Kindle’s “Big Deal” Sale

I’ve been doing a bit of shopping in Kindle’s “The Big Deal” sale. Here’s what interested me. There are so many books on sale, all can be found from The Kindle Store.

J.R. Rain’s “Samantha Moon” novels (including Moon Dance, Vampire  Moon, American Vampire, and Moon Child). All four books are on sale for 99¢ (total). [Mother, wife, private investigator...vampire. Six years ago federal agent Samantha Moon was the perfect wife and mother, your typical soccer mom with the minivan and suburban home. Then the unthinkable happens, an attack that changes her life forever. And forever is a very long time for a vampire. Now the world at large thinks Samantha has developed a rare skin disease, a disease which forces her to quit her day job and stay out of the light of the sun. Now working the night shift as a private investigator...]

The Iron Witch by Karen Mahoney (first in the Iron Witch series, followed by The Wood Queen). 99¢. [YA. Donna Underwood is not your typical high school senior. At a party, she meets Alexander (Xan), who is also anything but typical, and in fact bears the scars on his back from where his wings were removed. Donna wears elbow-length gloves to cover up her iron hands, made for her when she was seven and her father was killed, her mother driven insane, and Donna burned by a terrifying creature called Skriker. These teens are trying to act normal in the world of the "commoners," but Donna is forced to use her atypical strength and knowledge about the fey world to save her friend Navin, with Xan's help.] (The Wood Queen is currently $7.96 for the Kindle.)

Picture Perfect Knits: Step-by-Step Intarsia with More Than 75 Inspiring Patterns by Laura Birek. $1.99. [This handy guide to intarsia includes instructions to make 12 projects plus more than 50 intarsia graphs that can be used to customize almost any knit. Clear instructions, helpful illustrations, and finished project photos make it simple to learn the basics.]

Legacy: The Acclaimed Novel of Elizabeth, England’s Most Passionate Queen — and the Three Men Who Loved Her by Susan Kay. $1.59. [Through shrewdness, intelligence, cunning, and not a little luck, Elizabeth I ruled England for more than 40 turbulent years. Author Kay has chosen this extraordinary life as the focus of her first novel. Although she has obviously done sufficient research to portray the basics of Elizabeth's story with accuracy, Kay's interpretation of events reads like a soap opera. Love, lust, and sexual passion dominate, sometimes at the expense of historical truth.]

Never Say Never by Lisa Wingate (Third in the loosely linked and standalone Welcome to Daily Texas series). $2.99. [Daily, Texas is one of those wacky and charming small towns that doesn't exist in real life. In this book (after hosting a reality tv show in book 1 and a movie shoot in book 2) some of Daily's residents take a cruise. Or at least they try to but are stopped by a hurricane and end up in a mass exodus seeking shelter in Daily. I've read the first book and can heartily recommend it as a good, fun read.] (Book 1, Talk of the Town ($3.50) and Book 2 Word Gets Around ($5.38) are also available in Kindle format.)

The Unofficial Harry Potter Cookbook. $2.99. (The Unofficial Hunger Games Cookbook is also available on Kindle for $9.99.)

There are also quite a few classics available at $2.99: Brave New World, Slaughterhouse-Five, Cat’s Cradle, and plenty more Vonnegut.

Kindle: The Big Deal

I’ve been doing a bit of shopping in Kindle’s “The Big Deal” sale. Here’s what interested me. There are so many books on sale, all can be found from The Kindle Store.

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies – $0.99

Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters – $0.99

Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson – $1.99

The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake by Aimee Bender – $3.99 [Bender's narrator is young, needy Rose Edelstein, who can literally taste the emotions of whoever prepares her food, giving her unwanted insight into other people's secret emotional lives—including her mother's, whose lemon cake betrays a deep dissatisfaction.]

Bewitching by Jill Barnett – $0.99 [Joyous Fiona MacQuarrie bewitched Alec, the Duke of Belmore, the moment she appeared from nowhere and tumbled into his lap. Joy, a witch whose powers of white magic are not always well controlled, turns the life of the most serious and snobbish Duke in England upside down when he decides to marry the beautiful Scottish pixie who has aroused his desire.]

Zoo City by Lauren Beukes – $0.99 [Zinzi has a Sloth on her back, a dirty online 419 scam habit – and a talent for finding lost things. But when her latest client, a little old lady, turns up dead and the cops confiscate her lastpaycheck, she’s forced to take on her least favourite kind of job: missing persons. Character of Color. Modern Fantasy. Johannesburg.]

Hard Spell: An Occult Crimes Unit Investigation by Justin Gustainis – $0.99 [Like the rest of America, Scranton's got an uneasy 'live and let unlive' relationship with the supernatural. But when a vamp puts the bite on an unwilling victim, or some witch casts the wrong kind of spell, that's when they call Markowski. He carries a badge. Also, a crucifix, some wooden stakes, a big vial of holy water, and a 9mm Beretta loaded with silver bullets.]

Keeping It Real (Quantum Gravity, Book 1) by Justina Robson – $0.99 [After the Quantum Bomb of 2015, Earth proper has coexisted with alternate dimensions peopled by elves, demons, elementals, faeries, and the dead. Government agent Lila Black was nearly killed by elves while on a diplomatic mission, and now she is mostly machine. She has been assigned to guard the legendary band the No-Shows, especially lead singer Zal, who's precisely opposed to every elf stereotype out there, first and foremost in his music.]

Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke – $2.99 [It's 1808 and that Corsican upstart Napoleon is battering the English army and navy. Enter Mr. Norrell, a fusty but ambitious scholar from the Yorkshire countryside and the first practical magician in hundreds of years. What better way to demonstrate his revival of British magic than to change the course of the Napoleonic wars?]

The Strangely Beautiful Tale of Miss Percy Parker by Leanna Renee Hieber – $2.99 [Six young men and women are called to protect the living world from the dead in Hieber's Gothic romance debut. Mysterious powers give Alexi and his peers the mission of keeping the restless dead in line and seeking a prophesied seventh guardian. Miss Percy Parker, an albino orphan with a talent for languages, fills none of their expectations, but Alexi is drawn to her all the same.]

Ghost in the Polka Dot Bikini (A Ghost of Granny Apples Mystery) by Sue Ann Jaffarian – $1.99 [While enjoying a Thanksgiving getaway with boyfriend Phil Bowers on Catalina Island, ghost whisperer Emma Whitecastle encounters a bikini-clad ghost in Jaffarian's spirited second Ghost of Granny Apples mystery (after 2009's Ghost à la Mode).]

Seven Sisters Pride

The Women and Public Service Initiative will bring together the resources of Smith, Wellesley, Mount Holyoke, Barnard and Bryn Mawr, with the State Department to increase the participation of women around the globe, in public service and political leadership, Clinton, a 1969 Wellesley alumna, said on Friday.

“Together we will seek to promote the next generation of women leaders who will invest in their countries and communities, provide leadership for their governments and societies, and help change the way global solutions are developed,” Clinton said.

[Source: Boston Globe]

Lowfat Chocolate Truffle Kefir

It’s good for you. It tastes delicious. What more could you want?

“The drink we now call Kefir (it is sometimes pronounced Kee-Fur) originated in ancient times when Eastern nomadic shepherds discovered that fresh milk carried in leather pouches would occasionally ferment into a deliciously effervescent beverage. Once the accidental process was discovered, this bubbly refresher became popular throughout the known world. It is thought to originate from the Turkish word “Keif” meaning “good feeling”, for the sense of well-being experienced after drinking it.

“Similar to yogurt but far more beneficial, Lifeway Kefir contains seven to ten billion CFU’s of 10 strains of bacteria, plus ProBoost, our exclusive pair of clinically proven probiotics to balance your body’s ecosystem, support digestive health and immunity – that’s 12 live and active cultures per cup. These friendly, probiotic bacteria fortify your body and help to boost immunity, improve digestion, ward off side effects from antibiotics, fight lactose intolerance and may even aid in weight loss.” (Lifeway)

I’ve yet to find a flavor of Lifeway Kefir that I don’t like. The fruit flavors are enhanced by the thick liquid, and the holiday flavors, like cranberry creme brulee, are rich and delicious. The chocolate truffle flavor is made with real cocoa, making it my new chocolate-craving solution.

Bodum Travel Press

I drink a lot of coffee and tea. When I make tea, I prefer loose leaf. (Lately I’ve been getting it from a little shop in Southwick, MA, called The Sweet Leaf. If you’re nearby you should stop in and try some of their teas.)

Now, I have a great many ways to brew loose leaf teas. I started out with tea balls, like everyone does, moved up to glass cups with brewing inserts, teapots that are the same, and a wonderful teapot from Teavana. But my favorite thing to brew a large cup of tea and take it with me is the Bodum Travel Press.

It’s unbelievably simple and wonderful for both tea and coffee. Add your brew of choice, pour hot water over, and screw the cover on. Once the grounds or leaves have brewed for the proper amount of time, gently depress the plunger and drink. The plunger keeps the grounds or leaves separate from the beverage. The mug is insulated so it’s never too hot to hold, and the seal is tight so there’s little worry of spilling.

I can’t tell you how much I adore this thing. I use it all the time, everywhere. It’s the absolute best way to take loose leaf tea on the go.

Frontier Soups

I’m busy and I like to cook. I don’t have the time to chop vegetables and make broth, but I love soups and stews. Frontier Soups is my go-to soup mix for busy days. The other night I made their Indiana Harvest Sausage Lentil Soup and it was a big hit. Quick and tasty.

What I like about these soups is that I still feel like I’m cooking because I’m standing over the pan of wonderful smelling browning sausage, and I’m making the little decisions, like adding regular chopped tomatoes or fire-roasted tomatoes (pro-tip: fire-roasted!) but all the hard work is done for me. The website offers recipes for both stove-top and crockpot cooking.

(Photos under the cut.)

Lily Sugar ‘n Cream

The first step is admitting you have a problem, right? I’m addicted to Lily Sugar ‘n Cream cotton yarn. I have more than twelve varieties in my stash right now and I’ve no doubt that the next time I’m in my LYS (or shopping online!) I’ll buy more.

There’s something about knitting with this yarn that’s so pleasant. It runs through my fingers softly and smoothly, the tiny little stockinette stitches done on size six or seven needles are neat and tidy, the cotton is absorbent and can be run through the washer and dryer without a worry, and the color choices are amazing! Some of my favorite color choices are strawberry, key lime pie, and creamsicle, all of which I used recently to make the cutest baby things. I love this yarn!

Healthy Sexy Hair!

I’ll admit it, I bought my first bottle because it smelled like chocolate, but once I used it (and the conditioner) I was hooked. My color-treated hair looks and feels great, and the color doesn’t fade or change as it does with harsher shampoos. And, really, you cannot beat hair that smells like real chocolate. Delicious!

Chocolate SoyMilk Shampoo / SoyMilk Shampoo / SoyMilk Conditioner

Rachel’s® Wickedly Delicious!

I like dairy products, I like interesting and different flavors, I like using foods and herbs to soothe and revitalize my body and mind, and I like healthy eating that tastes good. So, naturally, I really like Rachel’s^® Wickedly Delicious yogurts and cottage cheeses.

The yogurts are thick and creamy and the cottage cheeses come in flavors that make you wonder why no one thought of that before. The cottage cheese is especially versatile and fun because it comes in both sweet and savory flavors.

There’s a good-sized collection of recipes on the site and I’m looking forward to trying them, especially the Individual Spinach Pies and Savory Stuffed Squash.

Rachel’s^® Wickedly Delicious