FREE/BARGAIN - Audiobooks - 2016

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by badgoodDeb

How do you get to the "Free Audio book" ? When I "buy" one on Amazon, it still says the Audible book is $1.99. (I only tried one book, Jane Eyre)

Originally Posted by gunbad

I think there's a link inside your book that leads you to your free audiobook.

gunbad is correct. The link is found inside the ebook in the first few pages.

The Audible version of the book is NOT the free version. The free version is from LibriVox. You don't even need to get the ebook in order to get the LibriVox version. You can download it for free directly from LibriVox.

For those not familiar with LibriVox, all of their audiobooks are free, in the public domain, and narrated by amateurs. Narration quality ranges from excellent to horrible. Frequently, there are multiple versions of a book, which gives you the opportunity to find a narration you like.

[GtrsRGr8]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

Thanks for posting

Note: the included free audiobooks are from LibriVox

Annoying on this end, but probably a good marketing ploy for Coterie Classics.

[GtrsRGr8]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

gunbad is correct. The link is found inside the ebook in the first few pages.

The Audible version of the book is NOT the free version. The free version is from LibriVox. You don't even need to get the ebook in order to get the LibriVox version. You can download it for free directly from LibriVox.

For those not familiar with LibriVox, all of their audiobooks are free, in the public domain, and narrated by amateurs. Narration quality ranges from excellent to horrible. Frequently, there are multiple versions of a book, which gives you the opportunity to find a narration you like.

I look forward to the day that artificial voice technology gets to the point that it is a reasonable option for listening.

[tubemonkey]

Nook Daily Find -- exp 12 Aug

$3.99 -- Crimson Bound -- Rosamund Hodge/ Elizabeth Knowelden --> 11.6 hrs/ R-4.2 --> YA fantasy

Whispersync: Audible ($12.99) | Kindle ($9.99)

An exhilarating tale of darkness, love, and redemption inspired by the classic fairy tale Little Red Riding Hood, from the author of Cruel Beauty.

When Rachelle was 15, she was good - apprenticed to her aunt and in training to protect her village from dark magic. But she was also reckless - straying from the forest path in search of a way to free her world from the threat of eternal darkness. After an illicit meeting goes dreadfully wrong, Rachelle is forced to make a terrible choice that binds her to the very evil she had hoped to defeat.

Three years later Rachelle has given her life to serving the realm, fighting deadly creatures in a vain effort to atone. When the king orders her to guard his son, Armand - the man she hates most - Rachelle forces Armand to help her hunt for the legendary sword that might save their world. Together they navigate the opulent world of the courtly elite, where beauty and power reign, and no one can be trusted. And as the two become unexpected allies, they discover far-reaching conspiracies, hidden magic... and a love that may be their undoing. Within a palace built on unbelievable wealth and dangerous secrets, can Rachelle discover the truth and stop the fall of endless night?

[tubemonkey]

Downpour -- Rental of the Week -- exp 15 Aug

$1.99 -- Nerve -- Jeanne Ryan/ Caitlin Davies --> 6.8 hrs/ R-4.4 --> YA suspense

Whispersync: no deals at this time | Audible

A high-stakes online game of dares turns deadly …

When Vee is picked to be a player in NERVE, an anonymous game of dares broadcast live online, she discovers that the game knows her. They tempt her with prizes taken from her ThisIsMe page and team her up with the perfect boy: sizzling-hot Ian. At first it’s exhilarating—Vee and Ian’s fans cheer them on to riskier dares with higher stakes. But the game takes a twisted turn when they’re directed to a secret location with five other players for the grand prize round. Suddenly they’re playing all-or-nothing—with their lives on the line. Just how far will Vee go before she loses NERVE?

With NERVE, debut author Jeanne Ryan delivers an intensely gripping suspense thriller perfect for fans of The Hunger Games.

[tubemonkey]

Downpour -- Deal of the Week -- exp 15 Aug

$5.95 -- Summit -- Harry Farthing/ Harry Farthing --> 17.6 hrs/ R-4.6 --> suspense

Whispersync: no deals at this time | Audible

A summit is a summit, and the truth is the truth. But the view from 8,848 meters isn’t always so clear. Two men, seventy years apart, push for the top of Mount Everest, driven by forces beyond their control and something inside that says climb.

After eight successful summits, Mount Everest guide Neil Quinn is confident he can handle anything the mountain throws his way. But then disaster strikes steps from the top, leaving him with a lot of questions and a very old swastika-embellished ice axe that should never have been so high on the mountain—not if Everest’s meticulously documented history is accurate.

But before Quinn can even catch his breath, the combined wrath of his vengeful employer and an angry client drives him out of the Himalayas and back to Europe, where the newly blackballed English guide struggles to make ends meet and discover the truth of what happened that fateful day. He soon uncovers the story of Josef Becker, a Nazi climber who sought the top of the world seventy years before, when Europe teetered on the brink of the Second World War.

Quinn’s innocent queries into Becker’s expedition soon have neo-Nazis, assassins, and history buffs vying to take possession of the axe—proof of Nazi alpine superiority, and strong evidence that a German climber was the first to summit Mount Everest.

Beautifully written and meticulously researched, Summit follows two climbers across two continents as their stories and movements intertwine across history, culminating in one final push for the top of the world.

[GtrsRGr8]

I don't remember seeing this kind of thing posted on this thread. But I checked the OP and didn't find anything against it. If there's some rule against it on this thread, please excuse due to my ignorance.

Get a free audiobook from Fritzen Media (the books seem to be Charles-River-Editors-esce) by agreeing to review the book on Amazon (note that I did not say "the audiobook on Audible"). I don't know a thing about the audiobooks, yet. I doubt that any of them are LibriVox, though, due to the fact that all of the books appear to have a current copyright. I'm going to go and download one of them as soon as I get through with the post, and I'll be able to give you more information about that after I've had a chance to listen to it. I'm curious to find out about the quality, myself.

There are 19 choices of books. Most of them are non-fiction; of those, most, if not all, are biographical in nature.

The book choices are given on this webpage. More information about the review program, and to sign up if you're so inclined, are here.

[WT Sharpe]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

...For those not familiar with LibriVox, all of their audiobooks are free, in the public domain, and narrated by amateurs. Narration quality ranges from excellent to horrible. Frequently, there are multiple versions of a book, which gives you the opportunity to find a narration you like.

Helpful hint: Sometimes you'll see Librivox audiobooks that have versions narrated by multiple readers alongside versions read by solo readers. Usually the solo readers are better, unless it's a play or other dramatic reading.

"Excellent to horrible"? Some of the readers are superb, and could make a living with any major publishing house. A few are unbelievably bad, blundering, and extremely difficult to follow. Many appear to be folks for whom English is not their first language, and for whom the project was a way to sharpen their English skills while at the same time providing a service to listeners everywhere. Some in this class are much better than you might expect, but be prepared to meet with familiar words pronounced in surprising ways.

All in all, I'm glad to be alive in the age of Librivox for audiobooks and Project Gutenberg, and of course, our own Patricia Clark Memorial Library, for e-books.

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by GtrsRGr8

I don't remember seeing this kind of thing posted on this thread. But I checked the OP and didn't find anything against it. If there's some rule against it on this thread, please excuse due to my ignorance.

Thanks for bringing this up. It's a category we really haven't considered before.

I'll make a final decision on this issue in several days. I'm still mulling it over as to whether to keep this category "free audiobooks in exchange for reviews" here or move it to the Audiobook Discussions forum. This is a very large source for free audiobooks if we exploit the category to its fullest. I'm inclined to move it to Audiobook Discussions where other categories of free sources like LibriVox and dramatized audiobooks/radio plays are discussed.

That said, I'm open to recommendations from the board.

[tubemonkey]

Audible Daily Deal -- exp 13 Aug

$3.95 -- Lovecraft Country -- Matt Ruff/ Kevin Kenerly --> 12.2 hrs/ R-4.5 --> historical

Whispersync: Audible ($3.95) | Kindle ($11.99)

Critically acclaimed cult novelist Matt Ruff makes visceral the terrors of life in Jim Crow America and its lingering effects in this brilliant and wondrous work of the imagination that melds historical fiction, pulp noir, and Lovecraftian horror and fantasy.

Chicago, 1954. When his father, Montrose, goes missing, 22-year-old army veteran Atticus Turner embarks on a road trip to New England to find him, accompanied by his uncle George - publisher of The Safe Negro Travel Guide - and his childhood friend, Letitia. On their journey to the manor of Mr. Braithwhite - heir to the estate that owned one of Atticus' ancestors - they encounter both mundane terrors of white America and malevolent spirits that seem straight out of the weird tales George devours.

At the manor, Atticus discovers his father in chains, held prisoner by a secret cabal named the Order of the Ancient Dawn - led by Samuel Braithwhite and his son, Caleb - which has gathered to orchestrate a ritual that shockingly centers on Atticus. And his one hope of salvation may be the seed of his clan's destruction.

A chimerical blend of magic, power, hope, and freedom that stretches across time, touching diverse members of two black families, Lovecraft Country is a devastating kaleidoscopic portrait of racism - the terrifying specter that continues to haunt us today.

[tubemonkey]

Nook Daily Find -- exp 13 Aug

$4.99 -- The Black Echo -- Michael Connelly/ Dick Hill --> 13.3 hrs/ R-4.2 --> detective

The Black Echo --> Harry Bosch Series (book 1 of 21+)

Whispersync: Audible ($3.49) | Kindle ($5.99)

For LAPD homicide cop Harry Bosch - hero, maverick, nighthawk - the body in the drainpipe at Mulholland Dam is more than another anonymous statistic. This one is personal.

The dead man, Billy Meadows, was a fellow Vietnam "tunnel rat" who fought side by side with him in a nightmare underground war that brought them to the depths of hell. Now, Bosch is about to relive the horror of Nam. From a dangerous maze of blind alleys to a daring criminal heist beneath the city to the torturous link that must be uncovered, his survival instincts will once again be tested to their limit.

Joining with an enigmatic and seductive female FBI agent, pitted against enemies inside his own department, Bosch must make the agonizing choice between justice and vengeance, as he tracks down a killer whose true face will shock him.

[GtrsRGr8]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

Thanks for bringing this up. It's a category we really haven't considered before.

I'll make a final decision on this issue in several days. I'm still mulling it over as to whether to keep this category "free audiobooks in exchange for reviews" here or move it to the Audiobook Discussions forum. This is a very large source for free audiobooks if we exploit the category to its fullest. I'm inclined to move it to Audiobook Discussions where other categories of free sources like LibriVox and dramatized audiobooks/radio plays are discussed.

That said, I'm open to recommendations from the board.

I have never thought of going into the Audiobook Discussions forum to see if there were freebies of any kind. I need to start doing that.

I haven't run across very many audiobook-in-exchange-for-review deals at all. But your experience trolling for free and cheap audiobook sources is also exponentially greater than mine.

[tubemonkey]

Audible -- 2 for 1 Sale -- exp 22 Aug

• SALE -- Much Loved Listens (200+ titles) --> 2 books for 1 credit

Get 2 books from our selection of top-rated listens for just 1 credit. Browse by genre using the tabs below. Sale ends August 22, 2016 at 11:59 PM PT (US).

On your phone? Click here for the new mobile Buy 1 Get 2 Shop!

[tubemonkey]

Audible Daily Deal -- exp 14 Aug

$3.95 -- Ruby Brooch -- Katherine Logan/ Teri Schnaubelt --> 12.7 hrs/ R-4.0 --> fantasy

The Ruby Brooch: Time Travel Romance --> The Celtic Brooch Series (book 1 of 7)

Whispersync: Audible ($1.99) | Kindle ($2.99)

A Sweeping Saga

As the sole survivor of the car crash that killed her parents, grief-stricken paramedic Kit MacKlenna is stunned to learn her life is built on lies. A legacy from her father includes a faded letter and a well-worn journal. The journal reveals she was abandoned as a baby 160 years ago. The only clues to her identity are a blood-splattered shawl, a locket with the portrait of a 19th century man, and a Celtic brooch with magical powers. Kit decides to continue her father's 25-year search for her identity and solve her birth parents' murders.

Scotsman Cullen Montgomery, a San Francisco-bound lawyer who resembles the ghost who has haunted Kit since childhood, helps her join a wagon train heading west. More dangerous than the river crossings, bad water, and disease encountered on the trail is Cullen's determination to expose her lies and uncover the source of her unusual knowledge and lifesaving powers.

Kit is convinced that if she can survive the perilous journey and Cullen's accusations, as well as thwart his attempts to seduce her, she might solve the mystery of her heritage and return home without leaving her heart on the other side of time.

[tubemonkey]

Nook Daily Find -- exp 14 Aug

$13.99 -- Midnight's Children -- Salman Rushdie/ Lyndam Gregory --> 23.3 hrs/ R-3.8 --> contemp

Whispersync: Audible ($3.99) | Kindle ($12.99)

Salman Rushdie holds the literary world in awe with a jaw-dropping catalog of critically acclaimed novels that have made him one of the world’s most celebrated authors. Winner of the prestigious Booker of Bookers, Midnight’s Children tells the story of Saleem Sinai, born on the stroke of India’s independence.

“One of the most important books to come out of the English-speaking world in this generation.”—New York Review of Books

Saleem Sinai is born at the stroke of midnight on August 15, 1947, the very moment of India’s independence. Greeted by fireworks displays, cheering crowds, and Prime Minister Nehru himself, Saleem grows up to learn the ominous consequences of this coincidence. His every act is mirrored and magnified in events that sway the course of national affairs; his health and well-being are inextricably bound to those of his nation; his life is inseparable, at times indistinguishable, from the history of his country. Perhaps most remarkable are the telepathic powers linking him with India’s 1,000 other “midnight’s children,” all born in that initial hour and endowed with magical gifts.

This novel is at once a fascinating family saga and an astonishing evocation of a vast land and its people–a brilliant incarnation of the universal human comedy. Twenty-five years after its publication, Midnight’ s Children stands apart as both an epochal work of fiction and a brilliant performance by one of the great literary voices of our time.