Kindle Daily Deals 4/28

Today's Kindle Daily Deal is The Wicked Years series by Gregory Maguire, all four for $1.99 apiece (great! we were waiting on priced drop on the last title in the series). Check your libraries for Wicked - I had a Bonus Edition in my Kindle Library that is a different ASIN from the one included in this sale, so it didn't show that I'd already bought it when I looked at the list. If you want the companion audiobook, though, you'll need the edition from this sale, as it's the only one linked up to the Audible edition.

Wicked: Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West (companion audiobook $3.49)

This is the book that started it all! The basis for the smash hit Tony Award-winning Broadway musical, Gregory Maguire's breathtaking New York Times bestseller Wicked views the land of Oz, its inhabitants, its Wizard, and the Emerald City, through a darker and greener (not rosier) lens. Brilliantly inventive, Wicked offers us a radical new evaluation of one of the most feared and hated characters in all of literature: the much maligned Wicked Witch of the West who, as Maguire tells us, wasn’t nearly as Wicked as we imagined.

Son of a Witch

In this captivating New York Times bestseller, beloved author Gregory Maguire returns to the land of Oz and introduces us to Liir, an adolescent boy last seen hiding in the shadows of the castle after Dorothy did in the Witch. Is he really Elphaba's son? He has her broom and her cape—but what of her powers? In an Oz that, since the Wizard's departure, is under new and dangerous management, can Liir keep his head down long enough to grow up?

A Lion Among Men

Return to a darker Oz with Gregory Maguire. In A Lion Among Men, the third volume in Maguire’s acclaimed, New York Times bestselling series The Wicked Years, a fuller, more complex Cowardly Lion is brought to life and gets to tell his remarkable tale. It is a story of oppression and fear in a world gone mad with war fever—of Munchkins, Wizards, and Wicked Witches—and especially of a gentle soul and determined survivor who is truly A Lion Among Men.

Out of Oz: The Final Volume in the Wicked Years

Bestselling author Gregory Maguire’s remarkable series, The Wicked Years, comes full circle with this, his fourth and final excursion across a darker, richer, more complex landscape of “the magical land of Oz.” Out of Oz brilliantly reimagines L. Frank Baum’s world over the rainbow as wracked with social unrest—placing Glinda the good witch under house arrest and having the cowardly Lion on the lam from the law as the Emerald City prepares to make war on Munchkinland. Even Dorothy makes a triumphant return in Maguire’s magnificent Oz finale—tying up every loose green end of the series he began with his classic Wicked, the basis for the smash hit Broadway musical.

Today's Kindle Romance Daily Deal is The Girl Who Came Home ($0.99), by Hazel Gaynor.

Book Description
Ireland, 1912
Fourteen members of a small, Irish village set sail on RMS Titanic towards a new life in America. Among them is seventeen-year-old Maggie Murphy, who wonders if she will ever see her sweetheart, Séamus, again.

Four days into their journey, disaster strikes Titanic. Finding herself distraught and alone as she recovers in a New York hospital, Maggie vows never to speak of the event again.

Chicago, 1982
After the death of her father, Grace Butler's life seems to be on hold. But when her Great Nana Maggie confides in her about her Titanic journey, Grace discovers an incredible story of loss and survival. It is a story which leads to unexpected reunions with friends they had both thought lost long ago.

Inspired by true events surrounding a group of Irish emigrants who sailed on the maiden voyage of R.M.S Titanic, The Girl Who Came Home is a poignant re-telling of the Titanic tragedy. Blending fact and fiction, this Titanic novel tells the human story of the tragedy, not just on board the ship itself, but extending beyond the immediate aftermath of the event to explore the emotions of relatives awaiting news back home and of the impact that night had on the survivors and their descendants. It is also a love letter to a ship whose tragic legacy continues to captivate our imaginations one hundred years after she sank to the bottom of the Atlantic ocean with such devastating loss of life.

Today's Kindle SciFi/Fantasy Daily Deal is The Book of Lost Fragrances ($1.99), by M. J. Rose. This is her latest novel, just released last February, so it's a real steal. I just received a review copy of her forthcoming release, Seduction: A Novel of Suspense (coming May 7), which I had asked for after reading her Reincarnationist series, but this book in between the two is one I didn't (yet) have!

Book Description
A Secret Worth Dying For …

Jac L’Etoile has always been haunted by visions of the past, her earliest memories infused with the exotic scents that she grew up with as the heir to a storied French perfume company. These worsened after her mother’s suicide until she finally found a doctor who helped her, teaching her to explore the mythological symbolism in her visions and thus lessen their painful impact. This ability led Jac to a wildly successful career as a mythologist, television personality and author.

When her brother, Robbie—who’s taken over the House of L’Etoile from their father—contacts Jac about a remarkable discovery in the family archives, she’s skeptical. But when Robbie goes missing before he can share the secret—leaving a dead body in his wake—Jac is plunged into a world she thought she’d left behind.

Traveling back to Paris to investigate Robbie’s disappearance, Jac discovers that the secret is a mysterious scent developed in Cleopatra’s time. Could the rumors swirling be true? Can this ancient perfume hold the power to unlock the ability to remember past lives and conclusively prove reincarnation? If this possession has the power to change the world, then it’s not only worth living for . . . it’s worth killing for, too.

The Book of Lost Fragrances fuses history, passion and suspense in an intoxicating web that moves from Cleopatra’s Egypt and the terrors of revolutionary France to Tibet’s battle with China and the glamour of modern-day Paris. This marvelous, spellbinding novel mixes the sensory allure of Perfume with the heartbreaking beauty of The Time Traveler’s Wife, coming to life as richly as our most wildly imagined dreams.

Today's Kindle Teen/YA Daily Deal is Embrace ($1.99), by Jessica Shirvington [Sourcebooks Fire].

Book Description
It starts with a whisper: "It's time for you to know who you are..."

On her 17th birthday, everything will change for Violet Eden. The boy she loves will betray her. Her enemy will save her. She will have to decide just how much she's willing to sacrifice.

Dangerously exciting and darkly romantic, EMBRACE is a compelling novel of good and evil, seductive desires and impossible choices. A centuries old war between fallen angels and the protectors of humanity chooses a new fighter. It's a battle Violet doesn't want, but she lives her life by two rules: don't run and don't quit. If angels seek vengeance and humans are the warriors, you could do a lot worse than betting on Violet Eden.

LINCOLN: He's been Violet's one anchor, her running partner and kickboxing trainer. Only he never told her he's Grigori—part human, part angel—and that he was training her for an ancient battle between Angels and Exiles.

PHOENIX: No one knows where his loyalties lie, yet he's the only one there to pick up the pieces and protect her after Lincoln's lies. In a world of dark and light, he is all shades of gray.

Two sides: Angel or Exile.
Two guys: Lincoln or Phoenix.
The wrong choice could cost not only her life, but her eternity...

Nook Daily Find 4/28

The Cat That God Sent ($8.54 Kindle, $3.99 B&N), by Jim Kraus [Abingdon Press], is the Nook Daily Find.

Book Description
Jake Wilkerson, a disillusioned young pastor who is an expert at hiding his fears, takes on a new assignment at a small rural church in Coudersport, Pennsylvania--which is a far piece from anywhere and full of curiously odd and eccentric people. His first day on the job, he is adopted by Petey--a cat of unknown origins and breed--but a very sentient cat who believes that he is on a mission from God to redeem Jake and bring him back to the truth. Jake must confront his doubts early on when he meets Emma Grainger, a single woman and a veterinarian who dismisses all Christians as "those people." Then, Tassy, a young runaway with a secret, arrives at the door of the church looking for a place of refuge. How does Jake deal with this runaway and his interest in Dr. Grainger? More importantly, can Jake rekindle his faith? Petey does his best to lead all people to the truth, in a most subtle and feline way.

UK Kindle Daily Deal 4/28

The Kindle Deal of the day for those in the UK is Five History Books at up to £1.19 each (>70% off).

Seal Target Geronimo: The Inside Story of the Mission to Kill Osama Bin Laden (£0.99 UK), by Chuck Pfarrer (US edition $7.99)

On May 2, 2011, at 1:03 a.m. in Pakistan, a satellite uplink was sent from the town of Abbottabad crackling into the situation room of the White House in Washington, D.C.: 'Geronimo, Echo, KIA'. These words, spoken by a Navy SEAL, put paid to Osama bin Laden's three-decade-long career of terror. This is the story of Bin Laden's relentless hunters and how they took down the terrorist mastermind, told by Chuck Pfarrer, a former assault element commander of SEAL Team Six. After talking to members of the SEAL team involved in the raid, Pfarrer shares never-before-revealed details of the historic raid and the men who planned and conducted it in an exclusive boots-on-the-ground account of what happened during each minute of the mission - both inside the building and outside. Pfarrer takes readers inside the operation as the SEALs flew over the wall of Bin Laden's shabby compound and then penetrated deeper and deeper into the terrorist's lair, telling us just what it looked, sounded, and smelled like in that sweltering Pakistani suburb. He takes us to the exact spot where the al-Qaeda leader was cowering when the bullet entered his head. SEAL Target Geronimo is an explosive story of unparalleled valour, clockwork military precision, and deadly accuracy carried out by one of the most elite fighting forces in the world - the U.S. Navy's SEAL Team Six.

Escape from Camp 14 (£1.19 UK), by Blaine Harden (US edition $9.99; companion audiobook $3.95)

Twenty-six years ago, Shin Dong-hyuk was born inside Camp 14, one of five sprawling political prisons in the mountains of North Korea. Located about 55 miles north of Pyongyang, the labor camp is a 'complete control district,' a no-exit prison where the only sentence is life. Inmates work 12 to 15-hour days in the camp – mining coal, building dams, sewing military uniforms – until they are executed, killed in work-related accidents or die of illness that is usually triggered by hunger. No one born in Camp 14 or in any North Korean political prison camp has escaped. No one except Shin. This is his story. A gripping, terrifying memoir with a searing sense of place, Escape from Camp 14 will unlock, through Shin, a dark and secret nation, taking readers to a place they have never before been allowed to go.

Battleground Prussia: The Assault on Germany's Eastern Front 1944-45 (£1.09 UK), by Prit Buttar and Love (US edition $7.77)

In September 1944 the Soviet Army poured into German territory, flooding the martial heartland of the Reich, Prussia. Hopelessly outnumbered by the human wave of the Red Army, the Wehrmacht fought on with determination, but was gradually beaten back. This book describes the great battles that marked the Soviet conquest of Prussia, from Memel to Königsberg, the Heiligenbeil Pocket to Danzig. Using accounts never before published in English, Prit Buttar looks at the campaign both from a command level, and from the perspective of normal soldiers on the front line.

Prit Buttar's second book, Between Giants: The Battle for The Baltics in World War II, is available from May 20th.

Born Fearless: From Kids' Home to SAS to Pirate Hunter - My Life as a Shadow Warrior (£0.99 UK), by Phil Campion (no US edition)

Meet ‘Big’ Phil Campion. To his fellow operators he’s a private military contractor. To you or me he’s a mercenary, a soldier of fortune, a gun for hire selling violence to the highest bidder. But to Big Phil it’s all just another chapter in a life spent fighting in the shadows.

Abandoned. Run-away. Half-beaten to death. Blown-up. Locked up. And all before the age of twenty. This is the incredible true story of how Phil Campion survived all of that, and went on to complete Commando selection, Para selection, and to join the SAS – before fighting as a mercenary in the world’s toughest war zones. Undertaking deniable operations, freeing hostages and escaping terrorists hell bent on revenge – the dangers and insane risks of life as a private military operator eclipsed even those of waging war in an SAS Sabre Squadron. Big Phil’s story of life on the private military circuit (‘The Circuit’) is a high-octane blend of chasing fast bucks in a Wild West industry, whilst always staying one step ahead of the bad guys.

Love, Tommy: Letters Home, from the Great War to the Present Day (£1.19 UK), by Andrew Roberts (US edition $7.69)

Capturing the forgotten voices of a nation and empire at war, Love Tommy, is a collection of letters housed at the Imperial War Museum sent by British and Commonwealth soldiers from Canada, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa from the front line of war to their loved ones at home. Poignant expressions of love, hope and fear sit alongside amusing anecdotes, grumbles about rations and thoughtful reflections, eloquently revealing how, despite the passage of time, many experiences of the fighting man are shared in countless wars and battles. From the muddy trenches of the First World War to frozen ground of the Falklands to the heat and dust of the war in Afghanistan, these letters are the ordinary soldier’s testament to life on the front line.

Free App/Book - Even Monsters Get Sick

Even Monsters Get Sick, by Busy Bee Studios, is free Amazon App Store and from Barnes & Noble.

Book Description
Kids read, listen, touch, play and interact with Harry as he struggles to find out what’s wrong with his new monster. Beautiful art, a custom soundtrack and full interactivity throughout keeps kids engaged and keeps parents raving about both the learning aspects and the endearing message built into “Even Monsters Get Sick.”

Readers and non-readers of all skill levels will enjoy the wide range of features in this interactive storybook.

Get the free ebook from Barnes & Noble.

Kindle Daily Deals 4/26

If you had problems downloading your book from B&N yesterday (well, any book at B&N, not just the one that was free), you should be able to do so today. I managed to download mine late last night, so they apparently worked out whatever was wrong with attaching the DRM license to the books. If you do have books from Night Shade Books, be sure to back them up, as it looks like they are shutting down (thanks to a reader for the tip).

Amazon's Android Free App of the Day is Pandas vs Ninjas Premium.

Today's Kindle Daily Deal is American Gods: The Tenth Anniversary Edition ($1.99), by Neil Gaiman [William Morrow/HarperCollins], with the companion audiobook for $3.95. I absolutely loved this book (and was disappointed he didn't write any type of sequel or series, although it definitely stands on it's own). Even though I already had two editions (on Kindle and in paper), I still picked this up the last time it was on sale and added it to my re-read list.

Book Description
First published in 2001, American Gods became an instant classic—an intellectual and artistic benchmark from the multiple-award-winning master of innovative fiction, Neil Gaiman. Now discover the mystery and magic of American Gods in this tenth anniversary edition. Newly updated and expanded with the author’s preferred text, this commemorative volume is a true celebration of a modern masterpiece by the one, the only, Neil Gaiman.

A storm is coming . . .

Locked behind bars for three years, Shadow did his time, quietly waiting for the magic day when he could return to Eagle Point, Indiana. A man no longer scared of what tomorrow might bring, all he wanted was to be with Laura, the wife he deeply loved, and start a new life.

But just days before his release, Laura and Shadow’s best friend are killed in an accident. With his life in pieces and nothing to keep him tethered, Shadow accepts a job from a beguiling stranger he meets on the way home, an enigmatic man who calls himself Mr. Wednesday. A trickster and rogue, Wednesday seems to know more about Shadow than Shadow does himself.

Life as Wednesday’s bodyguard, driver, and errand boy is far more interesting and dangerous than Shadow ever imagined—it is a job that takes him on a dark and strange road trip and introduces him to a host of eccentric characters whose fates are mysteriously intertwined with his own. Along the way Shadow will learn that the past never dies; that everyone, including his beloved Laura, harbors secrets; and that dreams, totems, legends, and myths are more real than we know. Ultimately, he will discover that beneath the placid surface of everyday life a storm is brewing—an epic war for the very soul of America—and that he is standing squarely in its path.

Relevant and prescient, American Gods has been lauded for its brilliant synthesis of “mystery, satire, sex, horror, and poetic prose” (Michael Dirda, Washington Post Book World) and as a modern phantasmagoria that “distills the essence of America” (Seattle Post-Intelligencer). It is, quite simply, an outstanding work of literary imagination that will endure for generations.

Today's Kindle Romance Daily Deal is The Violets of March ($2.99), by Sarah Jio [Penguin], with the companion audiobook for $4.49.

Book Description
A heartbroken woman stumbled upon a diary and steps into the life of its anonymous author.

In her twenties, Emily Wilson was on top of the world: she had a bestselling novel, a husband plucked from the pages of GQ, and a one-way ticket to happily ever after.

Ten years later, the tide has turned on Emily's good fortune. So when her great-aunt Bee invites her to spend the month of March on Bainbridge Island in Washington State, Emily accepts, longing to be healed by the sea. Researching her next book, Emily discovers a red velvet diary, dated 1943, whose contents reveal startling connections to her own life.

A mesmerizing debut with an idyllic setting and intriguing dual story line, The Violets of March announces Sarah Jio as a writer to watch.

Today's Kindle SciFi/Fantasy Daily Deal is God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater ($1.99), by Kurt Vonnegut [RosettaBooks].

Book Description
Second only to Slaughterhouse-Five of Vonnegut's canon in its prominence and influence, God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater (1965) presents Eliot Rosewater, an itinerant, semi-crazed millionaire wandering the country in search of heritage and philanthropic outcome, introducing the science fiction writer Kilgore Trout to the world and Vonnegut to the collegiate audience which would soon make him a cult writer.

Trout, modeled according to Vonnegut on the science fiction writer Theodore Sturgeon (with whom Vonnegut had an occasional relationship) is a desperate, impoverished but visionary hack writer who functions for Eliot Rosewater as both conscience and horrid example. Rosewater, seeking to put his inheritance to some meaningful use (his father was an entrepreneur), tries to do good within the context of almost illimitable cynicism and corruption.

It is in this novel that Rosewater wanders into a science fiction conference--an actual annual event in Milford, Pennsylvania--and at the motel delivers his famous monologue evoked by science fiction writers and critics for almost half a century: "None of you can write for sour apples... but you're the only people trying to come to terms with the really terrific things which are happening today." Money does not drive Mr. Rosewater (or the corrupt lawyer who tries to shape the Rosewater fortune) so much as outrage at the human condition.

The novel was adapted for a 1979 Alan Menken musical.

Today's Kindle Teen Daily Deal is Chains ($0.99), by Laurie Halse Anderson [Simon and Schuster].

Book Description
If an entire nation could seek its freedom, why not a girl?

As the Revolutionary War begins, thirteen-year-old Isabel wages her own fight...for freedom. Promised freedom upon the death of their owner, she and her sister, Ruth, in a cruel twist of fate become the property of a malicious New York City couple, the Locktons, who have no sympathy for the American Revolution and even less for Ruth and Isabel. When Isabel meets Curzon, a slave with ties to the Patriots, he encourages her to spy on her owners, who know details of British plans for invasion. She is reluctant at first, but when the unthinkable happens to Ruth, Isabel realizes her loyalty is available to the bidder who can provide her with freedom.

From acclaimed author Laurie Halse Anderson comes this compelling, impeccably researched novel that shows the lengths we can go to cast off our chains, both physical and spiritual.

Age Range: 10 and up