Content FREE (and bargain) books for the Kindle - August 2010

[koland]

Billy Boyle, by James R. Benn, the first in the Billy Boyle World War II Mystery series, is free in the Kindle store.

Book Description
What’s a twenty-two-year-old Irish American cop who’s never been out of Massachusetts before doing at Beardsley Hall, an English country house, having lunch with King Haakon of Norway? Billy Boyle himself wonders. Back home in Southie, he’d barely made detective when war was declared. Unwilling to fight—and perhaps die—for England, he was relieved when his mother wangled a job for him on the staff of a general married to her distant cousin. But the general turns out to be Dwight D. Eisenhower, whose headquarters are in London, which is undergoing the Blitz. And Uncle Ike wants Billy to be his personal investigator.

Billy is dispatched to the seat of the Norwegian government in exile. Operation Jupiter, the impending invasion of Norway, is being planned, but it is feared that there is a German spy amongst the Norwegians.

Billy doubts his own abilities, with good reason. A theft and two murders test his investigative powers, but Billy proves to be a better detective than he or anyone else expected.

You may also want to pick up the second in the same series, The First Wave, as Amazon has it marked down to $3.62 for the moment.

Book Description
Lieutenant Billy Boyle reluctantly accompanies Major Samuel Harding, his boss, in the first boat to land on the shores of Algeria during the Allied invasion. Their task is to arrange the surrender of the Vichy French forces. But there is dissension between the regular army, the local militia, and De Gaulle’s Free French. American black marketeers in league with the enemy divert medical supplies to the Casbah, leading to multiple murders that Billy must solve while trying to rescue the girl he loves, a captured British spy.

[koland]

Six new freebies this morning:

Lessons From A Younger Lover, by Zuri Day

Book Description
Zuri Day cranks up the heat with an explosively sexy tale about a woman who's about to get a crash course in lust. . .

First grade teacher Gwen Smith was happily married--until her husband got himself a twenty-something mistress and filed for divorce. Now just months away from turning forty-one, Gwen is back in her tiny California hometown, caring for her ailing mother, convinced her life is over. Then she meets Ransom Blake.

Ransom is a twenty-six-year-old hunk who pushes every one of Gwen's buttons. Gwen has no intention of getting involved with a younger man, but he won't take no for an answer. So when he shows up at her classroom unannounced, Gwen can't help but tell him off--and then she realizes he's come for his daughter. But Ransom isn't shy about letting Gwen know how she can make it up to him. And if he gets his way, Gwen will lose all her inhibitions--and her heart...


Winners Never Cheat: Even in Difficult Times, New and Expanded Edition, by Jon M. Huntsman

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.


The Truth About Making Smart Decisions, by Robert E. Gunther

Book Description
Everything you need to know to make smarter, better decisions—in business and in life!

* The truth about learning from your mistakes and those of others
* The truth about how sleep can help you make better decisions
* The truth about the power of acting decisively

This book brings together 50 powerful “truths” about making better decisions: real solutions for the tough challenges faced by every decision-maker, in business and in life. You'll discover how to systematically prepare to make better decisions...how to get the right information, without getting buried in useless data...how to minimize your risks, and then act decisively...how to handle your emotions...make better group decisions...profit from mistakes...and a whole lot more. This isn't "someone's opinion": it's a definitive, evidence-based guide to effective decision-making...a set of bedrock principles you can rely on no matter what kind of decisions you make!


Investing in Neglected Stocks, by Scott Phillips

Book Description
Hidden opportunities: how to find great stocks that the analysts aren't covering.

Many years ago, Sir John Templeton offered some straightforward words on investing: "If you find one dozen analysts who all advise to purchase the same stock, you can be sure that the stock will not be a good purchase." His point, of course, is that popular stocks often represent poor investments since their prospects have already been well recognized....


Psych Yourself Rich: Get the Mindset and Discipline You Need to Build Your Financial Life, by Farnoosh Torabi

Book Description
In Psych Yourself Rich, TV’s newest personal finance star shows how to develop the mindset, discipline, and habits to grow wealth and achieve your goals on your own terms--without fear, anxiety, misery, or too much sacrifice. Farnoosh Torabi combines the latest approaches in behavioral psychology with a disciplined attitude to help you psych yourself into a place of financial well being. You’ll learn how to build a healthy view of money, investing, wealth, and aspirations...get beyond “lend-and-spend” to a deeper, more holistic view of money...discover why “he who dies with the most stuff” doesn’t win.

Then, you’ll map out a personal plan based on what you really care about in life--and learn how to get in gear, move forward, and transform your plans and dreams into reality.


It Takes a Genome: How a Clash Between Our Genes and Modern Life is Making Us Sick, by Greg Gibson

Book Description
Human beings have astonishing genetic vulnerabilities. More than half of us will die from complex diseases that trace directly to those vulnerabilities, and the modern world we’ve created places us at unprecedented risk from them. In It Takes a Genome, Greg Gibson posits a revolutionary new hypothesis: Our genome is out of equilibrium, both with itself and its environment. Simply put, our genes aren’t coping well with modern culture. Our bodies were never designed to subsist on fat and sugary foods; our immune systems weren’t designed for today’s clean, bland environments; our minds weren’t designed to process hard-edged, artificial electronic inputs from dawn ‘til midnight. And that’s why so many of us suffer from chronic diseases that barely touched our ancestors.

Gibson begins by revealing the stunningly complex ways in which multiple genes cooperate and interact to shape our bodies and influence our behaviors. Then, drawing on the very latest science, he explains the genetic “mismatches” that increasingly lead to cancer, diabetes, inflammatory and infectious diseases, AIDS, depression, and senility. He concludes with a look at the probable genetic variations in human psychology, sharing the evidence that traits like introversion and agreeableness are grounded in equally complex genetic interactions.

It Takes A Genome demolishes yesterday’s stale debates over “nature vs. nurture,” introducing a new view that is far more intriguing, and far closer to the truth.

[Buran]

The Billy Boyle books have a strange font that I haven't seen in any other Kindle books. It's oversize, not as readable, and I had to go to the smallest font size to get the size I had set previously (the second-smallest for all other books). The typeface and line spacing options have greyed out (Kindle 3) on the font size menu. And trying to increase words per line just increases the margins.

I know it's a free/cheap book, but come on, Amazon.

[lunixer]

Originally Posted by Buran

The Billy Boyle books have a strange font that I haven't seen in any other Kindle books. It's oversize, not as readable, and I had to go to the smallest font size to get the size I had set previously (the second-smallest for all other books). The typeface and line spacing options have greyed out (Kindle 3) on the font size menu. And trying to increase words per line just increases the margins.

I know it's a free/cheap book, but come on, Amazon.

Is it Amazon that formats these books or the publisher? I thought it was the publisher.

[Buran]

It is Amazon that offers the service, has a unique file format (based on Mobi, yes, I know), offers the reader, and takes the payments. I'll be contacting them to give product feedback on this.

[surfsmurf]

This is a Topaz format book, not a normal mobi format book.

Topaz is just scanned pages, a series of images, not text that the Kindle formats. Imho a politely put a "less than ideal format", and I wonder why Amazon supports it... Probably because publishers can't be bothered to create a proper e-book.

Originally Posted by Buran

The Billy Boyle books have a strange font that I haven't seen in any other Kindle books. It's oversize, not as readable, and I had to go to the smallest font size to get the size I had set previously (the second-smallest for all other books). The typeface and line spacing options have greyed out (Kindle 3) on the font size menu. And trying to increase words per line just increases the margins.

I know it's a free/cheap book, but come on, Amazon.

[koland]

Two free and one marked down workbook from Kaplan on Kindle, but these are for UK Kindle customers only (in either the US or UK stores).

Kaplan GRE Exam Verbal Workbook (UK Link )

Book Description
This comprehensive guide includes:

* NEW! Comprehensive details on the new question type
* Hundreds of practice questions
* Detailed answer explanations
* Kaplan-exclusive strategies for all question types
* Powerful vocabulary-building method
* Complete chapter dedicated to the Analytical Writing Section

Kaplan GRE Exam Math Workbook (UK Link )

Book Description

* NEW! Details and practice for the new question type
* Hundreds of test-like practice questions
* Detailed answer explanations
* Proven score-raising strategies
* Tactics for solving all question types
* Review of core math concepts

Kaplan GRE & GMAT Exams Writing Workbook ($5.84) (UK Link £3.74)

Book Description
Kaplan GRE & GMAT Exams Writing Workbook includes:

* 8 priciples of writing effective essays
* Strategies for outlining and organizing your essays
* Writing basics, including grammar, mechanics, style, and word choice
* Methods for managing your time on test day
* 50 GMAT and 50 GRE sample prompts for extra writing practice
* 20 sample high-scoring essays...

[lunixer]

This thread should be split into two: one for UK and one for US.

[runtmms]

I also vote to split this thread.

-M

[lunixer]

Yeah, can we petition the admins to make a separate sticky for either the UK or US crowd?

[jangell2]

I ditto that motion.

[stjoe]

Yes, I support the split

[koland]

I'd prefer to keep them together - for example, one that went below a dollar earlier today for Canada only is now 99 cents in the US as well. Had a US reader not tried the link anyway and left me a note, we might have missed it.

It's not as though there have been all that many that are UK only (and they have all been available in the US store, just only discounted for those who have a UK address). Many more are higher priced in the UK that are free in the US (such as most of the ones that were free early this morning, apparently, according to a UK member that commented in the main Deals thread).

So, a couple of under a buck books:

Fatal Affair ($0.99 US; $0.93 Canada), by Marie Force. Likely marked down only for a day.

Book Description
Washington, D.C., Metro Police Detective Sergeant Sam Holland needs a big win to salvage her career-and her confidence-after a disastrous investigation. The perfect opportunity arises when Senator John O'Connor is found brutally murdered in his bed, and Sam is assigned to the case. Matters get complicated when Sam has to team up with Nick Cappuano, O'Connor's friend and chief of staff...and the man Sam had a memorable one-night stand with years earlier. Their sexual chemistry still sizzles, and Sam has to fight to stay focused on the case. Sleeping with a material witness is another mistake she can't afford-especially when the bodies keep piling up.


Evil, Inc., by Glenn Kaplan, is marked down to 84 cents for Canadian Kindle customers tonight ($7.99 in the US or you can pick up the paperback for 88 cents).

Book Description
Ken Olson thought he had it all--a loving wife, a beautiful baby, and a career on the fast track. But soon after his big promotion, his whole world is shattered by a monstrous crime. A crime committed by the CEO of his own company. A crime his company will cover up at any cost.

Stripped of everything but his passion to bring the CEO to justice,-Olson uncovers the dark and dangerous world behind the corporate jets and executive mansions--the private armies of mercenary killers who do the corporation's dirtiest work under the guise of "plausible deniability," the offshore banking havens with their clandestine black-hole accounts, and the relentless greed of the lucky few at the top.

Olson's struggle pits him against a host of deadly rivals--the most brutal killer in the international private military underworld, the network anchorwoman with a beautiful face and not a hint of conscience, the aristocrat who pulls the strings of power and never dirties his hands, the hot young actress who makes sex a tool of deception, and, of course, his own chief executive, a bloodthirsty psychopath who has hijacked the corner office.

Set against the backdrop of today's business world, where mega-mergers slash thousands of jobs and yield million-dollar executive payouts, Evil, Inc. is a thrilling, ticking time bomb of a story--a tale of one man's fight against the vicious, backstabbing politics of the corporation, where ruthless power mongers rule and human life counts for nothing against the bottom line.

[koland]

Three freebies this morning:

Bake Sale Murder, by Leslie Meier, is the thirteenth in her Lucy Stone series. It doesn't appear that the entire series has been published on Kindle yet, but there are a number of them out and most are below $5.

Book Description
Ever since local developer Fred Stanton and his wife, Mimi, built five modular homes next door to Lucy Stone's farmhouse, life just hasn't been the same. With Mimi complaining about everything from the state of Lucy's lawn to another neighbor's lovable dog, quaint Tinker's Cove, Maine, is now entangled in cul-de-sac politics and backstabbing. And when Mimi doesn't show up for her shift at The Hat and Mitten Fund bake sale, the scent of burnt sugar leads Lucy to a shocking discovery: Mimi, face down on her kitchen floor--with a knife in her back.

While the police start their investigation, Lucy gets busy writing up the murder for the local Pennysaver--and following a few leads of her own. Lucy knows the women in her neighborhood didn't like Mimi, but they certainly didn't want her dead...right?


Hostile Intent, by Michael Walsh, was previously free in Aug 2009.

Book Description
It starts with the unthinkable--the most horrific act of violence ever committed on American soil.

Only one man can stop them.

Code named Devlin, he exists in the blackest shadows of the United States government--operating off the grid as the NSA's top agent. He's their most lethal weapon-and their most secret. But someone is trying to draw him out into the open by putting America's citizens in the crosshairs--and they will continue the slaughter until they get what they want.


Demonfire, by Kate Douglas, is another repeat freebie, this time from March of this year.

Book Description
Since time began, the Earth has served as a balance between the world of darkness that is the Abyss, and the paradise known as Eden. Now the battle between good and evil has reached a tipping point, and survival depends on one fallen demon-- and the woman he can't resist...

Demonfire

[SamuraiXSendai]

Please split, much too confusing and disappointing when one finds they can't get the book.