Free Audiobooks - Hunger Games and The Lottery

Audiobook Sync's free giveaway continues this week, with one very popular title that, although aimed at young adults, is widely read by all ages, and one that is limited to distribution in the US and Canada.

The Hunger Games ($9.00 Kindle), by Suzanne Collins, is available to download by all.

Book Description
In the ruins of a place once known as North America lies the nation of Panem, a shining Capitol surrounded by twelve outlying districts. The Capitol is harsh and cruel and keeps the districts in line by forcing them all to send one boy and one girl between the ages of twelve and eighteen to participate in the annual Hunger Games, a fight to the death on live TV. Sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen, who lives alone with her mother and younger sister, regards it as a death sentence when she is forced to represent her district in the Games. But Katniss has been close to dead before-and survival(continued) and survival, for her, is second nature. Without really meaning to, she becomes a contender. But if she is to win, she will have to start making choices that weigh survival against humanity and life against love. Acclaimed writer Suzanne Collins, author of the New York Times bestselling The Underland Chronicles, delivers equal parts suspense and philosophy, adventure and romance, in this searing novel set in a future with unsettling parallels to our present.

The Lottery and Other Stories (not available in US or Canada on Kindle; $3.30 Paperback), by Shirley Jackson, is available in the US and Canada only.

Book Description
The Lottery', one of the most terrifying stories written in the twentieth century, created a sensation when it was published in 1948. Today it is considered a classic work of short fiction, remarkable for its combination of subtle suspense and pitch-perfect descriptions of both the chilling and the mundane. This collection, the only one to appear during Shirley Jackson's lifetime, unites 'The Lottery' with twenty-four equally unusual stories. Together they demonstrate Jackson's remarkable range – encompassing the hilarious and the horrible, the unsettling and the ominous – as well as her power as a storyteller. The Lottery', one of the most terrifying stories written in the twentieth century, created a sensation when it was published in 1948. Today it is considered a classic work of short fiction, remarkable for its combination of subtle suspense and pitch-perfect descriptions of both the chilling and the mundane. This collection, the only one to appear during Shirley Jackson's lifetime, unites 'The Lottery' with twenty-four equally unusual stories. Together they demonstrate Jackson's remarkable range – encompassing the hilarious and the horrible, the unsettling and the ominous – as well as her power as a storyteller.

Click HERE to get the free downloads.

For those who are just finding out about Audiobook Sync, there are two new ones each week, so you have to keep checking back. You can't get any titles that have been missed, but once they are loaded into, they are yours to keep (there is no expiration date). Get today's titles quickly, as there will be two new ones up each Thursday. You'll have to sign up for an account and install Overdrive (if you are not already using it for library books). In addition, you 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). 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).

All New Kindles - Place Your Orders Now!

The Kindle 2 has been replaced by a new model that can be purchased in Black (graphite) or White, the Kindle Wireless Reading Device, Free 3G + Wi-Fi, 6, which is also priced at $189. It's new baby brother has also been announced, the Kindle Wireless Reading Device, Wi-Fi, 6 is a graphite body, wi-fi only version, priced at $139 (take that nook! looks like Kindle will always be $10 less). One feature that sounds great - battery life of a MONTH with wifi/wireless off. What I'm not thrilled about? The keyboard looks worse than ever, having lost the row of number keys (the DX has this same disability and it is truly annoying as I use numbers every time I want to write a note about when I finished a book). Unlike the DX, however, there are page turning keys on both sides (yes, you can now go to the previous page with either hand!). There is twice as much memory as before, an improved PDF reader and an experimental Wi-Fi based browser (which will mean that it works worldwide and will offload the cell traffic that no doubt Amazon has seen from people who use it fairly often).

The weight has gone down again (not that it needed to) and the form factor is less, so you'll need a new cover. Amazon's new Kindle Covers are ready to pre-order, in several colors and now come with a light for reading in the dark at $59.99 or without a light for $34.99. No doubt third party covers will follow soon. One really cool feature? There are no batteries for the reading light. Instead, it draws power from the Kindle itself. That will mean a reduced reading time, but there will only be one device to recharge and no expensive one-use batteries to dispose of.

Orders for both are now being taken, so for those that want one right away, you'll want to get in line quickly. When the Kindle 2 was first announced, some waited a couple of weeks for theirs to be shipped, even if they ordered fairly early in December (remember, they were out of stock for two months last time). The official release date is August 27th and if Amazon follows their earlier plan, those who order with next day and second day deliver will get the earliest units, while those who choose Super Saver shipping may wait up to a week for a truck to be filled and sent out (for that matter, when stock is short, they hold those orders in order to fill the higher priority shipping ones). I know that for the small difference in price, it's worth it to me to having something like this shipped via UPS or Fedex, with a package tracking, rather than hoping it makes it thru the postal service (and is still at the mailbox when I get there).

Here are some highlights from the product page:

Kindle is our #1 bestselling item for two years running. It’s also the most-wished-for, most-gifted, and has the most 5-star reviews of any product on Amazon. Now it's even better.

• All-New, High-Contrast E-Ink Screen – 50% better contrast than any other e-reader
• Read in Bright Sunlight – No glare
• New and Improved Fonts – New crisper, darker fonts
• New Sleek Design – 21% smaller body while keeping the same 6" size reading area
• 17% Lighter – Only 8.5 ounces, weighs less than a paperback
• Battery Life of Up to One Month – A single charge lasts up to one month with wireless off
• Double the Storage – Up to 3,500 Books
• Built-In Wi-Fi – Shop and download books in less than 60 seconds; transfer personal documents using a Wi-Fi connection for free at any time.
• 20% Faster Page Turns – Seamless reading
• Enhanced PDF Reader – With dictionary lookup, notes, and highlights
• New WebKit-Based Browser – Browse the web over Wi-Fi (experimental) 
• Quieter Page Turn Buttons – Quieter page turning means you won't disturb your partner when you want to read all night.

Voice Guide
With Text-to-Speech, Kindle can read out loud to you. New Text-to-Speech enabled menus allow customers to navigate Kindle without having to read menu options. In addition to listening to books aloud, users now have the option of listening to content listings on the home screen, item descriptions, and all menu options.

New, Built-In Wi-Fi
Kindle automatically detects nearby Wi-Fi networks at school, home, or your favorite café. At a hotel or café that requires a password? Simply enter the password and connect to the network. Once you have added a Wi-Fi network, Kindle will automatically connect to that network the next time you’re near the hotspot. Kindle does not currently connect to enterprise or peer-to-peer networks.

Free Access at AT&T Hotspots
Enjoy free Wi-Fi access at AT&T hotspots across the U.S. for shopping and downloading Kindle content — no AT&T registration, sign-in, or password required.

Support for New Characters
Kindle can now display Cyrillic (such as Russian), Japanese, Chinese (Traditional and Simplified), and Korean characters in addition to Latin and Greek scripts.

Precise 5-Way Controller
Kindle has an easy-to-use 5-way controller, enabling precise on-screen navigation for selecting text to highlight or looking up words. No on-screen fingerprints.

Video Deal of the Day - The BBC Natural History Collection

Amazon's Gold Box deal today is a real winner for those that don't yet have Planet Earth on Blu-ray (and not bad for those who do, since you could always re-gift the standalone product to someone else or take it to your local used video store as a trade-in). The BBC High Definition Natural History Collection [Blu-ray] is marked down (today only) to $69.99 and contains all of these titles (individual prices shown for comparison: Planet Earth ($49.99), Wild China ($24.99), Galapagos ($16.99), Ganges ($16.99). All are the original and complete BBC versions, with David Attenborough narrating Planet Earth. There are eight blu-ray disks included, with a total run time of 1,150 minutes (needless to say, you won't watch it all in one night!).

Also, if you have not taken advantage of the promotion already, this DVD set (amongst many other items) will also get you $4 worth of eligible movies and TV shows from Amazon Video On Demand after you order your item (limited to one promotional credit per customer).

Product Description

• Planet Earth (Original U.K. broadcast version narrated by David Attenborough, including 90 minutes not shown on the Discovery Channel)
• Wild China
• Galapagos
• Ganges (Behind the scenes, deleted scenes, English, Hindi and Bengali narration)
  

Psssst .... Wanna Buy A Kindle?

While theft of Kindles continue, as does the sale of Kindles that are stolen or reported as such well after the sale, despite Amazon's recently more aggressive treatment (they now essentially brick the Kindle, something long asked for by those having them stolen, but which is now making victims of those buying these units off Craigslist and other used venues, even if they first check with Amazon to ensure the serial number hasn't been reported as stolen), risking those used markets may be the only way to find a new, unused 6" Kindle soon. Currently, you can still get a refurbished Kindle (Global/AT&T) ($169.99), but all other 6" versions are out of stock, both new and refurbished. The Graphite Kindle DX and White Kindle DX are both in stock, though, are are the refurbished Kindle DX (U.S.) ($249.99) and refurbished Kindle DX (Global) ($299.99).

The last time Amazon let the Kindle go out of stock for any length of time (in fact, the only time it's happened other than the shortage after the launch of the original Kindle), Amazon brought the item back as a new version instead. All the early purchasers of what has been referred to as the latest generation Kindle until the last month or so, were the ones who ordered the original Kindle while it was out of stock over Christmas and received the newer Kindle instead. If Amazon keeps up with that same tradition, then those who order what is now called the Kindle Wireless Reading Device, Free 3G, 6" Display, White, 3G Works Globally - Latest Generation may find themselves amongst the first to possess either a newer version Kindle. I suspect the next one to release will be a 6" graphite version of the Kindle, with the higher contrast screen now seen on the Graphite Kindle DX and that few other changes will occur on the Kindle that rumors have been pegging at a release date of August. As for when it will release: my prediction is 31 days after the last price drop seen on the Kindle (so as to trigger as few returns as possible), just a happened with the current Kindle, which released on Feb 9, 2009, just after the return period ended for Christmas orders (and which followed the original Kindle being mostly out of stock for two months).

Of course, this time, Amazon can't afford to be out of Kindles for two months. Especially not when there are so many other choices available and when sales growth is taking off. Of course, that tripling in sales growth no doubt contributed to the shortage (as does the sales of other readers, since there is only one source of screens for all the eInk readers). So, what do you think? Wiil you take a gamble on getting a newer Kindle (after all, you can always send it back, if you get the current Kindle) before anyone else?

Free Book (Sony) - Finding Nouf

Finding Nouf ($7.67 Kindle), by Zoe Ferraris, is free in the Sony bookstore.

Book Description
When sixteen-year-old Nouf goes missing, her prominent family calls on Nayir al-Sharqi, a pious desert guide, to lead the search party. Ten days later, just as Nayir is about to give up in frustration, her body is discovered by anonymous desert travelers. But when the coroner's office determines that Nouf died not of dehydration but from drowning, and her family seems suspiciously uninterested in getting at the truth, Nayir takes it upon himself to find out what really happened.

He quickly realizes that if he wants to gain access to the hidden world of women, he will have to join forces with Katya Hijazi, a lab worker at the coroner's office who is bold enough to bare her face and to work in public. Their partnership challenges Nayir, as he confronts his desire for female companionship and the limitations imposed by his beliefs. Fast-paced and utterly transporting, Finding Nouf is a riveting literary mystery that offers an unprecedented window into Saudi Arabia and the lives of men and women there.

Click HERE for the free download (will open the Sony Library software).