Goodreads Ireland discussion

I just thought I'd create this thread because people post deals from Amazon / Audible etc at different times, but do so within other conversations. I thought that this would be a better place to post, and while deals will obviously run out pretty quickly in some cases, regulars may find some bargains as a result!

The first sale I want to highlight is Audible US' current BOGO offer. I've just used one credit to buy both the sequel to Adrian McKinty's Cold Cold Ground and CJ Sansom's Dissolution on audiobook. You'll find the info on the top banner of the site, although I'm not sure when the offer ends, as it has disappeared after I purchased the books!

Great way to share these deals. A few weeks back Susan let me know that The Mountains Echoed by Kaleed Housaini was going to be on sale on Amazon at a very special price. I got it the next day for about $7. And because I have Amazon Prime, didn't pay for shipping.

I had already marked the McKinty book in the sale and was looking for another. But I can get the McKinty audiobook for only $3.99 with Whispersinc for my Amazon ebook purchase of it. I think I will go ahead and do it that way. 2 for 1 is a good deal, but my New England genes won't let me spend 1 credit which costs me $14.95 unless there are 2 books I really want. Speaking of the thrifyness, I have a friend here who also grew up in New England, who helped me realize my thrify behavior is not a personal quirk. I do remember my first trip to Scotland years ago where I ran into behavior that was even more thrifty. I went into an ironmonger to buy string. The owner asked why would I buy string as he had a whole drawer full of string (saved from packages etc.) and I could have what I needed - free of course. I used to save the string our university post office used to tie up our mail. They don't do it anymore so no more drawers full of string in my office.

Question - I am wondering if my kindle book is smart enough to sync with the audiobook if I don't buy them at the same time. This may be a question for Audible.

Barbara, my grandfather had a large box full of potentially useful crap he'd find on the street. One piece becoming useful every year or so was enough to justify keeping all of that to him.

It makes everyone else smile. It drove his family crazy. :/

As long as you don't have to buy/rent a bigger house, rent a storage unit, or are condemned by the board of health I suppose it's OK. Having said that, I don't dare go into my son's room. I think there was an episode of some tv drama where a house collapsed because the second floor tenant was an awful hoarder.

For any Audible UK members, there's 40% off everything until 6th January. Might be worth checking out...

It's been a fair while since anyone posted here, but seeing as I've managed to get 3 daily deals from Audible US in the last week, I thought I'd post that The Reluctant Fundamentalist is the daily deal for today (5th June), on sale at $2.95. Having seen the film, I'll be interested to see how it measures up to the book.

I read The Reluctant Fundamentalist and was really disappointed. I just didn't buy his fall into fundamentalism. It didn't take a lot.

I don't think The Reluctant Fundamentalist is for me, but thanks for posting Allan. I had forgotten that there was a thread specifically for deals!

No worries, Sara-I had forgotten about it too, to be honest, but seeing as the missed the Vonnegut the other day, and that I'm into the habit of checking each morning now, I thought I'd post the info, and came across the thread when I was looking for the best place to post.

Declan, it's a pretty short audiobook, and for £2 more or less, so I'm happy to take a chance with it. I was actually a little confused at the end of the film when we watched it recently, so it'll be interesting to me as to whether the book will be any clearer.

@Jamielynn. For me it was less about not-taking-much than taking almost nothing at all. I don't know it the author was giving an honest or sympathetic account but it felt like neither.

@Allan. It's always possible I missed something important. Maybe you'll be able to shed some light on it for me?

Allan- I have the book and haven't read it, so decided not to get the Audiobook. BUT I discovered I had an offer to buy 3 credits for $36 and grabbed it before my new credit arrives. Somewhere here someone noted that Audible only sends that offer when you are down to 1 credit.

I like the new photo but miss your sweet dog:)

I know this might not be up everyone's street, but I'm on a roll with the Daily Deals, having just got Brothers in Battle, Best of Friends for $4 on Audible.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1...

I'm building the books up righty for my summer painting jobs!

When I saw Barbara's comment on this thread I though it was about a used dealer called Daily Deals (or some such). So I now see it isn't, but will post anyway.

There are used book dealers out there, on Amazon and elsewhere, with various names like this. I have ordered stuff from them and had good experiences, but also had the other type.

The thing is, some of these "dealers" are simply acting as middle-men. They have relationships with real used book dealers (who keep inventory) that they will help the dealer sell their books for a % of the cost. So the real dealer ends up selling the book and shipping it to you, then loses a % of what they would have got for it to the middleman. I don't see the benefit to anyone in this setup except to the middleman, who is basically doing nothing.

Allan wrote: "I know this might not be up everyone's street, but I'm on a roll with the Daily Deals, having just got Brothers in Battle, Best of Friends for $4 on Audible.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/10..."

Hi Allan, This isn't related to the daily deals (but I think this will be a valuable discussion thread) but just to say that I like your new photo. :) When does your school year end?

Hi Cathleen-thanks for the feedback on the new profile pic! :) This time three weeks, I'll be finished for the summer, which is why I'm keen to pick up as many bargains as I can, given my home improvement plans, and the fact that audiobooks make these plans bearable! What about your own break then? Have you finished for summer yet yourself?

On the subject of daily deals, Sara, you might be interested in today's Audible deal, 'The Android's Dream' by John Scalzi, which seems to have pretty good reviews and is $3.49, down from $24.95.

Allan wrote: "Hi Cathleen-thanks for the feedback on the new profile pic! :) This time three weeks, I'll be finished for the summer, which is why I'm keen to pick up as many bargains as I can, given my home impr..."

Hi Allan, You have a good plan for how to thrive during your home improvement plans. Our term already ended, but I'm doing first year orientation and that goes through the third week of June, so it will settle down a bit after that. In July, I'm presenting at a conference in your favorite city, NY, and I've already been looking at the conference schedule figuring out when I can get to the Strand Bookstore :)

"On the subject of daily deals, Sara, you might be interested in today's Audible deal, 'The Android's Dream' by John Scalzi, which seems to have pretty good reviews and is $3.49, down from $24.95."

I read Old Man's War by him awhile back and enjoyed it. I've heard much of his work can be quite humorous, and I bet Wil Wheaton from Star Trek TNG fame is a good narrator, so I'm tempted...On the other hand, I've been buying too many books, e-books, and audiobooks lately.

I see that Paul's favourite book, Ulysses, is $6 on Audible US today, thanks to the fact that it's Bloomsday. Which also means, if I'm not mistaken, that it's Barbara's birthday. Happy birthday, Barbara, and to everyone else, enjoy Bloomsday if you're doing anything for it! :)

Happy Birthday Barbara!

Happy Birthday Barbara.
I have heard that Ulysses is better to listen to than to read. Still not tempted oddly enough.

Happy birthday, Barbara!

Happy birthday, Barbara. I.hope you have a wonderful day!

Have a great birthday Barbara, enjoy your day

Happy Birthday Barbara! I think I will buy Ulysses as an Audiobook. I believe that next up in Barbara and I's Joyce group we are actually doing Finnegan's Wake, so if I want to listen to Ulysses anymore it will have to be as an audiobook.

Thanks for the birthday wishes! I bought the audible deal today. How could I not! Seems my family forgot it's my birthday but I suppose I'll get some belated wishes :)

Emma wrote: "Ah you'll have to fire them Barbra :-)"

LOL :)

I invested in the audiobook there as well, Barbara, having read some of the reviews of the narration quality etc. Also, I saw that it was reduced from $104 to $6, so couldn't resist the bargain!

I'll probably never get through the book, but this'll give me a better chance than trying to read it myself. I did listen to and enjoy both Dubliners and Portrait of the Artist on audio, so it just might work...

I hope you enjoy the rest of your birthday! :)

Allan wrote: "I invested in the audiobook there as well, Barbara, having read some of the reviews of the narration quality etc. Also, I saw that it was reduced from $104 to $6, so couldn't resist the bargain!

..."
I also noted what a deal it was! There are certain chapters that are hilarious though I'd have to check myself which they were.

BOGO alert on Audible US-200+ books on offer. I'm not sure if I'll find two myself, but some others might! :)

I managed to get Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy and Catastrophe 1914 by Max Hastings for my 1 remaining credit, and as they're both books that I've wanted to read, I'm pretty pleased! :)

Allan wrote: "I managed to get Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy and Catastrophe 1914 by Max Hastings for my 1 remaining credit, and as they're both books that I've wanted to read, I'm pretty pleased! :)"

I was thrilled to get notice of this sale as one of my wish list books was on the BOGO. I didn't end up buying that. Instead I bought Love in the Time of Cholera, which I was planning to get as an audiobook as one of my book groups is reading it in July, and Ordinary Grace which Susan gave 5 stars. I am learning I should add more books to my wish list as anytime they show up on sale, I'll get a notice.
Allan - I was tempted by Blood Meridian myself. With your DIY projects the more audiobooks the better. I picked up 3 credits a couple of weeks ago for $36 so I had 5 credits.

All have to get some audiobooks soon. I've been enjoying LibriVox but I'd like to try something more recent and by a professional narrator.

I saw Love in the Time of Cholera, Barbara, and thought you'd be interested in it. It's great when you can make good use of one of these sales!

Declan, since managing to wangle a membership on Audible US, about 40% of my 'reading' has been through audiobook, mainly due to the greater choice that's available in comparison to the UK site. I'd definitely recommend even a trial membership-you'll be hooked soon enough!

With a fictitious US postal address and an email address / credit card that had never been associated with Amazon UK-John from the group, who lives in ROI, gave me the heads up as to how to do it.

I was a member of Audible UK from 2007, but their selection is inferior by comparison. It also actually works out cheaper in the US version. As long as they're getting their money, I think they're happy enough!

I don't know if the UK Audible has the same bargains such as a daily deal. A lot of the daily deals aren't for me,but having both the kindle daily deal and the Audible daily deal, I sometimes can the kindle book for $1.99 or $3.99 and there is an Audible whispersync deal that goes with it. Usually this works out to be between $3.99-$5.99 for both the kindle book and the audiobook. Though I usually read more of one than the other, it is becoming an inexpensive way to get more audiobooks. This week I bought The Coroner's Lunch on kindle for $1.99 and for another $1.99 I got the audiobook.

You might only have access to the books available in the UK, Emma, even if you have registered and they've allowed you to join. You'll only know if this is the case by searching for an author while logged in to the site, and searching for the same author while logged out. Steinbeck is a good example. There are a lot more audiobooks of his available in the US than the UK.

Whatever you manage, happy listening! :)

I'm a little annoyed with the BOGO sale. I turned out I couldn't see the list of books because I was currently out of credits. I went ahead and did the 3 credits at a reduced price sale, so I can now see, but it's frustrating that Audible won't show me what's available at the BOGO sale without me having to first buy more credits.

Barbara wrote: "I don't know if the UK Audible has the same bargains such as a daily deal. A lot of the daily deals aren't for me,but having both the kindle daily deal and the Audible daily deal, I sometimes can t..."

Barbara, how does that whispersync on Amazon work? I have a Kindle and I see that advertised with lots of the books. Can you somehow plug it in and listen to it on your commute the same way you could listen to a podcast through an ipod?

Sara, I can understand why you're annoyed alright. I know that sometimes these sales only last a short time as well, so you can't rely on waiting until your next credit is available. I hope you managed to get a deal when you did buy the extra credits.

Cathleen, my understanding of Whispersync is that you buy the ebook and audiobook separately, one at a heavily reduced price. Say then you get to p100 in the ebook on your first read of the book, when you start the audiobook on your phone, it will sync with the ebook and begin from that point. A very clever way to get you to part with more money, but a great way to get through a book more quickly!

You might also be able to listen to audiobooks on your Kindle, but I'm not sure...

Allan wrote: "Sara, I can understand why you're annoyed alright. I know that sometimes these sales only last a short time as well, so you can't rely on waiting until your next credit is available. I hope you man..."

Wow,Allan, that sounds really cool. I might have to part with more money and check it out...

Emma, if you have a card and email address that haven't been registered with Amazon before, it's well worth trying out getting an a Audible US membership. Even if you don't, I hope you enjoy the credit that you received on joining! :)

@Allan I think it would encourage more folks to buy extra credits, if they could looks at the books in the BOGO sale and know there was something they wanted. What did you wind up getting in the sale? I'm not sure I see anything I'm all that excited about. I think I'm just going to use one of my credit's to get the audiobook version of the Silkworm. The BOGO sales does have the first two books in Adrian McKinty YA fantasy trilogy as well as a few other YA titles that peaked my interest.

Sara, I got Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy and Catastrophe 1914 by Max Hastings, both books that I've had in my hand to buy before, so I'm happy enough!

Did none of the Sci Fi choices appeal to you then? I had hoped for a better choice myself, but was glad to find the two- the only other one I'd have gone for was the one about the history of Hollywood.

Blood Meridian sounds too dark for my current listening needs. Several of the science fiction and fantasy books sounded good Allan, but I'm not sure I want them bad enough to buy them.

I'm not sure if today's Audible deal will interest anyone, but based on the excellent reviews I read on Audible, Amazon and Goodreads, I bought 'A River Runs Through It' by Norman Maclean for $4. Nothing ventured, nothing gained!

After seeing your post, I looked at the Daily Deal and bought it. I haven't spent a lot of time in that part of America but a couple of trips to Colorado and one to Idaho and Utah (all for work) inspired me. I have a friend from Montana who now lives in Brazil, and is a fisherman. He has managed to find fishing places in Brazil near Belo Horizonte where he lives with his Brazilian wife and daughter. The western US is awe-inspiring and a place I need to see more of.

I think the book was definitely worth risking the $4 on, Barbara-the reviews seem to be excellent across the board.

I enjoyed my short stay in Kanab in Utah, when I used there as a base for my visits to Bryce Canyon and the Grand Canyon when I was stateside 10 years ago. I'm sure it was touristy, but I had a great time at a rodeo and went horse trekking into the canyon and everything. The old gold mining ghost towns there were amazing to see, and the amount of open space was amazing. Montana sounds like it'd be an amazing place to visit.

No info on a daily deal today, but just a heads up that Audible have an extra 25% off everything until the end of the month, meaning that quite a lot of books are now cheaper than a credit, should you wish to buy them. I have a few in my wishlist that are now below $10, so I might cut my plan next month to 1 credit and have a splurge now!