The January 2020 blues and an alternative: good books, audiobooks, and other excellent reading

@sammydog01

Meee toooo.

@sammydog01 @f00l what is chirp?

@f00l @moonhat
Chirp.com
It’s a discount audiobook site with no membership- they have a lot of books between 1 and 5 dollars at any given time and they’re the same versions as on Audible.

It’s a bit more limited in how you can play the books but you can download them on a phone.

@f00l @sammydog01 oh that sounds pretty good! I’m so accustomed to just borrowing audiobooks and ebooks via the library websites, which is nice and handy, but having to wait for popular ones is annoying at times

@moonhat @sammydog01

I pretty much check chirp every day.

@elimanningface Nope. But with Amazon the kindle book gets you a deal on the Audible book so you can usually get them both for the price of the audible book.

@elimanningface @sammydog01

kindle book gets you a deal on the Audible book

kindle book often
gets you a deal on the Audible book

Not every time and not for many expensive books or bestsellers. But pretty frequently.

Look for a mention of “whispersync for audio” or something like that about a digital book, on either the kindle site or the audible site.
That will tell you how much of a discount you might get.

In order to get the discount, you have to either purchase the kindle version first, or purchase both versions simultaneously, from the amazon site.

If you get both text and audio versions of a whispersync for audio pair, the apps keep track of where you are in the book. So if you start up the audio after reading text, or vicevversa, the apps know where you left off and go to the spot.

It is kinda cool.
Some people find it intrusive. But … Amazon is intrusive to customers, with or without digital book purchases.

@elimanningface @f00l @sammydog01 Alexa told me it was OK, don’t worry about it.

@elimanningface @sammydog01 @therealjrn

I know you and Alexa are best buds. Everyone could use a soulmate, amirite?

/youtube don’t stop believing

@elimanningface

Here is (I think) a link to the amazon page that is the “start page” for all the kindle/audible *whispersync for voice” e-book/audiobook combos.

https://smile.amazon.com/b/ref=kbhp_nb_wfv?ie=UTF8&node=5744819011&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=merchandised-search-leftnav&pf_rd_r=BW9K26PDVF3WC0B2G21R&pf_rd_r=BW9K26PDVF3WC0B2G21R&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=adf7ef8b-ed94-4313-a5e7-92dbcb8cc609&pf_rd_p=adf7ef8b-ed94-4313-a5e7-92dbcb8cc609&pf_rd_i=154606011

The area I circled in yellow gives you the discount purchase info, so long long as you either purchase the kindle book first or purchase both in one transaction.

@elimanningface m
This is what an audible page for a whispersync for voice looks like. The link is to the amazon page for the matching kindle book

(The two images are not for the same book. I just picked books I don’t own at random.)

If you already own a kindle whispersync for voice book then the audible page for that book will already show the discounted price.

@therealjrn

Hey, it’s morning and I had a rough nite.
Was trying to be funny re reply, but maybe that remark of mine is just dumb and possibly not v nice.

In which case, that was not my intention.

I would apolog… but I think apolog… are something I am possibly better off putting a lid on?

Anyway, sometimes my attempts at humor don’t work well. You may have noticed. No insults or minor rudeness intended tho.

@f00l @therealjrn I’m intrigued by the book called “Unfuck Yourself”. Could be helpful, but I bought “Unfuck Your Habitat” and haven’t quite gotten around to it yet (I just checked my AMZ orders and I’ve had it for 2 years), so…I’m still procrastinating. Mehbe this is the year!
/giphy 2019 sucked

@llangley @therealjrn

Owning more books than you’ll ever have the time to read is not necessarily a bad thing; so long as finances and other life factors (such as not hoarding or not being currently distractible, etc) are sound in your life.

All the joys of living within your own private library! There’s always stuff you really hope to get to, and something to fit your mood and purposes this second.

/giphy book joy

@therealjrn

I kinda want those.

But I hardly ever wear socks. And I’m pledged to self to stop buying stuff I don’t need.

Sigh.

Tempting, tho.

@f00l @therealjrn Me too. Good luck!

@f00l @sammydog01 MUHAHAHA

@sammydog01 @therealjrn

That is an example of the “evil Oklahoman laugh” is it not?

/giphy evil Oklahoma

@f00l @sammydog01 Not everything HAS to be just about Oklahoma does it?

@sammydog01 @therealjrn

Naw. But your evil laughs do kinda point in that general direction somewhat.

@f00l @sammydog01 Poor Texans. You really know the different types of laughing at you.

@sammydog01 @therealjrn

We’ll laugh with them. And with you.

We’ll laugh al the way to Texas.

; )

@f00l @therealjrn

@sammydog01 @therealjrn

“If a man’s from Texas, he’ll tell you. If not, why embarrass him by asking?”

-John Gunther

@mossygreen

It’s considered a classic I think?

@f00l I know! And yet… does one need to own it? I’m really torn.

@sammydog01

Thx!!!

@sammydog01

Didn’t own that one yet!

@mossygreen

I’d take that deal.

@f00l I checked the reviews for this. My favorite:

I hate to say this, but Child ripped the main structure of the plot, as well as the precise ending, from, of all things, an episode of KNIGHT RIDER titled ‘Dangerous Maneuvers’ from the fall of 1982.

@f00l @sammydog01 Hee hee hee hee hee.

@mossygreen @sammydog01

Good to know. But I read Child because he’s a blast to read. I’m not worried about whether he’s up for lit prizes.

@sammydog01

Ps isn’t it interesting how the amazon review section brings out all the entertainment trivia obsessives?

Oops. That the internet that brings them out. Prob can’t blame amazon for that.

@f00l Hollywood should option this. It would make an excellent film.

@ruouttaurmind

Ya think maybe a “young Spielberg type” could do something with this premise?

@f00l @ruouttaurmind Hollywood should option the story of the intrepid Knight Rider superfan who uncovered Lee Child’s shocking plagiarism! And then turn it into a Da Vinci Code-style thriller.

@mossygreen @ruouttaurmind

Yes! Starring Tom Hanks!

@f00l

a “young Spielberg type” could do something with this premise?

Spielberg had his shot and he bolloxed it up. The film he made resembled the book only inasmuch as there was a shark and an ocean. Don’t get me wrong, I love the film. But it is not the same story as the book.

To be fair, it’s possible Gottlieb and Benchley handed over a gutted screenplay and Spielberg had his hands tied by the studio. Perhaps he did the best he could with what he had to work with.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯

@ruouttaurmind

I think that film was Spielberg’s first monster success. Before that, Sugarland Express? A wonderful film, but not a notable box office blaster.

I think Spielberg “won his directorial freedom” with Jaws. I don’t know who was responsible for changing the Jaws storyline in the translation from book to film. .