FREE/BARGAIN — Audiobooks

[tubemonkey]

Amazon Alexa -- Free Rental -- exp 09 Jun

Note: streaming only | Echo/Alexa devices only -- just ask: "Alexa, what's free from Audible?"

FREE -- Classic Love Poems -- Wm Shakespeare, et al/ Richard Armitage --> 19 min --> poetry

For anyone who's in love - or hopes to be - what greater celebration could there be than to hear the world's greatest love poetry read lovingly by Richard Armitage? With 13 poems by William Shakespeare, Edgar Allan Poe, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, and more, Classic Love Poems is a listening treat for Valentine's Day - or any day.

A selection of Classic Love Poems from authors like Shakespeare and Edgar Allen Poe is free to stream now through June 9th.

[GtrsRGr8]

Originally Posted by GtrsRGr8

I think that Audiobookstand sells (soon to be "sold") only physical products, no downloads. The products are all digital--in the MP3 format--though, it seems.

A lot of their products are abridgments, too. Sometimes they're nice to have vs the full versions, and it's often hard to find them.

You can find some real bargains, occasionally. In their catalogs they always, it seems, have a pretty large selection of $4 audiobooks. Some, I think are at the $6 price point.

Since physical products can and do go out of stock, run out, etc.--unlike their downloadable counterparts--I suggest that you check out their selection as soon as possible.

Tubemonkey may have some or all of this information in the FAQ section that he referred to . . . .

I didn't see any $4 audiobooks online at Audiobookstand, but I have seen them in their mail-out catalog. I just received one a few days ago, and if someone really wants to know what is in the $4 selection, well . . . I'll see what I can do for you.

Partially offsetting the inability to download the audiobooks is the fact that AudioBookStand does ship the item(s) free, via standard mail.

[tubemonkey]

Daily Deals -- exp 07 Jun

• Audible -----> $2.95 -- Deep -- James Nestor --> NF biology
  
• Downpour --> $3.95 -- Atlas of a Lost World -- Craig Childs --> NF history
  
• eStories ----> $9.99 -- Murder, Interrupted (book 1) -- James Patterson --> true crime

* Deep: Freediving, Renegade Science, and What the Ocean Tells Us About Ourselves

* Atlas of a Lost World: Travels in Ice Age America

[tubemonkey]

Sync Audio -- Weekly Offers -- FAQs & Help -- exp 14 Jun @ 7 AM ET

Week 7 -- Most people would prefer to explain themselves than to have judgment fall on them based on other people’s views. How often do we pause in our lives, however, to consider whether our own judgments of others might be unfair?

FREE -- Everland -- Wendy Spinale/ F Hardingham, et al --> 8.9 hrs --> fantasy

US and Canada Only

Forget the story of Peter Pan you know. Because in Everland, the only way to grow up is to survive. London has been destroyed in a blitz of bombs and disease. The only ones who have survived are children, among them Gwen Darling and her siblings, Joanna and Mikey. They spend their nights scavenging and their days avoiding the ruthless Marauders -- the German Army led by Captain Hanz Otto Oswald Kretschmer. Unsure if the virus has spread past England's borders but desperate to leave, Captain Hook hunts for a cure, which he thinks can be found in one of the survivors. He and his Marauders stalk the streets snatching children for experimentation. None ever return. Until the day they grab Joanna. As Gwen sets out to save her, she meets a mysterious boy named Pete. Pete offers the assistance of his gang of Lost Boys and the fierce sharpshooter Bella, who have all been living in a city hidden underground. But in a place where help has a steep price and every promise is bound by blood, it will cost Gwen. And are she, Pete, the Lost Boys, and Bella enough to outsmart Captain Hook?

FREE -- The Just Men of Cordova -- Edgar Wallace/ B Homewood --> 5.9 hrs --> detective

The Four Just Men, dedicated to ridding the world of unpunished criminals and profiteers, take their campaign into the treacherous, aristocratic world of gambling, horse-racing and high finance, where blackmail, poison and murder are commonplace. Working outside the law, the Four take it upon themselves to clean things up in their own way.

[GtrsRGr8]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

Audible -----> $2.95 -- Deep -- James Nestor --> NF biology

* Deep: Freediving, Renegade Science, and What the Ocean Tells Us About Ourselves

With no disrespect intended for the audiobook--I'm sure that it's great--the topic of freediving is really one that lends itself much better to video, IMHO.

I saw a segment on 60 Minutes about 3 years ago now, of people freediving in some extremely deep hole, located just a very short distance from the shore, in Bermuda, the Bahamas, or somewhere like that. If memory serves me correctly, the participants, with one gulp of air, would try to descend to 100 feet, and make it all the way back to the surface successfully. There is one video segment of a man who successfully went down to the 100 foot mark, and reached the surface. but when he appeared on the surface, he had the most bizarre expression on his face that I believe that I have ever seen on a human being. He died shortly thereafter; no one on the team could figure out why. The whole video segment is nothing if not fascinating; I'm sure that you can find it somewhere on the Internet. If you have the least bit of hydrophobia, though, you probably don't want to see the video segment about freediving, but by all means, do get the audiobook and listen to that topic, though, if you are able to.

[tubemonkey]

Audible UK -- Daily Deal -- exp 08 Jun

• £1.99 -- Everybody Lies -- Seth Stephens-Davidowitz --> non-fiction

[ApK]

Regarding playing audiobooks from Kobo with other apps:

Originally Posted by Catlady

Unless they've changed things since the initial launch, they are downloadable through the app; you can then transfer them from the app to PC. They are mp3 files though they don't have ".mp3"; you have to add that to open the files. So there's a bit of annoyance involved. But for freebies--some of which were already on my radar--I don't mind a bit of annoyance.

Looks like they may have changed things, finally. The last book I downloaded consisted of.enc2 files which did not play as regular Mp3s. (I'm guessing the enc stands for "encrypted.") Can anyone else confirm, or is it just me?

[Catlady]

Originally Posted by ApK

Regarding playing audiobooks from Kobo with other apps:

Looks like they may have changed things, finally. The last book I downloaded consisted of.enc2 files which did not play as regular Mp3s. (I'm guessing the enc stands for "encrypted.") Can anyone else confirm, or is it just me?

I just downloaded a Kobo audiobook--one of a bunch of earlier freebies--and it didn't show any file extension, just the numbers as file names. Maybe they're gradually changing over? If so, it's pretty stupid when people are paying for the books.

You've given me an incentive to download the rest of the freebies.

[tubemonkey]

Audiobooks.com -- June is Audiobook Month

This offer is now live and available for the first 500 customers only

FREE -- Once Upon a Prince -- Rachel Hauck/ Eleni Pappageorge --> 10.0 hrs --> romance

A royal prince. An ordinary girl. An extraordinary royal wedding.

Once Upon a Prince, the first novel in the Royal Wedding series by best-selling author Rachel Hauck, treats you to a modern-day fairy tale.

Susanna Truitt never dreamed of a great romance or being treated like a princess — just to marry the man she has loved for twelve years. But life isn’t going according to plan. When her high-school sweetheart breaks up with her instead of proposing, Susanna scrambles to rebuild her life.

The last thing Prince Nathaniel expects to find on his American holiday to St. Simons Island is the queen of his heart. A prince has duties, and his family’s tense political situation has chosen his bride for him. When Prince Nathaniel comes to Susanna’s aid under the fabled Lover’s Oak, he is blindsided by love.

Their lives are worlds apart. He’s a royal prince. She’s an ordinary girl. But everything changes when Susanna receives an invitation to Nathaniel’s coronation.

It’s the ultimate choice: his kingdom or her heart? God’s will or their own?

Celebrate June is Audiobook Month

Get hooked on a series this summer! Giveaways for the first in a series will begin each Friday in June at 9 a.m. EST on their giveaway date, and will remain free until 500 redemptions have taken place.

You’ll know the giveaway is over if you are prompted to use a credit.

If you are given the option to select OK while starting an audiobook download, this means the giveaway is still available and the audiobook is free. If you are given the option to select Use Credit, this means the giveaway has expired and you will be using a credit to download the audiobook.

[skinmaan]

Originally Posted by ApK

Regarding playing audiobooks from Kobo with other apps:

Looks like they may have changed things, finally. The last book I downloaded consisted of.enc2 files which did not play as regular Mp3s. (I'm guessing the enc stands for "encrypted.") Can anyone else confirm, or is it just me?

Just downloaded one and it does the same to me.

Congratulations, Kobo - you've just guaranteed I'll never buy an audiobook from you again. Good thing I archived what I already had.

[Catlady]

Originally Posted by skinmaan

Just downloaded one and it does the same to me.

Congratulations, Kobo - you've just guaranteed I'll never buy an audiobook from you again. Good thing I archived what I already had.

Are these new purchases you're downloading, or books that were already in your library? As I download them, I'm finding my existing books all still seem to be mp3 files without the extension.

[tubemonkey]

Daily Deals -- exp 08 Jun

• Audible -----> $2.95 -- Giovanni's Room -- James Baldwin --> classic
  
• Downpour --> TBA
  
• eStories ----> Adult Content

[skinmaan]

Originally Posted by Catlady

Are these new purchases you're downloading, or books that were already in your library? As I download them, I'm finding my existing books all still seem to be mp3 files without the extension.

This was a title I got back in January. I haven't been actively buying a lot in recent weeks (I've already added 150+ audiobooks to my TBR pile this year), but I had been checking Kobo's sales on and off. Oh, well, one less website to check.

[ApK]

Originally Posted by Catlady

Are these new purchases you're downloading, or books that were already in your library? As I download them, I'm finding my existing books all still seem to be mp3 files without the extension.

Mine was a new purchase (with a free credit for signing up for the trial subscription, speaking of deals and freebies....).
I didn't try re-downloading an older book from my library.

ApK

[GtrsRGr8]

Originally Posted by skinmaan

Just downloaded one and it does the same to me.

Congratulations, Kobo - you've just guaranteed I'll never buy an audiobook from you again. Good thing I archived what I already had.

Doesn't the problem stem from the fact that when we "buy" an audiobook, we actually are not buying it, but we are buying a license to it? The company, technically, still owns the audiobook? Or am I off base? So, the company can monkey (no offense, intended, tubemonkey) around with the files all, and in any way, that they want to.

I know that that is true with ebooks. I think that that is how Barnes & Noble (Nook), several years ago, got by with suddenly making their ebooks un-downloadable (and without any advance notice at all, that I remember (I still hate B&N because of that (I know, I know--I should have been backing up the files; but, I had backed up only a few of them); since then, I have not bought another ebook--or anything, for that matter--from B&N)).