FREE! AUDIO! BOOKS! (Did I Mention Free?)

I had 39 items checked out from my school library. Books with titles like Adulterous Alliances: Home, State, and History in Early Modern European Drama and Painting, and The Antitheatrical Prejudice, and Agent of Change: Print Culture Studies after Elizabeth L. Eisenstein. Real page turners, let me tell you what. These hefty tomes have slowly been collecting in neat stacks on my bedroom floor, desk, and bedside table throughout the semester, and today was the day! The blessed and glorious day when they all got returned! The sign that all my papers are turned in and the semester is finally over!

But let me tell you, it's a lot easier to check books out three or four at a time, than it is to return 39 in one go. I had to take my stroller, sans baby, loaded up to the brim in order to get them all back without multiple trips. I'm sure I was quite the comical sight pushing that conveyance across campus.

Anyway, that was a tangent. The real point of this post is that SUMMER IS HERE! And that means it's time for another season of FREE AUDIO BOOKS courtesy of audiobooksync.com. Those of you who've followed my blog for a while know that I make this public service announcement every May, because I love this service so much. I mean, free audio books! What's not to love?

Owning vs. Checking-Out: Where Do You Get Your Books?

Usually, I have a policy against buying books. This may seem strange, seeing as how I love all things bookish, but I have two reasons for this policy.

1.) I have no room for more books. Our bookshelves are currently stuffed to capacity (over-capacity, with books piled on top), and since we don't have space in our little apartment for more bookshelves, any new books get shoved in the boxes in the closet, under the bed, or if they're lucky, added to the pile on my nightstand. It pains me that so many of my books don't have a permanent home, and I don't want to buy more books until I have adequate space and housing for them (someday I will have my dream home library...).

2.) The public library. Why on earth would I spend money on a book that I could get for free at my library?

Generally, the only time I break this policy about buying books is when I've read a book that is so good, I know that I will want to reread it, mark it up, take notes, and generally have the book on hand for future reference and referral. The two most recent books that broke this policy were The Gift of Giving Life and Daring Greatly.  I haven't talked in depth about either of these books yet, but they were both so good I asked for them for my birthday. Honestly, the highest praise I can give any book is to actually spend money on it (remember how I hate spending money).

Here's where we get to the story for today. At my local branch library, they have a little shelf set up near the front entrance with books that are available for sale. I used to always ignore this shelf because a.) my general policy, and b.) I assumed the shelf was full of trashy romance novels and dirty retired library books that had seen better days. It wasn't until one day over the summer, when we had arrived a little too early for story-time and I had a few minutes to kill, that I actually stopped to look this shelf over.

And guys, I was totally wrong about this shelf. I mean, yes, there were plenty of trashy romance novels to go around, but there were actually some quality books there as well. Books that were on my to-read list. And they weren't old used library books either, most of them were brand-new. Then I saw the price list: 25 Cents for paperbacks.

Say what?

I don't care how little shelf-room I have at home, how can I pass up a perfectly good like-new book from my to-read list for only a mere quarter?

I can't, is the answer. Since making the discovery of this shelf, I've purchased six books (pictured above, sans The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton which was hiding under a pile of burp cloths on my nursing chair).

Now, every time we go to the library (at least once a week), I find myself perusing this shelf with great attention. They don't always have good stuff, but often enough I find these little gems that I can't help bringing home. This shelf is proving to be a serious detriment to my commitment against unnecessary consumerism.

But if I have one weakness, it is the temptation of a good book.

What's your book-buying policy?

It's That Time of Year Again

Folks, I am just not on top of it this year. I can't believe we're already two weeks into Sync's summer audio book program, and I only just remembered to check out the line-up.

I wrote about this last year, because it really is one of my favorite parts of summer. For those of you who don't know, every summer Sync offers two free audio books for download every week all summer long. Usually one book is a new-ish YA book, and the other is a classic along a similar theme. This year, some of the classics don't seem quite as "classic" to me, but I'm still excited for many of the books on the list. I don't download every book every week (my ancient laptop here doesn't have quite that much available memory, and not all of them seem to be my thing), but every summer I always find a few new gems that are completely awesome. Here are a few I'm excited about this year:

Code Name Verity - I've already read this one (review here), but my husband needs to read it, and since he only does audio books these days I'm excited to download it for him. If you're in to World War II spy dramas with female heroins, this is a fabulous story.

The Hiding Place - I've also already read this one, but again, my husband hasn't, and he absolutely NEEDS to. I think everyone needs to read this one. I've read it several times, just because it is that powerful of a book, and really makes me want to be a better person.

Peter and the Starcatchers - So this is one I hadn't heard of before, and I'm a bit mystified about how I missed out on it because I'm a huge Dave Barry fan. How did I miss that he wrote a Peter Pan themed novel? I'm kind of terribly excited for this.

So go to it. Take a look at the schedule, mark your calendars, and don't miss out on your chance to score some awesome free audio books this summer.

My Favorite Part Of Summer

It's not the beach or the pool or the sun or the sandals.

As much as I love those things, seriously my favorite thing about summer is the free audio books offered by Sync. So yeah, that may sound kind of nerdy, but really, if you haven't heard of this summer program you are missing out. Each week all summer long, Sync offers two new audio books, a young adult paired with a classic, for FREE download. Yes, that's right, FREE! I mean, who doesn't like free stuff?

I've just checked out the lineup for this summer's offerings, and it's looking pretty good. Generally, the classics speak for themselves, but in years past I haven't been as familiar with the YA titles they offer. This year, however, there are several YA titles that have been on my to-read for a while. Here are a few titles that I'm particularly excited for:

Of Poseidon by Anna Banks. I've heard some good things about this young adult book, and I'm excited to check it out. Also, it's paired with The Tempest, which you know from this post is my pretty much my favorite Shakespeare play of all time. So I've got high hopes. Both of these are available for one week starting TOMORROW, so don't forget.

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte. I haven't read this one since high school, but it is definitely a favorite and I think listening to it on audio will be the perfect way to reread.

The Raven Boys  by Maggie Stiefvater. I've heard so much about this one, and I'm excited it's being offered for free. If you've heard of the popular Scorpio Races (another on my long to-read list), this is by the same author. Both have been on my to-read list for a while, and now I'll get to cross this one off.






There are plenty more titles, so go check out what's for offer, then mark your calendars and don't forget to go back for your free audio books. Of course, I'll be reviewing all the titles I listen to here.

Enjoy your summer reads (or in this case, listens).