Bargain Book Roundup - International Edition

Some bargains that are only for those who are in Canada or the UK, these are all full price for US customers (and most other countries, as well). For those in the UK, I'm including both US and UK links, but I only checked the prices in the US store.

I'm not sure how much karate you'll learn from How to Beat Up Anybody: An Instructional and Inspirational Karate Book by the World Champion [Kindle Edition with Audio/Video] ($1.16 UK), by Judah Friedlander, but from checking out the sample, if you aren't laughing out loud while reading it, you are doing something wrong. Note that only the Audio/Video enhanced edition is on sale; the standard edition is full price. (UK link)

Book Description
Watch the 19 videos in this enhanced eBook of How to Beat Up Anybody and become a champion, just like Judah Friedlander.

In How to Beat Up Anybody, master of the martial arts and extra-dark blackbelt Judah Friedlander, with the help of instructional videos and step-by-step photos and drawings, teaches you how to kick anyone’s ass. Except his. That’s impossible.

Taliesin ($2.92 UK), by Stephen R. Lawhead (UK link)

Book Description
It was a time of legend, when the last shadows of the mighty Roman conqueror faded from the captured Isle of Britain. While across a vast sea, bloody war shattered a peace that had flourished for two thousand years in the doomed kingdom of Atlantis.

Taliesin is the remarkable adventure of Charis, the Atlantean princess who escaped the terrible devastation of her homeland, and of the fabled seer and druid prince Taliesin, singer at the dawn of the age. It is the story of an incomparable love that joined two worlds amid the fires of chaos, and spawned the miracles of Merlin...and Arthur the king.

My Soul to Take ($1.06 UK), by Rachel Vincent (UK link)

Book Description
She doesn't see dead people, but...

She senses when someone near her is about to die. And when that happens, a force beyond her control compels her to scream bloody murder. Literally.

Kaylee just wants to enjoy having caught the attention of the hottest guy in school. But a normal date is hard to come by when Nash seems to know more about her need to scream than she does. And when classmates start dropping dead for no apparent reason, only Kaylee knows who'll be next...

A Kidnapped Santa Claus ($0.76), by L. Frank Baum & Alex Robinson (Illustrator), is a graphic novel adaptation of the classic story (you can see several pages using Look Inside for the Hardcover edition. (UK link)

Book Description
First published in 1904, "A Kidnapped Santa Claus" by L. Frank Baum, the author of The Wizard of Oz, describes the action of some uncommon events in the land of Santa. Not far from the Laughing Valley where Santa and all his magical helpers live, and beyond the Forest of Burzee, there stands a huge mountain that contains the Cave of Demons. Each demon has a specialty: Selfishness, Envy, Hatred, Malice, and Repentance. Because the promise of Santa puts all girls and boys on their best behavior, the demons have hardly any visitors to their caves. In order to remedy their dismal foot traffic, they conspire to kidnap Santa! But oh! even when it looks as if the demons might win, one can never underestimate the power of devoted (and magical!) friends.

Adapted by Alex Robinson, author of several graphic novels, the action and menace of the tale will be enhanced and lightly spoofed. It seems a most appropriate treatment of Baum's work -- he was an author who often let his profound and unsettling meanings roil beneath the surface of his otherwise fanciful stories.

Hardly Knew Her ($0.99 Canada), by Laura Lippman, is the entire short story collection (each story also sells for 99 cents each).

Book Description
New York Times bestselling author Laura Lippman has been hailed as one of the best crime fiction writers in America today, winning virtually every major award in the genre. The author of the enormously popular series featuring Baltimore P.I. Tess Monaghan as well as three critically lauded stand-alone novels, Lippman now turns her attention to short stories—and reveals another level of mastery.

Lippman sets many of the stories in this sterling anthology, Hardly Knew Her, in familiar territory: her beloved Baltimore, from downtown to its affluent suburbs, where successful businessmen go to shocking lengths to protect what they have or ruthlessly expand their holdings, while dissatisfied wives find murderous ways to escape their lives. But Lippman is also unafraid to travel—to New Orleans, to an unnamed southwestern city, and even to Dublin, the backdrop for the lethal clash of two not-so-innocents abroad. Tess Monaghan is here, in two stories and a profile, aligning herself with various underdogs. And in her extraordinary, never-before-published novella, Scratch a Woman, Lippman takes us deep into the private world of a high-priced call girl/madam and devoted soccer mom, exploring the mystery of what may, in fact, be written in the blood.

Each of these ingenious tales is a gem—sometimes poignant, sometimes humorous, always filled with delightfully unanticipated twists and reversals. For people who have yet to read Lippman, get ready to experience the spellbinding power of "one of today's most pleasing storytellers, hailed for her keen psychological insights and her compelling characterizations," (San Diego Union-Tribune), who has "invigorated the crime fiction arena with smart, innovative, and exciting work" (George Pelecanos). As for longtime devotees of her multiple award-winning novels, you'll discover that you hardly know her.

Rage of Angels ($0.99 Canada), by Sidney Sheldon, was featured before and is still (or once again) under a buck.

Book Description
A memorable, mesmerizing heroine

Jennifer -- brilliant, beautiful, an attorney on the way up until the Mafia's schemes win her the hatred of an implacable enemy -- and a love more destructive than hate.

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe: The Chronicles of Narnia ($4.79 Canada), by C.S. Lewis and Pauline Baynes (Illustrator)

Book Description
In 2000, we celebrated the fiftieth anniversary of the publication of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, the book that first introduced millions of readers—young and old—to the magical land of Narnia. Now the timeless story of four English schoolchildren and their magnificent discovery is presented here in a special large-print edition, perfect for reading aloud. Parents who grew up with Narnia will now be able to read about Aslan, the Pevensie children, and the others with their own children in an easy-to-share format.
The land of Narnia is now available to a whole new generation of readers to treasure, enjoy, and pass on yet again.

Fragile Things ($0.99 Canada), by Neil Gaiman, is the entire short story collection.

Book Description
A mysterious circus terrifies an audience for one extraordinary performance before disappearing into the night, taking one of the spectators along with it . . .

In a novella set two years after the events of American Gods, Shadow pays a visit to an ancient Scottish mansion, and finds himself trapped in a game of murder and monsters . . .

In a Hugo Award-winning short story set in a strangely altered Victorian England, the great detective Sherlock Holmes must solve a most unsettling royal murder . . .

Two teenage boys crash a party and meet the girls of their dreams—and nightmares . . .

In a Locus Award-winning tale, the members of an excusive epicurean club lament that they've eaten everything that can be eaten, with the exception of a legendary, rare, and exceedingly dangerous Egyptian bird . . .

Such marvelous creations and more—including a short story set in the world of The Matrix, and others set in the worlds of gothic fiction and children's fiction—can be found in this extraordinary collection, which showcases Gaiman's storytelling brilliance as well as his terrifyingly entertaining dark sense of humor. By turns delightful, disturbing, and diverting, Fragile Things is a gift of literary enchantment from one of the most unique writers of our time.

YOU: The Owner's Manual ($1.99 Canada), by Michael F. Roizen and Mehmet Oz, is the entire book (each section is $1.99 normally). I managed to get this one when it was briefly $1.99 for US customers last year.

Book Description
Between your full-length mirror and high-school biology class, you probably think you know a lot about the human body. While it's true that we live in an age when we're as obsessed with our bodies as we are with celebrity hairstyles, the reality is that most of us know very little about what chugs, churns, and thumps throughout this miraculous, scientific, and artistic system of anatomy. Yes, you've owned your skin-covered shell for decades, but you probably know more about your cell-phone plan than you do about your own body. When it comes to your longevity and quality of life, understanding your internal systems gives you the power, authority, and ability to live a healthier, younger, and better life.

The flagship book of the YOU series, which spawned three subsequent New York Times bestsellers, has now been expanded and updated to make you understand your body even better—perhaps too well.

YOU: The Owner's Manual, Updated and Expanded Edition challenges your preconceived notions about how the human body works and ages, then takes you on a tour through all of the highways, back roads, and landmarks inside of you. In this update, the doctors have included a new chapter on the liver and pancreas, which will finally demystify the most exotic parts of our bodies; a new workout chapter that will finally get you moving; and nearly one hundred Q&As asked by you, the reader. It has also been updated throughout to give you up-to-the-minute know-how to not just understand what to do to keep fit, but also why and how.

The book opens with a quiz, "How Well Do You Know Your Body?," which sets the stage for the following chapters. After taking the quiz, you'll learn about all of your blood-pumping, food-digesting, and keys-remembering systems and organs, including the heart, brain, lungs, immune system, bones, and sensory organs. Each chapter also contains common myths of the particular body part that the authors will debunk.

Just as important, you'll get the facts and advice you need to keep your body running long and strong. You'll find out how diseases start and how they affect your body—as well as advice on how to prevent and beat conditions that threaten your quality of life. Complete with exercise tips, nutritional guidelines, simple lifestyle changes, and alternative approaches, YOU: The Owner's Manual, Updated and Expanded Edition gives you an easy, comprehensive, and life-changing how-to plan for fending off the gremlins of aging. To top it off, this new edition includes even more great-tasting and calorie-saving recipes as part of the Owner's Manual Diet—an eating plan that is designed with only one goal in mind: to help you live a younger life.

Welcome to your body. Why don't you come on in and take a look around?

Audrey's Door ($1.99 Canada), by Sarah Langan

Book Description
Built on the Upper West Side, the elegant Breviary claims a regal history. But despite 14B's astonishingly low rental price, the recent tragedy within its walls has frightened away all potential tenants . . . except for Audrey Lucas.

No stranger to tragedy at thirty-two—a survivor of a fatherless childhood and a mother's hopeless dementia— Audrey is obsessively determined to make her own way in a city that often strangles the weak. But is it something otherworldly or Audrey's own increasing instability that's to blame for the dark visions that haunt her ... and for the voice that demands that she build a door? A door it would be true madness to open...

Legend of a Suicide: Stories ($1.99 Canada), by David Vann, is the full short story collection.

Book Description
In semiautobiographical stories set largely in David Vann's native Alaska, Legend of a Suicide follows Roy Fenn from his birth on an island at the edge of the Bering Sea to his return thirty years later to confront the turbulent emotions and complex legacy of his father's suicide.

The Wit and Wisdom of Mark Twain ($2.38 Canada), edited by Alex Ayres

Book Description
Arranged alphabetically by topic, from Adam to Youth, and culled from his novels, speeches, letters, and conversations, this anthology of quotes is timeless and represents the very essence of Mark Twain -- hilarious, cranky, and insightful.

About the Author
Alex Ayres has been a Senior Editor on Running Times. In addition to this book, he has edited The Wit and Wisdom of Will Rogers, The Wit and Wisdom of Abraham Lincoln, The Wit and Wisdom of Martin Luther King, The Wit and Wisdom of Eleanor Roosevelt, as well as The Wit and Wisdom of John F. Kennedy and The Wit and Wisdom of Harry Truman.

Bargain Book Roundup and Free Books Update

The books that were free earlier today on Sony appear to be full price now (although the product pages still show as $0, the price goes up once in the cart). Although I picked up all the early ones myself, I am seeing this same behavior when I try to get the latest one, Messages: The World's Most Documented Extraterrestrial Contact Story.

Trap Line, by Carl Hiaasen and Montalbano Bill, has dropped to $4.99 to match the price in the Sony store.

Valeria's Last Stand ($1.24), by Marc Fitten

Book Description
When it comes to the sizes of fishes and ponds, Valeria is a whale in a thimble. She harrumphs her daily way through her backwater Hungarian village, finding equal fault with the new, the old, the foreign and the familiar. Her decades of universal contempt have turned her into a touchstone of her little community - whatever she scorns the least must be the best, after all. But, on a day like any other, her spinster's heart is struck by an unlikely arrow: the village potter, long-known and little-noticed, captures her fancy, and Valeria finds herself suddenly cast in a new role she never expected to play. This one deviation from character, this one loose thread, is all it takes for the delicately woven fabric of village life to unravel. And, for the first time in a long time, Valeria couldn't care less.

Valeria's Last Stand is a joyfully wise small-town satire that takes an hilariously honest look at later-in-life romance and the notion that it's never too late to start anew.

Bury the Lead ($2.99), by David Rosenfelt

Book Description
Northern New Jersey has a new local hero on its cultural crime turf.He's Andy Carpenter, the Paterson defense attorney who can sling a quip as fast as he can outmaneuver a snarling prosecutor. Acclaimed author David Rosenfelt's first novel, was nominated for an Edgar Award, now in this new novel, the intrepid lawyer is thrust into the spotlight where he risks becoming a media victim...of the most fatal kind. His streak of murder case acquittals made him a regular on cable talk shows. His recent $22 million inheritance bought him a dog rescue operation named the Tara Foundation after his own beloved golden retriever. Yet after turning down cases left and right, Andy Carpenter thinks he's facing a midlife crisis. When a friend, a newspaper owner, calls in a favor and asks him to protect his star reporter, Andy is less than thrilled. His new client is Daniel Cummings, a journalist who is being used as a mouthpiece by a brutal serial killer. Things only get worse when Daniel is discovered near the body of the murderer's latest victim. And after Andy himself starts collecting anonymous death threats, he hears the news every defense lawyer dreads...and moves to within a dangerous keystroke of becoming tomorrow's obituary.

Warrior Angel ($1.99), by Margaret Weis and Lizz Weis

Book Description
Once a dedicated soldier of the Knights Templar, Derek de Molay was betrayed and killed. So instead of an eternity in Heaven, he has decided to battle the Dark Angels of Hell. But as the war between good and evil rages, he is summoned back to the mortal realm to protect a woman standing too close to the edge of darkness.

Rachel Duncan has never felt this way before. A mysterious man is intent on seducing her with expensive gifts and trips on his private plane, yet it is Derek, a breathtaking stranger, who tugs at her heart. With him, there is laughter, light . . . and love. But Derek tells an impossible, insane story, though deep in her heart she knows it to be true. Now Derek and Rachel must race against time to save the mortal souls of mankind . . . and each other.

Awaken the Diet Within: From Overweight to Looking Great - If I Can Do It,So Can You ($3.99), by Julia Griggs Havey

Book Description
Topping the scale at 290 pounds, Julia Griggs Havey resigned herself to a matronly figure and plus-size clothes. But when she read the anonymous note informing her that her husband was having an affair, Julia realized it was time to take control of her life. Her mantra became self-improvement through self-motivation and she began by taking off the weight more than 130 pounds and divorcing her wandering husband. Now, Julia shares the weight-loss secrets that have already helped thousands. From her nine-level Road Map to Weight Loss to more than 130 delicious recipes, nutritional advice, and fitness tips, readers will discover how easy it is to achieve success. Julia's inspirational outlook will motivate and encourage millions of women to awaken the diet within and begin their transformation today!

Nutrition in the Middle and Later Years ($4.99), by E. FELDMAN

Book Description
Here is the authoritative guidebook on nutrition for the aging and elderly, including advice on vitamins and dietary supplements.

Numbers Game ($4.99), by Graham Perry (not an active content Kindle game)

Book Description
Don't waste a minute. Get in on the biggest puzzle craze in the country. People all over the country are already sharing this game with each other via E-Mail, faxes, and computer networks. The Numbers Game is a compendium of 300 of these fun-filled puzzles.

The Fan-Shaped Destiny of William Seabrook: A Romance of Many Worlds ($4.99), by Paul Pipkin

Book Description
To the one who perhaps cared the most.

In the twilight of the twentieth century, a young woman broods over a cryptic birthright, an inheritance addressed to her before she was born. Shaped by an abusive past, only the most intense sensations can unchain her heart.

Meanwhile, a nameless, corroded sixties malcontent orbits the far point of his life. As his reason unravels, he pines for the redemption of an exhausted history. And in a darkening yesterday, William Seabrook, an all-but-forgotten writer of the Lost Generation - expatriate, explorer, suicide - wrestles with more remorse than one life can contain.

Behind, and up ahead, and in-between these strange travelers, an old woman is dying in a decaying Victorian home. At the terminus of a full life, her memories warp and twist like the adjacent rooms, their doors remaining just a little bit ajar. In an odyssey that morphs extension and duration, blown upon storms of synchronicity, two improbable lovers bond in a sexual obsession with the dead, chasing the ghosts of fantasies become all-too-real.

At the end of their quest - or is it the beginning - waits the fatidic document called The Fan-Shaped Destiny.

The past has caught up with the present.

Forbidden Fantasies ($1.99), by Lynn Lafleur

Book Description
Three reunited friends, Celina, Elayne, and Jasmine are enticed by the bold invitation to a most exclusive singles cruise, and tantalized by the promise of pleasures beyond their wildest fantasies. Here is a chance to sail away from the pressures of the corporate world for three glorious days and nights—a golden opportunity to indulge themselves completely...with no strings attached.

"There are no rules. There is nothing you cannot do."

Workaholic Celina can exchange her constricting business suit for revealing lingerie and fully explore her true erotic nature with the ship's gorgeous playboy captain, Rand. Elayne can play house with Jonathan, the luxury yacht's sexually athletic first officer, without having to worry about getting hurt again. Power broker (and heartbreaker) Jasmine, who's always called the shots, may have finally met her match in cool, sensual, enigmatic Chase, whose touch drives her absolutely mad.

"Your most erotic fantasy can come true."

But when inhibitions are tossed overboard, more than one steamy secret is revealed. And there's a price to be paid when getting there is all the fun.

If This Bed Could Talk ($1.99), an anthology by Liz Maverick, Kimberly Dean, and Lynn Lafleur

Book Description
Agent provocateur Liz Maverick
A deadly agent is assigned to prepare an exotic beauty to be the ultimate seductress and perfect spy . . . lessons that will require long hours of personal instruction to perfect her ability to pleasure a man . . . and, ultimately, conquer him.

Unrequited Kimberly Dean
After years of secret longing for his brother's wife, Tyler rejoices when she is set free and ripe for new love—though it may take a prolonged seduction to convince wary Trista to open herself up to pleasure once more.

Victim of Deception Lynn LaFleur
When a woman moves into an old house, she is suddenly tantalized by erotic dreams that cause her to shed her every inhibition . . . leaving her vulnerable to the very real, very irresistible ministrations of the man who'd once broken her heart.

Enslave ($1.99), by Cathy Yardley

Book Description
A desperate beauty enslaved . . .

Nadia Bessonova's career-criminal father has deadly enemies—and to save him, his devoted daughter is willing to make a bargain with the devil himself. She will surrender completely, body and spirit, to the dangerous Dominic Luder, and submit to his every whim.

A tormented beast enthralled . . .

Haunted by inner demons and hiding away in his dark, secluded manor, Dominic is mesmerized by his sensuous prisoner who inflames his bestial lust. But Nadia is no mere plaything. At once fearful, willing, and wildly passionate, she brings his most breathtaking erotic fantasies to life—and thaws his cold, wounded heart.

A perilous path to a happy ending . . .

But Nadia never dreamed she'd become slave to her own desires in a savage game of seduction and revenge. And now that he has tasted ecstasy, will a jealous, magnificent beast be able to relinquish his prize?

Every Night I'm Yours ($2.49), by Christie Kelley

Book Description
A woman who wants to know what she's been missing... A man perfectly suited to train her. . . Christie Kelley weaves a scintillating novel of one rapturous night of ecstasy...

A Woman Yearning For A Taste Of The Forbidden. . .
At twenty-six, aspiring novelist Avis Copley intends to wear spinsterhood as a badge of honor. But when she discovers a volume of erotica that ignites a searing fire within her, Avis realizes just how much she doesn't know about the actual pleasures of the flesh. Determined to learn more, she devises a daring plan. . .

A Man Ready To Teach Her Much, Much More . . .
Avis chooses Emory Billingsworth, a fellow novelist--not to mention a beautiful specimen of manhood--to instruct her in carnal pleasure. But when the brash earl of Selby, Banning Talbot, a man she has known for years, unearths Avis' true intentions, he claims she's made a dangerously bad choice. Volunteering his services for one wicked night of reckless, abandoned passion, Banning promises he will satisfy all of her deepest longings. Yet Banning cannot begin to imagine the effect his willful, voluptuous, and very eager student will have on him--or how far an innocent lesson in desire can go. . .

Dangerous Lover ($1.99), by Lisa Marie Rice (it's worth clicking over just to read the author bio on this one)

Book Description
"I don’t want to be alone tonight."

Caroline Lake can hardly believe she would ever say these words to someone she'd never met before. When a tall, dark stranger arrives wanting to rent a room in her beautiful empty shell of a mansion, she hesitates. Though she is in dire financial straits, the man looks dangerous—dangerously sexy. She's overwhelmed by the desire he sparks in her—hotter than anything she's ever felt before, making her ache to experience his sensuous touch. But who is this armed and mysterious man with danger following in his wake? He's not who she thinks he is . . .

Jack Prescott has wanted Caroline forever. He has spent the past twelve years dreaming of her, desiring her, while fighting in some of the worst hellholes on earth. Now he's back, with twenty million dollars in blood diamonds and a relentless enemy stalking him. But this time Jack's determined that nothing will stop him from finally making Caroline his.

Learning to Fly: Why Bounty Hunting is More Therapeutic than Running Over Morelli with a Buick ($0.99), by Sylvia Day, is a short selection from an author who has had several books featured on Kindle either free or at bargain prices recently.

Book Description
"When we first meet Stephanie, she can't afford therapy--she can barely afford her low-rent apartment and regular meals. A couple of hours a week with a trained professional, not that you'd have talked her into it, probably would have done her good. Luckily, as Sylvia Day suggests, she found bounty hunting instead." - Leah Wilson, Perfectly Plum: An Unauthorized Celebration of Stephanie Plum

Free Book (Sony) - Wyrdworking

Update: Deal is over!

Wyrdworking: The Path of a Saxon Sorcerer ($9.99 Kindle pre-order), by Alaric Albertsson, is currently free in the Sony store.

Book Description
Within the pages of this magical handbook, you’ll find everything you need to know to practice Saxon sorcery. Alaric Albertsson once again uncovers the practices and customs of the Anglo-Saxons hidden in early charms and English folk traditions. His first book, Travels Through Middle Earth, taught readers how to connect with the Saxon cosmology, deities, spirits, and rituals. Now, Wyrdworking tells how to craft rune charms, brew potions, cast effective spells, and use magical techniques to find love and prosperity.

This guide explores the folklore, meanings, and magical properties of all thirty-three Old English Futhorc runes, classifying them by theme, such as animals or trees, to help you learn. Discover how to make a wand or staff, consecrate and use a seax (knife), and practice the herbal healing known as wortcunning. Design effective spells through the use of galdor (incantations), practice wiglung (the art of soothsaying), and create your own set of powerful divinatory runes.

Click HERE for the free download.

Student Deal of the Day - Lead Like Ike

Lead Like Ike: Ten Business Strategies from the CEO of D-Day, by Geoff Loftus, is today's (1/12/11) Kindle Student Deal of the Day. Normally selling for $14.99, it is $2.99 for today only.

Book Description
Dwight Eisenhower's leadership methods during the most daunting project in history, the D-Day Invasion, provide invaluable strategies for today's business person.

No modern CEO has ever led such a large organization-the immense Allied military forces of the U.S., Great Britain, and Canada-in the face of such crushing pressure to succeed. Lead Like Ike begins with Eisenhower reporting for work as the CEO of D-Day Inc., facing a ridiculously tight timeline, having to create an executive staff and company, and then managing D-Day Inc.'s early projects, the invasions of North Africa and Sicily. By analyzing military operations as business operations, and the commanding general as CEO, Lead Like Ike finds management lessons for modern corporate executives, such as:

• Handling the board of directors: FDR, Churchill and the Combined Chiefs of Staff
• Building and leading an executive staff
• Creating the company: Making the Allied military into a single force that could fulfill its mission
• Understanding the competition and the market: Hitler and Occupied Europe
• Preserving his stakeholders: Eisenhower was loathe to waste his soldiers' lives on anything less than complete success.

Free Book (Sony) - Cunningham's Book of Shadows

Update: Deal is over!

Cunningham's Book of Shadows: The Path of An American Traditionalist ($9.99 Kindle), by Scott Cunningham, is currently free in the Sony store.

Book Description
Llewellyn is pleased to present a new Scott Cunningham book--a long-lost Book of Shadows. Recently discovered in a battered manila envelope, this previously unpublished manuscript was penned by Scott in the early 1980s. This rare book includes original spells, rituals, and invocations and an herbal grimoire. Featured in the design are Scott's actual hand-drawn signs, symbols, and runes.

More than ten years after his passing, Scott Cunningham is still an iconic and highly regarded figure in the magical community. His books on Wicca are considered classics, and his writings continue to inspire and inform those new to the Craft.

Click HERE for the free download.

Free Book (Sony) - In the Lap of the Gods

Update: Deal is over!

In the Lap of the Gods ($9.99 Kindle), by Li Miao Lovett, is currently free in the Sony store.

Book Description
A dam rises on the Yangtze, uprooting a million lives in a government-made, modern environmental and human rights disaster, and a poor salvager who has lost everything finds an abandoned baby girl. A tale of defiance, of a lost man finding his place—and a new kind of love—in modern China, and of a rich man reclaiming his soul and the woman he loved before the revolution tore them apart.

Click HERE for the free download.

Free Book (Sony) - Force of Habit

Update: Deal is over!

Force of Habit (A Falcone & Driscoll Investigation) ($10.17 paperback pre-order), by Alice Loweecey, is currently free in the Sony store.

Book Description
Giulia Falcone is convinced she's going to Hell. First, because she left the convent. Second, her new job with a private investigator has her sneaking around and lying. Adjusting to life in the outside world isn't easy. Makeup, dating, and sex are all new to her. And despite a crush on her boss Frank Driscoll—a foul-mouthed, soft-hearted ex-cop—Giulia is sure he'd never fall for an ex-nun.

Her first case involves drop-dead handsome Blake Parker, a man with immense wealth and an ego to match. He and his fiancée are getting disturbing "gifts" with messages based on biblical verses. When Giulia is drawn into the stalker's twisted game, salacious photos of her appear, threatening her job and her friendship with Frank. No one imagines—least of all naïve Giulia—the danger ahead, when following the clues turns into a fight for her life.

Book one in the dangerously habit-forming Falcone & Driscoll Investigation series

Click HERE for the free download.

Free Book (Sony) - Chasing AllieCat

Update: Deal is over!

Chasing AllieCat ($7.96 Kindle pre-order), by Rebecca Fjelland Davis, is currently free in the Sony store.

Book Description
Dumped with relatives in a small Minnesota town for the summer, Sadie Lester is relying on her mountain bike to save her from total boredom. Then she meets Allie, a spiky-haired off-road mountain biker who's training for a major race. Allie leads Sadie and Joe, a cute fellow cyclist, up and down Mount Kato, and the three become close friends. But the exhilarating rush comes to a halt when they find a priest in the woods, badly beaten and near death. After calling for help, Allie disappears from their lives.

As they search for Allie and try to find out why she left so suddenly, Sadie and Joe discover more about Allie's past, including her connection to the priest. Only on the day of the big race does Sadie finally learn the complete, startling truth about Allie—and the terrible secret that forced her into hiding.

Click HERE for the free download.

Free Book (Sony) - The Latte Rebellion

Update: Deal is over!

The Latte Rebellion ($7.96 Kindle), by Sarah Jamila Stevenson, is currently free in the Sony store.

Book Description
Hoping to raise money for a post-graduation trip to London, Asha Jamison and her best friend Carey decide to sell T-shirts promoting the Latte Rebellion, a club that raises awareness of mixed-race students.

But seemingly overnight, their "cause" goes viral and the T-shirts become a nationwide social movement. As new chapters spring up from coast to coast, Asha realizes that her simple marketing plan has taken on a life of its own—and it's starting to ruin hers. Asha's once-stellar grades begin to slip, threatening her Ivy League dreams, while her friendship with Carey hangs by a thread. And when the peaceful underground movement spins out of control, Asha's school launches a disciplinary hearing. Facing expulsion, Asha must decide how much she's willing to risk for something she truly believes in.

Click HERE for the free download.

Free Book (Sony) - The Iron Witch

Update: Deal is over!

The Iron Witch ($9.95 paperback pre-order), by Karen Mahoney, is currently free in the Sony store. I downloaded it and it appears to be the full book, not just a sample (200 pages in the Sony software, which always seems to be fewer than the print number).

Book Description
When she was seven, a horrific fey attack killed Donna Underwood’s father and drove her mother mad. Her own nearly fatal injuries were fixed by alchemy—the iron tattoos branding her hands and arms. Now seventeen, Donna feels like a freak, doomed by the magical heritage that destroyed her parents and any chance she had for a normal life. Only her relationship with her best friend, Navin, is keeping her sane.

But when vicious wood elves abduct Navin, Donna is forced to accept her role in the centuries-old war between human alchemists and these darkest outcasts of Faerie. Assisted by Xan, a gorgeous guy with faery blood running through his veins and secrets of his own, Donna races to save Navin—even if it means betraying everything her parents fought to the death to protect.

Click HERE for the free download.

Free and Bargain Book Roundup

Tonight's theme is going to be fitness and New Year's Resolutions. I've turned up a few bargains from major publishers (and one that's a bit higher priced than usual), but if you are already fit and on top of your diet, then keep reading for some bargains and free reads from indie authors.

In today's KindlePost, there is guest post by Kris Gethin, athlete and author Body By Design ($9.99 [Kindle Edition with Audio/Video]). He has several good (and common sense) tips in the interview to help with sticking with a diet and exercise plan, but I thought it odd that he didn't mention the enhanced version of his book, which is cheaper than standard Kindle edition. Nothing on the product page talks about the added features (and there are no examples in the sample you can download), but there is one review that says there are embedded videos that demonstrate the exercises (and there are recipes in the back). I might have to buy this one, just to see how well it all works together (although, I have to admit, I am also tempted by Hello, Cupcake! and What's New Cupcake: Ingeniously Simple Designs for Every Occasion (both $7.45), which do have videos in their free samples).

Book Description
FROM KRIS GETHIN, editor in chief of the world’s leading online fitness site Bodybuilding.com, comes a revolutionary 12-week diet and exercise program—supported by two million members and thousands of real-life success stories. Body by Design is a plan that promotes health from the inside out, starting by breaking down the mental blocks that are holding you back, then by building up the muscles on your body, and finally by adding delicious, healthy food onto your plate.

Rather than subtracting things from your life— cutting out calories, losing weight, banishing your belly—here's how to add more of the right things: more muscle, more support, and more success. Motivation is the key factor that drives permanent change, and with Body by Design you can finally learn how to activate your inner motivation and with the proper balance of weight training, make fit happen forever. cardiovascular exercise, and nutrition—along with the motivational tools to stick with that program for the long term—even people who have struggled with fitness for their entire lives can achieve spectacular, lasting results. Join the “Transformation Nation” and create your own story that will inspire others—with Body by Design.

In Body by Design, you’ll learn the optimal balance of weight training, cardiovascular exercise, and nutrition—along with the motivational tools to stick with your goals and achieve dramatic results. Rather than subtracting things from your life (cutting calories, losing weight, banishing your belly), here's how to more muscle, more support, and more success.

Based on the best practices found at Bodybuilding.com (the world’s leading online fitness site), Body by Design shows that amazing things can happen when people get the tools they need to achieve their fitness goals.

Neris And India's Idiot-Proof Diet: A Weight-Loss Plan For Real Women ($1.99 Kindle, B&N and Kobo), by Neris Thomas India Knight, may be just what I need if I succumb to those cupcake books.

Book Description
Ever hankered for a diet book by and for real people--people who, you know, actually have a life? Congratulations: you've just picked it up.

Before we began our diet, Neris and I weighted 434 pounds between us. Our goal was to lose 140 pounds between us in under a year, to go from a size 22 to a size 14. And we did it. If two unusually greedy, cocktail-loving moms can lose this amount of weight without much effort, so can anyone.

This book tells you how two friends did it, and how you can do it too. It's not a diet devised by some bossy string bean who has never been more than 7 pounds overweight, nor by a fat middle-aged doctor, but a real, long-term, workable diet for real people. A modified and therefore bearable low-carb, high-protein way of eating, the diet really works and includes meal plans, recipes, advice on clothes, make-up and hair at every stage from fat to thin. It doesn't include impossible exercise routines or disgusting things to eat. Above all, it gets to the bottom of why we overeat--and shows you how to stop. There's never been a diet book like it--for women, by women, with jokes and useful tips, and advice that is truly simple to follow. What other diet book tells you to pour yourself a large drink at the end of the day, because you've earned it?

Calorie Queens: Living Thin in a Fat World ($1.99 Kindle, Kobo), by Jackie Scott, Diane Scott Kellum, and Brett A. Scott

Book Description
Jackie Scott and her daughter Diane had tried just about every diet under the sun, from low-carb to low-fat, sometimes losing weight but always gaining it back. Frustrated, they decided to figure out why popular diets failed them and came up with Eucalorics - a practical eating plan based on taking in the number of calories needed to maintain a healthy weight. This is not a starvation diet, nor is it a fad. In fact, it's not really a diet at all. It's about learning how to eat well for a lifetime from two real women who have been there and are making it work.

UltraLongevity: The Seven-Step Program for a Younger, Healthier You ($2.99 Kindle, B&N and Kobo), by Mark Liponis, was briefly free on Kindle in January of last year.

Book Description
Medical director of the world-famous Canyon Ranch Health Resorts, Dr. Mark Liponis presents his extraordinary new idea: that aging and aging-related diseases---including heart disease, cancer, and diabetes---are autoimmune problems, and that a well-managed immune system is the key to healthy aging.

Cutting-edge research makes UltraLongevity the first and only book to explore aging within the context of the immune system, and it will change the way we look at health forever. Starting with a quiz---"How Fast Are You Aging?"---Liponis explains the new science, lays out an accessible and proven 7-step program with an 8-day meal plan, and motivates readers to put the program into practice so that they can keep their minds sharp, become more physically fit, be more resistant to infections and disease, and feel and stay younger than they ever imagined. Through the UltraLongevity program, Liponis promises more than a long life; he promises a long, healthy life.

Woman's Day Living Fiscally Fit ($2.99 Kindle, B&N and Kobo), from the Editors Of Woman's Day

Book Description
Read by over 21 million readers, Woman's Day is one of the top woman's magazines. They are consistently delivering style, substance and service to their readers. Now the editors of Woman's Day have compiled the most cost-effective financial tips from their popular WD Solutions column. Covering all kinds of issues from getting rid of debt and reducing the mortgage to managing children & money and growing your nest egg, this useful guide offers quick and simple advice on how to make the smartest money moves.

Sin And Vengeance ($2.99) is from the author of The End of Marking Time (which you can still get free), CJ West and is the first in his Randy Black series. Like the one he's giving away, this one has good reviews and is worth getting a sample.

Book Description
When his knee shatters on the playing field, Charlie Marston is plunged into turmoil. The fallen college superstar joins the family winemaking business, but working alongside his parents is not the future he had planned. He escapes work whenever he can and soon finds a new friend named Randy Black. Randy is part stunt-pilot, part Casanova, and part drunken Pied Piper. Randy introduces Charlie to Deirdre Deudon, the provocative wife of a French farmer. They come together in an ill-conceived stunt that explodes into consequences that chase Charlie and Randy back home to Massachusetts and change Deirdre's life forever. The after-effects of this tragic mistake bind the three of them together and threaten everything they hold dear.

Thanks to NetGalley, I received a review copy of The Naperville White House: How One Mans Fantasy Changed Governments Reality ($6.99 Kindle), by Jerome Bartels. If you enjoy reading thrillers, investigative reporting, about politics or fantasy gaming (or wonder how all of those could tie together), definitely get a sample of this humorous (but serious) novel. I'll admit I was a bit lost at the beginning of the book, until I could figure out all the players (and which White House was being discussed), but the mystery kept drawing me along. I can't comment on the formatting, since NetGalley only supplies a print-ready PDF or a pdf converted to the Kindle and (as usual), the formatting is pretty off in the result.

Book Description
FANTASY GOVERNMENT BY THE PEOPLE AND FOR THE PEOPLE

Not just the United States, but the entire world, remembers that fateful November day back in 2018 when Al Qaeda terrorists held the entire nation hostage in exchange for the public disclosure of an anti-terrorist bioweapon that may not have even existed.

In that darkest hour, salvation came not from the United States government, but from fantasy government. This cabinet of independent thinkers from Naperville, Illinois—a librarian, a customer service representative, a gas station owner, and an obsessive gamer—was led by insurance adjustor and President Jay Weise.

Now, thanks to the tireless efforts of crusading vagabond journalist, former White House press secretary, and part-time Radio Shack employee Jerome Bartels, here for the first time is the true story of the Stockdale Hostage Crisis from the people who lived it.

The publisher, Bancroft Press, tried to get the book released either free or at 99 cents at Amazon, but as a very small publisher, just wasn't able to work anything out. So, instead, they have set a price of $1.24 for today (and today only) over on lulu.com. The only negative is that the format is EPUB and requires Adobe ADE (not Kindle compatible).

Kevin Domenic has just released Eye of the Tornado ($2.99 Kindle), the third in his The Fourth Dimension series and to celebrate, he is giving away copies of it, the first two in the series, and a non-fiction title he has on Smashwords.

Book Description
A fourteen year old boy.

Kindel Thorus hailed from the remote planet of Zo'rhan, a planet populated by a space-faring warrior race of the same name. Unmatched in combat and skilled in even the most advanced sorcery, Kindel led an armada of battle-hardened soldiers against those who sought to impose their might upon the weak and defenseless. Many feared him. Others revered him.

And now his biggest threat was a fourteen year old boy.

Use these links and coupon codes for the free book:
Volume I, Key to the Stars: Coupon Code - BF98D
Volume II, Alliance of Serpents: Coupon Code - RV44M
Volume III, Eye of the Tornado: Coupon Code - KR27C
Retail Ramblings: Coupon Code - KU75X

Alain Gomez is also giving away copies of his short story Payroll ($0.99 Kindle) and two others on Smashwords.

Book Description
Jimmy Cochran thought that he had left his rough past behind him. But Ralph McCormick, the brother of the man he killed, didn't forget... or forgive... so easily. Jimmy knows he should just hightail it out of town to avoid getting into trouble. That is until Ralph puts the woman he loves into danger...

Use these links and coupon codes for the free downloads:
Payroll: Coupon Code - BB45J
Celebrity Space: Coupon Code - XG22Z
The Sacrifice: Coupon Code - RX43U

If you picked up Carol Berg's The Soul Mirror: when it was accidentally free for a few hours, you'll want to grab The Spirit Lens, the first novel in her Collegia Magica series, now that it's been marked down to $6.99. You'll also want to head over to Carol's website, as she has posted copies of Lianelle's letter and note in Chapter 3 and Bernard's letter that appear in the former volume, as they are pretty much unreadable in the Kindle edition.

Book Description
Reduced to tending the library at Sabria's last collegia magica, Portier de Savin-Duplais, failed student of magic, fights off despair with scholarship. But when the King of Sabria charges him to investigate an attempted murder that has disturbing magical resonances, Portier believes his dreams of a greater destiny might at last be fulfilled.

Free Book (PDF) - Access to Knowledge in the Age of Intellectual Property

Access to Knowledge in the Age of Intellectual Property ($17.49 paperback), edited by Gaëlle Krikorian and Amy Kapczynski, is free direct from the publisher Zone Books. This is a hefty book in print, at 640 pages, but the DRM-free PDF can be placed on any ereader device for easy access.

Book Description
At the end of the twentieth century, intellectual property rights collided with everyday life. Expansive copyright laws and digital rights management technologies sought to shut down new forms of copying and remixing made possible by the Internet. International laws expanding patent rights threatened the lives of millions of people around the world living with HIV/AIDS by limiting their access to cheap generic medicines. For decades, governments have tightened the grip of intellectual property law at the bidding of information industries; but recently, groups have emerged around the world to challenge this wave of enclosure with a new counter-politics of "access to knowledge" or "A2K." They include software programmers who took to the streets to defeat software patents in Europe, AIDS activists who forced multinational pharmaceutical companies to permit copies of their medicines to be sold in poor countries, subsistence farmers defending their rights to food security or access to agricultural biotechnology, and college students who created a new "free culture" movement to defend the digital commons. Access to Knowledge in the Age of Intellectual Property maps this emerging field of activism as a series of historical moments, strategies, and concepts. It gathers some of the most important thinkers and advocates in the field to make the stakes and strategies at play in this new domain visible and the terms of intellectual property law intelligible in their political implications around the world.

Contributors: Ahmed Abdel Latif, Philippe Aigrain, Jeffrey Atteberry, Yochai Benkler, Yann Moulier Boutaing, Carlos Correa, Laura DeNardis, Sarah Deutsch, Peter Drahos, Hala Essalmawi, Rick Falkvinge, Sean Flynn, Vera Franz, Spring Gombe, Anil Gupta, Ellen 't Hoen, Charles Igwe, Eddan Katz, Kannikar Kijtiwatchakul, Gaëlle Krikorian, Lawrence Liang, Jiraporn Limpananont, James Love, Leena Menghaney, Viviana Munoz, Sisule F. Musungu, HeeSeob Nam, Chan Park, Eloan Pinheiro dos Santos, Achal Prabhala, Onno Purbo, Manon Ress, Caroline Rossini, Susan Sell, Sangeeta Shashikant, Roberto Verzola, Jo Walsh

Click HERE for the free download, then click on eBook (Open Access) Edition

Free Book (Sony) - Dark Reunion

The fourth volume in the The Vampire Diaries series, Dark Reunion (also published as The Reunion), by L. J. Smith, is free to download in the Sony store. This one is out of print on it's own (although a third party seller will get you a "new" mass market paperback copy for about $140 or used for $177 and up) and only in paperback as a combined volume with the third in the series. Sony has "Now available in ebook!" on the product description page, so it looks like they managed to snag an exclusive (since it's publication date is 2009).

Book Description
The Final Conflict...The Last Deadly Kiss

Elena
Now she rises from the dead to recreate the powerful vampire trio.

Stefan
Summoned by Elena, he keeps a promise to her and fights the most terrifying evil he's ever faced.

Damon
Joining the brother he once called enemy, Damon battles this new horror with strength, cunning, and deadly charm.

Click HERE to get the free download.

Free Book - eye of the god

eye of the god ($9.99 Kindle), by Ariel Allison, is free in PDF form today from Christian publisher Abingdon Press. Rumor is that it will be free on Kindle starting tomorrow, but the PDF is one day only and DRM-free.

Book Description
When international jewel theives attempt to steal the Hope Diamond from the Simthsonian Institute, only Dr. Abigail Mitchell stands in their way. Abby soon realizes she alone holds the pieces to the complicated puzzle in this deadly game. It is in this context that her faith will be put to the ultimate test as she confronts the father who abandoned her, the betrayal of the only man she has ever loved, and the possibility that she may lose her life because of the legendary gem.

Click HERE to get the free download (use the green download button at the bottom on the web page).

Student Deal of the Day - English Grammar For Dummies

English Grammar For Dummies ($1.99), by Geraldine Woods, is today's (1/11/11) Kindle Student Deal of the Day. I highly recommend you consider this one if you or one of your children is a student in nearly any grade (not to mention for all the budding writers out there).

Book Description
A few years ago, a magazine sponsored a contest for the comment most likely to end a conversation. The winning entry? "I teach English grammar." Just throw that line out at a party; everyone around you will clam up or start saying "whom."

Why does grammar make everyone so nervous? Probably because English teachers, for decades – no, for centuries – have been making a big deal out of grammar in classrooms, diagramming sentences and drilling the parts of speech, clauses, and verbals into students until they beg for mercy. Happily, you don't have to learn all those technical terms of English grammar – and you certainly don't have to diagram sentences – in order to speak and write correct English.

So rest assured – English Grammar For Dummies will probably never make your English teacher's top-ten list of must-read books, because you won't have to diagram a single sentence. What you will discover are fun and easy strategies that can help you when you're faced with such grammatical dilemmas as the choice between "I" and "me," "had gone" and "went," and "who" and "whom." With English Grammar For Dummies, you won't have to memorize a long list of meaningless rules (well, maybe a couple in the punctuation chapter!), because when you understand the reason for a particular word choice, you'll pick the correct word automatically.

English Grammar For Dummies covers many other topics as well, such as the following:

• Verbs, adjectives, and adverbs – oh my!
• Preposition propositions and pronoun pronouncements
• Punctuation: The lowdown on periods, commas, colons, and all those other squiggly marks
• Possession: It's nine-tenths of grammatical law
• Avoiding those double negative vibes
• How to spice up really boring sentences (like this one)
• Top Ten lists on improving your proofreading skills and ways to learn better grammar

Just think how improving your speaking and writing skills will help you in everyday situations, such as writing a paper for school, giving a presentation to your company's big wigs, or communicating effectively with your family. You will not only gain the confidence in knowing you're speaking or writing well, but you'll also make a good impression on those around you!