Quote:
Originally Posted by Catlady
Audible has members-only "editor's choice" sale through May 10, 11:59 p.m. PT; the books in the sale are marked down to $6.95.
Looks like there are approximately 180 books in the sale; categories are Fiction & Romance; Bios & Memoirs; Nonfiction; Young Adult; Mystery & True Crime; Sci-Fi & Fantasy; Self Dev & Biz.
I did find one book that was on my wish list, so I'm happy! |
Some musings about the sale . . . .
I've been a member of Audible for almost exactly eight years. During that time, the prices on this kind of sale seem to have gone up, up, up. I'm thinking that in the first sale of this kind that I saw, audiobooks may have been $3.95, then maybe $4.95, I think Audible may have skipped the $5.95 price point. Now, of course, they are $6.95. $6.95 is just about the absolute limit of what I'll pay for an audiobook. (But, to Audible's credit, the price range of their Daily Deals seems like it has stayed about the same.)
Two recommendations from the "Nonfiction" category. I can't recommend either one as books, because I haven't read either one; I recommend them because of the stories that they relate . . . .
1.
The Great Bridge: The Epic Story of the Building of the Brooklyn Bridge, by David McCullough. I read a book years ago about the building of this bridge. Building it stretched the very limits of technology at that time; it was truly a marvel when it was finished. Many workers died, most, if I remember correctly, through failures of the caissons (dry rooms (for lack of a better word) extending down from above the waterline to the bottom of the river, created by pumping water out of those "rooms." Workers in those "rooms" would then create the concrete, brick, or whatever structures that would end up supporting the superstructure of the bridge). I've forgotten the man's name who at least oversaw construction of the bridge--and may have been the designer, too--but he either died or became incapacitated during the construction of the bridge; at any rate, his wife, who had never been formally trained in engineering or managing projects like that, finished the job. The byline, with David McCullough's name, is about all that I need to feel like this is a good listen. There's fantastic bang for your $6.95 bucks, too, with 27 1/2 hours of listening time. This is one audiobook in this sale that I will buy, even if I buy no others.
2.
Dead Mountain: The Untold True Story of the Dyatlov Pass Incident, by Donnie Eichar. Somehow I managed to get through school and spend many years in the workplace, before I ever heard about the incident that this book relates. It's about a group of overland (I don't know if that is the correct term or not; what I'm meaning to say is that these weren't sports skiers) skiers that went up into the mountains to camp. This was in an area controlled by the Soviet Union at the time. All of the skiers were found dead sometime later. The scene told of the most bizarre series of true events that I have ever heard of, barring
none. I don't think that anyone, to this day, knows for sure what happened. I feel certain that the author will have his own theory, though. Truth, indeed, can be stranger than fiction. Don't plan on reading in this one anytime close to when you go to bed.