Content FREE (and bargain) books for the Kindle - January 2011

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The kids' books series The Mysterious Benedict Society Collection (3 Books in one) by Trenton Lee Stewart is $9.99 (Kindle) *Each ebook is $6.99 if bought separately).

Synopsis

In this set of the first three adventures of the NYT bestselling The Mysterious Benedict Society series, join Reynie, Kate, Sticky, and Constance as they embark on their daring missions in The Mysterious Benedict Society, The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Perilous Journey, and The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Prisoner's Dilemma.

Filled with page-turning action and mind-bending brain teasers, these wildly inventive journeys are sure to delight.

[koland]

Good news for those who want more control over what they receive in their Amazon Daily Blog on their Kindle: Amazon now lets you pick amongst eight different free blogs to subscribe to, rather than having the combined blog as the only choice. At last, I can get book news and the food blog, without wading thru page after page of kid's toys and fashion models. All of the blogs listed below are free (in the US), so feel free to sign up for as many or as few as you want. If you are headed overseas for a trip, though, be sure to cancel the individual blogs and either get only the Daily or wait to restart them after you return, as you won't want to pay the overseas Whispernet charges on multiple blogs while you are there.

Amazon's Omnivoracious Blog
Omnivoracious is a blog run by the books editors at Amazon.com. We aim to share our passion for the written word through news, reviews, interviews, and more. This is our space to talk books and publishing frankly and we welcome participation through comments.

Amazon's Al Dente Blog
We're an unruly bunch of Amazon.com editors who love to cook, decorate, garden, and most importantly...eat! We're in the know about the hottest products for the kitchen and home, including top-of-the-line kitchen appliances, unique cook's tools, chompable dog toys, must-have grills, mouthwatering gourmet food, and much, much more. Come back and visit us on our blog frequently to get our latest takes on the hippest things for your kitchen and home.

Amazon's Armchair Commentary Blog
Among this motley bunch of editors lie fans of big-budget Bruckheimers, off-the-cuff indies, golden-age classics, military documentaries, and everything in between… and that’s just movies. We’re here to share the latest news and observations about film and television, show you cool things in the DVD and Unbox stores and riff on things we like. Whether it be on a bombastic home theater system or a broken-down laptop, you can trust that we’re watching. Everything. And we’re ready to discuss.

Amazon's Chordstrike Blog
Amazon’s staff of Music Editors share their perspectives and persuasions on all things interesting and relevant in today’s music world. Whether touching on subjects in the media, unearthing musical gems that are under the radar, or featuring live streaming concerts, the Chordstrike blog offers a regular dose of musical commentary for Amazon’s community to read and comment on posts written by music lovers like you.

Amazon's Car Lust Blog
Car Lust is, very simply, where interesting cars meet irrational emotion. It's a deeply personal exploration of the hidden gems of the automotive world; a twisted look into a car nuts' mind; and a quirky look at the broader automotive universe - a broader universe that lies beneath the new, the flashy, and the trendy represented in the car magazines.

Amazon's Toy Whimsy Blog
At Toy Whimsy, we are all just a bunch of big kids. Former teachers, copy writers, parents, and long time toy industry experts, what we all have in common is a love of toys. We’re here to bring you the best of what’s new, toy reviews by parents and kids, and information on playthings of all types. From toddler to teen, we have your play time covered.

Amazon's EndUser Blog
We editors get to spend a lot of time around cool toys, but when it comes to the Amazon.com site, we like to let the customers do the talking. End User is our space to talk about and share with you the stuff that makes us excited about electronics. While our focus is mainly on gadgets--that is, portable electronics you can hold in your hand such as iPods, GPS, cell phones, etc.--we're also branching out to cover new things like home audio, computers and software, and more. Basically anything with a current in it is fair game.

Amazon Daily Blog
Commenting on the catchy and trendy, the trivial and tremendous, the Amazon Daily blog highlights the best from the world's largest online retailer. Whether you're interested in the tops in technological toys, the quirkiest gadgets or preeminent foreign films, Amazon Daily offers a plethora of diverse opinions from the editors of Amazon.com. From the perfect holiday dinner to the craziest car accessories, Amazon Daily covers Amazon.com's huge catalog of items, gizmos, books and food.

[koland]

Update: Now properly priced at $1.99

Teamwork Makes the Dream Work, by John C. Maxwell, from Christian publisher Thomas Nelson, is supposed to be today's (1/10/11) Kindle Student Deal of the Day, according to Amazon's previously published schedule, which goes thru January 16. So far today, though, the Deals page is broken (all sections are blank) and the price of the book hasn't dropped.

Be sure to double check the price if this is one you were waiting on, as I still see $9.99 (or higher in some countries) listed, even though the indexing servers think the price has come down. Perhaps when Amazon's daytime employees come to work (and enough people call in asking what is going on), they'll get the price fixed.

Book Description
The concept to this book is a warm approach to the idea of: Only by working in a team will you fulfill your dreams. The focus of the book is on realizing one's dreams, achieving those goals by working in teams. Teams come in every shape and size--spouses in a marriage, colleagues at work, volunteers together for a good cause... It takes teamwork to make the dream work.

There are no lone rangers. It's a myth that one person can do something great. Strong leaders who changed our country dreamed big and were successful because they were always part of teams.

Like his previous three books, this one is filled with warm stories, mini-lessons in bullet form, Maxwell observations, and quotes.

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Firms of Endearment : How World-Class Companies Profit from Passion and Purpose by Jagdish N. Sheth, Rajendra S. Sisodia, David B. Wolfe

Product Description:

• Why today’s most humane companies are blowing away the S&P 500 averages
• Increasing “share of heart”: delivering the emotional, experiential, and social value your stakeholders are demanding
• 30 powerful case studies, including CarMax®, Timberland™, Jordan’s Furniture, Trader Joe’s, Wegmans, and Toyota™

Today’s best companies get it. From Costco® to Commerce Bank, Wegmans to Whole Foods®: they’re becoming the ultimate value creators. They’re generating every form of value that matters: emotional, experiential, social, and financial. And they’re doing it for all their stakeholders. Not because it’s “politically correct”: because it’s the only path to long-term competitive advantage.

These are the Firms of Endearment. Companies people love doing business with. Love partnering with. Love working for. Love investing in. Companies for whom “loyalty” isn’t just real: it’s palpable, and driving unbeatable advantages in everything from marketing to recruitment.

You need to become one of those companies. This book will show you how. You’ll find specific, practical guidance on transforming every relationship you have: with customers, associates, partners, investors, and society. If you want to be great–truly great–this is your blueprint.

We’re entering an Age of Transcendence, as people increasingly search for higher meaning in their lives, not just more possessions. This is transforming the marketplace, the workplace, the very soul of capitalism. Increasingly, today’s most successful companies are bringing love, joy, authenticity, empathy, and soulfulness into their businesses: they are delivering emotional, experiential, and social value—not just profits.

Firms of Endearment illuminates this, the most fundamental transformation in capitalism since Adam Smith. It’s not about “corporate social responsibility”: it’s about building companies that can sustain success in a radically new era. It’s about great companies like IDEO and IKEA®, Commerce Bank and Costco®, Wegmans and Whole Foods®: how they earn the powerful loyalty and affection that enables truly breathtaking performance.

This book is about gaining “share of heart,” not just share of wallet. It’s about aligning stakeholders’ interests, not just juggling them. It’s about building companies that leave the world a better place. Most of all, it’s about why you must do all this, or risk being left in the dust... and how to get there from wherever you are now.

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Edward Kennedy's Leadership Lessons by New Word City

Product Description

This is the eBook version of the printed book.

Born the youngest of four sons in America’s “royal family,” Edward M. Kennedy was considered the least likely to succeed. His early years seemed to bear out this prognosis. But after being elected to the United States Senate, facing almost unspeakable tragedy, and owning up to his mistakes, Kennedy grew into one of the greatest senators in American history. He was a leader who understood how to forge alliances, build consensus, and get results. The lessons of his life are essential for any leader.

The life of Edward “Ted” Kennedy reads like a gripping novel about a man who transforms himself in the crucible of tragedy and emerges triumphant. Ultimately it is a story of redemption, of a man who grew into himself–and became one of the most effective, powerful, and revered leaders in American history.

Born February 22, 1932, in Boston, Massachusetts, Edward Moore Kennedy was the youngest of nine children in what is often referred to as America’s “royal family.” He had politics in his blood–both his father, Joseph P. Kennedy, and his mother, the former Rose Fitzgerald, came from prominent Irish-Catholic families long involved in the rough-edged world of Democratic politics in Boston and Massachusetts.

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It Takes a Genome : How a Clash Between Our Genes and Modern Life is Making Us Sick is free again for the Kindle.

Product 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.

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Bargain mystery romance collection:

Deanna Raybourn's mystery romance series Lady Julia Grey Bundle (3 books in one collection) is $9.99 (Kindle). * Bundle includes: Silent in the Grave ($8.28), Silent in the Sanctuary ($4.72) and Silent on the Moor ($9.54) if bought separately.

Product Description

"To say that I met Nicholas Brisbane over my husband's dead body is not entirely accurate. Edward, it should be noted, was still twitching on the floor."

Starting with her husband's sudden death, Lady Julia Grey is swept into a world of mystery and deceit. It is also the world of the enigmatic and maddeningly attractive private investigator Nicholas Brisbane...

From the extravagant world of Victorian aristocrats to the wild moors of Yorkshire, experience the intrigue and romance of all three Lady Julia Grey mysteries by RITA Award-winning author Deanna Raybourn, now available in one convenient download.

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Bargain Historical Mystery:

Terra Incognita: A Novel of the Roman Empire, book 2 of Ruth Downie's murder mysteries set in the Roman-era with regimental doctor Gaius Petreius Ruso is just $0.99 (US Kindle). (*The first book Medicus: A Novel of the Roman Empire is still free)

Product Description:

It is spring in the year of 118, and Hadrian has been Emperor of Rome for less than a year. After getting involved with the murders of local prostitutes in the town of Deva, Doctor Gaius Petreius Ruso needs to get out of town, so has volunteered for a posting with the Army on the volatile border where the Roman-controlled half of Britannia meets the independent tribes of the North. Not only is he going to the hinterlands of the hinterlands, but it his slave Tilla's homeland and she has some scores to settle there. Soon they find that Tilla's tribespeople are being encouraged to rebel against Roman control by a mysterious leader known as the Stag Man, and her former lover is implicated in the grisly murder of a soldier. Ruso, unwillingly involved in the investigation of the murder, is appalled to find that Tilla is still spending time with the lover. Worse, he is honour bound to try to prove the man innocent - and the Army wrong - by finding another suspect. Soon both Ruso's and Tilla's lives are in jeopardy, as is the future of their burgeoning romantic relationship.

[DixieGal]

I just snapped them up. I wonder if there is a third book?

[koland]

Originally Posted by DixieGal

I just snapped them up. I wonder if there is a third book?

Originally released in England under different titles:

Medicus Investigation
1. Ruso and the Disappearing Dancing Girls (2006)
aka Medicus
2. Ruso and the Demented Doctor (2008)
aka Terra Incognita
3. Ruso and the Root of All Evils (2010)
4. Ruso and the River of Darkness (2011)

It looks like the last two were released as Persona Non Grata ($8.25) and Caveat Emptor ($9.99) in the US.

[DixieGal]

Thanks! I emailed to myself the link to your reply.

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Bargain Literary Fiction:

The Mammoth Cheese by Sheri Holman (from the author of the bestselling The Dress Lodger) is just $1.24 for the Kindle.

Product Description:

When the birth of their eleven tiny infants brings celebrity to the Franks of Three Chimneys, Virginia, a presidential hopeful pays them a visit. In his honor, Margaret Prickett sets out to re-create the Mammoth Cheese, a 1,235-pound wheel of Cheshire made by Thomas Jefferson's supporters.

Here is a deliciously incisive portrait of rural life, the debts we owe history and our families, and the many ways we declare independence.

About the Author
Sheri Holman is the author of A Stolen Tongue; The Dress Lodger, a New York Times Notable Book; and The Mammoth Cheese, short-listed for the Orange Prize for Fiction and a San Francisco Chronicle and Publishers Weekly Book of the Year.

[koland]

Free on Kindle:

That is SO Me: 365 Days of Devotions: Flip-Flops, Faith, and Friends, by Nancy Rue, is free from B&N and Christianbook, courtesy of Christian publisher Zondervan.

Book Description
Take a daily step of faith.Here is the devotional you've been waiting for: a place for everyday inspiration for everyday girls. On your 365-day journey through the Bible, discover topics that will have you saying 'That is SO me!' over and over and over again. Featuring interactive quizzes, activities, prayers, and journaling prompts written by favorite Faithgirlz! author Nancy Rue, this meaningful devotional is just for girls and tackles the issues that you face each day. Use this girl-friendly guide to nourish your authentic self through the incredible example and gift of Jesus' life and teachings.


Starlighter, by Bryan Davis, is free from B&N and Christianbook, courtesy of Christian publisher Zondervan.

Book Description
Dragons are enslaving humankind and a black egg signals the end of the world. Jason Masters must journey to another realm and join forces with a slave girl named Koren to rescue the captives and save two worlds from destruction.What if the Legends Are True?Jason Masters doubted the myths: people taken through a portal to another realm and enslaved by dragons. But when his brother is taken, he must uncover the truth and find the portal before it's too late. Once he's through the portal, he meets Koren, a slave in the dragons' realm, who struggles to destroy a black egg prophesied to doom all mankind. Jason and Koren must work together to save their two worlds before the dragons learn that their secrets have been discovered.In Starlighter, bestselling author Bryan Davis masterfully weaves fantasy and inspiration into a captivating novel for young adults.

[koland]

The Aedyn Chronicles: Chosen Ones, by Alister McGrath, free on Kindle and at B&N courtesy of Christian publisher Zonderkidz. This was free on Kindle this past July.

Book Description
In this new fantasy from renowned theologian Alister McGrath, the land of Aedyn has been overtaken by mysterious lords who trust only in their own reason. Two children called from our world have the power to lead the revolution, but will they find the courage to face their own destiny?

[koland]

William Walkers First Year of Marriage, by Matt Rudd, is free for UK Kindle customers only (UK Link)

Book Description
William Walker has just married Isabel, the girl of his dreams. The happy couple live in a small flat in north London while William labours away at his magazine job, revelling in his recent promotion from a column for which he was required to taste different brands of cat food to more dignified reportage. So far, so perfect.But William has a Bridget Jones-ish knack for messing up the happiest of situations – he can’t help shouting at the obnoxiously precocious work experience girl and has an embarrassing tendency to forget names of women he has previously tried to sleep with. It doesn’t help that Isabel’s creepy best friend Alex is very obviously in love with her. Nor that Saskia, a vixen-ish old flame of William’s, has just moved in downstairs. As Alex slithers his way into Isabel’s heart, Saskia seems intent on resuming relations with William – or at least giving Isabel that impression.Increasingly beset, increasingly unlucky and increasingly hilarious, William battles his way through a series of comic disasters that threaten to destroy his relationship and reduce him to a state of sad bachelorhood – a fate, he soon realises, worse than death.

A Lesson in Passion, by Jennifer Connors, is free for UK Kindle customers only (UK Link)

Book Description
Ginny has a successful career, nice home and good friends. The only thing she's missing is love. Her past attempts at dating always seem to end badly, until a friend recommends some romance novels. Meant to be instructional, Ginny laughs off their usefulness.

Ian is a powerful Scottish laird, living in Medieval times. As the new leader of his clan, he is honor bound to make decisions that benefit his people. Tough, but fair, Ian has made a name for himself among the clans of the Highlands.

A freak accident leaves Ginny in a world within herself, the world of the romance novel heroine. Fighting off an evil band of Lowlanders, Ginny meets her hero, Ian, powerful laird of the clan McKenna. Ginny soon realizes she is in the body of an Englishwoman and is being forced to live with the McKenna clan.

Ginny assumes she must fall in love to move out of this world and back into her own. So before her hero can marry another, she schemes to win him back and hopefully reach her goals.