Dear Dad, Jillian, Tim, Jessica, Dave, Jennifer, Mike, Nancy, Patty, and Cheryl:
It's been a couple weeks since I've sent you a Kindle update. Over the past two weeks we have added 14 new Kindle books and one new game to the family's shared Kindle account. Nine of the books were free. $41.98 was invested in book content, including self-improvement, political, science fiction, and thriller genres. Read below for details on the specific additions. We also took advantage of a special $1 sale on games to add the Electronic Arts game, Yahtzee.
Skins, skins and more skins: I wrote you last time that I had added a skin to my Kindle. Since then Jessica, Jennifer, Nancy and Dad have added skins to their Kindles as well. This is a great way to personalize your Kindle. Dad, for example, ordered a U.S. Navy theme for his Kindle. While I spent hours looking over all the choices, Dad made his decision in about 60 seconds.
Dad: "Is there a Navy skin?"
Mark: "Yes."
Dad: "Order it."
I love to show off your newly skinned Kindles! The skin at the top right is from Nancy, ordered from DecalGirl.com and it titled "Beginning of the End." The skin on the left is from Jessica's Kindle. She ordered hers (through Amazon) from GelaSkins. Her skin is titled, "Dusk 'til Dawn." I'll try to include Dad's, Jennifer's and Jillian's good-looking Kindles in future editions.
I've enjoyed new popularity with my own "Cold Silence" skinned Kindle. I've had several people stop me and wonder where someone orders a good looking device like that? Skinned Kindles definitely stand out!
The Message Solo New Testament by Eugene Peterson
Purchased by Mark
Price - Free, Now back to $9.59
Bible, Devotional
Today’s world is all about Now--a fast-moving, high-speed, on-demand lifestyle. But has this pace changed how we study the Bible? Our relationship with God is a journey, a walk where we grow closer to Him each day. So it makes sense that reading and understanding Scripture is a continual experience, not just a moment. This innovative devotional is designed to change how you interact with God’s Word. The Message//REMIX: Solo revolves around lectio divina, or “divine reading,” an ancient approach to exploring Scripture updated for today’s students. Each devotion delivers a unique, contemplative study that will encourage you to: Read Uncover biblical wisdom and revelations as you learn to read without the typical limitations that often cut Bible reading short. Think Immerse yourself in the passage as you place yourself in the story or meditate on words and phrases. Pray Connect with him through listening prayer and praise as you encounter new ways to communicate with God. Live Rest, reflect, or do as you discover how to take the Word with you throughout the day.
The Power of Now by Eckert Tolle
Purchased by Nancy
Price $7.02 (Now reduced to $6.84)
Health, Mind, Body / Self-Improvement
To make the journey into the Now we will need to leave our analytical mind and its false created self, the ego, behind. From the very first page of Eckhart Tolle's extraordinary book, we move rapidly into a significantly higher altitude where we breathe a lighter air. We become connected to the indestructible essence of our Being, “The eternal, ever present One Life beyond the myriad forms of life that are subject to birth and death.” Although the journey is challenging, Eckhart Tolle uses simple language and an easy question and answer format to guide us. A word of mouth phenomenon since its first publication, The Power of Now is one of those rare books with the power to create an experience in readers, one that can radically change their lives for the better.
Against All Enemies by Tom Clancy and Peter Telep
Purchased by Walt
Price $12.99
Thriller
The master of international intrigue and explosive action introduces a new hero for a new era of warfare . . . against a new kind of threat.For years, ex–Navy SEAL Maxwell Moore has worked across the Middle East and behind the scenes for the Special Activities Division of the CIA, making connections, extracting valuable intelligence, and facing off against America’s enemies at every turn.When Moore arrives at a rendezvous to take charge of a high-ranking Taliban captive, the meeting takes a horrific turn that neither Moore nor any of his bosses saw coming. Barely surviving, he tries to bring to safety a Pakistani colonel with information about the debacle, only to have that mission fall prey to forces more powerful and cunning than any he has faced before. Undaunted, and with failure not an option, Moore continues his quest for the truth, leaving many dead in his wake—killed by those for whom secrecy is the ultimate weapon.And then . . . a shocking revelation: Two of the greatest threats to the security of the United States have forged an unholy alliance. After years of planning, the Taliban has come to terms with a vicious Mexican drug cartel for which they will supply opium. For the cartel, it is a matter of money, power, and ultimate control of the drug trade. But for the Taliban, it is an opportunity long awaited: to exploit the cartels and bring the fire of jihad to the hearts of the infidels.It is up to Moore, and his team, to infiltrate and dismantle the drug cartel, even as they hunt for those who would bring the ultimate terror and destruction to the streets of America.In a story that races from the remote, war-scarred landscapes of the Middle East to the blood-soaked chaos of the U.S.
Demonic: How the Liberal Mob is Endangering America by Ann Coulter
Purchased by Walt
Price $12.99
Political, Essay
Citing the father of mob psychology, Gustave Le Bon, Coulter catalogs the Left’s mob behaviors: the creation of messiahs, the fear of scientific innovation, the mythmaking, the preference for images over words, the lack of morals, and the casual embrace of contradictory ideas. Coulter traces the history of the liberal mob to the French Revolution and Robespierre’s revolutionaries (delineating a clear distinction from America’s founding fathers), who simply proclaimed that they were exercising the “general will” before slaughtering their fellow citizens “for the good of mankind.” Similarly, as Coulter demonstrates, liberal mobs, from student radicals to white-trash racists to anti-war and pro-ObamaCare fanatics today, have consistently used violence to implement their idea of the “general will.” This is not the American tradition; it is the tradition of Stalin, of Hitler, of the guillotine—and the tradition of the American Left. As the heirs of the French Revolution, Democrats have a history that consists of pandering to mobs, time and again, while Republicans, heirs to the American Revolution, have regularly stood for peaceable order. Hoping to muddy this horrifying truth, liberals slanderously accuse conservatives of their own crimes—assassination plots, conspiracy theorizing, political violence, embrace of the Ku Klux Klan. Coulter shows that the truth is the opposite: Political violence—mob violence—is always a Democratic affair. Surveying two centuries of mob movements, Coulter demonstrates that the mob is always destructive. And yet, she argues, beginning with the civil rights movement in the sixties, Americans have lost their natural, inherited aversion to mobs. Indeed, most Americans have no idea what they are even dealing with. Only by recognizing the mobs and their demonic nature can America begin to defend itself.
Atlantis by Bob Mayer
Purchased by Mark
Price: $0.99
Science Fiction, Adventure
What if the Shadow that destroyed Atlantis 10,000 years ago, comes back to threaten our present world? A war beyond time. An enemy beyond space. A thriller beyond your wildest dreams. Three areas on the Earth’s surface defy explanation: the Bermuda Triangle, the Devil’s Sea of Japan, and a small region of Cambodia. Inside these realms, planes have disappeared, ships have vanished, and, in Cambodia, an entire civilization has been lost leaving behind Angkor Wat. In 1945, Training Flight 19 disappears in the Bermuda Triangle. In 1963, the USS Thresher, a nuclear submarine, is lost under unusual circumstances, part of a secret government investigation into mysterious gates.
Near the end of of the Vietnam War, Green Beret Eric Dane led a team of operatives deep into Cambodia and encountered a strange fog near the legendary city of Angkor Kol Ker. His entire team disappears, attacked by strange creatures out of the fog. Only Dane survives to return. Now a plane goes down. In the same area Dane lost his team. He’s called back. To find out who is the darkness behind these gates to our planet. What does this Shadow force want? It is a threat that will take on the world’s greatest military forces and defeat them. A power that will overwhelm our science and technology. A merciless enemy that will lead Dane—and the whole planet—into the final desperate battle for survival. If you enjoyed LOST, you’ll love this book and be amazed at the similarities in concept (although this book was published before Lost).
To Say Nothing of the Dog by Connie Willis
Purchased by Mark
Price $7.99
Science Fiction, Historical Fiction, Humor, Romance
What a stitch! Willis' delectable romp through time from 2057 back to Victorian England, with a few side excursions into World War II and medieval Britain, will have readers happily glued to the pages. Rich dowager Lady Schrapnell has invaded Oxford University's time travel research project in 2057, promising to endow it if they help her rebuild Coventry Cathedral, destroyed by a Nazi air raid in 1940. In effect, she dragoons almost everyone in the program to make trips back in time to locate items--in particular, the bishop's bird stump, an especially ghastly example of Victorian decorative excess. Time traveler Ned Henry is suffering from advanced time lag and has been sent, he thinks, for rest and relaxation to 1888, where he connects with fellow time traveler Verity Kindle and discovers that he is actually there to correct an incongruity created when Verity inadvertently brought something forward from the past. Take an excursion through time, add chaos theory, romance, plenty of humor, a dollop of mystery, and a spoof of the Victorian novel, and you end up with what seems like a comedy of errors but is actually a grand scheme "involving the entire course of history and all of time and space that, for some unfathomable reason, chose to work out its designs with cats and croquet mallets and penwipers, to say nothing of the dog. And a hideous piece of Victorian artwork." Sally Estes
Yahtzee
Purchased by Mark
Price $0.99, Normally $5 (Sale ends today!)
Game
Now you can play YAHTZEE, the classic dice game on Kindle. Roll the dice with YAHTZEE, a game in which players roll five dice to try and make 4-of-a-kinds, full houses, and straights. Keep the dice you want and re-roll the rest, but think carefully to score the best combination and the most points! YAHTZEE for Kindle has three modes to enjoy. Play in Classic Mode and brave the luck of the roll, or remove luck from the game and play in Duplicate Mode where each person plays with identical die rolls and only your strategy can make the difference. You may also compete in Battle Mode, where your goal is to reduce your opponents score. Play solo or Pass 'n' Play with up to 3 other players. Track stats like best scores, total victories, win ratios and more. Share the fun with 3 difficulty levels: easy, medium and hard. One of the world's favorite dice-driven game scores again. Now play it anywhere you take your Kindle.
Seeing the Unseen by T.W. Hunt
Purchased by Mark
Price $0.00, Normall $9.99
Christian Nonfiction
Sometimes God seems a bit hazy, even imperceptible, in your busy day-to-day life. Sure, your faith tells you He’s present in the world, but what if you could truly recognize God as being right next to you every moment? What if your faith could deepen beyond what you can see to a richer level of experiencing the invisible hand of God in your relationships, work, and play? Through fresh, insightful writing, author and Bible teacher T. W. Hunt helps you acquire keen spiritual eyesight for looking past the natural world and physical senses to perceive and trust your always-present God. Dr. Hunt wisely leads you to depend on God’s Spirit in embracing the nearness of the Great Unseen.
Live Like You Mean It by T. J. Addington
Purchased by Mark
Price $0.00, Hardcover $12.23
Christian Nonfiction
The Scriptures tell us we are “God’s workmanship,” born to participate in intimate relationship with God and do the work of His kingdom. Sadly, we often fall short of the grand design He intends. Author T. J. Addington says that Jesus changed the rules about what is ordinary versus what is significant. Live Like You Mean It will help you find your true significance in living out the incredible work of God’s kingdom—work such as drawing others into relationship with Jesus and bringing Christ’s values to the marketplace. You’ll find that by extending the grace of Jesus to others in creative and compassionate ways and funding God’s work effectively, you can bring the kingdom of God to the hurting, the poor, and the marginalized. This book will show you how to respond to your God-inspired inner urgings—to discover that sweet spot of your personal wiring—and live them out intentionally.
The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Author Conan Doyle
Purchased by Mark
Price $0.00
Mysteries, Short Stories, Classics
What is there about the greatest series of short stories in the history of the world that hasn't already been said? This is the second (of five) story collections by Doyle about the greatest detective in literature--and a splendid volume it is, containing such superb puzzles as "The Greek Interpreter," in which readers are introduced to Mycroft Holmes; "The Musgrave Ritual"; "Silver Blaze"; and the earth-shattering "The Final Adventure," recounting the struggle between Holmes and the evil Professor Moriarty in which the two titans were apparently killed as they went over the edge of the Reichenbach Falls.
If I Were You by L. Ron Hubbard
Purchased by Mark
Price $0.00, Paperback $1.30
Classic Fantasy, Action and Adventure
If I Were You by L. Ron Hubbard. This is a book that contains two shorts: If I Were You and The Last Drop, both stories published in pulp magazines during that era. The first story, If I Were You, is about a dwarf who works at a circus. An old man leaves books of black magic to the dwarf, who quickly discovers that there is a way for his soul and the soul that occupies the other body to switch. He decides to switch with the ringmaster, so he can be the true lead of the circus. Unfortunately his dream does not go according to plan. If I Were You is a lighthearted story with good character development, humor and a little suspense thrown in. While reading it, I felt as if I were reading an old pulp magazine-like Astounding Science Fiction and Fact-from back in the day.
Under the Black Ensign by L. Ron Hubbard
Purchased by Mark
Price $0.00, Paperback $9.95
Pulp Fiction, Action and Adventure
Errol Flynn would feel quite at home in Hubbard’s ripping yarn of Caribbean piracy in the 1680, first published in 1935. Press-ganged into the Royal Navy, Tom Bristol faces 100 lashes just as buccaneers attack the British man-o’-war on which he reluctantly serves. Tom soon realizes the pirate life is for him, a life replete with swordplay, maroonings and naval battles with ships lost in the roiling fog of cannon smoke. Supplementing the illustrated text are an extensive glossary of nautical and period terms, an essay entitled “L. Ron Hubbard and American Pulp Fiction,” and a foreword by Kevin J. Anderson on the golden age of pulp fiction.
Branded Outlaw by L. Ron Hubbard
Purchased by Mark
Price $0.00, Paperback $9.95
Pulp Fiction, Western
This reissue of a pulp-fiction Western from the 1930s has all the clichés required at the time for a successful shoot-’em-up Western. Lee Weston is a gunslinger from Wyoming who comes to town at the behest of his father, who sends word that he is having trouble with the local big-money character named Dodge. Lee arrives just in time to learn of Pa’s death, and now he is riding hard to find the mangy dog who shot him. Along the way, he meets and falls for Dodge’s beautiful daughter, so there is a bit of Romeo and Juliet woven in as Weston fights off the bad guys and tries to win the girl. In fewer than 100 pages there is a lot of action, blazing 45s, and cowpoke language. The glossary of period terms and phrases, a history of pulp fiction, and the biography of Hubbard are a big part of this book’s attraction. . . . – Library School Journal
