Video Game Gold Box Day

For anyone that has a Wii console (currently back in stock and now also available in black), you'll want to check today's GoldBox and Lightning Deals at Amazon, as it's Wii Gold Box Day! It looks like all the lightning deals today will be games and most appear to be for the Wii.

The Tony Hawk: Ride Skateboard Bundle from Activision Publishing is the current lightning deal at $39.99, for either the Wii, PS3 or XBox.

Game Description
Experience the true thrill of skateboarding as never before through the revolutionary new skateboard controller in Tony Hawk: Ride. Bundled with the Ride game, the unique motion-sensitive board controller redefines the action-sports genre by translating your body motions into the game. No buttons, no thumbs, no analog sticks—just you on the board. For the first time in video game history, anyone can jump on a skateboard and feel the freedom, creativity, and accomplishment of skateboarding.

Fans of board sports will love the authentic experience of the board controller, while the intuitive nature of the board and multiple difficulty settings make it a fun and exciting experience for people of all ages and skill levels. The ease with which anyone can pick up and play this game and each player's unique playing style make this a fun social game for friends and family to play together. So, are you ready to Ride?

• Four different modes built into the game include: Challenge, Speed, Trick, and Free Skate ? in epic locations across the globe.
  Includes the Innovative 'Ride' board controller featuring motion sensing technology, smart sensors, a contoured base and a gritty surface to ensure a good grip.
  With no complicated control schemes to master, the game is designed to allow players to get on the board and start mastering the 100+ built in moves from the beginning.
  Eight player multiplayer and online play support lets you and your friends feel the thrill of skateboarding together.
  Multiple difficulty levels make the game a fun and challenging experience for people of all skill levels.

Walk It Out from Konami is the current lightning deal at $18.99. If you miss it, there will be another one 3PM Eastern (noon on the west coast), and more throughout the day.

Game Description (Wii)

• Uniquely motivational. Explore an in-game world where the more you step, the richer your world becomes. Discover new places and goodies every day!
• Music to get you going! The only fitness-focused game that keeps you in the game with great music! Move to the beat of 120 songs, including 20 favorite licensed tracks.
• Track your achievements. Get a visual feel for how well you¿re doing through charts and graphs that show burned calories, distance traveled, steps taken and more!
• Wii Balance Board compatible. Play with the peripheral of your choice! Accepts input from the DanceDanceRevolution Wii Controller, Wii Remote and Nunchuk or Wii Balance Board.

Get off the couch and get moving to the beat of over a hundred hot songs! Step to the beat of hot hits like the Black Eyed Peas’s “Boom Boom Pow” and Demi Lovato’s “La La Land” and explore a unique in-game world you create with each step you take! It’s a fun and easy way for the whole family to get their hearts pumping! Experience a revolutionary and unique workout where walking to the beat of great music unlocks an exciting in-game world. Keep movin' to the beat of all your favorite in-game tracks as you extend your workout in bonus minigames. Compatible with the Wii Balance Board and the Wii DanceDanceRevolution Controller, Walk It Out will have you groovin' your way to a healthier you! Uniquely motivational, explore an in-game world where the more you step, the richer your world becomes. Discover new places and goodies every day! The only fitness-focused game that keeps you in the game with great music! Move to the beat of 120 songs, including 20 favorite licensed tracks, including masters performed by the original artists! Hits include: Boom Boom Pow by the Black Eyed Peas, How Do You Sleep? by Jesse McCartney, La La Land by Demi Lovato, and more! Get a visual feel for how well you're doing through charts and graphs that show burned calories, distance traveled, steps taken and more! Play with the peripheral of your choice! Accepts input from the DanceDanceRevolution Wii Controller, Wii Remote and Nunchuk, or Wii Balance Board.

Amazon One-day Only Book for a Buck

Amazon has A Manual for Writers of Research Papers, Theses, and Dissertations: Chicago Style for Students and Researchers, by Kate L. Turabian, et al, on sale today (only) for 99 cents. And, unlike the previous one-day sales they've had lately, they announced it early enough for me to let you know about it here.

Book Description
Dewey. Bellow. Strauss. Friedman. The University of Chicago has been the home of some of the most important thinkers of the modern age. But perhaps no name has been spoken with more respect than Turabian. The dissertation secretary at Chicago for decades, Kate Turabian literally wrote the book on the successful completion and submission of the student paper. Her Manual for Writers of Research Papers, Theses, and Dissertations, created from her years of experience with research projects across all fields, has sold more than seven million copies since it was first published in 1937. Now, with this seventh edition, Turabian-s Manual has undergone its most extensive revision, ensuring that it will remain the most valuable handbook for writers at every level-from first-year undergraduates, to dissertation writers apprehensively submitting final manuscripts, to senior scholars who may be old hands at research and writing but less familiar with new media citation styles. Gregory G. Colomb, Joseph M. Williams, and the late Wayne C. Booth-the gifted team behind The Craft of Research-and the University of Chicago Press Editorial Staff combined their wide-ranging expertise to remake this classic resource. They preserve Turabian-s clear and practical advice while fully embracing the new modes of research, writing, and source citation brought about by the age of the Internet. Booth, Colomb, and Williams significantly expand the scope of previous editions by creating a guide, generous in length and tone, to the art of research and writing. Growing out of the authors- best-selling Craft of Research, this new section provides students with an overview of every step of the research and writing process, from formulating the right questions to reading critically to building arguments and revising drafts. This leads naturally to the second part of the Manual for Writers, which offers an authoritative overview of citation practices in scholarly writing, as well as detailed information on the two main citation styles (-notes-bibliography- and -author-date-). This section has been fully revised to reflect the recommendations of the fifteenth edition of The Chicago Manual of Style and to present an expanded array of source types and updated examples, including guidance on citing electronic sources. The final section of the book treats issues of style-the details that go into making a strong paper. Here writers will find advice on a wide range of topics, including punctuation, table formatting, and use of quotations. The appendix draws together everything writers need to know about formatting research papers, theses, and dissertations and preparing them for submission. This material has been thoroughly vetted by dissertation officials at colleges and universities across the country. This seventh edition of Turabian-s Manual for Writers of Research Papers, Theses, and Dissertations is a classic reference revised for a new age. It is tailored to a new generation of writers using tools its original author could not have imagined-while retaining the clarity and authority that generations of scholars have come to associate with the name Turabian.

Yesterday's book, How to Become a Straight-A Student: The Unconventional Strategies Real College Students Use to Score High While Studying Less, by Cal Newport, is actually still marked down to $4.65 (the one-day only price).

Book Description
Looking to jumpstart your GPA? Most college students believe that straight A’s can be achieved only through cramming and painful all-nighters at the library. But Cal Newport knows that real straight-A students don’t study harder—they study smarter. A breakthrough approach to acing academic assignments, from quizzes and exams to essays and papers, How to Become a Straight-A Student reveals for the first time the proven study secrets of real straight-A students across the country and weaves them into a simple, practical system that anyone can master. You will learn how to:

• Streamline and maximize your study time
• Conquer procrastination
• Absorb the material quickly and effectively
• Know which reading assignments are critical—and which are not
• Target the paper topics that wow professors
• Provide A+ answers on exams
• Write stellar prose without the agony

A strategic blueprint for success that promises more free time, more fun, and top-tier results, How to Become a Straight-A Student is the only study guide written by students for students—with the insider knowledge and real-world methods to help you master the college system and rise to the top of the class.

Dark and Disorderly under a Buck

Today's 99 cent book from Carina Press is Dark and Disorderly, by Bernita Harris, the first in a new series. Unlike yesterday, when Amazon was the last to get this one up, they got the price changed in the morning (although no one had it around midnight, when I checked). The only reason I haven't grabbed my copy this morning is that this is one of the galleys that Carina Press has sent me to review (and I'm bumping it up the list).

Book Description
"I was standing there naked when my dead husband walked into my bathroom..."

Lillie St. Claire is a Talent, one of the rare few who can permanently dispatch the spirits of the dead that walk the earth. Her skills are in demand in a haunted country, where a plague of ghosts is becoming a civic nuisance.

Those skills bring her into conflict with frightened citizens who view Talents as near-demons. Her husband comes to see her as a Freak; so when Nathan dies after a car crash, she is relieved to be free of his increasingly vicious presence. Lillie expects to be haunted by Nathan's ghost, but not to become Suspect #1 for her husband's murder and reanimation.

But what's most surprising of all is the growing attraction between her and psi-crime detective John Thresher. He thinks that Lillie killed Nathan--and Nathan must agree, because his zombie is seeking revenge. Now she and Thresher must work together to solve her husband's murder--before his corpse kills her...

Free Books (Sony) - Kaplan College Prep Guides

Sony has joined the crowd offering free books from Kaplan Publishing. Like Amazon, there are only a couple of titles, but these are available to US customers. Update: Just added a few more, for a total of six at Sony (so far).

Kaplan ACT Strategies for Super Busy Students: 15 Simple Steps to Tackle the ACT While Keeping Your Life Together ($7.99 Kindle)

Book Description
This practical, organized, and easy-to-understand approach gives busy students the 15 basic steps they need to master the Math, English, Reading, and Science sections of the ACT. Kaplan ACT Strategies for Super Busy Students 2009 Edition is the ideal tool for test takers who need all of Kaplan’s tried-and-true methods in a condensed format that fits in with their busy lives. The book includes:

• Kaplan's exclusive, time-saving strategies
• Full-length practice test with complete answer explanations
• Targeted review and realistic practice for the Math, English, Reading, and Science sections of the ACT
• Preparation for the optional writing component
• Stress management tips

Sharp Writing: Building Better Writing Skills ($3.99 Kindle), is one that isn't geared only towards students. There are sections on business writing and personal correspondence, in addition to academic writing.

Book Description
Sharp Writing is a compact guide with all the information you need to increase your grasp of language and boost your writing skills using Kaplan's easy-to-follow Building Block Method.

Kaplan Portable GMAT ($4.79 Kindle)

Book Description
Kaplan Portable GMAT includes:

• Essential information about the test structure and scoring
• Exclusive score-raising tips and strategies
• Focused practice for each components of the test
• Targeted review of each question type

Kaplan PMBR Final: Constitutional Law: Core Concepts and Key Questions ($9.59 Kindle)

Book Description
Kaplan PMBR FINALS: Constitutional Law provides substantive outlines of core concepts and summary outlines. It also includes diagnostic true/false questions, multiple choice questions, and essay questions, which help students understand the black letter law of Constitutional Law and prepare for success on their exams.

Sharp Vocab ($3.99 Kindle)

Book Description
Sharp Vocab features:

• A 12-question diagnostic quiz to show readers where they need the most help.
• Topics broken down by subject to make it easy for the reader to group concepts together for easier memorization.
• A variety of practice exercises with detailed answer explanations for every topic.
• A 30-question recognition and recall practice set that includes material from the entire chapter, (and a few questions that cover material from the previous chapters) to once again reinforce what the reader has learned on a larger scale.
• Detailed answer explanations that follow each practice set.

Kaplan SAT Score-Raising Dictionary ($2.39 Kindle)

Book Description
Boost your verbal skills for the SAT exam with this powerful, portable dictionary featuring 1,000 of the most frequently tested words on the SAT.

Getting a great score on the SAT exam is essential for getting into a top college, and being equipped with serious verbal skills is crucial for SAT success. Kaplan SAT Score-Raising Dictionary, Second Edition takes a fun approach to building up your verbal ability, and includes:

• 1,000 frequently tested SAT words, including their definition, pronunciation and part of speech
• Helpful sentences to illustrate the proper use of each word
• Catchy mnemonic devices that help make words memorable
• Lots of fun illustrations throughout

Kaplan SAT Score-Raising Dictionary is perfect for serious students who want portable SAT prep and great test scores. Its perfect for an on-the-go lifestyle, and for use in conjunction with our other comprehensive SAT guides and workbooks.

Here are the links for the free books from Sony:
Sharp Writing
Super Busy Students 2009
Kaplan Portable GMAT
Kaplan PMBR Final: Constitutional Law
Kaplan SAT Score-Raising Dictionary
Sharp Vocab

I'm already seeing a few more popping in (I don't know if they'll get all 92 that have been free on iBooks), so I set up a search you can run to see what others Kaplan has for free, HERE.

Free Books (Sony) - Sophie's World & Sophie's Secret

Two books from Nancy Rue are free in the Sony ebookstore, courtesy of Christian publisher Zondervan's Zonderkidz division.

Sophie's World ($4.99 Kindle) the first in Sophie series

Book Description
When future film director Sophie LaCroix visits Williamsburg, Virginia, her imagination sends her straight into the eighteenth century. An unlikely heroine, Sophie's forced to use her new-found war tactics to foil a heinous plot and save a friend from impending humiliation by the popular girls.

Sophie's Secret ($4.99 Kindle) the second in Sophie series

Book Description
Sophie and her friends launch an 'archaeological expedition' and make a disturbing discovery. Sophie keeps digging to uncover a shocking family secret. In light of this new revelation, will she ever be able to trust her parents again?

Here are the links for the free books from Sony:
Sophie's World
Sophie's Secret