FREE/BARGAIN - Audiobooks - 2016

[skinmaan]

Originally Posted by AnemicOak

I'm for their being the option for folks, as long as it's not the only option like in the old days of audiobooks. Some are definitely better than others of course. Taking a 40+ hour book and making it 8-9 hours is cutting an awful lot of content.

We got a freebie of the abridged version of "The Count of Monte Cristo." It was 17 hours for a book that is otherwise 40+, and I felt pretty okay about. Heck, I think I actually felt relieved.

Of course, I say that, then I jumped at the chance to pick up "Shogun" at 53 hours. I guess that's consistency for 'ya.

[Red Falcon]

Can somebody help me get The Best of Poe. All I am seeing is a pay option.

[AnemicOak]

Originally Posted by Red Falcon

Can somebody help me get The Best of Poe. All I am seeing is a pay option.

Looks like the freebie has ended.

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by Red Falcon

Can somebody help me get The Best of Poe. All I am seeing is a pay option.

Originally Posted by AnemicOak

Looks like the freebie has ended.

Yep, it's over and they don't have a replacement freebie up yet.

[GtrsRGr8]

Originally Posted by skinmaan

We got a freebie of the abridged version of "The Count of Monte Cristo." It was 17 hours for a book that is otherwise 40+, and I felt pretty okay about. Heck, I think I actually felt relieved.

Of course, I say that, then I jumped at the chance to pick up "Shogun" at 53 hours. I guess that's consistency for 'ya.

But the Count of Monte Cristo was a single book. Yes?

Shogun, at least the TV version (I'm old enough to remember when it premiered), was a mini-series, so basically a series of books.

The disparity in length sounds pretty proportional to me.

[GtrsRGr8]

Originally Posted by skinmaan

We got a freebie of the abridged version of "The Count of Monte Cristo." It was 17 hours for a book that is otherwise 40+, and I felt pretty okay about. Heck, I think I actually felt relieved.

Of course, I say that, then I jumped at the chance to pick up "Shogun" at 53 hours. I guess that's consistency for 'ya.

But the Count of Monte Cristo was a single book. Yes?

Shogun, at least the TV version (I'm old enough to remember when it premiered), was a mini-series, basically equivalent to a series of books.

The disparity in length sounds pretty proportional to me.

[skinmaan]

Originally Posted by GtrsRGr8

But the Count of Monte Cristo was a single book. Yes?

Shogun, at least the TV version (I'm old enough to remember when it premiered), was a mini-series, so basically a series of books.

The disparity in length sounds pretty proportional to me.

They made Shogun into a mini-series but it is a single book, the same as "Roots" or "North and South." (At 53 hours, do you blame them?) There is a series, and some of those were also made into mini-series back in the day. I believe "Noble House" and "Tai-Pei" were made into mini-series (I remember Pierce Brosnan, back before Bond, was in the latter), though there are 7 books in the series.

[tubemonkey]

Audible UK Daily Deal -- exp 11 Oct @ 11:59 PM BST

£1.99 -- Heavenfield -- LJ Ross/ Jonathan Keeble --> 8.4 hrs/ R-4.6 --> mystery

Heavenfield --> DCI Ryan Mystery (book 3 of 3)

Whispersync: Audible (£1.99) | Kindle (£1.99)

The hunter becomes the hunted....

When a man is found dead at the remote church of Heavenfield, DCI Ryan is the only other person for miles around. The police have no weapon, no motive and no other suspects.

Already suspended from Northumbria CID, Ryan must fight to clear his name. But soon more than his career is at stake when prominent members of the mysterious Circle begin to die.

Somebody wants Ryan's name to be next on the coroner's list, and to survive he must unmask the devil who walks among them - before it is too late. Unfortunately for Ryan, the devil looks just like everybody else....

Murder and mystery are peppered with romance and humour in this fast-paced crime whodunnit from LJ Ross, set amidst the spectacular Northumbrian landscape.

[Catlady]

Originally Posted by skinmaan

We got a freebie of the abridged version of "The Count of Monte Cristo." It was 17 hours for a book that is otherwise 40+, and I felt pretty okay about. Heck, I think I actually felt relieved.

Of course, I say that, then I jumped at the chance to pick up "Shogun" at 53 hours. I guess that's consistency for 'ya.

No to abridgments. If I'm going to invest my time, I want the whole thing. I will admit to avoiding various classics, especially, because of the time involved, but generally they're books that I already kinda-sorta know, in broad outline at least, and the reason for feeling I should read them is to flesh out the story, not to get a condensed version.

[Apache]

I bought an abridged audiobook of a book I had read. I did not realize it was abridged until I started listening to it. I learned them to never buy another book without checking to see if it is abridged. I have not bought an abridged book since.
Apache

[tubemonkey]

Audible Daily Deal -- exp 11 Oct @ 11:59 PM PDT

$2.95 -- Light of the Fireflies -- Paul Pen/ Scott Merriman --> 10.3 hrs/ R-3.9 --> suspense

The Light of the Fireflies

Whispersync: Audible ($1.99) | Kindle ($4.99)

A haunting and hopeful tale of discovering light in even the darkest of places.

For his whole life, the boy has lived underground, in a basement with his parents, grandmother, sister, and brother. Before he was born, his family was disfigured by a fire. His sister wears a white mask to cover her burns.

He spends his hours with his cactus, reading his book on insects, or touching the one ray of sunlight that filters in through a crack in the ceiling. Ever since his sister had a baby, everyone's been acting very strangely. The boy begins to wonder why they never say who the father is, about what happened before his own birth, about why they're shut away.

A few days ago, some fireflies arrived in the basement. His grandma said, There's no creature more amazing than one that can make its own light. That light makes the boy want to escape, to know the outside world. Problem is, all the doors are locked. And he doesn't know how to get out....

[tubemonkey]

Nook Daily Find -- exp 11 Oct

$3.99 -- Magic Strings Frankie Presto -- M Albom/ various --> 9.7 hrs/ R-4.7 --> contemp

The Magic Strings of Frankie Presto

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

Mitch Albom creates his most unforgettable fictional character—Frankie Presto, the greatest guitarist to ever walk the earth—in this magical novel about the bands we join in life and the power of talent to change our lives.

An epic story of the greatest guitar player to ever live, and the six lives he changed with his magical blue strings.

In Albom's most sweeping novel yet, the voice of Music narrates the tale of its most beloved disciple, young Frankie Presto, a war orphan raised by a blind music teacher in a small Spanish town. At nine years old, Frankie is sent to America in the bottom of a boat. His only possession is an old guitar and six precious strings.

But Frankie's talent is touched by the gods, and his amazing journey weaves him through the musical landscape of the 20th century, from classical to jazz to rock and roll, with his stunning talent affecting numerous stars along the way, including Hank Williams, Elvis Presley, Carole King, Wynton Marsalis and even KISS.

Frankie becomes a pop star himself. He makes records. He is adored. But his gift is also his burden, as he realizes, through his music, he can actually affect people's futures—with one string turning blue whenever a life is altered.

At the height of his popularity, Frankie Presto vanishes. His legend grows. Only decades later, does he reappear—just before his spectacular death—to change one last life.

With its Forest Gump-like romp through the music world, The Magic Strings of Frankie Presto is a classic in the making. A lifelong musician himself, Mitch Albom delivers a remarkable novel, infused with the message that "everyone joins a band in this life" and those connections change us all.

The complete list of narrators includes Mitch Albom, Roger McGuinn, Ingrid Michaelson, John Pizzarelli, Paul Stanley, George Guidall, Mike Hodge, Robin Miles, Christian Baskous, Tony Chiroldes, Kevin O'Neil, Adriana Sananes, Ken Brown, and Sarab Kamoo.

[tubemonkey]

Downpour -- Rental of the Week -- exp 17 Oct

$1.99 -- The Memory Wall -- Lev Rosen/ Prentice Onayemi --> 11.1 hrs/ R-n/a --> kids social

Whispersync: Audible ($4.49) | Kindle ($10.99)

There’s a fine line between real life and video games in this engrossing novel that’s part Kathryn Erskine’s Mockingbird, part Patrick Ness’ A Monster Calls.

Severkin is an elf who slinks through the shadows of Wellhall’s spiraling stone towers, plundering ancient ruins and slaying mystical monstrosities with ease.

He’s also a character in a video game—a character that twelve-year-old Nick Reeves plays when he needs a break from the real world. And lately Nick has really needed a break. His mother had an “incident” at school last year, and her health has taken a turn for the worse.

Nick is convinced his mother’s illness has been misdiagnosed, but no one believes him. His only escape is the online world of Wellhall, where, as the elf character Severkin, he can face any problem. But when Nick finds himself fighting alongside another elf who reminds him of someone he knows in real life, his worlds begin to collide.

[tubemonkey]

Downpour -- Deal of the Week -- exp 17 Oct

$5.95 -- Surrender, New York -- Caleb Carr/ Tom Taylorson --> 23.8 hrs/ R-3.9 --> suspense

Whispersync: Audible ($4.99) | Kindle ($14.99)

Caleb Carr, bestselling author of The Alienist and The Angel of Darkness, has created a contemporary psychological thriller haunted by the shadowy hands of established power.

In rural, impoverished Burgoyne County, New York, a pattern of strange deaths begins to emerge: adolescent boys and girls are found murdered, their corpses left hanging in gruesome, ritualistic fashion. Senior law enforcement officials are quick to blame a serial killer, but their efforts to apprehend this criminal are peculiarly ineffective.

Meanwhile, in the county’s small town of Surrender, Trajan Jones, a psychological profiler (and the world’s leading expert on the life and work of one Dr. Laszlo Kreizler), and Michael Li, a trace evidence expert, once famed advisors to the New York City Police Department, teach online courses in profiling and forensic science from Jones’ family farm. Alone and armed mainly with their wits, protected only by farmhands and Jones’ unusual “pet,” the outcast pair are secretly called in to consult on the case.

Jones and Li immediately discern that the various victims were all “throwaway children,” a new state classification given to young people who are neither orphans, runaways, nor homeless, but victims of a terrible phenomenon sweeping America’s poor: abandoned by their families, the throwaways are left to fend for themselves. One of these throwaways, Lucas Kurtz, along with his blind older sister, cross paths with Jones and Li, offering information that could blow the case wide open.

Racing against the case’s mounting stakes, Jones and Li find that they are battling not only to unravel the mystery of how the throwaways died but also to defend themselves and the Kurtz siblings from the threats of shadowy but powerful agents who want to stop them from uncovering the truth. It is a truth that, Jones believes, leads away from their world and back to the increasingly wealthy city where both he and his long-dead intellectual guide, Dr Kreizler, did their greatest work. But will they be able to trace the case to New York before they fall victim to the murderous forces that stalk them?

Moving at the same rapid pace as his earlier books, yet with the same depth of historical and scientific research, Carr creates another rollercoaster ride of ideas and emotions. Like The Alienist; Surrender, New York brings to life the grim underbelly of a prosperous nation—and those most vulnerable to its failings.

[tubemonkey]

Downpour -- other Deals

• Weekly Deals (10 titles) --> exp 17 Oct
  
• Monthly Deals (45 titles) --> exp 31 Oct