I've moved!

I've moved!

Thanks for stopping by, but it appears you are using a (very) old address for my blog. I've moved to a Wordpress site and you'll need to update your bookmarks for Books on the Knob

I've moved!

Custom Search

Thursday, April 12, 2012

Bargain Book Roundup

Celebrate Poetry Month with Poems After Midnight: A Knopf Poem-a-Day Selection ($0.99). It's a short volume, but the most intriguing part of it was finding out you can get Knopf to email you a poem every day (at least thru April).
Book Description
Most poets are or have been at one time or another members of what Mark Strand here calls “The Midnight Club”: they are insomniacs, or feel most productive in the middle of the night, or, if nothing else, are people whose work requires an openness to the dreams, visions, and scraps of inspired language that may drift across our path in the wee hours. In this selection, drawn from Knopf’s Poem-a-Day program (the daily e-mails we’ve sent to our fans every April for the last dozen years or more), we’ve gathered some of the significant nocturnal entries by our poets. Here are poems of love and loss (J. D. McClatchy’s “Little Elegy,” Kevin Young’s “Chorale”), poems under the moon and in hotel rooms (Frank O’Hara’s “Avenue A,” Sharon Olds’s “Sleep Suite”), poems detailing urgent self-examinations and Jewish mourning rituals, or heralding the arrival of a visionary political statement like “They Feed They Lion,” a poem from the early 1970s by poet laureate Philip Levine. Each one carries us on a journey away from the distractions of daytime and into a realm of heightened understanding.

If you pre-ordered Lost & Found with Bonus Excerpt ($1.99), by Jacqueline Sheehan, run over to your Manage My Kindle page and cancel that one and grab Lost & Found (without the bonus excerpt) for 99 cents (and available now).
Book Description
A poignant and unforgettable tale of love, loss, and moving on . . . with the help of one not-so-little dog

Rocky's husband Bob was just forty-two when she discovered him lying cold and lifeless on the bathroom floor . . . and Rocky's world changed forever. Quitting her job, chopping off all her hair, she leaves Massachusetts—reinventing her past and taking a job as Animal Control Warden on Peak's Island, a tiny speck off the coast of Maine and a million miles away from everything she's lost. She leaves her career as a psychologist behind, only to find friendship with a woman whose brain misfires in the most wonderful way and a young girl who is trying to disappear. Rocky, a quirky and fallible character, discovers the healing process to be agonizingly slow.

But then she meets Lloyd.

A large black Labrador retriever, Lloyd enters Rocky's world with a primitive arrow sticking out of his shoulder. And so begins a remarkable friendship between a wounded woman and a wounded, lovable beast. As the unraveling mystery of Lloyd's accident and missing owner leads Rocky to an archery instructor who draws her in even as she finds every reason to mistrust him, she discovers the life-altering revelation that grief can be transformed . . . and joy does exist in unexpected places.

Madonna and Corpse ($0.99), by Jefferson Bass, is a novella prequel for the forthcoming The Inquisitor's Key.
Book Description
Renowned bone detective Bill Brockton and his intrepid assistant, Miranda, are about to get immersed in murder and intrigue in Avignon, France, home of the popes for most of the fourteenth century. But first, in this artful prequel to The Inquisitor's Key, other mischief is afoot in the ancient walled city. Inspector RenÉ Descartes of the French National Police is roused from a deep sleep to investigate a break-in at the Petit Palais, Avignon's museum of medieval masterpieces. Descartes's discovery plunges him into an elaborate, art-lined labyrinth: a labyrinth that leads him to a master forger's studio . . . and to a charred corpse. Just as he's finally closing the case, Descartes gets called to an even more bizarre death scene, where his path—and his fate—will collide with those of Brockton and Miranda.

The Legacy with Bonus Excerpt ($0.99), by Katherine Webb, is now available to pre-order.
Book Description
For a limited time at a special price of $0.99, enjoy Katherine Webb's captivating novel The Legacy—a haunting debut novel about a secret family history stretching from present-day England to America in the early 1900s. As a bonus, you get an excerpt from Webb's new upcoming novel, The Unseen, on sale May 22, 2012.

When they were children, Erica Calcott and her sister, Beth, spent their summer holidays at Storton Manor. Now, following the death of their grandmother, they have returned to the grand, imposing house in Wiltshire, England. Unable to stem the tide of childhood memories that arise as she sorts through her grandmother's belongings, Erica thinks back to the summer her cousin Henry vanished mysteriously from the estate, an event that tore their family to pieces. It is time, she believes, to lay the past to rest, bring her sister some peace, and finally solve the mystery of her cousin's disappearance.

But sifting through remnants of a bygone time is bringing a secret family history to light—one that stretches back over a century, to a beautiful society heiress in Oklahoma, a haunting, savage land across the ocean. And as past and present converge, Erica and Beth must come to terms with two shocking acts of betrayal . . . and the heartbreaking legacy they left behind.

Spin with Bonus Material ($1.99), by Catherine McKenzie, isn't as good a deal as B&N readers got last week (since Spin was free, but not on Kindle, despite being an Agency priced book), but it is a decent price on an international bestseller, for those who prefer reading on a Kindle.
Book Description
For a limited time at a special price, enjoy Catherine McKenzie’s charming and humorous novel Spin, along with excerpts to her upcoming new novels, Arranged, on sale May 15, 2012, and Forgotten, on sale September 4, 2012.

When Kate Sandford lands an interview at her favorite music magazine, The Line, it's the chance of a lifetime. So Kate goes out to celebrate—and shows up still drunk to the interview the next morning. It's no surprise that she doesn't get the job, but her performance has convinced the editors that she'd be perfect for an undercover assignment for their gossip rag. All Kate has to do is follow "It Girl" Amber Sheppard into rehab. If she can get the inside scoop—and complete the thirty-day program—they'll reconsider her for the position at The Line. Kate takes the assignment, but when real friendships start to develop, she has to decide if what she has to gain is worth the price she'll have to pay.

Blood of Elves ($2.99), the first title in the Witcher series by Andrzej Sapkowski, is the Orbital Book Drop this month. This series (originally published in Polish), was the inspiration behind The Witcher video games (rather than the other way around, as often happens now).
Book Description
Watch for the signs! What signs these shall be, I say unto you: first the earth will flow with the blood of Aen Seidhe, the Blood of Elves...

For over a century, humans, dwarves, gnomes, and elves have lived together in relative peace. But times have changed, the uneasy peace is over, and now the races are fighting once again. The only good elf, it seems, is a dead elf.

Geralt of Rivia, the cunning assassin known as The Witcher, has been waiting for the birth of a prophesied child. This child has the power to change the world - for good, or for evil.

As the threat of war hangs over the land and the child is hunted for her extraordinary powers, it will become Geralt's responsibility to protect them all - and the Witcher never accepts defeat.

Following The Last Wish, BLOOD OF ELVES is the new novel starring Geralt of Rivia, the inspiration for the critically-acclaimed videogame The Witcher.

Cook This Now: 120 Easy and Delectable Dishes You Can't Wait to Make ($2.99), by Melissa Clark, named one of NPR's Best Cookbooks in 2011, has dropped a dollar from it's earlier sale price.
Book Description
Melissa Clark, New York Times Dining Section columnist, offers a calendar year’s worth of brand-new recipes for cooking with fresh, local ingredients—replete with lively and entertaining stories of feeding her own family and friends.

Many people want to eat well, organically and locally, but don’t know where or even when to begin, since the offerings at their local farmers’ market change with the season. In Cook This Now, Melissa Clark shares all her market savvy, including what she decides to cook after a chilly visit to the produce section in the dead of winter; what to bring to a potluck dinner that’s guaranteed to be a hit; and how she feeds her marathon-running husband and finicky toddler. In addition, she regales us with personal stories about good times with family and friends, and cooking adventures such as her obsessive cherry pie experimentation and the day she threw out her husband’s last preserved Meyer lemon.

In her welcoming, friendly voice, Melissa takes you inside her life while providing the dishes that will become your go-to meals for your own busy days. Recipes include Crisp Roasted Chicken with Chickpeas, Lemons, and Carrots with Parsley Gremolata; Baked Apples with Fig and Cardamom Crumble; Honey-Roasted Carrot Salad with Arugula and Almonds; Quick-Braised Pork Chops with Spring Greens and Anchovies; Coconut Fudge Brownies—and much more.

Melissa delivers easy, delicious meals featuring organic, fresh ingredients that can be uniquely obtained during each particular month. It can be a real challenge to feed families these days, but Melissa’s recipes and inviting writing encourage home cooks to venture outside of the familiar, yet please everyone at the table.

Stephanie O'Dea's Make It Fast, Cook It Slow: The Big Book of Everyday Slow Cooking and More Make It Fast, Cook It Slow: 200 Brand-New, Budget-Friendly, Slow-Cooker Recipes have both dropped to $3.03 (which mean's you'll save $2 of what I paid as soon as I saw these on sale; they'd been on my wishlist for quite a while).
Book Description
Make It Fast, Cook It Slow is the first cookbook from Stephanie O'Dea, the extremely popular slow cooking blogger: affordable, delicious, nutritious, and gluten-free recipes to delight the entire family.

In December 2007, Stephanie O'Dea made a New Year's resolution: she'd use her slow cooker every single day for an entire year, and write about it on her very popular blog. The result: more than three million visitors, and more than 300 fabulous, easy-to-make, family-pleasing recipes, including:
  • Breakfast Risotto
  • Vietnamese Roast Chicken
  • Tomatoes and Goat Cheese with Balsamic Cranberry Syrup
  • Falafel
  • Philly Cheesesteaks
  • CrÈme Brulee
--and much more. Make It Fast, Cook It Slow is the perfect cookbook for easy, quick prep, inexpensive ingredients, and meals that taste like you spent hours at the stove.

More Make It Fast, Cook It Slow
The New York Times bestselling author of slow-cooker cookbook Make It Fast, Cook It Slow returns with budget (and gluten-free!) meals that will satisfy the entire family. Stephanie O’Dea’s 200 delicious recipes include
  • Baked Herbed Feta
  • Smoky Bean and Corn Soup
  • Maple-Glazed Pork Chops
  • Moroccan Chicken with Lentils
  • Apple-Pecan Bread Pudding
  • Orange and Honey Tilapia
  • Chocolate Pot de CrÈme with Ganache
—and many more. More Make It Fast, Cook It Slow is the perfect cookbook for easy-to-prepare meals that don’t take a toll on the family budget.

Cook Yourself Thin: Skinny Meals You Can Make in Minutes and Cook Yourself Thin Faster: Have Your Cake and Eat It Too with Over 75 New Recipes You Can Make in a Flash, by Lauren Deen, have also dropped to $3.03. Looks like they have good reviews and I may have to get at least one of them, to see if there really is a "diet" version of Cheese Fries or Shrimp and Grits.
Book Description

Cook Yourself Thin
Cook Yourself Thin, a #1 New York Times bestseller, is a healthy, delicious way to drop a dress size without all the gimmicks. Eighty easy, accessible recipes teach readers how to cut calories without compromising taste.

For some of us, losing weight has always been a struggle. The challenge: figuring out how to cook healthy, low-fat foods that won't leave you hungry, bored, or running for a gallon of ice cream! Cook Yourself Thin shows how to cut calories, change diets, and improve health without sacrificing the foods we love.

Cook Yourself Thin is not a fad diet. It gives skinny alternatives to your cravings. You can't live without your chocolate cake or mac 'n' cheese You don't have to! There's never enough time to cook Cook Yourself Thin keeps it simple - with easy instructions and fun recipes you'll want to make again and again.

Cook Yourself Thin Faster
Discover what everyone is talking about: the easiest, most enjoyable way to lasting weight loss. Following the smash hit original comes this brand-new collection of over 75 even easier recipes, plus smart cooking tips and real-life success stories. Finally, a diet to savor . . .

Cook Yourself Thin FASTER delivers more mouthwatering low-fat recipes, more skinny alternatives to your cravings, and more quick and easy meals in HALF the time! We know there's hardly ever enough time to cook. With Cook Yourself Thin FASTER you can drop a dress size without sacrificing the foods you love and spend less time in the kitchen so you can enjoy . . . life!

Skinny Italian: Eat It and Enjoy It - Live La Bella Vita and Look Great, Too! ($3.03), by Teresa Giudice and Heather MacLean, features Italian cooking, New Jersey style.
Book Description
Eat Spaghetti and Still Fit Into Your Skinny Jeans

To many of us, "diet" is a four-letter word. And rightfully so. Starving yourself thin or keeping track of each bite like pennies in your checkbook is no way to live. So what's a girl with skinny jean dreams supposed to do?

Teresa Giudice has the answer. In fact, she was born with it. The first-generation Italian-American mom of four and svelte star of The Real Housewives of New Jersey credits her knockout figure to her Old World upbringing. And now, in her fun, encouraging, and budget-friendly cookbook, she skewers the myth that looking fabulous has to be a chore.

In Skinny Italian, she reveals how to:
  • substitute tedious meal plans with simple, flavorful recipes
  • choose fresh, flavorful ingredients instead of counting calories
  • slow down and enjoy a faster metabolism
  • replace starvation with celebration by adopting an Italian attitude to cooking, eating, and entertaining
  • love food, love eating, and still love your body afterward

Teresa shows how anyone can master the cornerstones of Italian cuisine. Learn how to make six different tomato sauces from scratch, how to choose and use the right olive oil, and how to prepare over sixty Giudice family recipes straight from Salerno. From Gorgeous Garlic Shrimp to Beautiful Biscotti, you'll want to make these sumptuous recipes again and again. Discover how easy and economical wholesome, homemade cooking can be.

Skinny Italian is not a diet book. It's an "eat it and enjoy it" book. Join Teresa and discover how gorgeous can be a sumptuous side effect to living la bella vita.

Debt-Free Forever: Take Control of Your Money and Your Life ($2.51), by Gail Vaz-Oxlade
Book Description
Tired of getting to the end of the money before you get to the end of the month? Wish you were in control?

If you’re afraid to open your bills, if you’ve never added up how much you owe, if you can’t even imagine being debt-free, it’s time to join the thousands of people Gail Vaz-Oxlade has helped. Her straightforward approach to money management is based on self-control, hard work, and prioritizing what’s really important. Debt-Free Forever is Gail’s step-by-step guide...

Make no mistake: Getting out of debt isn’t easy. But in Debt-Free Forever, Gail gives you a clear strategy and the steps needed to implement it. So if you’re finished with excuses, overdue notices, and maxed-out credit cards, pick up this book, follow Gail’s plan, and start becoming debt-free forever.

Stuff: Compulsive Hoarding and the Meaning of Things ($3.99), by Randy Frost and Gail Steketee
Book Description
What possesses someone to save every scrap of paper that's ever come into his home? What compulsions drive a woman like Irene, whose hoarding cost her her marriage? Or Ralph, whose imagined uses for castoff items like leaky old buckets almost lost him his house? Or Jerry and Alvin, wealthy twin bachelors who filled up matching luxury apartments with countless pieces of fine art, not even leaving themselves room to sleep?

Randy Frost and Gail Steketee were the first to study hoarding when they began their work a decade ago; they expected to find a few sufferers but ended up treating hundreds of patients and fielding thousands of calls from the families of others. Now they explore the compulsion through a series of compelling case studies in the vein of Oliver Sacks.With vivid portraits that show us the traits by which you can identify a hoarder--piles on sofas and beds that make the furniture useless, houses that can be navigated only by following small paths called goat trails, vast piles of paper that the hoarders "churn" but never discard, even collections of animals and garbage--Frost and Steketee explain the causes and outline the often ineffective treatments for the disorder.They also illuminate the pull that possessions exert on all of us. Whether we're savers, collectors, or compulsive cleaners, none of us is free of the impulses that drive hoarders to the extremes in which they live.

For the six million sufferers, their relatives and friends, and all the rest of us with complicated relationships to our things, Stuff answers the question of what happens when our stuff starts to own us.

Smoking Ears and Screaming Teeth: A Celebration of Scientific Eccentricity and Self-Experimentation ($2.99), by Trevor Norton
Book Description
A witty celebration of the great eccentrics who have performed dangerous scientific experiments on themselves for the benefit of humankind

Many scientists have followed the advice of the great Victorian doctor Jack Haldane to “never experiment on an animal if a man will do” and “never ask anyone to do anything you wouldn’t do yourself.” He and his father inhaled poisonous gasses to test the efficacy of the prototype gas mask they had invented. When breathing gasses under pressure he suffered the smoking ears and screaming teeth of the title.

The stories in Norton’s new book are astonishing, disturbing or absurd. The zoologist Frank Buckland made a concentrated effort to widen the nation’s diet by personally testing everything that crossed his path, from boiled elephant’s trunk to slug soup. Some medics deliberately contracted deadly blood diseases in the hope of finding cures. Then there was the surgeon who was fired and subsequently won the Nobel Prize for thrusting a catheter into his own beating heart.

China in the 21st Century: What Everyone Needs to Know ($1.99), by Jeffrey N. Wasserstrom, is an interesting looking selection from Oxford University Press.
Book Description
The need to understand this global giant has never been more pressing: China is constantly in the news, yet conflicting impressions abound. Within one generation, China has transformed from an impoverished, repressive state into an economic and political powerhouse. In China in the 21st Century: What Everyone Needs to Know, Jeffrey Wasserstrom provides cogent answers to the most urgent questions regarding the newest superpower and offers a framework for understanding its meteoric rise.

Focusing his answers through the historical legacies--Western and Japanese imperialism, the Mao era, and the massacre near Tiananmen Square--that largely define China's present-day trajectory, Wasserstrom introduces readers to the Chinese Communist Party, the building boom in Shanghai, and the environmental fall-out of rapid Chinese industrialization. He also explains unique aspects of Chinese culture such as the one-child policy, and provides insight into how Chinese view Americans.

Wasserstrom reveals that China today shares many traits with other industrialized nations during their periods of development, in particular the United States during its rapid industrialization in the 19th century. Finally, he provides guidance on the ways we can expect China to act in the future vis-a-vis the United States, Russia, India, and its East Asian neighbors.

Crossing Hitler: The Man Who Put the Nazis on the Witness Stand ($1.99), by Benjamin Carter Hett, is also from Oxford University Press.
Book Description
During a 1931 trial of four Nazi stormtroopers, known as the Eden Dance Palace trial, Hans Litten grilled Hitler in a brilliant and merciless three-hour cross-examination, forcing him into multiple contradictions and evasions and finally reducing him to helpless and humiliating rage (the transcription of Hitler's full testimony is included.) At the time, Hitler was still trying to prove his embrace of legal methods, and distancing himself from his stormtroopers. The courageous Litten revealed his true intentions, and in the process, posed a real threat to Nazi ambition.

When the Nazis seized power two years after the trial, friends and family urged Litten to flee the country. He stayed and was sent to the concentration camps, where he worked on translations of medieval German poetry, shared the money and food he was sent by his wealthy family, and taught working-class inmates about art and literature. When Jewish prisoners at Dachau were locked in their barracks for weeks at a time, Litten kept them sane by reciting great works from memory. After five years of torture and hard labor-and a daring escape that failed-Litten gave up hope of survival. His story was ultimately tragic but, as Benjamin Hett writes in this gripping narrative, it is also redemptive. "It is a story of human nobility in the face of barbarism."

The first full-length biography of Litten, the book also explores the turbulent years of the Weimar Republic and the terror of Nazi rule in Germany after 1933. [in sidebar] Winner of the 2007 Fraenkel Prize for outstanding work of contemporary history, in manuscript.

The Mosquito Coast ($2.99), by Paul Theroux
Book Description
In a breathtaking adventure story, the paranoid and brilliant inventor Allie Fox takes his family to live in the Honduran jungle, determined to build a civilization better than the one they've left. Fleeing from an America he sees as mired in materialism and conformity, he hopes to rediscover a purer life. But his utopian experiment takes a dark turn when his obsessions lead the family toward unimaginable danger.

Die for Me with Bonus Material ($1.99), by Amy Plum, is another pre-order (get a sample from the full price edition). If you've already started the Revenants series, then you might want to pre-order Until I Die, which releases the first week in May.
Book Description
For a limited time, Amy Plum's star-crossed paranormal romance Die for Me is available with a special sneak peek of Until I Die, the second book in this lush trilogy. Bonus content is also included: tips for "Living La Belle Vie" from main character Kate—including her favorite books, movies, and paintings.

My life had always been blissfully, wonderfully normal. But it only took one moment to change everything.

Suddenly, my sister, Georgia, and I were orphans. We put our lives into storage and moved to Paris to live with my grandparents. And I knew my shattered heart, my shattered life, would never feel normal again. Then I met Vincent.

Mysterious, sexy, and unnervingly charming, Vincent Delacroix appeared out of nowhere and swept me off my feet. Just like that, I was in danger of losing my heart all over again. But I was ready to let it happen.

Of course, nothing is ever that easy. Because Vincent is no normal human. He has a terrifying destiny, one that puts his life at risk every day. He also has enemies . . . immortal, murderous enemies who are determined to destroy him and all of his kind.

While I'm fighting to piece together the remnants of my life, can I risk putting my heart—as well as my life and my family's—in jeopardy for a chance at love?

If you are a fan of The Lonesome Dove Series, by Larry McMurtry, and you live in Europe, you might want to grab this massive omnibus edition containing all four novels (all 2,514 pages worth). It's available in the US, but there's no particular discount from the individual volumes, at $36.99, but Europeans can get it for $18.69 (those in Asia get a slight discount at $27.99), so long as they use the Main Kindle store (it's EUR 14,27 in the DE Kindle store).
Book Description
The timeless, bestselling four-part epic that began with the Pulitzer Prize-winning Lonesome Dove takes readers into the lives of Augustus McCrae and Woodrow Call, two tough-as-nails Texas Rangers in the heyday of the Old West.

Dead Man’s Walk
As young Texas Rangers, Augustus McCrae and Woodrow Call--"Gus" and "Call" for short--have much to learn about survival in a land fraught with perils: not only the blazing heat and raging tornadoes, roiling rivers and merciless Indians, but also the deadly whims of soldiers. On their first expeditions--led by incompetent officers and accompanied by the robust, dauntless whore known as the Great Western--they will face death at the hands of the cunning Comanche war chief Buffalo Hump and the silent Apache Gomez. They will be astonished by the Mexican army. And Gus will meet the love of his life.

Comanche Moon
Texas Rangers August McCrae and Woodrow Call, now in their middle years, are still figuring out how to deal with the ever-increasing tensions of adult life--Gus with his great love, Clara Forsythe, and Call with Maggie Tilton, the young whore who loves him--when they sign up to pursue the Comanche horse thief Kicking Wolf into Mexico. On this mission their captain, Inish Scull, is captured by the brutally cruel Mexican bandit Ahumado, and Gus and Call must come to the rescue, with the aid of new friends including Joshua Deets, Jake Spoon, and Pea Eye Parker, as well as the renowned Kickapoo tracker, Famous Shoes.

Lonesome Dove
Gus and Call, now retired from the Texas Rangers and settled in the border town of Lonesome Dove running the Hat Creek Cattle Company, are visited by their old friend Jake Spoon, who convinces Gus and Call to gather a herd of cattle and drive them north to Montana in order to start a cattle ranch in untouched territory. Gus is further motivated by a desire to see the love of his life, Clara Allen (nee Forsythe), who now lives with her children and comatose horse-trader husband in Ogallala, Nebraska. On the way to Montana they travel through wild country full of thieves, murderers, and a lifetime's worth of unforgettable adventure.

Streets of Laredo
Woodrow Call is back in Texas, a Ranger once again and a general gun-for-hire, but increasingly a relic as the westward sprawl of the railroads rapidly settles the once lawless frontier. Hired by a railroad tycoon to hunt down a dangerous bandit named Joey Garza, Call sets out once again with a hapless Yankee named Ned Brookshire who works for the railroad company that hired Call. Call's old friend Pea Eye Parker--who initially refused to join the expedition because of his family--sets off with the Kickapoo tracker Famous Shoes to try to catch up with Call, until he runs into troubles of his own. The long pursuit of Garza leads them all across the last wild stretches of the West into a hellhole known as Crow Town and, finally, into the vast, relentless plains of the Texas frontier.

Highest Duty: My Search for What Really Matters ($0.99), by Chesley B. Sullenberger and Jeffrey Zaslow, appears to be marked down as a promotion for the upcoming release of Making a Difference: Stories of Vision and Courage from America's Leaders.
Book Description
In this inspirational autobiography, Captain "Sully" Sullenberger, the airline pilot whose emergency landing on the Hudson River earned the world's admiration, tells his life story and talks about the essential qualities that he believes have been so vital to his success.

In January 2009, the world witnessed one of the most remarkable emergency landings in history when Captain Sullenberger brought a crippled US Airways flight onto the Hudson River, saving the lives of all of the passengers and crew aboard. The successful outcome was the result of effective teamwork, Sully's dedication to airline safety, his belief that a pilot's judgment must go hand-in-hand with—and can never be replaced by—technology, and forty years of careful practice and training.

From his earliest memories of learning to fly as a teenager in a crop duster's single-engine plane in the skies above rural Texas to his years in the United States Air Force at the controls of a powerful F-4 Phantom, Sully describes the experiences that have helped make him a better leader, particularly the importance of taking responsibility for everyone in his care. And he talks about what he believes is at the heart of America's "can do" spirit: the very human drive to prepare for the unexpected and to meet it with optimism and courage.

His wife, Lorrie, has been a pillar of support through all the highs and lows that life has offered, from the challenges of commercial flying to the birth of their two daughters, from financial struggles to the event of January 15, 2009. Though the world may remember Sully as the hero of Flight 1549, the legacy he desires even more is that of a loving husband and father.

Highest Duty is the intimate story of a man who has grown up to embrace what we think of as quintessential American values—leadership, responsibility, commitment to hard work, and service to others. And it is a narrative that reminds us that cultivating seemingly ordinary virtues can prepare us to perform extraordinary acts.

Get all four titles in Andrew Klavan's The Homelanders series for $9.99 (pre-order; May 1), barely more than what any of the individual titles are being sold for (unless you managed to get the first in the series at the end of last month, when it was the Nook Daily Find). This young adult thriller series, published by Christian publisher Zondervan, has great looking reviews (and isn't post-apocalyptic, although it is post-9/11). Get a sample from the first title in the series, The Last Thing I Remember, but be sure to grab the omnibus edition when you place your order.

There is a bit of a Christian message to the series, but apparently not an "in-your-face" or hammering over the head type of message, just a part of the storyline that doesn't get in the way of the thriller (but also means it is a clean, "family" type of novel), although the values tend to be a little black-and-white and it has more of a pro-Patriotism message than any other.
Book Description
Charlie West just woke up in someone else’s nightmare.

He went to bed an ordinary high-school student. He woke up strapped to a chair, covered in blood and bruises. He hurts all over. And a strange voice outside the door just ordered his death.

The last thing he can remember, he was working on homework, practicing karate, day-dreaming of becoming an air force pilot, writing a pretty girl’s number on his hand.

Now the police want to arrest him for the death of his best friend. And a team of ruthless killers is rapidly closing in for more drastic measures. He’s desperate to survive. And to discover what happened. The truth of the matter is more incredible—and more deadly—than he could ever imagine.

The entire four-novel adventure—now in a single volume.

Free Book - The Centurion and the Queen (DF)

The Centurion and the Queen ($4.99 Kindle), the first historical romance in the Centurion series by Minnette Meador, is free at AllRomance, as part of their annual countdown to EarthDay. This one should be free until midnight, tomorrow night (however, note that All Romance Ebooks will be taken offline Friday, Apr, 13th 12AM - 5AM CDT for maintenance).
Book Description
Marius has been stationed on the island of 60AD Britannia for sixteen years, his demotion from the famous Praetorian Guard to Centurion brought about when he was suspected of involvement in the assassination of Caligula. He is intimately aware of his duty, even when it clashes against the natural compassion he tries to subdue, and he secretly wants nothing more than to get off this accursed island so he can return to his home. Once a celebrated Roman hero, Marius still clings to the old traditions as a fair but tough leader to his men. When Delia enters his life, she challenges everything he believes, effortlessly strips away years of Roman conditioning, and angers him to the point of betraying his training--and his oaths. He simply cannot resist her.

Delia is sister to an indolent Celtic king, but that role has turned to nothing more than another surrender. All she can do now is help her people survive the gradual conquest by Rome and their suicidal pride as so many throw themselves against the unstoppable Roman machine. Fighting desperately to save as many as she can, Delia knows there is no hope for her future. Her training as a warrior and a queen means very little in the wake of a declining civilization, and this beautiful, proud woman has to struggle for every joy. The last thing she expected was to find herself craving the touch of an enemy.

They discover an impossible love, a surprising passion they both thought had died, and something they had never imagined, or thought they deserved. They are thrown into the clash between an Iceni queen with 50,000 angry Bretons and a clever Roman general with only 10,000 legionnaires. Marius and Delia have their lives, their beliefs, and their roles turned inside out as they find themselves fighting on opposing sides, in love, and unable to change the future. The revolution would spark their desire, but nearly destroy them both.
Get the free ebook from AllRomance.

Wednesday, April 11, 2012

Bargain Book - The Underland Chronicles

I usually put more books into a bargain post, but this one is five books in one and is a series that should appeal to almost anyone that liked The Hunger Games, as Suzanne Collins is the author of The Underland Chronicles, as well. The series is aimed a a bit younger audience (young- thru mid-teens), but the reviews seem to be mostly from adults of all ages, all of whom enjoyed the series (just as Harry Potter is enjoyed by many adults).

Gregor the Overlander Collection (Books 1-5) is $19.22 on Kindle and price-matched over at Barnes & Noble. That works out to a bit less than $4 per title, which is a pretty good deal, to start with. The real deal, though, is over on Kobo, as this is not an Agency published title (and, have you seen the news that three of the big 6 are dropping the Agency Model and will be "compensating consumers" as part of a settlement with the DOJ?). Kobo is asking $21.69 for this particular volume, but you can use a coupon on it to get a better deal. I used the 45% off coupon (see right sidebar for codes I am aware of) and ended up paying $11.93 (plus state sales tax; odd that a Canadian company charges it, while most US e-stores don't).
Book Description
Read all five books in the New York Times bestselling Gregor: The Underland Chronicles!

When Gregor follows his little sister through a grate in the laundry room of their New York apartment building, he hurtles into the dark Underland beneath the city. There, humans live uneasily beside giant spiders, bats, cockroaches, and rats--but the fragile peace is about to fall apart.

Gregor wants no part in this conflict, but again and again, he and his family are drawn into the Underland. Gregor must find his place in the frightening prophecies he encounters, the strength to protect his family, and the courage to defend against an army of giant rats.

In this action-packed and masterful series, Suzanne Collins unfolds the fate of the Underland and its great warrior, Gregor the Overlander.

Free Kindle Game - Math Blender

Math Blender, a puzzle game, is free in the Kindle store. This works on eInk Kindles only and it looks like all models from the Kindle2 thru the KindleTouch are supported.
Book Description
Oh no, your homework fell into the blender... the Math Blender! Test your math skills as you try to find all of the equations that have been scrambled by the blender.

In Math Blender you are given five to nine scrambled tiles, each containing a number, an operator or an equal sign. Your goal is to find all of the possible equations for each puzzle. The game board shows a list of the possible answers with the numbers hidden, but with the operators and equal sign revealed. Some of the equations require every tile, but many will not.

The 100 puzzles are categorized by the type of operations they contain, which may include addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, or some combination of these. You can solve the puzzles in any order you choose. If you get stuck on a particular puzzle, you can view the solution from the menu. You can also shuffle the tiles for a fresh look at any time.

If you like math puzzles, you will love Math Blender.

Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Get $2 off a relaxing MP3 Album (KSO)

Sasha - Thanks for the comment this morning. Leave another with your email address and I'll send you the code for the bonus app: W.E.L.D.E.R. (iPad/iPhone)

This offer is only for those with a Kindle with Special Offers (which you can turn on and off, of course, on some of the later eInk models).

Get $2 off any one of 50 relaxing MP3 albums

To take advantage of this offer:
  1. First, turn on your Kindle with Special Offers, click Menu, then View Special Offers.
  2. Find the offer: Get $2 off any one of 50 relaxing MP3 albums. Click on it, then on the link to Email Me This Offer.
  3. You will get an email from Amazon with your promotional code, right away.
  4. Once you have the promotion code (and have selected your album; see below), click this link, then on the button labeled Enter Your Code, at any time up to the expiration date of May 13, 2012.
  5. Enter your code and follow the directions.
  6. Choose any of these albums and you'll get $2 off
You'll have a promotion code on your account that will apply to the FIRST album you buy (from the list) after that. Current prices range from about $3 to $10, but those can change at any time. You should save the code and not enter it until you are ready to buy an album. I find this helps me remember if I've used a code - when I go to apply it, if it isn't accepted, I know I've used that offer; also, I don't accidentally use an offer on a very inexpensive item (they won't pay you to get an album that's only 99 cents, for example).

To recap: you must claim the offer by April 13 and must do so from your Kindle with Special Offers. You'll get a promotion code via email and you have until May 13, 2012, to enter and redeem the code. Once you enter it, it will work on the next album from the list that you purchase.

There are definitely some strange selections in this one (space music?), with most of them music to meditate or practice yoga with. A number of them would work well in the background while reading (perhaps not the Gregorian Chants, though).

You won't find these on the KSO list, but all are of the same general type and are on sale for only 99 cents (or less), about as low as you could get from the KSO offer and they're available to everyone.
If you're willing to spend a dollar more, you might want to check out 99 Must-Have Piano Masterpieces or 99 Must-Have Chillout Classics, both of which appear to be very good selections.

Today's Deals

Today's Kindle Deal of the Day is Last Exit in New Jersey ($0.99), by C.E. Grundler
Book Description
Nice young ladies really shouldn't be dumping bodies at sea. Then again, that isn't stopping Hazel Moran, and she can't figure where anyone got the idea she was nice to begin with.

Raised aboard her father's aging schooner and riding shotgun in their eighteen-wheeler, she can handle almost anything on the road or water; it's her people skills that need work. Normally that isn't an issue—most people tend to leave her alone behind the wheel of a Kenworth. But when twenty-year-old Hazel and her father become the targets of some unsavory characters hunting for her missing cousin, their stolen tractor trailer, and a delivery that never arrived, she knows it's time to heed a lesson learned from her favorite hard-boiled paperbacks: playing nice will only end in tears.

It'll take all her ingenuity, not to mention some fishing tackle and high voltage, if Hazel hopes to protect her family and unravel this tangle of greed and betrayal. And anyone who gets too close, no matter the intent, will discover just how dangerous Hazel truly is as she sets in motion a twisted plan to uncover the truth, settle some scores, and not wind up dead in the process.

Gritty, offbeat, and darkly funny, Last Exit in New Jersey is a modern mystery that introduces an unforgettable new protagonist to the ranks of literature’s hard-boiled detectives.

Bats Sing, Mice Giggle ($1.57 / £0.99 UK), by Karen Shanor PhD and Jagmeet Kanwal PhD, is the Kindle Deal of the day for those in the UK (the US edition is $8.14).
Book Description
Did you know that bats compose their own songs and babble to each other? Or that mice giggle when they are tickled? That lizards do push-ups to seduce a mate, or that elephants mimic the sounds of passing trucks to stave off loneliness? Bats Sing, Mice Giggle is the culmination of many years of research that reveals how wild animals, as well as pets, have secret, inner lives of which until recently - although animals lovers will have instinctively believed it - we have had little proof. Drs. Shanor and Kanwal explain how animal friends keep in touch, and how they warn and help each other in times of danger; how some animals problem-solve even more effectively than humans - and how they build, create and entertain themselves and others. The authors reveal how animals express grief, joy, anger and fear, and experience a similar breadth of emotions as we humans. They describe sleep patterns of dolphins, who go to sleep in only one half of their brains at a time; and how schools of electric fish generate and use complex electric fields to determine their location within the group. Bats Sing, Mice Giggle is an eye-opening voyage of discovery - one which shows that many behavioural and mental traits considered uniquely human are in fact shared with other species.

Between the Bridge and the River ($1.99 Kindle, B&N), by Craig Ferguson, is the Nook Daily Find, price matched on Kindle.
Book Description
Bawdy, joyous, messy, hysterically funny, and guaranteed to offend regardless of religion, race, national origin, sexual orientation, or profession

Between the Bridge and the River is the debut novel by Craig Ferguson, host of CBS's The Late Late Show. Two childhood friends from Scotland and two illegitimate half-brothers from the American South suffer and enjoy all manner of bizarre experiences which, as it turns out, are somehow interconnected and, surprisingly enough, meaningful. An eclectic cast of characters includes Carl Jung, Fatty Arbuckle, Virgil, Marat, Socrates, and Tony Randall. Love, greed, hope, revenge, organized religion, and Hollywood are alternately tickled and throttled. Impossible to summarize and impossible to stop reading, this is a romantic comic odyssey that actually delivers and rewards.

Cross My Heart and Hope to Spy (Gallagher Girls Series #2) ($6.99 Kindle, $2.99 B&N), by Ally Carter, is the Nook Daily Find for Families.
Book Description
After the excitement of the fall, all Cammie Morgan wants is peaceful semester at school. But that's easier said than done when you're a CIA legacy and go to the premier school in the world...for spies. Despite Cammie's best intentions, trouble crops up quickly. Cammie, Bex, and Liz learn that the Gallagher Academy is hosting guests from another spy school a school that is known to the world as the Ethan Frome Academy a secret spy school for boys. After her fiasco with Josh last fall, Cammie isn't sure she's ready for daily encounters with boy spies – especially after she meets Zach an incorrigible cutie who everyone thinks is just perfect. Cammie is right to be worried about their new guests. Soon after the boys' arrival, she's blamed for a series of security breaches that leave the school's top-secret status at risk. And the perfectly crushable Zach is her prime suspect. The Gallagher Girls will need to use all their skills to investigate the Frome Boys. Even though they're confident about their guy-spying (as if they haven't done it before!), the playing field is level this time, and the stakes for Cammie's heart—and her beloved school— are higher than ever.

Shakespeare Undead ($2.99 Kindle, Kobo), by bestselling author Lori Handeland, is the Kobo Today's Deal, price matched on Kindle.
Book Description
Something wicked this way comes . . . and it keeps coming and coming and coming. . . .

William Shakespeare was one of history’s greatest writers, a master of words with a body of work that is truly impressive . . . some may say a little too impressive for a single man to accomplish in one lifetime. Perhaps, as many have speculated, he had assistance. Or perhaps the explanation is more . . . unusual.
  • Who was William Shakespeare?
  • Who was the Dark Lady of the Sonnets?
  • Why are the undead stalking the alleyways of London?
  • And can they be stopped?
Something is definitely rotten in the state of Denmark.

So brace yourself for a wild ride through twisted streets and shadowed graveyards of Elizabethan London, where you’ll discover how the Bard got his Bite.

Monday, April 9, 2012

Neutrogena: Get $10 Off $30 Order (KSO)

This offer is only for those with a Kindle with Special Offers (including any Kindle Touch or Kindle Keyboard that opts in to Special Offers, which means you can add the offers, grab this one, then turn them back off!):

Get $10 Off a $30 Purchase of Select Neutrogena® Items

Click on offer, then click on the link on the offer page to receive an email with the promo code. Sign-up for this offer expires on April 25.

You'll get an email (right away), a link to the Special Offer page and a promotion code to enter at checkout. Once you have the promotional code, you have until May 25, 2012 to complete your purchase. Like previous offers, this one requires you to use the full checkout process in order to enter your promotional code. Also, like all Amazon sales that use promotional codes, if you have a gift card balance, you must use it for the payment (if there is not a sufficient balance, then you can pick which credit card or other payment to use).

Limit one offer per customer and per device.

This deal has nearly the same selection as the last one, minus a few of the more popular items that have already sold out (only items on the linked page AND sold by Amazon qualify for the promotion). Overall, though, this offer is better than the last one, which was, at best, 25% off (and only if the two items purchased were of equal value). Also, this offer has a high enough purchase requirement that everyone will qualify for free super-saver shipping (which looks at the before coupon totals), if not a member of Prime.

I am having trouble getting the email to send on one of our Kindles, so it's a good thing that the deadline on this one is quite a ways off (it just keeps saying that it's unable to send an email, despite having no problem getting onto the Kindle store and a restart did nothing to fix the issue).

Sunday, April 8, 2012

Today's Deals

Be sure to get today's free Android App, PopOut! The Tale of Peter Rabbit, an interactive version of the time-honored classic, The Tale of Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter.

A Lady of High Regard is now available on Kindle, but not free, while it is still free elsewhere - feel free to bombard Amazon with lower price reports, as that might get the price lowered before the promotion is over.

Today's Kindle Deal of the Day is The Chicken Soup Series, with titles priced from 99 cents to $1.99! That's right, 172 books in the series are on sale, today only! It's not the entire series, but appears to be a bit over half and there are definitely some good ones to choose from in the sale.

There are simply too many books in the series to list them all (or even a representative sampling), with books for women, couples, teens, retirees, teachers, writers, baseball fans, pet lovers, cat lovers, dog lovers, dog & cat lovers, etc. There is even the Chicken Soup for the Soul Cookbook, no recipes of which have been adjusted to make them "nutritionally correct" and Chicken Soup for the Soul Recipes for Busy Moms, which features Mr. Food, whose recipes often fit entirely into a short television segment as a part of the local news. Mr. Food recently gave a demonstration at the Gluten Free Fair here; although the recipes in this book are not necessarily gluten free, many are easily converted, by substituting gluten free pasta, for instance.
Deal Description
Rediscover the power of inspiration with timeless stories illuminating the best of the human spirit. Whether you're discovering the Chicken Soup series for the first time or you're a long-time fan, this diverse selection of titles will motivate you to reach your highest potential and embrace the world around you.

Running the Rift ($2.05 / £1.29 UK), by Naomi Benaron, is the Kindle Deal of the day for those in the UK (the US edition is $11.99).
Book Description
Jean Patrick dreams of running in the Olympics one day, and with gruelling training he soon beats a world qualifying time. But his chances of success are threatened by the ethnic tensions erupting all around him. When Hutu violence against Tutsis finally crescendos and his homeland Rwanda is wracked by unforgivable atrocities, Jean Patrick, a Tutsi, has no choice but to run for his life abandoning fatherland, family, and the woman he loves. Finding them again will be the race of his life. Following a decade in Rwanda s history through the eyes of one boy, Running the Rift is a wrenching tale of a people s collective trauma, of lives lost, and loves salvaged.

The Promise of an Angel ($3.49 Kindle, B&N), by Ruth Reid, is the Nook Daily Find, price matched on Kindle.
Book Description
In Mescota County, Michigan, an angelic visitor's words inspire Judith to a future she never imagined.

After a barn raising accident, Judith Fischer's convinced she's met an angel. However, her attempts to convince others end up frustrating her Old-Order Amish community. Only Andrew Lapp believes her, but the rest, including Levi Plank, the man's she's waited to marry, demand she forget the nonsense. Meanwhile, her younger sister Martha has taken a fancy to Levi and sees her sister's controversy as a perfect distraction for turning Levi's head.

In a dream, the angel tells Judith she must choose her path. As her faith continues to grow, so do her feelings for Andrew. Will she continue to place her hope in the angel's message, even if it means losing all she knows and loves?

Quiet Bunny ($8.24 Hardcover, no Kindle edition, $1.99 B&N), by Lisa McCue, is the Nook Daily Find for Families (requires NOOK Color, NOOK Tablet or NOOK Kids for iPad).
Book Description
In this beautiful picture book by renowned artist Lisa McCue, Little Bunny discovers the importance-and pleasure-of dancing to your own kind of music.

More than anything, Quiet Bunny loves the sounds of the forest: the birds chirping, the wind whispering shhhhh through the leaves, and, especially, the night song all the rabbits listen to. But, one day, he wonders: how can I join in? Bunny wanders the woods asking animal after animal-but he just can't ch-cheet like the cricket, ssssss like the hissing snake, or o-uuuu like the howling wolves. But nothing feels just right-until Quiet Bunny finds the wonderful beat that's his and his alone.

Free Audiobook - Road to the Resurrection

Christianaudio's free audiobook this month is Road to the Resurrection ($8.19 Kindle; $9.95 Audible), by Greg Laurie, narrated by Ray Porter.
Book Description
For three days after the Crucifixion, the disciples were dismayed, the religious leaders rested in victory, and Jesus Christ lay dead and buried in a dark garden tomb.

But early Sunday morning, the angel proclaimed the victorious words: “He has risen!” The message behind these words provides power to Christianity, freedom from sin, and joy to followers of Christ.

In Road to the Resurrection, Greg Laurie delves into the life-changing message of Easter and the hope it holds for people past, present, and future. You also will learn biblical truths concerning the risen Christ and encounter the important people, places, and events of His crucifixion and resurrection, including . . .
  • the prophecies that foretold of His death and resurrection
  • the statements Jesus made from the cross
  • what happened Easter morning
  • the appearances of the risen Lord
  • Christ’s Great Commission and the birth of the church
Read Road to the Resurrection and discover the power of the risen Lord.
Get the free audio download from Christianaudio and scroll down the page for several $4.98 discounted titles by the same author. The checkout process is very streamlined (a coupon code is no longer required), as is the download process (no longer do you have to download each part of the book separately). You can also send a gift download of the free audiobook to someone else!

After finishing your order, download a zip file with the entire audiobook: select MP3 if you want to be able to play the book on your Kindle (M4B for the iOS, iTunes or QuickTime). Unzip the contents to the \audiobooks directory on your Kindle (not \music) in order to have audiobook controls and see it on your Kindle home page.

Saturday, April 7, 2012

Winners of the iTunes App

Congrats to the winners on the last contest (which I kept forgetting to post). I need an email address on a couple of you, though, as the blogger profiles that come up don't have any way to get in touch with you:

Isabel - cookbook
Lyzz - ABC's (I need your email address!)
Krissie - bonus app: W.E.L.D.E.R.

If the last two will leave me a note here, I'll email you the codes to enter into iTunes.

Friday, April 6, 2012

Bargain Book Roundup and Free Book Update

Additional formats on free books:
Repeat freebies from Oceanview Publishing, only on Kindle:

Flowers for Algernon ($1.99), by Daniel Keyes, is the Kindle Weekend Deal.

Be sure to vote for next weekend's deals! Additional winners this weekend are instant video The Truman Show ($1.99), game download Hotel Giant 2 ($1.99) and MP3 download Loud ($5.00), by Rihanna.
Book Description
With more than five million copies sold, Flowers for Algernon is the beloved, classic story of a mentally disabled man whose experimental quest for intelligence mirrors that of Algernon, an extraordinary lab mouse. In poignant diary entries, Charlie tells how a brain operation increases his IQ and changes his life. As the experimental procedure takes effect, Charlie's intelligence expands until it surpasses that of the doctors who engineered his metamorphosis. The experiment seems to be a scientific breakthrough of paramount importance--until Algernon begins his sudden, unexpected deterioration. Will the same happen to Charlie?

An American classic that inspired the award-winning movie Charly.

Fat Is the New 30: The Sweet Potato Queens' Guide to Coping with (the crappy parts of) Life ($3.99), by Jill Conner Browne
Book Description
The Sweet Potato Queens® are back and bawdier than ever in Southern belle extraordinaire Jill Conner Browne’s ninth edition of the hysterical series.

Having experienced pretty much ALL of the crappy parts of life, Browne feels it is her duty to render whatever assistance she can to her fellow sufferers — and she does so in her own inimitable fashion. Her father taught her there are very few situations in life that we really and truly cannot change, and it is up to us to figure out how to either make fun OUT of them — or make fun OF them. And fortunately for the rest of us, Browne is well equipped for both.

Including the exploits of the Queen contingent and her family, she delivers applicable tidbits like:
  • Thinking or talking about watermelon can save any negative situation.
  • If you get drunk in Scotland, you can’t have your cow with you.
  • When sanity and reason fail, you can always cheerfully resort to ridicule.
  • Denial means that every situation is perfectly perfect.
More fun than a Cracker Barrel full of monkeys, Fat Is the New 30 will change your life — or at least give you ideas for making fun of yourownself.

Don't Try This at Home: Culinary Catastrophes from the World's Greatest Chefs ($1.99), by Kimberly Witherspoon and Andrew Friedman
Book Description
The hugely popular anthology in which forty of the world's greatest chefs, including Anthony Bourdain, Daniel Boulud, and Ferrán Adrià, reveal their worst kitchen disasters.

From Gabrielle Hamilton on hiring a blind line cook to Michel Richard on rescuing a wrecked cake to Eric Ripert on being the clumsiest waiter in the room, these behind-the-scenes accounts are as wildly entertaining as they are revealing. With a great, new piece by Jamie Oliver, Don't Try This at Home is a delicious reminder that even the chefs we most admire aren't always perfect-and a hilarious musthave for anyone who's ever burned dinner.

There are nine titles by Joseph Wambaugh that are on sale for $2.99 on Kindle (and some of them elsewhere, as well), as a promotion for the upcoming release of Harbor Noctourne. Here they are, in publication order (non-fiction at the end):
  • The Black Marble
    A washed-up LAPD cop with a bad drinking problem gets a new partner

    The Los Angeles Police Department’s Hollywood Station is like a strainer, dredging the heart of L.A. and coming up with the city’s worst scum. But few criminals in its holding cells are lower than Detective A. A. Valnikov, a broken cop consumed with love for vodka and self-hatred. He was a useful detective once, but that was twenty years ago, and any pride he takes in his work is now long gone.

    His new partner is Natalie Zimmerman, an ambitious young detective eager to make good on her potential. The brass sticks her with Valnikov in hopes that she might help hold him together. She thinks it’s a sick joke, but it could be that the old lush has something to teach her. A dognapper is terrorizing Pasadena’s high society, and as the city’s grime floats to the surface, A. A. Valnikov should feel right at home.
  • The Glitter Dome
    A grim look at the ugly underbelly of life as a Hollywood cop

    The Glitter Dome is the ugliest bar in Chinatown. Its proprietor is a man named Wing, a third-generation immigrant who speaks with a thick accent for daytime tourists, but perfect English at night, when off-duty cops flood the seedy tiki bar, looking to blow off steam.

    Bellowing in the middle of the dance floor is Buckmore Phipps, the burly bully of Hollywood Boulevard. At one end of the bar, Detective Cal Greenberg complains that today’s music has nothing on Glenn Miller, while at the other Detective Al Mackey mumbles into his glass of Tullamore Dew, not caring that Wing shortchanges him on every drink.

    In this collection of stories, former police detective Joseph Wambaugh dissects what it means to be a cop, a partner, and a man.
  • The Delta Star
    A dead prostitute leads a gang of cops on a wild international chase

    In death she looks thirty-five, but Missy Moonbeam, a.k.a. Thelma Bernbaum, is only twenty-two when the cops of Rampart Division find her flattened on the sidewalk. A Nebraska farm girl, Missy came to Los Angeles to act, and died not long after her dream did. The detectives assume that her pimp threw her off a roof—but they couldn’t be more wrong. Missy had a trick at Caltech whose name draws the Rampart detectives into a bizarre conspiracy. A beached Soviet sub has Europe on the brink of war, and only Rampart Division can pull the world back from disaster.

    They are a motley gang. There’s the Bad Czech, a certifiable psychopath whose chief pleasure is yelling at the Los Angeles Times. There’s Mario Villalobos, whose midlife crisis has made him sentimental. And there’s Jane Wayne, a New Wave fan, sex addict, and proudly violent cop. This case will take them all the way to Stockholm, but they won’t win any Nobel Peace Prize.
  • The Golden Orange
    An alcoholic ex-cop falls head over heels for an Orange County gold digger

    Prenuptial agreements have not been kind to Tess Binder. Although briefly married to the 303rd richest man in the world, their marriage contract ensured that she got nothing when he left her for a manicurist he met playing singles at the John Wayne Tennis Club. A Westport lifestyle is expensive, and without a husband to subsidize it, Tess will be broke soon. In need of a sucker, she calls on Winnie Farlowe.

    An ex-cop with a bad back and an even worse drinking habit, Winnie recently achieved notoriety by piloting a ferry while blackout drunk. He rammed three yachts but, killing no one, got off with probation. Though Tess is miles out of his league, he doesn’t ask questions when she throws herself at him. Drunk on love, Winnie Farlowe is heading for the worst hangover he’s ever had.
  • Fugitive Nights
    A PI enlists a down-on-his-luck cop to help find a fugitive sperm donor

    After twenty years in the Los Angeles Police Department, Breda Burroughs is happy to trade her badge for a private agency in sunny Palm Springs. But when a strange case requires her to go someplace only cops are allowed, she finds that for the first time ever she needs a partner. She should not have asked Lynn Cutter.

    A woman has hired Breda to find her missing husband—an impotent rich man who, for some reason, has been donating to sperm banks. Breda needs Lynn because the banks don’t have to give up their records to anyone but the police, but Lynn is too nasty for a case this sensitive. A veteran cop with two busted knees, he helps Breda because he needs the money. What he gets instead is a wild chase across the Southwest, risking his life to find a man that no one really missed in the first place.
  • Finnegan's Week
    A disillusioned cop hunts for toxic waste that’s killing children

    Fin Finnegan is no name for an actor, but the name is not the reason Fin’s career is a terminal case. He’s middle-aged and balding, his agent is a fool, and worst of all, he lives in San Diego. Harbor Nights could change his luck. There’s a recurring part in the late-night melodrama for a sociopathic killer, and Fin thinks he fits the bill. After two decades in the San Diego police force, he knows sociopaths.

    His latest murderer is not a person, but a fifty-five gallon drum of Guthion, a toxic chemical whose disposal requires extreme care. Unfortunately, the man shipping it is Jules Temple, a lifelong con artist who isn’t bothered when the Guthion goes missing. Its first victim is a child. If acting doesn’t kill him first, Fin Finnegan could be next.
  • Floaters
    Two harbor cops work to foil a bizarre nautical scheme

    For the first time in history, New Zealand threatens to win the America’s Cup regatta. Losing the yacht race would be a great blow to the United States sailing community, which has clung to the Cup for nearly all of its 150-year history—but it would be an even greater loss for Ambrose Lutterworth. As the Keeper of the Cup, he has been responsible for the trophy for the seven years since it was won by the San Diego Yacht Club, and his ceremonial position has allowed him to travel the world exhibiting it. If the Cup leaves San Diego, his lifestyle goes with it.

    To rig the race he sets in motion a sinister plot involving prostitution, bribery, and a corrupt crane operator. When two harbor policemen get on his trail, they learn that gentility and murder are not mutually exclusive.
  • Lines and Shadows (non-fiction)
    A true account of a daring attempt to make the US–Mexico border safe

    Each night, thousands of immigrants stream north across the Mexican border towards San Diego, hoping to make a new life in the United States. Along the way, many find death instead. Bandit gangs roam the moonlit desert, robbing, raping, and killing these desperate, impoverished migrants. For decades Dick Snider has watched this happen. Now, in 1976, he’s decided to end the bloodshed.

    A San Diego cop with an intimate awareness of the trials of border crossing, Snider has uncommon sympathy for the illegal immigrants who risk their lives to enter his country. Along with nine other policemen, he forms the Border Crime Task Force, a crack squad of heavily armed foot soldiers dedicated to wiping out the bandit thugs. With each midnight raid, the police raiders step closer to the border between sanity and madness.
  • The Blooding (non-fiction)
    When a child’s killer eludes the police, fear grips an English village

    In the early 1980s, Narborough was a quintessential English village with two pubs, two churches, and one terrible secret. Lynda Mann, a fifteen-year-old schoolgirl, had walked along the footpath called the Black Pad dozens of times before the night she disappeared. She was returning home from a friend’s house on November twenty-first, 1983, when her killer attacked, stripped, and strangled her.

    This is a meticulous account of one of the most exhaustive manhunts in English history. Even after a second girl’s similar murder, Scotland Yard had no answers. As the Midlands seethed with fear that the killer would strike again, the police experimented with a new technology: DNA identification. Their attempt to avenge Lynda would change the course of police work forever.

In the Kitchen with A Good Appetite: 150 Recipes and Stories About the Food You Love ($3.03), by Melissa Clark
Book Description
“A Good Appetite,” Melissa Clark’s weekly feature in the New York Times Dining Section, is about dishes that are easy to cook and that speak to everyone, either stirring a memory or creating one. Now, Clark takes the same freewheeling yet well-informed approach that has won her countless fans and applies it to one hundred and fifty delicious, simply sophisticated recipes.

Clark prefaces each recipe with the story of its creation—the missteps as well as the strokes of genius—to inspire improvisation in her readers. So when discussing her recipe for Crisp Chicken Schnitzel, she offers plenty of tried-and-true tips learned from an Austrian chef; and in My Mother’s Lemon Pot Roast, she gives the same high-quality advice, but culled from her own family’s kitchen.

Memorable chapters reflect the way so many of us like to eat: Things with Cheese (think Baked Camembert with Walnut Crumble and Ginger Marmalade), The Farmers’ Market and Me (Roasted Spiced Cauliflower and Almonds), It Tastes Like Chicken (Garlic and Thyme–Roasted Chicken with Crispy Drippings Croutons), and many more delectable but not overly complicated dishes.

In addition, Clark writes with Laurie Colwin–esque warmth and humor about the relationship that we have with our favorite foods, about the satisfaction of cooking a meal where everyone wants seconds, and about the pleasures of eating. From stories of trips to France with her parents, growing up (where she and her sister were required to sit on unwieldy tuna Nicoise sandwiches to make them more manageable), to bribing a fellow customer for the last piece of dessert at the farmers’ market, Melissa’s stories will delight any reader who starts thinking about what’s for dinner as soon as breakfast is cleared away. This is a cookbook to read, to savor, and most important, to cook delicious, rewarding meals from.

The Borgia Betrayal ($2.99), by Sara Poole
Book Description
Before the Tudors, there were the Borgias. More passionate. More dangerous. More deadly.

From the author of Poison, called “stunning”* and “a fascinating page-turner,” comes a new historical thriller, featuring the same intriguing and beautiful heroine: Borgia court poisoner, Francesca Giordano.

In the summer of 1493, Rodrigo Borgia, Alexander VI, has been pope for almost a year. Having played a crucial role in helping him ascend the chair of Saint Peter, Francesca, haunted by the shadows of her own past, is now charged with keeping him there. As court poisoner to the most notorious and dangerous family in Italy, this mistress of death faces a web of peril, intrigue, and deceit that threatens to extinguish the light of the Renaissance.

As dangers close in from every direction, Francesca conceives a desperate plan that puts her own life at risk and hurls her into a nightmare confrontation with a madman intent on destroying all she is pledged to protect. From the hidden crypts of fifteenth-century Rome to its teeming streets alive with sensuality, obsession, and treachery, Francesca must battle the demons of her own dark nature to unravel a plot to destroy the Borgias, seize control of Christendom, and plunge the world into eternal darkness.

The Warrior Sheep Go West ($0.99), by Christopher Russell
Book Description
A wildly western adventure about five sheep, one mad professor and a quest to save all of sheepdom. A strange monster called Red Tongue has threatened all Rams, Ewes and Lambs. The Warrior Sheep know it’s up to them to stop him. Last time they saved the Sheep God. This time they have to save all of sheepdom. ‘We did it once, we can do it again,’ Wills the lamb says. And so the Warrior Sheep go West!To America, to the desert and the hot air of Las Vegas. But they have a crazy scientist following them, and Tod and Gran have been slung in jail by a over-zealous Sheriff. Can the Warriors give Professor Boomberg the slip and stop the sheep-killing monster? They’ll need to hoof it, before Red Tongue tramples all over America . . . Read it: it’s absolutely baaarmy!

Free Audiobook - The Importance of Being Earnest

Audible is giving away a free performance of Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest, narrated by James Marsters, Charles Busch, Emily Bergl, Neil Dickson, Jill Gascoine, Christopher Neame and Matthew Wolf. I know this is free for those in the US and Canada (requires an account), but does appear to be geographically restricted in some other areas (such as the UK).

April is also Listening Rewards Month at Audible - if you buy four audiobooks that normally sell for $14.95 or more (using any combination of credits or $$), then Audible will deposit $10 into your account, to use on the audiobook of your choice during May.
Book Description
This final play from the pen of Oscar Wilde is a stylish send-up of Victorian courtship and manners, complete with assumed names, mistaken lovers, and a lost handbag. Jack and Algernon are best friends, both wooing ladies who think their names are Ernest, "that name which inspires absolute confidence."

Wilde's effervescent wit, scathing social satire, and high farce make this one of the most cherished plays in the English language.

Hear more of your favorite performances LIVE from L. A. Theatre Works.
Get the free audiobook from Audible.

Thursday, April 5, 2012

Kobo Daily Deal - Ship Breaker

Kobo has added a Daily Deal on their website and today's book is Ship Breaker ($2.99 Kindle, B&N, Kobo), by Paolo Bacigalupi, price matched on Kindle. I've added them to my list to check in the mornings and will add them to the Daily Deals posts in the future. I can definitely recommend this book - I couldn't stop reading at the end of the sample and bought it at full price a couple of years ago.
Book Description
In America's Gulf Coast region, where grounded oil tankers are being broken down for parts, Nailer, a teenage boy, works the light crew, scavenging for copper wiring just to make quota--and hopefully live to see another day. But when, by luck or chance, he discovers an exquisite clipper ship beached during a recent hurricane, Nailer faces the most important decision of his life: Strip the ship for all it's worth or rescue its lone survivor, a beautiful and wealthy girl who could lead him to a better life. . . .

In this powerful novel, award-winning author Paolo Bacigalupi delivers a thrilling, fast-paced adventure set in a vivid and raw, uncertain future.

Buy one of 50 Humor titles for $1 (KSO)

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

Buy one of 50 Humor titles for $1

To take advantage of this offer:
  1. First, turn on your Kindle with Special Offers, click Menu, then View Special Offers.
  2. Find the offer: Buy one of 50 Humor titles for $1. Click on it, then on the link to Email Me This Offer.
  3. You will get an email from Amazon with your promotional code, right away.
  4. Once you have the promotion code (and have selected your book; see below), click this link, then on the button labeled Enter Your Code, at any time up to the expiration date of May 8.
  5. Enter your code and follow the directions.
  6. Choose any of these books and you'll pay only $1.
You'll have a promotion code on your account that will apply to the FIRST book you buy (from the list) after that. Note that even if the book is free, you'll pay a dollar, so be careful which one you pick after you enter the code -- make sure you don't grabbing a low cost title by accident, which can happen if you apply the code right away, before you are ready to buy the book. Current prices range from $1.99 (not a great savings) to over $10. You should save the code and not enter it until you are ready to buy a book.

To recap: you must claim the offer by April 8 and must do so from your Kindle with Special Offers. You'll get a promotion code via email and you have until May 8 to enter and redeem the code. Once you enter it, it will work on the next book on the list that you purchase.

This is a repeat offer, although last time there were 100 books to choose from. The choices appear to be quite different this time around, though, and everyone should be able to find one book they spend a buck upon!