Archive for the ‘Audiobooks’ tag
Audiobooks come to a cloud near you no comments
Audiobooks.com announced today the launch of a cloud-based audiobook subscription service. For $24.95 per month you get unlimited access to over 10,000 audiobooks that can be listened to on any PC, iOS or Android device that is connected to the Internet. Support for Blackberry and Windows Mobile is said to be on the way.
I subscribe to Audible.com, which offers over 100,000 titles and costs $14.95 per month for one credit (most of the audiobooks cost one credit). With Audible you own the audiobooks you purchase with your credits (you can also purchase additional titles and Audible has frequent sales). Your library at Audible will remain accessible to you even if you cancel your membership. Audible’s titles are downloaded to an authorized device and can be played on that device anywhere, anytime.
For me Audible works best as I listen to audiobooks while I’m driving, but if one listens from a device that always has an Internet connection and especially if one goes through multiple audiobooks per month, Audiobooks.com’s cloud-based service might be worth looking at.
Possibly Related Posts:
The Passage by Justin Cronin no comments
I’ve just finished The Passage by Justin Cronin and it was quite good. Basically The Passage is a stark, dark tale set in a post-apocalyptic world, but that’s not all that it is – there are more than a few layers here.
Actually, I did the audio version of The Passage,
which I downloaded on my Audible account. Three different narrators tell this story; Scott Brick, Adenrele Ojo and Abby Craden. Sometimes I am put off by an audiobook that uses multiple narrators as it can turn into a theatrical production and looses the feeling of reading the book or of having it read to you. Not so with the audio version of this story.
The narrators of The Passage are well cast. Scott Brick is the main reader and is top-notch. The other two readers turn in brief, but quit good performances.
Brick reminds me a bit of Frank Muller, who was the narrator of the early Stephen King and Elmore Leonard books, amongst many others, until his career was cut way too short by a very serious motorcycle accident. Brick paints the story with a somewhat less dramatic brush than Muller would have, but this is not a bad thing.
The Passage is the first part of a trilogy and there is talk of a movie — Fox has bought the movie rights and Ridley Scott is said to be the director.
Whichever way you roll, audio or digital or print, The Passage is a good ride and is recommended. This title is available for all ereaders from Barnes & Noble, Kobo,the Kindle Store and the Sony Reader Store for $9.99.
Possibly Related Posts:
iPod Giveaway at Golden Age Audiobooks no comments
Galaxy Press has a contest giving away an 80GB iPod (not iPad!) filled with audiobooks from Golden Age. Golden Age publishes pulp fiction books by L. Ron Hubbard. From the press release:
The new website for Golden Age Stories (www.goldenagestories.com) has been repurposed to provide an overview of the golden age of pulp fiction, not just featuring the stories of L. Ron Hubbard, but also giving a taste of the time with real video footage, photos, and interviews of people who lived during that period enabling visitors to find out why 30,000,000 Americans continued to come back month after month for their next pulp fiction stories.
"The 1930s and 1940s were a vibrant, seminal time for a gigantic audience of eager readers in American history," stated New York Times bestselling author Kevin J. Anderson. "Pulp fiction authors were no-holds-barred entertainers—real storytellers." Hubbard’s experiences as an international traveler, having traveled a quarter million miles by the time he was 19, helped provide much of the rich background to his stories that made him one of the most popular writers of the day.
Stories from the Golden Age is a line of 80 books and multi-cast, unabridged audiobooks, featuring 153 stories written by L. Ron Hubbard in the 1930s and 1940s in any of the several popular genres of the day—mystery, thriller, adventure, science fiction, fantasy and western—using his own and any of the 15 pen names he used.
To enter to win a free 80GB iPod, visit www.goldenagestories.com.
Possibly Related Posts:
Books on Your GPS no comments
Okay, so this is a bit off topic. But maybe not so much; you can’t, or at least you shouldn’t be using your ereader while you are driving.
I have to spend a lot of time in my car, and for years I’ve been listening to unabridged audiobooks while driving between appointments. Recently I needed to get a new GPS and while doing my research I found a number of these that are Audible Ready. This means that the device is compatible with Audible.com’s DRM format. If you are a subscriber of Audible.com you can transfer their downloaded audiobooks from your computer to the GPS unit which will then transmit them over your vehicle’s FM radio. This is pretty cool – listen to a good book while not getting lost.
I find downloading audiobooks much better than swapping out CD’s while driving, though it is not perfect. On my device at least, it is not so easy to rewind if you missed something; you must go back to the beginning of the current chapter. But on the whole I prefer handling the audiobooks as a file rather than with CD’s.
Audible.com (which is owned by Amazon) maintains an on-line, in the cloud library of your purchased audiobooks, and they say that even if you cancel your membership you can still access your library and re-download your audiobooks. You can also keep backup copies on your computer.
There are a number of Audible Ready GPS systems for you to choose from; I will just list a few below:
A lot of the Garmin navigators seem to require you to buy an optional FM receiver, but the two listed above include one.
Of course, you can also use a lot of other devices to listen to Audible.com’s books. Kindles are compatible, as are iPods and many other MP3 players (unfortunately my Archos is not ). You can find a list of compatible devices at Audible.com. If you want your device to transmit over your FM radio you will need an FM transmitter
Besides Audible.com where else can you download audiobooks? I’ve only found a couple of other subscription services for audiobook downloads. These require a monthly subscription payment in exchange for one or two credits per month. Most audiobooks cost one credit.
Audiobook Subscription Services:
- Emusic.com: Emusic.com was one of the pioneers of DRM-free music, and they are doing the same with audiobooks. The audiobooks you download from Emusic are in MP3 format and should work in any device that plays audio files. Subscription rates are $9.99 per month for 1 credit and $19.99 for 2 credits per month.
-
Simplyaudiobooks.ca: Has 10,000 downloadable audiobooks as well as an audiobooks on cd rental service. Pricing is $14.95 per month for 1 credit, and $24.95 for 2 credits.
Free Audiobook Downloads:
- Check out your local library. If it is part of the Overdrive system, they should have some audiobooks available from Overdrive. You will need to have a compatible device – your library should have a list or you can find out at Overdrive’s site. While many libraries don’t have very many ebooks to check out yet, you should find a better selection of audiobooks. The Los Angeles County library system for example has about 2,000 audiobooks. This compares to only 350 ebooks – which is up from about 230 the last time I checked by the way.
-
LibriVox.org: Public domain titles read by volunteers.
-
AudioBooksForFree.com: Public domain titles as well as some indie authors.
Though this post is about downloading audiobooks, I’ll also list a few providers of audiobooks on CD.
Audiobooks on CD Subscription and Rental Services:
-
Audiotogo.com: Netflix style subscription. $16.99 for one title or $24.99 for two titles out at a time.
-
Recorded Books.com: Rental audiobooks on a per book basis.
-
Booksfree.com: Netflix style subscription. $22.49 per month for one title or $27.49 for 2 titles at a time.
-
Audiobookworm.com: Netflix style subscription. $17.95 per month for one title and $27.95 for two titles per month.
Again, check out your local library. Mine has many titles available as audiobooks on CD (or cassette for older titles) which I can browse and place holds on online. The system sends an email to notify me when my audiobook is ready for pickup at my local branch.
£149.00
£109
