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

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Dead Deceiver by Victoria Houston (Adam's Media)

Product Description
The eleventh book in Victoria Houston's popular Loon Lake mystery series!

It's late January at Loon Lake and bodies abound: a woman on snowshoes has been discovered wedged under a wooden bridge on a cross-country ski trail. A day later, Police Chief Lewellyn Ferris interviews a couple who alleges that the wife, a former nun, is being stalked. Meanwhile, Loon Lake is hosting an International Ice Fishing Festival with problems.

Victoria Houston lives in Rhinelander, Wisconsin.

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Free indies:

The Fey (Alex the Fey thriller series) by Claudia Hall Christian (Cook Street Publishing)

Product Description
Released from Walter Reed Hospital, Sergeant Alexandra Hargreaves settles in her hometown of Denver, Colorado. With her family and friends close, and her enemies closer, she strives to collect the pieces of her shattered life.

Then things fall apart.

Haunted by the past, and terrorized in the present, Alex must reach past pain, through memory, and beyond the grave to find her self, and her future.

Mr. Planemaker's Flying Machine by Shelagh Watkins (Mandinam Press)

Product Description
Dell and Emmelisa Planemaker are two ordinary children who lead uneventful lives in a small town in Lancashire until they discover a unique computer that takes them on an extraordinary journey. They are guided by a strange-looking man from a far-off distant planet who helps them to undergo a tough space mission: to follow their father's Trail of Light.

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FYI, new Kindle game app:

KenKen Vol. 1 Presented by Will Shortz (A Logic Puzzle for Kindle) by Gameblend Studios ($1.99)

Product Description
KenKen is a puzzle in which you combine simple math and logic to fill in a grid of numbers.

Presented by New York Times puzzle editor Will Shortz, KenKen is a challenging follow-up to Sudoku. As in Sudoku, KenKen requires that you fill in a grid with numbers without repeating a number in any row or column. In KenKen, you are also shown heavily outlined sets of squares called cages, each of which has a target number and a mathematic operator (addition, subtraction, multiplication or division). The numbers in each cage must combine to produce the target number in the cage using the mathematical operation indicated. Easy cages are made up of one or two squares and are in just one column or row. More difficult cages can cross multiple columns and rows and are made up of many squares, requiring creative thought as you figure out how many different ways you can create the target number with one operator!

KenKen Volume 1 contains 50 puzzles ranging from Easy to Expert, with grid sizes between 3x3 and 9x9. You can use the inline notes feature to help you jot down potential solutions, and if you get stuck, you can always get a hint.

Give your brain a workout and have fun with KenKen!

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The Magnificent 12: The Call with Bonus Material (US/UK/DE), by Michael Grant, is a free pre-order for UK customers in the Kindle store and for $1.15 for European customers (delivery Aug 9). I suspect it will be free for EU and US customers fairly soon (within a day or two) and you can get a sample from the non-bonus edition, which is currently on sale for $4.99. I'd be willing to bet that the bonus material will only be an excerpt from his upcoming The Magnificent 12: The Trap.

Book Description
Twelve-year-old Mack MacAvoy suffers from a serious case of mediumness. Medium looks. Medium grades. Medium parents who barely notice him. With a list of phobias that could make anyone crazy, Mack never would have guessed that he is destined for a more-than-medium life.

And then, one day, something incredibly strange happens to Mack. A three-thousand-year-old man named Grimluk appears in the boys’ bathroom to deliver some startling news: Mack is one of the Magnificent Twelve, called the Magnifica in ancient times, whatever that means. An evil force is on its way, and it’s up to Mack to track down eleven other twelve-year-olds in order to stop it. He must travel across the world to battle the wicked Pale Queen’s dangerous daughter, Ereskigal—also known as Risky. But Risky sounds a little scary, and Mack doesn’t want to be a hero. Will he answer the call?

A laugh-out-loud story filled with excitement and magic, The Magnificent Twelve: The Call is the first book in bestselling author Michael Grant’s hilarious new fantasy adventure series.


Football Genius with Bonus Material, by Tim Green, former defensive end with the Atlanta Falcons, is a free pre-order for UK customers in the Kindle store and for $1.15 for European customers (delivery Aug 9). I suspect it will be free for EU and US customers fairly soon (within a day or two). If you've had you're Kindle a while, you may already have the non-bonus edition of this one in your library, as it was free in April '10. (UK link/DE link)

Book Description
Troy White has a phenomenal gift. He can predict football plays before they happen. Any position. Any player. Any team.

When Troy's single mom gets a job working in public relations for the Atlanta Falcons, Troy figures it's his chance to prove what he can do. But first he has to get to the Falcons—and with tight security and a notoriously mean coach, even his mom's field passes aren't much help.

Then Troy and his best friends devise a plan to get the attention of star linebacker Seth Halloway. With Seth's playing and Troy's genius, the Falcons could be unstoppable—if they'll only listen.

Bestselling author and former NFL player Tim Green scores a touchdown with this exhilarating novel, his first for young readers. Football Genius is an action-packed adventure with gripping suspense, a hero you can really root for, and an insider's look at the world of professional football.

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5 of the USA's Best Trips by Lonely Planet is now free for US Kindle

Product Description
Sample Lonely Planet’s TRIPS Series

Whether you’re a local looking for a long weekend escape, or a visitor looking to explore, Lonely Planet’s TRIPS series offers the best itineraries – and makes it easy to plan the perfect trip time and again.

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Summons: A Goblin King Prequel by Shona Husk (Sourcebooks)

Product Description
Every fairy tale has to have some basis in fact, right? That's what Eliza thought as she made a desperate plea to the legendary Goblin King. If he could grant her wish, she'd finally be safe. He would protect her. But what would he ask in return...?

Enjoy this short free prequel and a sneak peek of The Goblin King, the first of a highly imaginative new paranormal series by Shona Husk.

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Free indies:

Back Under The Stairs (Bandworld Series - Book #2) by John G. Stockmyer, John L. Stockmyer and Peter Ziomek

Product Description
Recently purchasing what was said to be a "haunted house," John Lyon, young Kansas City historian, stumbled into an alternate reality accessed from the storage space under his stairs. He was able to make it home from the first trip to Bandworld unscathed.

His 20th Century knowledge now buttressed by the magic he'd learned to use in the alternate world ... what could be wrong with taking another trip to enchantment-land? Nothing. . . if you don't count John's encounter with the Lxlop, being caged by Pfnaravin, and a deadly battle with the Azare Mage-King Auro!

Beautiful Sins: Leigha Lowery by Jennifer Hampton (Hampton Publishing)

Product Description
The skies of the Dark Coast, the Pacific Coastline of U.S. States has been infected with a strange chemical reaction from a military experiment gone awry. Constant cloud cover rules over the lands. Leigha Lowery, a sixteen year-old popular fiction writer in the local free press is pulled from the only home she knows in Detroit, MI when her mother decides on an impulse to marry a doctor she's been dating over the internet and moves to the small town of Banks, Oregon. As she adjusts to her new life of wealth and power, she begins to realize that the rumors about the Dark Coast aren't even close to what she's witnessed. Prince Alexander Sommers, the son of King Royce, and heir to the throne has taken a fascination to her. He pulls her into a world of vampires, werewolves, witches, and many other creatures of the night that have decided to make the Dark Coast their home.

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Every Word: Crossings (A Free Game for Kindle) by Amazon Digital Services

Product Description
Every Word: Crossings is a word game in which you try to unscramble letters to fill in as many words as you can on a crossword style grid.

You are given five to seven scrambled letters with the goal of finding as many words as you can. When you find a word it gets added to the crossword style grid, which gives you clues about the words that intersect with the word you just found. You score points by filling out the words in each empty spot on the crossword grid. When you find a word that uses all available letters, you can move on to the next level, or keep at it until time runs out or until you fill up the board. The more words you make, the higher your score!

Every Word: Crossings has 10 levels of difficulty and as you progress through them the puzzles become more and more complex. Level 1 gives you 5 letters to work with and a relatively small grid with about a dozen words to fill in. Level 10 gives you 7 letters to work with and more than 30 words to find.

There are thousands of unique puzzles to play -- if you like word games, you'll love Every Word: Crossings.

Please note: Every Word: Crossings may contain content inappropriate for children.

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7-Day Doubt Diet, The by Renee Swope (Revell) Pre-order

Product Description
Want to lose the weight of self-doubt? Join Renee Swope and thousands of others on The 7-Day Doubt Diet, a free devotional companion to Renee’s book A Confident Heart. Filled with powerful insights, encouraging promises, practical life applications, and Scripture-based prayers, The 7-Day Doubt Diet will help you replace any lack of self-confidence with lasting God confidence. Invite friends, coworkers, neighbors, and family to join you on The 7-Day Doubt Diet as you lose the weight of doubt and gain a confident heart!

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Exotic Indulgence by Jess Dee, Lexxie Couper and Vivian Arend (Samhain) Pre-order

Product Description
It’s time for an indulgence, or two…or three.

Bandicoot Cove, Book 1

There’s something magical about Bandicoot Cove. It’s where Kylie Sullivan’s dream of managing a luxury, five-star resort is about to come true. And it’s where people tend to fall in love. Kylie should know. She’s fallen hard—for three very different men.

There’s Brad, who knows just how to relieve her stress and send her body on a crash course through pleasure. Hemi, her untamed Maori, who awakens her primitive side. And Finn, the sexy bartender whose specialty is Screaming Orgasms.

The three men fulfill all her sexual fantasies, but Kylie knows reality will eventually set in and she’ll have to choose. But how? For now she decides not to decide—at least until she makes sure the resort’s soft opening comes off without a hitch.

As far as Brad, Hemi and Finn are concerned, Kylie’s life is too much work and not enough play. The only choice they plan to give her is to say yes to their wildly passionate proposal…

Warning: Three sexy men pleasing one uninhibited woman—how much more warning do you need? This short story is long on heat, with a drool-worthy setting and sexual interludes in the office, at the beach and the bar. You want a day job like this.

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Free indies:

AVION - Book One of the Crystal Rose Chronicles by Emma Daniels

Product Description
When Alecsis Rose finds himself washed up on an unknown beach, he has no idea who he is, or how he got there. Alone in a strange tropical land with people who look nothing like him and don't speak his language, Alecsis has a lot to learn.

Join Alecsis on a magical, danger fraught journey of discovery, as he fights against prejudice and hatred to remember who he is in time to save his friends and the woman he loves from terrible evil.

This book contains wizards, warlocks, knights in shining armour, wicked pirates, damsels in distress, and enough myths and magic to create a legend.

Well Played 3.0: Video Games, Value and Meaning by et al. and Drew Davidson

Product Description
Following on Well Played 1.0 and 2.0, this book is full of in-depth close readings of video games that parse out the various meanings to be found in the experience of playing a game. Contributors analyze sequences in a game in detail in order to illustrate and interpret how the various components of a game can come together to create fulfilling a playing experience unique to this medium. Contributors again look at video games, some that were covered in Well Played 1.0 and 2.0 as well as new ones, in order to provide a variety of perspectives on more great games.

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Also free at Amazon UK:

5 of the USA's Best Trips by Lonely Planet

Summons: A Goblin King Prequel by Shona Husk

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Zendegi by Greg Egan now also free for US Kindle (Nightshade Books)

Product Description
In 2012, journalist Martin Seymour travels to Iran to cover the parliamentary elections. With most would-be candidates disqualified this turns out to be the expected non-event, but shortly afterward a compromising image of a government official captured on a mobile phone triggers a political avalanche.
Nasim Golestani, a young Iranian scientist living in exile in the United States, is hoping to work on the Human Connectome Project -- which aims to construct a detailed map of the wiring of the human brain -- but when government funding for the project is cancelled and a chance comes to return to her homeland, she chooses to head back to Iran.
Fifteen years later, Martin is living in Iran with his wife and young son, while Nasim is in charge of the virtual world known as Zendegi, used by millions of people for entertainment and business. When Zendegi comes under threat from powerful competitors, Nasim draws on her old skills, and data from the now-completed Human Connectome Project, to embark on a program to create more life-like virtual characters and give the company an unbeatable edge.
As controversy grows over the nature and rights of these software characters, tragedy strikes Martin's family. Martin turns to Nasim, seeking a solution that no one else can offer ... but Zendegi is about to become a battlefield.

[koland]

The World of Stephanie Laurens, by Stephanie Laurens, is a free pre-order in the Kindle store for UK and European customers only. So far, it isn't available for those in the US and elsewhere. (UK link/DE link)

Book Description
A complete guide to the World of Stephanie Laurens—beginning with her debut, CaptainJack’s Woman and her first Cynster novel, Devil’s Bride! You’ll find everything you need to know about the Cynsters, the Bastions, the Black Cobra Quartet, and the Cynster Brides. You’ll also get extra features, including a chat with the author, a Cynster family tree, a guide to the Bastion Club, information about Stephanie’s novellas, and much, much more!

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Free indie:

Ludoliteracy: Defining, Understanding, and Supporting Games Education by Jose P. Zagal (ETC Press)

Product Description
On the surface, it seems like teaching about games should be easy. After all, students are highly motivated, enjoy engaging with course content, and have extensive personal experience with videogames. However, games education can be surprisingly complex.

This book explores the question of what it means to understand games by looking at the challenges and problems faced by students who are taking games-related classes. It demonstrates how learning about games can be challenging for multiple reasons. Some of the more relevant findings discussed include realizing that extensive prior videogame experience often interferes with students’ abilities to reason critically and analytically about games, and that students have difficulties articulating their experiences and observations about games.

In response to these challenges, this book examines how we can use online learning environments to support learning about games by (1) helping students get more from their experiences with games, and (2) helping students use what they know to establish deeper understanding.