devices. Free from the visual clutter of footnotes, cross references, and other links, this edition is fast to navigate and easy to use.

The HCSB was developed by 100 scholars and English stylists from 17 denominations, who prayerfully translated what is one of the most significant Bible translations available today. The HCSB reflects linguistic advances in vocabulary, grammar, punctuation and formatting while it retains meaningful theological terms. In the HCSB you'll find God's personal name (Yahweh), the use of "Messiah" in the New Testament, and the use of "slave" in the New Testament, just to name a few examples. Also, you'll notice the contemporary speech patterns in the HCSB mean that words like "behold" and "shall" are not used. Instead, words or phrases that are common today can be found in their place.

The HCSB employs a first-of-its kind translation philosophy known as Optimal Equivalence, which seeks to achieve an optimal balance of literary precision and emotive clarity through a comprehensive analysis of the text at every level. This process assures maximum transfer of both words and thoughts contained in the original.

Click HERE to get the book from B&N.
Click HERE to get the book from Sony.

Cyber Monday EBook Sales

Just as with Black Friday, several of the online bookstores are having sales for Cyber Monday.  First up, Untreed Reads Publishing is repeating their Black Friday sale, plus they've added a special coupon code just for readers of this blog! Here's the letter I received:

Thank you very much for mentioning our Black Friday sale on your blog. I'm a rabid fan of Books On The Knob and have found a lot of great reads thanks to you!

We're actually going to repeat our Black Friday sale for CyberMonday, so it will be:

25% off short stories
30% off novelettes/novellas
40% off full-length works and anthologies

HOWEVER...I'm also going to have a coupon initiated just for your readers! If the folks come to our site, they can enter coupon code FANSOFBOTK at checkout, update their cart and save an additional 10% off their purchase. I can't help it...I love your blog! So, I'm more than happy to do something special for one of my faves.

Thanks Jay, for being a reader and for the coupon!

Fictionwise has a 60% coupon good today, cybermonday2010. The multi-format books are DRM-free and work with all readers, while the DRM'd books are pretty much only nook compatible (ereader format) these days. You have to look to find the deals, but I picked up an Alex Kava bundle, for example, at a good discount (newer titles, such as his Damaged, were more than on Kindle, even with the coupon).

Next, at Kobobooks.com, you can still coupon code Save25Kobo for 25% off any non-Agency book, plus they have added a rewards coupon for purchases made today: Spend $10 to receive a 20% coupon, Spend $25 to receive a 50% coupon and Spend $30 to receive a FREE eBook. One deal book I found: the newly published Autobiography Of Mark Twain: The Complete And Authoritative Edition Volume 1, by Mark Twain; written 100 years ago and held at his request for 100 years before publication, this one is $7.34 with the coupon code. Also, every purchase enters you to win one of the 5 ereader bundles they are giving away.

O'Reilly is having a huge sale: 60% off on all ebooks and videos! Coupon code: DDF2H

There isn't much going on with Sony for the holidays, but I did find this Sony exclusive title for free: Interview with Anne Rice, by Anne Rice. It's short (8 pages, including title), but you can't read it anywhere else..

OmniLit/AllRomance is having a 50% rebate sale: after your purchase, you'll get a credit to your account for 50% of what you've spent (so save a few of the titles from your cart and use the credit to get those or save it for later on).

I'm sure I didn't find them all, but be sure to check out a few of these. It'll keep you occupied while I work on a few more posts for B&N freebies that I found this afternoon.

Today's Two Buck Music

It's the final day of the 5/$1.99 music deals for Black Friday/Cyber Monday at Amazon and it looks like they saved one of the best for last: I Wish You A Merry Christmas, Bing Crosby.

The other four albums in today's Cyber Monday sale:

Band Of Joy, by Robert Plant
Save Me, San Francisco, by Train
This Is Happening, by LCD Soundsystem
The Fame Monster [Explicit], by Lady Gaga