Today's Deals and Bargain Books

Brain Rules: 12 Principles for Surviving and Thriving at Work, Home, and School ($1.49), by John Medina, is today's Kindle Deal of the Day. This is one of the first books I purchased for Kindle and it's been updated since then (unfortunately for me, the ASIN changed, so I only have access to the older edition). One major change is that instead of referring to a non-existent DVD in the Kindle edition, it now has a link to the DVD online (which I found in the online sample), so those who get the ebook now have access to all the same material (mostly some movie clips).

Book Description
In Brain Rules, Dr. John Medina, a molecular biologist, shares his lifelong interest in how the brain sciences might influence the way we teach our children and the way we work. In each chapter, he describes a brain rule—what scientists know for sure about how our brains work—and then offers transformative ideas for our daily lives.

Medina’s fascinating stories and infectious sense of humor breathe life into brain science. You’ll learn why Michael Jordan was no good at baseball. You’ll peer over a surgeon’s shoulder as he proves that most of us have a Jennifer Aniston neuron. You’ll meet a boy who has an amazing memory for music but can’t tie his own shoes.

A Rumor of Angels: Modern Society and the Rediscovery of the Supernatural ($3.19), by Peter L. Berger

Book Description
Influential scholar Peter L. Berger reveals five signs that point to the supernatural and its place in a modern secular society

Acclaimed scholar and sociologist Peter L. Berger examines religion in twentieth-century Western society, exploring the social nature of knowledge and its effect on religious belief. Using five signs evident in ordinary life—order, play, hope, damnation, and humor—Berger calls for a rediscovery of the supernatural as a crucial, rich dimension of humanity.

Conceived as a response to his influential book The Sacred Canopy, Berger eschews technical jargon and speaks directly and systematically to those, like himself, who wish to explore religious questions.

Stop Wondering If You'll Ever Meet Him ($0.89), by Ryan Browning Cassaday, is one of three titles discounted by Inspirational publisher Hay House.

Book Description
Dating and relationship experts Ryan Browning Cassaday and Jessica Cassaday, Ph.D., have their fingers on the pulse of what has become a cultural epidemic: Women just like you feel anxious, frustrated, and disappointed by the dating process. But they do more than provide gimmicky solutions while telling you what’s wrong with your dating life; they teach you how to date by giving you a system that works. How do you know it works? As friends and longtime business partners, Ryan and Jessica were dating other people when they began writing this book. However, during the time they were working on this project, they began dating each other. They followed their own system and fell more and more in love. After a year of dating, they were married in Ireland. WHETHER YOU’RE SINGLE OR IN A RELATIONSHIP, ELIMINATE DATING ANXIETY ONCE AND FOR ALL AND CREATE THE LOVE YOU’VE ALWAYS WANTED!

The Guru of Golf ($0.89), by Thomas Moore

Book Description
While to some chasing a small white ball across a vast field of grass may seem pointless, the game of golf has, for centuries, drawn everyone from the poor working class to the upper crust of society. There is something enchanting about the experience of golf that sets it apart from other sports. In this collection of 18 short stories, The Guru of Golf celebrates perhaps one of the most widely popular of athletic pursuits. Thomas Moore shows us how golf can be a perfect metaphor for life itself—endlessly mysterious, joyful, and captivating, yet at times unbearable. From the tee to the green, he intertwines modern and classical tales that illustrate the challenges players face—on and off the course. A game rife with strict rules on etiquette and both physically and mentally taxing, golf tests the body, mind, and spirit. Humorous and insightful, The Guru of Golf captures the range of emotions associated with its players’ ardent determination; searches for meaning behind quiet, solitary moments; and reveals the struggles that try our patience, as well as the victories that make the game—and life—worthwhile.

The Gift of Peace ($0.89), by Ben Stein

Book Description
In ancient Hebrew prayers, the highest wish that any worshiper can offer to another is that the Almighty will give the worshiper “the greatest of all gifts—the gift of peace.” Ben Stein’s latest book, The Gift of Peace, comprises more than 500 lessons about how to live life in a state of peace. Drawing from wisdom learned in 12-step meetings and from his own meditations, Stein reveals the guideposts that have taken him (over the last 16 years) to a life incomparably more serene and uncomplicated than it once was. The lessons in The Gift of Peace are about surrender to God, turning envy around, realizing one’s own unimportance in the universe, and achieving humility through actions as well as thoughts. Think of this book as a lifetime supply of non-addictive, no-side-effect tranquilizers and antidepressants and you have it just about right. Thorough, repeated readings of these homilies, especially upon waking and at bedtime, offer genuine calm and peace.

Abracadabra! Magic with Mouse and Mole ($3.82), by Wong Herbert Yee

Book Description
Mouse and Mole are very excited. Minkus the Magnificent is in town—ONE SHOW ONLY!—and they can’t wait to sit in the front row and see his tricks. After the abracadabras happen, though, something goes a bit wrong—and Mole is very disappointed to discover that magic is sometimes not exactly what it seems. How will Mouse help her friend realize that there is magic happening right in front of their very eyes? Wong Herbert Yee gives readers another grand adventure with two best friends, Mouse and Mole, who, despite their different outlooks on life, manage to show each other that friendship itself is a magical event!

To Cut a Long Story Short ($0.99), a collection of short stories by Jeffrey Archer, is finally under a dollar at Amazon (I bought it at Kobo, as I was afraid it would go back up in price).

Book Description
From the master storyteller comes a masterful collection of fourteen riveting tales of elaborate confidence tricks, political chicanery, immoral behavior, and dangerously illicit affairs, rendered with the breathtaking narrative twists that have become the Jeffrey Archer hallmark.

Here are all new stories that will engross and astonish, peopled with a rich assortment of truly memorable characters: the intoxicating woman who appears to her lover only once every six years; the British diplomat who employs his rather creative -- if not entirely ethical -- financial talents for a greater good; the millionaire who declares himself bankrupt to test the love and loyalties of those closest to him.

This is Jeffrey Archer at the top of his form, as he offers us unique fables of our time and civilization, each one shining a harsh yet hypnotic light on that fascinating, complex being called "human."

Gilgamesh ($2.85), by Joan London

Book Description
Gilgamesh is a rich, spare, and evocative novel of encounters and escapes, of friendship and love, of loss and acceptance, a debut that marks the emergence of a world-class talent. It is 1937. The modern world, they say, is waiting to erupt. On a tiny farm in far southwestern Australia, seventeen-year-old Edith lives with her mother and sister, Frances. One afternoon two men, her English cousin Leopold and his Armenian friend Aram, arrive -- taking the long way home from an archaeological dig in Iraq. Edith is captivated by the tales they tell of strange peoples, magical journeys, and a world far beyond the narrow horizon of her small town of Nunderup. One such story is the epic of Gilgamesh, the ancient Mesopotamian king who adventured throughout the world with his friend the wild man Enkidu, in search of the secret of eternal life. Two years later, in 1939, Edith and her young son, Jim, set off on a journey of their own, to Soviet Armenia, where they are trapped by the outbreak of war. A novel of stunning accomplishment, Gilgamesh examines what happens when we strike out into the world, and how, like the wandering king, we find our way home.

To Save America: Stopping Obama's Secular-Socialist Machine ($1.94), by Newt Gingrich

Book Description
Newt Gingrich’s New York Times bestseller, To Save America, is now in paperback! Featuring a new chapter and completely updated throughout, To Save America will offer the first critical analysis of the 2010 elections and will reveal what Republicans must do to get the country back on track. “History is repeating itself,” says Newt. “Republicans took back the House, just like we did in 1994.” Candidly discussing what Republicans did right—and wrong—last time they took back power, To Save America will explain how we can avoid past mistakes and roll back the Obama administration’s secular-socialist machine. “The Left is actively working to demolish our core values and beliefs and replace them with their own," declares Gingrich. “How? Through a secular-socialist machine—a corrupt bureaucracy which uses manipulation and dishonesty to steamroll the will of the people and destroy our great nation.” In the new paperback edition of To Save America, Gingrich offers concrete strategies for dismantling this machine and replacing it with policies that work. And now that Republicans have regained the House, we have an opportunity we cannot afford to squander.

Rock Bottom ($3.07), by Erin Brockovich (w/ CJ Lyons)

Book Description
From New York Times bestselling author and internationally renowned environmental and consumer advocate Erin Brockovich comes Rock Bottom, a debut thriller and first in a series of novels that introduces one of the most fascinating and memorable characters in suspense fiction.

Ten years ago, a pregnant seventeen-year-old, Angela Joy Palladino, fled her hometown, Scotia, West Virginia, as a pariah. Over time, AJ succeeded in establishing herself as an environmental activist, dubbed “The People’s Champion,” only to be forced to retreat from the spotlight in the wake of a crushing media disaster.

When AJ is offered a job with a lawyer who is crusading against mountaintop removal mining, she is torn. As a single mother of a special needs nine-year-old boy, AJ can use any work she can get. But doing so will mean returning to the West Virginia hometown she left in disgrace so long ago.

Upon arriving in Scotia, AJ learns of the sudden death of the lawyer who hired her. Soon after joining forces with his daughter, Elizabeth, threats begin to surface, bodies begin to pile up, and AJ discovers that her own secrets aren’t the only ones her mountain hometown has kept buried. Hitting rock bottom, AJ must face the betrayal of those once closest to her and confront the harrowing past she thought she had left behind.

In Rock Bottom, Erin Brockovich combines passionate intensity, first-rate storytelling, and her real life experiences in a novel that will leave you breathless.

The Strangely Beautiful Tale of Miss Percy Parker ($2.99), by Leanna Renee Hieber, is discounted again.

Book Description
What fortune awaited sweet, timid Percy Parker at Athens Academy? Considering how few of Queen Victoria’s Londoners knew of it, the great Romanesque fortress was dreadfully imposing, and little could Percy guess what lay inside. She had never met the powerful and mysterious Professor Alexi Rychman, knew nothing of the growing shadow, the Ripper and other supernatural terrors against which his coterie stood guard. She knew simply that she was different, haunted, with her snow-white hair, pearlescent skin and uncanny gifts. But this arched stone doorway offered a portal to a new life, an education far from the convent—and an invitation to an intimate yet dangerous dance at the threshold of life and death…

Today's Deals and Bargain Books

The UK books from yesterday are now free for US Kindle customers:

• 28 Free Books from Vook

Bernard Cornwell's Warlord Chronicles ($5.26) is an even better deal over on Kobo, where you can use any of the coupon codes (see menubar on the right) on it's $5.69 price, so long as you can use a DRM'd EPUB. For those shopping at Fictionwise, they have a new 50% off coupon code this weekend, 092311.

The Fifth Woman ($1.99), the sixth in the Kurt Wallander Mystery series by Henning Mankell, is today's Kindle Deal of the Day.

Book Description
In an African convent, four nuns and an unidentified fifth woman are brutally murdered, and the death of the unknown woman is covered up by the local police. A year later in Sweden, Inspector Kurt Wallander is baffled and appalled by two strange murders. Holger Eriksson, a retired car dealer and bird watcher, is impaled on sharpened bamboo poles in a ditch behind his secluded home, while the body of a missing florist is discovered strangled and tied to a tree. The only clues Wallander has to go on are a skull, a diary, and a photo of three men. What ensues is a case that will test Wallander's strength and patience, for in order to solve these murders he will need to uncover their elusive connection to the earlier unsolved murder in Africa of the fifth woman.

Daniel ($3.25), by Henning Mankell, is a stand-alone novel by the same author.

Book Description
Henning Mankell is a worldwide phenomenon: his books have been translated into forty languages with more than 35 million copies in print, and both his critical acclaim and fan base only continue to grow. His new novel Daniel is an elegiac, unexpected story that only he could have told.

In the 1870s, Hans Bengler arrives in Cape Town from Småland, Sweden, driven by a singular desire: to discover an insect no one has seen before and name it after himself. But then he impulsively adopts a young San orphan, a boy he christens Daniel and brings with him back to Sweden—a quite different specimen than he first contemplated. Daniel is told to call Bengler "Father," taught to knock on doors and bow, and continually struggles to understand this strange new land of mud and snow that surrounds and seemingly entraps him. At the same time, he is haunted by visions of his murdered parents calling him home to Africa. Knowing that the only way home is by sea, he decides he must learn to walk on water if he is ever to reclaim his true place in the world.

Evocative and sometimes brutal, the novel takes Daniel through a series of tragedies and betrayals that culminate in a shocking act. Mankell tells this indelible story with a ruthless elegance all his own.

Into The Dark Lands ($0.89), Children of the Blood ($2.69), Lady of Mercy ($0.89) and Chains of Darkness, Chains of Light ($2.69), by Michelle Sagara West, make up her Sundered series, originally published under Michelle Sagara (her legal name) and reprinted by small press BenBella books. Her upcoming Cast in Ruin, published by Luna, is a pre-order that is available on the current KSO offer for a $1 Romance book.

Into The Dark Lands
War has its cost, and the Servants of the Bright Heart and the Servants of the Dark Heart have been locked in a struggle that has defined life—and death—for millennia. But the end is coming, and only the Lady who has served the Bright Heart for the whole of her immortal life has seen it, in a vision that spans time and demands the highest of prices.

Erin is a healer, and against the nature of her birthright she has learned to wield a sword and use it to bring death to the enemies of her people. Scarred by the losses that war always demands, she is the chosen champion of Light and the enemy of darkness.

But no magical sword or simple quest awaits Erin. Her journey and her doom lie in the Dark Heart’s stronghold, and in the hands of her people’s greatest enemy.

Children of the Blood
Continuing the struggle she began in Into the Dark Lands, Erin—newly dubbed Sara—is forcefully put to sleep for 300 years while her Lord finishes overtaking his enemies—and Sara's kinsmen.

After conquering and slaughtering the last of the Bright Heart lines, he awakens an amnesia-ridden Sara and assigns one of his slaves, a fellow "child of the blood," to comfort her. As Sara's memory slowly returns and her rage intensifies, the Servants of the Dark Heart and the Dark Heart itself become increasingly dangerous to both her and her caretaker.

Lady of Mercy
The heroine continues her struggle against the forces of evil. The harrowing tale of Erin Elliath, warrior and healer, continues in this episode of the battle between good and evil. When Erin rejects her position as Lady Sara, wife to the First Servant of the Dark Heart, she escapes from her husband's lands with the help of Darin, the Patriarch of Culverne and the last of his line. After combining forces with the deposed prince of Marantine and a mysterious old man - who has magic skills that neither Erin or Darin can identify - the foursome hatch a plan to wrestle control of the usurped kingdom of Marantine away from the priests of the Dark Heart. Meanwhile, Erin continues to struggle with her part in the betrayal of her people, the deaths of her most beloved friends, as well as her feelings for the man who doomed them for her sake.

Chains of Darkness, Chains of Light
Erin of Elliath returns in this conclusion to the epic saga begun in the first three books in the Sundered series. Erin, formerly Lady Sara and now the legendary Lady of Mercy to the slaves of the Dark Empire, has just helped Renar, the rightful heir to the throne of Marantine, reclaim his kingship from an usurper. With the power of the Bright Heart waning under growing shadows of the Dark Heart, Erin and her friends must once again journey back into the Dark Empire, where High Priests battle for supremacy and the First of the Sundered, Lord Stefanos, awaits the return of his Lady Sara. In this final volume, the old ways of the Light Heart and the Dark Heart will be changed forever.

Passionate Brood: A Novel of Richard the Lionheart and the Man Who Became Robin Hood ($1.95), by Margaret Campbell Barnes

Book Description
In this compelling novel of love, loyalty, and lost chances, Margaret Campbell Barnes gives readers a new perspective on Richard the Lionheart's triumphs and tragedies. Drawing on folklore, Barnes explores what might have happened if King Richard's foster brother were none other than Robin Hood, a legendary figure more vibrant than most in authentic history. Thick as thieves as Richard builds a kingdom and marshals a crusade, the two clash when Robin Hood so provokes the king's white hot temper that Richard banishes him. The Passionate Brood is a tale of a man driven to win back the Holy Land, beset by the guilt of casting out his childhood friend, and shouldering the burden of being the lionhearted leader of the Plantagenets.

Consequential Strangers: The Power of People Who Don't Seem to Matter. . . But Really Do ($1.17), by Melinda Blau and Karen L. Fingerman

Book Description
Our barista, our mechanic, our coworker—they populate our days, but we often take them for granted. Yet these are the people who bring novelty and information into our lives, allow us to exercise different parts of ourselves, and open us up to new opportunities. In their unprecedented examination of people on the periphery, psychologist Karen Fingerman, who coined the term “consequential strangers,” collaborates with journalist Melinda Blau to expand on and make her own groundbreaking research come alive. Drawing as well from Blau’s more than two hundred interviews with specialists in psychology, sociology, marketing, and communication, the book presents compelling stories of individuals and institutions, past and present. A rich portrait of our social landscape—on and off the Internet—it presents the science of casual connection and chronicles the surprising impact that consequential strangers have on business, creativity, the work environment, our physical and mental health, and the strength of our communities.

Wonderfultales from the Land of the Seven Kingdoms ($1.67), by George W. Van Sise

Book Description
The entire world loves folk tales, fairy tales and the stories handed down from earlier generations. Now delight in twenty tales you have never read before. Fateful decisions, evil promises, dangerous secrets, and daring rescues, along with brave girls and boys, await you when you step into The Land of the Seven Kingdoms.

Guided by your storyteller host, Mijel the Tellara, you can journey, or Travelon as we call it in Merrinwold, into The Land of the Seven Kingdoms anywhere, anytime! You will experience wondrous transformations, evil creatures, and binding friendships; there is lasting love, frightful dangers, and more.

Wonderfultales from the Land of the Seven Kingdoms, like classic tales from the past continues the telling of stories of wonder and amazement, and is certain to be the new standard in classic entertainment for all ages.

Brush Country: Two Texas Novels ($6.99), by Elmer Kelton, gets you both Barbed Wire ($5.99 paperback; no Kindle edition) and Llano River ($5.99 Kindle), in one volume.

Book Description
To Elmer Kelton, the brush country of southwest Texas is home. Nobody knows Texas's history, people, beauty, and dangers as well as this greatest of Western writers.

Barbed Wire, the first novel in this omnibus, is the story of one-time cowboy Doug Monahan, who runs a fencing crew outside the town of Twin Wells. Monahan, a likeable, hard-working Irishman, and his workers dig post-holes and string red painted barb wire for ranchers as protection against wandering stock, rustlers, and land hungry cattle barons.

Their fencing operation is opposed by Captain Andrew Rinehart, a former Confederate officer and an old-school open range cowman of the huge R Cross spread. With his brutal foreman, Archer Spann--who does the violent work of chasing squatters off the range--Rinehart wages a barb wire war against Doug Monahan.

A second colorful tale of the brush country is Llano River. Dundee, a onetime cowboy, one of Monahan's fencing crew in Barbed Wire, wanders into the town of Titusville, broke, tired, and itching for a fight. Town patriarch John Titus hires Dundee to find out who is rustling his cattle, but he already has a culprit in mind--Blue Roan Hardesty. Once a friend, now a sworn enemy of the powerful Titus clan, Hardesty is Titus's choice for villain--but Dundee is determined to find out the truth, even if it costs him his job.

Mail-Order Marriage & Husband by Inheritance: Mail-Order Marriage\Husband by Inheritance ($2.28), by Cara Colter and Margaret Way, is a double novel from Harlequin.

Mail-Order Marriage by Margaret Way
After backbreaking years spent building up his Outback cattle station, Matthew Carlyle was ready for family life. With little time for courting, he'd advertised in the paper, and one reply in particular stood out. Why was the beautiful Cassie Sterling, of all people, applying to become his wife? He knew her privileged background and, although he believed her claim to want the same things he did, he couldn't imagine her adapting to isolated Outback life. Besides, Cassie deserved the best and he was a man with a scandal in his past. But then, Cassie was hiding a secret of her own.…

Husband by Inheritance by Cara Colter
Due to a mysterious bequest, Abby Blakely had just inherited her dream house—complete with a cranky ex-cop her little girl had decided would make a perfect daddy! Dare she dream that they could be a family? Shane McCall had had dreams of a family once, too. But he knew those kinds of fantasies led only to pain and he'd long ago locked away his heart. Could Abby and her adorable toddler hold the key?

Michael Harvey's 2-Book Bundle: The Chicago Way, The Fifth Floor ($7.99), gets you the first two books in his Michael Kelly series at the same cost as either standalone, along with an excerpt for We All Fall Down, which came out this summer.

The Chicago Way
Private detective Michael Kelly is hired by his former partner to solve an eight-year old rape and battery case long gone cold. But when the partner turns up dead, Kelly enlists a team of his savviest colleagues to connect the dots between the recent murder and the cold case it revived: a television reporter whose relationship with Kelly is not strictly professional; his best friend from childhood, a forensic DNA expert; and an old ally from the DA's office. To close the case, Kelly will have to face the mob, a serial killer, his own double-crossing friends, and the mean streets of the city he loves.

The Fifth Floor
Private detective Michael Kelly returns in a lightning-paced, intricately woven mystery. When Kelly is hired by an old girlfriend to tail her abusive husband, he expects trouble of a domestic rather than a historical nature. Life, however, is not so simple.

The trail leads to a dead body in an abandoned house on Chicago's North Side and then to places Kelly would rather not go: specifically, City Hall's fabled fifth floor, where the mayor is feeling the heat. Kelly becomes embroiled in a scam that stretches from current politics back to the night Chicago burned to the ground. Along the way, he finds himself framed for murder, before finally facing a killer bent on rewriting history.

The Heart's Voice and A Family to Share: The Heart's Voice\A Family to Share ($1.74), by Arlene James, is another double volume from Harlequin, this time under the imprint of Steeple Hill Love (which focuses on "Christian romance").

Book Description
The Heart's Voice
When Dan Holden lost his hearing, he also lost all hope. Now Becca Kinder needs help fixing her ramshackle house. And as the petite widow and her children work their way into his heart, faith can show them the way to an unexpected future—together.

A Family to Share
Kendal Oakes would do anything for his daughter, Larissa. He'll even propose a marriage of convenience to single mom Connie Wheeler. But little Larissa isn't the only one drawn to Connie's nurturing ways. A real union is in reach—if they can forgive their imperfect pasts.

Today's Deals and Bargain Books

Two KSO offers end today:

• Buy a Business or Investing Book for $1
• Save 50+% on Back-to-School Groceries/Snacks1

Page from a Tennessee Journal ($1.99), by Francine Thomas Howard, is today's Kindle Deal of the Day (and is half the price I paid for it, some time ago).

Book Description
A family secret is the inspiration for Francine Thomas Howard's remarkable debut novel, set in 1913, that focuses on a white couple who own a rural Tennessee farm and an African-American husband and wife, sharecroppers who work their land.

In the novel, Annalaura Welles is forced to become the mistress of landowner Alex McNaughton after her husband, John, abandons her and her children. But trouble ensues when McNaughton develops genuine feelings for her. A sexual relationship is culturally acceptable, but love is not.

When John returns, Annalaura must make decisions that will preserve the lives of the main characters and a baby who's on the way. It's a story as suspenseful as it is rich in detail about the evolving relationships between blacks and whites and men and women in the rural south.

Confessions of a Teen Sleuth: A Parody ($2.51), by Chelsea Cain and Lia Miternique (Illustrator)

Book Description
America's favorite girl detective is back to set the record straight. According to our titian-haired heroine, she was not in fact a fictional character, but an intrepid real-life sleuth who investigated some of the twentieth century's biggest mysteries. And the famous series she starred in was not cooked up by a team of writers, but plagiarized from her exploits by her nosy college roommate Carolyn-who, not surprisingly, got a whole lot wrong.
Here are the daring escapes, brilliant hunches, and dependable stock characters, including interlopers from numerous other beloved series, that have delighted generations of fans. And here, also, are the details of teen-sleuth life that you never saw: the secret romances, reckless driving, minor drinking problems, political action, and domestic drama that have, up till now, remained hidden from these brave detectives' adoring public.

The Luxe ($2.99), by Anna Godbersen

Book Description
Pretty girls in pretty dresses, partying until dawn.
Irresistible boys with mischievous smiles and dangerous intentions.
White lies, dark secrets, and scandalous hookups.
This is Manhattan, 1899.

Beautiful sisters Elizabeth and Diana Holland rule Manhattan's social scene. Or so it appears. When the girls discover their status among New York City's elite is far from secure, suddenly everyone—from the backstabbing socialite Penelope Hayes, to the debonair bachelor Henry Schoonmaker, to the spiteful maid Lina Broud—threatens Elizabeth's and Diana's golden future.

With the fate of the Hollands resting on her shoulders, Elizabeth must choose between family duty and true love. But when her carriage overturns near the East River, the girl whose glittering life lit up the city's gossip pages is swallowed by the rough current. As all of New York grieves, some begin to wonder whether life at the top proved too much for this ethereal beauty, or if, perhaps, someone wanted to see Manhattan's most celebrated daughter disappear...

In a world of luxury and deception, where appearance matters above everything and breaking the social code means running the risk of being ostracized forever, five teenagers lead dangerously scandalous lives. This thrilling trip to the age of innocence is anything but innocent.

Museum of Thieves (The Keepers) ($3.99), by Lian Tanner

Book Description
Welcome to the tyrannical city of Jewel, where impatience is a sin and boldness is a crime.

Goldie Roth has lived in Jewel all her life. Like every child in the city, she wears a silver guardchain and is forced to obey the dreaded Blessed Guardians. She has never done anything by herself and won’t be allowed out on the streets unchained until Separation Day.

When Separation Day is canceled, Goldie, who has always been both impatient and bold, runs away, risking not only her own life but also the lives of those she has left behind. In the chaos that follows, she is lured to the mysterious Museum of Dunt, where she meets the boy Toadspit and discovers terrible secrets. Only the cunning mind of a thief can understand the museum’s strange, shifting rooms. Fortunately, Goldie has a talent for thieving.

Which is just as well, because the leader of the Blessed Guardians has his own plans for the museum—plans that threaten the lives of everyone Goldie loves. And it will take a daring thief to stop him. . . .

Museum of Thieves is a thrilling tale of destiny and danger, and of a courageous girl who has never been allowed to grow up—until now.

Suspense and Sensibility or, First Impressions Revisited: A Mr. & Mrs. Darcy Mystery (Mr. & Mrs. Darcy Mysteries) ($2.99), by Carrie Bebris

Book Description
Fresh from the curious and unsettling matter of Caroline Bingley (as related in Pride and Prescience), Mr. and Mrs. Darcy have every intention of enjoying their still newlywed status at Pemberly until they are confronted with another mysterious situation, ... one of

Suspense and Sensibility

Elizabeth Darcy and her beloved husband Fitzwilliam are taking on the responsibility of finding a suitable suitor for Elizabeth's younger sister Kitty, thereby assuring her a proper place in society.

The angels smile on the young and a perfect match is found, and wedding plans are soon under way. Suddenly a change in personality occurs in Kitty's soon to be model husband-a change so striking as to jeopardize not just the Darcys' social standing, but their lives as well.

A mysterious mirror, an insidious reprobate from the past, and matters far beyond the social circles around Pemberly all come into play in a dangerous puzzle, where the consequences may be the exchange of a soul for a soul.

Once again the Darcys take center stage as the Regency era's answer to The Thin Man's Nick and Nora, searching for truth between tea times, amid the social whirl of Jane Austen's England.

Dead Soul (Charlie Moon Mysteries) ($2.99), by James D. Doss

Book Description
When tribal chairman Oscar Sweetwater asks Charlie Moon to look into the murder of a fellow Ute, Billy Smoke, Charlie agrees, but he doesn't expect to find anything. After all, Billy's boss, U.S. Senator Patch Davidson, nearly died in the ambush that night, too, so the FBI handled the investigation and it's still unsolved. The senator does happen to be Charlie's neighbor, though-their ranches share a fence line-so maybe the senator will be more forthcoming with him than he was with the FBI.

Meanwhile, Charlie's aunt Daisy, an elderly tribal shaman whose visions are looked upon by Charlie with skepticism even when they ring true, has seen a woman desperate for Charlie's help. Daisy begins to badger Charlie to look for her, even though she can't tell him her name, where to look, or why she's in trouble.

All in all, it's shaping up to be another season in which the gentleman rancher spends more time being a reluctant investigator than working on his ranch, helping with the cattle or in the hunt for Two-toes, the bobcat who's been sneaking up on his men at work. And truth be told, he'd rather go after the cat, who doesn't seem as dangerous as Senator Davidson's enemies or Billy Smoke's "business" connections.

James Doss's novels are consistently acclaimed for their combination of tight, suspenseful plotting and lyrical, authentic rendering of Native American themes and images, and Dead Soul is no exception.

Topkapi: The Light of Day ($2.99), by Eric Ambler

Book Description
Arthur Simpson is a petty thief who is discovered stealing from a hotel room. His victim, however, turns out to be a criminal in a league well above his own and Simpson is blackmailed into smuggling arms into Turkey for use in a major jewel robbery. The Turkish police, however, discover the arms and he is further ‘blackmailed’ by them into spying on the ‘gang’ - or rot in a Turkish jail. However, agreeing to help brings even worse danger ....

Warlord Chronicles ($5.26), by Bernard Cornwell, contains all three books of the Warlord Chronicles: The Winter King, Enemy of God, and Excalibur, for the first time in ebook form. Very reasonable price, too, as St. Martin's Griffin has the paperbacks over $10 each.

Book Description
The Warlord Chronicles breathe new life to Arthurian legend, weaving together historical fact, intense battles and the old world magic of Merlin.

The Winter King
'Once upon a time, in a land that was called Britain, these things happened . . . . and I was there, and this is how it was.' The Winter King , like the rest of the trilogy, is narrated by Derfel (which is pronounced Dervel), one of Arthur's warriors. This first book tells how after the death of Uther, High King of Britain, the country falls into chaos. Uther's heir is a child, Mordred, and Arthur, his uncle, is named one of the boy's guardians. Arthur has to fight other British kingdoms and the dreadful "Sais" - the Saxons - who are invading Britain. Arthur is supposed to marry Ceinwyn, a princess of Powys, but falls disastrously in love with Guinevere - 'There have been many more beautiful women, and thousands who were better, but since the world was weaned I doubt there have been many so unforgettable as Guinevere . . . and it would have been better, Merlin always said, had she been drowned at birth.'

Enemy of God
At the end of The Winter King Arthur fought the battle that forces unity on the warring British kingdoms and now he sets out to face the real enemy - the English (it is one of the great ironies of the Arthur stories that he should have become an English hero when, if he existed at all, he was a great war-leader who opposed the invading Sais). First, though, Merlin leads a perilous expedition into the mysterious west to retrieve a cauldron, one of the treasures of Britain - this cauldron story is almost certainly the root of the holy grail strand in the Arthur tales. The treasures of Britain, Merlin believes, will bring the old Gods onto the side of the British in their struggle against the Saxons (and the Christians, whom Merlin hates). But the treasures will also set Briton against Briton - especially as Guinevere, now Arthur's wife, wants to make a magic of her own. 'Chaos was now thick across Britain, for someone had spilt the Cauldron's power and its horror threatened to engulf us all.'

Excalibur
If Arthur existed (and I am quite certain he did) then he was probably the great British war leader who won the battle of Mount Badon. No one knows where it was fought, or how it was fought, but we do know that the battle took place and it was the one great defeat inflicted on the English invaders of Britain. In Excalibur we follow Arthur and Derfel to that enormous struggle and incredible victory. It not only throws the Saxons back, but reunites Arthur and Guinevere. He might hope now to be left alone, to have a time of peace after gaining a great victory, but new enemies arise to destroy all he has achieved. First is Mordred himself, the crippled king who owes everything to Arthur and now tries to kill his benefactor. Mordred's ally is Nimue who has come to hate her mentor, Merlin. And so the story ends as it has always ended, at Camlann . . . 'and so my lord was gone. And no one has seen him since.'

Today's Deals and Bargain Books

Update on formats for free books:

• The Harbinger (EPUB/nook)
• Delivered with Love (Kindle/EPUB/nook)
• The Glory of Green (Kindle/EPUB/nook)

Today's free audiobook from The Guardian UK is The Spy Who Came in from the Cold by John le Carré. There's no Kindle edition on this one, just the audiobooks and paper editions at Amazon.

Books on Board is giving an extra 25% of Rewards Dollars on all "eligible purchases" (non-Agency books; DRM'd EPUB and PDF, mostly), for a "very limited time." You can see the reward dollars before you purchase and this means you get 50% back into your account (good for all non-Agency books) for any of these you buy, until the promotion ends. If you search on "bundle", you'll find a number of good buys, after taking into account the discount.

Listen To Your Heart ($0.99), by NYT bestselling author Fern Michaels, is today's Kindle Deal of the Day.

Book Description
... the unforgettable tale of a young woman who might be falling for a match made in heaven...

With her beloved mother gone, her twin sister about to be married, and no hint of Mr. Right on the horizon, Josie Dupré is lonesome. Luckily, she has her booming New Orleans catering business to keep her busy, and her fluffy white dog, Rosie, to keep her company...until an obnoxious Boxer brazenly captures Rosie's undying devotion. Even worse, the budding romance puts Josie in close proximity to the dog's owner--sexy, love 'em and leave 'em Cajun playboy, Paul Brouillette.

Paul's all for l'amour, but ever since he came into Josie's life, strange things have been happening. She hears music that isn't there, and she smells her mother's favorite cologne in an empty room. Maybe her mom's trying to send her a message...something about finding love where you least expect it...and listening to your heart.

The Fall ($0.99), by Marie Force, is self-published, but well reviewed (and she does have more traditionally published books in the Kindle store, also).

Book Description
A respected doctor falls in love with his best friend's girlfriend and is left to deal with the consequences after he acts on his feelings.

Peepo! ($3.14), by Allan and Janet Ahlberg , is for parents of young children and who also have a color device upon which to read their Kindle books.

Book Description
This edition is optimised for colour devices. PEEPO! follows a baby through the day in a style full of wit, charm and ingenuity, where the baby can peep through to the next page and see a hint of what is to come. An original book that has long delighted young children - and their parents!

A Christmas Carol: The Junior Novel (Disney's a Christmas Carol) ($1.79), by Disney Press, may also work a bit better on color devices (but I didn't check the sample, to be sure). This one came out last year at Christmas, so the description is a bit off, but the season for it is fast approaching.

Book Description
A 144 page junior novel based on the upcoming Disney film A Christmas Carol

A Beautiful Blue Death ($2.99), the first of teh Charles Lenox Mysteries by Charles Finch, is no doubt marked down as a promotion for the upcoming A Burial at Sea; you may also have East End Murder in your Kindle library, as it was given away late last year (but is no longer available in the Kindle store).

Book Description
On any given day in London, all Charles Lenox, Victorian gentleman and armchair explorer, wants to do is relax in his private study with a cup of tea, a roaring fire and a good book. But when his lifelong friend Lady Jane asks for his help, Lenox cannot resist another chance to unravel a mystery, even if it means trudging through the snow to her townhouse next door.

One of Jane’s former servants, Prudence Smith, is dead – an apparent suicide. But Lenox suspects something far more sinister: murder, by a rare and deadly poison. The house where the girl worked is full of suspects, and though Prudence dabbled with the hearts of more than a few men, Lenox is baffled by an elusive lack of motive in the girl’s death.

When another body turns up during the London season’s most fashionable ball, Lenox must untangle a web of loyalties and animosities. Was it jealousy that killed Prudence? Or was it something else entirely, something that Lenox alone can uncover before the killer strikes again – disturbingly close to home?

More bargain books from Debbie Macomber, many of which are usually closer to $8 in price:

Orchard Valley Grooms $2.27
Valerie rushes home to Orchard Valley, Oregon, when her father, David, suffers a heart attack. She and her two younger sisters, Stephanie and Norah, are gathering at his side, praying he'll live, fearing he'll die....

At a time like this, falling in love is the last thing on Valerie's mind. And with Dr. Colby Winston, of all people! He's David's heart surgeon, a renowned specialist who enjoys small-town living, while Valerie is a high-powered businesswoman who prefers city life. They're complete opposites in every way. Yet David keeps insisting she and Colby are a perfect couple.

Meanwhile Stephanie has other worries besides her father's health. She'd fled Orchard Valley three years earlier after her humiliating rejection by local journalist Charles Tomaselli. Now she's home, and it's not long before they begin reliving past battles--and renewing old feelings. He was the reason she left. This time, will he give her a reason to stay? David seems to think so....

Wyoming Brides $2.81
Denim and Diamonds

Rancher Chase Brown has always loved Letty Ellison, but nine years ago she left their small Wyoming town, searching for a different kind of life. Now she's come home to Red Springs with her dreams in tatters--and a five-year-old child in tow. She's ready to trade the false glitter of Hollywood for the true happiness of being a rancher's wife. Chase's wife. But is it too late?

The Wyoming Kid

Rancher Lonny Ellison is an ex-rodeo cowboy who's used to the adulation of women. But that's something he doesn't get from Joy Fuller. In fact, they argue constantly. His sister, Letty, says it's because he's interested in Joy...and Lonny figures she's right. Can he convince Joy that marriage to the Wyoming Kid will be as exciting as an eight-second bull ride and as sweet as the cookies she likes to bake?

This Matter Of Marriage $2.99
The alarm on Hallie's biological clock is buzzing. She's hitting the big three-O and there's no prospect of marriage, no man in sight. Hallie, an organized, goal-setting kind of person, gives herself a year to meet Mr. Knight...In Shining Armor. But all her dates are disasters. (There's the cheapskate and the sex fiend and...well, never mind.)

Too bad she can't just fall for her good-looking neighbor Steve Marris--who's definitely not her type. Anyway, Steve's busy trying to win back his ex-wife, Mary Lynn, who's busy getting married--but not to Steve. Life would be so much simpler if he could fall for someone else. Like...Hallie. They're friends, though--and sometimes friends become lovers. Sometimes friends become more.

Born in a Small Town $3.82 (anthology with Judith Bowen and Janice Kay Johnson )
Midnight Sons and Daughter by Debbie Macomber

There's something special about Alaska—and about the town of Hard Luck. Scott O'Halloran grew up there; he's been away for years, but now he's back. To stay? Everybody's wondering—especially Chrissie Harris. The girl he left behind...

The Glory Girl by Judith Bowen

Glory, Alberta. A cowboy town in cowboy country. Hannah Parrish loves it here. "Once from a small town, always from a small town," says Jack Gamble, ex-prospector, a man who's ready to come home. He wants to find a "nice, quiet Glory girl." And that's exactly what Hannah is—even if Jack doesn't know it yet!

Promise Me Picket Fences by Janice Kay Johnson

Melanie Parker never wants to leave Elk Springs, Oregon. After a lifetime of moving, she finally has a big house with a picket fence. To Kevin McNeil, that sounds like prison. The could walk away from each other right now—if they weren't falling in love....

That Holiday Feeling $3.46 (anthology with Robyn Carr and Sherryl Woods)
Silver Bells by Debbie Macomber

In this classic story, Debbie brings those Manning men and Manning sisters home for a mistletoe marriage when a single dad finally says "I do."

The Perfect Holiday by Sherryl Woods

Will bachelor Trace Franklin become a groom-to-be by Christmastime? He sure will...if Savannah Holiday's aunt Mae has anything to do with it.

Under the Christmas Tree by Robyn Carr

When the folks of Virgin River discover a box of adorable puppies under the town's Christmas tree they call on local vet Nathaniel Jensen for help. But it's his budding romance with Annie McCarty that really has tongues and tails wagging!

Married in Seattle (The Manning Family) $3.66
HOW TO MEET AND MARRY A MAN IN SEATTLE

There are all the usual ways, of course, but here's how Janine Hartman and Meg Remington did it.

Janine: My grandfather Hartman arranged a husband for me! Zach Thomas, the intended groom, was just as outraged as I was. But Gramps insisted we'd be "a perfect match." First Comes Marriage, according to him.

Meg: My teenage daughter, Lindsey, had the nerve to place a personal ad on my behalf--Wanted: Perfect Partner. Worse, Steve Conlan, who answered the ad, was perfect, according to her.

Does Grandfather know best? Did a teenage matchmaker get it right? You decide!

Almost Home $4.30 (anthology with Judy Duarte, Cathy Lamb and Mary Carter)
Old flames reignite and new passions burn when lovers follow their hearts back to the place they once called home. . .

"Whale Island" by Cathy Lamb

Family secrets and imposing friends are making Chalese feel like an outsider in her very own home on beautiful Whale Island. But it's only when a shocking revelation makes her feel truly lost that she opens her heart to the possibilities the past offers--including a chance at love with the last man she expected. . .

"Queen Of Hearts" by Judy Duarte

Her high school reunion is coming up, and advice columnist Jenn Kramer couldn't be dreading it more--until she lays eyes on Marcos. Jenn hardly noticed him when they were kids, but now he's all grown up. . . and how deliciously he's changed. . .

"The Honeymoon House" by Mary Carter

It doesn't get more romantic than Andy Beck's cottage on Martha's Vineyard. But love is the last thing on his mind--he just wants to get the cottage ready for his best friend's honeymoon. At least that's the plan, until he finds the gorgeous Maid of Honor ransacking his house--in the most irresistible way. . .

"The Marrying Kind" by Debbie Macomber

High school sweethearts Katie and Jason haven't seen each other in ten years--and now she's walked back into his life. With one look, the love they shared comes flooding back--only now the odds seem stacked against them. But when something's meant to be, all bets are off. . .

Hannah's List $4.91 (one of several in the Blossom Street series)
On the anniversary of his beloved wife's death, Dr. Michael Everett receives a letter Hannah had written him.

In it she reminds him of her love and makes one final request. An impossible request. I want you to marry again. She tells him he shouldn't spend the years he has left grieving—and she's chosen three women she asks him to consider.

First on Hannah's list is her cousin, Winter Adams, a chef who owns a café on Seattle's Blossom Street. The second is Leanne Lancaster, Hannah's oncology nurse. Michael knows them both. But the third name is one he's not familiar with—Macy Roth.

During the months that follow, he spends time with these three women, learning more about each of them…and about himself. Learning what Hannah already knew. He's a man who needs the completeness only love can offer. And Hannah's list leads him to the woman who can help him find it.

1022 Evergreen Place $4.99 (one of several in the Cedar Cove series)
Dear Reader,

Guess what? I'm falling in love! With Mack McAfee.

My baby daughter, Noelle, and I have been living next door to Mack since the spring. I'm still a little wary about our relationship, because I haven't always made good decisions when it comes to men. My baby's father, David Rhodes, is testament to that. I'm so worried he might sue for custody.

In the meantime, the World War II letters I found are a wonderful distraction. Both Mack and I are trying to learn what happened to the soldier who wrote them and the woman he loved.

Come by sometime for a glass of iced tea and I'll show you the letters. Plus I'll tell you the latest about Grace and Olivia, my brother Linc and his wife, Lori (who tied the knot about five minutes after they met!), and all our other mutual friends. Oh, and maybe Mack can join us….

Mary Jo Wyse

The Winter Rose ($2.99), by Jennifer Donnelly, is one you'll be glad you are reading in ebook form, as the hardcover has 720 pages!

Book Description
It has been twelve years since a dark, murderous figure stalked the alleys and courts of Whitechapel. And yet, in the summer of 1900, East London is still poor, still brutal, still a shadow city to its western twin. Among the reformers is an idealistic young woman named India Selwyn-Jones, recently graduated from medical school. With the help of her influential fiance--Freddie Lytton, an up-and-coming Liberal MP--she works to shut down the area's opium dens that destroy both body and soul. Her selfless activities better her patients' lives and bring her immense gratification, but unfortunately, they also bring her into direct conflict with East London's ruling crime lord--Sid Malone.

India is not good for business and at first, Malone wants her out. But against all odds, India and Sid fall in love. Different in nearly every way, they share one thing in common--they're both wounded souls. Their love is impossible and they know it, yet they cling to it desperately. Lytton, India's fiance, will stop at nothing to marry India and gain her family's fortune.

Fractious criminal underlings and rivals conspire against Sid. When Sid is finally betrayed by one of his own, he must flee London to save his life. Mistakenly thinking him dead, India, pregnant and desperate, marries Freddie to provide a father for hers and Sid's child. India and Sid must each make a terrible sacrifice--a sacrifice that will change them both forever. One that will lead them to other lives, and other places...and perhaps--one distant, bittersweet day--back to each other.

Hell's Bay (Thorn Mysteries) ($2.99), by James W. Hall

Book Description
IN THE DEEP, DARK MANGROVE SWAMPS
Wealthy Florida matron Abigail Bates is on a canoe trip down a backwater river when suddenly, from out of nowhere, she is held underwater to drown by a strange and merciless killer…

DANGER LIES BENEATH THE SURFACE
Thorn is aboard a houseboat in Hell’s Bay when he is confronted by Abigail’s son and alluring granddaughter. Thorn soon learns that they are his long-lost relatives—and that he is about to inherit a great fortune. He’s also about to find out that being a member of the Bates family comes with a price…

AND A KILLER HIDES IN PLAIN SIGHT
As he searches for clues about Abigail’s murder, Thorn’s houseboat becomes a precarious island of safety as he and the others find themselves hunted by an invisible enemy. For someone out there knows much more about the Bates family’s dark past than Thorn does. Someone who has lived a lifetime in their shadow—and has seen the damage their wealth and influence has caused. Someone who is determined to exact revenge on the family… no matter what the cost.

Free Book (nook) - Gap Creek

Gap Creek: The Story of a Marriage ($7.16), by Robert Morgan, is this week's Free Friday book at Barnes & Noble. I've reported the lower price to Amazon and hopefully they will match it in a day or two.

Book Description
There is a most unusual woman living in Gap Creek. Julie Harmon works hard, "hard as a man," they say, so hard that at times she's not sure she can stop. People depend on her to slaughter the hogs and nurse the dying. People are weak, and there is so much to do. She is just a teenager when her little brother dies in her arms. That same year she marries and moves down into the valley where floods and fire and visions visit themselves on her, and con men and drunks and lawyers come calling.

Julie and her husband discover that the modern world is complex and that it grinds ever on without pause or concern for their hard work. To survive, they must find out whether love can keep chaos and madness at bay.

Robert Morgan's latest novel, Gap Creek, returns his readers to the vivid world of the Appalachian high country. Julie and Hank's new life in the valley of Gap Creek in the last years of the nineteenth century is more complicated than the couple ever imagined. Sometimes it's hard to tell what to fear most-the fires and floods or the flesh-and-blood grifters, drunks, and busybodies who insinuate themselves into their new lives. Their struggles with nature, with work, with the changing century, and with their disappointments and triumphs make this a riveting follow-up to Morgan's acclaimed novel, The Truest Pleasure.

Get the free ebook from Barnes & Noble.

Buy a Romance for $1 (KSO)

This offer is only for those with a Kindle with Special Offers:

Buy one of 100 romance titles for $1

To take advantage of this offer:

1. First, turn on your Kindle with Special Offers, click Menu, then View Special Offers.
2. Find the offer: Buy one of 100 romance titles for $1. Click on it, then on the link to Email Me This Offer.
3. You will get an email from Amazon with your promotional code, right away.
4. Once you have the promotion code (and have selected your book; see below), click this link, then on the button labeled Enter Your Code, at any time up to the expiration date of October 25.
5. Enter your code and follow the directions.
6. Choose any of these books and you'll pay only $1.

You'll have a promotion code on your account that will apply to the FIRST book you buy (from the list) after that. Note that even if the book is free, you'll pay a dollar, so be careful which one you pick after you enter the code -- make sure you don't grabbing a low cost title by accident, which can happen if you apply the code right away, before you are ready to buy the book. Current prices range from just above $3 to $9.99. You should save the code and not enter it until you are ready to buy a book.

To recap: you must claim the offer by September 25 and must do so from your Kindle with Special Offers. You'll get a promotion code via email and you have until October 25 to enter and redeem the code. Once you enter it, it will work on the next book on the list that you purchase.

It looks like all the offers will now be ONE PER ACCOUNT, as well as one per device. So, if you have more than one KSO in your home, you may want to consider registering the second device with another family member (spouse, child, etc), just to take advantage of the special offers. You can always register it back to your own account for sharing books, as you do now.

Free Kindle Game - Grid Detective

Grid Detective is a new, free game from Amazon Digital Services.

Book Description
Do you have what it takes to crack the case? Grid Detective brings classic logic puzzles to your Kindle.

Test your deduction skills as you try to solve 30 puzzles of varying difficulty. Each Grid Detective Case File starts with a brief story that describes your objective. Based on the information in the story and 6 clues, your job is to figure out which of the dozens of possible outcomes is the correct one. Using the process of elimination and deductive reasoning, you'll deduce the correct relationship between items. For example: if A=B and A<>C, then B<>C. If you can find the unique solution that matches the facts, you've solved the mystery!

If you have ever done a puzzle like this on paper, you know how difficult and frustrating it can be to fix mistakes. Grid Detective makes it easy to solve these classic puzzles with features that let you delete mistaken deductions cleanly and quickly, highlight related cells on the grid and auto-populate relevant cells when you make a deduction.

A detailed tutorial and plenty of hints make it possible for everyone to enjoy testing their logical thinking against even the hardest Case File. Crack the case today with Grid Detective!

Today's Deals and Bargain Books

Three free books now have EPUB formats available:

• Hurry Less, Worry Less (Kindle/EPUB)
• Delivered with Love (Kindle/EPUB/nook)
• The Glory of Green (Kindle/EPUB/nook)

Today's free audiobook from The Guardian UK is The Constant Gardener by John le Carré. This one is still $13 in Kindle edition and the CD set with Michael Jayston as narrator is selling for $58!

Christian publisher Moody is giving away your choice of any one of eight ebooks, if you'll Like their Facebook page. All you have to do is claim the coupon (by Nov 1) and then use it (by Nov 2) to grab any one of the books on this page (you can read the first chapter there; you'll get the whole book). Moody will then email the book directly to you (in EPUB format; I would think it will be DRM-free, though, so should be convertable; otherwise, it will likely only work using Adobe ADE app). You'll need to make your choice before claiming your coupon.

Bismarck : A Life ($1.49), by Jonathan Steinberg, is today's Kindle Deal of the Day.

Book Description
Otto von Bismarck transformed Europe more completely than anybody in the nineteenth century--except for Napoleon. He unified--and indeed, created--the country at the center of two world wars that would transform the world. This riveting biography illuminates the life of the statesman who unified Germany but who also embodied everything brutal and ruthless about Prussian culture. Jonathan Steinberg draws heavily on contemporary writings, allowing Bismarck's friends and foes to tell the story. What rises from these pages is a complex giant of a man: a hypochondriac with the constitution of an ox, a brutal tyrant who could easily shed tears, a convert to an extreme form of evangelical Protestantism who secularized schools and introduced civil divorce. Bismarck may have been in sheer ability the most intelligent man to direct a great state in modern times. His brilliance and insight dazzled his contemporaries. But all agreed there was also something demonic, diabolical, overwhelming, beyond human attributes, in Bismarck's personality. He was a kind of malign genius who, behind the various postures, concealed an ice-cold contempt for his fellow human beings and a drive to control and rule them. As one contemporary noted: "the Bismarck regime was a constant orgy of scorn and abuse of mankind, collectively and individually." In this comprehensive and expansive biography--a brilliant study in power--Jonathan Steinberg brings Bismarck to life, revealing the stark contrast between the "Iron Chancellor's" unmatched political skills and his profoundly flawed human character.

Faith and The Future ($2.13), by Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger

Book Description
Increasingly, the future is becoming a theme for theological reflection. In the background we can detect a growing concern among many people for the future of faith. Does faith have any future at all, and, if so, where in all the confusion of today's trends will we discover its embryo?

But the problem of the future assails not only the believer. In the ever more rapidly advancing process of historical evolution, man is confronted with enormous opportunities, but also with colossal perils. For him, the future is not only hope, but sorrow-a nightmare, indeed. He cannot avoid asking what part faith can play in building tomorrow's world.

Joseph Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict XVI, approaches this problem of universal concern from a variety of angles, bringing his deep personal faith and theological brilliance to bear on these serious questions.

If you missed How to Be a Movie Star: Elizabeth Taylor in Hollywood ($2.04), by William J. Mann, the last time it was on sale, now is your chance to snag it. It went up drastically when Ms. Taylor passed away, but is now back to bargain prices.

Book Description
In the 60s, Elizabeth Taylor's affair with the married Richard Burton knocked John Glenn's orbit of the moon off front pages nationwide. Yet, despite all the gossip, the larger-than-life personality and influence of this very human woman has never been captured. William Mann, praised by Gore Vidal, Patricia Bosworth, and Gerald Clarke for Kate, uses untapped sources and conversations to show how she ignited the sexual revolution with her on-and off-screen passions, helped kick down the studio system by taking control of her own career, and practically invented the big business of celebrity star-making. With unputdownable storytelling he tells the full truth without losing Taylor's magic, daring, or wit.

Readers will feel they are sitting next to Taylor as she rises at MGM, survives a marriage engineered for publicity, feuds with Hedda Hopper and Mr. Mayer, wins Oscars, endures tragedy, juggles Eddie Fisher, Richard Burton and her country's conservative values. But it is the private Elizabeth that will surprise--a woman of heart and loyalty, who defends underdogs, a savvy professional whose anger at the studio's treatment of her led to a lifelong battle against that very system. All the Elizabeth's are here, finally reconciled and seen against the exciting years of her greatest spirit, beauty, and influence. Swathed in mink, staring us down with her lavender eyes, disposing of husbands but keeping the diamonds, here is Elizabeth Taylor as she was meant to be, leading her epic life on her own terms, playing the game of supreme stardom at which she remains, to this day, unmatched.

Will Allen and the Great Monster Detective (The Chronicles of the Monster Detective Agency) ($0.05), a children's book by Jason Edwards and Jeffrey Friedman (Illustrator), is about as low in price as a book can go, without actually being free.

Book Description
Will Allen may be one of the smallest boys at Ashford Middle School, but he is also one of the smartest. But cleverness alone isn't enough to help him when monsters infest his room!

Together with his friend Jeannine Fitsimmons, Will searches fruitlessly for help, until a strange business card appears, instructing them how to summon Bigelow Hawkins, the Great Monster Detective. With Bigelow's help, along with the use of his very special monster-fighting instruments, the RevealeR and the MonsterScope, Will must learn how to conquer his monsters and reveal the secret of the dreaded HIDDEN BEAST before it's too late...

The World Before Her ($1.31), by Deborah Weisgall

Book Description
Marian Evans—who writes under the pen name George Eliot—has come to Venice on her honeymoon. It is 1880 and she is newly married to John Cross, twenty years her junior. She has come to this city of canals and bridges to start again, to forget the death of her longtime partner, George Henry Lewes—with whom she shared twenty five years of happiness and art. In this new marriage, in this intensely romantic place, can she give herself the happy ending that she provided for Middlemarch’s Dorothea Brooke?

A century later, sculptor Caroline Spingold takes us to Venice again. Scarred by her father’s abandonment just after she and her parents spent a summer in the city, Caroline vowed never to return. But now her powerful, wealthy older husband has brought her back against her will, to celebrate their tenth anniversary.

Told in alternating chapters subtly linked by themes of art, love, and the challenges of marriage, The World Before Her tells of two women, their surprising similarities, and the reckoning Venice will force them to make with their desire, their memories, and their very selves.

Good News for Those Trying Harder ($0.99), by Alan Kraft, is currently being discounted by Christian publisher David C. Cook.

Book Description
Countless believers are pursuing spiritual growth, only to repeatedly find themselves spinning their wheels and making no progress. Many are driven to just try harder. Others feel a growing sense of failure and distance from God. But for all involved, it's a frustrating cycle. What can we do when trying harder isn't working?

Author and pastor Alan Kraft invites us to be still...still enough to hear the twin melodies that comprise the good news of the gospel--brokenness and faith. These core strains have the power to lift our exhausted heads so we may experience life to the full as Jesus promised.

Discover the power of a broken spirit, embrace the wonder of living by faith, and experience the joy found when you just stop trying.

Heat Wave ($5.00), the first of the Nikki Heat novels by TV character Richard Castle, is still being listed at a discount price. The third in the series, Heat Rises, has dropped to $10.79, which is less that were it started (and well under half the print/digital list price the publisher has set), for those who want to keep up with the inside jokes that appear in the series.

Book Description
A New York real estate tycoon plunges to his death on a Manhattan sidewalk. A trophy wife with a past survives a narrow escape from a brazen attack. Mobsters and moguls with no shortage of reasons to kill trot out their alibis. And then, in the suffocating grip of a record heat wave, comes another shocking murder and a sharp turn in a tense journey into the dirty little secrets of the wealthy. Secrets that prove to be fatal. Secrets that lay hidden in the dark until one NYPD detective shines a light.

Mystery sensation Richard Castle, blockbuster author of the wildly best-selling Derrick Storm novels, introduces his newest character, NYPD Homicide Detective Nikki Heat. Tough, sexy, professional, Nikki Heat carries a passion for justice as she leads one of New York City's top homicide squads. She's hit with an unexpected challenge when the commissioner assigns superstar magazine journalist Jameson Rook to ride along with her to research an article on New York's Finest. Pulitzer Prize-winning Rook is as much a handful as he is handsome. His wise- cracking and meddling aren't her only problems. As she works to unravel the secrets of the murdered real estate tycoon, she must also confront the spark between them. The one called heat.

The Gypsy Kitchen ($2.94), by Lisa Lamme

Book Description
Feeling uninspired by the contents of your cupboards and fridge? Don't be! All you need is a little culinary magic to turn what you have into what you crave.

Let gourmet food-store owner Lisa Lamme provide mealtime imagin-ation with delectable recipes from her award-winning Gypsy Kitchen. Spices, oils, and condiments jazz up the boring so you can transform chicken breasts into Grilled Jerk Chicken with Pineapple and Peppers, pork chops into Garlic Roast Pork with Rosemary Apple Sauce, and fish fillets into Marmalade Glazed Salmon. Now, you'll be able to conjure up what you want, whenever you want it.

Whether you're whipping up dinner after work or entertaining friends last minute, The Gypsy Kitchen dazzles and delivers dishes that are certain to satisfy.

G.A. Aiken Bundle: The Dragon Who Loved Me, What a Dragon Should Know, & Last Dragon Standing ($9.99 B&N/BooksOnBoard), by G. A. Aiken, is available to pre-order (but not from Amazon, yet); the individual titles run a bit over $4-$5 each, so this is a decent discount.

Book Description
Only for those I love would I traipse into the merciless Northlands to risk life, limb, and my exquisite beauty. But do they appreciate it? Do they say, "Gwenvael the Handsome, you are the best among us--the most loved of all dragons?" No! For centuries my family has refused to acknowledge my magnificence as well as my innate humility. Yet for them, and because I am so chivalrous, I will brave the worst this land has to offer.So here I stand, waiting to broker an alliance with the one the Northlanders call The Beast. A being so fearful, the greatest warriors will only whisper its name. Yet I, Gwenvael, will courageously face down this terrifying. . .woman? It turns out the Beast, a.k.a. Dagmar Reinholdt, is a woman--one with steel-gray eyes and a shocking disregard for my good looks. Beneath her plain robes and prim spectacles lies a sensual creature waiting to be unleashed. Who better than a dragon to thaw out that icy demeanor? And who better than a beast to finally tame a mighty dragon's heart?"Sexy and outrageous humor." --Romantic TimesI know what they see when they look at me. The charming, soft-spoken dragoness bred from the most powerful of royal bloodlines. A disguise stronger than any battle shield that allows me to keep all suitors at tail's length. A technique that's worked until him. Until Ragnar the Cunning, handsome barbarian warlord and warrior mage from the desolate Northlands. Unlike those who've come before him, he does not simply submit...

Kevin J. Anderson has a new (short) novel coming out, Tau Ceti, with a bonus novelette by indie-author Steven Savile, which will be released (DRM-free) at Phoenix Pick on November 22. The ebook will be $4.99 once released, but can be pre-ordered now for $2.99. This is another one that isn't in the Kindle store (but probably will be, after it is released).

Book Description
Generations spent reaching a home away from home…only to discover that Earth now has faster than light ships and a ruthless dictator wants to lay claim to their dream.

New Kindle Games and Apps

Two new games and two new apps are available for Kindle today. I'm very tempted by both of the games.

Jewel Quest Solitaire ($3.99), by iWin

Game Description
The creative minds behind the popular Jewel Quest series return with a Solitaire card game filled with riches and adventure.

Play solitaire using jewel-themed card decks and mind-boggling layouts. The goal of the game is to remove all the cards from the board by finding cards that are either one value higher or lower than the one on the foundation pile. In this unique edition, you play young explorer Percy Pack as he works to unveil the story behind a mysterious lost jewel board that Professor Percy Pack had spent a lifetime searching for. To accomplish this, you must solve the 66 game layouts. Match card suits to earn more points, unearth buried cards, and discover wild cards with extraordinary powers.

An in-game tutorial makes it easy to get started playing right away, and you can get a hint if you get stuck in a particular game. Ten unique profiles means that different members of your family can play and without disturbing each others progress, or you can play several profiles at once to try and improve your high score along the way.

Embark on your card playing adventure in Jewel Quest Solitaire. Fortune and glory are in the cards!

Mahjong Butterfly ($2.99), by Namco Networks America

Game Description
Mahjong Butterfly is a Mahjong tile matching game with a strategic goal larger than just clearing the board.

You goal is to collect caterpillars and help them transform into beautiful butterflies. To accomplish this, you must match the correct kinds of tiles to get caterpillars, and then continue making the right matches to feed your caterpillars and help them grow.

To help you achieve this goal, Mahjong Butterfly offers you the ability to take and hold a tile in reserve, allowing you access to a previously inaccessible tile without having to remove a valuable piece you want to play later. As you collect butterflies through the 47 different games, you gain more entries in your collection of butterflies; a nice reference that shows you more about the butterflies you've raised.

If you are ready for a more engaging Mahjong experience, then take some time to play with butterflies!

Day Planner & Calendar ($0.99), by Magellan Interactive

App Description
Day Planner and Calendar is a personal planner that can track just about any scheduled event you could possibly plan for.

The Day Planner & Calendar lets you create scheduled events for meetings, anniversaries, vacations, or any other event you care to track. Each entry supports a location, start and stop information, personal notes, and an option to create an all-day event. You can even select one of over 50 fun icons to help you identify your event in the calendar.

To help you remember important events, Day Planner and Calendar lets you create recurring events every few days, or every week, month or year. Four views help you track your events: A year view, month view, day view, and an agenda view which gives you a compact list of your scheduled events.

Day Planner and Calendar also includes a Task List to help you manage non-event obligations such as shopping lists, to-do lists and even notes to yourself. Simple navigation and a check box for completion make this feature a hit for grocery lists and other tasks.

If you are looking for an easy way to enter your commitments and see your calendar at a glance, Day Planner and Calendar is for you.

Address Book ($0.99), by 7 Dragons

App Description
Use your Kindle as your address book with Address Book by 7 Dragons.

You can add up to 1,000 contacts in Address Book, and you can even import them from Outlook, Yahoo Mail, GMail or any source that supports VCF 3.0 format (VCard 3.0 format). You can organize your contacts into groups, and pick contacts to mark as 'Favorite' contacts. In addition to a search tool, Address Book provides a First Name Flipbook, a Last Name Flipbook to make finding any contact quick and easy.

You can make backups, and there is an automatic weekly backup to help you save your data. Address Book can export your contacts in VCF 3.0 format so you can load them into Outlook, Yahoo, Google and other VCF 3.0 compatible tools.

Address Book is your complete Address Book solution on the Kindle.

Free Book (EPUB/nook) - The Harbinger

Update: 9/23/11 Still not free from Amazon, but now free from Barnes & Noble.

The Harbinger: The ancient mystery that holds the secret of America's future ($9.99 Kindle), by Jonathan Cahn, is free over at ChristianBook, courtesy of FrontLine, an imprint of Christian publisher Charisma House.

Book Description
Is it possible…

• That there exists an ancient mystery that holds the secret of America’s future?
• That this mystery lies behind everything from 9/11 to the collapse of the global economy?
• That ancient harbingers of judgment are now manifesting in America?
• That God is sending America a prophetic message of what is yet to come?

Before its destruction as a nation, ancient Israel received nine harbingers, prophetic omens of warning. The same nine harbingers are now manifesting in America—with immediate ramifications for end-time prophecy.

Hidden in an ancient biblical prophecy from Isaiah, the mysteries revealed in The Harbinger are so precise that they foretold recent American events down to the exact days. The revelations are so specific that even the most hardened skeptics will find it hard to dismiss or put down. It sounds like the plot of a Hollywood thriller – with one exception… IT’S REAL.

The prophetic mysteries are revealed through an intriguing and engaging narrative the reader will find hard to put down. The Harbinger opens with the appearance of a man burdened with a message he has received from a mysterious figure called The Prophet. The Prophet has given him nine seals, each containing a message about America’s future. As he tells of his encounters with The Prophet, from a skyscraper in New York City, to a rural mountaintop, to Capitol Hill, to Ground Zero, the mystery behind each seal is revealed. As the story unfolds, each revelation becomes a piece in a greater puzzle – the ramifications of which will even alter the course of world history.

Get the free ebook from ChristianBook.
Get the free ebook from Barnes & Noble.