Two free Audiobooks

To get either of today's free audiobooks, first log into to your Audible.com account, then click the links below to add the free audiobook to your cart, then check out. It's probably best to order one at a time, but you should be able to get both for free (I did).

Audible.com, possibly in an effort to boost its chances of winning a Hugo Award for its 2008 audio anthology METAtropolis, has released the entire audiobook for free to NORTH AMERICAN audible customers (sorry Europe and the rest)! All you’ll need is an audible account and to follow the link.

METAtropolis (Amazon $19.79)
By Jay Lake, Tobias Buckell, Elizabeth Bear, John Scalzi, and Karl Shroeder
Read by Michael Hogan, Scott Brick, Kandyse McClure, Alessandro Juliani, and Stefan Rudnicki
FREE DOWNLOAD (for a limited time) - 9 Hours [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Audible Frontiers
Published: 2008

Publisher's Summary

Welcome to a world where big cities are dying, dead - or transformed into technological megastructures. Where once-thriving suburbs are now treacherous Wilds. Where those who live for technology battle those who would die rather than embrace it. It is a world of zero-footprint cities, virtual nations, and armed camps of eco-survivalists.

Welcome to the dawn of uncivilization.

METAtropolis is an intelligent and stunning creation of five of today's cutting-edge science-fiction writers: 2008 Hugo Award winners John Scalzi and Elizabeth Bear; Campbell Award winner Jay Lake; plus fan favorites Tobias Buckell and Karl Schroeder. Together they set the ground rules and developed the parameters of this "shared universe", then wrote five original novellas - all linked, but each a separate tale.

Bringing this audiobook to life is a dream team of performers: Battlestar Galactica's Michael Hogan ("Saul Tigh"); Alessandro Juliani ("Felix Gaeta"); and Kandyse McClure ("Anastasia 'Dee' Dualla"); plus legendary audiobook narrators Scott Brick (Dune) and Stefan Rudnicki (Ender's Game).

John Scalzi, who served as Project Editor, introduces each story, offering insight into how the METAtropolis team created this unique project exclusively for digital audio.

Marley & Me (Kindle $6.39, Audible $12.16 - $15.73) by John Grogan

John and Jenny were just beginning their life together. They were young and in love, with a perfect little house and not a care in the world. Then they brought home Marley, a wriggly yellow furball of a puppy. Life would never be the same.

Marley quickly grew into a barreling, 97-pound streamroller of a Labrador retriever. He crashed through screen doors, gouged through drywall, and stole women's undergarments. Obedience school did no good, Marley was expelled.

And yet his heart was pure. Just as Marley joyfully refused any limits on his behavior, his love and loyalty were boundless, too. A dog like no other, Marley remained steadfast, a model of devotion, even when his family was at its wit's end. Unconditional love, they would learn, comes in many forms.

Enjoy Marley & Me as Free download courtesy of Garmin!

Free with purchase on Kindle: More Money, More Political Will

For today, April 13th only, purchase the Kindle edition of Lords of Finance (The Bankers Who Broke the World) ($9.99) and receive a free Kindle edition of Liaquat Ahmed's Op Ed, More Money, More Political Will, at no additional charge. The second title will be wirelessly downloaded to your Kindle (and does not appear to be available separately, at least at the current time).

Synopsis

With penetrating insights for today, this vital history of the world economic collapse of the late 1920s offers unforgettable portraits of the four men whose personal and professional actions as heads of their respective central banks changed the course of the twentieth centuryIt is commonly believed that the Great Depression that began in 1929 resulted from a confluence of events beyond any one person?s or government?s control. In fact, as Liaquat Ahamed reveals, it was the decisions taken by a small number of central bankers that were the primary cause of the economic meltdown, the effects of which set the stage for World War II and reverberated for decades.In Lords of Finance, we meet the neurotic and enigmatic Montagu Norman of the Bank of England, the xenophobic and suspicious ?mile Moreau of the Banque de France, the arrogant yet brilliant Hjalmar Schacht of the Reichsbank, and Benjamin Strong of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, whose fa?ade of energy and drive masked a deeply wounded and overburdened man. After the First World War, these central bankers attempted to reconstruct the world of international finance. Despite their differences, they were united by a common fear?that the greatest threat to capitalism was inflation? and by a common vision that the solution was to turn back the clock and return the world to the gold standard.For a brief period in the mid-1920s they appeared to have succeeded. The world?s currencies were stabilized and capital began flowing freely across the globe. But beneath the veneer of boom-town prosperity, cracks started to appear in the financial system. The gold standard that all had believed would provide an umbrella of stability proved to be a straitjacket, and the world economy began that terrible downward spiral known as the Great Depression.As yet another period of economic turmoil makes headlines today, the Great Depression and the year 1929 remain the benchmark for true financial mayhem. Offering a new understanding of the global nature of financial crises, Lords of Finance is a potent reminder of the enormous impact that the decisions of central bankers can have, of their fallibility, and of the terrible human consequences that can result when they are wrong.

About the Author
With degrees in economics from the Universities of Cambridge and Harvard, Liaquat Ahamed has witnessed at close hand the way countrys' economic policy is made and executed as a professional economist at the World Bank during the 1980s. He has since worked as an investment manager, with a ring-side seat at a sequence of financial crises, from the collapse of the European Monetary System in the 1990s to the current 'sub-prime' economic downturn. This is his first book.

Action Games

I mentioned last week that action games increase the ability to perceive changes in shades of gray up to 58 percent, which in turn improves your ability to read or drive in low light conditions. This week Amazon's Buy One, Get One Free Sale on Game Downloads is all about action games.

Two sequels to the previously free Build-a-lot are included in the sale (Build-a-lot 2: Town of the Year [Game Download] and Build-a-lot 3: Passport to Europe [Game Download]), although I'm not sure I'd have classified either one as an action game. Like many of the games on the list this week, there is a bit of planning (puzzle-solving) to the game. This seems to be true of Stand O' Food and Garden Dreams, as well. Hopefully the first will convince you a career in fast food isn't the loftiest of goals, while the latter might spark an interest in growing your own food, albeit with a must more instantaneous gratification than the real thing can provide -- our paw-paw tree, for example, had it's first fruit last year, after growing for 10 years and is covered with blooms this year (OK, I'll admit it's one of the slowest possible fruits to grow) and our figs and kiwis are not an every year occurrence (we are at the northern edge of their growing zone), but we can depend on all the fresh asparagus and rhubarb we want every spring, along with a dependable supply of tomatoes, peppers and squash (and many other things).

For more traditional arcade type action, check out Alex Gordon, Ballhalla, Ballhalla or Archibald's Adventures. Three of the more intriguing titles are Granny In Paradise (Super Granny is back, and she's ready to rumble. While on a well-deserved vacation, Granny's kitties are abducted. Run, dig, climb, swing, float and tumble through 5 worlds and over 170 levels, as you rescue Granny's missing cats and outwit the minions of the nefarious Dr. Meow.), Super Granny 3 (After her troubled tropical trip, Super Granny is dropped into her most ambitious adventure yet, a run-down European theme park where she must rescue her arch-nemesis, the evil Dr. Meow, from the clutches of his even-more dastardly master, Mr. Fang.) and Super Granny 4(Join Super Granny and her friends, Kamila and Margaret, as they set out to rescue their missing kitties in this all-new, globe-trotting adventure!). Who knew Granny and her cats were having so much fun when you weren't around?

Just to recap: the way it works is you buy one title (the most expensive of the two you want) and within two (business) days you get a credit to your account and can then come back and buy the second title at no charge. You have until May 31 to purchase your second game, which must come from the same list as the first selection. Just like Kindle books, Game Downloads all come with a free sample - except in this case, it's the entire game and it's generally free for 14 days (however, this sale changes each week, so don't take that long to make up your mind). It's a good idea to use the trial, as game downloads are non-refundable, unlike Kindle books.

Free Ebook: From Dead to Worse

From Dead to Worse [Southern Vampire Series Book 8] by Charlaine Harris (Kindle $4.39) is currently available for free from Fictionwise in both Secure EReader and Secure Mobipocket formats (these do not work on the Kindle or Sony Readers, due to DRM).

After the natural disaster of Hurricane Katrina and the man-made explosion at the vampire summit, everyone--human and otherwise--is stressed, including Louisiana cocktail waitress Sookie Stackhouse, who is trying to cope with the fact that her boyfriend Quinn has gone missing. It's clear that things are changing--whether the weres and vamps of her corner of Louisiana like it or not. And Sookie--Friend to the Pack and blood-bonded to Eric Northman, leader of the local vampire community--is caught up in the changes.In the ensuing battles, Sookie faces danger, death, and once more, betrayal by someone she loves. And when the fur has finished flying and the cold blood finished flowing, her world will be forever altered.

Monthly Kindle Book Budget: March

Continuing with my Monthly Kindle Book Budget, this one gets me caught up for the year.

March

How To Do Your Own Dentistry By: Chris Reynolds	$0.45
The Healthy House Answer Book: Answers to the 133 Most Commonly Asked Questions By: John Bower, Lynn Marie Bower	$0.00
The Crimson Shadow By: R. A. Salvatore	$7.99
Trail Food: Drying and Cooking Food for Backpacking and Paddling By: Alan Kesselheim	$7.96
Assassin's Apprentice By: Robin Hobb	$0.00
Red Mars By: Kim Stanley Robinson	$0.00
Blood Engines By: T.A. Pratt	$0.00
His Majesty's Dragon By: Naomi Novik	$0.00
Settling Accounts In at the Death By: Harry Turtledove	$0.00
Settling Accounts Return Engagement: Book One of the Settling Accounts Trilogy By: Harry Turtledove	$0.00
Soul Identity By: Dennis Batchelder	$0.01
The Life and Loves of April Johnson By: Eve Vaughn	$0.00
The Reinvention of Chastity By: Eve Vaughn	$0.00
The Babysitter's Code By: Laura Lippman	$0.00
The Legend of Witch Bane (The Witch Bane Saga) By: Kevis Hendrickson	$0.99
World Wide Rave: Creating Triggers that Get Millions of People to Spread Your Ideas and Share Your Stories By: David Meerman Scott	$0.00
Pacific Avenue By: Anne L. Watson	$0.01
The Wild's Call By: Jeri Smith-Ready	$0.00
The Boys of Chattanooga By: Clyde R. Hedges	$2.71
BARRACUDA By: Mike Monahan	$0.99
Uncubicled By: Josh McMains	$1.60
The Keeper of Eternity By: Devyn Quinn	$0.00
Easton's Bible Dictionary for Kindle (instant definition lookup while reading any Bible) (Updated) By: Easton's	$1.99
Still Waters (Sophie Green Mysteries, No. 4) By: Kate Johnson	$0.00
The Adamas Blueprint By: Boyd Morrison	$0.99
The Palmyra Impact By: Boyd Morrison	$1.59
The Ark By: Boyd Morrison	$1.59
Persuader By: Lee Child	$0.00
Numenon (Bloodsong Series) By: Sandy Nathan	$0.99
The Complete User's Guide To the Amazing Amazon Kindle 2: A Kindle Owners Toolkit Of Over 500 Tips, Tricks, & Links (DRM-Free with Text-to-Speech Enabled, User-Friendly) By: Stephen Windwalker	$0.99
Strong's Concordance By: Packard Technologies (www.christiancdrom.com)	$1.60
Elfhunter (A Tale of Alterra, The World That Is) By: C S Marks	$0.99

For the month, that's 32 books, $33.44 in total, for $1.05 per book.

A couple of the free ones I already had in paperback (so, off to the used bookstore with those) and the three by Boyd Morrison I could have grabbed for free on his web site ($4.17), but by buying at Amazon, we could all download via Whispernet when we get around to reading them. I paid $3.99 for Summer's Path, which is available free this month. I also purchased Soul Identity twice, but the second copy was only a penny (and was so I could see if there was a difference in the versions: there is not). Quite a few that I would not have purchased, normally, but might read since I have them (most of those Harlequins, for example), but at least a couple of the freebies were on my wish list to purchase later.

Here's the break-down by month, for the year-to-date:

Month	No. Books	Total Cost	Per Book
January	59	$83.47	$1.41
February	43	$29.97	$0.70
March	32	$33.44	$1.05
Totals	134	$146.88	$1.09

Not bad per book (even with those public domain titles tossed in) and definitely enough to keep us occupied for at least a few weeks.