Free Book - I Want it Now! (K)

I Want it Now! A Memoir of Life on the Set of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, by Julie Dawn Cole, is free in the Kindle store.

Book Description
In 1970, Julie Dawn Cole was cast as the unforgettable Veruca Salt in the classic motion picture Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory with Gene Wilder. Since its release in 1971, this epic musical has endured as a favorite of children from around the world with a fan base that encompasses generations of movie goers. With its unforgettable characters, chocolaty landscapes and everlasting music, this charming fairy-tale mixes these ingredients into what has been become a cinematic classic from literary legend Roald Dahl.

Praised by critics worldwide and often featured in broadcasts with other masterpiece musicals, it remains a timeless treasure. Acclaimed film critic Robert Ebert wrote: "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory is probably the best film of its sort since The Wizard of Oz. It is everything that family movies usually claim to be, but aren't: Delightful, funny, scary, exciting, and, most of all, a genuine work of imagination."

Julie Dawn Cole has written an enchanting and richly illustrated memoir that offers a rare look behind the stage curtain to this ageless film. Splendidly illustrated with personal letters, never-seen-before photographs and documents; her mesmerizing story chronicles the entire production experience and tells of the remarkable journey of how she became known worldwide as a really bad egg. Filled with countless funny and touching memories, her story takes readers behind-the-scenes of Willy Wonka and the resulting coming of age journey that brought the cast together again after nearly a quarter century. I Want it Now takes readers beyond the world of pure imagination and behind the scenes to this universally cherished motion picture. A true-to-life Charlie Bucket tale, Julie's story is unforgettable...

Free Book - Sell Now! (K/E/N)

Update: 1/9/12 Now free from Barnes & Noble.

Sell Now!: Adaptive Strategies for Today's Changing Marketplace, by Stacia Skinner, is free in the Kindle store and from Sony.

Book Description
With the volatile economy, budgets are tight and expectation for increased revenue is higher than ever. Old sales strategies aren’t cutting it in this tough market. Veteran sales trainer Stacia Skinner and Brandon Toporov provide game-changing techniques proven effective for getting and keeping new business and expanding the business in your existing client base.

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

Today's Deals

Be sure to grab today's free Android App, Splashtop Remote Desktop, which you can use with your Kindle Fire, Android phone or tablet to access your home (or work) computer remotely (it's compatible with all my devices and it looks like it costs $4.99 or $9.99 in the Android Market. I've seen several comments on the nook boards (where the app is on sale for $2.99) about how useful it is on the nookColor or nookTablet. The part that runs on your computer is free (you do have to leave the computer running, of course). I haven't tried this company's app, but have another, similar one installed on mine and it's come in handy now and then, when I needed some information that was on the PC at home. You will want to read some of the reviews about encryption (or the lack, thereof) and be a bit careful using it on public wifi hotspots. And, speaking of the nook tablets, B&N is also having a 99 cent sale on Electronic Arts game apps, similar the one Amazon had, earlier. They even have two games I don't see at Amazon, Spider Jack and Office Gamebox. While snooping around, I did find a cute app for your younger kids: Dress the Cat, which is 99 cents from Amazon or B&N.

If you missed yesterday's deal on a 16GB micro SDHC card, you can get the same card (but "Factory Recertified") from DailySteals today for $7.99 (and no shipping). There isn't an adapter with it, but if you already have one or don't need it, the price is more than cheap enough to take a chance on one (which seems to be the limit allowed). There are lots of fakes out there with SD and SDHC card, but you do get a 90 day warranty (although I suspect that's from SanDisk, not Daily Steals - their first line of return is via the manufacturer, but they do seem to stand behind the order after that). I have bought a few (small) things from them and they have all arrived, for what that's worth.

For those using EPUB, there are some new 25% off coupon codes at Kobo: jan6us25 and the usual country code variants (see sidebar at right).

ETA: For those in the UK, it's the last day for the 12 Days of Kindle sale. All the days sale books are available, but only thru the end of today (UK time).

Additional formats on these free books are now available:

• ETF Trading and Investing Strategies (K/N)
• The Secret Holocaust Diaries (K/N/E)
• The Pawn (K/N/I/E)

Today is the last day to take advantage of these KSO deals:

• Save $5 at Amazon

Deadly Currents ($0.99), the first of the RM Outdoor Adventures cozy mysteries by Beth Groundwater, is today's Kindle Deal of the Day.

Book Description
The Arkansas River, heart and soul of Salida, Colorado, fuels the small town’s economy and thrums in the blood of river ranger Mandy Tanner. When a whitewater rafting accident occurs, she deftly executes a rescue, but a man dies anyway. Turns out, it wasn’t the rapids that killed him—he was murdered. Tom King was a rich land developer with bitter business rivals, who cheated on his wife, refused to support his kayak-obsessed son, and infuriated environmentalists.

Mandy’s world is upended again when tragedy strikes closer to home. Suspicious that the most recent death is connected to Tom King’s murder, Mandy goes on an emotionally turbulent quest for the truth—and ends up in dangerous waters.

Quantum ($1.54 / £0.99 UK), by Manjit Kumar, is the Kindle Deal of the day for those in the UK (their are two US editions at $13.49 and $15.37, a pre-order for 2020!).

Book Description
Quantum theory is weird. As Niels Bohr said, if you weren’t shocked by quantum theory, you didn’t really understand it. For most people, quantum theory is synonymous with mysterious, impenetrable science. And in fact for many years it was equally baffling for scientists themselves. In this tour de force of science history, Manjit Kumar gives a dramatic and superbly written account of this fundamental scientific revolution, focusing on the central conflict between Einstein and Bohr over the nature of reality and the soul of science. This revelatory book takes a close look at the golden age of physics, the brilliant young minds at its core—and how an idea ignited the greatest intellectual debate of the twentieth century.

To Defy a King ($1.99 Kindle, B&N), the fourth and latest title in the William Marshal series by Elizabeth Chadwick, is the Nook Daily Find, price matched on Kindle.

Book Description
Privileged daughter of William Marshal, Mahelt marries Hugh Bigod, heir to the earldom of Norfolk. But when King John sets out to subdue the Bigods, Mahelt faces the worst alone, knowing neither she, nor her marriage, are likely to survive. A story of emotional power set against the road to Magna Carta and the fight to bring a tyrant king to heel, To Defy a King is Elizabeth Chadwick at her best.

Today's backlist/indie free books on Kindle (not likely to be free for long):

• Six Against The Stars: Book 1 (The Six Against The Stars duology), by Stephen Hunt
• On My Lady's Honor (All for one, and one for all), by Kate Silver
• J.R. Rain's Whodunits, three novels by J.R. Rain, Gemma Halliday and Aiden James
• The Lion and the Lark, by Doreen Owens Malek
• Three on a Light, by Victor Gischler
• Rune Logic, by Leslie Wooddavis
• The Eagle and the Sword (The Perilous Order of Camelot), by A. A. Attanasio
• An Early Ford Mustang, by Eric James Stone
• His Name In Lights, by Patty Jansen
• The Lake Effect, by Leigh Michaels
• Ghost Stories, by J.R. Rain, et al.
• RESURRECTION, by Ken McClure
• SECTOR C, by Phoenix Sullivan
• Four books by Billie Sue Mosiman
• Seven books from Red Hot Publishing
• Two free reads from Sam Cheever (DRM-free PDF)

Special thanks to ATDrake at Mobileread, whose eagle eyes have managed to spot most of these backlist authors.

Odds & Ends and a Free Audiobook

First off, I've drawn the winner for the Out of Time Series Omnibus and it's Kimberly! Congrats and I've passed your email info along to the author.

Second, I'm working on joining up with a contest to give my readers a chance to win a Kindle Fire! If nothing else, you'll get some inside tips on free books (and hopefully pass along the info to others, which should result in more readers here on the blog). Stay tuned - if it all works out, it will start sometime next week.

Third, if you've been on the fence about one of the 25 Award-Winning Books for $1 in the current KSO offer, don't dally. Two of the books on the original list are already gone (and one of them, The Worst Hard Time: The Untold Story of Those Who Survived the Great American Dust Bowl by Timothy Egan), also dropped out of the Kindle Lending Library at the same time. Amazon has added two books as replacements, so there are still 25, but there's no telling how long the current books that are there will last. Of the ones left, my top choices are (although not necessarily in this order):

• The Spirit Ring, by Lois McMaster Bujold
• The Windup Girl, by Paolo Bacigalupi
• A Confederacy of Dunces, by John Kennedy Toole
• Flowers for Algernon, by Daniel Keyes
• The Crossing Places (Ruth Galloway), by Elly Griffiths

According to someone who spoke to someone at Amazon, there are often a limited number of books available at the $1 prices and once they are gone, those books drop off the offer and may or may not be replaced. Remember, if you have a current generation Kindle (but not the Kindle Fire), you sign up for Special Offers on the Manage My Kindle page at any time and then turn them back off, without any charge (if you paid full price originally).

Of my top picks, most are in mobi format, but (for those who care), A Confederacy of Dunces, by John Kennedy Toole, is in Topaz format. That always means a larger file size and often some formatting issues (although sometimes only noticeable at certain font sizes). I just checked and the free version at Audible is still (or once again) free! You won't find it searching in the store, though, so follow this link to add it to your Audible library. If you are on the fence on which KSO book to get, you can grab this one and use the KSO offer on a different selection.

Book Description
"A green hunting cap squeezed the top of the fleshy balloon of a head. The green earflaps, full of large ears and uncut hair and the fine bristles that grew in the ears themselves, stuck out on either side like turn signals indicating two directions at once."

So enters one of the most memorable characters in recent American fiction. The hero of John Kennedy Toole's incomparable, Pulitzer Prize-winning comic classic is one Ignatius J. Reilly, "huge, obese, fractious, fastidious, a latter-day Gargantua, a Don Quixote of the French Quarter". His story bursts with wholly original characters, denizens of New Orleans' lower depths, incredibly true-to-life dialogue, and the zaniest series of high and low comic adventures.

As you may know, one of the methods of subscribing to my blog is to get it in the Amazon Kindle store. I checked late last night and I was up to #91 in Arts & Entertainment blogs (I've crept up a bit since then, it looks like). I was pleasantly surprised to discover that Amazon has dropped the price to only 99 cents a month (I don't have any control over the pricing; Amazon sets it based on content and frequency of posting). It has been at $1.99 for a long time, no doubt due to the frequency of posts. For whatever reason, though, it's now less than cup of coffee or a soda (at least, at most places I've tried around here) - I know one of the commenters mentioned the price (of $1.99/month) as their only issue with the subscription. Amazon updates the blog during the day to your subscribed Kindle device (it looks like they have made it available on all the eInk Kindles), so those of you who aren't around a computer during the day might find this a better way of keeping up with any limited time promotions I might mention.

The website OverHalfSale.com has a 16GB micro-SDHC card (with adapter) on sale today for $11.99 (plus $2 shipping). I haven't tried them out, but have read comments from others that have, and it seems to be a decent bargains website. If you need a memory card for your phone, nookColor, nookTablet or just to use for backups, this might be a great chance to get one. The sales there are limited time and while they last, so there are only about 9 hours left to get this one.

Free Book - Georiga on my Mind and Other Places (DF)

Georiga on my Mind and Other Places ($7.99 Kindle), by physicist Charles Sheffield, is this month's free book from Phoenix Pick. Fourteen total stories (the print/Kindle edition claims 15, but I checked my download and it is 14), written in the late 1980's and early 1990's.

Book Description
A collection of some of the finest short stories penned by a master of hard science fiction, this anthology includes Charles Sheffield’s highly acclaimed (and NEBULA & HUGO winning) novelette, Georgia On My Mind.

Georgia On My Mind won both the Hugo and Nebula when originally published in 1993. The accompanying stories were written by the author between 1987 and 1994.

Click HERE for the free book from Phoenix Pick. You'll need to scroll down to find the book's listing, click on "FREE EBOOK of the Month", then enter coupon code 9991325. Click thru the next page and then scroll down and get the format of your choice. They are DRM-free, so you can convert to other formats, if desired.

Phoenix Pick is also giving you 37% off all their books when bought direct from their website using the DIRJAN coupon throughout the month of January. They already give 15% off their suggested retail list prices when buying direct and the discount stacks on top of that. Also, their books are DRM-free. You do have to choose a format (EPUB or MOBI), but can convert if needed (the Mobi doesn't need converting before mailing to a Kindle).

Today's Deals

The Yellow House ($2.99), by Patricia Falvey, is today's Kindle Deal of the Day.

Book Description
THE YELLOW HOUSE delves into the passion and politics of Northern Ireland at the beginning of the 20th Century. Eileen O'Neill's family is torn apart by religious intolerance and secrets from the past. Determined to reclaim her ancestral home and reunite her family, Eileen begins working at the local mill, saving her money and holding fast to her dream. As war is declared on a local and global scale, Eileen cannot separate the politics from the very personal impact the conflict has had on her own life.

She is soon torn between two men, each drawing her to one extreme. One is a charismatic and passionate political activist determined to win Irish independence from Great Britain at any cost, who appeals to her warrior's soul. The other is the wealthy and handsome black sheep of the pacifist family who owns the mill where she works, and whose persistent attention becomes impossible for her to ignore.

The House of the Mosque ($1.54 / £0.99 UK), by Kader Abdolah, is the Kindle Deal of the day for those in the UK (the US edition is $8.34).

Book Description
In the house of the mosque, the family of Aqa Jaan has lived for eight centuries. Now it is occupied by three cousins: Aqa Jaan, a merchant and head of the city's bazaar; Alsaberi, the imam of the mosque and Aqa Shoja, the mosque's muezzin. The house itself teems with life, as each of their families grows up with their own triumphs and tragedies. Sadiq is waiting for a suitor to knock at the door to ask for her hand, while her two grandmothers sweep the floors each morning dreaming of travelling to Mecca. Meanwhile Shahbal longs only to get hold of a television to watch the first moon landing. All these daily dramas are played out under the watchful eyes of the storks that nest on the minarets above. But this family will experience upheaval unknown to previous generations. For in Iran, political unrest is brewing. The shah is losing his hold on power; the ayatollah incites rebellion from his exile in France; and one day the ayatollah returns. The consequences will be felt in every corner of Aqa Jaan's family.

Cut Your Grocery Bill in Half with America's Cheapest Family ($3.40 Kindle, B&N), by Steve Economides and Annette Economides, is the Nook Daily Find, price matched on Kindle.

Book Description
America's Cheapest Family shows readers how to save up to $3,000 annually on groceries with their proven strategies, tips, tools, and tricks.

The average American family spends 10 to 15 percent of its take-home pay on groceries. Cut Your Grocery Bill in Half gives them a sure-fire opportunity to reduce that number forever. With the proven plan in this book, the average family can save more than $3,000 a year on its grocery bill.

"Can cutting coupons do that?" a consumer might ask. Of course, these money-saving experts teach coupon-clipping strategies, but they don't stop there. Readers learn how to plan their shopping to save big bucks, effectively store food and save cash, identify products that save time and money, beat the grocer at pricing games, and more!

The Economides learned to deliver healthy, tasty food to their family of seven on $350 a month. In this authoritative manual, the average family can follow their lead and fill its grocery cart without emptying its wallet.

Today's backlist/indie free books on Kindle (not likely to be free for long):

• The Mind Game and VAMPIRE JUNKIES, by Norman Spinrad
• Looking For Goats, Finding Monkeys, by I.F. Rowan
• Going Somewhere Else and Other Stories, by Amber D. Sistla
• Juggler, by Sarah D'Almeida
• Poetic Justice, a Regency Romance (Regency Escapades), by Alicia Rasley
• Aztec Sun, by Judith Arnold
• Vintage Murder (Robbie Cutler diplomatic mysteries), by William S. Shepard
• Castor, by Sarah A. Hoyt (free on Smashwords, using coupon code RZ45W)
• Simon's Lady, by Julie Tetel Andresen
• My Lord Raven (The Ravensmoor Saga), by Tamela Quijas
• A Touch of Greek (Out of Olympus #1) by Tina Folsom
• Elfbitten (A Taryn Malloy Fantasy) by Leila Bryce Sin
• The Witch Next Door by Dionne Tuttle
• Upon the Isles of the Sea, by Gordon Ryan and Kate Armitage

Get an award-winning eBook title for only $1 (KSO)

This offer is for those with a Kindle with Special Offers (including any Kindle Touch or Kindle Keyboard that opts in to Special Offers).

Get an award-winning eBook title for only $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, click on it, then on the link to Email Me This Offer. Make sure you see the confirmation message that the email has been sent.
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 February 7, 2012.
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 $2.51 to $9.48. 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 January 7 and must do so from your Kindle with Special Offers. You'll get a promotion code via email and you have until January 7, 2012 to enter and redeem the code. Once you enter it, it will work on the next book on the list that you purchase.

If you've been disappointed in the KSO offers lately (and, who hasn't), now is your chance to take advantage of a good one. There are only 25 books to choose from, but the only thing better than a dollar book would have been a free one! I see several that I could use to replace a paper copy here -- if you have more than one KSO, like I do, be sure to register them on different accounts BEFORE you claim the code on even one of them, or they will all get the same code and you only get one offer. Remember, you can either maintain a library on the different accounts OR you can gift the book (after entering the claim code successfully) back to your shared account, where everyone in the family can read it.

Several of the books on this offer are already discounted to the $2.50-$3 range, so you might want to glance thru the books, even if you don't have a KSO.

Free Book - Hotel Sinn (DF)

Hotel Sinn ($3.99 Kindle), by Lauren Pilla, is free from AllRomance eBooks, where it has a rating of 4 on the heat index.

Book Description
Hotel Sinn. She attended in hopes of reuniting with the dangerously sexy man who’d invited her. However, Anastasia would soon find out that having a one night stand would turn into something permanent in more ways then one.

Victore, a vampire, was sent out by the master to complete a task for the one hundred years ritual. But when he set eyes upon Anastasia, she had intrigued him and he was unable to resist temptation. After a night of pleasure Victore hid Anastasia in his suite only to be betrayed by a fellow vampire.

Now Victore and Anastasia are trapped, in an inescapable place, where anything can happen.

Get the free ebook from AllRomance.

Free Book - I Used to Know That (K/N)

I Used to Know That: Stuff You Forgot From School, by Caroline Taggart, is free in the Kindle store and from Barnes & Noble.

Book Description
Rediscover:

• Figures of Speech (and other devices for spicing up your writing): Expressions used in a nonliteral way, such as when you say, "My lips are sealed," but you haven’t put glue over them. Includes hyperbole, which is exaggeration for effect, as in "I’ve told you a hundred times."
• Notable British Authors: From William Blake and William Golding to George Orwell and Virginia Woolf, relearn which authors wrote the most notable poems and tomes. You’ll also find fun facts about each author, including that Sir Arthur Conan Doyle started writing fiction when his medical practice slowed and Jonathan Swift wrote his own obituary.
• International Authors: Homer’s not just the name of a character on The Simpsons. This 9th century Greek writer penned the great epics the Iliad and the Odyssey.
• Arithmetic: With division you divide a divisor into a dividend and the answer is a quotient. If there is anything left over, it is called a remainder. So 15 divided by 2 gives a quotient of 7 with a remainder of 1.
• Biology: The term biology comes from the Greek, meaning study of life; therefore, this field of learning concerns plants and animals and how the human body works. Give your central nervous system something to ponder, such as how a plant is structured or which elements make up the periodic table.
• Explorers: A quick rundown of people who discovered some of the regions of the world, like Amerigo Vespucci (1454-1512, Italian), who discovered the mouth of the Amazon and the River Plate, which made him important enough to have a continent or two named after him.
• Geography: Read this section, and you won’t be able to deny that the Nile is a river in Egypt, or that Russia has five of the longest rivers in the world.

Sure to touch a chord with anyone old enough to have forgotten half of what they learned at school, here is a perfect gift for every perennial student. Make this and all of the Blackboard Books a permanent fixture on your eReader, and you’ll have instant access to searchable knowledge. Whether you need homework help or want to win that trivia game, this series is the trusted source for fun facts.

Get the free ebook from Barnes & Noble.

Free Book - Unto These Hills (K/N)

Unto These Hills (US/UK), by Emily Sue Harvey, is free in the Kindle store and from Barnes & Noble, courtesy of The Story Plant.

Book Description
Unto These Hills is an unforgettable novel of love, scandal, family, and roots by one of the most emotionally authentic authors of our time. Taking us into the deep South's Tucapau Mill Hill, it introduces us to the unforgettable Sunny Acklin. Betrayed, abandoned, and violated, Sunny faces one seemingly insurmountable challenge after another. But she never loses her spirit or the memory of the love that once so richly illuminated her world. As years go by, Sunny does everything she can to make something of her life until at last an opportunity arises, one charged with promise...and undeniable risk.

From its vivid evocation of mill hill life to its pitch perfect rendering of the complexities of family and relationships, Unto These Hills is at once epic and intensely intimate. It is the richest novel yet from a writer who fluently speaks the language of our deepest feelings.

Get the free ebook from Barnes & Noble.

Today's Deals

Additional formats on these free books are now available:

• eye of the god (K-US)
• Lie Down in Green Pastures (K-US)
• The Fence My Father Built (K-US)
• Easter Services Sermons and Prayers (K-US)
• Organize for a Fresh Start (K/N/E)
• The Witness (K/N/E)
• Left Behind (K/N/E)
• Unfriend Yourself (K/N/E)
• Pleasure's Foehn (K/N/E/DF)
• Tween Heaven and Hell (K/N/E/DF)

Today's Kindle Deal of the Day is three books by science writer Dava Sobel, the first two of which were NYT bestsellers in print.

Longitude: The True Story of a Lone Genius Who Solved the Greatest Scientific Problem of His Time ($0.99)
Anyone alive in the eighteenth century would have known that “the longitude problem” was the thorniest scientific dilemma of the day-and had been for centuries. Lacking the ability to measure their longitude, sailors throughout the great ages of exploration had been literally lost at sea as soon as they lost sight of land. Thousands of lives, and the increasing fortunes of nations, hung on a resolution. The scientific establishment of Europe-from Galileo to Sir Isaac Newton-had mapped the heavens in both hemispheres in its certain pursuit of a celestial answer. In stark contrast, one man, John Harrison, dared to imagine a mechanical solution-a clock that would keep precise time at sea, something no clock had ever been able to do on land. Longitude is the dramatic human story of an epic scientific quest, and of Harrison's forty-year obsession with building his perfect timekeeper, known today as the chronometer. Full of heroism and chicanery, it is also a fascinating brief history of astronomy, navigation, and clockmaking, and opens a new window on our world.

Galileo's Daughter: A Historical Memoir of Science, Faith and Love ($0.99)
Galileo Galilei's telescopes allowed him to discover a new reality in the heavens. But for publicly declaring his astounding argument--that the earth revolves around the sun--he was accused of heresy and put under house arrest by the Holy Office of the Inquisition. Living a far different life, Galileo's daughter Virginia, a cloistered nun, proved to be her father's greatest source of strength through the difficult years of his trial and persecution.

Drawing upon the remarkable surviving letters that Virginia wrote to her father, Dava Sobel has written a fascinating history of Medici--era Italy, a mesmerizing account of Galileo's scientific discoveries and his trial by Church authorities, and a touching portrayal of a father--daughter relationship. Galileo's Daughter is a profoundly moving portrait of the man who forever changed the way we see the universe.

A More Perfect Heaven: How Copernicus Revolutionized the Cosmos ($1.99)
By 1514, the reclusive cleric Nicolaus Copernicus had written and hand-copied an initial outline of his heliocentric theory-in which he defied common sense and received wisdom to place the sun, not the earth, at the center of our universe, and set the earth spinning among the other planets. Over the next two decades, Copernicus expanded his theory through hundreds of observations, while compiling in secret a book-length manuscript that tantalized mathematicians and scientists throughout Europe. For fear of ridicule, he refused to publish.

In 1539, a young German mathematician, Georg Joachim Rheticus, drawn by rumors of a revolution to rival the religious upheaval of Martin Luther's Reformation, traveled to Poland to seek out Copernicus. Two years later, the Protestant youth took leave of his aging Catholic mentor and arranged to have Copernicus's manuscript published, in 1543, as De revolutionibus orbium coelestium (On the Revolutions of the Celestial Spheres)-the book that forever changed humankind's place in the universe.

In her elegant, compelling style, Dava Sobel chronicles, as nobody has, the conflicting personalities and extraordinary discoveries that shaped the Copernican Revolution. At the heart of the book is her play And the Sun Stood Still, imagining Rheticus's struggle to convince Copernicus to let his manuscript see the light of day. As she achieved with her bestsellers Longitude and Galileo's Daughter, Sobel expands the bounds of narration, giving us an unforgettable portrait of scientific achievement, and of the ever-present tensions between science and faith.

Memoirs Of A Porcupine ($1.85 / £1.19 UK), by Helen Stevenson and Alain Mabanckou, is the Kindle Deal of the day for those in the UK (no US edition).

Book Description
All human beings, says an African legend, have an animal double. Some are benign, others wicked. When Kibandi, a boy living in a Congolese village, reaches the age of eleven, his father takes him out into the night, and forces him to drink a vile liquid from a jar which has been hidden for years in the earth. This is his initiation. From now on he, and his double, a porcupine, become accomplices in murder. They attack neighbours, fellow villagers, people who simply cross their path. Throughout his life Kibandi relies on his double to act out his grizzly compulsions, until one day even the porcupine baulks, and turns instead to literary confession.

The Primal Blueprint: Reprogram your genes for effortless weight loss, vibrant health and boundless energy ($8.79 Kindle; $2.99 B&N), by Mark Sisson, is the Nook Daily Find, price matched on Kindle.

Book Description
The Primal Blueprint is a simple, flexible plan to help you look and feel your best without struggling or suffering, by adapting the simple lifestyle practices of our hunter-gatherer ancestors into modern life. Sisson presents the compelling premise that you can reprogram your genes in the direction of weight loss, health, and longevity by following 10 immutable Primal Blueprint lifestyle laws validated by two million years of human evolution. Weight loss is largely about insulin; moderate your production by eliminating sugar and grains, and you will lose the excess body fat you desire even while eating delicious, satisfying foods. Plus you will improve your energy level, reduce inflammation, and eliminate disease risk. Eating meat, eggs, and a generally high-fat diet not only is healthy but is the key to effortless weight loss, a healthy immune system, and boundless energy.

Slowing down your typical cardiovascular workouts, and incorporating brief, intense strength sessions and occasional all-out sprints can produce fitness benefits far superior to workouts that are longer and more grueling-and can eliminate the risk of burnout.

Today's backlist/indie free books on Kindle (not likely to be free for long) and a few free choose-your-own-adventure books and some games for your Kindle Fire (or Android phone/tablet)

• Wizard's Choice Volume 1, by Sam Landstrom - this is the Android/Kindle Fire version of the Kindle App I told you about yesterday. The first one is free for the Fire (the second two are still 99 cents)
• Four Kindle Fire adventure games/books by Choice of Games
• 69 Android Games, by Fupa Games
• Dance of the Winnebagos (Jackrabbit Junction Mystery Series), by Ann Charles and C.S. Kunkle
• Sin City: Two Novels and Spinoza for Hire: Two Vampire Mysteries, by J.R. Rain
• Easy Innocence (Georgia Davis Series), by Libby Fischer Hellmann
• The Mancode: Exposed, by Rachel Thompson
• The Motorgirl Memoirs: Adventures in Mania and Semi-Normality, by Leah-Carla Gordone
• Twelve Dresses, One Star (A Silly Picture Book About Being Who You Are) (Silly Picture Books), by Robert Stanek - looks like he is adding a free children's book each day and he has some in the KLL; they look pretty good on the Kindle Fire (full color)
• Five books by Carolyn McCray
• Four books by Amber Scott

Free Book - Easter Services Sermons and Prayers (K/N/E)

Update: 3/7/12 Repeat freebie in the Kindle store and newly free from ChristianBook and Barnes & Noble.
Update: 1/4/12 Now free in the US Kindle store.

Just in Time Series - Easter Services Sermons and Prayers (US/UK), by Kenneth Carter, is free for UK customers in the Kindle store, courtesy of Christian publisher Abingdon Press. It should be free for US customers by morning.

Book Description
Based on the Revised Common Lectionary and broadly ecumenical, this addition to the Just In Time! series provides creative liturgies, sermon helps, and prayers for Easter Vigil, Easter Sunday, and the 40 days of Easter.

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

Free Book - The Fence My Father Built (K/N/E)

Update: 3/1/12 Repeat freebie on Kindle and from B&N and ChristianBook.
Update: 2/7/12 No longer free in the Kindle store; now free from Barnes & Noble.
Update: 1/4/12 Now free in the US Kindle store.

The Fence My Father Built (US/UK), by Linda S. Clare, is free for UK customers in the Kindle store, courtesy of Christian publisher Abingdon Press. It should be free for US customers by morning (repeat).

Book Description
In The Fence My Father Built, when legally separated Muri Pond, a librarian, hauls her kids, teenage Nova and eleven year-old Truman, out to the tiny town of Murkee, Oregon, where her father, Joe Pond lived and died, she’s confronted by a neighbor’s harassment over water rights and Joe’s legacy: a fence made from old oven doors.

The fence and accompanying house trailer horrify rebellious Nova, who runs away to the drug-infested streets of Seattle. Muri searches for her daughter and for something to believe in, all the while trying to save her inheritance from the conniving neighbor who calls her dad Chief Joseph. Along with Joe’s sister, Aunt Lutie, and the Red Rock Tabernacle Ladies, Muri must rediscover the faith her alcoholic dad never abandoned in order to reclaim her own spiritual path.

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

Free Book - Lie Down in Green Pastures (K/N/E)

Update: 3/7/12 Repeat freebie in the Kindle store and from ChristianBook and Barnes & Noble.
Update: 2/7/12 No longer free in the Kindle store; now free from Barnes & Noble.
Update: 1/4/12 Now free in the US Kindle store.

Lie Down in Green Pastures (The Psalm 23 Mysteries) (US/UK), by Debbie Viguie, is free for UK customers in the Kindle store, courtesy of Christian publisher Abingdon Press. It should be free for US customers by morning (repeat).

Book Description
Even though they work right next door to each other, Cindy and Jeremiah come from two different worlds. Cindy is a church secretary; Jeremiah is a Reformed rabbi with a mysterious past full of danger and excitement. Together they have faced down a serial killer at Easter and a murderer of homeless people.

The two unlikely companions continue to forge a strong friendship as they explore personal history and faith with each passing adventure.

This third volume in the Psalm 23 Mysteries series finds Jeremiah and Cindy matching wits with an unscrupulous land developer. In a fast-paced story set around St. Patrick's Day, murder invades an idyllic landscape, challenging them to save hundreds of teens even as they try to discover the source of their unexpected danger.

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

Free Book - eye of the god (K/N/E)

Update: 4/5/12 Repeat freebie in the Kindle store.
Update: 3/7/12 Repeat freebie in the Kindle store and from ChristianBook and Barnes & Noble.
Update: 2/7/12 No longer free in the Kindle store; now free from Barnes & Noble.
Update: 1/4/12 Now free in the US Kindle store.

Ariel Allison's eye of the god (US/UK) is free for UK customers in the Kindle store, courtesy of Christian publisher Abingdon Press. It should be free for US customers by morning (repeat).

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.

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

Bargain Book Roundup

We've got fresh snow to play in today, so I'm only doing a short bargains post.

Grab the first Witch & Wizard ($0.99), by James Patterson and Gabrielle Charbonnet to go with Book 3 from yesterday's post (leaving just #2, The Gift, at full price)

Book Description
The world is changing: the government has seized control of every aspect of society, and now, kids are disappearing. For 15-year-old Wisty and her older brother Whit, life turns upside down when they are torn from their parents one night and slammed into a secret prison for no reason they can comprehend. The New Order, as it is known, is clearly trying to suppress Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Being a Normal Teenager. But while trapped in this totalitarian nightmare, Wisty and Whit discover they have incredible powers they'd never dreamed of. Can this newly minted witch and wizard master their skills in time to save themselves, their parents--and maybe the world?

Gregory Maguire's Wicked with Bonus Material: Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West has dropped to $1.99 (and I expect it to disappear soon, as these bonus editions often do). You can still get the second in the series, Son of a Witch, for $3.99 and one of his stand-alone titles, What-the-Dickens: The Story of a Rogue Tooth Fairy for $1.99.

Book Description
For a limited time at a special price, go back to where The Wicked Years all began—and read excerpts from the rest of the series, including the masterly final book, Out of Oz, available November 1.

When Dorothy triumphed over the Wicked Witch of the West in L. Frank Baum's classic tale, we heard only her side of the story. But what about her arch-nemesis, the mysterious Witch? Where did she come from? How did she become so wicked? And what is the true nature of evil?

Gregory Maguire creates a fantasy world so rich and vivid that we will never look at Oz the same way again. Wicked is about a land where animals talk and strive to be treated like first-class citizens, Munchkinlanders seek the comfort of middle-class stability, and the Tin Man becomes a victim of domestic violence. And then there is the little green-skinned girl named Elphaba, who will grow up to become the infamous Wicked Witch of the West, a smart, prickly, and misunderstood creature who challenges all our preconceived notions about the nature of good and evil.

You can grab all three titles in Beverly Barton's Dead by Trilogy at bargain prices, along with several other books marked down under $5, including As Good As Dead for $2.99.

As Good As Dead
What She Doesn't Know. . .

The victims are all found face-down in the murky waters of the creek that runs through Cherokee Pointe, Tennessee. They are naked, except for the black satin ribbon tied around their necks. And each murdered woman shares a single characteristic. . .they are all redheads. . .

Just Might. . .

Socialite Reve Sorrell has come to Cherokee Pointe seeking answers about her family history and her shocking connection to wrong-side-of-the-tracks Jazzy Talbot. With their stunning good looks and shining red hair, the two are mirror images of each other--twins abandoned at birth and raised in very different worlds. And whoever left them for dead on a cold night thirty years ago isn't about to let them uncover the truth now. . .

Kill Her

As a serial killer leaves another chilling calling card in the foothills of the Smoky Mountains, Reve turns to Sheriff Jacob Butler to help her unravel the potentially deadly secrets of her past. But someone will do anything to stop her. . .someone who won't make the same mistake twice. . .someone more cunning than she knows. . .and closer than she ever could imagine. . .

Dead By Midnight
In Murder. . .

The last sounds Dean Wilson hears are a clock striking twelve and a killer's taunting words. And his death is just the first. One by one, victims are stalked and shot at close range. Only the killer knows their sins, and who will be the next to die at midnight. . .

And In Life. . .

In the ten years since her Hollywood career imploded, Lorie Hammonds has built a good life in her Alabama hometown. When the first death threat arrives, she assumes it's a joke. Then she gets a second note. Sheriff Mike Birkett, her high-school sweetheart, has avoided Lorie since she returned to Dunmore, but when investigators uncover her connection to a string of recent murders, he's drawn into a case that's terrifyingly personal.

Timing Is Everything

With every murder, the killer edges closer. Soon Lorie's will be the last name left on his list. Her only hope is to unearth a deadly secret--before the clock runs out for good. . .

Dead By Morning
The Darkest Sins

He begins his work just before dawn, wielding a knife with the precision of a surgeon. Cunning and meticulous, he's always in control. Mercy is not an option. . .

Will Always

Maleah Purdue is tough, outspoken, and completely dedicated to her work at the Powell Security Agency. But her fearless exterior shatters when a madman begins killing her colleagues one by one, mimicking a notorious serial killer already behind bars. Working alongside top profiler Derek Lawrence, Maleah will do anything to find the murderer, even if it means playing a psychopath's twisted mind games.

Come To Light

No one connected to the Agency is safe. No one is beyond suspicion. For as Maleah and Derek piece together the clues, they uncover a chilling legacy of lies and brutal vengeance--and a killer who has been hiding in plain sight all along. . .

Dead By Nightfall
The Fear. . .

Malcolm York is a sadistic monster, guilty of unspeakable crimes. And with his endless wealth he's funded a series of depraved hunts. The few who survived can never forget. They can only be thankful the terror is over. Until rumors start swirling. . .

Only Stops. . .

Griffin Powell knows the twisted depths of York's madness. He's also sure that York is dead. But then Griff's wife, Nicole, disappears and the phone calls begin--that familiar voice taunting him, promising to destroy everything Griff loves.

When You Die. . .

Using all the resources of the Powell Agency, Griff searches for Nic, aware that every step propels him further into a madman's web. Because the only way to keep Nic safe is to join one last perverse game where winner kills all, and the loser is dead by nightfall. . .

Lisa Jackson also has a large number of titles currently being discounted, including selections from her romance and mystery series. I've picked out just a few to highlight here.

Dark Ruby (Dark Jewels Series)
Amid the mists of enchanting Wales, a beautiful woman made a desperate bargain that would seal her fate forever . . .

THE LADY
An arranged marriage put Lady Gwynn at the mercy of a baron who had murdered two wives for not bearing him a son. Then a sensual thief and a searing night of passion gave birth to a dangerous deception . . .

THE THIEF
Thirteen years later, Trevin McBain cannot forget Lady Gwynn and their child, who now bears another man’s name. But when a powerful magician warns of terrible danger to their son, Trevin rides forth to save him . . .

THE PASSION
Amid treachery and mortal peril, a lady and a thief would meet once more. As desire re-ignited, their only hope was to trust each other, challenging fate to let them touch, let them love again . . .

Wicked Lies (Colony) (with her sister Nancy Bush)
If At First You Don’t Succeed

For two years, Justice Turnbull has paced his room at Halo Valley Security Hospital, planning to escape. Justice has a mission-one that began with a vicious murder two decades ago. And there are so many others who must be sent back to the hell that spawned them…

Kill…

Laura Adderley didn’t plan to get pregnant by her soon-to-be ex-husband, though she’ll do anything to protect her baby. But now reporter Harrison Frost is asking questions about the mysterious group of women who live at Siren Song lodge. Harrison hasn’t figured out Laura’s connection to the story yet. But Justice knows. And he is coming…

Then Kill Again…

All her life, Laura has been able to sense approaching evil. But that won’t stop a psychopath bent on destroying her. Justice has been unleashed, and this time, there will be no place safe to hide…

Running Scared
No Matter How Fast You Run. . .

The newborn baby boy is beautiful, perfect, and hers for the asking. All Kate Summers has to do is agree to one condition--she must disappear from Boston and never breathe a word about the adoption to anyone.

Or How Far You Go. . .

Fifteen years later, Kate has built a good life for herself and her son, Jon, in Hopewell, Oregon. Still, she is haunted by the fear that he will somehow be taken away. Then Daegan O'Rourke arrives in town and strikes up a friendship with her and Jon. But Daegan has his own past to hide--one with shocking ties to hers.

A Killer Will Always Find You. . .

Someone is watching Kate, watching her son, and is willing to go to any lengths to claim him. And the one man Kate is tempted to trust has dangerous secrets that could change her world forever. Soon the past Kate thought she could outrun will explode, unearthing a legacy of lies and treachery, and a fury powerful enough to kill. . .

Linda Howard fans can get a great deal on the Mackenzies Bundle: Mackenzie's Mountain / Mackenzie's Mission / Mackenzie's Pleasure / A Game of Chance: all four titles for $8.38. The only title missing from this bundle that is included in The Complete Mackenzie Collection ($11.41) is Mackenzie's Magic, which you can pick up for $2.84 (saving nearly 20 cents over the bundle price!). If you want to read them in order, be sure to save A Game of Chance for last, whichever bundle you pick up.

Mackenzie's Mountain
Mary Elizabeth Potter is a self-appointed spinster with no illusions about love. When she meets Wolf Mackenzie, a man with a chip on his shoulder the size of Wyoming, she sets out to convince the whole town he's a man worth loving. But Wolf's not sure he's for the taming of Wolf Mackenzie.

Mackenzie's Mission
Night Wing—the revolutionary test plane with a top secret weapons system—is Colonel Joe "Breed" Mackenzie's number one priority—and weapons expert Caroline Evans his number one distraction. When someone on the inside sabotages Night Wing, Caroline's late hours and expertise come under suspicion, forcing Joe to choose between allegiance to his country…and love for his prime suspect.

Mackenzie's Pleasure
Navy SEAL Zane Mackenzie was a pro. No mission had ever gotten the better of him—until now. Saving the ambassador's gorgeous daughter, Barrie Lovejoy, had been textbook—except for their desperate night of passion. And though his job as a soldier had ended with her freedom, his duties as a husband had only just begun. For he would sooner die than let the enemy harm the mother of his child.

Mackenzie's Magic
The final chapter of Linda Howard's beloved Mackenzie family saga! Meet Maris Mackenzie-- and the sexy stranger she woke up to find in her bed! Unfortunately, she had no memory of Alex MacNeil, the previous day... or the prize Thoroughbred she'd apparently stolen...

A Game of Chance
Undercover agent Chance Mackenzie knew that the best way to capture an elusive terrorist was to use the man's daughter as bait, so he seduced Sunny Miller and set out to discover her father's whereabouts. Sunny's own innocence was questionable, and gaining her trust was nearly impossible. And even with all his experience and training, Chance found it difficult to overlook her beauty. However, Chance soon realized that Sunny wasn't running from him - she was running for her life, and she needed Chance's protection. But keeping Sunny safe would involve telling her the truth . . .

If you are a fan of Sam Landstrom's MetaGame (newly released edition, $3.99), be sure to check out his new Kindle App series, Wizard's Choice (A Text-Based Adventure for Kindle), priced at 99 cents per adventure.

Wizard's Choice Volume 1
Fortune and glory or death? Your decisions make the difference in Wizard's Choice, a text-based adventure for Kindle.

Stay alive, manage your spell power, find treasure, and smite evil. Wizard's Choice is an adventure that will engross you in a storyline while allowing you to make the decisions that will determine your fate. Decisions you make early in the game will affect what happens to you and the choices you get to make later in the game.

Wizards Choice will track your health, manna, gold, and morale, so you should take care to manage each well. Your score and rank will be shown at the end, and you can replay as many times as you like to try and improve your rank and score.

So what will it be? Glory? Fortune? Death? (two out of three, perhaps?) Try making the Wizard's Choice today!

Wizard's Choice Volume 2
Ring City conspires against you, or so it seems. Who can you trust? And will you be able to survive long enough to get your vengeance? The answers are up to you in the second installment of the Wizard's Choice text-based adventure books.

Wizard's Choice Volume 2 is a book that puts you in the boots of a wizard in a medieval fantasy setting. Stay alive, manage your spell power, find treasure, and smite evil. Wizard's Choice volume 2 continues the adventure you began in Volume 1. The decisions you make early in the game still affect what happens to you and the choices you get to make later in the game.

Wizard's Choice will track your health, manna, gold, and morale, so you should take care to manage each well. Your score and rank will be shown at the end, and you can replay as many times as you like to try and improve your rank and score.

So how did glory, fortune and death work out for you last time? (Maybe you'd rather skip the death part this time around?) Continue making the Wizard's Choice today with Volume 2 and see where you can take the story!

Wizard's Choice Volume 3
Fortune and glory or death? Your decisions make the difference in the Version 3 climax of Wizard's Choice, a text-based adventure for Kindle.

Wizard's Choice is an interactive book series that puts you in the boots of a wizard in a medieval fantasy setting, and in this installment, an insidious force has infiltrated Ring City and you have caught its attention. What is the nature of this evil and how can you hope to prevail when even the city's greatest heroes fall before this dark power? Big-time evil smiting in this episode... And something a little unexpected!

Make the decisions that will determine your fate. Decisions you make early in the game will affect what happens to you and the choices you get to make later in the game. Wizard's Choice will track your health, manna, gold, and morale, so you should take care to manage each well. Your score and rank will be shown at the end, and you can replay as many times as you like to try and improve your rank and score.

Okay. Enough with the Glory and Fortune stuff. You'll be lucky to escape death in this, the third and final chapter of the Wizard's Choice adventure!

Today's Deals

Eat That Frog!: 21 Great Ways to Stop Procrastinating and Get More Done in Less Time ($0.99), by Brian Tracy, is today's Kindle Deal of the Day.

Book Description
Using "eat that frog" as a metaphor for tackling the day's most challenging task, Tracy shows readers how to zero in on these critical tasks and organize their time. He details 21 practical, doable steps to stop the procrastination treadmill and get more of the important tasks done.

Rogue Forces ($1.54 / £0.99 UK), by Dale Brown, is the Kindle Deal of the day for those in the UK (the US edition is $8.99). It's a great deal on the book (I managed to snag a bonus edition for $2 in the summer, when it was available for those of us in the US).

Book Description
Newly inaugurated president Joseph Gardner has followed through on his pledge to pull American forces out of Iraq. But the region has quickly re-emerged as a hot zone, as Kurdish nationalist attacks have led the Republic of Turkey to invade northern Iraq.

Reluctant to recommit U.S. troops, the commander-in-chief turns to former president Kevin Martindale and retired Air Force Lieutenant-General Patrick McLanahan, who have left government behind for the lucrative world of military contracting. Their private firm, Scion Aviation International, is suddenly the only credible armed force in the region capable of blunting the Turks' advances. America's most lethal military contractor has become more powerful than anyone anticipated—too powerful for even the President to control.

Now Patrick McLanahan is going rogue, determined to take the fight directly to the Turks, and no one is going to stop him. But where does his loyalty ultimately lie: with his country, his commander-in-chief, his fellow warriors . . . or with his company's shareholders?

Immanuel's Veins ($3.40 Kindle, B&N), by Ted Dekker, is the Nook Daily Find, price matched on Kindle.

Book Description
This story is for everyone--but not everyone is for this story.

It is a dangerous tale of times past. A love story full of deep seduction. A story of terrible longing and bold sacrifice.

Then as now, evil begins its courtship cloaked in light. And the heart embraces what it should flee. Forgetting it once had a truer lover.

With a kiss, evil will ravage body, soul, and mind. Yet there remains hope, because the heart knows no bounds.

Love will prove greater than lust. Sacrifice will overcome seduction. And blood will flow.

Because the battle for the heart is always violently opposed. For those desperate to drink deep from this fountain of life, enter.

But remember, not everyone is for this story.

Today's backlist/indie free books on Kindle (not likely to be free for long):

• The Nightmare Within , by Glen Krisch, Kealan Patrick Burke (Illustrator)
• ONE SMALL VICTORY, by Maryann Miller (her The Wisdom of Ages - A Short Story Collection is also free in the Middle East only)
• Remaindered - A Top Suspense Short Story, by Lee Goldberg
• Of Noble Birth, by Brenda Novak
• Barefoot Pirate and Remalna's Children, by Sherwood Smith
• Spell Circles, by Simon Kewin
• Twisted Tales of Terror, by S.A Gambino, Stephanie Kincaid

Free Audiobook - Abby Cooper: Psychic Eye

You can get a free audiobook version of Abby Cooper: Psychic Eye ($7.99 Kindle), the first in Victoria Laurie's Psychic Eye Mystery series, over on Audible (likely geo restricted to those in the US and using a linked Amazon account).

Book Description
In Royal Oak, a suburb of Detroit, Abby Cooper lives a life that's kind of like vanilla ice cream - good enough, but a little bland. Her work as a P.I. - Psychic Intuitive - can be rewarding, but she feels like she's missing out on something. Now she's getting what she wished for - when a client winds up dead and the clues start pointing in Abby's direction. Turns out she knows too much about the murder for her own good ... and the lead investigator for the case is the gorgeous blind date she just met.

Get the free audiobook from Audible.

Free Book - Near to the Heart of God (K/N/E)

Update: 1/3/12 Now free from ChristianBook.

Near to the Heart of God: Meditations on 366 Best-Loved Hymns, by Robert J. Morgan, is free in the Kindle store and from Barnes & Noble, courtesy of Christian publisher Revell I only expect it to be free for the day and it might pop up late in the day at Sony or ChristianBook, but I would not count on it.

Book Description
The great hymns of the faith are not only meaningful songs we love to sing--they teach us about God and ourselves. They are miniature Bible studies that lead us effortlessly toward worship, testimony, exhortation, prayer, and praise. They clear our minds, soothe our nerves, verbalize our worship, summarize our faith, and sing our great Redeemer's praise.
In Near to the Heart of God, bestselling author Robert J. Morgan has gathered 366 hymns, including favorites such as "Amazing Grace" and "Rock of Ages," as well as classic, lesser-known gems such as "In the Garden" and "Teach Me to Pray." Each devotional contains an opening story about the hymn or its writer, the lyrics to the hymn, and a closing Scripture. An index of hymn titles and first lines is included so you can find your favorites easily.

Perfect for any music lover, Near to the Heart of God is a unique yearlong journey into the songbook of praise that has defined our worship for centuries.

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

Free Book - Death Tidies Up (K/N)

Death Tidies Up, the second Charlotte LaRue title by Barbara Colley, is free in the Kindle store and from Barnes & Noble. For those that want to start from the beginning, Maid for Murder is only $3.83 (and it looks like the series is under $5/volume); from the Publisher Weekly review, the first title is much stronger (and so, I suppose, more worth paying for) than second.

Book Description
Between running her maid service (the successful Maid-for-a-Day) and fretting about her upcoming birthday (the dreaded 6-0), Charlotte LaRue doesn't have much time for gossip. But New Orleans's latest dust-up is hard to ignore--especially since it involves Marian Hebert, one of Charlotte's new clients. Turns out Marian's now-deceased husband once worked for his best friend Drew Bergeron's real-estate agency--and when the business deal soured, so did the friendship. The whole sordid affair came to an unfortunate end when Drew died in a plane crash--and Bill Hebert was killed in what some people insist on calling an accident. Others are convinced it was murder.

Pretty juicy stuff, right? Charlotte doesn't think so. She's trying her best to forget all the rumors--she has more important things to worry about these days. Like vacuuming, window-washing. . .and her new job at the old Devilier house. The gorgeous historic home is being transformed into luxury apartments, and Maid-for-a-Day is in charge of the cleanup. Should be easy enough, Charlotte thinks--until she finds a barely-cold corpse in one of the closets.

The police are sure the dead man is Drew Bergeron. Funny, considering Drew supposedly died years ago--and Charlotte distinctly remembers attending his funeral. Talk about messy. Suddenly all that gossip about the Heberts and Bergerons seems incredibly timely--and Charlotte wishes she'd listened just a little bit closer. . .

With old rivalries flaring--and past secrets suddenly back in the present--Charlotte has a feeling this job will involve some real dirty work. Good thing she has a knack for cleaning up crimes. . .

Get the free ebook from Barnes & Noble.

Free Book - Haint Misbehavin (K)

Haint Misbehavin, by Maureen Hardegree, is a repeat freebie in the Kindle store, courtesy of Bell Bridge Books.

Book Description
The start of a fun middle-grade series, The Ghost Handlers, follows Heather Tildy, an Atlanta teen with a troublesome habit of attracting ghosts. Middle-child Heather has enough to worry about with sisters, boys and school. Now that a trouble-making girl from the 1800's is poking her nose in Heather's business, her life has taken a supernatural turn for the worse! Before her life can get better, she has to figure out how to help the ghost move on.

Debut author Hardegree is a veteran short-story author for the well-known MOSSY CREEK HOMETOWN series. She plans multiple titles in this warm and funny YA series.

Free Book - Heir To The Everlasting (K)

Heir To The Everlasting, by Janice Daugharty, is a repeat freebie in the Kindle store, courtesy of Bell Bridge Books.

Book Description
The Pulitzer-nominated author of EARL IN THE YELLOW SHIRT turns her acclaimed talents to an epic story of three generations of Southern women at Big Eddy, the home place they love.

HEIR TO THE EVERLASTING begins at the turn of the last century with the beautiful, determined Pinkie Alexander, strong-willed matron of the Alexander clan. Come Hell or the high water of the south Georgia river which gave Big Eddy its name, Pinkie will ensure the survival of her family on their beloved land--a place where the family cemetery guards the spirit of the past, and where secrets, as well as the dearly departed, are buried. Follow the lives, loves, mysteries, deadly feuds and steely courage of the Alexander women through a full century of joys and sorrows. HEIR TO THE EVERLASTING showcases the culture, language and daily travails of their time and place with vivid storytelling skills and Janice Daugharty's love for "the working words."