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Wednesday, February 1, 2012

Free Book - Personalities in Love (K/N/E)

Personalities in Love (US/UK), by Donna Partow, is free in the Kindle store and from Barnes & Noble and ChristianBook, courtesy of Christian publisher Revell.
Book Description
Romantic relationships are always an experiment in chemistry. Just like elements in the periodic table, personalities combine and react in predictable ways. In her candid style, bestselling author Donna Partow helps women identify their own personality type and that of their man in order to bring harmony to their relationship. She gives a woman concrete advice on how to make the most of her personality, how to complement her significant other, and how to avoid potential sources of conflict. Anyone who has ever asked with exasperation "Why are we so different?" will benefit from this interesting and insightful look at what makes couples click.
Get the free ebook from Barnes & Noble.
Get the free ebook from ChristianBook.

Free Book - The Swiss Courier (K/N/E)

The Swiss Courier (US/UK), by Tricia Goyer and Mike Yorkey, is free in the Kindle store and from Barnes & Noble and ChristianBook, courtesy of Christian publisher Revell.
Book Description
It is August 1944 and the Gestapo is mercilessly rounding up suspected enemies of the Third Reich. When Joseph Engel, a German physicist working on the atomic bomb, finds that he is actually a Jew, adopted by Christian parents, he must flee for his life to neutral Switzerland.

Gabi Mueller is a young Swiss-American woman working for the newly formed American Office of Strategic Services (the forerunner to the CIA) close to Nazi Germany. When she is asked to risk her life to safely "courier" Engel out of Germany, the fate of the world rests in her hands. If she can lead him to safety, she can keep the Germans from developing nuclear capabilities. But in a time of traitors and uncertainty, whom can she trust along the way?

This fast-paced, suspenseful novel takes readers along treacherous twists and turns during a fascinating--and deadly--time in history.
Get the free ebook from Barnes & Noble.
Get the free ebook from ChristianBook.

Free Book - Rhythms of Grace (K/N/E)

Update: 2/24/12 Now from Kobo.

Rhythms of Grace (US/UK), by Marilynn Griffith, is free in the Kindle store and from Barnes & Noble and ChristianBook, courtesy of Christian publisher Revell.
Book Description
Grace Okoye was a promising young dancer when her career was cut short by a brutal assault that left her scarred for life. Twenty years later, when her past gets in the way of her happiness, she heeds the invitation of her dance instructor and returns home to help hurting children and rediscover the rhythms of grace. What she doesn't expect is to meet a man who already seems to know her beat. But for all they share in common, the biggest thing in Grace's life is noticeably absent in his--faith. She's finally found the love of her life, but can she choose between him and God?

Real, raw emotion and the promise of redemption run through this soulful new book from Marilynn Griffith.
Get the free ebook from Barnes & Noble.
Get the free ebook from ChristianBook.
Get the free ebook from Kobo.

Free Book - What Wives Wish their Husbands Knew about Sex (K/N/E)

What Wives Wish their Husbands Knew about Sex: A Guide for Christian Men (US/UK), by Ryan Howes, Richard Rupp and Stephen W. Simpson, is free in the Kindle store (repeat) and from Barnes & Noble and ChristianBook, courtesy of Christian publisher Baker Books.
Book Description
It's an unfortunate reality that many men grow up in churches that suppress their God-given sexual urges. As a result, many Christian men, single and married, are frustrated with their love lives and their sex lives. The authors of this book claim that Christian men should be the greatest lovers in the world and then work to show men how to do it. They help men:
  • learn what the Bible says about a healthy sex life
  • discover how to relate to women as men instead of as boys
  • address psychological and spiritual issues that interfere with healthy sexuality
  • learn specific techniques that create a strong relationship, great foreplay, and passionate sex
Solidly based in Scripture and informed by the experiences of the authors, all respected sex therapists, What Wives Wish Their Husbands Knew about Sex dispels the myths that keep good Christian men from experiencing sex as God meant it to be. Perfect for any man, it is also a great book for counselors and pastors who work with men.
Get the free ebook from Barnes & Noble.
Get the free ebook from ChristianBook.

Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Free Audiobook - Sophie's World

The third free audiobook that The Guardian (a UK newspaper) is giving away as part of their Head Start program is Sophie's World: A Novel About the History of Philosophy ($9.99 Kindle), by Jostein Gaarder and Paulette Moller.
Book Description
A page-turning novel that is also an exploration of the great philosophical concepts of Western thought, Sophie's World has fired the imagination of readers all over the world, with more than twenty million copies in print.

One day fourteen-year-old Sophie Amundsen comes home from school to find in her mailbox two notes, with one question on each: "Who are you?" and "Where does the world come from?" From that irresistible beginning, Sophie becomes obsessed with questions that take her far beyond what she knows of her Norwegian village. Through those letters, she enrolls in a kind of correspondence course, covering Socrates to Sartre, with a mysterious philosopher, while receiving letters addressed to another girl. Who is Hilde? And why does her mail keep turning up? To unravel this riddle, Sophie must use the philosophy she is learning--but the truth turns out to be far more complicated than she could have imagined.
Get the free Audiobook from The Guardian UK. You'll need to enter a name and email address, click to submit the info, then click a link that takes you to AudioGo (NOTE: This link is missing the "s" at the end of "sophie", which you have to to manually add to the URL if you get a 404 error, as I did Audiogo has fixed their site and their link now works, no editing required); be sure to note the coupon code on that page, as you'll need it to get the book for free. Once at Audiogo, click on the ad, then click Checkout; log in (or create an account), then enter the promotional Code and click Update. Don't click on Continue until after you've confirmed that a total of $0.00/£0.00 is shown. You'll need an account with AudioGo, but should not need to enter any credit card info. Once you've added the audiobook to your account, you can download at any time (I'd expect download times to be very slow this week).

Free Book - Lucky in Love (K/N/E/I)

Update: 2/9/12 Now free for UK Canadian Kindlers.
Update: 2/5/12 Now free from Sony and iTunes.

Lucky in Love (Main/UK), the first title in the Luckadeau Trilogy by Carolyn Brown, is free in the Kindle store and from Barnes & Noble and AllRomance. For fans of the author or just of cowboy romance in general, Sourcebooks also has the following titles at $1.99:
and the last two in this series at $4.61:
Book Description
When hunky rancher "Lucky Beau" Luckadeau accuses spitfire Milli Torres of stealing his prize bull, she promptly shoots at him, triggering a feud that only gets resolved when they discover they share a steamy hot memory from a night long ago?

It was a night of passion that has always haunted Lucky. The mysterious beauty he seduced at a cousin's wedding disappeared. He's always been lucky at cards, lucky
with cattle, and lucky with land, but he's never been lucky in love.

Now Milli Torres has come to southern Oklahoma to help out on her grandfather's ranch. A cut fence and a big, mean Angus bull in the pasture are bad enough, but then she looks up and sees Beau Luckadeau. Great God Almighty, how did he get from Louisiana to Ardmore, Oklahoma, and what in the hell is she going to do if he recognizes her?
Get the free ebook from AllRomance.
Get the free ebook from Barnes & Noble.
Get the free ebook from iTunes.
Get the free ebook from Sony.

Free Book -Tales of Adventure (DF)

You can get Tales of Adventure free, direct from publisher Delphi Classics, in either EPUB or Mobi (Kindle) format. This publisher specializes in well formatted collections of classics, which can be handy for those who would rather have a "collected works" volume on their ereader, instead of a hundred or so loose titles on the menu.
Book Description
To celebrate our release of the Complete Works of Daniel Defoe, we are pleased to announce a FREE adventure tales eBook, which can be downloaded by everyone - regardless of which eReader they favour - directly from this page.

Including 14 of the greatest adventure tales ever told, this beautiful collection, packed with hundreds of colour illustrations, is sure to chase away those winter blues. Beginning with Defoe's timeless Robinson Crusoe, the collection offers a range of adventure novels from across the world, with informative introductions and images relating to the works and authors. So, whether it's a voyage with Long John Silver, an exotic Arabian adventure or a journey into the dark and distant future, make sure you don't miss out on this wonderful collection!
Get the free ebook from Delphi Classics.

Nine Free Books from New Word City (K)

There are nine newly free titles from New Word City in the Kindle store today.
  1. Vince Lombardi's Winning Ways
  2. Bill Walsh's Winning Ways
  3. Bear Bryant's Winning Ways
  4. How Lego Built a Comeback
  5. The Man Who Made Pan Am , by Maurice Coyle and Donna Sammons Carpenter
  6. How To Be A Great Professional Services Firm, by Tom Peters (note: this is in the newest Kindle format and may require you to upgrade your device before downloading)
  7. How to Manage Your Debt, by Beverly McKinney
  8. Come On, Get Happy, by Ratha Tep
  9. Eleanor Roosevelt: The People's First Lady, by Willard Sterne Randall and Nancy Nahra

Today's Deals

Comixology is having another 1/2 price sale, this time on the The Sixth Gun (ends 2/2).

Today is the last day to take advantage of the offer to Get $100 Cash Back from Audible on Kindle, iPods and other qualifying products with a new (or renewed) Audible Gold Listener subscription. If you sign up today, you'll get the credit within a few hours, but will have 90 days to use it on one (and only one) of the electronic devices listed on the eligibility page. I used a credit towards a GPS unit for a Christmas gift, but there are Kindles, iPods, MP3 players, tablets, laptops, camcorders and even headphones that are eligible.

Those of you with a nook reader know that it took Barnes & Noble quite a while to implement gifting for books (and it still only allows immediate gifting, not delayed as Amazon does). What you may not know is that you can send a greeting card to anyone with a nook reader and the first collection of holiday greeting cards available is heavily populated with Valentine's Day cards. OK, technically this isn't a "feature", but it's a cute use of the ability to send an ebook to someone (your personalized message will only be in the email, though, not in the actual book, which consists of four pages and includes a single month's calendar as one page. I expected to see this idea repeated over on Amazon and I wasn't disappointed - the exact same cards are available there. Here's where I see that some enterprising artists could make a good living, with a website that features individualized greeting cards (and with traditional interior contents or "write-your-own" content -- if you don't know what to write, Amazon has a Kindle book for that too!), that allow the sender to add their own info, attach a photo or scan in a signature. Then, email the card back to the sender, so they can send it directly to the Kindle or email address of their choice. If you sent to to someone as an attachment (in mobi format or even a small-format PDF), they can then email it to their own Kindle, generally free of charge. Greeting cards are expensive (and usually discarded soon after receipt), so a small charge for something like this would be a welcome alternative (although not appropriate for everyone) and a bit better than these early, impersonal choices.

Additional formats on these free books are now available:
Today is the last day to take advantage of this KSO deal:
Remember, for most of the rentals, you'll have four weeks before you have to start watching it (and usually two days to finish, once started), in case you want to use the credit for a rental, rather than a purchase.

The Best American Noir of the Century ($1.99), edited by James Ellroy and Otto Penzler, is today's Kindle Deal of the Day. I've managed to get a few in this series for review and they are generally very well done; recommended for fans of the genre.
Book Description
James Ellroy and Otto Penzler mined the past century to find this treasure trove of thirty-nine stories. From noir’s twenties-era infancy come gems like James M. Cain’s “Pastorale,” and its postwar heyday boasts giants like Mickey Spillane and Evan Hunter. Packing an undeniable punch, diverse contemporary incarnations include Elmore Leonard, Patricia Highsmith, Joyce Carol Oates, Dennis Lehane, and William Gay, with many page-turners appearing from the past decade.

Asylum Harbor ($1.56 / £0.99 UK), the first title in the Rachel Scott series by Traci Hohenstein, is the Kindle Deal of the day for those in the UK (the US edition is only $1.99, so this one is a bargain for us, as well!). If you pick this one up, you'll definite want to get the second in the series, Burn Out ($1.99 US; $2.19 / £1.42 UK), while it is also on sale.
Asylum Harbor
Amber Knowles, a beautiful high school senior and Florida governor John Knowles’s daughter, has everything going for her until she disappears during a cruise to the Bahamas. After an extensive search of the ship SeaStar, it’s clear that Amber has vanished without a trace. When Governor Knowles receives the distressing news, he asks for Rachel Scott’s help.

The teenager’s disappearance represents every parent’s worst fear, and Rachel, founder of Florida Omni Search, knows only too well what losing a daughter feels like. Her three-year-old, Mallory, went missing five years ago. As she works with FBI special agent, Drake Reynolds, Rachel discovers an organized crime ring linked to the cruise line. The last person known to see Amber aboard the ship was an incognito DEA agent, who also has vanished. Where is he? And where is Amber? Finally, where is Mallory?

Traci Hohenstein’s Asylum Harbor draws inspiration from the disappearance of Natalee Holloway in 2005 and delves deeply into the mysteries and suspense of missing-person investigations and organized crime detection. The first in a series, Asylum Harbor introduces Rachel Scott and her team and compels readers to follow Florida Omni Search and all their investigations.


Burn Out
The week before she is to testify at her estranged husband’s trial on drug charges, firefighter Lieutenant Samantha Collins vanishes while combating a warehouse fire, leaving only her helmet behind.

With Sam missing, her mother seeks the help of Florida Omni Search, a nonprofit organization founded by Rachel Scott, whose own daughter, Mallory, disappeared when only three years old. Rachel has worked with law enforcement agencies all over the United States, but she can’t possibly anticipate how terrifying the Sam Collins case will be. Rachel learns of Sam’s husband’s drug operation, and as she digs deeper, not only does the investigator expose Sam’s surprising past, she also uncovers clues that could reveal what happened to her own daughter.

County Line ($3.99 Kindle, B&N), by Bill Cameron, is the Nook Daily Find, price matched on Kindle.
Book Description
When the steadfast Ruby Jane Whittaker drops out of sight, dogged ex-cop Skin Kadash sets out to discover what drove the woman he loves to leave her life behind so suddenly and without explanation. The discovery of a dead man in her apartment, followed by an attack by a mysterious stalker, leads Skin first to California, then across the country on a desperate journey deep into Ruby Jane?s haunted past—and toward an explosive confrontation which will determine if either has a future.
Today's backlist/small press/indie free books on Kindle (not likely to be free for long; double check prices before one-clicking):

Free Book - 50 Ways to Hex Your Lover (K/N/E/P/I)

Update: 2/11/12 Now free direct from the publisher, Sourcebooks, in DRM'd PDF or EPUB formats.
Update: 2/5/12 Now free from AllRomance, Sony and iTunes.

50 Ways to Hex Your Lover, the first title in the Jazz Tremaine series by Linda Wisdom, is a repeat freebie in the Kindle store and from Barnes & Noble. You can also get the next three in the series at bargain prices right now (at least, you can at Amazon:
Book Description
Jazz can't decide whether to scorch him with a fireball or jump into bed with him.

Jasmine Tremaine, a witch who can't stay out of trouble.

Nikolai Gregorivich, a drop-dead gorgeous vampire cop on the trail of a serial killer.

The sizzling love affair between Jazz and Nick has been off-again, on-again-for about 300 years. Mostly off, lately. But now Nick needs Jazz's help, and while Jazz and Nick try to figure out their own hearts and resist their ever-increasing attraction, they must steer clear of a maniacal killer with super-supernatural powers. They are surrounded by a hilarious cast of oddball paranormal characters, including Irma, the chain-smoking ghost who haunts Jazz's sports car, Dweezil, her ghoul of a boss, and Fluff and Puff, a pair of bunny slippers with sharp teeth and short tempers (watch your ankles)!
Get the free ebook from Barnes & Noble.
Get the free ebook from AllRomance.
Get the free ebook from iTunes.
Get the free ebook from Sony.
Get the free ebook from Sourcebooks.

Monday, January 30, 2012

Free Audiobook - Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance

The second free audiobook that The Guardian (a UK newspaper) is giving away as part of their Head Start program is Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance ($10.99 Kindle), by Robert M. Pirsig.
Book Description
Acclaimed as one of the most exciting books in the history of American letters, this modern epic became an instant bestseller upon publication in 1974, transforming a generation and continuing to inspire millions. This 25th Anniversary Quill Edition features a new introduction by the author; important typographical changes; and a Reader's Guide that includes discussion topics, an interview with the author, and letters and documents detailing how this extraordinary book came to be. A narration of a summer motorcycle trip undertaken by a father and his son, the book becomes a personal and philosophical odyssey into fundamental questions of how to live. The narrator's relationship with his son leads to a powerful self-reckoning; the craft of motorcycle maintenance leads to an austerely beautiful process for reconciling science, religion, and humanism. Resonant with the confusions of existence, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance is a touching and transcendent book of life.
Get the free Audiobook from The Guardian UK. You'll need to enter a name and email address, click to submit the info, then click a link that takes you to AudioGo; be sure to note the coupon code on that page, as you'll need it to get the book for free. Once at Audiogo, click on the ad, then click Checkout; log in (or create an account), then enter the promotional Code and click Update. Don't click on Continue until after you've confirmed that a total of $0.00/£0.00 is shown. You'll need an account with AudioGo, but should not need to enter any credit card info. Once you've added the audiobook to your account, you can download at any time (I'd expect download times to be very slow this week).

Free eBook Shorts - Sounds from The Great Animal Orchestra (K)

Update: 2/22/12 A second version of one of these has shown up in the Kindle store (see below), while two entries now exist for buying the full book (at different prices; no clues as to any differences, though): The Great Animal Orchestra: Finding the Origins of Music in the World's Wild Places ($14.99) and The Great Animal Orchestra: Finding the Origins of Music in the World's Wild Places ($15.99).

As a promotion for the forthcoming release of The Great Animal Orchestra: Finding the Origins of Music in the World's Wild Places ($15.99), by Bernie Krause, Hachette is giving away 4 eBook Shorts, each one containing a section of the larger text, but which are self-contained titles, similar to Kindle Singles (rather than just a defined length sample of the book).
Despite the titles on these, they are not A/V enhanced editions, so they should work fine on all Kindle devices and apps. I have no idea how large they may be, once released (all pre-orders show as 5K until the publisher uploads the actual files), but they shouldn't be all that large.
The Great Animal Orchestra: Finding the Origins of Music in the World's Wild Places
Musician and naturalist Bernie Krause is one of the world's leading experts in natural sound, and he's spent his life discovering and recording nature's rich chorus. Searching far beyond our modern world's honking horns and buzzing machinery, he has sought out the truly wild places that remain, where natural soundscapes exist virtually unchanged from when the earliest humans first inhabited the earth.

Krause shares fascinating insight into how deeply animals rely on their aural habitat to survive and the damaging effects of extraneous noise on the delicate balance between predator and prey. But natural soundscapes aren't vital only to the animal kingdom; Krause explores how the myriad voices and rhythms of the natural world formed a basis from which our own musical expression emerged.

From snapping shrimp, popping viruses, and the songs of humpback whales-whose voices, if unimpeded, could circle the earth in hours-to cracking glaciers, bubbling streams, and the roar of intense storms; from melody-singing birds to the organlike drone of wind blowing over reeds, the sounds Krause has experienced and describes are like no others. And from recording jaguars at night in the Amazon rain forest to encountering mountain gorillas in Africa's Virunga Mountains, Krause offers an intense and intensely personal narrative of the planet's deep and connected natural sounds and rhythm.

The Great Animal Orchestra is the story of one man's pursuit of natural music in its purest form, and an impassioned case for the conservation of one of our most overlooked natural resources-the music of the wild.

About the Author
Dr. Bernie Krause is both a musician and a naturalist. During the 1950s and 60s, he devoted himself to music and replaced Pete Seeger as the guitarist for The Weavers. For over 40 years, Krause has traveled the world recording and archiving the soundsof creatures and environments large and small. He has recorded over 15,000 species. He lives in California.

Free Audiobook - Eat, Pray, Love

The Guardian (a UK newspaper) is once again giving away audiobooks as part of their Head Start program. The first free audiobook in the series is Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman's Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia ($12.99 Kindle), by Elizabeth Gilbert. You'll need an account with AudioGo, but should not need to enter any credit card info.
Book Description
This beautifully written, heartfelt memoir touched a nerve among both readers and reviewers. Elizabeth Gilbert tells how she made the difficult choice to leave behind all the trappings of modern American success (marriage, house in the country, career) and find, instead, what she truly wanted from life. Setting out for a year to study three different aspects of her nature amid three different cultures, Gilbert explored the art of pleasure in Italy and the art of devotion in India, and then a balance between the two on the Indonesian island of Bali. By turns rapturous and rueful, this wise and funny author (whom Booklist calls “Anne Lamott’s hip, yoga- practicing, footloose younger sister”) is poised to garner yet more adoring fans.
Get the free Audiobook from The Guardian UK. You'll need to enter a name and email address, click to submit the info, then click a link that takes you to AudioGo; be sure to note the coupon code on that page, as you'll need it to get the book for free. Once at Audiogo, click on the ad, then click Checkout; log in (or create an account), then enter the promotional Code and click Update. Don't click on Continue until after you've confirmed that a total of $0.00/£0.00 is shown. Once you've added the audiobook to your account, you can download at any time (I'd expect download times to be very slow this week).

Thanks to an alert reader (Frank, in France) that this had program started up again!

14 Free Books for Australians (K)

HarperCollins has 14 newly free books for Australian Kindle customers, under various imprints; most are pre-orders, but a few of the short stories are available now. These range from Children's books to those that are very definitely not for children, so I'll try to list a genre with them, below. I suspect most of these are pricing errors, so may go back up in price at any time (but if you pre-order while they are free, you won't be charged when they are delivered). If you are in Australia and have missed some of the earlier freebies, several are still free (although most are gone). Most of these are unavailable for those in the US (or are not free).
    Children's Books
  1. Dark Eden: Phantom File, by Patrick Carman
  2. Outlaw: The Story of Robin Hood, by Michael Morpurgo
  3. Sparrow: The Story of Joan of Arc, by Michael Morpurgo
  4. Short Stories
  5. A Piece of Time, by Traci Harding
  6. The Detox Factor, by Traci Harding
  7. Ghostwriting, by Traci Harding
  8. Curses, by Traci Harding
  9. The Lost Word, by Traci Harding
  10. The Limbo of Luxury, by Traci Harding
  11. Very much NOT Children's Books
  12. Beyond Temptation, by Lisette Ashton
  13. Make Me, by Charlotte Stein
  14. Surrogates, by KD Grace
  15. O for Obedience, by Lucy Salisbury
  16. Across my Knee: The Delights of Spanking, by various

Free Book - Seductive Persuasion (K/N/DF)

Update: 1/31/12 Now free from AllRomance and Ellora's Cave (DRM-free).

Seductive Persuasion, which kicks off the Panthera series by Frances Stockton, is free in the Kindle store and from Barnes & Noble, courtesy of publisher Ellora's Cave.
Book Description
As an Elder of a diminishing race, Garrick Forrester has lived through wars, plagues and two arranged marriages. But nothing he's experienced has prepared him for the discovery of his mate or for her resistance. To keep Aisley Reeves safe from an unimaginable enemy, he must persuade her to become his willing countess, while keeping her under constant guard.

Imagine Aisley's dismay when the Earl of Danford demands she become his betrothed by the close of a fortnight. Already fearful her work as a healer and her birthmark might tempt some to brand her as a witch, she believes it is best to keep her distance from the dark, mesmerizing earl whose thoughts she can hear and who reminds her of a black leopard patrolling the forest. However, when Garrick's gifts become her only hope for survival, she must decide if she can trust her heart to a man who is far more than human.

Blush: This is a suggestive romance (love scenes are not graphic).
Get the free ebook from Barnes & Noble.
Get the free ebook from AllRomance.
Get the free ebook from Ellora's Cave.

Today's Deals

The first book in the list is now available as an EPUB, while the rest are now free for US Kindle customers:

The AmazonEncore edition of The Land of Later On ($0.99), by Anthony Weller, is today's Kindle Deal of the Day.
Book Description
Kip—a New York jazz pianist whose career was cut short by a neurological disease—returns from a failed suicide attempt with a vivid, detailed memory of his journey through the afterlife. Resembling the world as he knows it, but unlimited in space and time, it’s unlike any eternity he has contemplated. Its residents are those who choose not to reincarnate, which would erase all memory of who they once were. Kip has a quest: to find his beloved Lucy, a yoga teacher who shared his apartment for years but died of leukemia before he took his own life. Is she still here? Has she waited for him, or “gone back” to become someone else? In his odyssey across centuries and locales (Istanbul to the Marquesas Islands, India to Oklahoma and New Guinea) to find her, Kip is guided by Walt Whitman—who urges him to write this memoir on his return.

Last Train from Liguria ($1.56 / £0.99 UK), by Christine Dwyer Hickey, is the Kindle Deal of the day for those in the UK (the US edition is $5.65).
Book Description
From the bestselling Irish novelist comes a sweeping historical novel, a tale of consequences, spanning from the 1930s to the 1990s

In 1933, Bella Stuart leaves her quiet London life to move to Italy to tutor the child of a beautiful Jewish heiress and an elderly Italian aristocrat. Living at the family's summer home, Bella's reserve softens as she comes to love her young charge, and find friendship with Maestro Edward, his enigmatic music teacher.

But as the decade draws to an end and fascism tightens its grip on Europe, the fact that Alec is Jewish places his life in grave danger. Bella and Edward take the boy on a terrifying train journey out of Italy - one they have no reason to believe any of them will survive...

How to Back Up a Trailer...and 101 Other Things Every Real Guy Should Know ($3.99 Kindle, B&N), by Kurt Anderson, is the Nook Daily Find, price matched on Kindle.
Book Description
Motor oil, beer, and charcoal-that's what real men are made of. A real man should be able to swap out the car's spark plugs and change its oil as his freshly caught fish smokes on open flame-all while shotgunning a beer. For how-to instructions on these and other equally manly activities, you need How to Back Up a Trailer. It's the ultimate guide to everything you better know how to do, like:
  • Rotate your car's tires and change its brake pads
  • Swing a bat like a homerun hitter
  • Build and light a campfire during a rainstorm
  • Install an electrical outlet in your home
  • Tap a keg for the perfect beer flow
Read it. Learn it. Live it. With How to Back Up a Trailer, you'll never have to stop and ask for directions again.
Today's backlist/indie free books on Kindle (not likely to be free for long):

Free Book - 25 of JoAnn & Vickie's Favorite Recipes (K/I)

Update: Now free from iTunes (doesn't appear to exist at B&N or Sony).
Update: 1/30/12 Now free in the US Kindle store.

Circle of Friends Cookbook 25 of JoAnn & Vickie's Favorite Recipes (US/UK), a mini-cookbook from Gooseberry Patch, is free for UK customers in the Kindle store. This should be free for US Kindle customers by morning.
Book Description
From Jo Ann's Cowboy Cookies and Vickie's Tomato Pie to scrumptious Chicken Casserole Supreme and Comfort Corn Pudding, this new collection features 25 of Vickie and Jo Ann's most delicious recipes for sharing with family & friends!
Get the free book on iTunes.

Free Book - Critical Thinking Strategies for Success (K/N)

Update: 1/30/12 Now free in the US Kindle store.

Critical Thinking Strategies for Success (US/UK), a collection of titles by Dr. Richard Paul, Dr. Linda Elder, Robert E. Gunther, Judy Chartrand, Stewart Emery, Russ Hall, Heather Ishikawa, and John Maketa, is free for UK customers in the Kindle store and from Barnes & Noble. This should be free for US Kindle customers by morning.
Book Description
3 great books help you think more clearly about any problem—and transform better thinking into better results—in business, and in life!

Three remarkable books help you think more clearly, flexibly, effectively—and transform better thinking into better personal and business performance! Critical Thinking: Tools for Taking Charge of Your Professional and Personal Life offers practical tools for becoming a better thinker in every aspect of your life: in your career, and as a consumer, citizen, friend, parent, and lover. Richard W. Paul and Linda Elder reveal the core skills of effective thinking, helping you analyze your own thought processes, identify weaknesses, and overcome them. The Truth About Making Smart Decisions brings together 50 powerful "truths" about making better decisions: real solutions for the tough challenges faced by every decision-maker, in business and in life. You'll discover how to systematically prepare to make better decisions...how to get the right information, without getting buried in useless data...how to minimize your risks, and then act decisively...how to make better group decisions...profit from mistakes...and a whole lot more. Finally, Now You're Thinking!: Change Your Thinking...Revolutionize Your Career...Transform Your Life draws on an incredible story of survival in wartime to introduce a model of critical thinking that will help you recognize how your emotions are shaping your actions, evaluate arguments more effectively, and draw conclusions that lead you directly to better life decisions.
Get the free ebook from Barnes & Noble.

Free Book - The Rules of Money (K/N)

Update: 1/30/12 Now free in the US Kindle store.

The Rules of Money: How to Make It and How to Hold on to It, Expanded Edition (US/UK), by Richard Templar, is free for UK customers in the Kindle store and from Barnes & Noble. This should be free for US Kindle customers by morning.
Book Description
Money: some people just seem to know how to get it -- and keep it! What's their secret? What do they know that the rest of us don’t? They know the "rules of money": the "golden behaviors" that create wealth and make it grow. Anyone can learn the rules of money. You could learn them by spending years watching rich people up close... or you can learn them all right now, with Richard Templar’s The Rules of Money, Expanded Edition. Templar -- author of The Rules of Life and many other best-sellers -- has brought together 107 easy wealth-generation techniques you can start using instantly! Now updated and expanded with 9 brand new rules, Templar's rules address everything you need to know about money: how to think wealthy, get wealthy, get even wealthier, stay wealthy, and share your wealth. You'll find great up-to-the-minute advice on saving, spending, and investing, and enjoying your money, too. You'll discover why your money beliefs might be holding you back; how to see wealth as a friend, not the enemy; how to make money without compromising your ethics; avoid envy; make a plan; get your current finances under control; master deal-making and negotiation; discover opportunities nobody else sees, and much more. Templar's bite-size advice isn't just fun to read -- it's easy to use, too!
Get the free ebook from Barnes & Noble.

Free Book - Options for the Beginner and Beyond (K/N)

Update: 1/30/12 Now free in the US Kindle store.

Options for the Beginner and Beyond: Unlock the Opportunities and Minimize the Risks (US/UK), by W. Edward Olmstead, is a repeat freebie for UK customers in the Kindle store and from Barnes & Noble. This should be free for US Kindle customers by morning.
Book Description
Brief, carefully paced lessons on options and trading strategies using verbal definitions and many trading examples for clarification. Each lesson builds on the one preceding it and explains options in plain English, from start to finish. Step-by-step coverage of controlling risk, protecting your investments -- even advanced strategies other introductory books ignore! Authored by Dr. W. Edward Olmstead, contributing editor to The Spear Report and editor of The Options Professor newsletter.
Get the free ebook from Barnes & Noble.

Free Book - Making Sense of People (K/N)

Update: 1/30/12 Now free in the US Kindle store.

Making Sense of People: Decoding the Mysteries of Personality (US/UK), by Samuel Barondes, is a repeat freebie for UK customers in the Kindle store and from Barnes & Noble. This should be free for US Kindle customers by morning.
Book Description
Every day, we all size up each other: It's one of the most important things we ever do. Making Sense of People provides the scientific frameworks and tools we need to improve our intuition, and assess people more consciously, systematically, and effectively.

Leading neuroscientist Samuel H. Barondes explains the research behind each standard personality category: extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, neuroticism, and openness. He shows readers how to use these traits and assessments to do a better job of deciding who they'll enjoy spending time with, whom to trust, and whom to keep at a distance.
Get the free ebook from Barnes & Noble.

Free Book - Presenting to Win (K/N)

Update: 1/30/12 Now free in the US Kindle store.

Presenting to Win: The Art of Telling Your Story, Updated and Expanded Edition (US/UK), by Jerry Weissman, is a repeat freebie for UK customers in the Kindle store and from Barnes & Noble. This should be free for US Kindle customers by morning.
Book Description
Thirty million presentations will be given today. Millions will fail. Millions more will be received with yawns. A rare few will establish the most profound connection, in which presenter and audience understand each other perfectly…discover common ground… and, together, decide to act.

In this fully updated edition, Jerry Weissman, the world’s #1 presentation consultant, shows how to connect with even the toughest, most high-level audiences...and move them to action! He teaches presenters of all kinds how to dump those PowerPoint templates once and for all and tell compelling stories that focus on what’s in it for the audience.

Weissman’s techniques have proven themselves with billions of dollars on the line. Thousands of his elite clients have already mastered them. Now it’s your turn!
Get the free ebook from Barnes & Noble.

Free Book - Church History (K/E)

Update: 4/5/12 Repeat freebie in the Kindle store.
Update: 1/31/12 Now free from ChristianBook.
Update: 1/30/12 Now free in the US Kindle store.

Church History: An Essential Guide (US/UK), by Justo L. González, is free for UK customers in the Kindle store, courtesy of Christian publisher Abingdon Press. This should be free for US Kindle customers by morning.
Book Description
One of the chief difficulties in studying the history of Christianity is the lack of prior exposure to the subject that students often bring with them. Struggling to keep up with the large numbers of names, dates, and places presented to them, it is easy for students to lose sight of the "big picture," the broad sweep of movement and change that instructors most wish to communicate. Justo Gonzalez has written this book to help students gain just such a quick and basic grasp of the main periods and issues in the history of Christianity. Drawing upon his own extensive experience and that of others, he contends that having been introduced to the essentials of church history in a brief and accessible form, students are far better able to understand and appreciate what they encounter in more detailed lectures and reading.

Gonzalez provides a comprehensive opening chapter that summarizes major issues and concerns of each of the principal eras of church history. Subsequent chapters focus on the ancient church, the Christian empire, the Middle Ages, the Reformation, the seventeenth through nineteenth centuries, and the twentieth century and the end of modernity.
Get the free ebook from ChristianBook.

Free Book - The Jesus Revolution (K/N/E)

Update: 3/1/12 Repeat freebie on Kindle and from B&N and ChristianBook.
Update: 1/31/12 Now free from ChristianBook.
Update: 1/30/12 Now free in the US Kindle store.

The Jesus Revolution: Learning from Christ's First Followers (US/UK), by Leith Anderson, is free for UK customers in the Kindle store and from Barnes & Noble, courtesy of Christian publisher Abingdon Press. This should be free for US Kindle customers by morning.
Book Description
The story of Jesus cannot be contained in a history of 33 years on an ancient strip of land along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea. The group of 120 followers Jesus empowered transformed the world with the good news of redemption and reconciliation he preached. In this journey through the book of Acts, discover the leaps of faith taken by the early church to spread the news of the miracles they'd witnessed and the message they'd received.

Their story carries us—his current followers—into our future. Their devotion and perseverance challenges us to step out in faith and make a difference in Jesus' name. We can experience Jesus' presence and power as the early church did, and be part of the ongoing movement to change the world with his revolutionary message.
Get the free ebook from Barnes & Noble.
Get the free ebook from ChristianBook.

Free Book - Date with Destiny (K/N/E)

Update: 1/31/12 Now free from ChristianBook.
Update: 1/30/12 Now free in the US Kindle store.

Date with Destiny: Find the Love You Need (US/UK), by Rev Joseph W III Walker, is a repeat freebie for UK customers in the Kindle store and from Barnes & Noble, courtesy of Christian publisher Abingdon Press. This should be free for US Kindle customers by morning.
Book Description
Find your purpose for living through loving.

Finding the love you need will only happen when you discover your true purpose for living. Bishop Joseph Walker's Date with Destiny will help you help you fit your plans into the deeper and richer plan God has for you. Only then will you be able to get your relationships right. Bishop Walker gives you the tools you need to fit the pieces of the relationship puzzle together. He shows how to embrace the concept that God means for all of us to have satisfying relationships.
Get the free ebook from Barnes & Noble.
Get the free ebook from ChristianBook.

Free Book - I Shall Not Want (K/N/E)

Update: 3/1/12 Repeat freebie on Kindle and from B&N and ChristianBook.
Update: 1/31/12 Now free from ChristianBook.
Update: 1/30/12 Now free in the US Kindle store.

I Shall Not Want (US/UK), the second title in the Psalm 23 Mysteries series by Debbie Viguie, is a repeat freebie for UK customers in the Kindle store and from Barnes & Noble, courtesy of Christian publisher Abingdon Press. This should be free for US Kindle customers by morning.
Book Description
Charity work can be murder!

It’s Thanksgiving and Joseph Tyler, one of the members of Cindy’s church, has organized a new charity that provides homeless people with rescue dogs to love and care for. But one by one, the homeless recipients are being murdered and their dogs stolen. Could an overly competitive millionaire with his prize-winning pooches and a grudge be behind the crimes? Or could it be someone much closer to Joseph who has something sinister to hide? Cindy and Jeremiah must rush to find a killer before he strikes again.
Get the free ebook from Barnes & Noble.
Get the free ebook from ChristianBook.

Free Book - Medical Error (K/N/E)

Update: 1/31/12 Now free from ChristianBook.
Update: 1/30/12 Now free in the US Kindle store.

Medical Error (US/UK), the second in the Prescription for Trouble series by Richard Mabry, is a repeat freebie for UK customers in the Kindle store and from Barnes & Noble, courtesy of Christian publisher Abingdon Press. This should be free for US Kindle customers by morning.
Book Description
Dr. Anna McIntyre's life was going along just fine until someone else started living it. Her patient died because of an identity mix-up, her medical career is in jeopardy because of forged prescriptions, and her credit is in ruins. She thought things couldn t get worse, but that was before she opened the envelope and saw a positive HIV test with her name on it. Her allies are two men who are also competing for her affection. Dr. Nick Valentine is a cynic who carries a load of guilt. Attorney Ross Donovan is a recovering alcoholic. The deeper Anna digs to discover who's behind the identity thefts, the higher the stakes. Finally, when her life is on the line, Anna finds that her determination to clear her name might have been a prescription for trouble.
Get the free ebook from Barnes & Noble.
Get the free ebook from ChristianBook.

Sunday, January 29, 2012

Six Free Books from New Word City (K)

There are six newly free titles from New Word City in the Kindle store today.

Free Book - The Good Life (K/N/E)

The Good Life, by Charles Colson, Harold Fickett, is free in the Kindle store and from Barnes & Noble and ChristianBook, courtesy of Christian publisher BarnaBooks (an imprint of Tyndale House).
Book Description
Sharing from his own life, as well as the stories of others, Chuck Colson exposes the counterfeits of the good life and leads readers to the only true source of meaning and purpose, Jesus Christ. But he does that in an unusual way, allowing powerful stories to illustrate how people have lived out their beliefs in ways that either satisfy or leave them empty. Colson addresses seekers—people looking for the truth. He shows through stories that the truth is knowable and that the truly good life is one that lives within the truth. Through the book, readers get to understand their own stories and find answers to their own search for meaning, purpose, and truth.

About the Author
The well-known story of Charles Colson's transformation from President Richard Nixon's "hatchet man" who was "incapable of humanitarian thoughts" to founder of the Prison Fellowship Ministries and internationally recognized Christian author and speaker is a triumph of God finding a man and a man finding God. His 1973 conversion to Christianity was followed by a guilty plea to obstruction of justice and a seven-month prison sentence in 1974. He founded Prison Fellowship Ministries in 1976, fulfilling a promise made to fellow inmates that he would "never forget those behind bars."
Get the free ebook from Barnes & Noble.
Get the free ebook from ChristianBook.

Today's Deals

It's hard to believe, but January is almost over. That means that the current batch of $3.99 or less books for Kindle will be disappearing tomorrow! With any luck, a new batch will be released in February, but we won't know for sure, for a couple of days.

The end of the month also means that the current batch of 1,000 MP3 Albums for $5 will go back to regular price and I expect the special that Amazon runs there to return to their standard 100 for next month.

Black Like Me: The Definitive Griffin Estate Edition ($1.99), by John Howard Griffin, is today's Kindle Deal of the Day. This edition features commentary by Robert Bonazzi (Afterword) and Studs Terkel (Foreword) and photographs by Don Rutledge. I first read this when I was in middle school (by which time, segregation was in full swing and civil rights marches had given way to Vietnam protests in the papers) and have since lost my copy. It should be interesting to revisit it and see how well it holds up after a half-century of change in the South.
Book Description
The setting is the deep South in 1959. What began as a scientific research project ended up fueling the racial upheavals in 1960s America. When John Howard Griffin dyed his white skin to black to find out for himself if people are discriminated against based on skin color alone, he was not prepared for what he discovered. The rest is history.

This American classic has been corrected from the original manuscripts and indexed, featuring historic photographs and an extensive biographical afterword.

About the Author
John Howard Griffin (June 16, 1920–September 9, 1980) was an American journalist and author much of whose writing was about racial equality. He is best known for darkening his skin and journeying through Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Georgia to experience segregation in the Deep South in 1959. He wrote about this experience in his 1961 book Black Like Me.

The Secret River ($1.54 / £0.99 UK), by Australia author Kate Grenville, is the Kindle Deal of the day for those in the UK (the US edition is $7.99).
Book Description
London, 1807. William Thornhill, happily wedded to his childhood sweetheart Sal, is a waterman on the River Thames. Life is tough but bearable until William makes a mistake, a bad mistake for which he and his family are made to pay dearly. His sentence: to be transported to New South Wales for the term of his natural life. The Thornhills arrive in this harsh and alien land that they cannot understand and which feels like a death sentence. But among the convicts there is a rumour that freedom can be bought, that 'unclaimed' land up the Hawkesbury offers an opportunity to start afresh, far away from the township of Sydney. When William takes a hundred acres for himself he is shocked to find Aboriginal people already living on the river. And other recent arrivals - Thomas Blackwood, Smasher Sullivan and Mrs Herring - are finding their own ways to respond to them. Soon Thornhill, a man neither better nor worse than most, has to make the most difficult decision of his life.

The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher: A Shocking Murder and the Undoing of a Great Victorian Detective ($2.99 Kindle, B&N), by Kate Summerscale, is the Nook Daily Find, price matched on Kindle.
Book Description
In June of 1860 three-year-old Saville Kent was found at the bottom of an outdoor privy with his throat slit. The crime horrified all England and led to a national obsession with detection, ironically destroying, in the process, the career of perhaps the greatest detective in the land.

At the time, the detective was a relatively new invention; there were only eight detectives in all of England and rarely were they called out of London, but this crime was so shocking, as Kate Summerscale relates in her scintillating new book, that Scotland Yard sent its best man to investigate, Inspector Jonathan Whicher.

Whicher quickly believed the unbelievable-that someone within the family was responsible for the murder of young Saville Kent. Without sufficient evidence or a confession, though, his case was circumstantial and he returned to London a broken man. Though he would be vindicated five years later, the real legacy of Jonathan Whicher lives on in fiction: the tough, quirky, knowing, and all-seeing detective that we know and love today…from the cryptic Sgt. Cuff in Wilkie Collins's The Moonstone to Dashiell Hammett's Sam Spade.
The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher is a provocative work of nonfiction that reads like a Victorian thriller, and in it kate Summerscale has fashioned a brilliant, multilayered narrative that is as cleverly constructed as it is beautifully written.