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Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Today's Deals

Save 30% at Mills & Boon thru 24th May 2012, using coupon code MAYSAVE30.

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

Today's Kindle Deal of the Day is Tune in Tokyo: The Gaijin Diaries ($0.99), by Tim Anderson.
Book Description
Everyone wants to escape their boring, stagnant lives full of inertia and regret. But so few people actually have the bravery to run -- run away from everything and selflessly seek out personal fulfillment on the other side of the world where they don't understand anything and won't be expected to. The world is full of cowards. Tim Anderson was pushing thirty and working a string of dead-end jobs when he made the spontaneous decision to pack his bags and move to Japan, “where my status as a U.S. passport holder and card-carrying ‘American English’ speaker was an asset rather than a liability.” It was a gutsy move, especially for a tall, white, gay Southerner who didn’t speak a lick of Japanese. But his life desperately needed a shot of adrenaline, and what better way to get one than to leave behind everything he had ever known to move to “a tiny, overcrowded island heaving with clever, sensibly proportioned people that make him look fat?” In Tokyo, Tim became a “gaijin,” an outsider whose stumbling progression through Japanese culture is minutely chronicled in these sixteen howlingly funny stories. Yet despite the steep learning curve and the seemingly constant humiliation, the gaijin from North Carolina gradually begins to find his way. Whether playing drums on the fly in an otherwise all-Japanese noise band or attempting to keep his English classroom clean when it’s invaded by an older female student with a dirty mind, Tim comes to realize that living a meaningful life is about expecting the unexpected…right when he least expects it.

The Twitter Diaries: 2 Cities, 1 Friendship, 140 Characters ($1.57 / £0.99 UK), by Imogen Lloyd Webber and Georgie Thompson, is the Kindle Deal of the day for those in the UK (the US edition is $7.99). You can join a conversation with one of the authors via Twitter (of course) on May 31.
Book Description
The Twitter Diaries tells the story of pen pals for the 21st century. Two parallel lives separated by an ocean but united over a social network.

Tuesday (@Tuesday Fields), a sports reporter and Stella (@StellaCavill), a men's shoe designer, are Brit 30-somethings who are introduced in NYC on NYE by a mutual friend, a notorious transatlantic TV presenter. They strike up an instant bond.

Over the next 365 days, @TuesdayFields and @StellaCavill put the world to rights, one tweet at a time. From Melbourne to Monaco to Magaluf, the girls flirt and fall out with sportsmen, movie stars... and TV presenters. And then there's their mothers...

December 31st of the same year and @TuesdayFields and @StellaCavill meet again, for the first time since the last time. A lot can happen in a year. It turns out just 140 characters can change everything.

The Twitter Diaries is an instantly recognisable yet fictitious tale all generations can relate to, whether they are one of the world's 140 million and counting transfixed Twitter users or not. Accessible, funny and heart-warming, it's this summer's must read.

Lone Survivor: The Eyewitness Account of Operation Redwing and the Lost Heroes of SEAL Team 10 ($2.99 Kindle, B&N), by Marcus Luttrell and Patrick Robinson, is the Nook Daily Find, price matched on Kindle.
Book Description
On a clear night in late June 2005, four U.S. Navy SEALs left their base in northern Afghanistan for the mountainous Pakistani border. Their mission was to capture or kill a notorious al Qaeda leader known to be ensconced in a Taliban stronghold surrounded by a small but heavily armed force. Less then twenty-four hours later, only one of those Navy SEALs remained alive.

This is the story of fire team leader Marcus Luttrell, the sole survivor of Operation Redwing, and the desperate battle in the mountains that led, ultimately, to the largest loss of life in Navy SEAL history. But it is also, more than anything, the story of his teammates, who fought ferociously beside him until he was the last one left-blasted unconscious by a rocket grenade, blown over a cliff, but still armed and still breathing. Over the next four days, badly injured and presumed dead, Luttrell fought off six al Qaeda assassins who were sent to finish him, then crawled for seven miles through the mountains before he was taken in by a Pashtun tribe, who risked everything to protect him from the encircling Taliban killers.

A six-foot-five-inch Texan, Leading Petty Officer Luttrell takes us, blow-by-blow, through the brutal training of America's warrior elite and the relentless rites of passage required by the Navy SEALs. He transports us to a monstrous battle fought in the desolate peaks of Afghanistan, where the beleaguered American team plummeted headlong a thousand feet down a mountain as they fought back through flying shale and rocks. In this rich , moving chronicle of courage, honor, and patriotism, Marcus Luttrell delivers one of the most powerful narratives ever written about modern warfare-and a tribute to his teammates, who made the ultimate sacrifice for their country.

Artemis Fowl ($6.39 Kindle, $1.99 B&N), the first book in the series by Eoin Colfer, is the Nook Daily Find for Families. Note that on Kindle, there are three editions; the other two are both Audio/Video Enhanced Editions, with different prices and file sizes, but I don't see any indication of what the difference in between them.
Book Description
From a strikingly original voice in fiction comes the story of Artemis Fowl, a very unusual hero. Artemis combines the astuteness of Sherlock Holmes with the sangfroid of James Bond and the attitude of Attila the Hun. But even Artemis doesn't know what he's taken on when he kidnaps a fairy, Captain Holly Short of LEPrecon Unit. These aren't the fairies of bedtime stories. These fairies are armed and they're dangerous. Artemis thinks he's got them just where he wants them, but then they stop playing by the rules . . .

Full of unexpected twists and turns, ARTEMIS FOWL opens up a riveting world of magic, mystery, and humor.

Monday, May 21, 2012

Get $2 in MP3's for Free

If you have a Facebook account, you can claim a $2 MP3 credit by letting Amazon post to your wall. You enter a song you like (or whatever you want posted to your wall) and click; the credit is then added to your account automatically (no codes to keep track of).
Some of the Fine Print
  • Your promotional credit must be redeemed by 11:59 PM PST on May 24, 2012.
  • Limit one promotional credit per Amazon customer and Facebook account.
  • Amazon MP3 music is available to customers located and with billing addresses in the United States.

Today's Deals

At DailySteals (today only), you can get a refurbished Kindle Keyboard 3G for $79.99. It's refurbished, but appears to have a 90 day warranty (from Amazon). All indications are that it is not the Special Offers edition (which means you can turn them on and off at no cost) and the same model is going for $129.99 direct from Amazon. It's perhaps just another indication that the Keyboard model is (sadly) on it's way out and that another model may be around the corner.

Today's Kindle Deal of the Day is A Small Furry Prayer ($1.99), by Steven Kotler. This is a very good price, if you read this type of story - it's $15-$17 elsewhere.
Book Description
Steven Kotler was forty years old, single, and facing an existential crisis when he met Lila, a woman devoted to animal rescue. "Love me, love my dogs" was her rule, and Steven took it to heart. Spurred to move by a housing crisis in Los Angeles, Steven, Lila, and their eight dogs-then ten, then twenty, and then they lost count-bought a postage-stamp-size farm in Chimayo, New Mexico. A Small Furry Prayer chronicles their adventures at Rancho de Chihuahua, the sanctuary they created for their special needs pack. While dog rescue is one of the largest underground movements in America, it is also one of the least understood. An insider look at the "cult and culture" of dog rescue, A Small Furry Prayer weaves personal experience, cultural investigation, and scientific inquiry into a fast-paced, fun-filled narrative that explores what it means to devote one's life to the furry and the four-legged. Along the way, Kotler combs through every aspect of canine-human relations, from humans' long history with dogs through brand-new research into the neuroscience of canine companionship, in the end discovering why living in a world made of dog may be the best way to uncover the truth about what it really means to be human.

The AmazonEncore edition of A King of Infinite Space ($1.57 / £0.99 UK), by Tyler Dilts, is the Kindle Deal of the day for those in the UK (the US edition is $3.99/KLL Eligible).
Book Description
Long Beach, California, homicide detective Danny Beckett is pouring the weekend’s first shot of vodka when the call comes in: Elizabeth Williams, a teacher at nearby Warren High School, has been brutally murdered in her classroom. When Danny arrives at the school, the blood-spattered crime scene turns even his veteran stomach. What could this young woman have done to make her the target of such a violent attack? And what is the significance of the victim’s left hand, taken by the killer as a grisly trophy? Beckett delves into the case with his usual tenacious cool, yet as he pieces together the facts, long-suppressed anguish from his own past rises up with stunning force. His hunt for the murderer soon morphs into a personal quest for atonement as he struggles to come to terms with the loss of his wife and family. A King of Infinite Space is a riveting crime novel that serves as a memorable introduction for Danny Beckett to the ranks of fiction’s favorite hardened detectives.

Sistergirl Devotions: Keeping Jesus in the Mix on the Job ($2.99 Kindle, B&N), by Carol M. Mackey, is the Nook Daily Find, price matched on Kindle.
Book Description
Finally, a book of meditations for African American women that understands the world they live in. Centering on the lessons God teaches us at work, at church, and in our relationships, this book of devotions uses stories and settings that will resonate with women of color--urban life, office culture, and the leading of the Spirit in things large and small. Using Scripture, conventional wisdom, and stories from the African American community, each devotional will show women how their faith can empower them to have success on the job--at whatever workplace they find themselves. With topics such as respect, resourcefulness, image, timeliness, honesty, negativity, and balancing work and home, each devotion ends with a "power move"--practical affirmations that will move readers toward success at work.

Princess Academy ($5.96 Kindle, $1.99 B&N), by Shannon Hale, is the Nook Daily Find for Families.
Book Description
Miri lives on a mountain where, for generations, her ancestors have quarried stone and lived a simple life. Then word comes that the king’s priests have divined her small village the home of the future princess. Sent to an academy to learn how to become a princess, Miri soon finds herself confronted with a harsh mistress, bitter competition among the girls, and even bandits intent on kidnapping the future princess.

Just Desserts ($1.99 Kindle, Kobo), the first of the Bed-And-Breakfast mystery series by Mary Daheim, is Today's Deal at Kobo, price matched on Kindle (as chosen by me, since Kobo hasn't updated their page in weeks). The author is better known for her Emma Lord series, although both have been written over the last two decades, at least from the selection I find at the local library, which doesn't have this one an many others in the series.
Book Description
When the garishly grotesque clan of wealthy carpet-sweeper magnate Otto Broadie sweeps down upon Judith McMonigle's Hillside Manor Inn, it looks like there'll be a wild night of drinking, dining, and fortune-telling in the offing. But when their soothsayer-for-hire Madame Gushenka drops dead after someone douses her tea leaves with bug killer, harried hostess Judith and her irrepressible cousin Renie are left to clean up the mess. One of the Brodie bunch would dearly love to sweep the Madame's murder under the rug, however, and that might mean eliminating the nosy Ms. McMonigle as well. But with the help of her one-time beau, policeman Joe Flynn, Judith is determined to rattle the dust off some closeted family skeletons, in order to coax a killer out of hiding before coffee is served.

Sunday, May 20, 2012

Amazon Digital Weekend Deals

The Kindle Weekend Deal is TimeRiders ($1.99), by Alex Scarrow. This is the first novel in his very popular YA TimeRiders series, only two of which have shown up on Kindle, so far.
Book Description
Maddy should have died in a plane crash. Liam should have died at sea when the Titanic sank. Sal should have died in a tragic fire. But a mysterious man whisked them away to safety.

Maddy, Liam, and Sal quickly learn that time travel is no longer just a hope for the future; it is a dangerous reality. And they weren't just rescued from their terrible fates. . . they were recruited for the agency of TimeRiders created to protect the world from those seeking to alter the course of history for personal gain. By reliving the highly documented events in New York City on 9/11, they can closely monitor history for any deviations-large or small. When just such a change is detected, they are alerted that a threat is at hand unleashing the evil of the Nazis to wreak havoc with Earth's present and future. Can Maddy, Liam, and Sal fulfill their destinies as keepers of time to save the world from utter destruction?

An exhilarating adventure that shifts readers back in time to Nazi Germany and then forward into an ever-changing present.

Look out for the other books in this series: Day of the Predator and The Doomsday Code!

Other vote winners on sale this weekend are The Dark Knight (video), Norah Jones' Come Away With Me (mp3) and A Game of Thrones - Genesis (game). Don't forget to vote on next week's deals.

If you are a gamer, be sure to also check out Amazon's Game Downloads Mayhem Event, with 12 days of deals on some of the more popular games of 2011, ranging from Sims to hardcore gaming. For the more casual gamer, there's also the $2.99 Casual Games Mayhem Event, which has downloadable puzzles, matching, strategy and action/arcade games to choose from (the kind I keep on the netbook to play when not at home). Most have free trials, so you can test to see if they'll work on your hardware, first, before buying to keep. I've seen and ending date of both May 28 and May 29 on these sales, so don't wait until the very last day on these.

Today's Deals

Additional formats on free books:

Today's Kindle Deal of the Day is The Mongoliad ($0.99), a collaborative novel by Greg Bear, Neal Stephenson, Mark Teppo, Erik Bear, et al. This is the book I borrowed last month on my Amazon Prime membership and it's pretty good; I think I'll go ahead and buy it, so I can just borrow something else for the rest of the month.
Book Description
The first novel to be released in The Foreworld Saga, The Mongoliad: Book One, is an epic-within-an-epic, taking place in 13th century. In it, a small band of warriors and mystics raise their swords to save Europe from a bloodthirsty Mongol invasion. Inspired by their leader (an elder of an order of warrior monks), they embark on a perilous journey and uncover the history of hidden knowledge and conflict among powerful secret societies that had been shaping world events for millennia.

But the saga reaches the modern world via a circuitous route. In the late 19th century, Sir Richard F. Burton, an expert on exotic languages and historical swordsmanship, is approached by a mysterious group of English martial arts aficionados about translating a collection of long-lost manuscripts. Burton dies before his work is finished, and his efforts were thought lost until recently rediscovered by a team of amateur archaeologists in the ruins of a mansion in Trieste, Italy. From this collection of arcana, the incredible tale of The Mongoliad was recreated.

Full of high adventure, unforgettable characters, and unflinching battle scenes, The Mongoliad ignites a dangerous quest where willpower and blades are tested and the scope of world-building is redefined.

A note on this edition: The Mongoliad began as a social media experiment, combining serial story-telling with a unique level of interaction between authors and audience during the creative process. Since its original iteration, The Mongoliad has been restructured, edited, and rewritten under the supervision of its authors to create a more cohesive reading experience and will be published as a trilogy of novels. This edition is the definitive edition and is the authors' preferred text.

The Secret Intensity of Everyday Life ($1.59 / £0.99 UK), by William Nicholson, is the Kindle Deal of the day for those in the UK (the US edition is $9.99).
Book Description
Laura is content enough with her marriage, her two children and her part-time job - until an ex-lover whom she had thought was ‘the one' gets in touch out of the blue. Suddenly passion and excitement are rekindled, and she realises how stagnant her life has become. But how much happiness has she a right to expect, and what of the pain she might cause to achieve it? Unknown to Laura, many others in her Sussex village are living with their own unresolved inner dramas. None of them guesses at her crisis. Yet every decision they take has an impact on those around them. The hidden longings of a large cast of characters interweave in a gripping plot that reveals ordinary life at its richest: comic and tragic, poignant and cruel, surprising and moving.

Secrets of Simplicity: Learn to Live Better with Less ($1.99 Kindle, B&N), by Mary Carlomagno, is the Nook Daily Find, price matched on Kindle. I bought this one last summer (although I haven't managed to put it all in practice), when it was last on sale at this price. It's fairly short (144 pages), so you won't be overwhelmed with reading (leaving time to clean out those closets!).
Book Description
Bulging in-boxes, out-of-control stress, and even climate change serve as reminders that when it comes to being happy and healthy, less is more. In this interactive journal, organization expert Mary Carlomagno leads readers on a journey toward release and discovery. Guided by the principle that the way you spend your time and money should reflect your true priorities, Secrets of Simplicity shows how to make practical changes to unburden your closets and calendars and make room for what's really important. Readers can record their successes, as they de-clutter their homes and in the process, their minds.

About the Author
MARY CARLOMAGNO is the founder and owner of Order, a company that specializes in clutter control. Her philosophy has been featured in Woman's Day, Redbook, and The Washington Post. She lives in New Jersey.

Yummy Yucky ($6.64 Kindle, $1.49 B&N), by Leslie Patricelli, is the Nook Daily Find for Families (requires NOOK Color, NOOK Tablet or NOOK Kids for iPad).
Book Description
Spaghetti is yummy, but worms - and blue crayons, and sand, and other things too gross to mention - are definitely yucky when tasted. Amiably illustrated in a bright, graphic style, Leslie Patricelli?s spirited board book, YUMMY YUCKY stars an obliging, bald, and very expressive toddler who acts out each pair of opposites with comically dramatic effect.