Bargain Cookbooks (K/E)

I know, I'm supposed to be looking thru the list of today's Daily Deal books, but I got distracted over in the cookbook section. For those that are on sale at Kobo, you can use promo code vouchercodes40 for an additional 40% off (non-Agency only, of course).

Top Chef: The Cookbook ($3.99 Kindle) with a foreword by Tom Colicchio. A must for fans of the show, there are also a lot of recipes for those more enticed by the food than the behind the scenes tidbits (and none of them are for liver covered with chocolate, which received a vote for the most vile food produced on the show from one of the judges). I took a look thru the cookbook while at the bookstore the other day and there were enough good recipes that I grabbed it at this price (which isn't matched in the other stores that I checked).

Book Description
Top Chef presents the official companion cookbook to the No. 1 rated food show on cable television! Featuring 100 fabulous recipes from the first three seasons of the show, including dishes from the Elimination Rounds and the Quick-Fire Challenges. In-depth discussions with contestants, judges, and crew reveal the inner workings of the show, and lavish photographs take readers behind-the-scenes into the Top Chef pantry and the competition sites. This cookbook will have aspiring culinary contenders reliving classic show moments and relishing new recipes just in time to obsess over Padma's outfits in Season 4.

Raw Energy: 124 Raw Food Recipes for Energy Bars, Smoothies, and Other Snacks to Supercharge Your Body ($2.99 Kindle, Kobo), by Stephanie L. Tourles

Book Description
It’s time to rescue snacks from the realm of empty-calorie packaged junk food and transform everyday pick-me-ups into healthful, satisfying mini meals. Why waste calories on cookies or chips that have no nutritional value and provide only short-term satisfaction when raw foods are delicious, simple to prepare, and bursting with natural energy boosters that everybody needs to stay fit and healthy?

Thanks to Raw Energy, it has never been easier to add a full spectrum of raw ingredients to a healthful lifestyle. Author Stephanie Tourles’s 125 recipes for trail mixes, parfaits, energy bars, juice blends, smoothies, soups, vegetable chips, zippy dips, candies, and cookies combine raw ingredients in delicious snacks that are chock-full of nutrients and long-term energy boosters.

Made from real, whole foods that are uncooked, unadulterated, and unprocessed, these snacks are 150- to 250-calorie packages of health and vitality, dense with naturally occurring vitamins, minerals, fiber, and enzymes. The snacks in Raw Energy do not rely on refined white flour or sugar, they are not cooked in any way, and, with the exception of honey, they do not use animal products.

They do include raw nuts and seeds, nut butters, dried and fresh fruits, oats, carob, cocoa, freshly extracted juices, and vegetables. They taste great and are easy to digest. Tourles provides a complete overview of the benefits of raw foods, along with an introduction to "uncooking" techniques and an ingredient-by-ingredient food guide. For anyone looking for more nutritional punch from low-calorie snacks, Raw Energy provides 125 tasty starting points.

Push-up Pops ($1.99 Kindle), by Courtney Dial Whitmore and Kyle Dreier (Photographer)

Book Description
A well-known stylist and writer in the field of party design and décor, Courtney Dial Whitmore knows what’s hot! Capitalizing on the popular trend of push-up pops, Courtney’s love of entertaining turns Push-Up Pops into the perfect party resource. These treats use the ordinary off-the-shelf clear plastic molds but transform them into frozen fruit Popsicles, cake and pudding parfaits, cupcakes and 40 other treats. These beautiful layers are sweet additions to any party!

Courtney Dial Whitmore’s expertise has been seen in HGTV.com, Pawsh Magazine, Nashville Lifestyles Magazine, Ladies Home Journal, AOL’s DIY Life, Get Married Magazine, MarthaStewart.com, and more. In addition to designing everything from children’s birthday celebrations to chic dinner parties, she is also a writer for several online food and lifestyle publications including SHE KNOWS, Hostess With the Mostess, and Tablespoon. She lives in Nashville, Tennessee.

Sweet additions for any party

The Big Book of Soups and Stews: 262 Recipes for Serious Comfort Food ($2.99 Kindle), by Maryana Vollstedt

Book Description
Where the best-selling Big Book of Casseroles brought bubbling cheese and golden bread crumbs, The Big Book of Soups and Stews brings succulent meats, tender vegetables, and creamy, savory goodness with 262 comforting recipes for soups, chowders, and stews. From a hot and hearty stew for a cold night to a cool, refreshing Vichyssoise for a sizzling afternoon, there's a recipe here for every occasion. Also included are nostalgic classics (like everyone's favorite Chicken Noodle Soup) as well as innovative new creations inspired by the cuisines of the world—from Thai Ginger Chicken to Mexican Seafood. With a wonderful selection of quick bread recipes and a crockpot full of tips and hints to help soup-makers hone their skills, The Big Book of Soups and Stews is the ultimate one-stop comfort food cookbook.

The Big Book of Casseroles: 250 Recipes for Serious Comfort Food ($2.99 Kindle), by Maryana Vollstedt

Book Description
Bubbling cheese, golden bread crumbs, tender vegetables, and succulent meats - what's not to like about casseroles? Comfort food just doesn't get any cozier, or more convenient. Now, thanks to Maryana Vollstedt, busy cooks don't have to call up Mom in order to make delicious one-dish meals for family and friends. The Big Book of Casseroles boasts over 250 recipes (including low-fat and vegetarian dishes), plus handy planning, freezing, and storage tips. For hot-from-the-oven dinners equally at home in the dining room or on the kitchen table, cooks need look no further than The Big Book of Casseroles, because serious comfort food never goes out of style.

The Italian Slow Cooker ($3.99 Kindle), by Michele Scicolone

Book Description
Finally a book that combines the fresh, exuberant flavors of great Italian food with the ease and comfort of a slow cooker. Michele Scicolone, a best-selling author and an authority on Italian cooking, shows how good ingredients and simple techniques can lift the usual “crockpot” fare into the dimension of fine food. Pasta with Meat and Mushroom Ragu, Osso Buco with Red Wine, Chicken with Peppers and Mushrooms: These are dishes that even the most discriminating cook can proudly serve to company, yet all are so carefree that anyone with just five or ten minutes of prep time can make them on a weekday and return to perfection.

Simmered in the slow cooker, soups, stews, beans, grains, pasta sauces, and fish are as healthy as they are delicious. Polenta and risotto, “stir-crazy” dishes that ordinarily need careful timing, are effortless. Meat loaves come out perfectly moist, tough cuts of meat turn succulent, and cheesecakes emerge flawless.

The G-Free Diet: A Gluten-Free Survival Guide ($2.99 Kindle, Kobo), by Elisabeth Hasselbeck; this has been on sale before (and I snapped it up the first time it dropped this low). There is a free companion app, Eating Out G-Free, which you can find in the iTunes store (and use even if you don't get the book).

Book Description
For years, Elisabeth Hasselbeck couldn't figure out what was making her sick. She asked doctors and consulted nutritionists, but no one seemed to have any answers. It wasn't until spending time in the Australian Outback, living off the land on the grueling Survivor TV show, that, ironically, her symptoms vanished. Returning home, she pinpointed the food that made her sick -- gluten, the binding element in wheat. By simply eliminating it from her diet, she was able to enjoy a completely normal, healthy life. But that wasn't all. Hasselbeck discovered the myriad benefits that anyone can enjoy from a gluten-free diet: from weight loss and increased energy to even the alleviation of the conditions of autism.

In this all-inclusive book, Hasselbeck shares her hard-earned wisdom on living life without gluten and loving it. She gives you everything you need to know to start living a gluten-free life, from defining gluten - where to find it, how to read food labels - to targeting gluten-free products, creating G-Free shopping lists, sharing recipes, and managing G-Free living with family and friends.

Wheat-Free Recipes & Menus ($5.99 Kindle, Kobo), by Carol Fenster Ph.D., who wrote some of my earliest gluten-free cookbooks, is one worth looking at (note that although the title "wheat free", it is, in fact, a gluten-free cookbook, also eliminating barley and rye, as well).

Book Description
Hundreds of delicious, easy, and nutritious recipes and menus for the home cook—all without wheat or gluten

The millions of people who avoid wheat and gluten due to celiac disease, allergies, or intolerance—or simply to improve their health—know how difficult creating balanced, tasty meals can be. Gluten is found not just in bread, pasta, and cereal, but in unexpected items like cream soups, sauces, and condiments. Preparing a simple, homemade meal without gluten-based products can seem daunting.

Carol Fenster, Ph.D., has been using her expert knowledge and cooking know-how to keep herself and her gluten-free family happy and healthy for over ten years. In Wheat-Free Recipes and Menus, Fenster shares her years of experience, explaining how to incorporate new ingredients into down-home, easy to prepare meals, free of wheat but full of taste. Employing easy-to-find substitutes for gluten-based ingredients, Dr. Fenster’s meals are rich and flavorful without relying on excess fat and salt. Recipes range from simple snacks to elaborate dinners, and include gluten-free recipes for favorites like breads, pizza, dumplings, and all kinds of baked goods.

Avoiding wheat and gluten no longer means resigning to dietary boredom or risking an unhealthy diet. Dr. Fenster's recipes emphasize fresh, wholesome ingredients and clear instructions that make for fail-proof preparation of mouthwatering, gluten-free meals.

Today's Deals 1/13

Amazon's Android Appstore free app today is Stack 'N Puzzles - an Educational Puzzling Adventure for Kids.

Today's Kindle Daily Deal is Up to 80% on More Than 2,000 Kindle Books for Students. Everything is broken down into categories and there is a lot there that is of general interest and not just for students (such as Brain Rules, which is in the Business & Investing as well as the Medical category, or Bounce: Living the Resilient Life, which is in Social Sciences - both are marked down to $1.99), so plan to spend the afternoon looking thru the selections.

Today's Kindle Romance Daily Deal is Faerie ($0.99), by Delle Jacobs, with the companion audiobook at $4.99.

Book Description
Like her mother before her, Leonie of Bosewood carries Faerie blood in her veins, a secret she harbors to protect her own life. For although the people of eleventh-century England believe in magic, their ignorance and fear have made being different a very dangerous prospect. Caught between the human and Faerie worlds, yet belonging in neither, Leonie must guard her heart…no matter how strong the temptations.

As the king’s emissary, Philippe le Peregrine has watched Leonie mature from gangly girl to alluring woman. With each encounter, his attraction grows, but he knows a match between them can never be. For Philippe hides his own secret, one that has condemned him to a life of lonely celibacy for fear of harming the woman he loves. But when powerful forces prompt them to unite against a sorcerer intent on conquering the world, Leonie and Philippe realize that only together are they strong enough to combat the evil threatening to engulf them.

Today's Kindle SciFi/Fantasy Daily Deal is Empire ($1.99), the sixth novel in the Star Force military science fiction series by B. V. Larson.

Book Description
Kyle Riggs has been away from Earth for a long time…what’s happening back home?

In EMPIRE, the sixth book of the Star Force Series, the story moves in a new direction. Earth falls quiet, and the few reports coming out of the homeworld are increasingly strange. Isolated in the Eden system, Riggs realizes his enemies are forming an alliance against him. Crushed between two monstrous fleets, the last defenders of Star Force must forge their own alliance with the biotic aliens. But which alien race can Riggs truly trust?

Bleak Expectations ($1.59 / £0.99 UK), by Mark Evans, is the Kindle Deal of the day for those in the UK (the US edition is $8.79).

Book Description
A fantastically funny and inventive novel from the hit Radio 4 comedy series.

You think you know the entire story of Bleak Expectations but look! Now it's also a big, fat, juicy book. Like the radio series, but with added jokes, extra bits of story, additional dimensions to characters and masses more paper. Unless you're reading it as an e-book in which case... masses more digital information bits.

Bleak Expectations recounts the remarkable adventures of young Pip Bin as he tries to repair his destroyed family and distinctly damaged life, aided by his best friend Harry Biscuit and definitely not aided by his cruel and ironically named guardian Mr Gently Benevolent and his accomplices, the fearsome Hardthrasher siblings.

Weep! As Pip is sent to Britain's nastiest boarding school, St Bastard's.

Gasp! As the true extent of his despicable guardian's plan becomes clear.

Worry! As our hero is committed to the Workhouse, where he meets the hideous poverty-punishments of the treadmill, the grindstone and the painwheel.

Sigh! As Pip finds love with London's most eligible frail beauty, Miss Flora Dies-Early.

Find a tenterhook and sit on it!

Grim circumstances, mistaken identities, unlikely inheritances, nightmarish court cases, ridiculous names, convenient coincidences to resolve plot problems, over-sentimental death scenes and lots and lots of adjectives: Bleak Expectations is the novel Charles Dickens might have written after drinking far too much gin.

The Lemonade War ($4.49 Kindle, $1.99 B&N), the first title in the children's series by Jacqueline Davies, is the Nook Daily Find.

Book Description
For a full hour, he poured lemonade. The world is a thirsty place, he thought as he nearly emptied his fourth pitcher of the day. And I am the Lemonade King.

Fourth grader Evan Treski is people-smart. He’s good at talking with people, even grownups. His younger sister, Jessie, on the other hand, is math-smart, but not especially good with people. So when the siblings’ lemonade-stand war begins, there really is no telling who will win—or even if their fight will ever end. Brimming with savvy marketing tips for making money at any business, definitions of business terms, charts, diagrams, and even math problems, this fresh, funny, emotionally charged novel subtly explores how arguments can escalate beyond anyone’s intent. This book features a teaser chapter from book two of the Lemonade War series, The Lemonade Crime.

Grade Level: 3 and up

Today's Kindle Teen Daily Deal is Torn ($1.99), by Stephanie Guerra.

Book Description
Stella Chavez is your classic good girl: straight As, clean-cut boyfriends, and soccer trophies. You'd never guess that Stella's dad was a drug addict who walked out when she was a kid. Or that inside, Stella wishes for something more. New girl Ruby Caroline seems like Stella's polar opposite: cursing, smoking, and teetering in sky-high heels. But with Ruby, Stella gets a taste of another world a world in which parents act like roommates, college men are way more interesting than high school boys, and there is nothing that shouldn't be tried once. It's not long before Stella finds herself torn: between the best friend she's ever had and the friends she's known forever, between her family and her own independence, between who she was and who she wants to be. But Ruby has a darker side, a side she doesn't show anyone not even Stella. As Stella watches her friend slowly unravel, she will have to search deep inside herself for the strength to be a true friend, even if it means committing the ultimate betrayal.

Amazon AutoRip

You may have received an email recently from Amazon, introducing their new AutoRip program. Essentially, it bridges the gap for those who prefer to buy a CD, but want to have the music on their Cloud Player, for use when the CD isn't as easily used, but don't want to buy both versions or pay Amazon to move up from the 250 songs you are allowed to add to your Cloud Player for free. Even better, Amazon went back to 2008 and added all the CDs you've purchased that are AutoRip eligible (some are not, as they are out of print or an MP3 version isn't available) and added the MP3s to your Cloud Player for you. I had purchased a number of the $3-$4 CDs during the Black Friday week sales, so found a nice bonus in my account from those.

Sure, you could rip them yourself (and I will, as lossless files to play on my main stereo), but that both takes a bit of time and you would then have to add the MP3s to your Cloud Player account. Instead, with AutoRip, Amazon puts the MP3s in your account as soon as the CD ships (for most CDs, you can start listening right away) and you can download them, the same as any other MP3 on your account), to put on your MP3 player or iPod.

There are a few conditions, of course. The program is limited to those in the US (presumably the only area where Amazon has negotiated rights to distribute the MP3 "companion versions" and if you return the CD and have already downloaded the MP3 files, they'll charge you for the MP3 version of the album (you still have the usual refund restrictions on the CD). If you haven't downloaded the MP3 files, then they simply remove them from your account if you return the CD. If you like to trade CDs at a local store or sell them off after a while, then the MP3s stay in your account, since that is outside of anything to do with Amazon.

I browsed thru the AutoRip eligible CDs at Amazon and noticed something rather interesting - they often display an import CD (at a very high price), but there will be a US version of the CD at a price much closer to the MP3 album and it will also be AutoRip eligible. For some of the albums I looked at, you paid only about 50 cents more for the physical CD (especially if you are a Prime member and get free shipping), but had all the immediate listening benefits of the MP3 purchase.

Bargain Book Trio

A Rake's Vow with Bonus Material ($0.99 Kindle, Kobo), the second book of the Bar Cynster series by Stephanie Laurens.

Book Description
In A Rake's Vow, Vane Cynster vowed he′d never marry.

To Vane, Bellamy Hall seems like the perfect place to temporarily hide from London′s husband hunters. But when he encounters irresistible Patience Debbington,
Vane realizes he′s met his match ...

She vowed no man would catch her.

Patience isn′t about to succumb to Vane′s sensuous propositions. Yes, his kisses leave her dizzy and his caresses made her melt; but Patience has promised herself she′ll never become vulnerable to a broken heart. Is this one vow that was meant to be broken?

Firelight ($2.99 Kindle, Kobo), the first novel in the Darkest London series by Kristen Callihan; you may also want to pick up the prequel novella, Ember, which is only 99 cents.

Book Description
London, 1881.
Once the flames are ignited . . .
Miranda Ellis is a woman tormented. Plagued since birth by a strange and powerful gift, she has spent her entire life struggling to control her exceptional abilities. Yet one innocent but irreversible mistake has left her family's fortune decimated and forced her to wed London's most nefarious nobleman.

They will burn for eternity . . .
Lord Benjamin Archer is no ordinary man. Doomed to hide his disfigured face behind masks, Archer knows it's selfish to take Miranda as his bride. Yet he can't help being drawn to the flame-haired beauty whose touch sparks a passion he hasn't felt in a lifetime. When Archer is accused of a series of gruesome murders, he gives in to the beastly nature he has fought so hard to hide from the world. But the curse that haunts him cannot be denied. Now, to save his soul, Miranda will enter a world of dark magic and darker intrigue. For only she can see the man hiding behind the mask.

Blackberries, Blackberries ($3.99 Kindle), an AmazonEncore edition by Crystal Wilkinson, which I selected solely based on the background description from the author.

Book Description
Winner of the 2002 CHAFFIN LITERARY AWARD

An enchanting, haunting collection of stories by Crystal Wilkinson, a self-described Black, country girl and poet from rural Kentucky. The stories explore the joys and pain of the women of "Affrilachia", and will touch the reader profoundly.

"I grew up on a farm in Indian Creek, Kentucky during the seventies. I swam in creeks and roamed the knobs and hills. We had an outhouse and no inside running water. Our house was heated by coal and wood-burning stoves and we lived so far back in the woods that we could get only one television station. But it was a place of beauty - trees, green grass and blue sky as far as you could see. I am country. Being country is as much a part of me as my full lips, wide hips, dreadlocks and high cheek bones. There are many Black country folks who have lived and are living in small towns, up hollers and across knobs. They are all over the South—scattered like milk thistle seeds in the wind. The stories in this book are centered in these places.” - Crystal E. Wilkinson

Today's Deals 1/12

Today's Kindle Teen Daily Deal is Dreamland ($2.99), by Sarah Dessen.

Book Description
"Wake up, Caitlin." My English teacher wasn't the only person who'd noticed.

"Caitlin!" the dance coach barked as I flubbed another cartwheel.

"Caitlin?" Rina, my best friend, asked. "Hello?"

And finally, the one voice to which I snapped to attention, every time.

"Caitlin," Rogerson said, and I listened so hard, trying to tell just by the cadence what might happen when we were alone.

What they don't understand is that Caitlin can't afford to leave this dreamland, this half-sleeping state where everything and everyone can be kept at arm's length. Because then she'd have to face the ugly truth about her relationship with Rogerson: magnetic, fascinating--and very dangerous--Rogerson. What is it about Rogerson Biscoe...and why can't she leave him? In her most challenging novel yet, acclaimed author Sarah Dessen guides readers through the harrowing netherworld of a young woman's shattered dreams to her profound awakening.

Today's Kindle Daily Deal is Mornings in Jenin ($1.99), by Susan Abulhawa, which has received a starred review from Publishers Weekly.

Book Description
Mornings in Jenin is a multi-generational story about a Palestinian family. Forcibly removed from the olive-farming village of Ein Hod by the newly formed state of Israel in 1948, the Abulhejos are displaced to live in canvas tents in the Jenin refugee camp. We follow the Abulhejo family as they live through a half century of violent history. Amidst the loss and fear, hatred and pain, as their tents are replaced by more forebodingly permanent cinderblock huts, there is always the waiting, waiting to return to a lost home.The novel's voice is that of Amal, the granddaughter of the old village patriarch, a bright, sensitive girl who makes it out of the camps, only to return years later, to marry and bear a child. Through her eyes, with her evolving vision, we get the story of her brothers, one who is kidnapped to be raised Jewish, one who will end with bombs strapped to his middle. But of the many interwoven stories, stretching backward and forward in time, none is more important than Amal's own. Her story is one of love and loss, of childhood and marriage and parenthood, and finally the need to share her history with her daughter, to preserve the greatest love she has. Set against one of the twentieth century's most intractable political conflicts, Mornings in Jenin is a deeply human novel - a novel of history, identity, friendship, love, terrorism, surrender, courage, and hope. Its power forces us to take a fresh look at one of the defining conflicts of our lifetimes.

Today's Kindle Romance Daily Deal is The Wicked One ($1.99), by Danelle Harmon.

Book Description
The bluest of blood; the boldest of hearts; the de Montforte brothers will take your breath away."

When the powerful Lucien de Montforte, the Duke of Blackheath, arrives home to find a dangerous and vengeful woman waiting for him in his bed with pistol in hand, the master manipulator never dreams that he has finally met his match. But thanks to his scheming family's successful attempts to force a wedding, the wicked and wily duke finds himself entangled in a web of his own making in this spectacular conclusion to Danelle Harmon's critically acclaimed de Montforte Brothers series!

Today's Kindle SciFi/Fantasy Daily Deal is Full Blooded ($1.99), the first novel in Amanda Carlson's Jessica McClain series, published by Orbit.

Book Description
It's not easy being a girl. It's even harder when you're the only girl in a family of werewolves. But it's next to impossible when your very existence spells out the doom of your race... Meet Jessica McClain -- she just became part of the pack.

In the vein of Kelley Armstrong and Patricia Briggs, a new urban fantasy that rewrites the werewolf myth...

Glass Tiger ($1.59 / £0.99 UK), by Joe Gores, is the Kindle Deal of the day for those in the UK (no US edition).

Book Description
It's election night in the US. Gustave Walberg becomes leader of the free world and legendary Vietnam sniper Halden Corwin murders his daughter and son-in-law before disappearing into the night. Driven by events that took place over forty years ago, he now has the President's head in his sights. Escaping his old life as a CIA sniper in Colombia, Brendan Thorne has become a guard at a safari camp in Kenya's Tsavo Game Park. But FBI agent Terrill Hatfield has other ideas - he arranges for Thorne to be deported back to the US, to protect the President. He is the only man who can stop Corwin and save the nation's leader. As Thorne comes steadily closer to his quarry, he discovers he can trust no one, except perhaps the mysterious Janet Kestrel. Caught in a web of lies and ambitions, Thorne realizes it is no longer the President's live he needs to save, but his own…

Against His Will ($1.99 Kindle, B&N), by Trish Jensen, is the Nook Daily Find, price matched on Kindle.

Book Description
They tried to resist each other, but it was impossible. Soon their passions were unleashed, and their self-control went to the dogs...

FBI agent Jake Donnelly is not the kind of man who names a dog “Muffin.” Especially not a jowly bulldog. But now Jake’s Aunt Sophie has left him her beloved Muffin, along with a sizable inheritance that has some strings attached. Jake and Muffin have to attend a two-week therapy course designed to work out any bonding issues they may have.

Enter Leanne Crosby, a pet shrink and owner of a luxury pet spa complete with private counseling sessions, a doggie dating service, and plenty of quirky advice on proper pet parenting.

When the gorgeous and brilliant Dr. Crosby sets out to help Jake and Muffin become soulmates, it soon becomes obvious that she and Jake are falling in puppy love.

Today's Deals 1/11

Today's Kindle Daily Deal is Fujisan ($1.99), by Randy Taguchi and Raj Mahtani (Translator), with the companion audiobook also $1.99 .

Book Description
From acclaimed Japanese author Randy Taguchi come four unforgettable stories of redemption, discovery, loss, and remembrance anchored by one of the world’s holiest peaks. Mount Fuji has been a source of spiritual inspiration since it was first ascended by a monk over a millennium ago.

“Blue Summit” introduces a former cult member struggling to maintain his escape from a mountain monastery, seeking solace in the fluorescent lights of the convenience store he manages. In “Sea of Trees,” three teenage boys who share a fascination with the metaphysical confront the startling realities of death and despair on their final adventure together before parting ways for different schools. “Jamila” chronicles a privileged young man’s descent into disillusionment as he works with a compulsive hoarder to clear her mess. And in “Child of Light,” a nurse struggles as she comes to terms with her role in the oft-brutal cycle of birth, life, and death.

Throughout the stories, Mount Fuji stands sentinel even as it fades in and out of view—watching and remembering as it always has.

Today's Kindle Romance Daily Deal is The Wanting Heart ($0.99), by Rionna Morgan.

Book Description
Katherine White, a barrel racer from Colorado, lives in a fast-paced world where rhinestones shine, hooves pound, and dreams come true. She plans on winning World Champion Barrel Racer and being with her friends until she graduates from college.

She doesn’t plan on the man who broke her heart strolling back into her life. She doesn’t plan on finding solace in a charming stranger’s smile or falling victim to his knife.

Blake Spencer, the man who broke her heart, is all cowboy - from the hat on his head to the dust on his boots. He thought it’d be easy, coming back to town, bowing his head a little, saying he was sorry, and all would be forgiven. But what he didn’t know, what he didn’t plan on, was that the girl he thought he loved had become the woman he couldn’t have. If he doesn’t succeed in changing her mind, it won’t only cost him Kate’s love - it will cost Kate her life.

Will Kate survive the stalking of a serial killer and find what her heart truly wants?

Sensuality Level: Sensual

Today's Kindle SciFi/Fantasy Daily Deal is 100 Years of Vicissitude ($1.99), by Andrez Bergen.

Book Description
"First up, a disclaimer. I suspect I am a dead man. I have meagre proof, no framed- up certification, nothing to toss in a court of law as evidence of a rapid departure from the mortal coil. I recall a gun was involved, pressed up against my skull, and a loud explosion followed."

Thus begins our narrator in a purgatorial tour through twentieth-century Japanese history, with a ghostly geisha who has seen it all as a guide and a corrupt millionaire as her reluctant companion.

Thrown into the milieu are saké, B-29s, Lewis Carroll, Sir Thomas Malory, Melbourne, 'The Wizard of Oz', and a dirigible - along with the allusion that Red Riding Hood might just be involved.

The Woodcutter ($1.59 / £0.99 UK), by Kate Danley, is the Kindle Deal of the day for those in the UK (the US edition is $3.99/KLL Eligible with companion audiobook $1.99).

Book Description
Deep within the Wood, a young woman lies dead. Not a mark on her body. No trace of her murderer. Only her chipped glass slippers hint at her identity.

The Woodcutter, keeper of the peace between the Twelve Kingdoms of Man and the Realm of the Faerie, must find the maiden’s killer before others share her fate. Guided by the wind and aided by three charmed axes won from the River God, the Woodcutter begins his hunt, searching for clues in the whispering dominions of the enchanted unknown.

But quickly he finds that one murdered maiden is not the only nefarious mystery afoot: one of Odin’s hellhounds has escaped, a sinister mansion appears where it shouldn’t, a pixie dust drug trade runs rampant, and more young girls go missing. Looming in the shadows is the malevolent, power-hungry queen, and she will stop at nothing to destroy the Twelve Kingdoms and annihilate the Royal Fae…unless the Woodcutter can outmaneuver her and save the gentle souls of the Wood.

Blending magic, heart-pounding suspense, and a dash of folklore, The Woodcutter is an extraordinary retelling of the realm of fairy tales.

Fluke: Or, I Know Why the Winged Whale Sings ($7.99 Kindle, $1.99 B&N), by Christopher Moore, is the Nook Daily Find.

Book Description
Just why do humpback whales sing? That's the question that has marine behavioral biologist Nate Quinn and his crew poking, charting, recording, and photographing very big, wet, gray marine mammals. Until the extraordinary day when a whale lifts its tail into the air to display a cryptic message spelled out in foot-high letters: Bite me.

Trouble is, Nate's beginning to wonder if he hasn't spent just a little too much time in the sun. 'Cause no one else on his team saw a thing -- not his longtime partner, Clay Demodocus; not their saucy young research assistant; not even the spliff-puffing white-boy Rastaman Kona (né Preston Applebaum). But later, when a roll of film returns from the lab missing the crucial tail shot -- and his research facility is trashed -- Nate realizes something very fishy indeed is going on.

By turns witty, irreverent, fascinating, puzzling, and surprising, Fluke is Christopher Moore at his outrageous best.

Today's Kindle Kids Daily Deal is Old MacDonald Had a Dragon ($1.99), by Ken Baker and Christopher Santoro (Illustrator).

Book Description
Old MacDonald had a farm, E-I-E-I-O! And on that farm he had . . . a dragon? The animals aren’t happy that there’s a dragon on the farm. But Old MacDonald likes his dragon . . . until it starts swallowing up the animals! Can Old MacDonald save his farm before it’s too late? Find out in this silly adaptation of the popular song. Christopher Santoro’s brilliant artwork combines with Ken Baker’s fun text for a story sure to tickle kids’ funny bones.

Grade Level: Pre-K 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 - Speeches and Writings of Abraham Lincoln

The MP3 download edition of Speeches and Writings of Abraham Lincoln ($17.49 Audible), narrated by Alan Sklar, is free direct from Tantor Media.

Book Description
From Lincoln's personal letters to the Emancipation Proclamation, the Gettysburg Address, and many more, this vital collection of speeches and writings gives listeners a uniquely intimate view of America's sixteenth president.

Abraham Lincoln was undeniably one of the most influential politicians in American history. In this collection of letters, speeches, and other writings by Lincoln, listeners can gain a uniquely intimate perspective on the sixteenth president of the United States. From personal letters to friends and family to Lincoln's speeches as an Illinois state legislator and a United States Representative, from his first inaugural address to the Emancipation Proclamation and the famous Gettysburg Address, Lincoln addresses such important political issues as slavery and states' rights and relates his personal views on marriage and depression. Also included are Lincoln's eulogy for Henry Clay, a letter of condolence for one of the Civil War's first casualties, the second inaugural address, Lincoln's last public address, his last written words, and many more. A vital glimpse into the mind of one of America's greatest statesmen, this is a must-listen for anyone interested in Lincoln's life and legacy.

Get the free ebook from Tantor Media, along with a bonus PDF ebook when you download the complete ZIP file from your library.

Today's Deals 1/10

Today's Gold Box at Amazon is with "Save up to 45% on strength & balance equipment from Gaiam, SPRI & Reebok" and includes the Gaiam Balance Ball Chair.

Today's free MP3, Guitarist by Rich Barry, is a very nice classical guitar album that you don't want to miss.

Today's Kindle Kids Daily Deal is Hug Time ($1.99), by Patrick McDonnell, the creator of the MUTTS comic strip.

Book Description
There was once a kitten so filled with love he wanted to give the whole world a hug! And so Jules the kitten (also known in the Mutts cartoons as "Shtinky Puddin'") goes down the stairs to hug his friends, then all the birds in the park--and then he travels the world, hugging all those he meets! As Jules learns, a hug is the simplest--but kindest--gift we can give. And you can start giving right here, right now with the one who's closest to you. A joyous story about sharing love with a gently environmental theme.

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.

Today's Kindle Daily Deal is The Center of Everything ($1.99), by Laura Moriarty. Check your libraries, though - this book was only a penny in May '11 on both Kindle and Nook, so you may already have it.

Book Description
Critics and readers everywhere stood up and took notice when Laura Moriarty's captivating debut novel hit the stores in June '03. Janet Maslin of the New York Times praised The Center of Everything as "warm" and "beguiling." USA Today compared the scrappy yet tenderhearted Evelyn Bucknow to Scout Finch in To Kill a Mockingbird. It garnered extensive national attention; from Entertainment Weekly to the Boston Globe and the San Francisco Chronicle, the press raved about the wisdom and poignancy of Moriarty's writing. The Book-of-the-Month Club snatched it up as a Main Selection, as did the Literary Guild. It was a USA Today Summer Reading Pick, a BookSense Top 10 Pick, and a BN.com book club feature title. And still, months after The Center of Everything's original publication date, reviews and features of the book continue to run nationwide.

Today's Kindle Romance Daily Deal is Aris Returns: A Vampire Love Story ($1.99), by Devin Morgan.

Book Description
Psychologist Sarah Hagan thought she had her life under control. She pulled herself together after a painful (and unexpected) divorce. She’s currently dating a successful but neglectful attorney—a relationship that is adequate, if not totally satisfying. She has a few good friends, lives in a beautiful condo in the heart of Chicago, and loves her work as a therapist. From the outside, it looks like her life is almost perfect.

It only takes one patient -- a handsome younger man named Carlos who is on parole for car theft -- to put her well-ordered life into a tailspin. As she regresses him with hypnotherapy, she discovers an unusual presence. Is this some elaborate alter ego that Carlos has created or is something much stranger going on? In Sarah’s attempt to help Carlos deal with his issues of anger and a troubled past, she is captivated by the persona she uncovers through hypnosis – Aris. Aris reveals that he is a vampire whose story begins in the time of Alexander the Great. His retelling of his lives, involvement and apparent demise in the court of Henry VIII keep her spellbound and hungry for more.

On top of grappling with a phantom vampire, Sarah begins to have the most disturbing (and sensual) dreams. They awake the emotion, passion and vulnerability that she thought she had buried for good. The dreams both terrify and excite her as she struggles to make sense out of her world turned upside down. Sarah genuinely cares about Carlos as a patient and wants to help him find his way to a better life, but he has brought chaos, confusion and danger into her neatly buttoned-up reality. And if that’s not enough to deal with, she is inexplicably drawn to Aris in a way she can’t begin to rationalize. Can Sarah possibly love this vampire “ghost” or will he destroy everything she treasures?

Today's Kindle SciFi/Fantasy Daily Deal is Shambling Towards Hiroshima ($1.99), by James Morrow.

Book Description
In the tradition of Godzilla as both a playful romp and a parable of the dawn of the nuclear era, this original satire blends the destruction of World War II with the halcyon pleasure of monster movies. In the summer of 1945 war is reigning in the Pacific Rim, while in the U.S., Syms Thorley continues his life as a B-movie actor. But the U.S. Navy would like to use Thorley in their top-secret Knickerbocker Project, putting the finishing touches on the ultimate biological weapon: a breed of gigantic, fire-breathing, mutant iguanas. Thorley is to don a rubber suit that will transform him into the merciless Gorgantis and star in a film that simulates the destruction of a miniature Japan—if the demonstration succeeds, the Japanese will surrender, sparing thousands of lives; if it fails, the mutant lizards will be unleashed. Godzilla devotees and history buffs alike will be fascinated by this conspiratorial secret history of a war, a weapon, and an unlikely hero who will have to give the most convincing performance of his life.

Island of Wings ($1.59 / £0.99 UK), by Karin Altenberg, is the Kindle Deal of the day for those in the UK (the US edition is $9.99).

Book Description
Longlisted for the Orange Prize for Fiction

1830. Neil and Lizzie MacKenzie, a newly married young couple, arrive at the remotest part of the British Isles: St Kilda. He is a minister determined to save the souls of the pagan inhabitants; his pregnant wife speaks no Gaelic and, when her husband is away, has only the waves and the cry of gulls for company. As both find themselves tested to the limit in this harsh new environment, Lizzie soon discovers that marriage is as treacherous a country as the land that surrounds her.

The Kashmir Shawl ($12.99 Kindle, $2.99 B&N), by Rosie Thomas, is the Nook Daily Find. Since Penguin is still an Agency pricing publisher, this should be price matched on Kindle sometime today.

Book Description
Over three decades of writing, bestselling novelist Rosie Thomas has earned an untold number of awards and glowing critical praise. Like Penny Vincenzi, Thomas has long enthralled readers around the world. Her latest, The Kashmir Shawl, is her most ambitious and captivating book yet and is currently dominating the bestseller lists in London. It is 1941 and World War II has engulfed the globe. Newlywed Nerys Watkins leaves rural Wales for the first time in her life, to accompany her husband on a missionary posting to India. When her husband leaves her in the exotic lakeside city of Srinagar to take on a more dangerous mission, Nerys discovers a new world. Here, in the heart of romantic Kashmir, the colonists dance, flirt, and gossip as if there is no war. Nerys becomes caught up in a dangerous liaison, and by the time she is reunited with her husband, she is a different woman.

Years later, when Mair Ellis clears out her dead father's house, she finds an exquisite shawl. Wrapped in its folds is a lock of child's hair. Tracing her grandparents' roots back to Kashmir, Mair embarks on a quest that will change her life forever . . .

A sweeping multigenerational tale of marriage, isolation, and finding love in a magical place, The Kashmir Shawl is the inimitable Rosie Thomas at her very best.

Today's Deals 1/9

Amazon's Android Appstore Free App today is Herd Herd Herd TM Deluxe and the Appstore Deals listing for it claims that "All bonus packs FREE today for Free App of the Day". To get these, download the app and open it - then go to the Shop option on the main menu. You should see a $0.00 price next to all the bonus packs - grab them today, while they are free.

Today's Kindle Kids Daily Deal is Duck! Rabbit!, by Amy Krouse Rosenthal and Tom Lichtenheld. It's supposed to be priced at $1.99, but so far, the price is stuck at $9.39; if you want this one, I'd call Kindle customer support and see if they'll get the price fixed or do a credit so you can can get the price advertised. Update: The price has been corrected and it's now $1.99.

Book Description
From author of Little Pea, Little Hoot, and Little Oink comes a clever take on the age-old optical illusion: is it a duck or a rabbit? Depends on how you look at it. Readers will find more than just Amy Krouse Rosenthal's signature sense of humor here--there is also a subtle lesson for kids who don't know when to let go of an argument. This is a smart, simple story that will make readers of all ages eager to take a side, Duck! Rabbit! makes it easy to agree on at least one thing: reading it again!

Today's Kindle Daily Deal is In the Land of the Long White Cloud ($1.99), by Sarah Lark and D.W. Lovett (Translator), with the companion audiobook also $1.99.

Book Description
Helen Davenport, governess for a wealthy London household, longs for a family of her own—but nearing her late twenties, she knows her prospects are dim. Then she spots an advertisement seeking young women to marry New Zealand’s honorable bachelors and begins an affectionate correspondence with a gentleman farmer. When her church offers to pay her travels under an unusual arrangement, she jumps at the opportunity.

Meanwhile, not far away in Wales, beautiful and daring Gwyneira Silkham, daughter of a wealthy sheep breeder, is bored with high society. But when a mysterious New Zealand baron deals her father an unlucky blackjack hand, Gwyn’s hand in marriage is suddenly on the table. Her family is outraged, but Gwyn is thrilled to escape the life laid out for her.

The two women meet on the ship to Christchurch—Helen traveling in steerage, Gwyn first class—and become unlikely friends. When their new husbands turn out to be very different than expected, the women must help one another find the life—and love—they’d hoped for.

Set against the backdrop of colonial nineteenth-century New Zealand, In the Land of the Long White Cloud is a soaring saga of friendship, romance, and unforgettable adventure.

Today's Kindle Romance Daily Deal is One Hit Wonder ($0.99), by Denyse Cohen.

Book Description
At nearly thirty, Audrey is stumbling through her own life. When she posts on Facebook her frustration at being laid-off, a long-lost childhood friend offers her a gig to photograph his wannabe rock band on tour. Her Brazilian mother believes it’s fate; Audrey believes it’s the power of DSL.

Inside a rundown Winnebago with the all-male band, her cynicism is only matched by her fear of being taken for a groupie. Despite her own resistance, she falls for the one member who keeps her at a distance. Then John writes a song that reveals his pent-up emotions for her and propels the band to instant stardom.

Audrey must choose between working with the band or pursuing her own accomplishments, a decision that creates room for the complications of fame to creep in between her and John. Despite their connection, they find themselves facing jealousy, betrayal, and a gut-wrenching sorrow that could unravel their relationship.

Sensuality Level: Behind closed doors

Today's Kindle SciFi/Fantasy Daily Deal is The Zombie Bible: Strangers in the Land ($1.99), by Stant Litore, with the companion audiobook also $1.99.

Book Description
Stant Litore’s The Zombie Bible retells biblical tales and ancient history as episodes in humanity’s long struggle with hunger … and with the hungry dead.

Four must stand against the dead. The aging prophetess Devora. Hurriya, the slave girl. Zadok, a legend among warriors. And the widower Barak, who has sworn to defend his homeland from a migration of walking corpses greater than has ever been seen.

Devora is all too familiar with the unclean dead. She was there when her mother was pulled screaming from her tent by zombies. And when her mother rose, famished for flesh, it was Devora's hand that ended her hunger. Now Devora has struck an uneasy alliance with those she fears most among the living. Yet the strangers in the land must stand together if they are to rid the land of its curse.

The Rest is Silence ($1.59 / £0.99 UK), by Carla Guelfenbein and Katherine Silver, is the Kindle Deal of the day for those in the UK (no US edition).

Book Description
As the adults sit down to gossip over a long wedding lunch and the rest of the children rush off to play, a young boy slips out of sight beneath the table. Tommy is twelve years old but his weak heart prevents him from joining his cousins’ games, so he sets his MP3 player to record the voices chattering above him. But then the conversation turns to his mother’s death and he overhears something he was never meant to know: that she didn’t die of an illness, but took her own life. Confused and hurt, Tommy keeps what he has learned to himself and begins his own secret investigation into what really happened. At the same time, his father and stepmother have problems of their own to contend with. Juan is racked by private grief and guilt after the death of one of his patients, and Alma, his second wife, senses an increasing distance in their marriage and gradually finds herself drawn back towards an old flame. As all three withdraw into their own worlds, leaving more and more unsaid between them, their family story moves inexorably, affectingly towards its devastating conclusion.

Winners Never Cheat: Even in Difficult Times, New and Expanded Edition ($10.35 Kindle, $1.99 B&N), by Jon Huntsman, is the Nook Daily Find. This has been free several times in the last couple of years, so you most likely have it in your library and if not, it is likely to be free again. If you don't want to wait, it is likely to drop on Kindle by late afternoon.

Book Description
The nationwide bestseller--fully updated for today’s tough times and worldwide financial crises

“Everyone does it.” Everyone cheats. Cuts corners. Tells lies. Maybe it was different once. Not today. If you want to succeed in this economic climate, you simply have to make compromises. Right?

Wrong. You can succeed at the highest levels, without sacrificing the principles that make life worth living. The proof? You’re holding it.

Jon M. Huntsman built a $12 billion company from scratch, the old-fashioned way: with integrity. There were short-term costs and difficult decisions. There were tough times. Times just like today. But ultimately, leading with integrity wasn’t just personally right for Huntsman, it also proved to be the best business strategy.

In Winners Never Cheat, Huntsman tells you how he did it, and how you can, too. This book is about remembering why you work, and why you were chosen to lead. It’s about finding the bravery to act on what you know is right, no matter what you’re up against.

It’s about winning. The right way.

Think about the kind of person you want to do business with. Then, be that person--and use this book to get you there.

Author royalties from this book go to the Huntsman Cancer Foundation

Today's Deals 1/8

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

• $2 Credit on Apps and Games

Today's Kindle Daily Deal is Dead In Red ($1.99), a Jeff Resnick Mystery by L.L. Bartlett.

Book Description
Sometimes it seems like murder and mayhem follow Jeff Resnick, challenging his psychic “sixth sense” to solve crimes. Since the vicious mugging that changed his life, he’s tried to keep his unwanted gift in check. But when a bartender at his favorite watering hole is murdered, visions of a sparkling red woman’s high-heeled shoe and a pair of bloody hands linger in his mind--and hit too close to home. When Jeff’s older brother, Richard, last helped him with an investigation, it nearly cost him his life. Still, Richard is determined to tag along as Jeff is drawn into the seamy world of fetishes and drag queens to find a murderer before another life is taken.

Today's Kindle Romance Daily Deal is Under the Moon ($0.99), the first title in the Goddesses Rising series by Natalie J. Damschroder. Be careful if searching on your Kindle, as there are two editions and only the one linked here is on sale.

Book Description
Their power gives them strength…and makes them targets.

Quinn Caldwell is the epitome of a modern goddess. Her power source is the moon, her abilities restricted only by physical resources and lunar phase. She runs a consulting business and her father’s bar, serves on the board of the ancient Society for Goddess Education and Defense, and yearns for Nick Jarrett, professional goddess protector and the soul mate she can never have.

But someone has developed the rare and difficult ability to drain a goddess of her powers, and Quinn is a target. With the world thinking Nick has gone rogue (whatever that means) and that Quinn is influenced by “family ties” she didn’t know she had, keeping themselves safe while working to find the enemy proves harder each day.

But not as hard as denying their hearts…

Today's Kindle SciFi/Fantasy Daily Deal is Technomancer ($1.99), the first novel in the Unspeakable Things series by B.V. Larson, another of the indie-authors gone mainstream that Amazon now publishes under their 47North imprint. The companion audiobook is also $1.99.

Book Description
A new kind of alien invasion…

When Quentin Draith wakes up in a private sanatorium, he has no memory of who he is or how he received the injuries riddling his body. All he knows is that he has to get out, away from the drugs being pumped into him and back to the real world to search for answers. His first question: How did his friend Tony’s internal organs fill with sand, killing him in a Las Vegas car crash?

After a narrow escape, he tracks down the basic facts: he is an investigator and blogger specializing in the supernatural—which is a good thing, because Quentin’s life is getting stranger by the minute. It seems he is one of a special breed, a person with unusual powers. He’s also the prime suspect in a string of murders linked by a series of seemingly mundane objects. The deeper he digs and the harder he works to clear his name, the more Quentin realizes that some truths are better off staying buried…

How to Destroy the Universe: And 34 Other Really Interesting Uses of Physics ($1.59 / £0.99 UK), by Paul Parsons, is the Kindle Deal of the day for those in the UK (the US edition is $10.19).

Book Description
How do you generate a force field? Could you survive falling into a black hole? How do you turn lead into gold? If you thought physics was all about measuring the temperature of ice in a bucket or trying to fathom what E=mc squared means, think again. In a series of intriguing, entertaining and often extraordinary scenarios How to Destroy the Universe brings to life 35 key physics ideas in a way that anyone can understand. Read this book and you'll find out how to save the planet from energy shortages by mining the vacuum of empty space, engineer the Earth's climate to reverse the effects of global warming and fend off killer asteroids. You'll learn essential survival skills such as how to live through a lightning strike, how to tough it out during an earthquake and how to fall into a black hole without being turned into spaghetti. And you'll also discover how to turn lead into gold, how to travel to the centre of the Earth, how to crack supposedly unbreakable codes and how to use physics to predict the stock market. So if you want to get to grips with the science behind relativity, antigravity and parallel universes, or if you are really more interested in learning how to teleport, travel through time or achieve immortality, this is the perfect introduction to the astonishing world of modern physics.

Live Life Right Here Right Now: Make Every Day Your Best Day ($9.99 Kindle, $3.99 B&N), by Carole Lewis.

Book Description
Many people spend a majority of their time living either in the past or in the future. Those who live in the past are often filled with regret, replaying again and again decisions that might have led to a better today. Those who live in the future often forget that it’s the decisions they make today that will shape tomorrow. In this inspirational title, Carole Lewis challenges readers to treasure today and make it the very best day of their lives! Live Life Right Here, Right Now shows readers how to become the person they’ve always wanted to be by living into the joys and trials that today brings along. Carole’s message is simple: We cannot change the past, but making today count will have a profound effect on our future.

Today's Kindle Teen Daily Deal is Beta ($2.99), the first novel in a new series by Rachel Cohn.

Book Description
Elysia is created in a laboratory, born as a sixteen-year-old girl, an empty vessel with no life experience to draw from. She is a Beta, an experimental model of a teenage clone. She was replicated from another teenage girl, who had to die in order for Elysia to exist.

Elysia’s purpose is to serve the inhabitants of Demesne, an island paradise for the wealthiest people on earth. Everything about Demesne is bioengineered for perfection. Even the air induces a strange, euphoric high, which only the island’s workers—soulless clones like Elysia—are immune to.

At first, Elysia’s life is idyllic and pampered. But she soon sees that Demesne’s human residents, who should want for nothing, yearn. But for what, exactly? She also comes to realize that beneath the island’s flawless exterior, there is an under­current of discontent among Demesne’s worker clones. She knows she is soulless and cannot feel and should not care—so why are overpowering sensations cloud­ing Elysia’s mind?

If anyone discovers that Elysia isn’t the unfeeling clone she must pretend to be, she will suffer a fate too terrible to imagine. When her one chance at happi­ness is ripped away with breathtaking cruelty, emotions she’s always had but never understood are unleashed. As rage, terror, and desire threaten to overwhelm her, Elysia must find the will to survive.

The first in a dazzlingly original science fiction series from best-selling author Rachel Cohn, Beta is a haunting, unforgettable story of courage and love in a cor­rupted world.

Today's Deals 1/7

Today's Kindle Teens Daily Deal is My Name Is Not Easy ($1.99), by Debby Dahl Edwardson and Melanie Kroupa, with the companion audiobook also $1.99.

Book Description
My name is not easy. My name is hard like ocean ice grinding the shore . . . Luke knows his Iñupiaq name is full of sounds white people can’t say. So he leaves it behind when he and his brothers are sent to boarding school hundreds of miles away from their Arctic village. At Sacred Heart School, students—Eskimo, Indian, White—line up on different sides of the cafeteria like there’s some kind of war going on. Here, speaking Iñupiaq—or any native language—is forbidden. And Father Mullen, whose fury is like a force of nature, is ready to slap down those who disobey. Luke struggles to survive at Sacred Heart. But he’s not the only one. There’s smart-aleck Amiq, a daring leader— if he doesn’t self-destruct; Chickie, blond and freckled, a different kind of outsider; and small, quiet Junior, noticing everything and writing it all down. They each have their own story to tell. But once their separate stories come together, things at Sacred Heart School—and the wider world—will never be the same.

Today's Kindle Daily Deal is The Poisonwood Bible ($1.99), by Barbara Kingsolver, with the companion audiobook $3.95. This was one of my early Kindle book purchases, but you can get the ebook and audiobook for about what I paid then.

Book Description


The Poisonwood Bible is a story told by the wife and four daughters of Nathan Price, a fierce, evangelical Baptist who takes his family and mission to the Belgian Congo in 1959. They carry with them everything they believe they will need from home, but soon find that all of it—from garden seeds to Scripture—is calamitously transformed on African soil. What follows is a suspenseful epic of one family's tragic undoing and remarkable reconstruction over the course of three decades in postcolonial Africa.

The novel is set against one of the most dramatic political chronicles of the twentieth century: the Congo's fight for independence from Belgium, the murder of its first elected prime minister, the CIA coup to install his replacement, and the insidious progress of a world economic order that robs the fledgling African nation of its autonomy. Against this backdrop, Orleanna Price reconstructs the story of her evangelist husband's part in the Western assault on Africa, a tale indelibly darkened by her own losses and unanswerable questions about her own culpability. Also narrating the story, by turns, are her four daughters—the self-centered, teenaged Rachel; shrewd adolescent twins Leah and Adah; and Ruth May, a prescient five-year-old. These sharply observant girls, who arrive in the Congo with racial preconceptions forged in 1950s Georgia, will be marked in surprisingly different ways by their father's intractable mission, and by Africa itself. Ultimately each must strike her own separate path to salvation. Their passionately intertwined stories become a compelling exploration of moral risk and personal responsibility.

Dancing between the dark comedy of human failings and the breathtaking possibilities of human hope, The Poisonwood Bible possesses all that has distinguished Barbara Kingsolver's previous work, and extends this beloved writer's vision to an entirely new level. Taking its place alongside the classic works of postcolonial literature, this ambitious novel establishes Kingsolver as one of the most thoughtful and daring of modern writers.

Today's Kindle Romance Daily Deal is Her Secret Desire ($0.99), by C.J. Archer, with the companion audiobook $1.99.

Book Description
Previously available as A Secret Life.

Prepare for a romp through Elizabethan England, where finding love is written in the stars...

Comely, courageous Minerva “Min” Peabody, a poor but passionate playwright, is determined to make her mark. Ill-fated to live in Elizabethan England, when women—deemed the inferior sex—most assuredly did not write plays, Min will prevail. With her finished play in hand, she implores Roger Style, a local theatre manager in London, to read it. Though desperate in his own right—due to a string of commercial failures—all Style sees before him is a woman playwright, and refuses to even look at her work.

On impulse, Min changes her story, claiming the play was written by the man standing across the street, and secures the manager’s agreement to review it. But her choice of surrogate, Robert “Blake” Blakewell, promises to be a mixed blessing indeed. Blake, a handsome blue-eyed sea captain with his own agenda, is a man with a mysterious past, a pair of breathtaking shoulders, and an irresistible aura of intrigue. Though he agrees to her outlandish proposal, she has to wonder, as she gets lost in his eyes, what in the world she’s gotten herself into.

Blake’s own mission? To ferret out the cad in Roger Style’s theatre company responsible for getting his sister with child. And when that objective threatens to derail Min’s nascent career, his dilemma is a daunting one: protect either his family’s honor or the woman who’s slowly but surely softening his heart and winning his love.

Funny, fast-paced, and with a deliciously dark edge, Her Secret Desire speaks to any woman who’s ever had to fight for her dreams in a world that just won’t take her seriously.

Today's Kindle SciFi/Fantasy Daily Deal is Return From The Stars ($1.99), by Stanislaw Lem.

Book Description
Hal Bregg is an astronaut who returns from a space mission in which only 10 biological years have passed for him, while 127 years have elapsed on earth. He finds that the earth has changed beyond recognition, filled with human beings who have been medically neutralized. How does an astronaut join a civilization that shuns risk? Translated by Barbara Marszal and Frank Simpson. A Helen and Kurt Wolff Book

About the Author
Stanislaw Lem is the most widely translated and best known science fiction author writing outside of the English language. Winner of the Kafka Prize, he is a contributor to many magazines, including the New Yorker, and he is the author of numerous works, including Solaris.

M: MI5's First Spymaster ($0.99 / £1.59 UK), by Andrew Cook, is the Kindle Deal of the day for those in the UK (the US edition is $9.79).

Book Description
This is the amazing true story of the real 'M', William Melville, MI5's founding father and the inspiration for Ian Flemings's character in "James Bond". Melville was one of the most influential counter-espionage figures of the twentieth century. From a tiny outfit based in Victoria Street, London, the counter-intelligence organisation that Melville lobbied the Government to create is today a household name and one of the world's leading intelligence agencies. He was perfect for the job, a velvet-gloved hardman who had run Scotland Yard's Special Branch and whose career had already taken in some of London's great crime dramas including the Jack the Ripper Investigation, countering Irish Republican terrorism, assassination attempts on Queen Victoria and anarchist bomb plots. Now, with the help of recently declassified records, family material and documents that have still not officially seen the light of day, the story of his Secret Service career - including the breaking of German spy rings prior to the outbreak of World War I - can finally be told.

The Conquest of the Incas ($2.99 Kindle, B&N), by John Hemming, is the Nook Daily Find; it's likely to be price matched on Kindle by this afternoon.

Book Description
The Conquest of the Incas, John Hemming's masterly and highly acclaimed account of one of the most exciting conquests known to history, has never been surpassed.

From the first small band of Spanish adventurers to enter the mighty Inca empire to the execution of the last Inca forty years later, it is the story of bloodshed, infamy, rebellion and extermination, told as convincingly as if it happened yesterday. It also tells the social impact of the conquest, on ordinary Peruvians forced to work for Spanish masters or in hellish silver and mercury mines, on change of religion and government, and how survivors of the Inca elite reacted to the new order.

FULLY REVISED AND UPDATED EBOOK EDITION FOR 2012
This 2012 e-book edition includes an extensive revision and update of the text, bibliography, notes and other end-material, to report the latest theories and discoveries. It also has a new appendix about recent finds of Inca ruins in Vilcabamba beyond Machu Picchu.

A must-read book for anyone considering a trip to Peru or wanting to know more about the final days of the Inca empire.