SYNC - Free Audiobooks for Summer 2013

[Marrella]

Originally Posted by ScalyFreak

You do know there are ways to make your computer temporarily be in other countries, don't you...?

Just saying.

I know. But the titles I had my eyes on are on the international list, and my pile of books to listen to has exploded anyway.

[tubemonkey]

Week 1 -- exp 05 Jun

• Of Poseidon -- download here -- restricted - US & Canada only
• The Tempest -- download here -- no restrictions

Of Poseidon by Anna Banks -- narrated by Rebecca Gibel -- unabridged (9.5 hrs)

Emma and her friend Chloe are spending vacation in Florida. When Emma (literally) runs into a hot guy named Galen on the beach, little does she know he’s a prince of the Syrena. Galen and Emma both feel something strange–is it attraction?–and Galen suspects that Emma might well be the girl he’s heard of–a human who can communicate with fish. What follows is a deadly scene with a shark in which Galen witnesses Emma’s gifts. He must know more about her, and follows her back to New Jersey, and high school, to find out for sure if she’s the key to saving his kingdom. Soon, Emma can’t deny her feelings for him, but can’t explain them, either–and both she and Galen must learn more about where she comes from and what her powers are before they can trust one another and their feelings. Told from both Emma and Galen’s points of view, here is a fish-out-of-water story that sparkles with intrigue, humor, and waves of romance.

The Tempest by William Shakespeare -- narrated by BBC Radio Full Cast -- dramatization (2.9 hrs)

BBC Radio has a unique heritage when it comes to Shakespeare. Since 1923, when the newly formed company broadcast its first full-length play, generations of actors and producers have honed and perfected the craft of making Shakespeare to be heard.

Raging storms and rich beautiful music combine to magical effect in this production of Shakespeare’s allegorical last play, where mystical forces work to restore harmony and order to an estranged community.

Revitalised, original, and comprehensive, this is Shakespeare for the new millennium.

[tubemonkey]

Sync is now live. I just downloaded both titles. Registration is not required. All you need is OverDrive Media Console on you computer, your name (can be a user name), and an email address.

Like I pointed out in my previous post, "Of Poseidon" is geo-restricted to the US and Canada. "The Tempest" has no restrictions. Only 5 of the 24 titles are restricted (see post 12).

Thank you SYNC

[melmac]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

Sync is now live. I just downloaded both titles. Registration is not required. All you need is OverDrive Media Console on you computer, your name (can be a user name), and an email address.

Like I pointed out in my previous post, "Of Poseidon" is geo-restricted to the US and Canada. "The Tempest" has no restrictions. Only 5 of the 24 titles are restricted (see post 12).

Thank you SYNC

And thank you tubemonkey I have also downloaded both, just fired up the VPN to receive the ODM file

[Marrella]

Just downloaded The Tempest. It's always nice to get something from the BBC.

And I notice I haven't even listened to half of the titles I downloaded from Sync last year - shame on me. Apparently I have been wasting too much money buying audiobooks and listen to those instead.

[skinmaan]

Originally Posted by Marrella

And I notice I haven't even listened to half of the titles I downloaded from Sync last year - shame on me.

I resemble that remark.

[dreams]

I have OverDrive Media Console on my computer, but just downloaded these to my desktop and they played in Windows Media Player.

I don't remember how they worked last year, but these seem to be DRM free and didn't have to have them downloaded into OverDrive Media Player?

[hwlester]

Originally Posted by dreams

I have OverDrive Media Console on my computer, but just downloaded these to my desktop and they played in Windows Media Player.

I don't remember how they worked last year, but these seem to be DRM free and didn't have to have them downloaded into OverDrive Media Player?

I've been using ODM on my Android device, then just copying the MP3 files elsewhere for backup. They're standard MP3, but have an additional ID3 tag that ODM recognizes for chapter/section breaks.

[Marrella]

Originally Posted by dreams

I have OverDrive Media Console on my computer, but just downloaded these to my desktop and they played in Windows Media Player.

I don't remember how they worked last year, but these seem to be DRM free and didn't have to have them downloaded into OverDrive Media Player?

You can also import them into iTunes without problem and play them there. I just use OverDrive Media Console to download them, then I use Audiobook Builder to make audiobook files (m4b files) which support bookmarks. Much more convenient in my opinion than using the original MP3s.

[dreams]

Thanks hwlester and Marrella. I put files in both ODM and WMP (and back up to an external drive) then load my devices from either one. So far, it seems to work well and I haven't had any problems with loosing my place when switching between books. I try to use iTunes as little as possible.

[davey1998]

Thanks for sharing

[tubemonkey]

Last day to download the free offers from Week 1 -- see here for details

[tubemonkey]

Week 2 -- exp 12 Jun

• The Mysterious Howling -- download here -- no restrictions
• Jane Eyre -- download here -- no restrictions

The Mysterious Howling by Mayrose Wood -- narrated by Katherine Kellgren -- unabridged (5.5 hrs)

Found running wild in the forest of Ashton Place, the Incorrigibles are no ordinary children: Alexander, age ten or thereabouts, keeps his siblings in line with gentle nips; Cassiopeia, perhaps four or five, has a bark that is (usually) worse than her bite; and Beowulf, age somewhere-in-the-middle, is alarmingly adept at chasing squirrels.

Luckily, Miss Penelope Lumley is no ordinary governess. Only fifteen years old and a recent graduate of the Swanburne Academy for Poor Bright Females, Penelope embraces the challenge of her new position. Though she is eager to instruct the children in Latin verbs and the proper use of globes, first she must help them overcome their canine tendencies.

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte -- narrated by Wanda McCaddon -- unabridged (18.0 hrs)

Orphaned at an early age, Jane Eyre leads a lonely life until she finds work as a governess at Thornfield Hall, where she meets the mysterious Mr. Rochester and sees a ghostly woman who roams the halls by night. The relationship between the heroine and Mr. Rochester is only one episode, albeit the most important, in a detailed fictional autobiography in which the author transmuted her own experience into high art. In this work, the plucky heroine is outwardly of plain appearance but possesses an indomitable spirit, a sharp wit, and great courage. She is forced to battle against the exigencies of a cruel guardian, a harsh employer, and the rigid social order that circumscribes her life and position.

[tubemonkey]

Week 3 -- exp 19 Jun

• The Raven Boys -- download here -- no restrictions
• Bless Me, Ultima -- download here -- US & Canada Only

The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater -- narrated by Will Patton -- unabridged (11.1 hrs)

It is freezing in the churchyard, even before the dead arrive.

Every year, Blue Sargent stands next to her clairvoyant mother as the soon-to-be dead walk past. Blue herself never sees them-not until this year, when a boy emerges from the dark and speaks directly to her.

His name is Gansey, and Blue soon discovers that he is a rich student at Aglionby, the local private school. Blue has a policy of staying away from Aglionby boys. Known as Raven Boys, they can only mean trouble.

Bless Me, Ultima by Rudolfo Anaya -- narrated by Robert Ramirez -- unabridged (11.2 hrs)

With hundreds of thousands of copies in print, Bless Me, Ultima has been called the most widely read Mexican-American novel in the English language. Richly evocative, it has earned its place among the classics of modern literature, even drawing favorable comparisons to Herman Melville’s legendary Moby Dick. As Tony follows his own path toward adulthood, he relies on the wisdom of Ultima—a magical healer—to forge his unique identity.

[tubemonkey]

Week 4 -- exp 26 Jun

• Once -- download here -- no restrictions
• Letter From Birmingham Jail -- download here -- no restrictions

Once by Morris Gleitzman -- narrated by Morris Gleitzman -- unabridged (3.1 hrs)

Felix lives in a convent orphanage in Poland. He is convinced his parents are still alive and that they will one day come back to get him. When Nazi soldiers come to the orphanage Felix decides to escape and make his way home.The journey to find his parents is a long and difficult one, as Poland is occupied by the Nazis and a dangerous place for a Jewish boy. Felix manages to live and look after himself and another orphan, Zelda, with the help of a kind dentist, Barney, who is hiding and looking after a number of Jewish children. When the Nazis discover them, Barney makes the ultimate sacrifice for the children – electing to go with them on the train to the death camps, rather than taking the option of freedom offered by a Nazi soldier, one of his grateful patients.

Letter From Birmingham Jail by ML King Jr -- narrated by Dion Graham -- unabridged (51 min)

April 16th. The year is 1963. Birmingham, Alabama has had a spring of non-violent protests known as the Birmingham Campaign, seeking to draw attention to the segregation against blacks by the city government and downtown retailers. The organizers longed to create a non-violent tension so severe that the powers that be would be forced to address the rampant racism head on. Recently arrested was Martin Luther King, Jr.. It is there in that jail cell that he writes this letter; on the margins of a newspaper he pens this defense of non-violence against segregation. His accusers, though many, in this case were not the white racist leaders or retailers he protested against, but 8 black men who saw him as “other” and as too extreme. To them and to the world he defended the notion that “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere”.