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Saturday, January 21, 2012

Today's Deals

Bound ($1.99), by Antonya Nelson, is today's Kindle Deal of the Day.
Book Description
Antonya Nelson is known for her razor-sharp depictions of contemporary family life in all of its sometimes sad, sometimes hilarious complexity. Her latest novel has roots in her own youth in Wichita, in the neighborhood stalked by the serial killer known as BTK (Bind, Torture, and Kill). A story of wayward love and lost memory, of public and private lives twisting out of control, Bound is Nelson's most accomplished and emotionally riveting work.

Catherine and Oliver, young wife and older entrepreneurial husband, are negotiating their difference in age and a plethora of well-concealed secrets. Oliver, now in his sixties, is a serial adulterer and has just fallen giddily in love yet again. Catherine, seemingly placid and content, has ghosts of a past she scarcely remembers. When Catherine's long-forgotten high school friend dies and leaves Catherine the guardian of her teenage daughter, that past comes rushing back. As Oliver manages his new love, and Catherine her new charge and darker past, local news reports turn up the volume on a serial killer who has reappeared after years of quiet. In a time of hauntings and new revelations, Nelson's characters grapple with their public and private obligations, continually choosing between the suppression or indulgence of wild desires. Which way they turn, and what balance they find, may only be determined by those who love them most.

The Skeleton in the Closet ($1.53 / £0.99 UK), by AUTHOR, is the Kindle Deal of the day for those in the UK (the US edition is $7.99).
Book Description
Ignorance is bliss… especially when it comes to murder!

Ever since the death of his father, Fellworth Dolphin has slaved away as a waiter to support his miserly, cold-hearted mother. So when she suddenly dies Fellworth is shocked to discover she has left him a fortune. Somewhat confused, Fell teams up with a girl from work, Maggie, to investigate the source of the riches. But what they find instead is a closet full of skeletons…

Is it really possible Fell’s father was involved in a decades-old train robbery? And who is the mysterious woman in the portrait hidden in his mother’s wardrobe? As Fell and Maggie poke around the village for answers they find themselves on a surprise-filled path to danger and adventure – but all this good fortune could come to a sudden end if they don’t stay one step ahead of a cunning killer…

The Noticer ($3.60 Kindle, B&N), by Andy Andrews, is the Nook Daily Find, price matched on Kindle. I reviewed this book when in released in 2009.
Book Description
A new story of common wisdom from the best-selling author of The Traveler's Gift.

Orange Beach, Alabama, is a simple town filled with simple people. But like all humans on the planet, the good folks of Orange Beach have their share of problems-marriages teetering on the brink of divorce, young adults giving up on life, business people on the verge of bankruptcy, as well as the many other obstacles that life seems to dish out to the masses.

Fortunately, when things look the darkest, a mysterious man named Jones has a miraculous way of showing up. An elderly man with white hair, of indiscriminate age and race, wearing blue jeans, a white T-shirt and leather flip flops carrying a battered old suitcase, Jones is a unique soul. Communicating what he calls "a little perspective," he explains that he has been given a gift of noticing things that others miss. "Your time on this earth is a gift to be used wisely," he says. "Don't squander your words or your thoughts. Consider even the simplest action you take, for your lives matter beyond measure…and they matter forever."

Jones speaks to that part in everyone that is yearning to understand why things happen and what we can do about it.

Like The Traveler's Gift, The Noticer is a unique narrative blend of fiction, allegory, and inspiration in which gifted storyteller Andy Andrews helps us see how becoming a "noticer" just might change a person's life forever.
Today's backlist/indie free books on Kindle (not likely to be free for long):
** MJ Rose has a deal for those who pre-order her upcoming novel The Book of Lost Fragrances: if you email her a scanned copy of the pre-order invoice, she'll send you a sample of Âmes Sœurs, a fragrance "re-created" by Frederick Bouchardy, with "hints of Frankincense, Myrrh, Orange Blossom and Jasmine. Its smoky uncommon finish suggests the past and the future, and lost souls reunited." Offer ends March 1 and the samples will be mailed out by March 13 (US and Canada only; quantities limited).

Free Book - The Nail Knot (K/N/E)

Update: 1/23/12 Now free from Sony.

The Nail Knot, the first title in John Galligan's Fly Fishing Mysteries series, is free in the Kindle store and from Barnes & Noble. The third and fourth titles (The Clinch Knot and The Wind Knot) have been free in the last few months, so to complete this series, you may only need to purchase (or borrow from the KLL) the second, The Blood Knot. Those who can use the EPUB version can get an even better deal on this one from from Kobo by using one of the coupon codes in the right sidebar.
Book Description
The going has gotten tough, and Ned “Dog” Oglivie has gone fishing. Fly fishing. For trout. All across America. At least until his money runs out . . .

Driven by tragedy to turn his back on human society, the Dog is on a quest to fish himself into oblivion. And he’s nearly made it. Playing the back highways of America in a wounded old RV . . . provisioned with a supply of peanut butter sandwiches, bad cigars, and vodka-Tang . . . armed with a loaded pistol (for when the money runs out) . . . the Dog is nearly at the end of his tether when he rolls into little Black Earth, Wisconsin, intending to fish the yellow sally stonefly hatch . . . and finds a body instead.

Who killed Jake Jacobs, fellow fly fisher and late-coming agitator who was trying to save Black Earth Creek? Why was Jacobs disfigured in such a peculiar way? Why does the Dog give a damn? Can he rekindle his faith and interest in humankind? By caring about the death of a stranger, can the Dog recover his own life? Can he untie The Nail Knot?
Get the free ebook from Barnes & Noble.
Get the free ebook from Sony.

Free Book - A Child al Confino (K/N/E)

Update: 1/23/12 Now free from Sony.

A Child al Confino: The True Story of a Jewish Boy and His Mother in Mussolini's Italy, by Eric Lamet, is a repeat freebie in the Kindle store and from Barnes & Noble.
Book Description
Eric Lamet was only seven years old when the Nazis invaded Vienna—and changed his life and the lives of all European Jews forever. Five days after Hitler marched in, Eric Lamet and his parents fled for their lives. Unable to remain together, the family split—he and his mother hid out in Italy, while his father returned to his native Poland and an even darker fate.

In this remarkable feat of memory and imagination, Lamet recreates the Italy he knew from the perspective of the scared and lonely child he once was. We not only see the hardships and terrors faced by foreign Jews in Fascist Italy, but also the friends Eric makes and his mother's valiant efforts to make a home for him.

In a style as original as his story, the author vividly recalls a terrible time yet imbues his recollections with humor, humanity, and wit. With a rare compassion toward friend and foe alike, little Eric Lamet shows us that there is light to be found in the darkest places—and that we should remember the good as well as the bad.
Get the free ebook from Barnes & Noble.
Get the free ebook from Sony.

Free Book - Play to Your Team's Strengths (K/N/E)

Update: 1/23/12 Now free from Sony.

Play to Your Team's Strengths: The Manager's Guide to Boosting Innovation, Productivity, and Profitability, by JoAnn Warcholic Ashman, is free in the Kindle store and from Barnes & Noble.
Book Description
Why is it a struggle for managers to get their staff to meet or exceed their goals? The answer is simple: employees are working at jobs that are not based on their individual strengths. JoAnn Warcholic Ashman and Susan Shelly, seasoned management consultants, show managers how to tap into the true potential of their staff and create the workplace that keeps them challenged and working at peak efficiency by using the latest strength-based management principles and techniques.
Get the free ebook from Barnes & Noble.
Get the free ebook from Sony.

Free Book - Kidz Bop: Be a Pop Star! (K/N/E)

Update: 1/23/12 Now free from Sony.

Kidz Bop: Be a Pop Star!, by Kimberly Potts, is a repeat freebie in the Kindle store and from Barnes & Noble.
Book Description
Everything kids need to know to make their rock star dreams come true! From writing cool songs and getting a group together to putting on shows and shooting music videos, this is all aspiring rockers need to take the world by stage--just like the Kidz Bop kids do!

Plus! As an added bonus, these enthusiastic song lovers will be able to participate online with Kidz Bop and vote on storylines, upload original videos for e-book inclusion, and access special bonus content
Get the free ebook from Barnes & Noble.
Get the free ebook from Sony.

Friday, January 20, 2012

Free Audiobook - You Are Not Your Brain

The audiobook edition of You Are Not Your Brain: The 4-Step Solution for Changing Bad Habits, Ending Unhealthy Thinking, and Taking Control of Your Life ($12.99 Kindle), by Jeffrey Schwartz MD and Rebecca Gladding MD, narrated by Mel Foster, is free from Tantor Audio.

Tantor is having a 50% off, New Year, New You sale that you may also want to check out, while you are there.
Book Description
Two neuroscience experts explain how their 4-Step Method can help break destructive thoughts and actions and change bad habits for good.

A leading neuroplasticity researcher and the coauthor of the groundbreaking books Brain Lock and The Mind and the Brain, Jeffrey M. Schwartz has spent his career studying the structure and neuronal firing patterns of the human brain. He pioneered the first mindfulness-based treatment program for people suffering from OCD, teaching patients how to achieve long-term relief from their compulsions.

For the past six years, Schwartz has worked with psychiatrist Rebecca Gladding to refine a program that successfully explains how the brain works and why we often feel besieged by bad brain wiring. Just like with the compulsions of OCD patients, they discovered that bad habits, social anxieties, self-deprecating thoughts, and compulsive overindulgence are all rooted in overactive brain circuits. The key to making life changes that you want-to make your brain work for you-is to consciously choose to starve" these circuits of focused attention, thereby decreasing their influence and strength.

As evidenced by the huge success of Schwartz's previous books, as well as Daniel Amen's Change Your Brain, Change Your Life, and Norman Doidge's The Brain That Changes Itself, there is a large audience interested in harnessing the brain's untapped potential, yearning for a step-by-step, scientifically grounded and clinically proven approach. In fact, readers of Brain Lock wrote to the authors in record numbers asking for such a book. In You Are Not Your Brain, Schwartz and Gladding carefully outline their program, showing readers how to identify negative brain impulses, channel them through the power of focused attention, and ultimately lead more fulfilling and empowered lives.
Get the free audiobook from Tantor Audio.

Free Audiobook - METAtropolis: Cascadia

A special audiobook edition of METAtropolis: Cascadia (regulary $14.95 Audible), by Jay Lake, Mary Robinette Kowal, Elizabeth Bear and Ken Scholes, is free from Audible.

Audible is also having a $7.95 sale for subscribers, with the theme of "Wishes Granted". There are 100 titles in the sale and thru 3PM, Jan 21, you can get one or all of them for $7.95 apiece (about half what they usually cost if you use credits). A couple of the more interesting titles I spotted: One Second After, by William R. Forstchen, and American Gods: The Tenth Anniversary Edition (A Full Cast Production), by Neil Gaiman, narrated by Dennis Boutsikaris, Daniel Oreskes, Ron McLarty and Sarah Jones.

Book Description
This provocative sequel to the Hugo and Audie Award nominated METAtropolis features interconnected stories by today's top writers of speculative fiction - performed by a galaxy of Star Trek stars.

As the mid-20th century approaches, the Pacific Northwest has been transformed - politically, economically, and ecologically - into the new reality of Cascadia. Conspiracies and secrets threaten the tenuous threads of society. The End of Days seems nearer than ever. And the legend of the mysterious Tygre Tygre looms large.

METAtropolis: Cascadia is the creation of Hugo and World Fantasy Award nominee Jay Lake; Mary Robinette Kowal, winner of the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer; New York Times best-selling author Tobias S. Buckell; Hugo Award winner Elizabeth Bear; Aurora Award winner Karl Schroeder; and critically acclaimed author Ken Scholes. The team of narrators is any Star Trek fan's dream: Rene Auberjonois ("Odo"); Kate Mulgrew ("Capt. Kathryn Janeway"); Wil Wheaton ("Wesley Crusher"); Gates McFadden ("Dr. Beverly Crusher"); Jonathan Frakes ("Cmdr. William Riker"); and LeVar Burton ("Geordi La Forge"). Jay Lake, who also served as Project Editor, introduces this stunning sequel, written and produced exclusively for digital audio.
Get the free audiobook from Audible.

Free Book - From the Ashes (K/N/E)

Update: 1/23/12 Now free from Sony.

From the Ashes (US/UK), by Jeremy Burns, is free in the Kindle store and from Barnes & Noble. The publisher, Fiction Studio, has another 13 titles on sale right now for $1.99 or less (Kindle, B&N), ten of which are apparently in my library, already!

This one doesn't have any reviews yet at Amazon, but I'd definitely ignore the reviews on B&N, as they seem to all be complaints by those who can't figure out how to find the Free Friday book blog using their Nook.
Book Description
A DEADLY CONSPIRACY

Graduate students Jonathan and Michael Rickner, sons of eminent archeologist Sir William Rickner, are no strangers to historical mysteries and archeological adventures. But when Michael is discovered dead in his Washington, D.C. apartment, Jon refuses to believe the official ruling of suicide. Digging deeper into his brother’s work, he discovers evidence that Michael was murdered to keep his dissertation research buried.

A DEVASTATING NATIONAL SECRET

Joined by Michael’s fiancée Mara Ellison, Jon travels to New York where he uncovers the threads of a deadly Depression-era conspiracy – one entangling the Hoover Administration, the Rockefellers, and the rise of Nazi Germany – and the elite cadre of assassins that still guard its unspeakable secret.

THE LABYRINTHINE PATH TO THE TRUTH

Finding themselves in the crosshairs of the same men who killed Michael, Jon and Mara must navigate a complex web of historical cover-ups and modern-day subterfuge, outwitting and outrunning their all-powerful pursuers as they race through the monuments and museums of Manhattan in a labyrinthine treasure hunt to discover the last secret of John D. Rockefeller, Jr., before their enemies can bury the truth – and them – forever.
Get the free ebook from Barnes & Noble.
Get the free ebook from Sony.

Free Game - Hamster Habitat (K)

Amazon has released Hamster Habitat, a new, free game for eInk Kindles.
Game Description
Hamster Habitat is an engaging path-building puzzle game.

Can you bring all your hamsters together?

In Hamster Habitat, your goal is to connect all of the pieces in the hamster cage using a limited supply of hamster tubes. You'll need to work around obstacles and plan carefully to solve puzzles of three different difficulty levels. For bonus points, find the path that not only unites the hamsters but rewards them with up to three treats!

Hamster Habitat gives you more than 50 puzzles to solve in any order, and includes a full tutorial, an infinite undo feature to make it easy to change your mind, and a Show Solution feature for those puzzles you just can't figure out. Hamster Habitat is fun for puzzle lovers of all ages.

Free Book - Your Dream Wedding on a Budget (K/N/E)

Update: 1/23/12 Now free from Sony.

It took a month, but Your Dream Wedding on a Budget ($2.39 Kindle), a Workman Short (45 pages) by Mindy Weiss, is now free in the Kindle store, joining Barnes & Noble and Kobo.
Book Description
No one knows how to plan a wedding like Mindy Weiss, the “mega-star wedding planner” (People magazine) whose wide-ranging clientele includes actors, artists, and musicians. In The Wedding Book, she created the ultimate all-in-one guide; from that, she’s now culled an invaluable digest on how to plan your very best wedding possible while adhering to a budget. Here’s a general wedding budget overview: an at-a-glance chart of what traditionally consumes most of the budget, and what should cost the least. Guidelines to figure out who’s paying for what. The ten best ways to cut costs, beginning with trimming the guest list, and the five best splurges—the kind of things that make a big difference for little cost. Dozens of tips throughout show how to save money on food, drinks, flowers, photography, music, the wedding dress, and more—guaranteeing that you’ll not only wind up with a dream wedding, but also with the satisfaction of knowing it was a smart wedding. About this title: Workman Shorts is a lively line of subject-specific e-books curated from our library of trusted books and authors.
Get the free ebook from Barnes & Noble.
Get the free ebook from Kobo.
Get the free ebook from Sony.

Today's Deals

New coupon codes from Kobo: jan20us20 for 20% off a non-Agency title. You should be able to use the usual country code substitutions to get five total with this discount.

If you are a big comics fan, you may be interested in the 1/2 sale for Bone or the 99 cent Uncanny X-Force sale over at Comixology. Looks like today is the final day and you can get issue #1 completely free as a sample. It does require an account and you'll need the Comixology Comics app to read them on your Kindle Fire or an Android/iThing device. You' want to check their Free Comics page, too, since they add a few new ones each week.

You can get a free MP3 download of Loga Ramin Torkian's Your Bewitching Eyes (Chashme Jadu), courtesy of Six Degree Records. You'll need to give them an email address to get the link sent (and will be subscribed to their newsletter).

EPUB formats now available for the first four free books, the fifth is now free on Kindle and the sixth is one that has returned to the Kindle store (free), after disappearing abruptly on the first day it was available.

Alone: The Classic Polar Adventure ($1.99), by Richard E. Byrd, is today's Kindle Deal of the Day.
Book Description
When Admiral Richard E. Byrd set out on his second Antarctic expedition in 1934, he was already an international hero for having piloted the first flights over the North and South Poles. His plan for this latest adventure was to spend six months alone near the bottom of the world, gathering weather data and indulging his desire “to taste peace and quiet long enough to know how good they really are.” But early on things went terribly wrong. Isolated in the pervasive polar night with no hope of release until spring, Byrd began suffering inexplicable symptoms of mental and physical illness. By the time he discovered that carbon monoxide from a defective stovepipe was poisoning him, Byrd was already engaged in a monumental struggle to save his life and preserve his sanity.

When Alone was first published in 1938, it became an enormous bestseller. This edition keeps alive Byrd’s unforgettable narrative for new generations of readers.

The Second Book of General Ignorance: Everything You Think You Know Is (Still) Wrong ($1.52 / £0.99 UK), by John Lloyd and John Mitchinson, is the Kindle Deal of the day for those in the UK (the US edition is $11.99).
Book Description
From the brains behind The Book of General Ignorance comes another wonderful collection of the most outrageous, fascinating, and mind-bending facts, taking on the hugely popular form of the first book in the internationally bestselling series. The original Book of General Ignorance was published in 2006. It has since been translated into twenty-six languages and sold over 1.2 million copies.

Now, just when you thought that it was safe to start showing off again, John Lloyd and John Mitchinson are back with another busload of mistakes and misunderstandings. Here is a new collection of simple, perfectly obvious questions you'll be quite certain you know the answers to. Whether it's history, science, sports, geography, literature, language, medicine, the classics, or common wisdom, you'll be astonished to discover that everything you thought you knew is still hopelessly wrong.

For example, do you know who made the first airplane flight? How many legs does an octopus have? How much water should you drink every day? What is the chance of tossing a coin and it landing on heads? What happens if you leave a tooth in a glass of Coke overnight? What is house dust mostly made from? What was the first dishwasher built to do? What color are oranges? Who in the world is most likely to kill you?

Whatever your answers to the questions above, you can be sure that everything you think you know is wrong. The Second Book of General Ignorance is the essential text for everyone who knows they don't know everything, and an ideal stick with which to beat people who think they do.

Buried Sins ($3.79 Kindle; $1.99 B&N), by Marta Perry, is the Nook Daily Find.
Book Description
WANTED: DEAD OR ALIVE

Had her brand-new husband been involved in something shady? Before Caroline Hampton could confront him, he was killed in a car crash...or so it was claimed. Unsettling incidents--escalating in dange--warned her he could be very much alive. And so Caroline fled for the safety of her sisters' Amish country inn. But someone who suspected her--handsome police chief Zachary Burkhalter--was waiting for Caroline. Waiting for her to slip up. And watching her every move. Daring her to trust him with all of the truth.
Today's backlist/indie free books on Kindle (not likely to be free for long):

Free Book - John F. Kennedy (K)

John F. Kennedy, A Life, by The Editors of New Word City, is free in the Kindle store.
Book Description
John F. Kennedy’s assassination has been the subject of public and cultural fascination (a film by Oliver Stone, a novel by Stephen King, endless conspiracy theories) for nearly 50 years. It’s time, this brief biography argues, to give equal consideration to Kennedy’s life.

Free Book - The Iron Duke (K)

The Iron Duke, a short novel by L. Ron Hubbard, is free in the Kindle store. This is a reprint edition from Galaxy Press' Stories from the Golden Age project.
Book Description
Blacky Lee is a man wanted by nearly every government in Europe, who happens to be the spitting image of a leader in the Balkan kingdom of Aldoria. With nowhere else to hide, the enterprising Lee flees to Aldoria and attempts to make the most of his mistaken identity in a startling tale of intrigue, humor and romance.

Thursday, January 19, 2012

Five Free Books from New Word City (K)

New Word City has five new books free today (which are likely only to be free today):
  1. What You Can Learn from Sam Walton
  2. In Search of the Last Czar, by Joshua Hammer
  3. Salem 1692: What Devil's Made Them Do It?, by Bruce Watson
  4. Clearing the Mind for Creativity, by John Kao
  5. Lessons of a Brand Manager, by Michael F. Golden

Today's Deals

Additional formats on these free books are now available (and they are now free for US Kindle customers):

Breathless ($0.99), by Jessica Warman, is today's Kindle Deal of the Day.
Book Description
When Katie Kitrell is shipped off to boarding school by her distant father and overbearing mother, it doesn't take her long to become part of the It Crowd. She's smart, she's cute, and she's an Olympic-bound swimmer who has a first class ticket to any Ivy League school of her choice. But what her new friends, roommate, and boyfriend don't know is that Katie is swimming away from her past, and from the schizophrenic older brother, Will, who won't let her go. As Katie's star rises, her brother descends deeper into insanity. And when he does the unthinkable, it's all Katie can do to keep her head above water.

The AmazonCrossing translation of Empire of Dreams ($1.82 / £0.99 UK), by AUTHOR, is the Kindle Deal of the day for those in the UK (the US edition is $1.69!).
Book Description
An intriguing and hypnotizing work of postmodern fiction from groundbreaking Hispanic-American writer Giannina Braschi, Empire of Dreams chronicles a decade-long love affair with 1980s New York and all its contradictions. The city’s perversions and passions, power and marginality, grandeur and squalor come vibrantly to life in each of the book’s three sections. “Book of Clowns and Buffoons” imagines life in the city as a carnival-style spectacle that ultimately ends in chaos. Inspired by the Puerto Rican Day parade, a bucolic celebration reclaims the city in “Pastoral.” And “The Intimate Diary of Solitude” spoofs the magical realism of Latin American novelists such as Gabriel Garcia Marquez with its tale of aspiring actress-writer Mariquita Samper, who records the days of her increasingly outlandish life in a mystical diary. Wildly imaginative, rich and complex, Empire of Dreams has garnered glowing praise for being “an ‘in-your-face assertion’ of the vitality of Latino culture in the US” (New York Daily News).

American Gods (The Tenth Anniversary Edition) ($1.99 Kindle, B&N), by Neil Gaiman, is the Nook Daily Find, price matched on Kindle. If you haven't read this one or have been waiting to replace your dog-eared copy, I highly recommend you snatch this up while it is discounted (be careful searching from your device, as there is still the original $9.99 edition and a $14.99 Tenth Anniversary edition in the Kindle store that contains additional enhanced Audio of the author reading the Introduction, Note on Text, Interview with Jesus and How Dare You and various excerpts throughout, which are only accessible on an iThing). Even if you already have a digital copy, you may want to get this one, as well, as it is about 12,000 words longer than the first published edition, restoring the text to include the sections Gaiman cut sole due to length considerations the first time around. You also get a couple of intro/note pages up front, and in the back an appendix, interview, and reading group discussion questions in this edition.
Book Description
First published in 2001, American Gods became an instant classic—an intellectual and artistic benchmark from the multiple-award-winning master of innovative fiction, Neil Gaiman. Now discover the mystery and magic of American Gods in this tenth anniversary edition. Newly updated and expanded with the author’s preferred text, this commemorative volume is a true celebration of a modern masterpiece by the one, the only, Neil Gaiman.

A storm is coming . . .

Locked behind bars for three years, Shadow did his time, quietly waiting for the magic day when he could return to Eagle Point, Indiana. A man no longer scared of what tomorrow might bring, all he wanted was to be with Laura, the wife he deeply loved, and start a new life.

But just days before his release, Laura and Shadow’s best friend are killed in an accident. With his life in pieces and nothing to keep him tethered, Shadow accepts a job from a beguiling stranger he meets on the way home, an enigmatic man who calls himself Mr. Wednesday. A trickster and rogue, Wednesday seems to know more about Shadow than Shadow does himself.

Life as Wednesday’s bodyguard, driver, and errand boy is far more interesting and dangerous than Shadow ever imagined—it is a job that takes him on a dark and strange road trip and introduces him to a host of eccentric characters whose fates are mysteriously intertwined with his own. Along the way Shadow will learn that the past never dies; that everyone, including his beloved Laura, harbors secrets; and that dreams, totems, legends, and myths are more real than we know. Ultimately, he will discover that beneath the placid surface of everyday life a storm is brewing—an epic war for the very soul of America—and that he is standing squarely in its path.

Relevant and prescient, American Gods has been lauded for its brilliant synthesis of “mystery, satire, sex, horror, and poetic prose” (Michael Dirda, Washington Post Book World) and as a modern phantasmagoria that “distills the essence of America” (Seattle Post-Intelligencer). It is, quite simply, an outstanding work of literary imagination that will endure for generations.

Today's free Android App is EasyMoney, by Handy Apps Inc, which normally sells for $9.95.
App Description
EasyMoney is a personal finance app that combines an expense tracker, a checkbook register, a budget manager, and a bills reminder. EasyMoney provides a rich, detailed window into your finances. A simple and intuitive data entry system is combined with a wealth of easily accessible financial information. Input your bills and never lose track of payments. Analyze how and where your money is being spent. Set spending limits on a variety of customizable categories.

Track Your Financial Fortunes
You'll track expenses quickly and easily with the money manager. Business expenses, personal expenses, travel expenses, and more all can be tracked rapidly. You can even track income and expenses for multiple accounts in multiple currencies. Income and expense categories are fully customizable for greater budgeting flexibility. Also, split transactions are supported for more detailed income and expense tracking.

Analyze the Present, Plan for the Future
Interactive reports and graphs let you analyze income, expenses, cash flow, and balance over various customizable date ranges. That kind of analysis can be invaluable to budgeting. With EasyMoney you can set monthly budgets on specific accounts and/or categories and monitor them via color-coded budget health bars. You can also export captured data as QIF and CSV files to desktop money managers such as Quicken.

Keep Your Records Backed Up and Secure
EasyMoney can be locked away from outsiders' eyes with a four-digit security PIN. You can back up your data to your SD card and automate the backup process so that it occurs daily.

Whether you're looking to make sense of your finances, or you just want to make sure you're never late with a payment, EasyMoney is an ideal financial tracking tool.

Free Book - Always the Wedding Planner, Never the Bride (K/N/E)

Update: 3/26/12 Repeat freebie in the Kindle store and from Barnes & Noble, ChristianBook.
Update: Also free from ChristianBook.
Update: Now free in the US Kindle store.

Always the Wedding Planner, Never the Bride (US/UK), by Sandra D. Bricker, is free for UK customers in the Kindle store and from Barnes & Noble, courtesy of Christian publisher Abingdon Press. It should be free for US Kindle customers by morning.
Book Description
As a wedding planner, you'd think she would have the perfect wedding experience...

Sherilyn Caine has left Chicago behind to marry Andrew Drummond IV, an Atlanta native with a family name that tops all the social registers. Landing the job as The Tanglewood's wedding planner is a piece of cake for someone with a Type A personality; she's the perfect fit for a wedding destination hotel known for its attention to even the tiniest details.

But when everything else is going along swimmingly, why are her own wedding plans drowning right before her eyes? One way or the other, Sherilyn is determined to make this wedding work-until the latest development threatens to call the whole thing off. Is it possible that Sherilyn is allergic to her fiance?
Get the free ebook from Barnes & Noble.
Get the free ebook from ChristianBook.

Free Book - Long Time Coming (K/N/E)

Update: Also free from ChristianBook.
Update: Now free in the US Kindle store.

Long Time Coming (US/UK), by Sandra D. Bricker, is free for UK customers in the Kindle store and from Barnes & Noble, courtesy of Christian publisher Abingdon Press. It should be free for US Kindle customers by morning.
Book Description
Faithful Christian Deidre Clark-Morris is a professional career-minded woman with a loving husband, but no children. Kenisha Smalls has lived in poverty all her life. She has three children by three different men and has just been diagnosed with inoperable cervical cancer. While the meeting between these two women appears accidental, it becomes their catalyst of hope. Neither woman expects the blessing that God has in store for her. While Deidre will guide Kenisha on the path to eternal life with Jesus Christ, Kenisha will teach Deidre how to stand strong against the hard-knocks of life.
Get the free ebook from Barnes & Noble.
Get the free ebook from ChristianBook.

Free Book - A Time to Love (K/N/E)

Update: 3/26/12 Repeat freebie in the Kindle store and from Barnes & Noble, ChristianBook.
Update: Also free from ChristianBook.
Update: Now free in the US Kindle store.
Update: Now free from Barnes & Noble

A Time to Love (US/UK), the first title in the Quilts of Lancaster County series by Barbara Cameron, is a repeat freebie for UK customers in the Kindle store, courtesy of Christian publisher Abingdon Press. It should be free for US Kindle customers by morning and is likely to be free from Barnes & Noble, as well.
Book Description
War correspondent Jennie King thinks she's just a temporary guest in her grandmother's Amish community while she recuperates from the devastating injuries sustained in a car bomb attack that changed her world. But when she meets Matthew Bontrager, the man she had a crush on as a teenager, she wonders if God has a new plan for her. Jennie has emotional and physical scars and though she feels she has come home to this man and this place, she's not sure she can bridge the difference between their worlds.
Get the free ebook from Barnes & Noble.
Get the free ebook from ChristianBook.

Free Book - Valeria's Cross (K/N/E)

Update: 3/26/12 Repeat freebie in the Kindle store and from Barnes & Noble.
Update: Also free from ChristianBook.
Update: Now free in the US Kindle store.
Update: Now free from Barnes & Noble

Valeria's Cross (US/UK), by Kathi Macias and Susan Wales, is a repeat freebie for UK customers in the Kindle store, courtesy of Christian publisher Abingdon Press. It should be free for US Kindle customers by morning and is likely to be free from Barnes & Noble, as well.
Book Description
In the 3rd century, pampered Roman princess Valeria falls in love with Mauritius, captain of the Theban Legion. She sends him off to battle, where he suffers under the schemes of a notorious pagan general with an ambition for power and a lust for Valeria. In a scene based on true events, the evil Galerius kills Mauritius and his entire legion for their Christian faith. And in a shocking turn of events, the grieving Valeria is forced to become Galerius' wife against her will. Never has a marriage been set up for such failure. Valeria loathes her new husband, but he seems to undergo a change of heart, adopting a child for her and giving her power and authority, and even love. She struggles with the commitment she knows she must keep, and the love she knows she will never find again.
Get the free ebook from Barnes & Noble.
Get the free ebook from ChristianBook.

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Four Free Books (K)

The four books below actually appear to be are self-published (turns out, they all use Bookmasters or one of it's aliases, such as AtlasBooks), but all four have managed to make their way onto Amazon's Limited Time Offers list (while the KDP/KLL freebies do not). The first is one that I received a few pages of for review (not enough that I'd actually write a review) and it's an interesting approach on a graphic novel (it's quite large to download and meant for viewing on the computer screen or a large tablet). I don't know that these four are significantly better (or worse) than the other free self-published titles flooding the Kindle library, just that it was interesting that they showed up where they did. They also won't end up in the KLL, from what I can tell, so if you want to try them free, grab them now.

STURGIS ROAD TRIP, by Shauna Beallie [note to author: you mixed first and third person in your bio; it really doesn't work]
Book Description
A group of rugged, hardcore bikers ride hard and fast to attend the biggest, baddest bike rally on earth. Driven by their shared passion for the open road, they effortlessly tear up th miles between themselves and their destination. Perfect weather, no delays, zero complications. Too bad this wasn't us. 100 pages - 400 full color illustrations. You WILL be entertained.

About the Author
Shauna Beallie has been married to an old-school biker for twenty years. She rode on the back of his bike and then on my own. She has been on many road trips and wanted to share some laughs and insights with like-minded individuals.

The Chaplain's Assistant: God, Country, and Vietnam, by J. Timothy Caldwell [note to author: I'd advise using a much lower list price, if you want to continue sales after your promotion; it appears this one garnered some good reviews while it was still "in print", before going all digital]
Book Description
Caldwell manages to capture the country, the war, and the people caught up in it in a way that is emotional, profane, sexy and heart-breaking. This is JT Caldwell's debut novel and is a next generation war memoir - one without battles, bullets or air strikes, but as grim and realistic as the war it documents. The Midwest Review called the book "solid and riveting reading," and it is a humor-laced novel that strikes a balance between the absurd and merciless effects of combat and their long-term impact on the soldiers who fight America's wars.

The Cyclops Conspiracy, by David Perry [note to author: no such thing as an "ex-Marine"; this one appears to have received some good reviews via NetGalley]
Book Description
Intrigue…Corruption…Manipulation

In this engaging thriller, David Perry demonstrates his skill as a master storyteller taking us behind the counter into the world of pharmacy. The Cyclops Conspiracy accelerates through an tense terrain toward an incredible finish.

As the story opens, pharmacist Jason Rodgers stands nose-to-nose with his tortured past following the untimely death of his mentor, Thomas Pettigrew. He is reunited with his former lover and Pettigrew’s daughter Christine. Troubled by the way Pettigrew died and Christine’s unsettling statements about her father, Rodgers pushes to know more. Their reunion initiates a cascade of apparently unrelated but fateful turn of events for Rodgers…an incredible job offer working for a mysterious millionaire…the lustful pursuits of a sexy physician…and the criminal activities of a corrupt pharmacist.

Christine and Jason forge a fragile alliance as they dance around their painful past. Teaming with Jason’s brother, the ex-marine [sic] and a sleazy private eye, the quartet uncovers hastily deposited clues left by the dead pharmacist peeling back the veil on corrupt insurance billing and an inescapable conclusion about how Thomas died.

But as Rodgers delves deeper, the realization that they are dealing with more than a case of fraud explodes to the surface. Expertly manipulated, he and his cohorts have been sucked into a dark and dangerous intrigue with terrifying, world-wide implications—and placed squarely in the crosshairs of a network for professional assassins.

Jason unearths the real reason behind his mentor’s murder and the ultimate cataclysmic purpose it intended to conceal. With the clock ticking down to a nail-biting climax, he races to stop the plot and expose the conspirators before he becomes their next victim…and before American history is irrevocably altered.

Awareness As the Ground of Being, by Alfred John Dalrymple [note to author: get some decent book covers created! No, seriously.... Also, you really, really need to spell check the synopsis before posting it....]
Book Description
In this universe one thing follows another. We relate to the speed of light, and say nothing can travel faster. Today...we know that two "entangled" bits of matter, although separated by vast distance, immediately co-respond to stimilus applied to one. Some say there is no message sent...the co-response is due to the "oneness" of reality. I believe message can be sent over vast distance immediately. This retains the separable nature of reality, and assures that man can have self-emanated choice...freewill. Time and distance are relative also, and primarily, to the immediacy of Consciousness. For centuries man has wrestled with questions about freewill and fate...and time. Now...with the entrance of "entanglement", we sense that reality has a "connectedness", as being carpet-like. So, we need to reconsider time and distance, and wonder why reality has laws allowing continuance of itself. In my book I suggest that time is Consciousness "becoming"...within necessary imperfectio.

Today's Deals

Kindle Fire Contest Update: The winners have been announced. If you are on this list, be sure you contact Scott or they'll have to draw someone else.
A big thanks to everyone who shared our event and books and with their friends. Here are our Kindle Fire winners: Larry Davidson, Amy Smith, Dorothy Eddy, B June Hansberry, #CheriePie (Cherie B), Lana Baker, Anita Japp, and Brian Woodward. Our $50 gift card winner is Heather Michaels. Please email epickindlegiveaway at yahoo dot com. Under stated rules, it is winner's responsibility to claim the prize within three days or an alternate winner will be selected. Congratulations from J.r. Rain Author,Htnight Author, Aiden James Author, and Scott Nicholson!
Even if you weren't drawn (the one Kindle given to blog entries didn't go here), I think we managed to get quite a few free ebooks as part of the contest that we might not have, otherwise. I don't think they'll do the Facebook contest again (they apparently swamped their account), but they might do something else - what do you think? Do you like the occasional post that participates in such contests?

The Architecture of the Arkansas Ozarks ($0.99), by Donald Harington, is today's Kindle Deal of the Day. This one looks pretty tempting and I'll be reading the sample for it this morning.
Book Description
Jacob and Noah Ingledew trudge 600 miles from their native Tennessee to found Stay More, a small town nestled in a narrow valley that winds among the Arkansas Ozarks and into the reader's imagination. The Ingledew saga - which follows six generations of 'Stay Morons' through 140 years of abundant living and prodigal loving - is the heart of Harington's jubilant, picaresque novel. Praised as one of the year's ten best novels by the American Library Association when first published, this tale continues to captivate readers with its winning fusion of lyricism and comedy.

About the Author
Although he was born and raised in Little Rock, Donald Harington spent nearly all of his early summers in the Ozark mountain hamlet of Drakes Creek, his mother's hometown, where his grandparents operated the general store and post office. There, before he lost his hearing to meningitis at the age of twelve, he listened carefully to the vanishing Ozark folk language and the old tales told by story-tellers. His academic career is in art and art history and he has taught art history at a variety of colleges, including his alma mater, the University of Arkansas. His first novel was published by Random House in 1965, and since then he has published twelve other novels, most of them set in the Ozark hamlet of his own creation, Stay More, based loosely upon Drakes Creek. He has also written books about artists. He won the Robert Penn Warren Award in 2003, the Porter Prize in 1987, the Heasley Prize at Lyon College in 1998, was inducted into the Arkansas Writers' Hall of Fame in 1999 and that same year won the Arkansas Fiction Award of the Arkansas Library Association. He has been called "an undiscovered continent" (Fred Chappell) and "America's Greatest Unknown Novelist" (Entertainment Weekly).

Pao ($1.82 / £1.19 UK), by Kerry Young, is the Kindle Deal of the day for those in the UK (the US edition is $9.99).
Book Description
I was just a boy when I come to Jamaica.

Kingston, 1938.Fourteen-year-old Yang Pao steps off the ship from China with his mother and brother, after his father has died fighting for the revolution. They are to live with Zhang, the ‘godfather' of Chinatown, who mesmerises Pao with stories of glorious Chinese socialism on one hand, and the reality of his protection business on the other.

When Pao takes over the family's affairs he becomes a powerful man. He sets his sights on marrying well,but when Gloria Campbell, a black prostitute, comes to him for help he is drawn to her beauty and strength. They begin a relationship that continues even after Pao marries Fay Wong, the ‘acceptable' but headstrong daughter of a wealthy Chinese merchant.

As the political violence escalates in the 1960s the lines between Pao's socialist ideals and private ambitions become blurred. Jamaica is transforming, the tides of change are rising, and the one-time boss of Chinatown finds himself cast adrift. Richly imagined and utterly captivating, Pao is a dazzling tale of race, class and colour, love and ambition, and a country at a historical crossroads.

What Would Keith Richards Do?: Daily Affirmations from a Rock and Roll Survivor ($1.99 Kindle, B&N), by Jessica Pallington West, is the Nook Daily Find, price matched on Kindle.
Book Description
What is a wiseman? What is a prophet?

Someone with a strange, unflappable demeanor. Someone who speaks in cryptic koans, words whose meanings take years to unravel. Someone who has confronted death, God, sin, and the immortal soul. Someone unfit for this world, but too brilliant to depart it. Someone--in short--like Keith Richards.

Here, at last, the wisdom of this indefatigable man is recorded and set forth. These are his visionary words: "I would rather be a legend than a dead legend." Or "Whatever side I take, I know well that I will be blamed." And--indeed--"I've never had a problem with drugs, only with policemen."

Not merely a compendium of wisdom, this book is also a complete guide to the inner workings of a complex and inspired belief system, and the life of a man sanctified by fame. What Would Keith Richards Do reminds us to learn from our mistakes, let our instincts lead us, and above all, do what Keith has done better than anyone--survive.

be sure to check out today's free Android App, Pyramix. from HD Interactive. You'd never guess from the icon used, but it is a word game. It has ads, so I wouldn't recommend paying for it, but it looks worth trying out for free.
Game Description
Word game aficionados, meet your latest challenge. Pyramix, a "word enigma generator" for your Android device, is an addictive game that combines code-deciphering strategy with the simplicity of classic grid-based word games.

Drawing from a jumbled assortment of letters, try to find the right letter combinations to solve unique four-word puzzles. Play against a timer or work in untimed mode, and take in the mysterious-looking graphics and evocative sound effects.

Crack the Pyramix Code
The pyramid-shaped game board consists of four empty, horizontally-stacked rows. At the bottom of the board, you'll see a mirror image of the top rows--but these rows contain jumbled letters. To build a word at the top, take any letter from the bottom and drop it in the space you choose.

Counters show the number of possible words for each row. Lights glow when a row is filled with a complete word. But remember, the more rows you fill, the harder the challenge gets! Be strategic and keep an eye on the counters as you create words. Good luck!

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Free Book Roundup

Additional formats on these free books are now available:
Today's backlist/indie free books on Kindle (not likely to be free for long):

Free Book - The Last Chance Texaco (K/N/E/DF)

Update: Looks like this is actually a backlist title, re-released by the author and falsely flagged as being published by HarperCollins for this edition. Also free on Smashwords and from Sony.

The Last Chance Texaco, by Brent Hartinger, is free in the Kindle store and from Barnes & Noble.
Book Description
Fifteen years old and parentless, Lucy Pitt has spent the last eight years being shifted from one foster home to another. Now she’s ended up at Kindle Home, a place for foster kids who aren‘t wanted anywhere else. Among the residents, Kindle Home is known as the Last Chance Texaco, because it’s the last stop before being shipped off to the high-security juvenile detention center on nearby Rabbit Island--better known as Eat-Their-Young Island to anyone who knows what it‘s really like.

But Lucy finds that Kindle Home is different from past group homes, and she soon decides she wants to stay. Problem is, someone is starting a series of car-fires in the neighborhood in an effort to get the house shut down. Could it be Joy, a spiteful Kindle Home resident? Or maybe it's Alicia, the bony blond supermodel-wannabe from the local high school who thinks Lucy has stolen her boyfriend. Lucy suspects it might even be Emil, the Kindle Home therapist, who clearly has a low opinion of the kids he counsels. Whoever it is, Lucy must expose the criminal, or she'll lose not just her new home, but her one last chance for happiness.

In the tradition of S.E. Hinton's The Outsiders and Louis Sachar's Holes, Hartinger writes about a subculture of teenagers many people would like to forget, in a novel as fast-paced and provocative as his first book, Geography Club.
Get the free ebook from Barnes & Noble.
Get the free ebook from Smashwords.
Get the free ebook from Sony.

30 Free Books for Australians (K)

There are 30 new Kindle books free for those in Australia, courtesy of HarperCollins. Most of these are Agatha Christie short stories, but there are a couple of novels mixed in, as well.

For most of these, this is most likely a pricing error, so grab them fast:
  1. Cloaked with Bonus Materials, by Alex Flinn (99 cents in the US)
  2. Dolce Vita Diaries: The Recipes, by Cathy Rogers and Jason Gibb
  3. The Berenstain Bears Accept No Substitutes, by Stan & Jan Berenstain
  4. The Berenstain Bears and the G-Rex Bones, by Stan & Jan Berenstain
  5. The The Berenstain Bears and the Phenom in the Family, by Stan & Jan Berenstain
  6. The Berenstain Bears and the School Scandal Sheet, by Stan & Jan Berenstain
  7. The Case of the Missing Lady, by Agatha Christie
  8. The Dead Harlequin, by Agatha Christie
  9. The Love Detectives, by Agatha Christie
  10. The Mystery of the Spanish Chest, by Agatha Christie
  11. Philomel Cottage, by Agatha Christie
  12. The Harlequin Tea Set, by Agatha Christie
  13. The Red Signal, by Agatha Christie
  14. The Gate of Baghdad, by Agatha Christie
  15. The Case of the Caretaker, by Agatha Christie
  16. The Rajah's Emerald, by Agatha Christie
  17. The House of Lurking Death, by Agatha Christie
  18. Triangle at Rhodes, by Agatha Christie
  19. Four-and-Twenty Blackbirds, by Agatha Christie
  20. Sanctuary, by Agatha Christie
  21. The Under Dog, by Agatha Christie
  22. Tape Measure Murder, by Agatha Christie
  23. Yellow Iris, by Agatha Christie
  24. The Man in the Mist, by Agatha Christie
  25. Poirot and the Regatta Mystery, by Agatha Christie
  26. Strange Jest, by Agatha Christie
  27. The Second Gong, by Agatha Christie
  28. The Dream, by Agatha Christie
  29. The House at Shiraz, by Agatha Christie
  30. The Perfect Maid, by Agatha Christie

Free Book - Henry Ford's Way (K)

Henry Ford's Way (US/UK) is free in the Kindle store, courtesy of New Word City.
Book Description
Henry Ford’s vision of a car for Everyman and a living wage for his employees created the middle class and forever changed America. But the deeply flawed genius got lost in his own new world. Among the lessons you can learn from his life: Make yourself stand out. If you find a diamond, don’t throw it away. Don’t neglect your opportunities no matter how remote. Understand your weaknesses. When you do recognize your mistakes, don’t punish the world for them.

Free Short Story - Nocturne (K/N/E)

Update: 1/19/11 Back in the Kindle store (for now) and still free.
Update: This one has been pulled from the Kindle store (at least, for those of us in the US); you can still get it free from B&N and now also from Sony.

Nocturne, a short story by Deborah Crombie, is free in the Kindle store and from Barnes & Noble. This prequel leads into her upcoming novel, No Mark upon Her.
Book Description
In No Mark Upon Her, Olympic rowing hopeful and Metropolitan Police officer DCI Rebecca Meredith goes out to train on the river in Henley on a dark afternoon in late October. When, the following morning, her ex-husband realizes she hasn’t returned, a search is instituted and a K9 search and rescue team finds Meredith’s body in the river.

Scotland Yard superintendent Duncan Kincaid, returning from a family celebration of his marriage to Inspector Gemma James, is called to investigate Meredith’s death. He soon finds that both Meredith’s rowing colleagues and her ex-husband might have had good reason to want her dead. But when an attempt is made on the life of one of the search and rescue team members who found Meredith’s body, Kincaid realizes the case may be more complex and more dangerous than he believed. It is Gemma, however, who discovers that Meredith’s murder may be connected to enemies within the heart of the Met itself, and together Duncan and Gemma must endanger their careers and their lives to bring the killer to justice.
Get the free ebook from Barnes & Noble.
Get the free ebook from Sony.