Today's Deals

Looking for something different to give out for Halloween this year (or just want a free game)? Then run over to the Stop Zombie Mouth website and print off as many coupons as you want, each one good for a free copy of Plants vs. Zombies at Popcap Games (redeem Oct. 30 - Nov. 10). You can also download some wallpaper for your computer, some coloring pages for kids, invitations for a Halloween party and some masks that you can print.


Today's Kindle Kids Daily Deal is Eight Spooky Halloween Books, most of them for 99 cents.

Zombie Town ($0.99), by R.L. Stine, Tim Jacobus
Three Faces of Me ($0.99), by R.L. Stine, Tim Jacobus
My Alien Parents ($0.99), by R.L. Stine, Tim Jacobus
The 13th Warning ($0.99), by R.L. Stine, Tim Jacobus
The Creatures from Beyond Beyond ($0.99), by R.L. Stine, Tim Jacobus
The Adventures of Shrinkman ($0.99), by R.L. Stine, Tim Jacobus
Blackbriar ($1.99), by William Sleator
An Eyeball in My Garden: And Other Spine-Tingling Poem ($1.99), by Jennifer Cole Judd, Laura Wynkoop and Johan Olander

Today's Kindle Daily Deal is 22 Karen Kingsbury Romances for $1.99 each! That's far too many for me to list them out, so just click the link to see them all. Also, be sure to double check the prices before one-clicking, as I still don't see a price drop and it's well after midnight (PT) as I am posting this (regular prices of $8-$10 are showing). If there are several of these you want, it's probably worth a phone call to Kindle support to see if they can notify someone who can get the prices corrected before this afternoon.

Book Description
Award-winning author Karen Kingsbury is arguably America's favorite inspirational writer with more than 50 novels to her name. Today's deal features 22 of her best-selling novels covering five complete series: Bailey Flanigan, Above the Line, Sunrise, Redemption, and Firstborn.

Death and the Devil ($1.58 / £0.99 UK), by Frank Schätzing, is the Kindle Deal of the day for those in the UK (the US edition is $7.99).

Book Description
Cologne, 1260. The great cathedral, the most ambitious building in all Christendom, is rising above the city. In its shadow seethes a society in ferment: traumatised Crusaders returning from the Holy Land, religious tensions poised to explode into violence, a burgeoning merchant class that despises the old aristocracy and is determined to seize power.Against this backdrop Jacob the Fox, a flame-haired petty thief, witnesses a murder – the cathedral's architect, pushed to his death from the scaffold by a black-clad assassin. Soon Jacob is on the run, convinced the Angel of Death is on his trail, as the killer pursues him through medieval Cologne's seedy underworld. To survive he must uncover a vengeful conspiracy that threatens to tear the city apart and stain the sacred project with blood.

Blood and Bullets ($5.38 $2.99 Kindle, B&N), the first novel in the Deacon Chalk: Occult Bounty Hunter series by James R. Tuck, is the Nook Daily Find, price matched on Kindle, now price matched on Kindle.

Book Description
He lives to kill monsters. He keeps his city safe. And his silver hollow-points and back-from-the-dead abilities help him take out any kind of supernatural threat. But now an immortal evil has this bad-ass bounty hunter dead in its sights. . .

Ever since a monster murdered his family, Deacon Chalk hunts any creature that preys on the innocent. So when a pretty vampire girl "hires" him to eliminate a fellow slayer, Deacon goes to warn him--and barely escapes a vampire ambush. Now he's got a way-inexperienced newbie hunter to protect and everything from bloodsuckers to cursed immortals on his trail. There's also a malevolent force controlling the living and the undead, hellbent on turning Deacon's greatest loss into the one weapon that could destroy him. . .

1948: Harry Truman's Improbable Victory and the Year that Transformed America ($15.87 Hardcover, $1.99 B&N), by David Pietrusza, is the Nook Daily Find: Election 2012 (no Kindle edition).

Book Description
The behind-the-headline true story of Harry Truman's stunning upset!

Everyone knows the iconic news photo of jubilant underdog Harry Truman brandishing a copy of the Chicago Tribune proclaiming “DEWEY DEFEATS TRUMAN.” David Pietrusza goes backstage to explain how it happened, placing the brutal political battle in the context of an erupting Cold War and America's exploding storms over civil rights and domestic communism.

Pietrusza achieves for 1948's presidential race what he previously did in his acclaimed 1960--LBJ vs. JFK vs. Nixon: bringing history to life and intrigue readers with tales of high drama while simultaneously presenting the issues, personalities, and controversies of this pivotal era with laser-like clarity.

Today's Deals

Get 50% off Windows 8 Programming books at O'Reilly, using e WKWNDW8 - Deal expires November 2, 2012 at 11:59pm PT.

Additional formats on free books:

• The Power Trip Prequel (K/N)

Today's Kindle Daily Deal is Big Maria ($1.99), by Johnny Shaw, which was the UK Daily Deal earlier this week (and one that I was hoping we would get).

Book Description
There’s gold in them thar hills—or more precisely, in Arizona’s Chocolate Mountains, where one hundred years ago a miner stashed a king’s ransom of the stuff. But times have changed. The world has changed. And now the Chocolate Mountains are the home of the largest military artillery range in the world.

Harry’s living on disability and getting liquored up and beaten down. Frank’s a feisty old-timer battling cancer and a domineering daughter. And Ricky’s a good kid in a bad spot, doing everything for family. Together they’re staking what little they have left on a dangerous quest to the Big Maria Mine—and the gold that can offer them a new beginning.

Unfortunately a meth-dealing biker wants a piece, a trigger-happy AWOL soldier wants to play chicken in a live minefield, two stubborn burros want to go home, a starving mountain lion wants his dinner, and the US Army wants to rain on our heroes’ parade with real bombs.

When you’re all out of crazy ideas, you’ve got to try the stupid ones.

Imagine Chuck Palahniuk and Don Winslow’s love child – and that would be ribald author Johnny Shaw. His novel Big Maria is a unfiltered, wild romp in which three men get one chance to find a lost gold mine; the only problem is the Big Maria Mine is right in the middle of a US Army artillery range.

Sightlines ($1.58 / £0.99 UK), by Kathleen Jamie, is the Kindle Deal of the day for those in the UK (no US edition).

Book Description
Five years after Findings broke the mould of nature writing, Kathleen Jamie subtly shifts our focus on landscape and the living world, daring us to look again at the ‘natural’, the remote and the human-made. She offers us the closest of perspectives and the most distant, too: from vistas of cells beneath a hospital microscope, or the pores of a whale’s jawbone under restoration, to satellites rising over a Scottish island, or the aurora borealis lighting up an iceberg-strewn sea. We encounter killer whales circling below cliffs, noisy colonies of breeding gannets, and paintings deep in caves.

Written with precision, delicacy and personal recollection, Sightlines invites us to pause and look afresh at our surroundings.

Sarah's Garden ($9.99 Kindle, $2.40 B&N), the first title in the Patch of Heaven series by Kelly Long, is the Nook Daily Find.

Book Description
Quite by accident, Sarah King has fallen in love. But this love is forbidden, and could cost her everything she holds dear.

Tucked into the majesty of Pennsylvania's Allegheny Mountains is a garden Sarah King has been nurturing for years. She never feels more alive than when she is alone with her thoughts and her Creator among the delicate rows of plants. But then duty calls her away from her beloved garden and into a world she knows little about.

Grant Williams, a handsome young veterinarian, has left the city to open a rural practice among the Amish. Within minutes of meeting shy but feisty Sarah King, he is captivated by her.

As their feelings grow for one another, Sarah insists they can never be together. Marrying Grant would mean being uprooted from her home, her family, and her community. Throughout the cold Pennsylvania winter, with her garden tucked away until spring, Sarah begins crafting a quilt that illustrates her pain. Can anything lasting blossom from a love that's forbidden?

The Future of Power ($9.00 Kindle, $2.99 B&N), by Joseph S. Nye Jr., is the Nook Daily Find: Election 2012.

Book Description
In the era of Kennedy and Khrushchev, power was expressed in terms of nuclear missiles, industrial capacity, numbers of men under arms, and tanks lined up ready to cross the plains of Eastern Europe. By 2010, none of these factors confer power in the same way: industrial capacity seems an almost Victorian virtue, and cyber threats are wielded by non-state actors. Politics changed, and the nature of power—defined as the ability to affect others to obtain the outcomes you want—had changed dramatically. Power is not static; its story is of shifts and innovations, technologies and relationships.

Joseph Nye is a long-time analyst of power and a hands-on practitioner in government. Many of his ideas have been at the heart of recent debates over the role America should play in the world: his concept of "soft power" has been adopted by leaders from Britain to China; "smart power” has been adopted as the bumper-sticker for the Obama Administration’s foreign policy. This book is the summation of his work, as relevant to general readers as to foreign policy specialists. It is a vivid narrative that delves behind the elusive faces of power to discover its enduring nature in the cyber age.

Today's Kindle Kids Daily Deal is Splat the Cat ($2.99), by Rob Scotton.

Book Description
It's Splat's first day of school and he's worried. What if he doesn't make any new friends? Just in case, Splat decides to bring along his pet mouse, Seymour, and hides him in his lunchbox. The teacher, Mrs. Wimpydimple, introduces Splat to the class and he soon starts learning all his important cat lessons. But when Seymour escapes and the cats do what cats do (they chase mice!), Splat's worried again. Maybe now he'll lose all his friends, old and new! Just in time, wise Mrs. Wimpydimple takes charge and teaches everyone an important new lesson. Maybe Cat School is going to be okay after all!

Grade Level: P and up

This book features Kindle Text Pop-Up for reading text over vivid, full-color images when using Kindle Fire/HD or select Kindle Reading Apps (Kindle Cloud Reader, Kindle for iPad or Kindle for Android); unlike some other Text Popup books, this one won't work on any of the eInk Kindles.

Free Audiobook + Charity Donation - Click-Clack the Rattlebag

Click-Clack the Rattlebag, a free short story written and performed by Neil Gaiman, is free on Audible and for every copy downloaded through Halloween, Audible will donate $1 (up to $100,000) to the education charity DonorsChoose.org.

Book Description
A few words from Neil: "Why tell ghost stories? Why read them or listen to them? Why take such pleasure in tales that have no purpose but, comfortably, to scare?

"I don't know. Not really. It goes way back. We have ghost stories from ancient Egypt, after all, ghost stories in the Bible, classical ghost stories from Rome (along with werewolves, cases of demonic possession, and of course, over and over, witches). We have been telling each other tales of otherness, of life beyond the grave, for a long time; stories that prickle the flesh and make the shadows deeper and, most important, remind us that we live, and that there is something special, something unique and remarkable, about the state of being alive. Happy Halloween!"

"'What kind of story would you like me to tell you?' 'Well,' he said, thoughtfully, 'I don't think it should be too scary, because then when I go up to bed, I will just be thinking about monsters the whole time. But if it isn't just a little bit scary, then I won't be interested. And you make up scary stories, don't you?'"

So begins this subtle, witty, deceptive little tale from master storyteller Neil Gaiman. Lock the doors, turn off the lights, and enjoy!

Get the free audiobook from Audible. If you are in the UK, use this link and donations will go to the education charity BookTrust.

Today's Deals

Today's Kindle Daily Deal is A Life in Stitches: Knitting My Way Through Love, Loss, and Laughter ($1.99), an anthology by Rachael Herron.

Book Description
In these 20 heartfelt essays, Rachael Herron celebrated romance novelist by day, 911 dispatcher by night, shows how when life unravels there s always a way to knit it back together again, many times into something even better. Honest, funny, and full of warmth, Herron s tales, each inspired by something she knit or something knit for her, will speak to anyone who has ever picked up a pair of needles. From her very first sweater (a hilarious disaster, to say the least) to the yellow afghan that caused a breakup (and, ultimately, a breakthrough), every piece has a moving story behind it. This beautifully crafted and candid collection is perfect for the knitter who loves to read and the reader who loves to knit.

Today's Kindle Daily Deal #2 is Unglued: Making Wise Choices in the Midst of Raw Emotions ($1.99), by Lysa TerKeurst .

Book Description
God gave us emotions to experience life, not destroy it! Lysa TerKeurst admits that she, like most women, has had experiences where others bump into her happy and she comes emotionally unglued. We stuff, we explode, or we react somewhere in between. What do we do with these raw emotions? Is it really possible to make emotions work for us instead of against us? Yes, and in her usual inspiring and practical way, Lysa will show you how. Filled with gut-honest personal examples and biblical teaching, Unglued will equip you to: Know with confidence how to resolve conflict in your important relationships. Find peace in your most difficult relationships as you learn to be honest but kind when offended. Identify what type of reactor you are and how to significantly improve your communication. Respond with no regrets by managing your tendencies to stuff, explode, or react somewhere in between. Gain a deep sense of calm by responding to situations out of your control without acting out of control.

Winner of the Best Danish Crime Novel of the Decade, The Dinosaur Feather ($1.58 / £0.99 UK), by Sissel-Jo Gazan and Charlotte Barslund (Translator), is the Kindle Deal of the day for those in the UK (no US edition).

Book Description
Anna Bella Nor is just two weeks away from revealing her controversial research on the evolutionary origin of birds when her supervisor Lars Helland is found dead... his tongue and a copy of her thesis in his lap.

As the police investigate the most brutal and calculated case they've ever known, Anna remains convinced someone is trying to stop her research coming to light. She must fight to prove her innocence... and fight for her life.

Dancers Among Us: A Celebration of Joy in the Everyday ($11.21 paperback, $3.99 B&N), by Jordan Matter, is the Nook Daily Find (no Kindle edition).

Book Description
The mystery of the body in motion. The surprise of seeing what seems impossible. And the pure, joyful optimism of it all. Dancers Among Us presents one thrilling photograph after another of dancers leaping, spinning, lifting, kicking—but in the midst of daily life: on the beach, at a construction site, in a library, a restaurant, a park. With each image the reader feels buoyed up, eager to see the next bit of magic.

Photographer Jordan Matter started his Dancers Among Us Project by asking a member of the Paul Taylor Dance Company to dance for him in a place where dance is unexpected. So, dressed in a commuter’s suit and tie, the dancer flew across a Times Square subway platform. And in that image Matter found what he’d been searching for: a way to express the feeling of being fully alive in the moment, unself-conscious, present.

Organized around themes of work, play, love, exploration, dreaming, and more, Dancers Among Us celebrates life in a way that’s fresh, surprising, original, universal. There’s no photoshopping here, no trampolines, no gimmicks, no tricks. Just a photographer, his vision, and the serendipity of what happens when the shutter clicks.

Still the Best Hope ($1.99 Kindle, B&N), by Dennis Prager, is the Nook Daily Find: Election 2012, price matched on Kindle.

Book Description
In this visionary book, Dennis Prager, one of America's most original thinkers, contends that humanity confronts a monumental choice. The whole world must decide between American values and its two oppositional alternatives: Islamism and European-style democratic socialism.

Prager—a bestselling author, columnist, and nationally syndicated radio talk show host who is read and heard by millions of people in America and abroad—makes the case for the American value system as the most viable program ever devised to produce a good society. Those values are explained here more clearly and persuasively than ever before.

Still the Best Hope deals with three huge themes: The first is perhaps the most persuasive explanation for why Leftism has been and will always be a moral failure, despite its acknowledged appeal to many people of goodwill. The second explains why fundamentalist Islam, despite its historic and growing appeal, cannot make a good society. But Prager holds out hope for an open and tolerant Islam and explains why it will emerge from faithful American Muslims. The third is a singularly persuasive defense and explanation of what Prager calls the "American Trinity": liberty, values rooted in the Creator, and the melting-pot ideal. These values are inscribed on every American coin as "Liberty," "In God We Trust," and "E Pluribus Unum," and they are the reasons for America's greatness. Without them, America will cease to be an exceptional nation, and therefore cease to be America.

Prager shows why these values can and must be adopted by every nation and culture in the world, why Americans must relearn and recommit to these values, and why America must vigorously export them. For if the world does not adopt American values, the result will be chaos and barbarism on an unprecedented scale.

Today's Kindle Teen Daily Deal is Monster ($1.99), by Walter Dean Myers.

Book Description
Sometimes I feel like I have walked into the middle of a movie. Maybe I can make my own movie. The film will be the story of my life. No, not my life, but of this experience. I'll call it what the lady who is the prosecutor called me. MONSTER.

FADE IN: INTERIOR COURT. A guard sits at a desk behind Steve. Kathy O'Brien, Steve's lawyer, is all business as she talks to Steve.

O'BRIEN
Let me make sure you understand what's going on. Both you and this king character are on trial for felony murder. Felony Murder is as serious as it gets. . . . When you're in court, you sit there and pay attention. You let the jury know that you think the case is a serious as they do. . . .

STEVE
You think we're going to win ?

O'BRIEN (seriously)
It probably depends on what you mean by "win."

Sixteen-year-old Steve Harmon is on trial for murder. A Harlem drugstore owner was shot and killed in his store, and the word is that Steve served as the lookout.

Guilty or innocent, Steve becomes a pawn in the hands of "the system," cluttered with cynical authority figures and unscrupulous inmates, who will turn in anyone to shorten their own sentences. For the first time, Steve is forced to think about who he is as he faces prison, where he may spend all the tomorrows of his life.

As a way of coping with the horrific events that entangle him, Steve, an amateur filmmaker, decides to transcribe his trial into a script, just like in the movies. He writes it all down, scene by scene, the story of how his whole life was turned around in an instant. But despite his efforts, reality is blurred and his vision obscured until he can no longer tell who he is or what is the truth. This compelling novel is Walter Dean Myers's writing at its best.

2000 Coretta Scott King Honor Book, 2000 Michael L. Printz Award, 1999 National Book Award Finalist, 01 Heartland Award for Excellence in YA Lit Finalist, 00-01 Tayshas High School Reading List, and 00-01 Black-Eyed Susan Award Masterlist

2000 Best Books for Young Adults (ALA), Hornbook Fanfare 2000, Michael L. Printz Award 2000, 2000 Coretta Scott King Award Author Honor Book, 2000 Quick Picks for Young Adults (Recomm. Books for Reluctant Young Readers), and 2000 Best Books for Young Adults (ALA)

Grade Level: 8 and up

Today's Deals

Today's Kindle Daily Deal is The Great Crash of 1929 ($1.99), by John Kenneth Galbraith.

Book Description
Of Galbraith's classic examination of the 1929 financial collapse, the Atlantic Monthly said: "Economic writings are seldom notable for their entertainment value, but this book is. Galbraith's prose has grace and wit, and he distills a good deal of sardonic fun from the whopping errors of the nation's oracles and the wondrous antics of the financial community." Now, with the stock market riding historic highs, the celebrated economist returns with new insights on the legacy of our past and the consequences of blind optimism and power plays within the financial community.

Growing Up bin Laden: Osama's Wife and Son Take Us Inside Their Secret World ($1.58 / £0.99 UK), by Jean Sasson, is the Kindle Deal of the day for those in the UK (the US edition is $9.99).

Book Description
Osama bin Laden was the western world's most wanted terrorist. Intent on secrecy at all costs, his personal life was shrouded in mystery until now. For the first time, Osama's first wife and fourth son break the silence to reveal the truth about the character and life of a man both feared and revered around the globe. Osama married his first cousin Najwa when he was just 17. Here she describes the quiet, serious young man she fell in love with, who would take her from a life of extraordinary wealth in Saudi Arabia to a remote mountaintop in Afghanistan. As his senior wife, she would bear him eleven children and watch him become ever stricter, until his growing fanaticism tore the family apart. Their son, Omar, gives a detailed account of his childhood, vying for his father's love in a household of more than 20 brothers and sisters and a youth spent learning desert survival skills and handling Kalashnikovs. Here we see Osama the authoritarian husband and stern father, the entrepreneur, and the leader of a complex terrorist network. Together, in gripping detail, mother and son reveal their life on the run forced to flee from country to country in response to Osama's increasingly militant activities until their eventual escape from Afghanistan just before the tragic events of 9/11 that would change the world forever. Never before has Osama's own family gone beyond the headlines to show us Osama the man. Now, with unprecedented access, and complete with exclusive family photographs, Jean Sasson, author of the bestselling "Princess: A True Story of Life Behind the Veil in Saudi Arabia", takes us inside the secret world of Osama bin Laden.

Don't Breathe a Word with a Special Excerpt ($8.89 Kindle w/o excerpt, $1.99 B&N), by Jennifer McMahon, is the Nook Daily Find.

Book Description
On a soft summer night in Vermont, twelve-year-old Lisa went into the woods behind her house and never came out again. Before she disappeared, she told her little brother, Sam, about a door that led to a magical place where she would meet the King of the Fairies and become his queen.

Fifteen years later, Phoebe is in love with Sam, a practical, sensible man who doesn’t fear the dark and doesn’t have bad dreams—who, in fact, helps Phoebe ignore her own. But suddenly the couple is faced with a series of eerie, unexplained occurrences that challenge Sam’s hardheaded, realistic view of the world. As they question their reality, a terrible promise Sam made years ago is revealed—a promise that could destroy them all.

Crises of the Republic: Lying in Politics; Civil Disobedience; On Violence; Thoughts on Politics and Revolution ($9.32 Kindle, $1.99 B&N), by Hannah Arendt, is the Nook Daily Find: Election 2012.

Book Description
A collection of studies in which Arendt, from the standpoint of a political philosopher, views the crises of the 1960s and early 1970s as challenges to the american form of government. Index.

Today's Kindle Kids Daily Deal is Six Maisy the Mouse Picture Books by Lucy Cousins, suitable for kids age 2 and up, for $1.99 each.

Maisy Goes to Preschool

Preschool for Maisy means a day filled with friends and things to do, from the time she hangs her coat on a special peg to the time she says good-bye. There’s painting and snack time, stories and nap time (and a bathroom break in between). Soon everyone’s ready to haul out the instruments and make some noise, then head outside for a turn at the sandbox or slide. In a bright, full-size storybook full of familiar scenes, this child-friendly look at a day in the life of a preschooler is one that newcomers and seasoned pros alike will be happy to share.

Maisy Goes Camping

When Maisy sets off to go camping in the country, it’s only natural that all her friends come along, too. But they soon find that pitching a tent is not an easy thing to do. Even if they do manage to keep the tent up, there’s the matter of fitting them all in — Maisy, Charley, Cyril, Tallulah, and finally, the huge elephant, Eddie. What a squeezy squish-squash! Good night, campers! Uh-oh-what’s that popping sound?

Maisy Goes to the Library

Maisy likes going to the library. She loves to read a book in a nice, quiet place. Today, Maisy wants to read a book about fish, but she can only find books about birds or tigers. So she explores some of the other things to do in the library, like using the computer, making copies, listening to music, or looking at fish in the aquarium. Aha! Finally Maisy finds a sparkly book all about fish. But just as she settles into a corner to read, along come Cyril, Tallulah, Eddie, and Ostrich — and they all have noisier activities on their minds!

Maisy Goes on Vacation

How exciting! Maisy has put her sun hat, pajamas, toothbrush, and camera into a bag, and she’s off to the train station with Panda and Cyril. They’re headed for the seashore, but getting there is only half the fun. Coloring and snacks help pass the time on the ride to the beach, where Maisy can’t wait to swim, collect seashells, build sandcastles, and lots more. At nighttime it feels special to go to bed in a hotel—knowing that tomorrow another vacation day awaits!

Maisy Goes to the City

Broom, vroom, beep! Maisy and Charley are in the city visiting their friend Dotty, and there are many things to get used to - noisy traffic, enormous buildings, and sidewalks so crowded they have to walk very slowly (all the better for looking in store windows). Riding the escalator and elevator - and hanging on tight in the subway - are almost as much fun as exploring the giant toy store and eating pizza in a cafe. Even the playground is busy in the city!

Maisy, Charley, and the Wobbly Tooth

Maisy's friend Charley has a wobbly tooth! He's going to the dentist for the first time, and he’s a little nervous. Luckily, Maisy, Tallulah, Eddie, and Cyril are happy to accompany their toothy friend to the dentist’s office, where they make some fun discoveries: a twirly chair that goes up and down, a special cup to spit in, and a proper tooth-brushing demonstration. Charley gets an x-ray, a smiley button, and a book to take home, but what will happen with his wobbly tooth?

Today's Deals

Today is the last day to take advantage of this KSO deal:

• $30 Off Amazon Denim (Fire)

Today's Kindle Daily Deal is To Marry an English Lord ($1.99), by Gail MacColl and Carol McD. Wallace.

Book Description
From the Gilded Age until 1914, more than 100 American heiresses invaded Britannia and swapped dollars for titles--just like Cora Crawley, Countess of Grantham, the first of the Downton Abbey characters Julian Fellowes was inspired to create after reading To Marry An English Lord. Filled with vivid personalities, gossipy anecdotes, grand houses, and a wealth of period details--plus photographs, illustrations, quotes, and the finer points of Victorian and Edwardian etiquette--To Marry An English Lord is social history at its liveliest and most accessible.

Language of Thieves ($1.58 / £0.99 UK), by Elizabeth Jackson, is the Kindle Deal of the day for those in the UK (the US edition is $7.99).

Book Description
It is 1949 Appleby, Westmorland, where two cultures collide: that of a local squire Tobias Flint and Daisy Latimer resident traveller girl. Trouble arises when the handsome gypsy, Roulson Adams, who after being rejected by the beautiful, unsophisticated Daisy, takes a terrible revenge. Then there is the psychotic behaviour of Lydia Flint, Tobias’s mother, who despises the gypsies gathering for the forthcoming fair. How justice is finally done and love overcomes all barriers makes an unusual and compelling story.

Cuts Like a Knife ($9.99 $2.99 Kindle, B&N), by M. K. Gilroy, is the Nook Daily Find. Update: Now price matched on Kindle.

Book Description
Detective Kristen Conner goes undercover to find a serial killer who selects his victims - all successful young professional women - in the most unlikely of places - only to find herself as his next favorite target.

When Leslie Reed is found dead in her fashionable townhome, a red flag goes up in Washington, D.C. The FBI knows an elusive "organized killer" on a decade-long crime spree is at work again. The problem is the Feds have only one tenuous lead to assist local police in the manhunt ... a most unlikely place the killer likes to find his victims.

Conner is light one her feet and packs a powerful punch - growing up in a cop's home, intense hand-to-hand combat training, and not being able to shoot a handgun straight - all encourage that. Her life is built on faith and family: she coaches her 7-year-old niece's soccer team, the Snowflakes, always shows up hungry for family dinner, and only misses church when she is fighting with her mom and glamorous TV news reporter sister - or relentlessly tracking down a ruthless killer.

Kristen is a good cop but she's never faced an adversary like the man the alternative press has dubbed the Cutter Shark. From the opening chase scene that leads her to a back alley where a punk with a knife awaits her, to the climactic scene where she goes one-on-one with the hauntingly familiar man who is killing innocent women in her town, Cuts Like a Knife, is loaded with action, humor, a dash of romance, and wry introspection through the voice of its irrepressible lead character.

Cuts Like a Knife is the debut book in the Kristen Conner Mystery Series. Every Breath You Take is slated for November 2012 release.

1960-LBJ vs. JFK vs. Nixon: The Epic Campaign That Forged Three Presidencies ($12.98 paperback, $1.99 B&N), by David Pietrusza, is the Nook Daily Find: Election 2012 (no Kindle edition).

Book Description
It was the election that would ultimately give America “Camelot” and its tragic aftermath, a momentous contest when three giants who each would have a chance to shape the nation battled to win the presidency.

Award-winning author David Pietrusza does here for the 1960 presidential race what he did in his previous book, 1920: the Year of the Six Presidents—which Kirkus Reviews selected as one of their Best Books of 2007. Until now, the most authoritative study of the 1960 election was Theodore White’s Pulitzer Prize-winning The Making of the President, 1960. But White, as a trusted insider, didn’t tell all. Here’s the rest of the story, what White could never have known, nor revealed. Finally, it’s all out—including JFK’s poignant comment on why LBJ’s nomination as vice president would be inconsequential: “I’m 43 years old. I’m not going to die in office.”

Combining an engaging narrative with exhaustive research, Pietrusza chronicles the pivotal election of 1960, in which issues of civil rights and religion (Kennedy was only the second major-party Roman Catholic candidate ever) converged. The volatile primary clash between Senate Majority leader LBJ and the young JFK culminated in an improbable fusion ticket. The historic, legendary Kennedy-Nixon debates followed in its wake. The first presidential televised debates, they forever altered American politics when an exhausted Nixon was unkempt and tentative in their first showdown. With 80 million viewers passing judgment, Nixon’s poll numbers dropped as the charismatic Kennedy’s star rose. Nixon learned his lesson—resting before subsequent debates, reluctantly wearing makeup, and challenging JFK with a more aggressive stance—but the damage was done.

There’s no one better to convey the drama of that tumultuous year than Pietrusza. He has 1,000 secrets to spill; a fascinating cast of characters to introduce (including a rogue’s gallery of hangers-on and manipulators); and towering historical events to chronicle. And all of it is built on painstaking research and solid historical scholarship. Pietrusza tracks down every lead to create a winning, engaging, and very readable account.

With the 2008 elections approaching, politics will be on everyone’s mind, and 1960: LBJ vs. JFK vs. Nixon will transform the way readers see modern American history.

Today's Kindle Kids Daily Deal is Tuesdays at the Castle ($1.99), by Jessica Day George.

Book Description
Tuesdays at Castle Glower are Princess Celia’s favorite days. That’s because on Tuesdays the castle adds a new room, a turret, or sometimes even an entire wing to itself. No one ever knows what the castle will do next, and no one - other than Celia, that is - takes time to map out the new additions. But when King and Queen Glower are ambushed and reportedly killed, it’s up to Celia with her secret knowledge of the Castle’s many twists and turns, to protect their home and save their kingdom.

Age Level: 8 and up

30% Off Select Kindle Accessories (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, but not the Kindle Fire with Special Offers):

30% Off Select Kindle Accessories

Click on the offer, then click on the link on the offer page sign up and you'll get an email(right away) with the promotion code. This offer is good for one book and only one per account (if you have multiple KSO devices, they need to be registered to different accounts before you sign up to get the promotion code emails; every Kindle on an account gets flagged when you sign up for the special offer and they will all get the same code for that promotion from then on). Sign-up for this offer expires October 28, 2012, and the promo code must be used by November 4.

The email will contain a link to the promotion page. You'll need to add the items you select to your cart, then use the full check out process and enter the Promo code on the summary page (it's not automatic, like the Kindle Fire promo and you can't use one-click and get the discount).

There are a number of sleeves and covers on the promotion page, along with an A/C charger plug at 50% off the $19.99 list price (so, you would get an additional 30% off the $9.99 sale price), which you may need if you've bought one of the current Kindle models (which no longer comes with a A/C charger). Unlike the Fire promos, this discount works a single time on a single order - but you can add a couple of covers and a charger plug or two the same order before you checkout.

30% Off Select Kindle Styluses & Stands (KSO)

This offer is only for those with a Kindle Fire with Special Offers (KFSO).

From the home page of your KFSO, swipe the top menu to the left until you see Offers, then press/click in order to see the current offers. At the bottom, you should see the offer for 30% Off Select Kindle Styluses & Stands. Click on the offer, then on the orange button to add the credit directly to your account. It's nearly instant and the next screen offers to take you to Amazon so you can spend that credit away! If you miss that screen, though, don't worry - a document about the offer will appear on your home page. You must sign up by October 28 to get this promo discount.

Choose one or more Kindle Accessories that are both shipped and sold by Amazon and order away. From the wording on the offer, you can use one-click and have multiple orders, up to the $30 total discount allowed. This credit expires November 4. Limit one per customer and one per device.

The stands are already 25%-33% off list price, so your discount will be off the shown price (a net discount up to about 50%). The one from Belkin looks like it would be easy to pack and use when not at home and I am tempted to get a new stylus that matches my cover (with everyone's here being a boring black, it's easy to lose track of them).

Today's Deals

Similar to the Humble eBook Bundle, there is a Halloween Horror eBook Bundle over at StoryBundle. This one is a little simpler, as you get six books for any price you are willing to pay and two additional titles if you pay $9 or greater. These are indie/midlist authors, for the most part (several of which I've read), although Kevin J. Anderson is the author of one of the bonus books (and it sells for $6 at Amazon, on it's own).

Today's Kindle Daily Deal is The Fall ($1.99), by Ryan Quinn.

Book Description
The new school year at Florence University, nestled in the Pennsylvania countryside, dawns bright with the possibilities that only a fresh start can bring. For three students in particular, it will be a year unlike any other, one that will alter the courses of their lives forever. There is Ian, the film buff trying to figure out his life—and how to catch the eye of the football player he can’t stop fantasizing about; Casey, the local football star whose future off the field is frustratingly uncertain; and Haile, the classical-music prodigy seeking refuge from a past life so that she may start anew as a singer-songwriter. Together the trio will form a fateful friendship, recounted through alternating first-person narratives. Sexy, fast-paced, and layered with intimate insight about life’s most formative years, The Fall is a compelling and contemporary coming-of-age story about what happens when we are forced for the first time to really confront who we are and who we want to become.

Big Maria ($1.58 / £0.99 UK), by Johnny Shaw, is the Kindle Deal of the day for those in the UK (the US edition is $4.99, with companion audiobook for $5.49).

Book Description
There’s gold in them thar hills—or more precisely, in Arizona’s Chocolate Mountains, where one hundred years ago a miner stashed a king’s ransom of the stuff. But times have changed. The world has changed. And now the Chocolate Mountains are the home of the largest military artillery range in the world.

Harry’s living on disability and getting liquored up and beaten down. Frank’s a feisty old-timer battling cancer and a domineering daughter. And Ricky’s a good kid in a bad spot, doing everything for family. Together they’re staking what little they have left on a dangerous quest to the Big Maria Mine—and the gold that can offer them a new beginning.

Unfortunately a meth-dealing biker wants a piece, a trigger-happy AWOL soldier wants to play chicken in a live minefield, two stubborn burros want to go home, a starving mountain lion wants his dinner, and the US Army wants to rain on our heroes’ parade with real bombs.

When you’re all out of crazy ideas, you’ve got to try the stupid ones.

Imagine Chuck Palahniuk and Don Winslow’s love child – and that would be ribald author Johnny Shaw. His novel Big Maria is a unfiltered, wild romp in which three men get one chance to find a lost gold mine; the only problem is the Big Maria Mine is right in the middle of a US Army artillery range.

Platform: Get Noticed in a Noisy World ($9.43$4.99 Kindle, B&N), by Michael Hyatt, is the Nook Daily Find. Update: Now price matched on Kindle.

Book Description
Michael Hyatt, one of the top business bloggers in the world, provides down-to-earth guidance for building and expanding a powerful platform.

To be successful in the market today, you must possess two strategic assets: a compelling product and a meaningful platform. In this step-by-step guide, Michael Hyatt, former CEO and current Chairman of Thomas Nelson Publishers, takes readers behind the scenes, into the new world of social media success. He shows you what best-selling authors, public speakers, entrepreneurs, musicians, and other creatives are doing differently to win customers in today’s crowded marketplace. Hyatt speaks from experience. He writes one of the top 800 blogs in the world and has more than 100,000 followers on Twitter. His large and growing platform serves as the foundation for his successful writing, speaking, and consulting practice.

In Platform, Hyatt will teach readers not only how to extend their influence, but also how to monetize it and build a sustainable career. The key? By building a platform. It has never been easier, less expensive, or more possible than right now. . .

The Good Soldiers ($3.99 Kindle, B&N), by David Finkel, is the Nook Daily Find: Election 2012, price matched on Kindle.

Book Description
It was the last-chance moment of the war. In January 2007, President George W. Bush announced a new strategy for Iraq. He called it the surge. “Many listening tonight will ask why this effort will succeed when previous operations to secure Baghdad did not. Well, here are the differences,” he told a skeptical nation. Among those listening were the young, optimistic army infantry soldiers of the 2-16, the battalion nicknamed the Rangers. About to head to a vicious area of Baghdad, they decided the difference would be them.

Fifteen months later, the soldiers returned home forever changed. Pulitzer Prize-winning Washington Post reporter David Finkel was with them in Bagdad, and almost every grueling step of the way.

What was the true story of the surge? And was it really a success? Those are the questions he grapples with in his remarkable report from the front lines. Combining the action of Mark Bowden’s Black Hawk Down with the literary brio of Tim O’Brien’s The Things They Carried, The Good Soldiers is an unforgettable work of reportage. And in telling the story of these good soldiers, the heroes and the ruined, David Finkel has also produced an eternal tale—not just of the Iraq War, but of all wars, for all time.

Today's Kindle Kids Daily Deal is Gooney Bird Greene ($1.99), by Lois Lowry.

Book Description
From the moment Gooney Bird Greene arrives at Watertower Elementary School, her fellow second-graders are intrigued by her unique sense of style and her unusual lunches. So when story time arrives, the choice is unanimous: they want to hear about Gooney Bird Greene. And that suits her just fine, because, as it turns out, Gooney Bird has quite a few interesting and “absolutely true” stories to tell.

Through Gooney Bird and her tales, acclaimed author Lois Lowry introduces young readers to the concepts and elements of storytelling. By demonstrating some of the simple techniques that reveal the extraordinary in everyday events, this book will encourage the storyteller in everyone.

Grade Level: 3 and up

Humble EBook Bundle (DF)

I've highlighted the guys over at Humble Bundle a time or two in the past, for their game bundles. This month, they have a Science Fiction and Fantasy ebook bundle that is well worth buying. You can pay as little as you want (down to $1 - the minimum set to cover the charges for processing the charge) or as much as you want (two have paid $1,000 or more). Their bundles allow you to split your purchase between the authors, Humble (for organizing the bundle and processing the payments, running the servers, etc) and charity (this month, it's the Electronic Frontier Foundation, the Child’s Play Charity, and/or the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America).

If you pay more than the average (currently right at $14), they are throwing in several more titles: a graphic novel by Neil Gaiman and Dave McKean, Randall Munroe's xkcd: volume 0 (I started reading xkcd back when it was free on the internet and I'm looking forward to reading the collection; the comic pictured here is from xkcd), John Scalzi's Old Man's War ($8 on it's own at Amazon, although it does get you access to the $4 companion audiobook), two graphic novels by Jerry Holkins and Mike Krahulik and two more from Zach Weiner. That's a baker's dozen of titles in all, for just over a buck apiece.

These are the base six novels that everyone gets (I'm linking to Amazon, so you can read the descriptions and reviews):

• Pirate Cinema, by Cory Doctorow ($9.99 Kindle)
• Pump Six and Other Stories, by Paolo Bacigalupi ($7.99 Kindle)
• Zoo City, by Lauren Beukes ($5.38 Kindle)
• Invasion: Book One of the Secret World Chronicle, by Mercedes Lackey ($7.99 paperback)
• Stranger Things Happen, by Kelly Link ($6.99 Kindle)
• Magic for Beginners, by Kelly Link ($7.69 Kindle)

All are DRM-free, so you can view them on most ereaders (although I'd use a large color tablet for the graphic novels, unless you have very young eyes; plus, these are PDF's, with the HD quality versions quite large in size). I always add at least a few cents more than the average, just in case it goes up a bit before I click on buy, to ensure I get the entire bundle. You can checkout using Paypal, Google Payments or Amazon Payments (the payments get processed by Amazon, but the purchase is via Humble, so the books are not automatically in your Kindle Library -- but you can email them to yourself for easy access and backup). If you do use Paypal, you'll ensure more of the payment goes towards Humble (or the charity or authors; you pick the split) by not paying with a credit card. Once your payment has been processed, click the link in the center of the page to get your access key and the follow the link on the next page to download your books.

Today's Deals

Be sure to check out tonight's Amazon Lightning Deals at 9PM (6PM Pacific) for a "BUILT sleeve for you Kindle Fire or Kindle Keyboard" and at 10PM (7PM Pacific) for a bedside with an alarm clock dock from iHome for the Kindle Fire (not HD).

G5 Entertainment AB has four hidden object games for the Kindle Fire (and any other Android device) on sale for 99 cents (regularly $4.99). VeggieTales: The League of Incredible Vegetables (Kindle Tablet Edition) and SpongeBob Marbles & Slides (Kindle Tablet Edition) are also 99 cents (looks like greats choice for kids, regularly $2.99 - $3.99) and there are several Kindle Tablet Edition Kindle Tablet Edition games from Electronic Arts at the same price, such as SCRABBLE, THE GAME OF LIFE, SimCity Deluxe, MADDEN NFL 12 and NBA JAM.

This weekend's Fictionwise code is 101912 for 50% off non-Samhain books.

Today is the last day to take advantage of this KSO deal:

• Get 1 of 10 Top-Rated Kindle Books for $1

Today's Kindle Daily Deal is City of Women ($2.99), by David R. Gillham.

Book Description
Whom do you trust, whom do you love, and who can be saved?

It is 1943—the height of the Second World War—and Berlin has essentially become a city of women. Sigrid Schröder is, for all intents and purposes, the model German soldier’s wife: She goes to work every day, does as much with her rations as she can, and dutifully cares for her meddling mother-in-law, all the while ignoring the horrific immoralities of the regime. But behind this façade is an entirely different Sigrid, a woman who dreams of her former lover, now lost in the chaos of the war. Her lover is a Jew.

But Sigrid is not the only one with secrets.

A high ranking SS officer and his family move down the hall and Sigrid finds herself pulled into their orbit. A young woman doing her duty-year is out of excuses before Sigrid can even ask her any questions. And then there’s the blind man selling pencils on the corner, whose eyes Sigrid can feel following her from behind the darkness of his goggles.

Soon Sigrid is embroiled in a world she knew nothing about, and as her eyes open to the reality around her, the carefully constructed fortress of solitude she has built over the years begins to collapse. She must choose to act on what is right and what is wrong, and what falls somewhere in the shadows between the two.

In this page-turning novel, David Gillham explores what happens to ordinary people thrust into extraordinary times, and how the choices they make can be the difference between life and death.

Today's Kindle Kids Daily Deal is the first four volumes of the "Brain Quest" educational series by Chris Welles Feder and Susan Bishay for $1.99 each (83% off), all revised 4th editions. All run on the Kindle Fire or any of the Kindle apps.

Brain Quest Preschool: 300 Questions and Answers to Get a Smart Start
Brain Quest Kindergarten: 300 Questions and Answers to Get a Smart Start
Brain Quest Grade 1: 750 Questions and Answers to Challenge the Mind
Brain Quest Grade 2: 1,000 Questions and Answers to Challenge the Mind

Brain Quest is beloved by kids, trusted by parents, used and recommended by teachers. It’s the curriculum-based, fast-paced, question-and-answer game that challenges kids on the stuff they need to know, when they need to know it. It’s the brand that says “It’s fun to be smart!” And it delivers.

For the fourth edition every deck is thoroughly revised and includes 20 percent new material. The content aligns with national and state standards and is overseen by the Brain Quest Advisory Board, a panel of award-winning educators, each a recent state teacher-of-the-year award winner or a recipient of the prestigious Milken Educator Award. The covers and cards have a refreshed design, giving Brain Quest a cooler, updated look.

Critical Thinking: Tools for Taking Charge of Your Professional and Personal Life ($2.99 Kindle, B&N), by Richard Paul and Linda Elder, is the Nook Daily Find, price matched on Kindle. It's been free in both stores several times, so you probably already have this one in your library.

Book Description
Critical Thinking is about becoming a better thinker in every aspect of your life: in your career, and as a consumer, citizen, friend, parent, and lover. Discover the core skills of effective thinking; then analyze your own thought processes, identify weaknesses, and overcome them. Learn how to translate more effective thinking into better decisions, less frustration, more wealth Ñ and above all, greater confidence to pursue and achieve your most important goals in life.

The Preacher and the Presidents: Billy Graham in the White House ($9.99 Kindle, $2.99 B&N), by Nancy Gibbs, is the Nook Daily Find: Election 2012. This is an Agency title and should be the same in all stores, so it should drop (and I've reported the price to Amazon).

Book Description
No one man or woman has ever been in a position to see the presidents, and the presidency, so intimately, over so many years. They called him in for photo opportunities. They called for comfort. They asked about death and salvation; about sin and forgiveness.

At a time when the nation is increasingly split over the place of religion in public life, THE PREACHER AND THE PRESIDENTS reveals how the world's most powerful men and world's most famous evangelist, Billy Graham, knit faith and politics together.

An Officer and a Gentlewoman ($2.07 / £1.29 UK), by Heloise Goodley, is the Kindle Deal of the day for those in the UK (no US edition).

Book Description
When Heloise Goodley ditched her City job and decided to attend officer training at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, she had no prior military experience. On her arrival she was a complete novice: she'd never fired a rifle, she couldn't march; she couldn't make her bed; she couldn't even shine her shoes.

An Officer and a Gentlewoman charts Goodley's absorbing journey through Sandhurst and on to Afghanistan and gives an insight into the array of bizarre military behaviours and customs at this esoteric and hidden institution. With wit and sensitivity Goodley details her experiences as a cadet and the painful transition from civilian to soldier. Moreover, she rejects lazy preconceptions and sheds new light on what has hitherto been a bastion of maleness - the British Army.

About the Author
Heloise Goodley was a City banker before she made an impulsive decision to join the Army in 2007 and undertake officer training at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst. She has since completed two operational tours of Afghanistan and currently holds the rank of Captain as Adjutant of an Apache helicopter regiment. She still can't march or shine shoes.

Today's Deals

If you had problems with either of Tantor Media's free audiobooks yesterday, it looks like they have fixed the server issues and you should be able to get them today.

Going Organic Can Kill You ($2.99 Kindle, B&N), by Staci McLaughlin, is the Nook Daily Find, price matched on Kindle. This looks to be a fun cozy mystery and I'm going to buy it just for the title!

Book Description
Welcome to Blossom Valley, CA, home of the O'Connell Organic Farm and Spa, complete with its new marketing maven, Dana Lewis, former Blossom Valley resident and unapologetic junk food connoisseur--and soon to be sleuth. . .

As Dana readjusts to life back home with her recently widowed mother, her latest career move isn't exactly a piece of cake. In fact, it's all tofu fish sticks, stuffed squash blossoms, and enough wheat grass shots to scream bloody murder--especially when Dana discovers the body of Maxwell Mendelsohn, Hollywood producer and opening weekend guest, deader than a yoga corpse pose. While Dana pens the Spa's blog and balances the attentions of the local police and reporter Jason Forrester, her escalating job duties now include finding clues, motives and suspects. One thing's for certain, she better act fast before all this healthy living kills her.

Today's Kindle Daily Deal is Eight Inspiring Books for $1.99 each.

The Last Lecture, by Randy Pausch and Jeffrey Zaslow (companion audiobook $4.99)

A lot of professors give talks titled "The Last Lecture." Professors are asked to consider their demise and to ruminate on what matters most to them. And while they speak, audiences can't help but mull the same question: What wisdom would we impart to the world if we knew it was our last chance? If we had to vanish tomorrow, what would we want as our legacy?

When Randy Pausch, a computer science professor at Carnegie Mellon, was asked to give such a lecture, he didn't have to imagine it as his last, since he had recently been diagnosed with terminal cancer. But the lecture he gave--"Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams"--wasn't about dying. It was about the importance of overcoming obstacles, of enabling the dreams of others, of seizing every moment (because "time is all you have...and you may find one day that you have less than you think"). It was a summation of everything Randy had come to believe. It was about living.

In this book, Randy Pausch has combined the humor, inspiration and intelligence that made his lecture such a phenomenon and given it an indelible form. It is a book that will be shared for generations to come.

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Future: Twists and Turns and Lessons Learned, by Michael J. Fox (companion audiobook $4.99)

Michael J. Fox abandoned high school to pursue an acting career, but went on to receive honorary degrees from several universities and garner the highest accolades for his acting, as well as for his writing. In his new book, he inspires and motivates graduates to recognize opportunities, maximize their abilities, and roll with the punches--all with his trademark optimism, warmth, and humor.

In A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Future, Michael draws on his own life experiences to make a case that real learning happens when "life goes skidding sideways." He writes of coming to Los Angeles from Canada at age eighteen and attempting to make his way as an actor. Fox offers up a comically skewed take on how, in his own way, he fulfilled the requirements of a college syllabus. He learned Economics as a starving artist; an unexpected turn as a neophyte activist schooled him in Political Science; and his approach to Comparative Literature involved stacking books up against their movie versions.

Replete with personal stories and hilarious anecdotes, Michael J. Fox's new book is the perfect gift for graduates.

From The Heart: Seven Eight Rules To Live By, by Robin Roberts

The first-ever book from popular and respected Good Morning America co-anchor Robin Roberts, filled with her own hard-won insights into what makes success

While most people will say that the key to success is a willingness to break the rules, to think outside the box, to ignore boundaries, Robin Roberts -- whose own spectacular success as a college basketball star, ESPN commentator, and co-anchor on Good Morning America is undisputed -- is here to tell readers differently. In her considerable experience, there are seven rules whose importance cannot be ignored, and which must never be broken if true, meaningful success is the goal. In the tradition of bestsellers like Maria Shriver's And One More Thing Before You Go, Anna Quindlen's A Short Guide to a Happy Life, and Marlo Thomas The Right Words at the Right Time, From the Heart is the perfect gift for new grads, and an inspiring read for anyone searching for the path to success.

Just Who Will You Be?: Big Question. Little Book. Answer Within., by Maria Shriver

Just Who Will You Be is a candid, heartfelt, and inspirational book for seekers of all ages. Inspired by a speech she gave, Maria Shriver's message is that what you do in your life isn't what matters. It's who you are. It's an important lesson that will appeal to anyone of any age looking for a life of meaning.

In her own life, Shriver always walked straight down her own distinctive path, achieving her childhood goal of becoming "award-winning network newswoman Maria Shriver". But when her husband was elected California's Governor and she suddenly had to leave her job at NBC News, Maria was thrown for a loop. Right about then, her nephew asked her to speak at his high school graduation. She resisted, wondering how she could possibly give advice to kids, when she was feeling so lost herself. But in the end she relented and decided to dig down and dig deep, and the result is this little jewel.

Just Who Will You Be reminds us that the answer to many of life's question lie within -- and that we're all works in progress. That means it's never too late to become the person you want to be.

Now the question for you is this: Just who will you be

Don't Sweat the Small Stuff and It's All Small Stuff: Simple Ways To Keep The Little Things From Taking Over Your Life, by Richard Carlson (companion audiobook $7.95)

Don't Sweat the Small Stuff...and It's All Small Stuff is an audiobook that tells you how to keep from letting the little things in life drive you crazy. In thoughtful and insightful language, author Richard Carlson reveals ways to calm down in the midst of your incredibly hurried, stress-filled life.

You can learn to put things into perspective by making the small daily changes Dr. Carlson suggests, including advice such as "Choose your battles wisely"; "Remind yourself that when you die, your 'in' box won't be empty"; and "Make peace with imperfection".

With gentle, supportive suggestions, Dr. Carlson reveals ways to make your actions more peaceful and caring, with the added benefit of making your life more calm and stress-free.

Burnt Toast: And Other Philosophies Of Life, by Teri Hatcher

Few women in America are as adored -- and accessible -- as Teri Hatcher. As the Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild award-winner for her portrayal of ditzy divorcee Susan Mayer on ABC's hit series Desperate Housewives, she's attained a level of success late in her career (in Hollywood terms, anyway) that most women would kill for. But in real life, Teri deals with the same issues as so many women: divorce, single motherhood, bad dates, turning forty . . . So it's no surprise that when Burnt Toast was published in hardcover, it received tremendous attention and went on to become a major national bestseller.

Full of Teri's foibles and successes, unexpected vulnerability, and frank openness (from looking in the refrigerator for Mr. Right to being told by her daughter's pediatrician that she should date more), Burnt Toast is a funny, intimate, uplifting portrait of one woman's daily struggles and successes on the road to living an inspired life.

Wherever You Go, There You Are: Mindfulness Meditation In Everyday Life, by Jon Kabat-Zinn

The author of Full Catastrophe Living explains how anyone can use mindfulness--the art of living each moment fully as it happens--to reduce anxiety, achieve inner peace, and enrich life.

When Wherever You Go, There You Are was first published in 1994, no one could have predicted that the book would launch itself onto bestseller lists nationwide and sell over 750,000 copies to date. Ten years later, the book continues to change lives.

Hope's Boy, by Andrew Bridge (companion audiobook $9.95)

From the moment he was born, Andrew Bridge and his mother Hope shared a love so deep that it felt like nothing else mattered. Trapped in desperate poverty and confronted with unthinkable tragedies, all Andrew ever wanted was to be with his mom. But as her mental health steadily declined, and with no one else left to care for him, authorities arrived and tore Andrew from his screaming mother's arms. In that moment, the life he knew came crashing down around him. He was only seven years old.

Hope was institutionalized, and Andrew was placed in what would be his devastating reality for the next eleven years--foster care. After surviving one of our country's most notorious children's facilities, Andrew was thrust into a savagely loveless foster family that refused to accept him as one of their own. Deprived of the nurturing he needed, Andrew clung to academics and the kindness of teachers. All the while, he refused to surrender the love he held for his mother in his heart. Ultimately, Andrew earned a scholarship to Wesleyan, went on to Harvard Law School, and became a Fulbright Scholar.

Andrew has dedicated his life's work to helping children living in poverty and in the foster care system. He defied the staggering odds set against him, and here in this heartwrenching, brutally honest, and inspirational memoir, he reveals who Hope's boy really is.

To the Island ($1.59 / £0.99 UK), by Meaghan Delahunt , is the Kindle Deal of the day for those in the UK (no US edition).

Book Description
He disappeared. That’s all she really knew.

In search of her father Andreas, whom she has never met, Lena travels with her small son from Australia to Greece. On the island of Naxos she finds him, a wary, tormented man living in self-imposed exile. Slowly Lena unlocks the secrets of her father’s past, and in getting to know him begins to understand the grim realities of contemporary Greek history. Like many politically active Greeks, Andreas was arrested and tortured during the rule of the Colonels in the sixties, disappearing for several years without trace. To the Island is a book about the impact of larger political events on the lives of ordinary people, and how political and personal betrayals reverberate across generations. It beautifully evokes the currents and cross-currents between individuals, within families and in broader society. And in Lena and Andreas’s stories, it shows how difficult it is to confront our personal and collective pasts – and the terrible consequences of being unable to do so.

Break Through: Why We Can't Leave Saving the Planet to Environmentalists ($9.99 Kindle, $1.99 B&N), by Michael Shellenberger, is the Nook Daily Find: Election 2012.

Book Description
Ted Nordhaus and Michael Shellenberger triggered a firestorm with the publication of Break Through, contending that the politics that dealt with acid rain and smog can’t deal with global warming.The nations that ratified the Kyoto protocol have seen their greenhouse gas emissions go up, not down. And the destruction of tropical rain forests, a key driver of global warming, has accelerated.What today’s ecological crises demand, say the authors, is not that we constrain human power but rather unleash it.We must go beyond interest group environmentalism and liberalism to create a politics focused as much on uncommon greatness as on the common good.

Break Through is the first step in a new progressive movement that will influence the political debate for years to come.

Today's Kindle Kids Daily Deal is Chicken Soup for the Teenage Soul: Stories of Life, Love and Learning ($1.99), by Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen and Kimberly Kirberger.

Book Description
This first batch of Chicken Soup for Teens consists of 101 stories every teenager can relate to and learn from—without feeling criticized or judged. This edition contains important lessons on the nature of friendship and love, the importance of belief in the future, and the value of respect for oneself and others, and much more.

Grade Level: 7 and up

Free Audiobook - The Autobiography of Andrew Carnegie

The audiobook edition of The Autobiography of Andrew Carnegie (free Kindle, $27.99 Audible or $9.95 if you get the ebook first), narrated by Antony Ferguson, is free direct from Tantor Media.

Book Description
Andrew Carnegie, the great steel-baron-turned-philanthropist, was an industrialist unlike any other. His famous dictum, that he who dies rich dies disgraced, has inspired a generation of twenty-first-century philanthropists to follow in his footsteps and put their money towards philanthropic causes. He had an unwavering belief in distributing wealth for good, and systematically and deliberately gave away the bulk of his riches throughout his lifetime.

Born in 1835, he emigrated with his family to the United States from Scotland at a young age. His first job was in a cotton factory, and he later worked as an errand boy. The industrial age brought great opportunities for Mr. Carnegie. With drive and hard work, he amassed a fortune as a steel tycoon, and by adulthood the errand boy was one of the richest and most generous men in the United States. A strong dedication to giving back guided him throughout his life and career. During his own lifetime, he put his ideas into action by creating a family of organizations that continue to work toward improving the human condition, advancing international peace, strengthening democracy, and creating social progress that benefits men, women and children both in the United States and around the globe.

Here is the rags-to-riches tale of the life and philosophies of one of the most celebrated industrialists and philanthropists in history. From his humble beginnings as a poor Scottish immigrant to his immense success in business, Andrew Carnegie outlines the principles that he lived by and that today serve as the pillars of modern philanthropy.

About the Author
Entrepreneur and philanthropist ANDREW CARNEGIE (1835-1919) was born in Scotland and emigrated to America as a teenager. His Carnegie Steel Company launched the steel industry in Pittsburgh, and after its sale to J.P. Morgan, he devoted his life to philanthropic causes. His charitable organizations built more than 2,500 public libraries around the world, and gave away more than $350 million during his lifetime.

Get the free audiobook from Tantor. Do note that they've been having a few issues with their server this weekend, so you may want to wait until Monday afternoon to try for this one or try another browser (I managed to get this morning's title, but not this one, so far); it will be free thru the end of the month.