Free Audiobook - Why Gettysburg Mattered

Why Gettysburg Mattered: 150 Years Later (Bonus Material: The Gettysburg Address), by Allen C. Guelzo, narrated by Mark Boyett and Kevin Pariseau, is free in the Audible store.

Book Description
The Battle of Gettysburg - the turning point of the American Civil War - would, in the words of one staff officer, stand "like Waterloo, conspicuous in the history of all ages." In this stirring production, adapted from the New York Times' award-winning online journal and Audible audiobook Disunion, we revisit the meaning and importance of the battle that forever changed US history. Timed to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the battle which took place over several days starting July 1st, 1863, Why Gettysburg Mattered concludes with an inspiring performance of Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address.

Get the free ebook from Audible.

Two Free Audiobooks - Carter Finally Gets It & She Stoops to Conquer

It's time for this week's free audiobooks from Sync. I've linked in the info from the ebook or audiobook version of each title (Amazon has the best reviews), followed by the link to get your copies free, with directions to ensure you get the complete download.

Start off with Carter Finally Gets It ($7.39 Kindle; $17.95 Audible or $3.49 as a companion edition), by Brent Crawford, narrated by Nick Podehl.

Book Description
Meet Will Carter, but feel free to call him Carter. (Yes, he knows it's a lazy nickname, but he didn't have much say in the matter.) Here are five things you should know about him:

1. He has a stuttering problem, particularly around boobs and belly buttons.
2. He battles Attention Deficit Disorder every minute of every day...unless he gets distracted.
3. He's a virgin, mostly because he's no good at talking to girls (see number 1).
4. He's about to start high school.
5. He's totally not ready.

Join Carter for his freshman year, where he'll search for sex, love, and acceptance anywhere he can find it. In the process, he'll almost kill a trombone player, face off with his greatest nemesis, suffer a lot of blood loss, narrowly escape death, run from the cops (not once, but twice), get caught up in a messy love triangle, meet his match in the form of a curvy drill teamer, and surprise the hell out of everyone, including himself.

She Stoops to Conquer ($5.95 Audible), by Oliver Goldsmith, narrated by Rosalind Ayres and the L.A. Theatre Works cast, is the second selection for this week. As with most classics, there are many editions to choose from on Kindle; you can spend anything from nothing to a few dollars and probably get an edition that will work for reading along while listening.

Book Description
Starring James Marsters, this classic comedy of manners from 1773 is still widely performed and studied. Love, lies, and dysfunctional families. Sound like your last family gathering? Try this one on for laughs. Two randy young gents, Charles and George, set out to woo the alluring and upper-crust Kate and Constance. But inexperienced Charles is shy and clumsy around upper-class ladies, so it's the barmaid who catches his eye. But is she really who she seems? Bawdy high-jinx, popped pretensions, and good dirty fun are the hallmarks of this romping frolic that's kept audiences laughing for over two centuries.

An L.A. Theatre Works full cast performance featuring (in alphabetical order): Rosalind Ayres as Mrs. Hardcastle; Adam Godley as Tony Lumpkin; Julian Holloway as Elder Marlow/Stingo; James Marsters as Charles Marlow; Christopher Neame as Roger; Paula Jane Newman as Bet Bouncer/Pimple; Ian Ogilvy as Mr. Hardcastle; Moira Quirk as Constance Neville; Darren Richardson as Diggory/Jeremy; Joanne Whalley as Kate Hardcastle; and Matthew Wolf as George Hastings. Directed by Martin Jarvis. Recorded before a live audience at the Skirball Cultural Center, Los Angeles, in June 2010.

Click HERE to get the free downloads (you'll need to enter your name and an email address. You'll end up clicking about three pages (for each book), before the audiobook actually downloads. Don't stop so long as you still see a button that talks about your Sync download (or until you see the Overdrive software open up; there is a link at Sync, if you don't already have Overdrive installed).

Once in Overdrive, you'll need to tell it where to save the files (just click OK to use the default location, since Overdrive will keep track of them for you), then again to actually start the download (by default, all parts of the book are downloaded; I would suggest not changing this in the last dialog box, just click on OK to get the download started). Make sure your audiobook is fully downloaded before the end of the week, as once the promo period is over, you won't be able to get them free.

You can't get any titles that have been missed, but once they are loaded into Overdrive (which you will need to install, if you are not already using it for library books), they are yours to keep (there is no expiration date).

Free Audiobook - The Good Earth

Get a free audiobook download of The Good Earth ($17.95 Audible or $3.99 companion priced with this Kindle edition at $8.54), by Pearl S. Buck, narrated by Anthony Heald, from Downpour (Blackstone Audio's retail site) this month.

Book Description
Pearl S. Buck’s timeless masterpiece, the Pulitzer Prize–winning story of a farmer’s journey through China in the 1920s

The Good Earth is Buck’s classic story of Wang Lung, a Chinese peasant farmer, and his wife, O-lan, a former slave. With luck and hard work, the couple’s fortunes improve over the years: They are blessed with sons, and save steadily until one day they can afford to buy property in the House of Wang—the very house in which O-lan used to work. But success brings with it a new set of problems. Wang soon finds himself the target of jealousy, and as good harvests come and go, so does the social order. Will Wang’s family cherish the estate after he’s gone? And can his material success, the bedrock of his life, guarantee anything about his soul?

Winner of the Pulitzer Prize and the William Dean Howells Award, The Good Earth was an Oprah’s Book Club choice in 2004. A readers’ favorite for generations, this powerful and beautifully written fable resonates with universal themes of hope and family unity.

Get the free audiobook from Downpour. Use Promo code earthfree during checkout (and make sure you see a $0.00 total before continuing). If you are a member there, be sure to log in first - otherwise, the code gets stripped during checkout and you may end up using one of your credits (if you do, contact support and they'll put the credit back on your acct).

Free Audiobook - The Federalist Papers

The Federalist Papers ($32.19 Audible), by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison and John Jay, narrated by Arthur Morey, is free direct from Tantor Media. There are many editions to choose from on Kindle; you can spend anything from nothing to a few dollars and probably get an edition that will work for reading along while listening, if you don't like the free PDF that Tantor provides.

Book Description
The Federalist Papers—a collection of eighty-five essays written by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay in support of the adoption of the U.S. Constitution—serves as the primary source for interpreting the Constitution and outlines the philosophy and motivation behind this newly proposed government system.

Originally published anonymously, The Federalist Papers first appeared in 1787 as a series of letters to New York newspapers exhorting voters to ratify the proposed Constitution of the United States. Still hotly debated and open to often controversial interpretations, the arguments first presented here by three of America's greatest patriots and political theorists were created during a critical moment in our nation's history, providing readers with a running ideological commentary on the crucial issues facing a democracy. Today, The Federalist Papers are as important and vital a rallying cry for freedom as ever.

Get the free ebook from Tantor Media.

Free Audiobook - Whodunnit? Murder in Mystery Manor

The audiobook edition of Whodunnit? Murder in Mystery Manor ($3.03 Kindle), by Anthony E. Zuiker, is free from Audible, courtesy of publisher Hyperion. Although this is a tie-in title for the upcoming (reality) show Whodunnit? on ABC, it appears to be a full-length mystery novel by the creator and executive producer of the CSI franchise, which includes CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, CSI: Miami, and CSI: NY.

For those who like this first novel, the second, Whodunnit? Murder on Mystery Island ($3.03 Kindle), can now be pre-ordered (and at less than 1/3 the cost of his Level 26 novels).

Book Description
A grand estate. Ten unsuspecting guests. A diabolical game of life and death.

Ten excited guests arrive at the Westlake Estate, expecting a lavish retreat. They are the winners of a sweepstakes to "Live Like a Billionaire for a Week." But what was supposed to be a promising escape soon turns into a horrific nightmare.

Within hours of arrival, the guests sit down for an extravagant dinner. When they pull their party poppers as instructed, a loud chorus of bangs resounds, followed by earsplitting screams as the guest seated at the head of the table bursts into flames and slumps to the floor. The others are told they must solve the crime or be the next victim.

The killer, their diabolical host, is hiding among the frightened guests. Is the murderer the well-toned trophy wife, the retired deputy sheriff, the stoned college dropout, or perhaps the sweet, homely grandmother? The killer toys with them, inviting the guests to explore the lavish estate, from the stables to the hedge maze, in an effort to uncover the gory details of how the murderer pulled off such a gruesome murder.

Alliances are forged carefully and information is shared warily, since none of the remaining guests knows whom to trust. The next to die a hideous death will be the one with the least accurate solution to the latest murder. In the end, only three guests will remain: the winner, the loser, and the killer.

Full of tricky plot twists and over-the-top schemes, Whodunnit? Murder in Mystery Manner is a riveting page-turner--required reading for mystery fans. Readers are treated to an edge-of-their-seat thriller as they participate in solving the crime. It's Clue meets Ten Little Indians.

Anthony E. Zuiker's mystery reality show, Whodunnit?, is his first foray into unscripted television. He lives in Los Angeles with his three children and his wife, Michelle.

Get the free ebook from Audible.

Two Free Audiobooks - Rotters & Frankenstein

It's time for this week's free audiobooks from Sync. I've linked in the info from the ebook or audiobook version of each title (Amazon has the best reviews), followed by the link to get your copies free, with directions to ensure you get the complete download.

Start off with Rotters ($9.99 Kindle; $29.95 Audible), by Daniel Kraus, narrated by Kirby Heyborne. This looks like it will be very good and will probably go to the top of my listening list.

Book Description
Grave-robbing. What kind of monster would do such a thing? It's true that Leonardo da Vinci did it, Shakespeare wrote about it, and the resurrection men of nineteenth-century Scotland practically made it an art. But none of this matters to Joey Crouch, a sixteen-year-old straight-A student living in Chicago with his single mom. For the most part, Joey's life is about playing the trumpet and avoiding the daily humiliations of high school.

Everything changes when Joey's mother dies in a tragic accident and he is sent to rural Iowa to live with the father he has never known, a strange, solitary man with unimaginable secrets. At first, Joey's father wants nothing to do with him, but once father and son come to terms with each other, Joey's life takes a turn both macabre and exhilarating.

Daniel Kraus's masterful plotting and unforgettable characters make Rotters a moving, terrifying, and unconventional epic about fathers and sons, complex family ties, taboos, and the ever-present specter of mortality.

Frankenstein ($23.95 Audible), by Mary Shelley, narrated by Jim Weiss, is the second selection for this week. As with most classics, there are many editions to choose from on Kindle; you can spend anything from nothing to a few dollars and probably get an edition that will work for reading along while listening, although this $1.99 edition from Random House is the one linked to the companion edition at Audible.

Book Description
Victor Frankenstein learns the secret of producing life, and so, by putting together parts of various corpses, he creates the Frankenstein monster. The monster is huge and disformed, but he means no harm to anyone--until constant ill treatment drives him to murder and revenge. This easy-to-read version of Mary Shelley's long-standing masterpiece easily captures the sadness and horror of the original.

Click HERE to get the free downloads (you'll need to enter your name and an email address. You'll end up clicking about three pages (for each book), before the audiobook actually downloads. Don't stop so long as you still see a button that talks about your Sync download (or until you see the Overdrive software open up; there is a link at Sync, if you don't already have Overdrive installed).

Once in Overdrive, you'll need to tell it where to save the files (just click OK to use the default location, since Overdrive will keep track of them for you), then again to actually start the download (by default, all parts of the book are downloaded; I would suggest not changing this in the last dialog box, just click on OK to get the download started). Make sure your audiobook is fully downloaded before the end of the week, as once the promo period is over, you won't be able to get them free.

You can't get any titles that have been missed, but once they are loaded into Overdrive (which you will need to install, if you are not already using it for library books), they are yours to keep (there is no expiration date).

Two Free Audiobooks - Once & Letter from Birmingham Jail

It's time for this week's free audiobooks from Sync. I've linked in the info from the ebook or audiobook version of each title (Amazon has the best reviews), followed by the link to get your copies free, with directions to ensure you get the complete download.

Start off with Once ($6.76 Kindle; $16.95 Audible), the first novel in the series by Morris Gleitzman, read by Morris Gleitzman.

Book Description
Felix, a Jewish boy in Poland in 1942, is hiding from the Nazis in a Catholic orphanage. The only problem is that he doesn't know anything about the war, and thinks he's only in the orphanage while his parents travel and try to salvage their bookselling business. And when he thinks his parents are in danger, Felix sets off to warn them--straight into the heart of Nazi-occupied Poland.

To Felix, everything is a story: Why did he get a whole carrot in his soup? It must be sign that his parents are coming to get him. Why are the Nazis burning books? They must be foreign librarians sent to clean out the orphanage's outdated library. But as Felix's journey gets increasingly dangerous, he begins to see horrors that not even stories can explain.

Despite his grim suroundings, Felix never loses hope. Morris Gleitzman takes a painful subject and expertly turns it into a story filled with love, friendship, and even humor.

Letter from Birmingham Jail ($4.95 Audible), by Martin Luther King, narrated by Dion Graham, is the second selection for this week. There are a couple of editions to choose from on Kindle ($2.99+), for those that like to read as they listen.

Book Description
April 16th, the year is 1963. Birmingham, Alabama, has had a spring of nonviolent 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 nonviolent 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 nonviolence against segregation. His accusers, though many, in this case were not the white racist leaders or retailers he protested against, but eight 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".

Click HERE to get the free downloads (you'll need to enter your name and an email address. You'll end up clicking about three pages (for each book), before the audiobook actually downloads. Don't stop so long as you still see a button that talks about your Sync download (or until you see the Overdrive software open up; there is a link at Sync, if you don't already have Overdrive installed).

Once in Overdrive, you'll need to tell it where to save the files (just click OK to use the default location, since Overdrive will keep track of them for you), then again to actually start the download (by default, all parts of the book are downloaded; I would suggest not changing this in the last dialog box, just click on OK to get the download started). Make sure your audiobook is fully downloaded before the end of the week, as once the promo period is over, you won't be able to get them free.

You can't get any titles that have been missed, but once they are loaded into Overdrive (which you will need to install, if you are not already using it for library books), they are yours to keep (there is no expiration date).

Free Audiobook - Riders of the Purple Sage

Get a free audiobook download of Riders of the Purple Sage: The Restored Edition ($19.95 Audible or $0.99 companion priced with this Kindle edition at $3.82), by Zane Grey, narrated by Mark Bramhall, from Downpour (Blackstone Audio's retail site), as part of their June is Audiobook Month celebration (but, only thru June 19) and AudioFile Magazine's Western Adventures promotion.

Book Description
Now, for the first time in a century, Zane Grey's best-known novel is presented in its original form exactly as he wrote it.

When in the early 1900s Zane Grey took his manuscript to two publishing companies, they rejected it because of the theme of Mormon polygamy, fearing it would offend their readers and subscribers. Then Grey made a special plea to Frederick Duneka, who was vice-president of Harper & Bros. and who had been Mark Twain's editor at that company. Duneka and his wife read the novel and liked it but feared it would offend some readers. Harper & Bros. agreed to publish a changed version of the novel and purchased both the book and magazine-serial rights. Given the task of executing the necessary editorial changes, a senior editor of the company made changes in tone, diction, and style as well as content. The novel first appeared in nineteen installments in the monthly magazine Field & Stream from January 1912 to July 1913.

Blackstone Audio here presents the original, uncensored, unabridged novel Riders of the Purple Sage, obtained through the Golden West Literary Agency with the cooperation of Zane Grey's son, Loren Grey, and the Ohio State Historical Society.

In Cottonwoods, Utah, in 1871, a woman stands accused and a man is sentenced to whipping. Into this travesty of small-town justice rides the one man whom the town elders fear. His name is Lassiter, and he is a notorious gunman who's come to avenge his sister's death. It doesn't take Lassiter long to see that this once peaceful Mormon community is controlled by the corrupt Deacon Tull, a powerful elder who's trying to take the woman's land by forcing her to marry him, branding her foreman as a dangerous 'outsider'. Lassiter vows to help them. But when the ranch is attacked by horse thieves, cattle rustlers, and a mysterious masked rider, he realizes that they're up against something bigger, and more brutal, than the land itself.

Get the free audiobook from Downpour. Use Promo code FREERIDERS during checkout (and make sure you see a $0.00 total before continuing). If you are a member there, be sure to log in first - otherwise, the code gets stripped during checkout and you may end up using one of your credits (if you do, contact support and they'll put the credit back on your acct).

Two Free Audiobooks - The Raven Boys & Bless Me, Ultima

It's time for this week's free audiobooks from Sync. I've linked in the info from the ebook or audiobook version of each title (Amazon has the best reviews), followed by the link to get your copies free, with directions to ensure you get the complete download.

Start off with The Raven Boys ($9.50 Kindle; $23.95 Audible or $3.99 companion edition), by Maggie Stiefvater, narrated by Will Patton [Scholastic]. This is going to the top of my listening list.

Book Description
"There are only two reasons a non-seer would see a spirit on St. Mark's Eve," Neeve said. "Either you're his true love . . . or you killed him."

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.

But Blue is drawn to Gansey, in a way she can't entirely explain. He has it all--family money, good looks, devoted friends--but he's looking for much more than that. He is on a quest that has encompassed three other Raven Boys: Adam, the scholarship student who resents all the privilege around him; Ronan, the fierce soul who ranges from anger to despair; and Noah, the taciturn watcher of the four, who notices many things but says very little.

For as long as she can remember, Blue has been warned that she will cause her true love to die. She never thought this would be a problem. But now, as her life becomes caught up in the strange and sinister world of the Raven Boys, she's not so sure anymore.

From Maggie Stiefvater, the bestselling and acclaimed author of the Shiver trilogy and The Scorpio Races, comes a spellbinding new series where the inevitability of death and the nature of love lead us to a place we've never been before.

Bless Me, Ultima ($5.69 Kindle; $17.95 Audible), by Rudolfo Anaya, narrated by Robert Ramirez, is the second selection for this week. There's only one ebook edition of this still-in-copyright classic [Grand Central Publishing/Hachette].

Book Description
Stories filled with wonder and the haunting beauty of his culture have helped make Rudolfo Anaya the father of Chicano literature in English, and his tales fairly shimmer with the lyric richness of his prose. Acclaimed in both Spanish and English, Anaya is perhaps best loved for his classic bestseller ... Antonio Marez is six years old when Ultima comes to stay with his family in New Mexico. She is a curandera, one who cures with herbs and magic. Under her wise wing, Tony will test the bonds that tie him to his people, and discover himself in the pagan past, in his father's wisdom, and in his mother's Catholicism. And at each life turn there is Ultima, who delivered Tony into the world-and will nurture the birth of his soul.

Click HERE to get the free downloads (you'll need to enter your name and an email address. You'll end up clicking about three pages (for each book), before the audiobook actually downloads. Don't stop so long as you still see a button that talks about your Sync download (or until you see the Overdrive software open up; there is a link at Sync, if you don't already have Overdrive installed).

Once in Overdrive, you'll need to tell it where to save the files (just click OK to use the default location, since Overdrive will keep track of them for you), then again to actually start the download (by default, all parts of the book are downloaded; I would suggest not changing this in the last dialog box, just click on OK to get the download started). Make sure your audiobook is fully downloaded before the end of the week, as once the promo period is over, you won't be able to get them free.

You can't get any titles that have been missed, but once they are loaded into Overdrive (which you will need to install, if you are not already using it for library books), they are yours to keep (there is no expiration date).

Two Free Audiobooks - The Mysterious Howling & Jane Eyre

It's time for this week's free audiobooks from Sync. I've linked in the info from the ebook or audiobook version of each title (Amazon has the best reviews), followed by the link to get your copies free, with directions to ensure you get the complete download.

Start off with The Mysterious Howling ($5.69 Kindle; $17.95 Audible), book one in The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place series by Maryrose Wood, narrated by Katherine Kellgren.

Book Description
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.

But mysteries abound at Ashton Place: Who are these three wild creatures, and how did they come to live in the vast forests of the estate? Why does Old Timothy, the coachman, lurk around every corner? Will Penelope be able to teach the Incorrigibles table manners and socially useful phrases in time for Lady Constance's holiday ball? And what on earth is a schottische?

Jane Eyre ($11.95 Audible), by Charlotte Bronte, narrated by Wanda McCaddon, is the second selection for this week. As with most classics, there are many editions to choose from on Kindle; you can spend anything from nothing to a few dollars and probably get an edition that will work for reading along while listening (although, for $26, the Bloom's Modern Critical Interpretations edition will give you a very detailed, scholarly treatment).

Book Description
This classic story shows how a young woman can overcome adversity and find true happiness. It is a story of passionate love, travail, and final triumph.

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.

Click HERE to get the free downloads (you'll need to enter your name and an email address. You'll end up clicking about three pages (for each book), before the audiobook actually downloads. Don't stop so long as you still see a button that talks about your Sync download (or until you see the Overdrive software open up; there is a link at Sync, if you don't already have Overdrive installed).

Once in Overdrive, you'll need to tell it where to save the files (just click OK to use the default location, since Overdrive will keep track of them for you), then again to actually start the download (by default, all parts of the book are downloaded; I would suggest not changing this in the last dialog box, just click on OK to get the download started). Make sure your audiobook is fully downloaded before the end of the week, as once the promo period is over, you won't be able to get them free.

You can't get any titles that have been missed, but once they are loaded into Overdrive (which you will need to install, if you are not already using it for library books), they are yours to keep (there is no expiration date).

Free Audiobook - Pride and Prejudice

Get a free audiobook download of Pride and Prejudice ($13.96 Audible or $2.99 companion priced with this Kindle edition at $2.56), by Jane Austen, narrated by Carolyn Seymour, from Downpour (Blackstone Audio's retail site), to celebrate the 200th Anniversary of the original publication date.

Book Description
The provincial Bennet family, home to five unmarried daughters, is turned upside down when a wealthy bachelor takes up a house nearby. Mr. Bingley enhances his instant popularity by hosting a ball and taking an interest in the eldest Bennet daughter, Jane. Meanwhile, Mr. Darcy, Bingley’s even wealthier friend, makes himself equally unpopular by his aloof disdain of country manners. Yet he is drawn in spite of himself to the spirited and intelligent Elizabeth Bennet, who proves to be his match in both wit and pride. Their sparkling repartee is a splendid performance of civilized sparring infused with unacknowledged romantic tension.

Pride and Prejudice delightfully captures the affectations and rivalries of class-conscious English families in an age when status and security for women hung entirely on matrimonial ambitions. Austen’s characters dance a delicate quadrille of flirtation and intrigue, making this book the most superb comedy of manners of Regency England. It is also the source of some of the most memorable characters ever written, from the fatuous Mr. Collins, whose proposal to Elizabeth is one of the finest comic passages in English literature, to the beloved heroine Elizabeth, whom the author herself deemed “as delightful a creature as ever appeared in print.”

Get the free audiobook from Downpour. Use Promo code pridefree during checkout (and make sure you see a $0.00 total before continuing). If you are a member there, be sure to log in first - otherwise, the code gets stripped during checkout and you may end up using one of your credits (if you do, contact support and they'll put the credit back on your acct).

Two Free Audiobooks - Of Poseidon & The Tempest

It's time once again for free audiobooks from Sync! There is a new set each week, pairing a Teen/Young Adult novel with one of the classics. Be sure to fully download your books each week, as they are only available during the one-week promotion (there is no "library" to track your purchases and redownload later). I've linked in the info from the ebook or audiobook version of each title (Amazon has the best reviews), followed by the link to get your copies free, with directions to ensure you get the complete download.

Start off with Of Poseidon ($6.76 Kindle; $18.17 Audible), by Anna Banks, narrated by Rebecca Gibel, a teen romance with an element of fantasy.

Book Description
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.

BBC Radio Shakespeare: The Tempest ($14.95 Audible), by William Shakespeare, narrated by Philip Madoc, Nina Wadia and a full cast, is the second selection for this week. As with most classics, there are many editions to choose from on Kindle; you can spend anything from 99 cents and to $10 and get an edition that will work for reading along while listening.

Book Description
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.

Click HERE to get the free downloads (you'll need to enter your name and an email address. You'll end up clicking about three pages (for each book), before the audiobook actually downloads. Don't stop so long as you still see a button that talks about your Sync download (or until you see the Overdrive software open up; there is a link at Sync, if you don't already have Overdrive installed).

Once in Overdrive, you'll need to tell it where to save the files (just click OK to use the default location, since Overdrive will keep track of them for you), then again to actually start the download (by default, all parts of the book are downloaded; I would suggest not changing this in the last dialog box, just click on OK to get the download started). Make sure your audiobook is fully downloaded before the end of the week, as once the promo period is over, you won't be able to get them free.

You can't get any titles that have been missed, but once they are loaded into Overdrive (which you will need to install, if you are not already using it for library books), they are yours to keep (there is no expiration date).

Free Audio Short Story - Cold Colors

Cold Colors, a short story by Neil Gaiman, is free from Audible, as part of the promotion of his forthcoming novel, The Ocean at the End of the Lane (Kindle/Audible).

Book Description
"Cold Colors", a short story from Neil Gaiman's collection Smoke and Mirrors ($5.99 Kindle/Audible), explores the nature of technology and morality in a world where Evil is more tech-savvy than Good. This free short story also includes a preview of The Ocean at the End of the Lane, the author's next full-length novel, available now for pre-order and due out on June 18. Find more from Neil Gaiman and explore the books he has hand-picked and produced at Neil Gaiman Presents.

Get the free audiobook from Audible.

Free Audiobook - Letter from Birmingham Jail

Get a free download of Letter from Birmingham Jail ($5.58 Audible), by Martin Luther King Jr., narrated by Dion Graham, over at Christianaudio. There doesn't appear to be a Kindle edition containing only the letter, but civil rights buffs might enjoy reading Gospel of Freedom: Martin Luther King, Jr.'s Letter from Birmingham Jail and the Struggle That Changed a Nation, by Jonathan Rieder, published by Bloomsbury.

Book Description
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”.

Get the free audio download from Christianaudio.

After finishing your order, download a the MP3 if you want to be able to play the book on your Kindle (M4B for the iOS, iTunes or QuickTime) and copy it to the \audiobooks directory on your Kindle (not \music) in order to have audiobook controls and see it on your Kindle home page.

Free Audiobook - The Great Gatsby

Get a free audiobook download of The Great Gatsby ($13.97 Audible or $3.95 companion priced with the Kindle edition at $8.07), by F. Scott Fitzgerald, narrated by Anthony Heald, from Downpour (Blackstone Audio's retail site).

Book Description
Jay Gatsby is still in love with Daisy, whom he met during the war when he was penniless. Having made himself wealthy through illegal means, he now lives in a mansion across the bay from the home of Daisy Buchanan, who has since married for money. Holding on to his illusion of Daisy as perfect, he seeks to impress her with his wealth, and uses his new neighbor, Nick Carraway (our narrator), to reach her.

Daisy’s wealthy but boring husband is cheating on her. When his mistress is killed in an accident caused by Daisy, Gatsby covers for her and takes the blame. The result is a murder and an ending that reveals the failure of money to buy love or happiness.

Fitzgerald’s elegantly simple work captures the spirit of the Jazz Age and embodies America’s obsessions with wealth, power, and the promise of new beginnings.

Get the free audiobook from Downpour. Use Promo code FREEGATSBY during checkout (and make sure you see a $0.00 total before continuing). If you are a member there, be sure to log in first - otherwise, the code gets stripped during checkout and you may end up using one of your credits (if you do, contact support and they'll put the credit back on your acct).

Free Audiobook - Quitter

The audiobook edition of Quitter ($9.99 Kindle), by Jon Acuff [Lampo Press], is free over at Noisetrade, in anticipation of the release of his latest book Start: Punch Fear in the Face, Escape Average and Do Work that Matters, which releases April 22.

Book Description
Have you ever felt caught between the tension of a day job and a dream job? That gap between what you have to do and what you’d love to do?

I have.

At first I thought I was the only one who felt that way, but then I started to talk to people and realized we’re becoming the “I’m, but” generation. When we talk about what we do for a living we inevitably say, “I’m a teacher, but I want to be an artist.” “I’m a CPA, but I’d love to start my own business.”

“I’m a _____, but I want to be a ______.”

All too often, we hear that dreaming big means you quit your day job, sell everything you own, and move to Guam. But what if there were a different way?

What if you could blow up your dream without blowing up your life?

What if you could go for broke without going broke?

What if you could start today?

What if you already have everything you need to begin?

From figuring out what your dream is to quitting in a way that exponentially increases your chance of success, Quitter is full of inspiring stories and actionable advice. This book is based on 12 years of cubicle living and my true story of cultivating a dream job that changed my life and the world in the process.

It’s time to close the gap between your day job and your dream job.

It’s time to be a Quitter.

About the Author
Jon Acuff used to be a Serial Quitter. He had eight jobs in eight years, constantly hoping the next one will be different. From writing advertising for The Home Depot, to branding for companies like Bose and Staples, he's no stranger to the cubicle. This book is the result of that 12-year adventure in closing the gap between a day job and a dream job, something Jon did when he joined the Dave Ramsey team in 2010 to become a full-time author. He's a contributor to CNN.com, speaks nationally on the subject of social media, and is the author of Gazelles, Baby Steps And 37 Other Things Dave Ramsey Taught Me About Debt; and Stuff Christians Like. He lives in Nashville with his wife and two daughters.

Get the free audiobook from Noisetrade. If you want, you can leave a tip (which will be donated to Charity:Water), but that is not necessary in order to download the book.

Free Audiobook - When the Death-Bat Flies (DF)

The download edition of Strange Detective Mysteries Audiobook - When the Death-Bat Flies, by Norvell W. Page and the 20th in the Will Murray's Pulp Classics series, read by Michael C. Gwynne, is free direct from RadioArchives.com. There is no Kindle edition available for this one, although there are a number of Page's titles starting to show up, including The Spider Omnibus #1; the only available volume that includes the stories in this audiobook is the paperback When the Death-Bat Flies: The Detective Stories of Norvell Page.

Book Description
In the Fall of 1937, Popular Publications launched a new type of detective magazine, one that combined the Weird Menace-style stories that had made Terror Tales and Horror Stories so hot with readers of hardboiled detective-action tales.They called it Strange Detective Mysteries.

In his first-issue editorial, Managing Editor Rogers Terrill set the stage:

“Remember the time you read that one perfect knockout, detective story—bizarre, mysterious, thrill-packed, different? It still remains the detective story for you. You’ve wondered why you never found another. You searched bookstores, library shelves, newsstands—but you just couldn’t find that brand!

“Beginning with this issue—we give you Strange Detective Mysteries—not only one bizarre, thrilling eerie-laden mystery story such as you’ve searched for, but a whole magazine full of them!

“Because you have sought for this highest type of detective story, without finding it, you can understand at what cost we bring you this magazine. Months of planning and effort have gone into its making. The best known and most able detective-story writers have been called upon—for their best. Only the smallest proportion of a flood of manuscripts has been chosen.

“Crime-detection, adventure, baffling mystery—all this you will find in Strange Detective Mysteries. In addition, you will find that quality which appears in a detective story only once in a blue moon—the bizarre!”

Terrill used the word bizarre no less than five times in his editorial, italicizing it twice. He was serious! Strange Detective Mysteries was beyond weird.

For his lead novel, Terrill served up When the Death-Bat Flies, by the writer he called “America’s No. 1 Master of the Extraordinary Mystery Tale”—The Spider’s Norvell W. Page. Starring master magician Aubrei Dunne, it was a wild excursion into a criminal cult dedicated to murder and mayhem.

In Madame Murder—and the Corpse Brigade, Paul Ernst offered an even more bizarre hero—Seekay, the man with no face!

The detective protagonist of Wayne Rogers’ The Headman’s Hat-Box witnesses a murder committed by—himself!

In George Armin Shaftel’s The Miracle Murder Case, a prison break is engineered by an unknown mastermind who terrorizes society with a strange super-weapon!

Terror Tales favorite Arthur Leo Zagat’s Patients for Dr. Death revisits the realm of Jack the Ripper—but with an uncanny twist.

Finally, Norbert Davis’ Idiot’s Coffin Keepsake takes us to a weird mansion and the grisly mystery of the missing hand.

Read by Michael C. Gwynne, Roy Worley and Roger Price, this RadioArchives.com audiobook brings to vibrant life one of the most exciting first issues of any pulp mystery magazine ever published!

Get the free ebook from RadioArchives.com; use coupon code AUDIOBOOK during checkout (make sure your total is zero after applying; you should not need to enter any CC info).

Free Audiobook - Frankenstein, or The Modern Prometheus

Get a free audiobook download of Frankenstein, or The Modern Prometheus ($13.97 Audible or $4.99 companion edition w/ Kindle book purchase), by Mary Shelley, narrated by Simon Templeman, Anthony Heald and Stefan Rudnicki, from Downpour (Blackstone Audio's retail site). There are a couple of low-cost editions, for that that like to read along, including the $1.71 edition from Penguin Classics that is linked to this audio edition (if you get it from Audible).

Book Description
Dr. Victor Frankenstein, an ambitious young scientist, is consumed by a fanatic desire to create a living being. He fashions an eight-foot-tall creature and succeeds in animating him, but, horrified by his visage, perceives his creation to be a monster and frightens him away. The monster, wandering in search of human companionship, is spurned and repulsed by all he approaches and learns to hate and to kill. He confronts his maker with a terrible choice: unless Frankenstein creates for him a mate, he will go on a rampage of destruction.

Frankenstein, a masterpiece of 19th-century Gothic horror and considered to be the first science-fiction novel, is a subversive tale about the corrupt tendencies in humanity's most "civilized" ambitions.

Get the free audiobook from Downpour. Use Promo code FRANKENFREE during checkout (and make sure you see a $0.00 total before continuing). If you are a member there, be sure to log in first - otherwise, the code gets stripped during checkout and you may end up using one of your credits (if you do, contact support and they'll put the credit back on your acct).

Free Audiobook - The Tale of Peter Rabbit

For Easter, get a free Audible download of The Tale of Peter Rabbit, by Beatrix Potter, narrated by Pauline Brailsford. It's short, but should be a nice listen with kids.

Book Description
Mother rabbit cautions her children against entering a vegetable garden grown by Mr. McGregor. Her three daughters obey, but Peter, the naughty rabbit, helps himself to the crops from Mr. MacGregor's garden, to the dismay of all.

Nearly Free Audiobook - The Da Vinci Code

Another deal as part of the anniversary celebration (and anticipation of the next volume in the series), has the Audible edition of Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code available for $0.99. You'll need to have picked up the free Kindle edition first (if you haven't, there are links on the Audible page) to get the price, which also then lets you use WhisperSync between the two editions. For those wanting EPUB, there are more formats free now, all linked in my original post.

Book Description
An ingenious code hidden in the works of Leonardo da Vinci.

A desperate race through the cathedrals and castles of Europe.

An astonishing truth concealed for centuries . . . unveiled at last.

While in Paris, Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon is awakened by a phone call in the dead of the night. The elderly curator of the Louvre has been murdered inside the museum, his body covered in baffling symbols. As Langdon and gifted French cryptologist Sophie Neveu sort through the bizarre riddles, they are stunned to discover a trail of clues hidden in the works of Leonardo da Vinci—clues visible for all to see and yet ingeniously disguised by the painter.

Even more startling, the late curator was involved in the Priory of Sion—a secret society whose members included Sir Isaac Newton, Victor Hugo, and Da Vinci—and he guarded a breathtaking historical secret. Unless Langdon and Neveu can decipher the labyrinthine puzzle—while avoiding the faceless adversary who shadows their every move—the explosive, ancient truth will be lost forever.