Audio Book Update

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admin — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 14:34:07 +0000

Written & read by I G Hume

Published by: TheHeavenfield.com

Price: 0

Following on from audiogeist.com’s post last week on The Heavenfield, the gripping sci-fi thriller i stumbled across on twitter…

A team of researchers are trialing ‘The Standing point’, a technology rather like Star Trek’s teleporting technology (‘beam me up Scotty), although, it seems to beam them to a place they really have no concept of. One minute it’s a place similar to ‘Heaven’…then, for reasons we’re still trying to figure out, it’s complete Hell, topped with grotesque and very fast moving demons.

Let me first say that the listening experience of this podio was spot on. I G Hume took on personas (yes, even the women), delivering well rounded characters that I could easily imagine. I liked the quirkiness of the sharply spoken Grace Palmer, Head of Research. She’s am eccentric chain smoker, heavy drinker and keeps calling her newbie team member Tim. His name is Thomas.

Thomas Sullivan is a genuine geek, straight out of college. He’d caught the Base Commander’s attention with academic papers that pointed to genius. He stumbles into the fray of espionage, enlisted as a Theoretician, blushing and stuttering…we never really get to see the outcome of his true potential.

Hume is good at suspense. The team gets stranded in The Heavenfield after an attack on their base. Low on air, and with the hellish red (Eeooww! Dried blood!) dust eating away at their suits – they have to wait until Maunsworth house is back online before they can be ‘teleported’ home. It seems the demons and specters of The Heavenfield want to keep them there though…

When I first started listening to the Heavenfield, I envisaged a guy in his living room reading and recording his own book (a little like Daniel Bedingfield of the literary world). So saying, I’m sure I caught birds tweeting in the first episode…but this could almost be intentional, as the following episodes resulted in subtle but relevant periphery sounds that underlined the whole experience as a professional one.

On a different note, I did find the story line hard to follow. It took me a while to figure out who Alexi was, and who he was working for. Although, this could be the point of the tale if the ending is anything to go by. Um…sequel perhaps Mr. Hume?

The people he’s working for already have the technology that our team at Maunsworth house is testing, and he sets out to sabotage Standing Point, on a mission to kill Grace Palmer and especially Thomas Sullivan.

I downloaded via iTunes, and got a little confused with which version to download. I imagine the podiobooks recently been updated and spit into Book One and Book Two.

The interactive website is also well worth a visit – treats galore with artwork and t-shirts available to buy, plus biogs of all the characters.

BBC Audiobooks sold

admin — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 13:32:13 +0000

BBC Worldwide has two thirds of its audiobook division to AudioGo Ltd, a company set up by a former Polygram executive.

BBC Worldwide which publishes titles including John Peel Remembered and Lynne Truss’ Certain Age reviewed on Audiogeist, as well as bestseller, Richard Burton’s Under Milk Wood. The deal, understood to be worth at least £10m, is likely to be the first of several disposals of assets considered non-core by BBC Worldwide, the corporation’s commercial arm. The sale of a stake in BBC Magazines which publishes titles including the Radio Times and Top Gear, is expected to form part of this process.

AudioGo Ltd is a new, private company owned by film producer Michael Kuhn. The announcement to audiobook fans via Twitter last week was; @BBCAudiobooks ‘We’ve been making the news this week: we’ve got a new name! From now on BBC Audiobooks will be known as AudioGo…’

This post is brought to you by Audio Book Update – your source for the latest audiobook reviews, news about audio books and portable mp3 player price comparisons.

Did you hear about the Audible iTunes App?

admin — Sun, 18 Jul 2010 12:53:40 +0000

Great news! Audible.com, the Internet’s leading provider of digital audiobooks (and more), is now available on iPhone and iPod Touch (says iTunes)! This FREE app incorporates innovative features including Wi-Fi delivery of your Audible.com library and multitasking (iOS 4 and compatible device required) so that you can do other things on your iPhone whilst listening.

If you’re not already an Audible.com subscriber, they’ve included seven teaser excerpts to convince you of how good they truely are.

BONUS: Create a new, free Audible account in the app and receive a free excerpt of The Facebook Effect: The Inside Story of the Company That Is Connecting the World.

Audible for iPhone features the best audiobook listening experience:
• Chapter Navigation, Bookmarking, Sleep Mode, Button Free Mode, and Play as you Download
• Wireless transfer of your books from My Library to your device over Wi-Fi
• Multitasking for background audio playback and background downloading (iOS 4 and compatible device required)

And the fun extras you’ve been waiting for:
• Earn badges and check your personal listening habits
• Get insider information about author events and more with the Audible Newsfeed
• Connect to Facebook and Twitter and let your friends know what you’re listening to and more

Note: This version of the application only accepts audible.com accounts. Audible.co.uk, .de, and .fr are coming soon. Let’s hope they hurry up!

This post is brought to you by Audio Book Update – your source for the latest audiobook reviews, news about audio books and portable mp3 player price comparisons.

Audiobook Awards 2010

admin — Sat, 17 Jul 2010 17:54:03 +0000

The Audiobook Store is hunting for the best audiobook for 2010.

In it’s second year running, a panel of experts have selected the best 20 new audiobooks of 2010 for you to vote on. If you have a listen and vote for your favourite, you’ll have a chance to win £50 of Audiobook Store vouchers. (Winner will be notified by email)

So, heard any good books lately?

This post is brought to you by Audio Book Update – your source for the latest audiobook reviews, news about audio books and portable mp3 player price comparisons.

The Heavenfield

admin — Sat, 17 Jul 2010 17:16:26 +0000

Wanting to get back to audio, but narked by the thought of the stack of CDs i have to download to my laptop to put onto my iPod, i’ve downloaded The Heavenfield a free (yes, free) audiobook from I G Hume.

It’s a complicated tale about a team of researchers who teleport to another world to study a ‘field’, so beautiful they dubbed it ‘The Heavenfield’.

I’m currently on the third episode – and things are starting to go a little pear shaped. ‘Heaven’ has disintegrated on par with a terrorist attack on the scientist’s lab. Who’s attacking them? Who’s the Eastern Eusropean guy?

I’ll tell you later…

This post is brought to you by Audio Book Update – your source for the latest audiobook reviews, news about audio books and portable mp3 player price comparisons.

15th Annual Audie Awards

intern — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 14:04:23 +0000

The 15th annual Audie Awards, recently held by the Audio Publisher’s Association (APA), proved that oral storytelling is still alive and thriving. The awards recognize the best in voice narration within categories such as fiction, humour, mystery, romance and business. Up for Audiobook of the Year were the following titles: Nelson Mandela’s Favorite African Folktales, The Time of My Life and The Word of Promise Audio Bible— most likely, none of these will be that familiar to the average reader, but the celebrity voices attached to them definitely will be: Don Cheadle, Matt Damon, Helen Mirren, Patrick Swayze, Richard Dreyfuss, Marisa Tomei and Scarlett Johansson, to name a few.

“I remember, 20 years ago, I’d tell people I worked in audiobooks and they’d say, ‘Oh, like for the blind?’,” says Janet Benson, president of the APA board. “Now, it’s a lot more mainstream — a teenager I met on the plane got excited when I told him what I did for a living and that surprised me at first, but it turned out he was dyslexic and audiobooks had gotten him excited about wanting to read again.”

Below are some of the winners from last night’s gala.

Audiobook of the Year: Nelson Mandela’s Favorite African Folktales

Audio Drama: The Word of Promise Audio Bible

Audiobook Adaptation: The Maltese Falcon

Biography/Memoir: Anne Frank Remembered

Business/Educational: Rain

Classic: Great Expectations

Fiction: The Help

Mystery and Suspense: Devil in a Blue Dress

Audio Book Review of Crossroads: The Teenage Girls Guide To Emotional Wounds. By Stephanie Smith and Suzy Weibel

admin — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 18:10:16 +0000

Crossroads: The Teenage Guide to Healing Emotional Wounds, written by Stephanie Smith and Suzy Weibel. Is a great book for teenagers growing up without a father in thier lives and having to deal with statistical issues.

The book goes by tracks instead of chapters. Each track is named after one of Stephanie Smith’s songs. they start out with an insert of that particular song. At the end of each track is a section called “Your Song” where the reader is asked a question. Other parts of the book are called, “So you want to be a rockstar”. Here you will hear the srories of Leah, Carrie, Kaylee, Andy and many more.

In Tracks One through Three Stephanie delves into her life as a child. You will hear of how her father was abusive to her mother, and how it took her little brothers first sentence to finally make her mother leave. She also tells us that she never thought bad about her father because her mother never spoke bad of him. She also gives pointers on how you to can do this. Later she tells of seeing her father agian and how she felt during that time. It didnt make it any easier for her cosidering he couldn’t even remember her name. Later she falls in love for the first time, with the first boy that ever said I love you to her, but when she was dumped by him, yet again she was faced with struggles within herself.

In Track four she deals with a problem that alot of young girls have today. She hears some harsh words about herself from a boy at school, this then promotes some self-image problems. It takes some words from a counselor to make her realize the real truth. One that she already knew.

Track Five Stephanie deals with her “calling”. She says that callings are not what God really has in mind for you. I take them as a sort of a side road. She states that she spent most of her college years being an “idiot”.

In Track Six, you learn of how she calls up her mother one day and gets told there is no money for school. Stephanie then has to deal with the challenge of calling her father and asking for the money. She realizes it wasnt as bad as she thought it would be.

In Track Seven she ends up taking a semester abroad. In her short time in Africa she gets lonely and struggles with herself and with God. She become afraid that maybe she just hasn’t been doing the right things, that maybe she just didn’t pray enough.

In Track eight she once again persues her calling of becoming a rockstar. During this time she struggles with finding her identity. But realizes through God just what she needs to do.

Finally in Track Nine Stephanie tells of how she once again reunites with her father. She explains how the word “purpose” became a big influence in her life during that time. She becomes to realize that she shouldn’t dwell on the fact of her father not being there because God will be there to fill in the missing holes.

There’s Always a Way: How to Develop a Positive Mindset and Succeed in Business and Life By Tony Little

admin — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 01:52:42 +0000

There is more to life than sitting back and letting things happen to you. That is never more apparent than in Tony Little’s audio book; There’s Always a Way: How to Develop a Positive Mindset and Succeed in Business and Life.
When you have a lot of harrowing experiences in your life you tend to become dismal and depressed. Even people who do not have an affinity for this type of behavior can fall victim to it. In this audio book Tony Little gives step by step instructions on how to get past the downfalls of life and pursue things that really make you happy. When you find that thing in life that makes you feel whole and gives you a worthwhile feeling it stretches to other parts of your life without any real effort.
According to Tony it is best to start with simple things, affirmations and obvious blessings. He gives a clear cut, easy to understand approach to using your fears and insecurities to move ahead in personal life and how to use the same tactics to move ahead in professional life and business. One of his main points is the importance of thinking out of the box and not falling into the same old destructive mindsets. Using humor, and a different set of objectives than you usually do you can break free of the patterns that have held you bound in personal and business life.
It is focuses more on sales positions and people who work for themselves but it can work for anyone who wants to apply these tactics to their own life. Taking his own life and the selling of his books, DVD’s and products in a down economy he has some pretty tough advice on not taking no for an answer, being aggressive and proactive. There is much to appreciate in his tactical approach to getting your plan together, making and closing a sale and keeping customers coming back. He tells of his poverty stricken youth and personal illnesses so that we know that he wasn’t born with a silver spoon in his mouth and had to work to make a change. This gives a whole lot more credence to the audio book than if it was written by a super star born into money and fame.
What may be the most effective part of the whole audio book is his concrete examples of how his ideas and concepts worked for him and others and can clearly work for anyone that wants to put in the time and effort to make a change. He stresses that the process is not easy and that a long, hard line of work is ahead for anyone who wants to change to this type of thinking. The benefits are clearly spelled out, however, and if your not afraid to try his technique you really have nothing to lose.

Master Your Debt: Slash Your Monthly Payments and Become Debt Free By Jordan E. Goodman

admin — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 01:32:09 +0000

Jordan E. Goodman has been well regarded among consumer advocacy blogs such as The Consumerist for many years, and his latest work, “Master your Debt: Slash Your Monthly Payments And Become Debt Free” continues this trend. His approach is highly successful due to the fact that it does not rely on gimmicks or tricks, but instead a firm knowledge of debt law and anecdotal evidence as to which strategies to work. “Master Your Debt” is not a book that makes false promises, and it’s results come largely from the hard work of the reader, as opposed to any sort of “magic” formula. This separates it from many other “fad” books
The primary methods detailed in the book are those which have been advocated elsewhere online, including in Goodman’s own blog. In general they focus on breaking down debt into small, consistent payments, and avoiding the many “gotcha” fees by which mortgage companies increase a borrower’s monthly payment. Goodman has always been an advocate of strong and strict budgeting, and he continues his budgetary refrain in this book. However, in this book he also presents information key when negotiating better rates, decreased interest payments, and lower premiums. Since most debtors find themselves trapped by downright usury rates of interest in today’s credit market; the ability to negotiate down the capital or the interest rate and start making payments on the principal is invaluable for ending debt sooner.
The only downside is that the book fails to go into the necessary detail with some of these negotiating tactics. While it is certainly useful to inform readers as to particular laws and positions that may be in their favor, in general it defers to other books or legal authorities when dealing with the specifics of a case. While it is certainly useful to inform those who are unaware of specific loopholes and discrepancies within the law as to ways in which they may dig themselves out, the lack of depth in the book means that those trapped in debt will invariably need to purchase more books later on if they are to fight back in the ways proscribed. Still, this is a good book for those who want to tackle their debt and are unsure how to go about it, and it offers many insights into simple tactics that can pay off large debts without legal intervention.
The audiobook version is an excellent version for those who wish to have something to listen to on the way to or from work, however the actual book relies on diagrams and charts which the audiobook cannot replicate. It is read by Goodman himself and he has done an excellent job adapting his book to an audio format, however many readers may find themselves needing to write down some of the exercises he talks about since they cannot be conveyed in a purely audio fashion. Goodman has created audiobook versions of several of his other works, and his voice is practiced and pleasant, if at sometimes preachy.

My Rocket French Language Review

admin — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 00:54:00 +0000

How many times have you thought about trying to learn French, but just couldn’t figure out how to go about it? You probably assumed you’d have to carve time out of your schedule to go to class, but who has time for that? I don’t, and you probably don’t either. So have you considered a Rocket French download?

“Why Rocket French?” you’re wondering – and why a download? Because downloading your language instruction materials off the internet is the easiest way you could possibly learn a foreign language – and a Rocket French download fits your busy lifestyle in so many ways!

First, Rocket French goes way past the simple rote conversations you’ve come to expect with packaged language-learning systems. Yes, of course your Rocket French download will teach you to say the phrases you’ll need to master in order to “get along” in a foreign country. After all, you need to be able to ask directions, order food, and find out a person’s name. But many language programs stop there. They teach you how to ask directions to the museum, without giving you any idea how to ask for the library. They teach you to order your beef well done, without giving you any idea how to order it rare.

You’ll never have that problem with a Rocket French download. Rocket French makes sure to give you the tools you’ll need to reach beyond static phrases toward real fluency. In addition to their basic conversational lessons, you’ll get some wonderful computer-based activities that feel more like video games. MegaVocab helps you extend your vocabulary and gain confidence in your new language. MegaVerb helps you tackle those baffling conjugations. And MegaAudio helps train your ear to be able to understand French the way it’s really spoken in real-life situations. Best of all, you’ll gain access to a learner’s forum staffed by native French speakers and French teachers. You’ll feel like you have a French tutor at your side any time you want!

So what are you waiting for? Click below, and you’ll have a Rocket French download in a matter of minutes! Your French education begins today!

Order Rocket French Premium here and get exclusive bonuses…

This post is brought to you by Audio Book Update – your source for the latest audiobook reviews, news about audio books and portable mp3 player price comparisons.