Affiliate Links for "arcadata"- September 2012

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New Kindle apps:

Numdoku (A Puzzle Game for Kindle) by Nice Games ($0.99)

Cursed (A Vampire Text Adventure, Volume 1) (An Interactive Fiction title for Kindle) by Sam Landstrom ($1.99)

CalcuDoku for Kids (A Kids Puzzle Game for Kindle) by DJAPE ($2.99)

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The Magicians of Caprona (Chrestomanci ) by Diana Wynne Jones from Greenwillow Books is $3.99 (US Kindle)

Book Description
Age Level: 10 and up | Grade Level: 5 and up

Tonino is the only person in the famous Montana household who wasn't born with an instinct for creating spells, but he has other gifts. His ability to communicate with cats just might help defend the city of Caprona against a mysterious enchanter -- but only if Tonino can learn to cooperate with a girl from the hated Petrocchi family of spell-makers.

Plus, a number of Diana Wynne Jones' books are just $4.99 - Amazon search link

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The Psychic Tourist: A Voyage into the Curious World of Predicting the Future by William Little from Icon Books (£0.99) is the Amazon UK Kindle Deal of the Day (September 14) *Wait for price to reflect discount before 1-clicking

Product Description

Can people see into the future? Can lives be predicted? In The Psychic Tourist, William Little sets out to unconver the truth about the power of fortune telling and prophecy. From horoscopes to TV psychics and from Nostradamus to Derren Brown, this is a fascinating book for sceptics and mystics alike.

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Winter's Tale by Mark Helprin from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt ($1.99) is the NOOK Daily Find (September 14)

Product Description

Marc Halpern's magical story has been hailed as one of the very best American novels. At once a paean to a forgotten New York City and an eloquent exploration on justice, death, and the human soul, the breathtaking story of Peter Lake and Beverly Penn -- and their love that defies even death -- is one that will stay with you long after you read its final word.

The Debt Bomb: A Bold Plan to Stop Washington from Bankrupting America by Tom A. Coburn from Thomas Nelson ($3.99) is the NOOK Daily Find: Election 2012 (September 14)

Product Description

Senator Tom Coburn's call to action warns that the greatest threat to America's future isn't a foreign force but rather our nation's ballooning debt. Placing the blame squarely on members of Congress from both sides of the party, Coburn offers a commonsense guide to restoring order.

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"The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich by William Shirer from RosettaBooks ($1.99) is the Kindle Deal of the Day (September 14) *Wait for price to reflect discount before 1-clicking

Product Description

William Shirer's National Book Award-winning history offers a clear, detailed, and well-documented account of how it was that Adolf Hitler almost succeeded in conquering the world. The book has been translated into 12 languages and is a classic by any measure.

Savvy by Ingrid Law from Puffin ($2.99) is the Kindle Kids Daily Deal (September 14) *Wait for price to reflect discount before 1-clicking

Product Description

In Ingrid Law's Newbery Honor Book, the Beaumont family has, for generations, harbored a magical secret, a special supernatural power that strikes when they turn 13... and now it's the eve of Mibs's big day.

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Weekly Kindle App Deal: Gem Falls

This pattern-matching game for Kindle is simple to learn but challenging to master, and for one week only, it's just $0.99.

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The Pilo Family Circus by Will Elliott from Icon Books (£0.99) is the Amazon UK Kindle Deal of the Day (September 15) *Wait for price to reflect discount before 1-clicking

Product Description

Headhunted by sadistic clowns, Jamie has no choice but to run away and join the circus. But the nightmarish Pilo Family Circus is not only full of shape-shifting freaks, it is located in the underworld next to hell. Jamie will have to destroy his own evil alter ego, JJ if he ever wants to get out of the circus alive.

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To The Moon and Back by Jill Mansell from Sourcebooks ($1.99) is the NOOK Daily Find (September 15)

Product Description

Fan-favorite author Jill Mansell delivers a the delightful story of second chances. Ellie Kendall is a young widow, still haunted by the memory of her husband. Even with her father-in-law and her best friend supporting her, will she be able to open herself up to romance again?

Republic, Lost: How Money Corrupts Congress--and a Plan to Stop It by Lawrence Lessig by Tom A. Coburn from Grand Central Publishing ($3.99) is the NOOK Daily Find: Election 2012 (September 15)

Product Description

Trust in our government is at an all-time low, fueled by a perception that money buys results in Washington. Harvard law professor Lawrence Lessig presents an unflinching analysis of how we arrived at this crisis and calls upon Americans to confront corruption as a common enemy.

FYI, this Nook deal is price-matched on US Kindle:

Republic, Lost: How Money Corrupts Congress--and a Plan to Stop It by Lawrence Lessig

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Barbara Freethy's "Sanders Brothers" and "Deception" series ($1.99 each) is the Kindle Deal of the Day (September 15) *Wait for price to reflect discount before 1-clicking

Product Description

All four books encompassing best-selling author Barbara Freethy's "Sanders Brothers" and "Deception" series are $1.99 each, up to 60% off the digital list price. Both series are perfect examples of Freethy's completely engrossing blend of gripping suspense and absorbing romance.

The Captain's Dog: My Journey with the Lewis and Clark Tribe (Great Episodes) by Roland Smith from Harcourt Children's Books ($1.99) is the Kindle Young Readers Daily Deal (September 15) *Wait for price to reflect discount before 1-clicking

Product Description

Seaman, a Newfoundland pup, doesn’t imagine a life of glory, but everything changes after meeting Captain Meriwether Lewis. This carefully researched, thrilling tale of America’s greatest journey of discovery--as seen through the keen, compassionate eyes of a remarkable dog--is part history, part science, and adventure through and through.

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FYI, Amazon has matched the Nook deal:

To The Moon and Back by Jill Mansell also $1.99

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The Tavernier Stones: A Novel by Stephen Parrish from MIDNIGHT INK is $2.99 (US Kindle)

Book Description:

When the body of seventeenth-century mapmaker Johannes Cellarius floats to the surface of a bog in northern Germany with a 57-carat ruby clutched in his fist, the grisly discovery ignites a deadly twenty-first-century international treasure hunt to unearth the fabled Tavernier stones. The hoard reputedly contains some of the world’s most notorious missing jewels, including the 280-carat Great Mogul diamond and the 242-carat Great Table diamond.

Scrupulously honest Amish-born cartographer John Graf teams up with outlaw prospector and gemologist David Freeman in a ferocious race to find the treasure and break a secret code that will unravel the centuries-old Tavernier stones mystery. But other fortune hunters, opportunists and criminals alike, are in hot pursuit of the mismatched partners–and they’ll stop at nothing to possess the legendary jewels.

Candyfreak: A Journey through the Chocolate Underbelly of America by Steve Almond from Algonquin Books is $1.99 (US Kindle)

Book Description:

Perhaps you remember the whipped splendor of the Choco-Lite, or the luscious Caravelle bar, or maybe the sublime and perfectly balanced Hershey’s Cookies ‘n Mint. The Marathon, an inimitable rope of caramel covered in chocolate. Oompahs. Bit-O-Choc. The Kit Kat Dark.

Steve Almond certainly does. In fact, he was so obsessed by the inexplicable disappearance of these bars—where’d they go?—that he embarked on a nationwide journey to uncover the truth about the candy business. There, he found an industry ruled by huge conglomerates, where the little guys, the last remaining link to the glorious boom years of the candy bar in America, struggle to survive.

Visiting the candy factories that produce the Twin Bing, the Idaho Spud, the Goo Goo Cluster, the Valomilk, and a dozen other quirky bars, Almond finds that the world of candy is no longer a sweet haven. Today’s precious few regional candy makers mount daily battles against corporate greed, paranoia, and that good old American compulsion: crushing the little guy.

Part candy porn, part candy polemic, part social history, part confession, Candyfreak explores the role candy plays in our lives as both source of pleasure and escape from pain. By turns ecstatic, comic, and bittersweet, Candyfreak is the story of how Steve Almond grew up on candy—and how, for better and worse, candy has grown up, too.

Term Limits by Vince Flynn from Atria Books/Simon and Schuster is $3.99 (US Kindle)

Book Description:

Taking America back . . . one politician at a time.

In one bloody night, three of Washington’s most powerful politicians are executed with surgical precision. Their assassins then deliver a shocking ultimatum to the American government: set aside partisan politics and restore power to the people. No one, they warn, is out of their reach—not even the president. A joint FBI-CIA task force reveals the killers are elite military commandos, but no one knows exactly who they are or when they will strike next. Only Michael O’Rourke, a former U.S. Marine and freshman congressman, holds a clue to the violence: a haunting incident in his own past with explosive implications for his country’s future. . . .

Knitting Under the Influence by Claire LaZebnik from 5 Spot/Hachette is $2.99 (US Kindle)

Book Description:

When you’re in your late twenties and nothing in your life seems to be falling into place, knitting is an awfully seductive way to spend your free time. After all, as long as you’re following the instructions, you can knit row after row with the knowledge that the pattern will emerge and you’ll end up with just what you wanted. Life, on the other hand, doesn’t come with a stitch counter, so Kathleen, Sari, and Lucy, the heroines of KNITTING UNDER THE INFLUENCE, just have to figure things out as they go along.

Their weekly Sunday knitting circle is the only thing holding them together as Kathleen is cut off financially by her family and forced to enter `the real world’ for the very first time at the age of twenty-seven, Sari finds herself falling for the man who made her life a living hell in high school but who now desperately needs her help, and Lucy finds herself torn between emotion and reason when her lab and her boyfriend are assailed by an animal-rights group.

At their club meetings, they discuss the really important questions: how bad is it, really, to marry for money if you like the guy a lot anyway? Can you ever forgive someone for something truly atrocious that they’ve done? Is it better to be unhappily coupled than happily alone? And the little ones: Can you wear a bra with a hand-knit tube top? Is it ever acceptable to knit something for a boyfriend? And why do your stitches become lopsided after your second martini?

In Claire LaZebnik’s hilarious and sometimes heartbreaking novel, Sari, Lucy, and Kathleen’s lives intersect, overlap, unravel, and come back together-the result is an utterly satisfying read.

Myrren’s Gift (The Quickening) by Fiona McIntosh from HarperCollins is $1.99 (US Kindle)

Book Description:

Destined by blood to command the Morgravian army, Wyl Thirsk assumes his awesome responsibility while barely a teenager when his father meets an early death — a duty that calls him to the royal palace of Stoneheart and into the company of the crown prince Celimus. Already a spiteful and cruel despot who delights in the suffering of others, Celimus forces his virtuous new general to bear witness to his depraved “entertainments.” But a kindness to a condemned witch in her final agonizing hours earns young Thirsk a miraculous bequest, at the same time inflaming the wrath of his liege lord.

With dread war looming in the north, Wyl must obey the treacherous dictates of Celimus and embark on a suicidal journey to the court of an ancient enemy — armed with a strange and awesome secret that could prove both boon and curse. For unless he accepts Myrren’s gift, it will surely destroy him . . . and the land he must defend as well.

52 Loaves by William Alexander from Algonquin Books is $1.99 (US Kindle)

Book Description:

William Alexander is determined to bake the perfect loaf of bread. He tasted it long ago, in a restaurant, and has been trying to reproduce it ever since. Without success. Now, on the theory that practice makes perfect, he sets out to bake peasant bread every week until he gets it right. He bakes his loaf from scratch. And because Alexander is nothing if not thorough, he really means from scratch: growing, harvesting, winnowing, threshing, and milling his own wheat.

An original take on the six-thousand-year-old staple of life, 52 Loaves explores the nature of obsession, the meditative quality of ritual, the futility of trying to re-create something perfect, our deep connection to the earth, and the mysterious instinct that makes all of us respond to the aroma of baking bread.

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Supersense by Bruce Hood from Constable (£0.99) is the Amazon UK Kindle Deal of the Day (September 16) *Wait for price to reflect discount before 1-clicking

Product Description

Where does belief in the supernatural come from? What causes our superstitions and even our intuition? In this intriguing exploration of the human mind, Bruce M Hood examines the science and societal value behind human persistence in believing in the unseen, the unexplainable and the unbelievable.

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Rules of Civility: A Novel by Amor Towles from Penguin Books ($2.99) is the NOOK Daily Find (September 16)

Product Description

On the last night of 1937, young Katey Kontent meets handsome banker Tinker Grey in a seedy New York jazz bar. This chance encounter propels Katey on a journey into the upper echelons of New York society, armed only with her own brand of wit and verve, in this sophisticated, entertaining novel from Amor Towles.

Philanthrocapitalism: How Giving Can Save the World by Matthew Bishop and Michael Green from Bloomsbury USA ($2.99) is the NOOK Daily Find: Election 2012 (September 16)

Product Description

If you think that charity is just giving money away, think again. In this eye-opening new book Matthew Bishop and Michael Green look at the way a new generation of "social investors" are bringing the perspectives of business to solving the world's most pressing problems in ways governments can't.

* FYI, Amazon has matched this Nook deal:

PPhilanthrocapitalism: How Giving Can Save the World by Matthew Bishop and Michael Green also $2.99

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Rules of Civility: A Novel by Amor Towles from Penguin Books ($2.99) is the Kindle Deal of the Day (September 16) *Wait for price to reflect discount before 1-clicking

Product Description

Amazon Best Books of the Month, August 2011

This sophisticated and entertaining debut novel follows 25-year-old Katey Kontent, a young woman whose life is on the brink of transformation in 1937. After meeting a handsome banker in a second-rate Greenwich Village jazz bar, Katey embarks on a year-long journey into the upper echelons of New York society.

Gossamer by Lois Lowry from Houghton Mifflin Books for Children ($2.99) is the Kindle Kids Daily Deal (September 16) *Wait for price to reflect discount before 1-clicking

Product Description

Two-time Newbery winner Lois Lowry explores the bits and pieces of the past that come to life in dreams. In a haunting story that tiptoes between reality and imagination, a woman and a boy are renewed by the strength that comes from a tiny, caring creature they will never see.

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Bruar's Rest by Jess Smith from Birlinn (£0.99) is the Amazon UK Kindle Deal of the Day (September 17) *Wait for price to reflect discount before 1-clicking

Product Description

Bruar Stewart's parents fell in love in the Scottish Highlands. This epic tale continues as Bruar rescues Megan's travelling family in a storm. The two fall in love as World War One is declared and the lovers are separated. When Bruar is reported missing in action, Megan goes on a long and dangerous journey to find him.

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Kiss That Frog!: 12 Great Ways to Turn Negatives into Positives in Your Life and Work by Brian Tracy and Christina Tracy Stein from Berrett-Koehler Publishers ($1.99) is the NOOK Daily Find (September 17)

Product Description

Just as fairy tale princesses are reluctant to kiss that frog that will transform into a handsome prince, so too do many of us allow negative thoughts emotions, and attitudes to stop us from achieving our dreams. Here bestselling author Brian Tracy and his daughter, therapist Christina Tracy Stein, provide a set of practical, proven strategies you can use to turn those negative frogs into positive princes. So pucker up!

What's the Matter with Kansas?: How Conservatives Won the Heart of America by Thomas Frank from Holt, Henry & Company ($3.99) is the NOOK Daily Find: Election 2012 (September 17)

Product Description

Thomas Frank's bracing, witty, and urgently counterintuitive look at the transformation of America's political landscape has never been timelier. Tracing three decades of outrage in the heartland, one of the funniest and shrewdest observers of our national character digs into the history of this revolutionary change.

* FYI, Amazon has matched this Nook deal:

What's the Matter with Kansas?: How Conservatives Won the Heart of America by Thomas Frank also $3.99

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Secrets of the Cold War: US Army Europe's Intelligence & Counterintelligence Activities Against the Soviets During the Cold War by Leland C. McCaslin from Helion ($1.99) is the Kindle Deal of the Day (September 17) *Wait for price to reflect discount before 1-clicking

Product Description

Focusing on a dark period of a silent conflict, this history offers a new perspective on the Cold War. The author, formerly a counterintelligence expert in US Army Europe, weaves together exciting true accounts of allies collecting enemy information in the East and fighting spies and terrorists in the West.

Three Little Kittens by Paul Galdone from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt ($1.99) is the Kindle Kids Daily Deal (September 17) *Wait for price to reflect discount before 1-clicking

Product Description

Three little kittens, they lost their mittens, and they began to cry. The three little kittens may be a bit careless, but they always manage to correct their mistakes in this favorite Mother Goose rhyming picture-book.

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My Extraordinary Ordinary Life by Sissy Spacek with Maryanne Vollers from Hyperion is $3.99 (US Kindle)

* Add the professional narration of My Extraordinary Ordinary Life for a reduced price of $4.95 after you buy this Kindle book.

Book Description

In her delightful and moving memoir, Sissy Spacek writes about her idyllic, barefoot childhood in a small East Texas town, with the clarity and wisdom that comes from never losing sight of her roots. Descended from industrious Czech immigrants and threadbare southern gentility, she grew up a tomboy, tagging along with two older brothers and absorbing grace and grit from her remarkable parents, who taught her that she could do anything. She also learned fearlessness in the wake of a family tragedy, the grief propelling her "like rocket fuel" to follow her dreams of becoming a performer.

With a keen sense of humor and a big-hearted voice, she describes how she arrived in New York City one star-struck summer as a seventeen-year-old carrying a suitcase and two guitars; and how she built a career that has spanned four decades with films such as Carrie, Coal Miner’s Daughter, 3 Women, and The Help. She details working with some of the great directors of our time, including Terrence Malick, Robert Altman, David Lynch, and Brian De Palma—who thought of her as a no-talent set decorator until he cast her as the lead in Carrie. She also reveals why, at the height of her fame, she and her family moved away from Los Angeles to a farm in rural Virginia.

Whether she’s describing the terrors and joys of raising two talented, independent daughters, taking readers behind the scenes on Oscar night, or meditating on the thrill of watching a pair of otters frolicking in her pond, Sissy Spacek’s memoir is poignant and laugh-out-loud funny, plainspoken and utterly honest. My Extraordinary Ordinary Life is about what matters most: the exquisite worth of ordinary things, the simple pleasures of home and family, and the honest job of being right with the world. "If I get hit by a truck tomorrow," she writes, "I want to know I’ve returned my neighbor’s cake pan."

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The Dinner Diaries: Raising Whole Wheat Kids in a White Bread World by Betsy Block from Algonquin Books is $1.99 (US Kindle)

Book Description:

“I’d always thought food was pretty straightforward: you’re hungry, you eat; you’re not, you don’t. Then I became a mother.”

So begins Betsy Block’s humorous, life-changing book on the ultimate of all makeovers: improving the family meal. But how is her plan even possible when eleven-year old Zack’s favorite food is Halloween candy; little Maya is so picky that she’ll only eat cut squares of white bread; and her husband’s idea of a gift is an electric fryer?

Determined not to give up the good-food fight, Betsy comes up with a creative ten-step makeover plan. She consults experts, visits farms, and shows how she and her family manage the pitfalls, struggles, and triumphs of eating well when busy schedules, surreptitious lunch trades, snack machines, permissive grandparents, and willful temptations intervene. With helpful charts, food lists, recipes, tips, and suggested culinary and farm programs for kids, The Dinner Diaries chronicles one family’s intrepid ten-month challenge to change the way they eat—one forkful at a time.

A Simple Act of Gratitude: How Learning to Say Thank You Changed My Life by John Kralik from Hyperion is $3.99 (US Kindle)

Book Description:

One recent December, at age 53, John Kralik found his life at a terrible, frightening low: his small law firm was failing; he was struggling through a painful second divorce; he had grown distant from his two older children and was afraid he might lose contact with his young daughter; he was living in a tiny apartment where he froze in the winter and baked in the summer; he was 40 pounds overweight; his girlfriend had just broken up with him; and overall, his dearest life dreams—including hopes of upholding idealistic legal principles and of becoming a judge—seemed to have slipped beyond his reach.

Then, during a desperate walk in the hills on New Year’s Day, John was struck by the belief that his life might become at least tolerable if, instead of focusing on what he didn’t have, he could find some way to be grateful for what he had.

Inspired by a beautiful, simple note his ex-girlfriend had sent to thank him for his Christmas gift, John imagined that he might find a way to feel grateful by writing thank-you notes. To keep himself going, he set himself a goal—come what may—of writing 365 thank-you notes in the coming year.

One by one, day after day, he began to handwrite thank yous—for gifts or kindnesses he’d received from loved ones and coworkers, from past business associates and current foes, from college friends and doctors and store clerks and handymen and neighbors, and anyone, really, absolutely anyone, who’d done him a good turn, however large or small. Immediately after he’d sent his very first notes, significant and surprising benefits began to come John’s way—from financial gain to true friendship, from weight loss to inner peace. While John wrote his notes, the economy collapsed, the bank across the street from his office failed, but thank-you note by thank-you note, John’s whole life turned around.

Swinging from My Heels: Confessions of an LPGA Star by Alan Shipnuck and Christina Kim from Bloomsbury USA is $2.16 (US Kindle)

Book Description:

Christina Kim is the brashest, bawdiest, funniest player on the Ladies Professional Golf Association tour. Golf fans know her for her colorful wardrobe, even more colorful on-course antics, and an explosive game. But in this rollicking account of the 2009 season, Kim invites readers deep into her life, providing an intimate diary of a young woman’s struggles on and off the golf course, and revealing the glory and heartbreak of life on the tour.

Once known as a prodigy who shot a 62 in her first LPGA event some six years ago, Kim has newly rededicated herself to realizing her potential, and she takes readers between the ropes for all the action, including her nail-biting near misses at two major championships. She also goes inside the team room at the Solheim Cup, revealing the hijinks and late-night gab sessions that bonded the victorious U.S. team. Along the way we get intimate portraits of her close friends on tour, including tour leaders such as Michelle Wie, Lorena Ochoa, Paula Creamer, Morgan Pressel, and Natalie Gulbis.

In this courageous telling, no topic is out-of-bounds, as Kim dishes about the LPGA’s sexual mores, the culture clash of an American-based tour increasingly dominated by Koreans, the tumultuous economic forces squeezing the players, and her own battles with body image and her traditional upbringing. Winsome and good-natured, but never afraid of a laugh line or choice profanity, Christina Kim provides a must-read for anyone who loves golf or has wondered about the inner self of a professional athlete.

Bringing Up Oscar: The Story of the Men and Women Who Founded the Academy by Debra Ann Pawlak from Pegasus is $3.48 (US Kindle)

Book Description:

The untold story of the innovative pioneers who helped make movies the preeminent art form of the twentieth century by founding the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

The founders of the now infamous Academy were a motley crewas individuals, but when they first converged in Hollywood, then just a small town with dirt roads, sparks flew and fueled a commondream: to bring artistic validity to their beloved new medium.

Today, movies are so ingrained in our culture it is hard to imagine a time when former cowpunchers, prospectors, vaudevillians,even junk dealers made up the rules as they went along. Prohibition and the Great Depression were keeping everyone on edge, and the business was rife with murders and drug scandals. Something had to happen. And so on January 11th, 1927, thirty-six members of Hollywood’s elite and not-so-elite came together at the behest of MGM chief Louis B. Mayer. From Cecil B. DeMille toMary Pickford, Harry M. Warner, who owned a bike shop before launching the revolutionary “talkie” The Jazz Singer, even Joseph M. Schenck, freed from jail just in time to discover Marilyn Monroe—each guest was more colorful than the last. Although they didn’t know it yet, these thirty-six achievers and dreamers gave birth to a golden child.

Who were these movers and shakers who would change moviesforever? And what about Oscar, their famous son? He is fast approaching his 100th birthday, and is still the undisputed king of Hollywood. Yet with such dynamic parents, what else could weexpect?

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Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult from Atria Books/Simon and Schuster is $4.99 (US Kindle)

Book Description

In nineteen minutes, you can mow the front lawn, color your hair, watch a third of a hockey game. In nineteen minutes, you can bake scones or get a tooth filled by a dentist; you can fold laundry for a family of five....In nineteen minutes, you can stop the world, or you can just jump off it. In nineteen minutes, you can get revenge.

Sterling is a small, ordinary New Hampshire town where nothing ever happens -- until the day its complacency is shattered by a shocking act of violence. In the aftermath, the town's residents must not only seek justice in order to begin healing but also come to terms with the role they played in the tragedy. For them, the lines between truth and fiction, right and wrong, insider and outsider have been obscured forever. Josie Cormier, the teenage daughter of the judge sitting on the case, could be the state's best witness, but she can't remember what happened in front of her own eyes. And as the trial progresses, fault lines between the high school and the adult community begin to show, destroying the closest of friendships and families.

Nineteen Minutes is New York Times bestselling author Jodi Picoult's most raw, honest, and important novel yet. Told with the straightforward style for which she has become known, it asks simple questions that have no easy answers: Can your own child become a mystery to you? What does it mean to be different in our society? Is it ever okay for a victim to strike back? And who -- if anyone -- has the right to judge someone else?

My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult from Atria Books/Simon and Schuster is $4.99 (US Kindle)

Book Description

New York Times bestselling author Jodi Picoult is widely acclaimed for her keen insights into the hearts and minds of real people. Now she tells the emotionally riveting story of a family torn apart by conflicting needs and a passionate love that triumphs over human weakness.

Anna is not sick, but she might as well be. By age thirteen, she has undergone countless surgeries, transfusions, and shots so that her older sister, Kate, can somehow fight the leukemia that has plagued her since childhood. The product of preimplantation genetic diagnosis, Anna was conceived as a bone marrow match for Kate -- a life and a role that she has never challenged...until now. Like most teenagers, Anna is beginning to question who she truly is. But unlike most teenagers, she has always been defined in terms of her sister -- and so Anna makes a decision that for most would be unthinkable, a decision that will tear her family apart and have perhaps fatal consequences for the sister she loves.

My Sister's Keeper examines what it means to be a good parent, a good sister, a good person. Is it morally correct to do whatever it takes to save a child's life, even if that means infringing upon the rights of another? Is it worth trying to discover who you really are, if that quest makes you like yourself less? Should you follow your own heart, or let others lead you? Once again, in My Sister's Keeper, Jodi Picoult tackles a controversial real-life subject with grace, wisdom, and sensitivity.

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In His Majesty's Service: Three Novels of Temeraire (His Majesty's Service, Throne of Jade, and Black Powder War) by Naomi Novik from Del Rey/Random House is $9.99 (US Kindle)

Book Description

Together in one volume, here are the first three novels in Naomi Novik’s New York Times bestselling Temeraire series, combining the gripping history of the Napoleonic era, the thrill of Anne McCaffrey’s Dragonriders of Pern books, and the excitement of Patrick O’Brian’s seafaring adventures. In His Majesty’s Service also includes an exclusive original Temeraire short story.

Capt. Will Laurence is serving with honor in the British Navy when his ship captures a French frigate harboring most a unusual cargo–an incalculably valuable dragon egg. When the egg hatches, Laurence unexpectedly becomes the master of the young dragon Temeraire and finds himself on an extraordinary journey that will shatter his orderly, respectable life and alter the course of his nation’s history.

Thrust into England’s Aerial Corps, Laurence and Temeraire undergo rigorous training while staving off French forces intent on breaching British soil. But the pair has more than France to contend with when China learns that an imperial dragon intended for Napoleon–Temeraire himself– has fallen into British hands. The emperor summons the new pilot and his dragon to the Far East, a long voyage fraught with peril and intrigue. From England’s shores to China’s palaces, from the Silk Road’s outer limits to the embattled borders of Prussia and Poland, Laurence and Temeraire must defend their partnership and their country from powerful adversaries around the globe. But can they succeed against the massed forces of Bonaparte’s implacable army?

Wicked Deeds on a Winter's Night (Immortals After Dark, Book 3) by Kresley Cole from Pocket Star/Simon and Schuster is $3.99 (US Kindle)

Book Description

Her breathless kiss haunts him...
Bowen MacRieve of the Lykae clan was nearly destroyed when he lost the one woman meant for him. The ruthless warrior grew even colder, never taking another to his bed -- until a smoldering encounter with his enemy, Mariketa the Awaited, reawakens his darkest desires. When sinister forces unite against her, the Highlander finds himself using all his strength and skill to keep her alive.

His slow, hot touch is irresistible...

Temporarily stripped of her powers, Mari is forced to take refuge with her sworn adversary. It's rumored that no one can tempt Bowen's hardened heart, but soon passion burns between them. Though a future together is impossible, she fears he has no intention of letting her go.

No deed is too wicked for her seduction...

If they defeat the evil that surrounds them, can Mari deny Bowen when he demands her body and soul -- or will she risk everything for her fierce protector?

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The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly from Atria Books/Simon and Schuster is $3.99 (US Kindle)

Book Description

New York Times bestselling author John Connolly's unique imagination takes readers through the end of innocence into adulthood and beyond in this dark and triumphantly creative novel of grief and loss, loyalty and love, and the redemptive power of stories.
High in his attic bedroom, twelve-year-old David mourns the death of his mother. He is angry and alone, with only the books on his shelf for company. But those books have begun to whisper to him in the darkness, and as he takes refuge in his imagination, he finds that reality and fantasy have begun to meld. While his family falls apart around him, David is violently propelled into a land that is a strange reflection of his own world, populated by heroes and monsters, and ruled over by a faded king who keeps his secrets in a mysterious book... The Book of Lost Things.

An imaginative tribute to the journey we must all make through the loss of innocence into adulthood, John Connolly's latest novel is a book for every adult who can recall the moment when childhood began to fade, and for every adult about to face that moment. The Book of Lost Things is a story of hope for all who have lost, and for all who have yet to lose. It is an exhilarating tale that reminds us of the enduring power of stories in our lives.

Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson from HarperCollins is $2.99 (US Kindle)

Book Description

With this extraordinary first volume in what promises to be an epoch-making masterpiece, Neal Stephenson hacks into the secret histories of nations and the private obsessions of men, decrypting with dazzling virtuosity the forces that shaped this century.
In 1942, Lawrence Pritchard Waterhouse - mathematical genius and young Captain in the U.S. Navy - is assigned to detachment 2702. It is an outfit so secret that only a handful of people know it exists, and some of those people have names like Churchill and Roosevelt. The mission of Watrehouse and Detatchment 2702-commanded by Marine Raider Bobby Shaftoe-is to keep the Nazis ignorant of the fact that Allied Intelligence has cracked the enemy's fabled Enigma code. It is a game, a cryptographic chess match between Waterhouse and his German counterpart, translated into action by the gung-ho Shaftoe and his forces.

Fast-forward to the present, where Waterhouse's crypto-hacker grandson, Randy, is attempting to create a "data haven" in Southeast Asia - a place where encrypted data can be stored and exchanged free of repression and scrutiny. As governments and multinationals attack the endeavor, Randy joins forces with Shaftoe's tough-as-nails grandaughter, Amy, to secretly salvage a sunken Nazi sumarine that holds the key to keeping the dream of a data haven afloat. But soon their scheme brings to light a massive conspiracy with its roots in Detachment 2702 linked to an unbreakable Nazi code called Arethusa. And it will represent the path to unimaginable riches and a future of personal and digital liberty...or to universal totalitarianism reborn.

A breathtaking tour de force, and Neal Stephenson's most accomplished and affecting work to date, CRYPTONOMICON is profound and prophetic, hypnotic and hyper-driven, as it leaps forward and back between World War II and the World Wide Web, hinting all the while at a dark day-after-tomorrow. It is a work of great art, thought, and creative daring; the product of a truly icon

The Thorn Birds by Colleen McCullough from HarperCollins is $2.99 (US Kindle)

Book Description

Now, 25 years after it first took the world by storm, Colleen McCullough's sweeping family saga of dreams, titanic struggles, dark passions, and forbidden love in the Australian Outback returns to enthrall a new generation. As powerful, moving, and unforgettable as when it originally appeared, it remains a monumental literary achievement—a landmark novel to be read . . . and read again!