best-audiobooks.co.uk

Libraries are thriving in Buffalo

Ross — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 09:34:04 +0000

Hard times are leading more people to the doors of the Buffalo & Erie County Public Library for the free services it offers, the system’s director says.

Overall, patronage at branches and contract libraries has increased significantly in the past year, with several locations recording double-digit increases, according to Director Bridget Quinn-Carey. Use of free public-access computers alone shot up nearly 50 percent in the first half of 2008, she said.

Quinn-Carey said she is convinced sky-high gasoline prices and other hardships are driving the gains. And, she said, she believes state lawmakers should consider the plight of struggling families and the help libraries provide before they take an ax to library budgets.

Patrons also downloaded nearly 9,000 titles from the audio book checkout list to their home computers or MP3 players — an 89 percent increase over the same period a year earlier. Read entire article

Learn How To Speak Armenian

Ross — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 17:13:02 +0000

Learn how to speak Armenian on PC, MP3 player or iPod.
Ever wondered how to learn to speak Armenian? Well ,Pimsleur has the answer (Eastern and Western Armenian)
Going on vacation to Yerevan, to enjoy the traditional Armenian hospitality, or studying for your degree, learning to speak Armenian is a must, and before audio books arrived, mastering the Armenian vocabulary and pronunciation used to be challenging.
Whatever your reason for learning the language, the good news is that Armenian language courses are now readily available online in audio format and can be downloaded to your MP3 player in minutes.
The unique audio method allows the listener to learn

Armenian grammar
Armenian pronunciation
Armenian vocabulary without repetitive rote learning, much the same way as we learned our native language as a child.
Conversational Armenian
And, with modern technology, the Armenian Western audiobook courses can be downloaded instantly.

Furthermore there are no monthly fees, just download what you want when you want.
And, best of all, the lessons are delivered by native Armenian speakers.

Starting to learn Armenian has never been easier. You can begin to speak Armenian within minutes of downloading your Armenian audio book to your computer. Transfer your Armenian lessons to your MP3 player and you can continue studying the language anywhere you go. Your journey to learn how to speak Armenian starts here. See learn a language audio books.

Favourite Audio Books

Ross — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 16:25:11 +0000

According to thebookseller.com, The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy has been voted the favourite audiobook in the Book Marketing Society’s 40 Best Audiobooks promotion.

BBC Audiobooks’ version of Douglas Adams’ classic was chosen from a selection of 40 audiobooks, which were featured in a special supplement in the Guardian on 28th June. Members of the public were invited to vote for their favourite.

Goodbye to Audiocassettes

Ross — Sat, 02 Aug 2008 10:12:21 +0000

So Long Cassettes - NYC publisher Hachette recently threw a mock funeral event for the passing of a piece of technology - the audiocassette. The convenient little tapes were dumped by the music industry some time ago, but lived on with publishers of audio books. A number of outlets continue with them - they are preferred by many people for book readings and audio dramas because it is simple to pick up where you left off, to rewind in case you missed a sentence, more older cars have cassette players in them, and they’re the cheapest media. (The median age of the 200 million cars and trucks on America’s roads is nine years old, and the majority of them probably have cassette players in them - though of course they don’t all work. But in 2007 only 4% of new U.S. vehicles had factory-installed cassette players.) Read entire text at Audiophile Audition

Betty Smith, Author of A Tree Grows in Brooklyn

Ross — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 10:16:45 +0000

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn has been named one of the books of the century by the New York Public Library, this is the profoundly moving classic about a young girl coming of age at the turn of the century.

Today, the book remains a classic, read widely among school children. Oprah Winfrey called it one of the ten books that has deeply affected her life. Perhaps its popularity is partially attributed to Smith’s sympathetic portrayal of her characters.
Within the book’s pages, people cannot be moralized or reformed; they are what they are, sometimes even without explanation. As her first novel, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn gained more popularity than any of Smith’s other books. Her novels include Tomorrow Will Be Better (1947), Maggie-Now (1958), and Joy in the Morning (1963). She also wrote many plays before her death in 1972.
Read entire extract at Sparknotes.

More about A Tree Grows in Brooklyn.

Author of Cold Sassy Tree - Olive Ann Burns

Ross — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 13:42:39 +0000

Following the unexpected popularity of Cold Sassy Tree, Burns found herself flooded with mail requesting a sequel to the novel. In 1987, Burns underwent a second round of chemotherapy, which led to congestive heart failure and left her bedridden for more than a year. In February 1988, Burns began to dictate the sequel to Cold Sassy Tree, which she planned to title Time, Dirt and Money. In this second novel, Burns intended to base the story on her parents’ life and marriage during the Great Depression. The manuscript was unfinished at the time of her death on July 4, 1990, but the completed chapters, together with Burns’s notes, were published in 1992 as Leaving Cold Sassy.
Read entire extract at Sparknotes.

More about Cold Sassy Tree now in MP3 and Ipod audio book format.

King Lear

Ross — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 15:08:05 +0000

King Lear - The aging king of Britain and the protagonist of the play. Lear is used to enjoying absolute power and to being flattered, and he does not respond well to being contradicted or challenged. At the beginning of the play, his values are notably hollow—he prioritizes the appearance of love over actual devotion and wishes to maintain the power of a king while unburdening himself of the responsibility. Nevertheless, he inspires loyalty in subjects such as Gloucester, Kent, Cordelia, and Edgar, all of whom risk their lives for him. Read the entire extract at Sparknotes.
The King Lear Character

American Library Association Selects Audiobooks For Teenagers

Ross — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 11:01:47 +0000

Its good to see a prestigious organisation such as the American Library Association taking a keen interest in what young adults should be reading and listening to. This is an excerp from a recent announcement:
The Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA), the fastest-growing division of the American Library Association (ALA), today announced its 2008 Selected Audiobooks list. The list for those ages 12-18 is drawn from the previous two years of spoken-word releases and presented annually at the ALA Midwinter Meeting.

The 2008 Selected Audiobooks features a wide range of recordings, with 20 fiction titles and 1 nonfiction title representing diverse genres and styles, including fantasy, historical fiction and adventure. The annotated list is available to YALSA members only at www.ala.org/yalsa.

“People say teens don’t listen. But they listen to audiobooks,” said Sarah McCarville, committee chair. “After nearly 400 hours of listening, we know these are the ones teens will be clamoring for.”
View some of the selected audio books here.

Why Are Audio Books Becoming So Popular

Ross — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 14:11:35 +0000

According to the Audio Publishers Association, audio book sales are rising in the US.
The estimated sales of audio books in 2007 is $923 million, which is an increase of 6% over 2006.
More than 25% of the US population listen to audiobooks.

One of the main reasons for this growth is the improvement in technology. From a listening perspective, MP3 players, iPods, and Mobile Phones are now high quality products and readily available. From the publishing side, more and more well known artists are lending their voices to the narrations and, many audiobooks are fully dramatized by professional casts.

Reduced Vat on Some Services

Ross — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 16:32:20 +0000

Good news is getting scarce at the moment but for some services there is some good news on the way, as, the EU has announced that Vat is going to be reduced.
According to the RTE business website:

The European Commission is proposing to ease the rules for applying reduced VAT rates on such services as restaurants and haircuts.

The commission said it aimed to make it easier for member states to apply reduced VAT rates in a greater number of labour-intensive or locally supplied services than are currently allowed.

Under the plans, member states would have greater freedom to apply rates of between 5% and 15% for such services as haircuts, home renovations, house-cleaning, bike repairs, restaurants and catering. Under the commission’s proposals, children’s nappies and audio-books would also be eligible for reduced VAT.
For those of us who enjoy audio books, this is indeed welcome news.