Free Audiobook - Matter

The Guardian, a UK newspaper, has teamed up with Audible UK to give away an audio book each day for a week. Today's book is Matter ($9.99 Kindle), by Iain M. Banks, the eighth novel of The Culture series. The audiobook is quite long, a total of 18 hours in three parts.

Book Description
In a world renowned even within a galaxy full of wonders, a crime within a war. For one brother it means a desperate flight, and a search for the one - maybe two - people who could clear his name. For his brother it means a life lived under constant threat of treachery and murder. And for their sister, even without knowing the full truth, it means returning to a place she'd thought abandoned forever.

Only the sister is not what she once was; Djan Seriy Anaplian has changed almost beyond recognition to become an agent of the Culture's Special Circumstances section, charged with high-level interference in civilisations throughout the greater galaxy.

Concealing her new identity - and her particular set of abilities - might be a dangerous strategy, however. In the world to which Anaplian returns, nothing is quite as it seems; and determining the appropriate level of interference in someone else's war is never a simple matter.

MATTER is a novel of dazzling wit and serious purpose. An extraordinary feat of storytelling and breathtaking invention on a grand scale, it is a tour de force from a writer who has turned science fiction on its head.

To sign up for the free audiobook, click HERE. For more detailed instructions, be sure to see this previous post.

Two Free Audiobooks from The Guardian & Audible UK

The Guardian, a UK newspaper, has teamed up with Audible UK to give away two audio books (and possibly more next week).

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo ($6.64 Kindle), by Stieg Larsson

Book Description
An international publishing sensation, Stieg Larsson's The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo combines murder mystery, family saga, love story, and financial intrigue into one satisfyingly complex and entertainingly atmospheric novel.

Harriet Vanger, a scion of one of Sweden's wealthiest families disappeared over forty years ago. All these years later, her aged uncle continues to seek the truth. He hires Mikael Blomkvist, a crusading journalist recently trapped by a libel conviction, to investigate. He is aided by the pierced and tattooed punk prodigy Lisbeth Salander. Together they tap into a vein of unfathomable iniquity and astonishing corruption.

Charm Offensive, by Armando Iannucci, appears to be a best-of compilation, although the cover shown is from season 4 (which is $10.42 at Audible.com, via Amazon).

Audio book Description
... the best of Armando Iannucci's Charm Offensive, a heady mix of satirical comedy, messed-about archive, chat and outrageous fibs featuring guests Clive Anderson, Phil Jupitus, John Oliver, Andy Zaltzman, Russell Howard, Michael McIntyre, Chris Addison, Miranda Hart & David Quantick. This Observer exclusive free download is published courtesy of AudioGo.

There are only two requirements: enter your information into a form at the Guardian (which will then give you a link (which you must cut and paste into your browser, as they didn't make it a live, click-able link), and either have or create an account at Audible.UK. This account will be separate from any Audible.com account (for those in the US), but cannot use the same login credentials as your current account, if you already have one at Audible.com (use a secondary email account). Also, these books won't link up to your US Kindle account (perhaps at some point, they will with Amazon UK, but I don't see anywhere to set that up, either, at least, not yet).

Here are the links for the two free books:

• The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
• Charm Offensive

If you are using Internet Explorer, you may run into problems trying to get the second book; since it sees you as already logged in, it won't add the book to the cart using the special signup screen. So, fire up either Google Chrome or Firefox (and possibly Safari) instead when you are signing up for the second book (or just use Firefox/Chrome for both, as neither of these will encounter the problem).

After you download the books, which will load into your already installed Audible Manager (or iTunes), you'll be prompted to log in -- use your UK credentials (after the first time, you should not be re-prompted to log in).

Free Book - Demon

Demon: A Memoir ($9.68 Kindle), by Tosca Lee, is free from Lifeway Christian Stores, as part of a promotion for Havah; The Story of Eve ($9.68 Kindle), which was free in the B&N (nook) store at the start of August.

Book Description
"One day . . . I realized that being angelic and fallen was very similar to being human and fallen -- except for one major difference: the provision of a messiah. I immediately wondered what it must feel like to be unquestionably damned -- and worse, to watch humans luxuriate in and take for granted the grace made available to them from a doting God. And I thought: Why wouldn't a fallen angelic creation resent a human recipient of God's grace? And why wouldn't a demon want to prove that creature unworthy again and again as a result? Now I knew what it must feel like to be an angelic outsider looking in with jealous eyes and . . . through this new lens Demon: A Memoir was born." -Tosca Lee

Click HERE for the free download. You can choose between a PDF and EPUB format (marked as "ebook", which will download as a .ZIP file -- the EPUB is contained within (yes, we know epub is already just a zip format, but that's the way their web site is set up). You shouldn't have any trouble converting it for the Kindle (I used Calibre and the epub version).

One Day Only - English Grammar For Dummies (Kindle)

This one is a bit higher priced than the usual bargain books I feature, but with all the back-to-school bargains that have been posted lately, I suspect there may be a few readers that either are taking classes themselves or have kids that are. Amazon has English Grammar For Dummies, by Geraldine Woods, marked half-price for today only. This still leaves it at $9.99 (most For Dummies titles seem to be either $13.19 or $9.99 in the Kindle store). B&N also has the same deal, while Kobo is at $11.59.

Book Description
A few years ago, a magazine sponsored a contest for the comment most likely to end a conversation. The winning entry? "I teach English grammar." Just throw that line out at a party; everyone around you will clam up or start saying "whom."

Why does grammar make everyone so nervous? Probably because English teachers, for decades - no, for centuries - have been making a big deal out of grammar in classrooms, diagramming sentences and drilling the parts of speech, clauses, and verbals into students until they beg for mercy. Happily, you don't have to learn all those technical terms of English grammar - and you certainly don't have to diagram sentences - in order to speak and write correct English.

So rest assured - English Grammar For Dummies will probably never make your English teacher's top-ten list of must-read books, because you won't have to diagram a single sentence. What you will discover are fun and easy strategies that can help you when you're faced with such grammatical dilemmas as the choice between "I" and "me," "had gone" and "went," and "who" and "whom." With English Grammar For Dummies, you won't have to memorize a long list of meaningless rules (well, maybe a couple in the punctuation chapter!), because when you understand the reason for a particular word choice, you'll pick the correct word automatically.

English Grammar For Dummies covers many other topics as well, such as the following:

• Verbs, adjectives, and adverbs - oh my!
• Preposition propositions and pronoun pronouncements
• Punctuation: The lowdown on periods, commas, colons, and all those other squiggly marks
• Possession: It's nine-tenths of grammatical law
• Avoiding those double negative vibes
• How to spice up really boring sentences (like this one)
• Top Ten lists on improving your proofreading skills and ways to learn better grammar
  

Just think how improving your speaking and writing skills will help you in everyday situations, such as writing a paper for school, giving a presentation to your company's big wigs, or communicating effectively with your family. You will not only gain the confidence in knowing you're speaking or writing well, but you'll also make a good impression on those around you!

Free Classics from B&N (nook)

Barnes and Noble is continuing their free Classics in the B&N Free Library this week, with a new set of free classics, eleven of which have not be offered for free previously. This weeks theme is Around the World in 5,792 Pages:

1. Kim by Rudyard Kipling
2. Prince and the Pauper by Mark Twain
3. The Jungle Books by Rudyard Kipling
4. Arabian Nights by Anonymous
5. Fairy Tales by Hans Christian Andersen
6. Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court by Mark Twain
7. Enchanted Castle and Five Children and It by Edith Nesbit
8. Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer
9. King Solomon's Mines by H. Rider Haggard
10. Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift
11. Two Years Before the Mast by Richard Henry
12. Sailing Alone Around the World by Joshua Slocum

These editions are not exactly the same as you would find at Gutenberg; Barnes and Noble Classic Series editions generally have been more carefully proofread and have introductions and scholarly notes inserted in the beginning to aid in understanding the text. If you are building a summer reading list for a student, stocking up for lit classes in college or just want to revisit the classics, these are a great (free) resource.These are DRM'd epubs, though, so will only be readable on a nook or one of the B&N reader apps.