FREE (and bargain) books for the Kindle - May 2011

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The Perfect Storm: A True Story of Men Against the Sea by Sebastian Junger is reduced to $0.13 (US Kindle)

Product Description

A real-life thriller that leaves us with the taste of salt on our tongues and a terror of the deep.

It was the storm of the century -- a tempest created by so rare a combination of factors that meteorologist deemed it "the perfect storm." When it struck in October, 1991, there was virtually no warning. "She's comin' on, boys, and she's comin' on strong," radioed Captain Billy Tyne of the Andrea Gail from off the coast of Nova Scotia. Soon afterward, the boat and its crew of six disappeared without a trace.

Sebastian Junger takes us on a real-life thriller, deep into the heart of the storm. He recreates the last moments of the Andrea Gail crew and the heroic acts of the National Guard rescue team; he weaves together the history of the New England fishing industry, the science of storms, and candid accounts of the people whose lives the storm touched.

The Perfect Storm is a stark and compelling journey into the dark core of nature that leaves listeners with a breathless sense of what if feels like to be caught, helpless, in the grip of a force beyond understanding or control.

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SOMEWHERE IN HEAVEN: THE REMARKABLE LOVE STORY OF DANA AND CHRISTOPHER REEVE by Christopher Andersen is reduced to $0.14 (US Kindle)

Product Description

"Dana is my life force." --Christopher Reeve
"A terrible thing happened. I wish it hadn't. But would I change who I married? Never." --Dana Reeve

He was a hero in every sense of the word--the chiseled-from-granite star of four blockbuster Superman films and the romantic classic Somewhere in Time who, after being paralyzed in a freak horseback riding accident, became a symbol of hope for millions. Dana Reeve was no less heroic, standing steadfastly by her husband's side until his surprisingly sudden and unexpected death at age fifty-two. When Dana, a non-smoker, passed away from lung cancer just seventeen months after Chris's death, she left behind their thirteen-year-old son, Will, to be raised by friends and family. Dana was only forty-four years old.

That fate could have dealt such a cruel hand to this golden couple seemed unfathomable. That they could endure it all with grace, courage, and humor defied belief.

Yet for all the millions of words that have been written about their public causes and private struggles following Chris's accident, little is known about the lives they led as passionate young lovers. Now, in the manner of his poignant-yet-stirring bestsellers Jack and Jackie, Jackie After Jack, An Affair to Remember, The Day Diana Died, After Diana, and The Day John Died, No. l New York Times bestselling author Christopher Andersen draws on those who knew them best to examine in touching detail the Reeves' unique partnership and the romance, faith, and fortitude that defined it.

Sometimes heartbreaking, often uplifting, always compelling, Somewhere in Heaven is more than just a portrait of a marriage. It is the profoundly human story of two souls whose brief lives made a difference, a bittersweet saga of tragedy, triumph, and loss, and--above all else--a love story for the ages.

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Arsenal of Democracy: The Politics of National Security--From World War II to the War on Terrorism by Julian E. Zelizer is reduced to $0.15 (US Kindle)

Product Description
It has long been a truism that prior to George W. Bush, politics stopped at the water’s edge—that is, that partisanship had no place in national security. In Arsenal of Democracy, historian Julian E. Zelizer shows this to be demonstrably false: partisan fighting has always shaped American foreign policy and the issue of national security has always been part of our domestic conflicts. Based on original archival findings, Arsenal of Democracy offers new insights into nearly every major national security issue since the beginning of the cold war: from FDR’s masterful management of World War II to the partisanship that scarred John F. Kennedy during the Cuban Missile Crisis, from Ronald Reagan’s fight against Communism to George W. Bush’s controversial War on Terror. A definitive account of the complex interaction between domestic politics and foreign affairs over the last six decades, Arsenal of Democracy is essential reading for anyone interested in the politics of national security.

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Ending the Food Fight: Guide Your Child to a Healthy Weight in a Fast Food/ Fake Food World by David Ludwig and Suzanne Rostler is reduced to $0.40 (US Kindle)

Product Description
In a world dominated by fast food and fake food, establishing healthy eating habits in children is one of the greatest concerns for parents -- and potentially one of the greatest challenges. Fortunately, the renowned physician Dr. David Ludwig developed a proven lifestyle plan that has benefited thousands of families. Here he shares his nine-week program, offering the tools -- including tasty recipes, motivational tips, and activities -- that can help families prevent the kitchen table from becoming a battleground.

The Superfoods Rx Diet: Lose Weight with the Power of SuperNutrients by Wendy Bazilian, Steven Prat and Kathy Matthews is reduced to $0.46 (US Kindle)

Product Description
Rather than concentrating on the balance of protein, fat, and carbohydrates, The SuperFoodsRx Diet utilizes the incredible benefits of micronutrients - vitamins, minerals, bioflavonoids, fiber, antioxidants, and other phytochemicals - to burn calories. These powerhouse nutrients found in the 14 SuperFoods actually boost your body's metabolism, and the specific combinations in this plan will give you the best results possible.

Based on extensive research and studies with real people, The SuperFoodsRx Diet will help you reach your optimum weight by showing you:

• how to lose up to one inch off your waist and up to 5 pounds during your very first week;
• which SuperFoods may reduce cravings;
• why SuperFoods dieters get to eat more food while losing weight;
• how the built-in flexibility of this plan and the delicious, simple recipes will make The SuperFoodsRx Diet your lifelong guide to good, healthy eating.

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Lion's Honey: The Myth of Samson by David Grossman and Stuart Schoffman is reduced to $0.48 (US Kindle)

Product Description
In Lion's Honey, award-winning writer David Grossman takes on one of the most vivid and controversial characters in the Bible. Revisiting Samson's famous battle with the lion, his many women and his betrayal by them all, including the only one he ever loved. Grossman gives us a provocative new take on the story and its climax, Samson's final act of death, brining down a temple on himself and three thousand Philistines. In exhilarating and lucid prose, Grossman reveals the journey of a single, lonely and tortured soul who never found a true home in the world, who was uncomfortable in his very body and who, some might say, was the precursor of today's suicide bombers.

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We Bought a Zoo: The Amazing True Story of a Young Family, a Broken Down Zoo, and the 200 Wild Animals that Changed Their Lives Forever by Benjamin Mee is reduced to $0.48 (US Kindle)

Product Description

The remarkable true story of a family who move into a rundown zoo–already a BBC documentary miniseries and excerpted in The Guardian.

In the market for a house and an adventure, Benjamin Mee moved his family to an unlikely new home: a dilapidated zoo in the English countryside. Mee had a dream to refurbish the zoo and run it as a family business. His friends and colleagues thought he was crazy.

But in 2006, Mee and his wife with their two children, his brother, and his 76-year-old mother moved into the Dartmoor Wildlife Park. Their extended family now included: Solomon, an African lion and scourge of the local golf course; Zak, the rickety Alpha wolf, a broadly benevolent dictator clinging to power; Ronnie, a Brazilian tapir, easily capable of killing a man, but hopelessly soppy; and Sovereign, a jaguar and would-be ninja, who has devised a long term escape plan and implemented it.

Nothing was easy, given the family’s lack of experience as zookeepers, and what follows is a magical exploration of the mysteries of the animal kingdom, the power of family, and the triumph of hope over tragedy. We Bought a Zoo is a profoundly moving portrait of an unforgettable family living in the most extraordinary circumstances.

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The Magic Half by Annie Barrows is reduced to $0.48 (US Kindle)

Product Description
Miri is the non-twin child in a family with two sets of them--older brothers and younger sisters. The family has just moved to an old farmhouse in a new town, where the only good thing seems to be Miri's ten-sided attic bedroom. But when Miri gets sent to her room after accidentally bashing her big brother on the head with a shovel, she finds herself in the same room . . . only not quite.

Without meaning to, she has found a way to travel back in time to 1935 where she discovers Molly, a girl her own age very much in need of a loving family.

A highly satisfying classic-in-the-making full of spine-tingling moments, this is a delightful time-travel novel for the whole family.

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Ms. Hempel Chronicles by Sarah Shun-lien Bynum is reduced to $0.61 (US Kindle)

Product Description
Ms. Beatrice Hempel, teacher of seventh grade, is new—new to teaching, new to the school, newly engaged, and newly bereft of her idiosyncratic father. Grappling awkwardly with her newness, she struggles to figure out what is expected of her in life and at work. Is it acceptable to introduce swear words into the English curriculum, enlist students to write their own report cards, or bring up personal experiences while teaching a sex-education class?

Sarah Shun-lien Bynum finds characters at their most vulnerable, then explores those precarious moments in sharp, graceful prose. From this most innovative of young writers comes another journey down the rabbit hole to the wonderland of middle school, memory, daydreaming, and the extraordinary business of growing up.

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Star Trek: Nero #1 by JJ Abrams, Roberto Orci, Alex Kurtzman and Tim Jones is reduced to $0.70 (US Kindle)

Product Description
From Star Trek writer/producers Roberto Orci & Alex Kurtzman and the creative team behind the best-selling prequel comic Star Trek: Countdown comes an all-new story set within the events of the hit film! Not an adaptation, this exclusive story follows the villainous Nero as he seeks to destroy the Federation. Don't miss this essential chapter in the rebirth of Star Trek!

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Perfect by Natasha Friend is reduced to $0.94 (US Kindle)

Product Description

Following the death of her father, a 13 year old uses bulimia as a way to avoid her mother's and ten-year-old sister's grief, as well as her own.

Isabelle Lee has a problem, and it's not just Ape Face, her sister, or group therapy for an eating disorder, or even that her father died and her mother is depressed and in denial. It's that Ashley, the most popular girl in school, is inviting Isabelle to join her at lunch and at sleepovers at her house, and this is presenting Isabelle with a dilemma. Pretty Ashley has moved Isabelle up the social ladder, but is it worth keeping the secret they share?

Caught in the orbit of popularity and appearances, Isabelle must navigate a world with mixed messages, false hopes, and potentially harmful turns, while coping with her own flailing family and emotions. The author brings a depth of characterization, humor, and a real adolescent's voice to this multileveled story about the desire to be perfect in an imperfect world.

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Murder in Clichy (Aimee Leduc Investigations, No. 5) by Cara Black is reduced to $0.96 (US Kindle)

Product Description
Aimée Leduc, private investigator specializing in computer security, has been introduced to the Cao Dai temple in Paris by her partner René Friant. He urges her to learn to meditate: she could use a more healthful approach to life. The Vietnamese nun Linh has been helping Aimée to attain her goal, so when she asks Aimée for a favor—to go to the Clichy quartier to exchange an envelope for a package—René prompts Aimée to agree. But the intended recipient, Thadée Baret, is shot and dies in Aimée’s arms before the transaction can be completed, leaving Aimée with a wounded arm, a check for 50,000 francs, and a trove of ancient jade artifacts.

Whoever killed Baret wants the jade. The RG—the French secret service; a group of veterans of the war in Indochina and some wealthy ex-colonials and international corporations seeking oil rights are all implicated. And the nun, Linh, has disappeared.

Since the incident in which she was temporarily blinded (Murder in the Bastille), Aimée has promised to avoid danger. But somehow, it continues to seek her out.

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The Gathering by Anne Enright is reduced to $0.84 (US Kindle)

Product Description
In the taut latest from Enright (What Are You Like?), middle-aged Veronica Hegarty, the middle child in an Irish-Catholic family of nine, traces the aftermath of a tragedy that has claimed the life of rebellious elder brother Liam. As Veronica travels to London to bring Liam's body back to Dublin, her deep-seated resentment toward her overly passive mother and her dissatisfaction with her husband and children come to the fore. Tempers flare as the family assembles for Liam's wake, and a secret Veronica has concealed since childhood comes to light. Enright skillfully avoids sentimentality as she explores Veronica's past and her complicated relationship with Liam. She also bracingly imagines the life of Veronica's strong-willed grandmother, Ada. A melancholic love and rage bubbles just beneath the surface of this Dublin clan, and Enright explores it unflinchingly.

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Allison's Journey by Wanda E. Brunstetter is reduced to $0.90 (US Kindle)

Product Description

Two Tattered Hearts Seek Faith and Love

Allison Troyer is of marriageable age and needs to learn how to manage an Amish household. Can a girl who feels as faceless, purposeless, and neglected as her tattered Amish doll, find her way among strangers?

James Esh likes what he sees when Allison Troyer walks into the barn. Will anything keep this brash young Amish man from stealing her affections?

Aaron Zook has vowed never to lose his heart to another. Yet when James makes advances on Allison, Aaron can’t help but intercede.

Can threads of faith and love unite tattered hearts?

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The Kids are Alright: How the Gamer Generation is Changing the Workplace by John C. Beck and Mitchell Wade is reduced to $0.93 (US Kindle)

Product Description
Think video games are kids' stuff? Think again. According to authors John C. Beck and Mitchell Wade all those hours immersed in game culture have created masses of employees with unique attributes. This new generation that's ninety-million strong has an amazing ability to multitask, solves problems creatively, and brings unexpected leadership to the table. But to tap these skills, we need to understand and appreciate the different ways gamers think and behave. "The Kids Are Alright" dispels common myths about gamers and reveals them as committed, team-oriented people who play to win.

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For Canadians only, these books are also massively discounted for you:

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The Almost True Story of Ryan Fisher: A Novel by Rob Stennett
Bright Shiny Morning by James Frey
Women Have All The Power...Too Bad They Don't Know It: Secrets Every Man's Daughter Should Know by Michael Lockwood
The Challenge: Hamdan v. Rumsfeld and the Fight over Presidential by Jonathan Mahler

($0.05)
The Kingdom of Ohio by Matthew Flaming
Drawing the Map of Life: Inside the Human Genome Project by Victor K. McElheny

($0.07)
The Dead Republic by Roddy Doyle

($0.08)
American Commando: Evans Carlson, His WWII Marine Raiders and America's First Special Forces Mission by John Wukovits

($0.12)
Blow the House Down: A Novel by Robert Baer

($0.24)
Tie Me Down by Tracy Wolff

($0.27)
Rhett Butler's People by Donald McCaig

($0.29)
The Christmas Shoes by Donna VanLiere

($0.33)
Plain Jane by Laurien Gardner

($0.44)
The Miracle at Speedy Motors: BOOK #9 by Alexander Mccall Smith
The Open Road by Pico Iyer

($0.46)
Thornfield Hall by Emma Tennant

($0.48)
The New Cold War: Putin's Russia and the Threat to the West by Edward Lucas

($0.52)
Plum Spooky by Janet Evanovich

($0.56)
Little Bird of Heaven by Joyce Carol Oates

($0.57)
Ten Degrees of Reckoning: A True Story of Survival by Hester Rumberg

($0.64)
Keep Your Mouth Shut and Wear Beige by Kathleen Gilles Seidel

($0.70)
Pieces of Sky by Kaki Warner

( $0.86)
Dog Years by Mark Doty

($0.87)
My Season with Penguins: An Antarctic Journal by Sophie Webb

($0.88)
Enemy Women by Paulette Jiles

($0.90)
Hats & Eyeglasses by Martha Frankel
Digital Fortress: A Thriller by Dan Brown

($0.92)
State of Emergency: The Third World Invasion and Conquest of America by Patrick J. Buchanan
Passing Strange: A Gilded Age Tale of Love and Deception Across the Color Line by Martha A. Sandweiss

($0.94)
How Did I Get Here?: Finding Your Way to Renewed Hope and Happiness When Life and Love Take Unexpected Turns by Barbara De Angelis
Here's the Situation: A Guide to Creeping on Chicks, Avoiding Grenades, and Getting in Your GTL on theJersey Shore by Mike "The Situation" Sorrentino and Chris Millis - I can't believe he has a book out
The Great Upheaval by Jay Winik

($0.95)
Confessions of a Beauty Addict by Nadine Haobsh
Spring Breakdown by Melody Carlson
Spring's Renewal by Shelley Shepard Gray
Queen Victoria: Demon Hunter by A E Moorat

($0.99)
Don't Tell Your Cousin by Veronica E. Kelly
Unborn by Carson Wilder and Jude Hardin