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On the 50th anniversary of its debut, authors and illustrators reflect on the profound influence of Frog and Toad

From Slate: Authors and illustrators reflect on what Arnold Lobel’s friendship-defining series means to them… Support our news coverage by subscribing to our Kindle Nation Daily Digest. Joining is free!

“The very first thing is sad,” marvels Mac Barnett about the opening story in Frog and Toad Are Friends. Barnett, a prolific children’s book author whose work includes Sam and Dave Dig a Hole, is right about that. Though the book series by Arnold Lobel has filled young readers with a sense of warmth and closeness for five decades, Frog and Toad opens with disappointment and desperation. It is the first day of spring, and Frog is eager for a celebratory post-hibernation reunion. But Toad won’t get out of bed. He tells Frog to return in a month and hops back to sleep. Frog pleads, “But Toad, I will be lonely until then.” Instead of resigning himself to isolation, Frog sneaks back into Toad’s house, rips a handful of pages out of the calendar, wakes Toad back up, and tricks him into believing a month has passed. “Faced with the prospect of being alone for a month or committing an act of deception, he deceives his best friend,” Barnett explains. “And it’s a happy ending because they’re together. These amphibians, they act in complicated ways to each other, but the friendship is the only thing standing between them and despair.”

For the uninitiated, reading such deep psychodrama into a story about a couple of anthropomorphic polliwogs might seem a bit much. But anyone who’s spent time in the world Lobel built for these two critters knows that, if anything, it’s almost an understatement. Frog and Toad, like their forebears in The Wind in the Willows, may bumble about the forest in tweed sports coats, but the accumulated weight of the tales is unexpectedly moving. Though each short story begins with the premise of an adventure, the plot twist is that, invariably, nothing really happens. We don’t go far with Frog and Toad, yet in story after story, we do gain a crystalline sense of their relationship. Frog and Toad are friends, in every sustaining and stress-inducing sense of the word.

Read full post on Slate

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by Annie J. Rose
4.5 stars – 140 reviews
Text-to-Speech and Lending: Enabled
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Awaken (A Fated Fantasy Quest Adventure Book 1)

by Rachel Humphrey-D’aigle
4.3 stars – 644 reviews
Text-to-Speech: Enabled
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There’s something strange about the new neighbors at the campsite next door. They wear winged-tipped shoes and overcoats. They didn’t arrive in vehicles, but on foot, and carrying travel trunks. They stick to themselves and they’re not friendly. And stranger still–they’re afraid of something… it’s a mystery mind-reading twins Meghan and Colin Jacoby want to solve. Well, Colin, reluctantly. And only because his sister knows just the right buttons to push to pique his curiosity. That, and she’s impossible to say no to. But when the mystery unravels, it’s not at all what they expect. And while the twins have never been what people would consider ordinary, their world becomes extraordinary. Solving one mystery leads to another, and another, and before they know it, they’re dangerously steeped into an otherworldly adventure, which sparks an epic journey that’s fated to be legendary.

  • “Wow. Just wow. This was a book I desperately wish existed when I was a young teen. Not only was it an amazingly well-written story, but it reminded me of other great fantasies I have read. Reminiscent of books like Something Wicked This Way Comes. The ending blew me away and left me wanting more. I can’t wait to read the second book!”- A Girl and Her Kindle
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* * *

The Voyeur: La Petite Mort Club – Steamy Contemporary Romance

by Ellis O. Day
4.2 stars – 73 reviews
Text-to-Speech and Lending: Enabled
Here’s the set-up:

When Patrick stumbles across a maid at La Petite Mort Club watching a couple have sex, he can’t keep his hands off her. She’s cute, sexy and kinky – just the way he likes his women.

Until he discovers that she’s the younger sister of one of his best friends which means she’s in the “hands off” department.

Annie is tired of guys staying away from her because of her overprotective brother. She’s determined to convince Patrick that she should not be off limits and that his hands should definitely be all over her body.

This is the first book in a four book series. The series ends in HEA. It’s a steamy, contemporary romance meant for those eighteen and up. So, if you like your books hot enough to make you tingle, check this out.

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A Love Song for Liars (Rivals Book 1)

by Piper Lawson
4.8 stars – 113 reviews
Text-to-Speech and Lending: Enabled
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We never should have met.

I was rich, he was poor.

I was plain, he was beautiful.

I ached for the spotlight, he made his music in the dark.

Yet he looked at me in a way my rock star father and cruel, entitled classmates never did: like I mattered.

I never saw it coming. 

When Tyler moved in with us to attend Oakwood Prep, he crushed my heart to claim their crown.

They can keep their lying prince. 

Because I’ll never forgive the boy I used to ache for.

But some nights…

…He makes me want to.

A Love Song for Liars is Book 1 in the angsty, emotional, and forbidden Rivals trilogy. Fans of bully, academy, enemies to lovers, friends to lovers, and rock star romance will love this new series.

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Three Voices: A Psychological Historical Novel, Based on a Jewish Girl’s WW2 Holocaust True Story Memoir

by Nora Sarel
4.2 stars – 38 reviews
Text-to-Speech and Lending: Enabled
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Whether she was hiding in an oven or the forest, in the monastery or in the cellar, Lena has been followed by one thing: loneliness. Now an elderly woman with nothing but her memories to guide her – she embarks on a journey to unravel the truth of her past, once and for all.

You have never read a story quite like this. Based on real events, Three Voices illustrates the trauma and relief of a woman escaping the atrocities of the Holocaust, traveling the world and eventually reclaiming her childhood. This incredible tale, pieced together from three unique perspectives, weaves past, present and future into a heart-wrenching experience that will change you.

Lena remembers everything from her childhood. She doesn’t know that her whole life is about to be turned upside down as she comes face-to-face with another Lena. A once-in-a-lifetime meeting between the two Lena’s and the town’s priest, sends shockwaves that reverberate through the truth that was known to her.

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Holiday Luv Bundle: Four Christmas Romances

by Alicia Street
4.5 stars – 15 reviews
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USA Today bestselling author Alicia Street brings you a boxed set of Christmas romance.
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The Christmas Honeymoon
Quiet librarian Serena always loved Christmas, until she was jilted before her December wedding. A year later, while trying to rekindle her tarnished holiday spirit, she meets Damien, handsome daredevil—and a total Scrooge. Their unlikely mutual attraction brings on a challenge that leads to one very romantic Christmas.

Be Mine for Christmas
Single mom Ellie is lonely and struggling to find a job. She takes her little boy to a Christmas tree farm to see Santa and runs head on into a blue-eyed Viking with a winsome smile. Reece opened his Christmas tree farm after the accident that nearly took his life. But it left him with the vision of a woman who would heal his heart.

The Christmas Wedding Cake
Natalie and Shane were inseparable sweethearts until a pair of mysterious emails tore them apart. Years later they meet again on a reality TV cooking show—and it’s more than the oven that gets cooking.

His Christmas Promise
A stray dog with a penchant for giving warm and fuzzy love finds refuge with an ex-Army helicopter pilot and helps restore his grandmother’s will to live. It seems like a Christmas miracle until the bachelor war vet discovers the mutt belongs to a little girl who wants him back—and a single mom who makes him rethink his freewheeling ways and maybe even believe in love.

A sci-fi comedy series about a bumbling nerd who shifts between parallel universes whenever he falls asleep: Max And The Multiverse

Family eBook of The Day

Max and the Multiverse

by Zachry Wheeler
4.3 stars – 96 reviews
FREE with Kindle UnlimitedLearn More
Text-to-Speech and Lending: Enabled
Here’s the set-up:
“One of the finest pieces of sci-fi satire I have ever read. Anywhere. Bar none.”
– Eric Michael Craig, Rivenstone Press
* Gold Medal Winner – Global Ebook Awards
* Finalist – National Indie Excellence Awards
* Finalist – Next Generation Indie Book Awards
* Finalist – Dante Rossetti Book Awards
* Finalist – Best Book Awards
* Finalist – NMAZ Book Awards

It’s spring break and Max is stuck at home all by himself. Just the way he likes it. He games online, feasts on junk, and wonders why his cat can suddenly talk.

Thanks to a bizarre mishap, Max has started shifting between parallel universes whenever he falls asleep. A curious affliction, and one that steadily erodes his sanity. Day after day, he awakes to a strange new reality and struggles to make sense of his surroundings.

But then one day he awakes to a hyper-advanced version of Earth where humans have colonized space. Determined to fulfill a lifelong dream, Max and his cyborg cat venture into the black, only to entangle themselves in an intergalactic conflict.

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Good Deeds Gone Wrong

by Ruthie Godfrey
4.9 stars – 20 reviews
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Beautiful picture book for kids about kindness.

It’s Good Deeds Week again! And Stephen is starting out his favorite week of the year with enthusiasm in his heart and the Good Deeds checklist in his hand. He can hardly wait to get started showing kindness to others. But when one thing after another goes wrong, Stephen becomes all too familiar with the old saying, “No good deed goes unpunished.” Stephen even considers giving up before he messes up anything else! Will Stephen be able to brush it off and carry on?

Based on real kids’ experiences with the Great Kindness Challenge, Good Deeds Gone Wrong will make you laugh, make you cringe, and make you wonder why Stephen doesn’t give up much sooner! This colorful, engaging picture book will inspire children to perservere in showing kindness, even when it does not turn out as the expect.

Award-winning author, Liam Fialkov, draws a frighteningly realistic scenario of a volatile situation that could erupt at any moment… The Newton Code: A Mystery Thriller

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The Newton Code: A Mystery Thriller

by Liam Fialkov
4.6 stars – 59 reviews
Everyday Price: $3.95
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Text-to-Speech and Lending: Enabled
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“Cunningly plotted and masterfully written.”- Readers’ Favorite.

In a tunnel under the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, Michael, a teacher of investigative journalism, has to confront a powerful opponent. Will he succeed in his race against time? Will he prevail in his attempt to stop Armageddon?

To succeed in his mission, Michael must delve into ideas, measurements, and calculations written 300 years earlier by Sir Isaac Newton.

“Mystery, suspense, and adventure are woven into the fabric of this story, elevating it to a page-turner. You can’t stop once you start reading.”- Readers’ Favorite.

Award-winning author, Liam Fialkov, draws a frighteningly realistic scenario of a volatile situation that could erupt at any moment.

“Liam Fialkov is a great storyteller and it is interesting how he uses religion, myth, and history to build a conflict that advances the plot in directions no one can imagine.”- Readers’ Favorite.

“An Irresistible Religious Conspiracy Thriller.”- BestThrillers.
Sir Isaac Newton is known as one of the greatest scientists of all time, but it is less known that he devoted much more time to secretive theological studies than he did to science. At the center of Newton’s esoteric research was his keen interest in the Temple of King Solomon, built about 3,000 years ago in Jerusalem.

“What a great thriller. The book is exciting, gripping, and action-packed, and you don’t want to stop reading it. So, I recommend it to everyone who likes the mystery and thriller genre.”- Online Book Club – Official Review

Fialkov is a fantastic writer, and THE NEWTON CODE moves with deft speed keeping the reader in suspense until the very end. While the plot is known half-way through the book, the eventual results of the penultimate conclusion cannot be guessed, even by the most astute reader or fan of the genre …
Liam Fialkov’s THE NEWTON CODE is a perfect mystery thriller.- Indie Reader

Michael embarks on a dangerous journey that spans over space and time, where he is not only learning about his undertaking, but he must also direct his gaze inward, to examine his core beliefs and rediscover the most significant relationships of his life.

“The Bottom Line: A must-read for fans of Dan Brown.”- BestThrillers

Have you ever had a drunken celebration then find out a decade later that you’re married?!
Boss Next Door by Beverly Evans

❤️ Kindle Nation Daily Romance of the Day ❤️

Boss Next Door (A Briggs Town Series Book 2)

by Beverly Evans
4.0 stars – 1 review
Everyday price: $5.99
FREE with Kindle UnlimitedLearn More
Text-to-Speech and Lending: Enabled
Here’s the set-up:
Have you ever had a drunken celebration then find out a decade later that you’re married?!
Or that when your life blows up, the twisted hand of fate puts you face to face with the man you don’t remember marrying?
Yeah, I wish I could say the same.
Want to know the craziest part?
That’s not even the most screwed up thing in my life.
My dad got hauled away by the Feds and my career lies in ashes.
I’m broke and living with my mother.
My name is Chloe Dixon, welcome to my life.
I decided to pursue my passion, and ended up working for the boy from my past.
Braxton, the arrogant, cocky, and undeniably sexy guy from college.
And apparently the same guy I married after a drunken night!
He’s grown up now, but his temper is as wicked as ever.
With him, the stakes becomes higher than ever.
Whatever I do though, there’s no way my life could get any worse… Right?

Boss Next Door is a standalone, full-length romance with burning passion, twists, drama, and a HEA.

A sprawling Gothic supernatural thriller set against the backdrop of the Fall of the Romanov Dynasty…
The Nosferatu Conspiracy: The Sleepwalker by Brian James Gage

→ Kindle Nation Daily eBook of The Day ←

“…Enthralling… a superior job of integrating the unrest preceding the Russian Revolution into the gore-filled action. Fans of historical horror thrillers will be eager to see where Gage goes next.” – Publishers Weekly

The Nosferatu Conspiracy: The Sleepwalker

by Brian James Gage
4.3 stars – 24 reviews
Everyday Price: $5.99
Text-to-Speech and Lending: Enabled
Here’s the set-up:
A sprawling Gothic supernatural thriller set in Saint Petersburg, Russia, against the backdrop of the Fall of the Romanov Dynasty. Evoking elements of Jack the Ripper and Vlad Dracula, the first book in the Nosferatu Conspiracy series is an action-packed and suspense-filled alternative retelling of Rasputin’s diabolical influence over the final days of the Romanov Dynasty.
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History states Tsar Nicholas II, his wife Alexandra, and their five children were executed on the morning of July 17, 1918 (OS). This contrasts suppressed documents citing the royal family mysteriously disappeared after fires ravaged Saint Petersburg in December 1916 (OS).

Grigori Yefimovich Rasputin was supposedly murdered by high-ranking Russian officials on December 16, 1916 (OS), for his unprecedented and perceived nefarious influence over the royal family. He was poisoned, shot twice, and clubbed into submission, yet remained alive. His attackers finally drowned him underneath the icy Neva River.

Rasputin’s autopsy was reportedly performed three days later by Professor Kossorotov, a high-ranking Okhrana agent and future Kremlin operative. Cause of death: drowning. The document states Rasputin broke free of his bindings and his fingernails showed signs he’d tried to claw through the ice.

The stories surrounding Rasputin’s death are gross falsifications. His body was never recovered for examination, and his status within the Russian intelligence community to this day remains: At Large.

This is the true story of Rasputin’s paranormal coup d’etat and his conjuring of ancient vampires that destroyed Saint Petersburg, Russia, in December 1916.

History is a lie. The truth will be exposed.

The Nosferatu Conspiracy: The Sleepwalker by [Brian James Gage]