Thursday, February 9, 2012

Today's FREE Kindle Books

And More FREE Kindle books. Once again be sure to double check that the price is still "Kindle Price: $0.00" before you purchase, as the prices can change at any time.

Linked - "In Linked, Fourteen-year-old Andra Quincy’s summer in Marina, the fog pit of Monterey County, isn’t exactly off to a great start. It’s her birthday, and her best friend has ditched her for a boy. Her parents are cruising the Caribbean while she’s at home rubbing her goose-bumpy arms and dreaming of sunshine and adventure, and being baby-sat by her flaky uncle, Ryan. But when Andra puts on her only birthday gift, a silver charm bracelet from Ryan, it plunges her into a magical alternate reality for each seven-o’clock hour.

Andra discovers that a local six-year-old, Morgan Baxter, thought to have been kidnapped, has actually disappeared into the Seven, a place that few have entered and most never escape. Determined to rescue Morgan from the Seven even though the kid is trying to kill her, Andra enlists the help of a dorky classmate she's only known as Golf Ball Head, who turns out to be much more than she imagined, and Joel Westin, a trigger-happy boy from 1874, who both terrifies and charms her. Andra must figure out who to trust and how to get Morgan and herself out of the Seven before it’s too late and they become a part of it forever."

Farsighted - "Alex Kosmitoras's life has never been easy. The only other student who will talk to him is the school bully, his parents are dead broke and insanely overprotective, and to complicate matters even more, he's blind. Just when he thinks he'll never have a shot at a normal life, an enticing new girl comes to their small Midwest town all the way from India. Simmi is smart, nice, and actually wants to be friends with Alex. Plus she smells like an Almond Joy bar. Sophomore year might not be so bad after all.

Unfortunately, Alex is in store for another new arrival--an unexpected and often embarrassing ability to "see" the future. Try as he may, Alex is unable to ignore his visions, especially when they suggest Simmi is in mortal danger. With the help of the mysterious psychic next door and friends who come bearing gifts of their own, Alex embarks on a journey to change his future and save the woman of his dreams. "


Sink or Swim - "Personal trainer Cassidy Novak has gained fame for starring on a hit reality show, but not only does she lose, she discovers she is being stalked. She's also being shadowed by Zach Gallagher, a hunky photographer assigned to capture her personal moments for the local newspaper.

As her former competitors get killed off one by one, Cassidy refuses to play by the stalker's bizarre rules. When the stalker forces a showdown, Cassidy must play to win."



The Heart Denied - "In 1728, THORNE NEVILLE leaves Oxford University and one devastated courtesan to take his deceased father’s title, occupation, estate and advice--that being to marry the Viscount Radleigh's convent-schooled daughter, and thus spare himself the potential heartache of a love match. Having watched his father grieve away eighteen years for his dead mother, Thorne grimly understood that advice--though he doubts it will matter. His own heart was buried years ago, along with his childhood love.
But Thorne is about to learn that fate doesn’t bow to plans, and that denying his heart will cost not only him, but others as well. The lesson involves four strong-willed women: KATY, the spirited courtesan who loves him and plots to conceive his child; GWYNNETH, the rebellious wife whose preference for convent vows over marriage vows makes Thorne's domestic life hell; CAROLINE, the sultry socialite who not only schemes with Thorne's half-brother to ruin him, but tries to seduce Thorne while pretending to be Gwynneth’s dearest friend; and ELAINE, the chambermaid who must at all costs keep Thorne from guessing her true identity.
As Thorne's carefully constructed world disintegrates in a succession of murder, rape, suicide and betrayal, he must begin the painful recovery of his heart, in order to rediscover the woman who has held it for so long."


40 Unforgettable Dates with Your Mate - "In The 5 Love Needs of Men and Women, the Rosbergs taught us how to recognize our spouse's most important love needs. Now it's time to put those ideas into action! In 40 Unforgettable Dates with Your Mate, America's favorite family counselors offer forty ideas for dates that are not only fun and romantic but also help readers meet their spouse's love needs. From picnics to day trips to snuggling at home, these ideas are guaranteed to put your marriage into high gear."


Success Is Not an Accident - "Tommy Newberry's best-selling Success Is Not an Accident (self-published in 1999) has helped over 100,000 readers achieve higher levels of success in both their personal and professional lives. Reminiscent of best-selling authors Stephen Covey and John Maxwell, Newberry teaches readers the power of goal setting, time management, visualization, and “self-talk” so they can achieve peak levels of performance in all areas of their lives."



Scream - "While talking to his friend, Jeff, on the phone Mark Stone hears a cacophony of otherworldly screams. Seconds later, Jeff is tragically killed in an accident. Mark experiences the screams several more times and each time they are followed by an untimely death. Battling his own failure as a husband and struggling with a damaged faith, Mark embarks on a mission to find the meaning behind the screams and hopefully stop death from calling on its next victim. Meanwhile, a maniac obsessed with a demented sense of justice is on the loose, abducting women and trapping them in an abandoned barn. When Mark’s estranged wife, Cheryl, is abducted the two stories collide. Unaware that his wife has been abducted, Mark calls her cell phone. Cheryl tells Mark about the abductions but has no idea where the barn is located. During the call, Mark hears the eerie screams signifying Cheryl’s imminent doom, her appointment with death. And thus begins a frantic search to find her before it’s too late."


Run (The Hunted) - "YA THRILLER: Sixteen-year-old Reid thinks life is back to normal. His sister Lucy pulls herself together and cuts him free from a year of foster care. She promises to take care of him, that her new boss and her new life are what they both needed to start again. Until Reid is taken in the middle of the night, dumped in a wild stretch of forest far from home with no idea why he is there. Lost and afraid, he learns to run from the hunters who prowl the darkness, their only pleasure chasing down kids like him. And killing them. "


Walker - "What do you say when offered a lifelong position in the most powerful and corrupt secret organization in mankind's history?

If you want your life to last longer than the job interview, you say yes.

In exchange for wealth, power, and training for his newly discovered powers, all Daniel has to do is help them reach a new, unsuspecting world.

To make things worse, a group of desperate escapees pin their thin hopes on him, willing to risk everything on a miracle that Daniel has no idea how to provide.

Shackled with a restraint bracelet, constant surveillance, and superhuman captors, he must outsmart an overwhelmingly powerful enemy and seek freedom in the one place that is left to him, a new world that only he can reach. "


Absolute Liability (Southern Fraud Thriller 1) - "Meet Julia Jackson. Apparently, she's been abducted....

A woman is taken at gunpoint from the downtown office of Southeastern Insurance, and the police believe the victim is Special Agent Julia Jackson. Only it isn't true.

Now, with the help of her new partner Mark Vincent, state fraud investigator Julia Jackson must find justice for the woman who was taken in her place.

As Vincent and Julia begin to unravel the multimillion-dollar frauds that led to the abduction, they encounter a cast of quirky characters, one of whom will go to desperate lengths to hide a deadly secret.

Things only become more dangerous as bodies begin accumulating around town, and Julia must discover the truth before the abductor comes to rectify his mistake."



Chosen (The Chosen #1) - "Everything Emma Thompson owns fits in a suitcase she moves from one roach infested motel to another. She and Jake, her five year old son who can see the future, are running from the men intent on taking him. Emma will do anything to protect him even when it means accepting the help of a stranger named Will. Jake insists she needs Will, but Emma’s never needed help before. And even though she’s learned to trust her son, it doesn’t mean she trusts Will.

Mercenary Will Davenport lives in the moment. Hauling Emma to South Dakota should have been an easy job, but his employer neglected to tell him about Emma’s freaky son and the gunmen hot on her trail. Instinct tells him this job is trouble, but nothing can prepare him for Jake’s proclamation that Will is The Chosen One, who must protect Emma from the men hunting her power. A power she doesn't know she has.

Will protects Emma and Jake on a cross-country chase from the men pursuing them, while struggling with memories from his past, his apprehension of Jake, and his growing attraction to Emma. Will’s overwhelming urge to protect Emma surprises him, especially since it has nothing to do with his paycheck and possibly everything to do with the tattoo Jake branded on his arm. Rich and powerful men are desperate to capture Emma, and Will must discover why before it's too late. "


Ain't No Sunshine - "Though it is against the law in 1960s Virginia, Stephen Phillips wants to marry his colored neighbor, Ruthie. Growing up in a physically abusive home, his love for Ruthie was the only thing that helped him survive. Instead of giving in to social and family prejudice, Stephen decides to fight for love. And it’s a fight that could lead to murder. Racism and revenge darken this psychological drama set against the backdrop of the segregated South. "



The Queen Bee of Bridgeton (Dancing Dream #1) - "When fifteen-year-old Sonya Garrison is accepted into the prestigious Bridgeton Academy, she soon discovers that rich girls are just as dangerous as the thugs in her home of Venton Heights. Maybe more so. After catching the eye of the star, white basketball player and unwittingly becoming the most popular girl in school, she earns the hatred of the three most ruthless and vindictive girls at Bridgeton. Can she defeat the reigning high school royalty? Or will they succeed in ruining her lifelong dream of becoming a world class dancer? "

Game Deal - Just Dance 3 only $29.96


Amazon has an excellent deal today on Just Dance 3 for the Wii. I bought the Summer Dance Party last summer and totally got hooked on this fun game. Regular price on this newest version of the game is $39.99, and Amazon is offering it at $10 off! Plus it's available for free 2 day shipping via Prime (or free standard shipping otherwise). While you are on there the other Just Dance Games are also discounted heavily.  If you've not played these before they are just plain fun interactive dance games that get you moving (and give you a workout) without you really noticing.

Today's FREE Kindle Cook Books

Here is a list of Today's FREE Kindle Cookbooks.  As of the time of this posting they were all free, however prices can change at any time, so be sure that when you purchase it still says "Kindle Price: $0.00"

- About FREE Kindle Books - Yes they actually are free. Once you purchase them they are added to your Kindle library and remain yours to read and enjoy as you choose. In most cases you can also loan them out to other Kindle users.


51 Amazing Gluten-Free Appetizer Recipes (Fast, Easy and Delicious Gluten-Free Recipes) - "Are you following a gluten free diet? Have you ever been invited to a party and stood there starving all night because you couldn't eat any of the appetizers that were served?

Now you will have 51 easy and gluten-free appetizer recipes at your fingertips so you can feel confident that will never happen again! When you start bringing these dishes to parties, people will be begging you for the recipes, even if they are not following a GF diet."


The Ultimate Coconut Book - "Everything you need to know about coconut is in this book including the history, health benefits. You will find many recipes using coconut oil. From the founder of Health Food Geeks comes another great book to add to your kitchen collection. "



The Most Amazing Veggie Burger Recipes (Fast, Easy and Delicious Vegetarian Cookbooks) - "For all the Burger Lovers Out There Like Me

These vegetarian burgers in this cookbook are the best veggie burgers you can get anywhere. It has been a honor making this book for all like minded people out there. I really hope you enjoy this book!

Sit back and enjoy reading though these amazing recipes and checking out the ones YOU want to eat. Check out this book today."


Vegan Cooking: Fast & Easy Vegan Recipe Collection- Book 2, Delicious Vegan Lunch Recipes - "For lunch, you want something that tastes delicious, but can be prepared easily. We've created vegan sandwiches, pastas, salads, and other small plates that will satisfy your mid-day hunger. Many of these lunch recipes can be made with leftovers from last night's dinner. Make it a more filling lunch by serving the dishes with a side of rice and a piece fresh fruit for dessert."


25 Quick & Easy Low Carb Breakfast Recipes: Delicious Food That Helps You Stick to Your Diet (Quick and Easy Low Carb) - "Do you love your low carb diet, but can't face another plate of bacon and eggs in the morning? Best-selling cookbook author and experienced low carber, Lisa Douglas, is here to rescue you from dietary boredom with 25 mouthwatering breakfast recipes that will help you stick to your diet and get the results you want. Eating a delicious low carb breakfast has never been easier to do than with this #1 Amazon best-selling book. "



33 Vegetarian Valentine's Day Dinner Recipes (The Ultimate Guide to Vegetarian Cooking) - "This collection of 33 Vegetarian Valentine's Day Dinner Recipes from best-selling author Shelley Lynne is packed with meals that are not only nutritious, but also delicious!

Want to make this year's Valentine's Day more memorable and special than ever? Why not make a romantic dinner for you and your significant other to celebrate? However, it can often be difficult to find recipes to prepare a romantic dinner that's healthy for your special night."

Do You Use Ebates?

Ebates is an awesome site that too often I forget to remember when I'm purchasing online.  When you hit up Ebates before you shop online (and use their links to get to the store you want to shop at) they will give you cash back on your purchase.

I realized this morning as I was about to make a purchase on CostCo's website that I had gotten an email from MyPoints offering me a points bonus if I bought a CostCo membership through them, which reminded me that I needed to check and see if Ebates offered cash back for CostCo online purchases.  Unfortunately, Ebates doesn't have CostCo listed :( But, when I got there I saw that I had a big Cash Back amount waiting for me. I didn't remember hitting them up recently so I checked to see what it was and saw that (oh yeah!) I'd used them before I headed over to Dell to buy my new laptop back in December!

The typical % is between 2% and 7% and varies from store to store. They also do special promos at different times for holidays or events that the stores might be having.

I mentioned MyPoints, earlier, so I'll mention them again.  They are a site similar to Swagbucks, in that they give you points for different actions (searching using their engine, clicking on links in emails, shopping through them). To be honest, I prefer Swagbucks as it takes fewer points to earn rewards.  I earn a ton of points through Swagbucks by using their search engine, answering their polls, printing coupons through their site and doing other things that I'd be doing anyway. They also have some fun time wasting ways to earn points like watching SBTV (youtube) and playing games.  Mypoints is a little slower to build, but I find it worthwhile to do both, and I redeem those points for giftcards to Amazon or Starbucks (or a number of other places).

For what it's worth I earned over $150 in Amazon gift cards last year from Swagbucks, so they by far win the race on earning free stuff.  For that reason alone, I usually check them before I use any of the other sites.

Just for the record, outside of purchasing the membership certificate through MyPoints, it doesn't appear that any of them offer points or cashback for CostCo purchases. Oh well. I guess I'll just have to live with the fact that I'm already getting the item for about 1/3 of the regular price!

Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Organizing Your Kindle Books

One thing that has really bugged me about the Kindle vs real books is not having the back cover to reference. When I'm faced with a shelf full of books it's hard to make a choice just based on a cover (which is all you have with the Kindle). I miss the back of the book!  I finally came up with a trick to help me both sort my books a little (since the Fire doesn't have any real way to organize your books beyond alphabetical or author) and I thought I'd share it.


The Back of the Book
When I download a book it's because the description was good enough to make me want to read it. So now, after I purchase the book, I open it in the "Cloud Reader" (which opens the book in your browser. I click on the first word on the page and then add a note (the highlight/note option will pop up when you click on a word).  In the note I put the category of the book followed by a copy/paste of the description provided on Amazon.

Now, when I'm looking for something to read I can either do a search for a particular category I might be interested in. Or I can just scan the covers then open the book and read my note to "view the back cover" and see if it's something I'm in the mood for at that moment.

If you already have a huge collection of books you can easily update your books via "Manage My Kindle" on the Amazon website. Just load up the list of books. Click the plus sign next to the book and open the "book details" in a new tab, to get the book description. Then on the right hand side of the screen you'll see an "actions" dropdown. Select "read now" to open it in the "Cloud Reader". 

While you are at it, leave yourself a comment in your note about those books you've read and what you thought of them to help you remember later.

More FREE Kindle Books

Another list of Kindle Freebies for you this afternoon. As always be sure to double check the prices before you purchase and make sure it still says "Kindle Price: $0.00".  These are free even if you don't have an actual Kindle, you can purchase them and read them on any Kindle reader app (available for everything from your PC to your smart phone and then some).

Killing the Giants - "After a series of deadly explosions at two oil facilities, the ATF sends Sarah Perkins to investigate in this Dan Brown style chase from Louisiana to Canada to New York City. What Sarah finds is anything but accidental. When the witnesses are murdered and the evidence corrupted, she discovers that Caesar, a secret society from her past is at the helm and they're more sinister than ever! "


Vimana: A Science Fiction Thriller - "'Gods' fought a terrible war in our skies 15,000 years ago. They have returned to finish it.

Ancient texts refer to 'Gods' flying in craft called vimanas and waging war with what sound like nuclear weapons. These accounts are today classified as myth or legend.

What if they turned out to be real?

Vimana is an edge-of your seat sci-fi technothriller about a young college student who stumbles upon an ancient war between good and evil. A war that we thought was merely a part of our ancient myths and legends, but unknown to us, is still being waged everyday in our skies. As the forces of darkness conspire to unleash worldwide devastation to coincide with the End Times prophecies in 2012, he discovers his hidden destiny is to join the forces of light in bringing this war to a conclusion. At stake will be the continued existence of the human race."


Silent Kills - "The killer picks her up in a Manhattan night club. Another trendy victim of the latest downtown scene. Young. Fresh. Healthy. Perfect. The police find her body in a Bronx park. Pale as a ghost. Peaceful in death. Her life has been drained away. Slowly. Methodically. Brilliantly. . .

No One Survives What He Takes

NYPD profiler Lee Campbell has seen the gruesome handiwork of the most deranged criminal minds. But this is something new. Something unbelievably twisted. A blood-obsessed lunatic who chooses his victims with deadly, loving care--and forces Campbell to confront the demons in his own life. No matter who wins this game, there will be blood. . ."



Painted Truth (Alix Thorssen Mysteries) - "Set in Jackson Hole where the Old West merges with upscale art galleries and adrenaline adventures, this second mystery featuring Alix Thorssen (after The Bluejay Shaman) finds the art dealer on her home-ground but without the comforts of home. Her partnership and gallery with sexy Paolo Segundo are at a crossroads. When another gallery on the town square burns, revealing the body of a famous artist, Alix is drawn into the investigation as an appraiser of the lost paintings. Ray Tantro was a has-been at 30 but was on the verge of a comeback. The death is ruled a suicide but Alix has her doubts. Why are the police so quick to dismiss foul play? The investigation makes her confront her own contradictions as an art lover, turning everything she knows upside down. A second murder rocks the resort town. Alix must examine her ethics and indeed her way of life to find the truth, and justice. But not without a very high price. "


Head Over Heels - "Thirty-something teacher and professional shopper Grace has a passion for shoes. In fact they were responsible for her meeting her partner, Mark, when she speared his foot with one of her dangerously sharp heels whilst running for a train.

Mark is the other passion in her life, or so she thinks.... When he suggests they try for a baby - but is reluctant to tie the knot on their very long-term engagement - the cracks in her champagne lifestyle start to appear. As Mark becomes ever more controlling, Grace begins to see her blond and sexy boss, Tom, in a different light. A conventionally one-man woman who doesn't 'do' affairs, she suddenly finds herself in the midst of the sort of tangled lifestyle she has only read about in the celeb pages. Throw in the added complications of an untimely pregnancy, a case of mistaken identity and some pretty zany friends and Grace's life is thrown into turmoil. Retail therapy and even the comfort of her vast shoe collection can't help her out of this dilemma....."


Blood Money - "Nick Ceratto, a young, cracker jack litigator looking for a partnership in the prestigious Philadelphia law firm of Maglio, Silvio, and Levin discovers his firm's dark seceret for increasing it's bottom line while preparing a medical malpractice case for trial.The partners are setting up major cases by seriously injuring and even murdering their clients to produce huge jury awards. When the firm discovers he knows, Nick's only hope is to stay one step ahead of the hitman long enough to intentionally lose his case and expose the firm's corruption. As his mission careens towards an explosive climax, the only question left, is whose lives will be sacrificed along the way."


A Real Piece of Work (The Dakota Stevens Mysteries) - "At the close of a case in Key West, PI Dakota Stevens and his associate Svetlana Krüsh return to New York, where the city is in the grips of its worst blizzard since 1888. When an art dealer stumbles in from the storm and hires them to find a stolen painting, they think it's just another case, but in no time they're neck-deep in a world of unstable artists, seductive gallery owners, mysterious collectors, deadly henchmen and a stunning femme fatale.

This is A Real Piece of Work.

In a thrill-ride of a mystery that leads from Manhattan to the Catskills to Washington, D.C., what begins as the simple recovery of a painting soon reveals an international art scam and a chilling secret hidden for decades.

Dakota Stevens is a former FBI agent with experience in the field and the lab, a modern PI who combines the wit and grit of Marlowe and Spenser with the sleuthing skills of Sherlock Holmes. However, Dakota's "Watson" is anything but. A Ukrainian-American chess champion with runway legs, predator eyes, and fluency in seven languages, Svetlana Krüsh is much more than a sexy sidekick, bringing worldly sophistication and a razor-sharp mind to their cases."