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Friday, December 10, 2010

More Children's Kindle Books Under a Buck

The list of under $1 Children's books I posted earlier are mostly gone (entirely from the store, not just increased in price), although the Curious George series and one of the The Berenstain Bears books are still avalable. So, don't expect today's books, mostly in the Junie B., First Grader series, to stay at this price for long.


Free Book (nook) - The Scarlet Letter

This week's Free Fridays book at B&N is one of their Barnes & Noble Classics Series, The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne & Nancy Stade. A nice edition of a well-known classic, this one was also free last August.

Book Description
The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, 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.

America’s first psychological novel, Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter is a dark tale of love, crime, and revenge set in colonial New England. It revolves around a single, forbidden act of passion that forever alters the lives of three members of a small Puritan community: Hester Prynne, an ardent and fierce woman who bears the punishment of her sin in humble silence; the Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale, a respected public figure who is inwardly tormented by long-hidden guilt; and the malevolent Roger Chillingworth, Hester’s husband—a man who seethes with an Ahab-like lust for vengeance.

The landscape of this classic novel is uniquely American, but the themes it explores are universal—the nature of sin, guilt, and penitence, the clash between our private and public selves, and the spiritual and psychological cost of living outside society. Constructed with the elegance of a Greek tragedy, The Scarlet Letter brilliantly illuminates the truth that lies deep within the human heart.


Nancy Stade is trained as a lawyer and has worked in the federal government and the private sector. She currently lives in Mexico, where she is working on a novel.

Kindle Game Update: Jumble

As I reported earlier, I thought the Puzux Jumble games were either too short or overpriced. Looks like they listen (although I suspect not just to me) and they have 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.

New Kindle Game - Slingo

The Slingo ($3.99), a combination of Bingo and Slots, is the first foray into Kindle games for newcomer Gameblend Studios.

Game Description
The objective of Slingo is to accumulate the highest number of points. Spin and match the reel numbers to the numbers on the 5x5 card, trying to cover all the numbers in 20 spins or less. Earn a "Slingo" and huge bonus points when you match 5 numbers in a row. Slingos can be horizontal, vertical or diagonal.

In addition to number matches, players can earn special reel icons. The joker can match any number in the column, coins earn bonus points, and free spins will save you points. But watch out for the devil, who takes half your score...

Slingo for Kindle is perfect for a quick play or long sessions. All game stats and high scores are tracked, and unique award challenges will keep you coming back for more.

Can you top the high score? Try your luck and take a spin today!

Thursday, December 9, 2010

Bargain Book Roundup

A number of non-Agency bargain books tonight in the Kindle store. If you are looking for EPUBs, some of these are also marked down at Kobobooks.com (EPUB only), be sure to use the coupon code dec6ww35or dec6us35for an additional 30% off, thru Dec 9, or save25kobo for 25% off until Dec 15. There are books in many different genres, from romance to thrillers, children's/young adult to erotica, steam-punk to non-fiction.

Roanoke: A Novel of Elizabethan Intrigue ($3.18), by Margaret Lawrence

Book Description
In the spring of 1585, seven English ships sailed around Cape Feare and up the windswept coast of Florida. Their mission: to gain a foothold in the Americas, a gateway to riches, an island fortress against the Spanish. But within ten years, the vibrant new colony had vanished without a trace.…

In Hampton Court, Elizabeth is under siege—surrounded by sycophants, spies, and assassins who stalk her every move. Among those charged with protecting her is a tall, charismatic spy named Gabriel North…and when the queen’s advisers persuade her to send ships to the Americas, North is given a job for which he is perfectly suited: to seduce Roanoke’s Secota princess and gain information about a fabled treasure hidden in the wilderness.

In Princess Naia, North meets a woman who bewitches him utterly—and he soon sees the dangerous deceptions from which his mission was born. As war and calamity crash down on Roanoke Island, Gabriel North becomes a wanted man in a desperate hunt that will lead back across the Atlantic—into a trap set by his enemies, and into a shocking act of treachery that swirls around Elizabeth herself….

With the grace of a master storyteller, Margaret Lawrence brings to life a cast of brave hearts and blackguards, petty criminals and grand schemers, who play their roles in a searing drama of conquest, rule, and rebellion.


Between Friends ($3.60), by Debbie Macomber

Book Description
Debbie Macomber tells the story of a remarkable friendship--and tells it in a remarkable way. Between Friends is a story in which every woman will recognize herself...and her best friend.

The friendship between Jillian Lawton and Lesley Adamski begins in the postwar era of the 1950s. As they grow up, their circumstances, their choices--and their mistakes--take them in virtually opposite directions. Lesley gets pregnant and marries young, living a cramped life defined by the demands of small children, not enough money, an unfaithful husband. Jillian lives those years on a college campus shaken by the Vietnam War and then as an idealistic young lawyer in New York City.

Over the years and across the miles, through marriage, children, divorce and widowhood, Jillian and Lesley remain close, sharing every grief and every joy. There are no secrets between friends....


A Perfect Evil ($3.60), by Alex Kava, is the first in her Maggie O'Dell series (although if you're willing to jump in with both feet, the Alex Kava Bundle ($18.12) is a better deal, with five in the series and a bonus stand-alone title.

Book Description
A KILLER IS WATCHING... The brutal murders of three young boys paralyze the citizens of Platte City, Nebraska. What's worse is the grim realization that the man recently executed for the crimes was a copycat. When Sheriff Nick Morrelli is called to the scene of another grisly murder, it becomes clear that the real predator is still at large, waiting to kill again.

Morrelli understands the urgency of the case terrorizing his community, but it's the experienced eye of FBI criminal profiler Maggie O'Dell that pinpoints the true nature of the evil behind the killings--a revelation made all the more horrific when Morrelli's own nephew goes missing.

Maggie understands something else: the killer is enjoying himself, relishing his ability to stay one step ahead of her, making this case more personal by the hour. Because out there, watching, is a killer with a heart of pure and perfect evil.


Pride and Prejudice and Zombies ($4.79), by Seth Grahame-Smith & Jane Austen

Book Description
"It is a truth universally acknowledged that a zombie in possession of brains must be in want of more brains." So begins Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, an expanded edition of the beloved Jane Austen novel featuring all-new scenes of bone-crunching zombie mayhem. As our story opens, a mysterious plague has fallen upon the quiet English village of Meryton-and the dead are returning to life! Feisty heroine Elizabeth Bennet is determined to wipe out the zombie menace, but she's soon distracted by the arrival of the haughty and arrogant Mr. Darcy. What ensues is a delightful comedy of manners with plenty of civilized sparring between the two young lovers-and even more violent sparring on the blood-soaked battlefield as Elizabeth wages war against hordes of flesh-eating undead. Can she vanquish the spawn of Satan? And overcome the social prejudices of the class-conscious landed gentry? Complete with romance, heartbreak, swordfights, cannibalism, and thousands of rotting corpses, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies transforms a masterpiece of world literature into something you'd actually want to read.

A Whole Nother Story ($1.79), by Cuthbert Soup

Book Description
The three Cheeseman children, their father, and their psychic dog are all on the run. From whom? Well the CIA, naturally. But also corporate agents #5, #29, and # 207, plus two international superspies -- one of whom happens to be a chimpanzee. They all want Dr. Cheeseman and his late wife's greatest invention–a machine with unspeakable powers–OK, I'll say it. It's a time machine. But it's not working right yet, so put all ideas of time travel out of your head. Instead, please enjoy this high stakes, high action, hijinx-filled chase, and the bizarre characters our Cheeseman friends will meet as they protect not just their parents' invention, but their mother's sacred memory. It's an adventure novel like no other. Oh yeah, and did we mention the entertaining, plot-exposition filled, unsolicited advice you'll receive along the way? So you didn't ask for it? Yeah, that's why it's unsolicited. Unsolicited Advice #1: Read this book. (Written by Gerry Swallow under the penname Dr. Cuthbert Soup.)

Need ($1.99), by Carrie Jones

Book Description
Zara collects phobias the way other high school girls collect lipsticks. Little wonder, since she's had a pretty rough life. Her father left when she was a baby, and her stepfather just died. Her mother's pretty much checked out - in fact, Mom's sent her to live with her grandmother in cold and sleepy Maine to "keep Zara safe." Whatever that means. Zara doesn't think she's in danger; she thinks her mother just can't deal.

Zara's wrong. The man she sees everywhere - the tall creepy guy who points at her from the side of the road - yeh, he's not a figment of her imagination. He's a pixie. And not the cute, sweet kind with little wings. Maine's got a whole assortment of unbelievable creatures, like pixies and were-people. And they seem to need something - something from Zara…


Silence ($1.93), by Thomas Perry

Book Description
Six years ago, Jack Till helped Wendy Harper disappear. But now her ex-boyfriend and former business partner, Eric Fuller, is being framed for her presumed murder in an effort to smoke her out, and Till must find her before tango-dancing assassins Paul and Sylvie Turner do.-The Turners are merely hired to do a job, though, and prefer to remain anonymous. When they find that a middleman has let the true employer know their identities, finishing the job is no longer enough. Their fee just went up. And now they must double-cross the man who wants Wendy dead before he can double-cross them--if their jealousy and cold-blooded calculations don't result in a fatal lovers' quarrel first. With masterful plotting and unnerving psychological insight, Perry delivers another mesmerizing thrill ride.

Dragon's Grace ($1.99), by Nicole Dennis

Book Description
Can a battered dragon warrior overcome past mistakes? After an attack by dark wraiths, exiled guardian Allauria Grace, treks up a mountain in the middle of a snowstorm to locate her dragon. Once there, she finds a reluctant Callum McDrakken. In fact, he wants nothing to do with her and refused to let her in his haven. They battle through memories of a tangled past and a devastating injury that left Callum unable to transform into his dragon form. With the looming threat of wraiths and the possibility of Allauria becoming one herself, they wonder if there is still a chance for this dragon to have his mate.

Warning: Contains M/F sex with steamy against-the-wall shower scene. Add in a fiery shape-shifting dragon warrior for fun. Contains M/F sex with steamy against-the-wall shower scene. Add in a fiery shape-shifting dragon warrior for fun.


The Light at the End ($2.99), by John Skipp & Craig Spector

Book Description
The 25th Anniversary Edition of the Original Splatterpunk Novel

An adrenaline-charged tale of unrelenting suspense that sparks with raw and savage energy... The newspapers scream out headlines that spark terror across the city. Ten murders on the New York City subway. Ten grisly crimes that defy all reason -- no pattern, no m.o., no leads for police to pursue. The press dubs the fiend the "Subway Psycho"; the NYPD desperately seeks their quarry before the city erupts in mass hysteria. But they won't find what they're looking for.

Because they all think that the killer is human.

Only a few know the true story -- a story the papers will never print. It is a tale of abject terror and death written in grit and steel... and blood. The tale of a man who vanished into the bowels of the urban earth one night, taken by a creature of unholy evil, then left as a babe abandoned on the doorstep of Hell. Now he is back, driven by twin demons of rage and retribution.

He is unstoppable. And we are all his prey... unless a ragtag band of misfit souls will dare to descend into a world of manmade darkness, where the real and unreal alike dwell in endless shadow. A place where humanity has been left behind, and the horrifying truth will dawn as a madman's chilling vendetta comes to light...

Filled with gripping drama and harrowing doomsday dread, The Light at the End is the book that ushered in a bold new view of humankind's most ancient and ruthless evil; a mesmerizing novel from two acknowledged masters of spellbinding suspense.


Heir ($2.39), by Grace Burrowes (still free on Sony)

Book Description
An earl who can't be bribed...

Gayle Windham, earl of Westhaven, is the first legitimate son and heir to the duke of Moreland. To escape his father's inexorable pressure to marry, he decides to spend the summer at his townhouse in London, where he finds himself intrigued by the secretive ways of his beautiful housekeeper...

A lady who can't be protected...

Anna Seaton is a beautiful, talented, educated woman, which is why it is so puzzling to Gayle Windham that she works as his housekeeper.

As the two draw closer and begin to lose their hearts to each other, Anna's secrets threaten to bring the earl's orderly life crashing down-and he doesn't know how he's going to protect her from the fallout...


My Unfair Lady ($2.39), by Kathryne Kennedy (still free on Sony)

Book Description
Who says a proper lady can't carry a knife?

He created the perfect woman?
The impoverished Duke of Monchester despises the rich Americans who flock to London, seeking to buy their way into the ranks of the British peerage. So when railroad heiress Summer Wine Lee offers him a king's ransom if he'll teach her to become a proper lady, he's prepared to rebuff her. But when he meets the petite beauty with the knife in her boot, it's not her fortune he finds impossible to resist?

For the arms of another man
Frontier-bred Summer Wine Lee has no interest in winning over London society-it's the New York bluebloods and her future mother-in-law she's determined to impress. She knows the cost of smoothing her rough-and-tumble frontier edges will be high. But she never imagined it might cost her her heart?

From acclaimed author Kathryne Kennedy comes a delightful new take on a classic tale. As a Wild West beauty takes Victorian London by storm, the devilishly handsome duke she's hired to instruct her in proper deportment begins to wonder if his unconventional pupil might be perfect just the way she is?


What A Gentleman Wants ($3.03), by Caroline Linden

Book Description
Two virtual strangers are swept into a sizzling, spellbinding world of daring deception and unexpected passion in Caroline Linden's thrilling new romance. . .

What A Gentleman Wants

Marcus Reese, Duke of Essex, has spent most of his life pulling his twin brother out of trouble. An occasional thank you would suffice; instead, his resentful sibling forges his name to a marriage license and presents him with an unwanted wife. She's a vicar's widow with a mind of her own who may be the first person in Marcus's well-ordered life to make him feel. . .completely out of control.

Hannah can't help but curse her own idiocy. Dire straits have led her to the altar with a gentleman she hardly knows. Played for a fool, she's embarrassed, furious, and worse, married to an equally outraged stranger--an exasperating man who unleashes all manner of emotions in Hannah, not to mention unwanted desire. Reluctantly, she agrees to play the wife until he can sort out the mess. But the nearness of the undeniably attractive Duke and the passion in his black eyes unsettles her well-guarded heart--making her want to do so much more than “act” the role of blissful bride. . .


A Rake's Guide to Seduction ($3.02), by Caroline Linden

Book Description
He Must Rely On His Talents In The Bedroom...

Anthony Hamilton cannot help it. The way he looks, the way he lives, his past—it all conspires to make him a man men fear, women desire. His name fills gossip circles in a seemingly endless, lurid drama. But he’s never forgotten the only woman he’s ever truly wanted—yet could never have…

To Make Her Fall In Love…

Celia Reece knew Anthony well before he forged his scandalous reputation. The young man she remembers spoke kindly to her, made her laugh, and his devilish good looks always quickened her pulse. But Celia’s mother had other designs—designs that didn’t include marriage to Anthony. Now, Celia is widowed, and her mother is intent on finding her a new husband. Refusing to let any obstacle stand in his path this time, Anthony sets out to win Celia’s heart by using the same skills that made him London’s most irresistible rake...


What A Rogue Desires ($3.02), by Caroline Linden

Book Description
A gentleman and a very improper lady are bound together by a passion that crosses the line between upper class and underworld in Caroline Linden's daring new romance... What A Rogue Desires. After a wayward youth, David Reece, the youngest scion in a noble family, has been called one of the most scandalous rogues of the ton. What he wants to be called is trustworthy and a true gentleman. To prove he has reformed he's agreed to watch over his absent brother's estate and signet ring. All is going swimmingly until highwaymen waylay his coach and steal that precious ring...Street orphan Vivian Beecham has grown up a pickpocket, and a very pretty one indeed. Now she and her brother have reluctantly graduated to highway robbery. And handsome David Reece has become their victim until he tracks her down and makes her his prisoner. Locked in a spare bedroom, Vivian vows to hate her captor. Instead she becomes a former rogue's greatest challenge: the object of a passionate seduction. But David and Vivian are playing a dangerous game in which forbidden love is a wild card...

Stealing Utopia: A Silk, Steel and Steam Story ($2.80), by Tilda Booth

Book Description
The plan: Kidnap H.G. Wells. Definitely not part of the plan: Falling in love.

The year is 1897, the place, a Britain that could have been, but never was. H. George Wells is helping lead Britain into a new Golden Age, driven by technological advances and discoveries of the human brain. Then one night a beautiful woman abducts him at gunpoint, and she seems to despise everything he’s worked for. Despite his outrage, he can’t help but be intrigued by this adventuress and her passion for her cause.

Jane Robbins, agent provocateur, has reason to fear her country’s march towards a new world order. Using her wits and her arsenal of spy gadgets to infiltrate Wells’ house, she delivers him to her employer, who plans to use him as leverage to halt the coming Utopia. But when Wells’ life is threatened, she must choose between saving him or sacrificing him to the cause.

Scientist and spy, they are irresistibly drawn to each other even as the future pushes them apart.

Warning: This book contains gadgets, guns, death rays, dirigibles, sexy scientists and a smoking hot Victorian spy who’s as much steam as she is punk. Don’t blame us if it makes you want to slip a pistol into your garter and abduct the man of your dreams.


Flavia's Flying Corset: A Silk, Steel, and Steam Story ($2.80), by Sahara Kelly

Book Description
Love lifted her heart to the skies. The rest of her needed a little more help.

When Flavia Winters enters the aerial carriage that will convey her across churning waters to the magnificent, isolated castle of Dr. Harland Gennaro, it’s not a polite social call. Nor does she hope to re-ignite their former passion. Oh, no. She’s convinced the renowned scientist stole something of value from her lab, and she plans to get it back by whatever means necessary.

Once Harland blinks away the temporary blindness caused by Flavia’s clever magnesium beads, he finds himself tied to a chair as she insists he return a vital ingredient for some impossibility called “Icarus”. Then she demonstrates with the last of her compound, and all he can think about is convincing her he’s not the guilty party—and getting into the lab with her to recreate her gravity-defying wonder.

Side by side, they burn the midnight oil making new discoveries, and re-learning old ones about each other. As an ocean storm rises with their desire, though, skullduggery is afoot. A thief watches and waits for the moment they make a discovery that could be their last.

Warning: Reading this book may stimulate an interest in the principles of physics, aerodynamics and the science of sexual arousal. The author is not responsible for any injury incurred while investigating all three topics simultaneously.


Bluebeard's Machine: A Silk, Steel, and Steam Story ($2.80), by Mari Fee

Book Description
Love, science, death. She is all three.

Determined to discover what new experiment is stealing her husband’s attentions, Annette Parker ventures into forbidden territory—his study—only to discover a secret he would kill to keep. She is his fifth attempt to clone the original Annette and, according to his journal, he’s planning a sixth…after he dissects her dead body.

Unsure of who or what she is, she assumes a new identity and flees to the Orkney Islands and her last hope. The man she once rejected.

Isaac Ward’s first instinct is to get this mysterious “Miss Ada” out of his undersea laboratory—and out of his life—before he repeats the mistakes that drove him there in the first place. Her wild stories and stubborn insistence that they’re true wear his patience thin, but it doesn’t matter. She is as irresistible as the tide.

Then the truth appears right outside the portholes of his lab, stripping away her dubious disguise. Exposing a secret that could kill them both…unless Isaac abandons the science he knows for a second chance with the woman who broke his heart.

Warning: contains mad scientists, wanton murder, identity crises, and boiling hot underwater sex. Submersible instructions not included.


Am I Right or Am I Right? ($1.47), by Barry Jonsberg

Book Description
Calma Harrison is in love. Not just with herself, but also with the handsome checkout guy at Crazi-Cheep. So stocking shelves at the Crazi- Cheep seems like the perfect job—until that annoying customer tries to hold up the store. . . .

And then there's the small matter of the rest of Calma's life, which is fast falling apart: her absent father turns up after five years and wants to "talk," her mother is clearly living a secret second life, and her new best friend is hiding something horrible.

Calma is sure she knows exactly what's going on. And clearly her direct, personal intervention is required to make things right.
Except . . . if she's wrong. And then her butting in will make everything much, much worse.

Am I Right or Am I Right? is a whip-smart, wise-cracking, big-hearted novel about a girl who is learning that things are not always what they seem, and how to start again when you've gotten it all so very wrong.


How to Disappear: Erase Your Digital Footprint, Leave False Trails, and Vanish without a Trace ($3.79), by Frank M. Ahearn & Eileen C. Horan

Book Description
How to Disappear is the authoritative and comprehensive guide for people who seek to protect their privacy as well as for anyone who’s ever entertained the fantasy of disappearing—whether actually dropping out of sight or by eliminating the traceable evidence of their existence.

Written by the world’s leading experts on finding people and helping people avoid being found, How to Disappear covers everything from tools for disappearing to discovering and eliminating the nearly invisible tracks and clues we tend to leave wherever we go. Learn the three keys to disappearing, all about your electronic footprints, the dangers and opportunities of social networking sites, and how to disappear from a stalker.

Frank Ahearn and Eileen Horan provide field-tested methods for maintaining privacy, as well as tactics and strategies for protecting personal information and preventing identity theft. They explain and illustrate key tactics such as misinformation (destroying all the data known about you); disinformation (creating fake trails); and, finally, reformation—the act of getting you from point A to point B without leaving clues.

Ahearn illustrates every step with real-life stories of his fascinating career, from undercover work to nab thieving department store employees to a stint as a private investigator; and, later, as a career “skip tracer” who finds people who don’t want to be found. In 1997, when news broke of President Bill Clinton’s dalliance with a White House intern, Ahearn was hired to find her. When Oscar statuettes were stolen in Beverly Hills, Ahearn pinpointed a principal in the caper to help solve the case. When Russell Crowe threw a telephone at a hotel clerk in 2005, Ahearn located the victim and hid him from the media.

An indispensable resource not just for those determined to become utterly anonymous, but also for just about anyone in the brave new world of on-line information, How to Disappear sums up Ahearn’s dual philosophy: Don’t break the law, but know how to protect yourself.


Hard Landing ($7.52 US, $0.79 UK), by Stephen Leather, has been marked down by his publisher for UK customers in the Kindle store (it's also £0.49 in the UK store). A fairly well-known author in the UK, his books seem relatively unknown in the US. In addition to once bitten and dreamer's cat that I mentioned a couple of weeks ago, he also has self-published the basement ($0.99), Private Dancer ($3.99) and Bangkok Bob and The Missing Mormon ($3.99), while the rest of the 25 titles he has in the Kindle store are from his UK publisher.

Book Description
International bestseller Stephen Leather's first hard-hitting, DC Dan Shepherd thriller, set in one of the most notorious and corrupt of British prisons, and reissued with an edgy new cover approach.|Dan 'Spider' Shepherd is used to putting his life on the line. Working for an elite undercover squad he has lied, cheated and conned in order to bring Britain's most wanted criminals to justice. But when a powerful drugs baron starts to kill off witnesses to his crimes, Shepherd is given his most dangerous assignment yet. He has to go undercover in a top security prison, a world where one wrong move will mean certain death. As Shepherd gambles everything to move in on his quarry, he soon realises that the man he is hunting is even more dangerous than the police realise. And that he is capable of striking outside the prison walls and hitting Shepherd where it hurts most.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder ($0.88), by Joanne Fluke

Book Description
Discover the delicious mystery that started it all!

No one cooks up a delectable, suspense-filled mystery quite like Hannah Swensen, Joanne Fluke’s dessert-baking, red-haired heroine whose gingersnaps are as tart as her comebacks, and whose penchant for solving crimes—one delicious clue at a time—has made her a bestselling favorite. And it all began on these pages, with a bakery, a murder, and some suddenly scandalous chocolate-chip crunchies. Featuring a bonus short story and brand new, mouthwatering recipes, this limited edition of the very first Hannah Swensen mystery is sure to have readers coming back for seconds…

Hannah Swenson already has her hands full trying to dodge her mother’s attempts to marry her off while running The Cookie Jar, Lake Eden, Minnesota’s most popular bakery. But once Ron LaSalle, the beloved delivery man from the Cozy Cow Dairy, is found murdered behind her bakery with Hannah’s famous Chocolate Chip Crunchies scattered around him, her life just can’t get any worse. Determined not to let her cookies get a bad reputation, she sets out to track down a killer.

Who would have the sheer audacity—and the motive—to kill the most punctual delivery man Hannah ever had? Topping the list is the high school football coach. What exactly was his wife doing, making the rounds with the milkman? Could Max Turner, owner of Cozy Cow Dairy, have had a secret he didn’t want to share with his top employee? The more Hannah snoops, the more suspects turn up. Why has Lake Eden’s most prominent prodigal son, Benton Woodley, just resurfaced? And what about the mysterious Mr. Harris who seemed interested in buying the property next to the dairy, but then disappeared? This is one murder that’s starting to leave a very bad taste in Hannah’s mouth. And if she doesn’t watch her back, Hannah’s sweet life may get burned to a crisp.

Filled with a healthy sprinkling of humor and a delightful assortment of nuts, CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIE MURDER serves up a great new mystery series and introduces a delicious, down-home sleuth that mystery readers will surely savor for years to come.


Sweet Farts: Rippin' It Old School ($3.99), by Raymond Bean

Book Description
Keith Emerson discovered the cure for the common fart when he invented Sweet Farts. At age ten, Keith is a self-made millionaire who runs a science lab and is in charge of his own company—so what could possibly be bothering him? Well, his four-year-old sister’s newfound love of farting is causing all kinds of problems. His friends spend most of their time and energy trying to embarrass him for fun. And if that isn’t enough to drive a kid crazy, the big science fair is weeks away and Keith has no idea what to do for his next experiment.

This time around, Keith will attempt to discover something new and amazing in time for the big science fair, deal with his friends’ constant teasing, and help his sister, Emma, learn the complex etiquette of farting. Sure he made one of the greatest scientific discoveries of all time, but the question facing him now is "What’s next?"


This is How ($2.30), by M. J. Hyland

Book Description
M. J. Hyland is the award winning and Man Booker shortlisted author of Carry Me Down. Her third novel, This Is How, is a psychologically probing and deeply moving account of a man at odds with the world. Patrick Oxtoby is a perpetual outsider longing to find his niche. When his fiancé breaks off their engagement, Patrick leaves home and moves to a remote seaside village. In spite of his hopes for a new and better life, Patrick struggles to fit in or make the right impression. He can’t shake the feeling that his new friends are con­spiring against him, further fracturing his already fragile personality and prompting him to take a course of action that permanently alters the course of his life.

This Is How is a mesmerizing and meticulously drawn portrait of a man whose unease in the world as it is leads to his tragic undoing. With breathtaking wisdom and astute insight into the human mind, Hyland’s latest is a masterpiece that arouses horror and sympathy in equal measure.

Free Book (EPUB) - Dancing In The Lowcountry

Dancing In The Lowcountry ($8.96 Kindle), by James Villas, was free in the Amazon store in October and is now free in EPUB format from Borders and from Kobobooks.

Book Description
Ella Dubose is a Southern lady of a certain age--an age at which memories of youth can rush in at every turn and overwhelm the present. But while Ella's two younger children are concerned for her health and want to limit her independence, Ella--elegant, unconventional, and unrepentantly willful--has very different ideas. And she's not about to be controlled by anyone, not when there are tasks she needs to complete and loose ends that must be tied.

The first step is to leave her family and take a road trip back to the places where key chapters of her life unfolded. Myrtle Beach has been overrun by theme restaurants and ocean-front condos, but the Priscilla is still the charming, shingled inn Ella remembers from visits long ago. At the Priscilla, Ella and her companion, Goldie, sip cocktails on the porch and dine on she-crab soup and fried oysters while awaiting the arrival of Ella's oldest son, Tyler, now a successful writer in New York. And there, too, Ella meets a dashing, attentive gentleman who will help her finally face her ghosts and determine which of the secrets she has carried for so long must be shared, and which are better left untold.

With its unforgettable and instantly loveable heroine and evocative portrayal of Southern life--past and present--Dancing in the Lowcountry is a beguiling, beautifully rendered novel about the places and people that stay with us, the courage it takes to live in the present, and the endless ways life can surprise us, over and over again.


Click HERE to get the free book from Borders. If you have trouble getting it to add to your library (I did), then open the Borders Desktop app and search for it by title. Click on download there, then you can check your library on the website to download the EPUB.
Click HERE to get the book from Kobo. Make sure to also click on Save for Later under the cover picture so that it is added to your library in case you need to redownload it later.

Free Book - The Pawn (UK Only)

The Pawn, by Steven James, the first in The Patrick Bowers Files trilogy, is free in the UK Kindle store (only). This book was free for US customers this past September and in November of last year.

Book Description
As an environmental criminologist, Patrick Bowers uses 21st-century geospatial technology to analyze the time and space in which a crime takes place. Using an array of factors, Bowers can pinpoint clues to solve the toughest of cases. Bowers's skills have made him one of the FBI's top agents-until now.

Called to the mountains of North Carolina to consult on a gruesome murder, Bowers finds himself in a deadly duel with a serial killer who seems to transcend Patrick's analytical powers. Forced to track the killer's horrific murders one by one, Bowers finds his techniques and instincts are put to the ultimate test...

Wednesday, December 8, 2010

Free Book (nook) - Code Blue

Code Blue ($9.99 Kindle), by Richard L. Mabry, the first in his Prescription for Trouble series, was free on Kindle two days ago, but is now again full price (under a different ASIN). Today, it is is free at Barnes and Noble, courtesy of Christian publisher Abingdon Press.

Book Description
In the first book of the Prescription for Trouble series, Code Blue means more to Dr. Cathy Sewell than the cardiac emergency she has to face. It describes her mental state as she finds that coming back to her hometown hasn t brought her the peace she so desperately needs. Instead, it s clear that someone there wants her gone...or dead.

Cathy returns to her hometown seeking healing after a broken relationship, but discovers that among her friends and acquaintances is someone who wants her out of town...or dead. Lawyer Will Kennedy, her high school sweetheart, offers help, but does it carry a price tag? Is hospital chief of staff Dr. Marcus Bell really on her side in her fight to get hospital privileges? Is Will s father, Pastor Matthew Kennedy, interested in advising her or just trying to get her back to the church she left years ago? When one of Cathy s prescriptions almost kills the town banker, it sets the stage for a malpractice suit that could end her time in town, if not her career. It s soon clear that this return home was a prescription for trouble.


Click HERE for the free download from B&N.

Children's Kindle Books Under a Buck

There are a number of childrens' books in the Kindle store that are selling for under a dollar. Since most of them are from a few series, I'll just list the titles available grouped that way, rather than showing a cover and description for each one.


H. A. Rey's The Complete Adventures of Curious George, Anniversary Edition, at ($16.50), doesn't quite fit that price range, but with the first seven titles in the series, that's just over $2 each, which is a bargain price. Most of the titles in the Curious George series (which is now much longer than seven titles) are marked down to around $3, but these are currently marked down (no overlap with the larger volume above):

The Berenstain Bears series, by Jan Berenstain and Stan Berenstain, has nearly a dozen titles marked down:

There are four titles marked down in Ron Roy's A to Z Mysteries series.

Just over a half-dozen of Mary Pope Osborne's Magic Tree House series are marked down.

The Poky Little Puppy ($0.88), by Janette Sebring Lowrey

Book Description
One of the original 12 Little Golden Books, The Poky Little Puppy has sold nearly 15 million copies since 1942, making it one of the most popular children’s books of all time. Now this curious little puppy is ready to win the hearts and minds of a new generation of kids.

The Night They Nicked Saint Nick ($0.99), by Carl Ashmore (Author) & Henryk Szor (Illustrator), is self-published, but I've seen several positive comments on it in the Amazon forums.

Book Description
It’s Christmas Eve morning and Derek Brundle has noticed a thick tuft of grey hair above his right ear. Suddenly, a soldier elf, Munkle, appears at his window and tells him that Father Christmas has been kidnapped. Furthermore, over the next 24 hours, Derek will transform into the new Santa Claus – fuzzy beard, jelly belly and long silver hair. Problem is – he’s only seven!

The Night They Nicked Saint Nick is a 'fantoobulous' adventure with edible steam trains, flying ice cream vans, deadly robot toys and trolls with seven ankles.

Have a yuletide treat and join Derek and Munkle on an action packed, fun-filled mission to rescue Santa Claus and save Christmas….

Tuesday, December 7, 2010

Free Book (Sony) - The Heir

The Heir ($2.39 Kindle), by Grace Burrowes, is free in the Sony bookstore.

Book Description
An earl who can't be bribed...
Gayle Windham, earl of Westhaven, is the first legitimate son and heir to the duke of Moreland. To escape his father's inexorable pressure to marry, he decides to spend the summer at his townhouse in London, where he finds himself intrigued by the secretive ways of his beautiful housekeeper...

A lady who can't be protected...
Anna Seaton is a beautiful, talented, educated woman, which is why it is so puzzling to Gayle Windham that she works as his housekeeper.

As the two draw closer and begin to lose their hearts to each other, Anna's secrets threaten to bring the earl's orderly life crashing down-and he doesn't know how he's going to protect her from the fallout...


Click HERE to get the free book from Sony.

Free Book (Sony) - My Unfair Lady

My Unfair Lady ($2.39 Kindle), by Kathryne Kennedy, is free in the Sony bookstore tonight.

Book Description
Who says a proper lady can't carry a knife?

He created the perfect woman?

The impoverished Duke of Monchester despises the rich Americans who flock to London, seeking to buy their way into the ranks of the British peerage. So when railroad heiress Summer Wine Lee offers him a king's ransom if he'll teach her to become a proper lady, he's prepared to rebuff her. But when he meets the petite beauty with the knife in her boot, it's not her fortune he finds impossible to resist?

For the arms of another man
Frontier-bred Summer Wine Lee has no interest in winning over London society-it's the New York bluebloods and her future mother-in-law she's determined to impress. She knows the cost of smoothing her rough-and-tumble frontier edges will be high. But she never imagined it might cost her her heart?

From acclaimed author Kathryne Kennedy comes a delightful new take on a classic tale. As a Wild West beauty takes Victorian London by storm, the devilishly handsome duke she's hired to instruct her in proper deportment begins to wonder if his unconventional pupil might be perfect just the way she is?


Click HERE for the free book.

New Free Kindle Game - BlackJack!

There is a new, free game on Kindle: Blackjack.

Game Description
Blackjack - one of the most popular casino card games of all time is now available on Kindle.

The Kindle version features all of the most common aspects of the game including splits, double down, surrender and insurance, as well as multiple options for customization that allow you to play the style of Blackjack that you want to play. For example, you can configure the game to match specific structures like 'Dealer must hit soft 17' - a common rule variation in many Las Vegas casinos.

The built-in advice feature, which you can turn on and off at any time, applies basic strategy and will recommend the best course of action to maximize your chances of winning.

Along with providing hours of fun, this realistic casino-style blackjack simulator will help you improve your understanding of the strategy of this ever-popular game.

Try Blackjack today!

Free Mini-Book (nook) - Grace Notes (April)

Barnes and Noble has brought back the Grace Notes -- April Free Preview, by Philip Yancey, which was free last year on Kindle (but is no longer in the Kindle store). This is excerpted from the $9.99 Grace Notes.

Free Preview Description
30 readings for the month of April

Full Book Description
366 daily readings from Yancey's honest, vibrant, and down-to-earth writings. In the tradition of the collected readings of Frederick Buechner, C. S. Lewis, and Eugene Peterson, Grace Notes presents the best of Yancey's writings about his understanding of God, the world, and faith. Readers will embark on an adventure to rediscover God through the wonders of nature, music, and romantic love. And they'll explore such subjects as understanding grace, living in God's love, understanding Jesus, renewing the practice of prayer, and finding God in unexpected places. Yancey's honesty especially appeals to doubters, sufferers, the disillusioned, and those seeking a break-the-mold relationship with God. Grace Notes is destined to be a perennial classic and a favorite gift for all occasions.

Wii DanceDanceRevolution Hottest Party 3 "Bundle" under $25!

By combining Amazon's Video Games Deal of the Day with the current Buy One Game or Accessory, Get One at 50% Off sale, you can get the equivalent of Konami's DanceDance Revolution Hottest Party 3 Bundle (which is sold out and third party sellers are asking $125 and up for) for only $24.48. DanceDanceRevolution Hottest Party 3-Software Only is currently marked down from $49.99 to $14.99 and the Wii Dance Dance Revolution Dance Pad Controller is marked down from $29.99 to $16.99. But, if you put them both in your cart and checkout, you'll get an additional $7.50 off and free shipping, even without Prime!

If you already have one of the DanceDanceRevolution games, this deal lets you add another game and pad at less than the cost of the pad alone. If you have other Konami games, such as Walk It Out, this pad will work with them, as well (unlike the wireless pad I bought from a different vendor, which only works with the original DanceDanceRevolution). The games support up to four mats, but there appears to be a limit of one on this deal (due to being the Deal of the Day). I also was watching the video on the game and it looks like it also incorporates the Wii Balance Board now, if you want to use it for low impact exercise, rather than the more aerobic workout using the mat.

If you are getting a new XBox 360 with Kinect for Christmas this year, definitely check out the Buy One Game or Accessory, Get One at 50% Off sale, as well, as there are a number of games that support the Kinect included on the sale, as well as a number of other Wii, Playstation and XBox games.

DanceDanceRevolution Hottest Party 3
DanceDanceRevolution Hottest Party 3 is a dance/party game for Wii that takes the long-running DDR party to the next level. Includes controller support for the Wii Remote/nunchuck controller configuration and the Wii Balance Board, it is sure to be the life of the party and get you into shape. Game also include local 2-4 player multiplayer support, a diverse 60-song soundtrack, entirely new modes and more.
  • Extensive new modes, including a fresh new Workout Mode, fun new Story Mode, Kids Modes with much simpler controls and Lesson Mode (DDR School) to practice timing and the direction of arrows so that new dancers can learn the basic.
  • Exclusive gimmicks such as the Hip Roll and Bump Arrows appear in-game and built-in fitness functionality allows you to punch while moving your hips to get a workout in while playing.
  • Costume customization of your DanceDanceRevolution dancer, including your importable Miis.
  • Game include 2-4 local multiplayer support in versus mode and contains 60 tracks on disc, including major licensed master original Latin tracks.
Wii Dance Dance Revolution Dance Pad Controller
Konami's DanceDanceRevolution Controller is designed with high-quality materials and is the only official controller for DanceDanceRevolution games.
  • Specially designed controller for DanceDanceRevolution turns you into a dancing machine
  • For use with compatible software on the Wii system
  • ANTI-SLIP surface on bottom
  • DanceDanceRevolution combines fun, excitement and a great workout

Monday, December 6, 2010

Free Paperback - Alex Detail's Revolution

Alex Detail's Revolution, a young adult Choose Your Destiny novel by Darren Campo, is free as a paperback from Amazon. Regular shipping rules, though, so if you don't have Prime or another free delivery plan from Amazon, you'll need to get up to $25 for free delivery. The Kindle edition, if you'd prefer it, is also marked down to $2.99 for now. This is a limited time (and probably limited copy) promotion, but there doesn't seem to be a limit to how many you can order from one account (I've ordered one for me and sent another to nieces for Xmas).

Book Description
17 year old Alex Detail has been kidnapped and sent off to fight in a hopeless war against The Harvesters, an alien force that is trying to extinguish Earth's Sun.

Unfortunately for Alex's kidnappers (and the world) he has lost the mega IQ that allowed him to win the last war with The Harvesters ten years ago when he was just 7 years old.

But now the House of Nations is out of options. The end of life is imminent.

Alex must save his ship, fight his evil clone and survive the war long enough to make it to Pluto, where, underneath the planets frozen surface lies the only force in the solar system that can stop The Harvesters.

Oprah's Book Pick: Charles Dickens

Well, Oprah's book pick has been released and it's a double volume from Charles Dickens: A Tale of Two Cities and Great Expectations: Two Novels (Oprah's Book Club) ($7.99 Kindle, $11.00 Paperback). This is an enriched edition from Penguin, not a barebones scan from Gutenberg (more about those later). In a major break from the usual pricing we've seen from the Agency 5, this edition is fairly reasonably priced for the Kindle edition (and Amazon is deeply discounting the paperback, which lists at $20, charging just a dollar over what they pay to Penguin, if they have the usual 50% wholesale rate on it).

Book Description
A TALE OF TWO CITIES
After eighteen years as a political prisoner in the Bastille, the ageing Doctor Manette is finally released and reunited with his daughter in England. There the lives of the two very different men, Charles Darnay, an exiled French aristocrat, and Sydney Carton, a disreputable but brilliant English lawyer, become enmeshed through their love for Lucie Manette. From the tranquil roads of London, they are drawn against their will to the vengeful, bloodstained streets of Paris at the height of the Reign of Terror, and they soon fall under the lethal shadow of the guillotine.

GREAT EXPECTATIONS
A terrifying encounter with an escaped convict in a graveyard on the wild Kent marshes; a summons to meet the bitter, decaying Miss Havisham and her beautiful, cold-hearted ward Estella; the sudden generosity of a mysterious benefactor—these form a series of events that changes the orphaned Pip’s life forever, and he eagerly abandons his humble origins to begin a new life as a gentleman. Dickens’s haunting late novel depicts Pip’s education and development through adversity as he discovers the true nature of his “great expectations.”

This enriched edition includes: illustrations of 18th century fashion and culture in Dickens’s Victorian world, the early reception for both A Tale of Two Cities and Great Expectations, a filmography of Dickens’s novels, further reading about the author as well as what informed the thematic elements of these classic novels.


I love the cover picture shown on this free edition of A Tale of Two Cities at Amazon (even if it probably isn't in the actual Kindle book). I didn't actually download this one (although at least the description implies it isn't _just_ a Gutenberg scan, as someone took the time to add a description), as I instead downloaded the free, illustrated edition by MobileRead member HarryT.

There is a free edition of Great Expectations at Amazon as well, but again I skipped this one and again downloaded the free, illustrated edition by MobileRead member HarryT.

These are not the only Charles Dickens books (or formats) available at MobileRead, either, where the members hand-convert many public domain texts (with and without illustrations). For Charles Dickens, alone, I found 34 Mobi formatted books and 33 EPUBs, including Christmas Stories (Illustrated) and Christmas Books (Illustrated). The first is a collection of short stories and the second his five "christmasy" novels.

Will Kindle Sell Out Today? Another Oprah Pick!

Rumor has it that Oprah will give everyone in her audience a Kindle again today. There's no word if she'll repeat the coupon code of a previous show, but with prices as low as they are now, I doubt that'll happen. What did happen last time, though, is that the Kindle sold out within a day. Adding fuel to the fire, on tomorrow's show, she is going to announce the new Oprah Book Pick and it must be one that is available for the Kindle, as Amazon is hyping the show on their Facebook page.

International customers have already faced a sellout of Kindles for the holidays (except the Kindle DX) and the current wait is still projected at 5-7 weeks, so about mid-to-late January is when those who order now will start seeing their Kindles in the mail. Those in the UK are starting to see some slight delays in shipping (up to a week for the Wi-Fi only model). So far, US models are both showing as in-stock for next day delivery. In the past, this has been the case right up until the instant they go out of stock and have a long back-order period.

If you were already planning on getting a Kindle for the holidays, but haven't ordered yet, I recommend that you don't wait. For international readers, you  have only two choices: get a Kindle DX  (which is still in stock for international orders) or use a remailing service that will handle the customs fees and paperwork and order one of the US models that way (the only difference is the charging adapter, which you order separately; with a US model, you don't get a discounted price on that item). Those in the UK should definitely not delay, as the current backlog could quickly grow to beyond Christmas delivery.

Here are the links for those looking to have one of these under the tree this year:

US Kindles
UK Kindles
International Kindles