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

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The Potluck Club (The Potluck Club, Book 1) by Linda Evans Shepherd is free again for the Kindle

From the Back Cover
Meet the Potluck Club--six women who gather each month to share their insatiable appetite for good friends, great food, and a pinch of prayer. Their seemingly unlikely friendship brings a little spice to life in Summit View, Colorado. But when they send up enough misinformed prayers to bring down a church, things get interesting . . . Evie's niece arrives with a broken heart and a big surprise. Lisa Leann tries to take over. Goldie's marriage turns sour. Donna stews over a strange encounter. Lizzie's librarian eyes are on the lookout for trouble. Vonnie must come to terms with a secret she's kept hidden from her best friends. But who knows what life will serve as The Potluck Club discovers that friendship is no piece of cake and a little dash of grace, like salt, goes a long way.

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Bargain book (Fantasy):

Tooth and Claw by Jo Walton, a fantasy with dragons and "the result of wondering what a world would be like if the axioms of the sentimental Victorian novel were inescapable laws of biology" is just $2.99 (from $9.99) for the Kindle.

Product Description
A tale of contention over love and money—among dragons

Jo Walton burst onto the fantasy scene with The King’s Peace, acclaimed by writers as diverse as Poul Anderson, Robin Hobb, and Ken MacLeod. In 2002, she was voted the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer.

Now Walton returns with a very different kind of fantasy story: the tale of a family dealing with the death of their father, of a son who goes to law for his inheritance, a son who agonizes over his father's deathbed confession, a daughter who falls in love, a daughter who becomes involved in the abolition movement, and a daughter sacrificing herself for her husband.

Except that everyone in the story is a dragon, red in tooth and claw.

Here is a world of politics and train stations, of churchmen and family retainers, of courtship and country houses...in which, on the death of an elder, family members gather to eat the body of the deceased. In which society’s high-and-mighty members avail themselves of the privilege of killing and eating the weaker children, which they do with ceremony and relish, growing stronger thereby.

P.S. The Prize in the Game (the author's first book) was released under creative commons license and is free.

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(Got this from @greencat's post at the Deals, Freebies, and Resources thread)

Bargains exclusively for UK Kindle readers (Amazon.co.uk)! The 12 Days of Kindle

Beginning Christmas Day, fill your Kindle with a selection of new releases and old favourites by bestselling authors and up-and-coming novelists for just £1.00 each. Stock up on Crime, Thrillers & Mystery, Fiction, Romance, Science Fiction & Fantasy, Teen titles and more. But hurry--the 12 Days of Kindle end 6 January.

Includes books from Lee Child, M.C. Beaton, Anthony Horowitz, etc.

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This may not be for everyone, but Amazon has started to price-match many of the books listed in the Borders.Com $5.00 eBooks Sale (around 200 books are $5 on Borders now).

Here's a search link for Amazon that should update with new books that are discounted to $5.00.

Some are pretty great deals, like Kazuo Ishiguro, John Grisham, Max Brooks, etc books for $5.00 only.

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Walt Disney's Way, is a business short from New Word City.

Book Description
Walt Disney presents a puzzling paradox. He was a salt-of-the-earth, hard-working artist who promoted family values. He was a tyrannical, wary, micro-manager whose associates decried the lack of charity in his soul. How, then, did he create such lovable characters and establish his empire? By utilizing all of his attributes. In fact, without his contradictions, he wouldn’t have been Walt Disney, and his fabled enterprise would almost surely have vanished long ago. We can learn a lot from his story.

Four decades after his death, Walt Disney is still hailed as a creative genius who not only gave the world Mickey Mouse, Snow White, and a host of fantasy characters, but set the all-time standard for family theme parks and forever changed the world of entertainment. Every bit the brilliant innovator he has been portrayed, Disney was also a patriot who served his country, a corn-fed populist who shrugged off critics of his G-rated view of America, and an exemplar of bootstrap enterprise, hard work, and rugged individualism.

But Disney had a most unpleasant side, too. He could be, and often was, an unforgiving taskmaster—not at all like the lovable creatures his studio created.

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In Christ Alone: Living the Gospel Centered Life, by Sinclair Ferguson

Book Description
Noted theologian, pastor, and educator Dr. Sinclair B. Ferguson explores aspects of the person and work of Jesus in his latest book, In Christ Alone: Living the Gospel-Centered Life. This collection of articles, published earlier in Tabletalk magazine and Eternity Magazine, is designed to help believers gain a better understanding of their Savior and the Christian faith, and to live out that faith in their day-to-day lives. In fifty short chapters arranged in six sections, Dr. Ferguson shows that Christ, who is fully God, took on humanity that He might be the Great High Priest of His people as well as the once-for-all sacrifice; that He now ministers to His people through His Spirit, crowning them with great and precious blessings; and that believers are called to duty, from cultivating contentment to mortifying sin. In Christ Alone is packed full of nuggets of Scriptural truth that will spark and fan the flames of the believer s love for the Savior who is so beautiful in His person and so faithful in His work on behalf of His beloved sheep.


Putting the Public Back in Public Relations, by Deirdre Breakenridge and Brian Solis

Book Description
Forget the pitch: Yesterday’s PR techniques just don’t work anymore. That’s the bad news. Here’s the great news: Social Media and Web 2.0 offer you an unprecedented opportunity to make PR succeed more powerfully than ever before. This book shows how to reinvent PR around two-way conversations with traditional and new influencers, bring the “public” back into public relations–and earn a new level of results that just wasn’t possible before now.

Drawing on their unparalleled experience making Social Media work for business, PR 2.0 blogger Brian Solis and industry leader Deirdre Breakenridge show how to transform the way you think, plan, prioritize, and deliver PR services. You’ll learn new ways to build the relationships that matter, and reach a new generation of influencers…leverage platforms ranging from Twitter to Facebook…truly embed yourself in the communities that are shaping the future.

Along the way, you’ll learn how to stop being a “publicist” or mere “communicator” and become what your clients or company really need: a genuine enthusiast for whom and what you represent.


The Rules of Life, Expanded Edition: A Personal Code for Living a Better, Happier, More Successful Life, by Richard Templar

Book Description
Some people seem more contented, fulfilled, enthusiastic about life... just plain happier. Is it genes? Money? No. It’s the choices they make, how they behave, every single day. Now, Richard Templar brings together the rules that happy, successful people follow: small, simple, common-sense, doable rules that can change your life!


Clearing the Mind for Creativity , by John Kao, repeat from last June.

Book Description
John Kao learned a lot about creativity and innovation during his years teaching at the Harvard Business School and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Media Lab but also as a serial entrepreneur, psychiatrist, movie producer, and jazz pianist. He wrote about the topic in Jamming--The Art and Discipline of Business Creativity, a BusinessWeek bestseller that has been published in more than a dozen languages. Now, he’s distilling what he knows into a series of brief, practical guides. The topic of this one is how to clear the mind to make way for creativity and the great ideas that follow.

Come with me to Harvard. My classroom is like many others at the business school. The setting is casual and comfortable, yet conducive to drama. I lower the lights and ask my students to shut their eyes. “Picture yourself in five years,” I tell them. “Are you alone or with another person? Where do you live? Where do you work? What are you doing right now? What do you smell? What do you taste? Touch the object nearest you. What do you feel?” My students smile. I know what they are experiencing. They are playing parts in a mental performance. Initially, they are surprised by what they are imagining, but soon they are engrossed. One is walking through Washington’s corridors of power. Another is climbing an Alpine rock face. Another is standing in the Shanghai Stock Exchange. After five minutes or so, I turn up the lights and ask how they feel. They are energized, emotional, inspired....

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Curious Folks Ask: 162 Real Answers on Amazing Inventions, Fascinating Products, and Medical Mysteries, by Sherry Seethaler, repeat freebie from July

Book Description
Prepare to Be Fascinated!

* Why does the flu change every year?
* What makes glue sticky?
* What causes out-of-body experiences?
* Are all brands of gas the same?
* Will adult stem cells work as well as embryonic stem cells?
* Is one “horsepower” really equal to the power of one horse?
* Why can’t you sneeze with your eyes open?
* How much does a cremated body weigh?

These are just a few of the fascinating science and health questions real people have asked top science writer and San Diego Union-Tribune columnist Sherry Seethaler. Curious Folks Ask brings together 162 of her best answers–all crystal-clear, accurate, quick, and a pleasure to read. Seethaler knows exactly how to cut through jargon, confusion, and myths. She’s passionate about sharing what scientists have learned and what they still don’t know. She explores everything from our bodies to our best inventions: what makes us healthy, what makes us human, and plenty more. Prepare to be surprised, intrigued, and amazed!

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The Truth About Starting a Business, by Bruce Barringer, repeat from October.

Book Description
Your own business: Take the leap, make it happen, and make it succeed!

* The truth about choosing the right business for you and maintaining a healthy personal life
* The truth about planning, funding, hiring, and successful launches
* The truth about financial management, marketing, and growth

This book reveals 53 bite-size, easy-to-use techniques for choosing, planning, launching, and growing your winning business.

You’ll learn how to generate and test business ideas, and pick the one that’s best for you...select the right entry strategy...name and locate your business...raise capital...build your team and get expert advice...protect your business secrets and intellectual property...effectively brand your business and market its offerings...handle pricing, distribution, and sales...manage your finances to specific objectives...prepare for growth...and even maintain your work/life balance as an entrepreneur. This isn't “someone's opinion”: it's a definitive, evidence-based guide to building your own successful enterprise--a set of bedrock principles you can rely on whoever you are, wherever you are, and whatever business you choose to launch.

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Two recent freebies return to Kindle:

Danger in the Shadows , by Dee Henderson; free courtesy of Christian publisher Tyndale House.

Book Description
Sara is terrified. She's doing the one thing she cannot afford to do: fall in love with former pro-football player Adam Black, a man everyone knows. Sara's been hidden away in the witness protection program, her safety dependent on staying invisible...



Conspiracy in Kiev, by Noel Hynd, is free courtesy of Christian publisher Zondervan. This was also free last December.

Book Description
A shrewd investigator and an expert marksman, Special Agent Alexandra LaDuca can handle any case the FBI gives her. Or can she?While on loan from the U.S. Department of the Treasury, Alex is tapped to accompany a Secret Service team during an American Presidential visit to Ukraine. Her assignment: to keep personal watch over Yuri Federov, the most charming and most notorious gangster in the region.Against her better judgment---and fighting a feeling that she's being manipulated---she leaves for Ukraine. But there are more parts to this dangerous mission than anyone suspects, and connecting the dots takes Alex across three continents and through some life-altering discoveries about herself, her work, her faith, and her future.Conspiracy in Kiev---from the first double-cross to the stunning final pages---is the kind of solid, fast-paced espionage thriller only Noel Hynd can write. For those who have never read Noel Hynd, this first book in The Russian Trilogy is the perfect place to start.

Click HERE for download from B&N.

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Anyone had trouble indexing Potluck Club from Linda Evans? ( free book 25-12). My Kindle got stuck on indexing that one, battery empty in one day. I tried again, but I ended up in deleting this book.

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Get Some by Daniel Birch

Product Description
Anybody who has read Danny Birch's groundbreaking first novel, 'Clipped', will be expecting a fast-paced, sharply-written, emotionally charged gangster thriller, written in Danny's inimitably catchy, witty and streetwise style.

If so, prepare yourself for 'Get Some', a gangster revenge thriller that fizzes and crackles off the page like few others.

It is the tale of two childhood friends, Tommy and Joey, and of how they stand by each other in traumatic times. Tommy's trauma is to be betrayed by an army colleague to a militant group in Iraq and to be subjected to routine and gruesome torture. Pity his betrayer should Tommy manage to escape. And Joey's trauma? Ah, for that, you have to read this book.

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Phenomenal Girl 5 by A. J. Menden

Synopsis
An up-and-coming superhero finds love with the man assigned to train her—and a plot that will push the couple to the extent of their powers.

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UK Kindle free book:

Children's Bible Stories - Noah's Ark by Miles Kelly (I see it priced at $0.99 US Amazon)

Product Description
A selection of Bible stories for children, simply retold and wonderfully illustrated. Read about the creation of the world, Noah and the great flood and Abram’s journey to Canaan.

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Bargain romance:

Susan Elizabeth Phillips' Glitter Baby with Bonus Material is currently specially priced at $1.99 for the Kindle (the Kindle version without the bonus content is still $7.99).

Product Description

Welcome to the world of the Glitter Baby

Fleur Savagar is the most beautiful woman in the world . . . to everyone but herself. With her oversized hands and paddle-boat feet, her streaky blond hair and funny green eyes, she lives a life filled with secrets that began before she was born. That was when her bewitching mother left home to find James Dean and met Errol Flynn instead. Now Fleur has to grow up quickly, and life won't make that easy.

Jake Koranda is both New York's most brilliant playwright and Hollywood's hottest actor. Difficult, talented, and tormented, he has no patience for international glamour girls, not even ones with beautiful bodies and smart-aleck mouths. But there's more to the Glitter Baby than shine, and Fleur's tougher than Jake expects. Even with the odds stacked against her, she's fiercely determined to discover the woman she's destined to be.

An ugly duckling who can't believe she's turned into a swan . . . A tough-guy movie star with a haunted past . . . In a land of broken dreams, can two unlikely lovers trust their hearts?

About the Author
Susan Elizabeth Phillips soared onto the New York Times bestseller list with Dream a Little Dream. She's the only four-time recipient of the Romance Writers of America's prestigious Favorite Book of the Year Award.

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I only learned about this today, but Amazon has also been running a Deal of the Day on Kindle lately:

Get a great read at a discounted price of $2.99 for today only

There are 18 books posted today, and it would be good to bookmark the link to check back on which books are posted daily.

P.S. Students can check out a special Student Deal of the Day too!