5 Audio Books that I LOVE!

I am ALL ABOUT the audio book! I used to be able to read as many books as I wanted but now as a busy wife, homeschooler, and writer...boy, that made me tired just typing that...audio books are just the way to go.

I am a faithful subscriber to AUDIBLE. It's affordable and worth it!

I listened to a lot of audio books while my hubby was deployed since my reading time was even more limited. They were like friends who would tag along with me on a trip or while I washed dishes. I'm so thankful for the technology of audio books...and iPhones!

Here's a list of 5 books (in no particular order) I've recently listened to that I LOVE. Not all of these are from Audible...fyi.

5. Saturdays with Stella by Allison Pittman. It is also read by the author...which is really fun! So, I loved this book. It's nonfiction and filled with sweet nuggets of knowledge that the author learned from her puppy. I have to admit...Allison is one of my best friends...a writing mentor to me for several years...I highly recommend this book.

4. The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boom. I've listened to this several times in the past few years because the message is so very powerful. It is difficult to hear because of the terror that she went through in a Nazi labor camp...but the faithfulness she found in the Lord and her message to the masses...outstanding. I cannot recommend this book more.

3. Rilla of Ingleside by Lucy Maud Montgomery. One of my favorite classical writers. I have read tons by LM Montgomery and this is one of my favorites. It translates so well to audio. I laughed. I cried...then cried a little more. This one particularly I listened to for free on Librivox. All the readers are volunteers. I especially loved the reader of this book. Oh, and...THERE IS AN APP FOR THAT. ;-) Check it out.

2.  Lady in Waiting by Susan Meissner. This was a fantastic story. It goes between a contemporary setting and storyline and a historical one. I just love when an author can do this effectively. I could not put this book down...er...take the headphones off. ;-) It happens to be one of my favorite historical eras of all time...since I'm obsessed with all things Henry VIII listening to a story that surrounds the era just after his death is fascinating to me.

1. A Heart Most Worthy by Siri Mitchell. This is a wonderful story by an author that I just admire so much. Her writing is impeccable and her story lines are less traditional or expected. Three women, three pasts to overcome and three futures in jeopardy. Early American setting and a beautiful read. Highly recommended.

These are just 5 of the wonderful books out there on audio just waiting for you to listen to. Right now I'm listening to The Kitchen House. Not only am I enamored with the rawness and realness of this book but the narration is very good. There are 2 women narrating and I couldn't have "casted" their voices better.

You're turn: Do you listen to books? If so, what would you recommend? If you don't...are you intrigued? 

Cheers,
Elizabeth

99 CENT SALE on AMISH BOOK!

Here's your chance! Only 99 cents!

AMAZON KINDLE

If you haven't seen the trailer yet...check it out!

TRAILER for SEASONS

Merry Christmas...and a HAPPY NEW YEAR in a few days! Here comes 2012!

Cheers,
Elizabeth

Books for Christmas Presents: Paper or Plastic?

Since Christmas is approaching at lightening speed and e-reading is all the rage...I have been considering how to mesh the 2. My husband is deploying soon & will be taking a Kindle...but I was wondering how to actually gift an e-book? 

That's where my new  friend of mine, Naty Matos, comes in. She wrote this fantastic post on how to gift kindle books! ENJOY!!!

***********

Technology is moving so fast that even I, the gadget junkie, am falling behind. As I was working on publishing my first book Growth Lessons, I started to wonder the same thing any new author asks themselves, how do I make my book available to most people? I posted the question on my Facebook page wondering what would be more attractive to customers these days; a paper book or an e-book? Of course the answer was that there was market for both formats, but the truth behind my question was that I was the one resistant to the change from paper to electronic.

After seeing the enthusiasm for e-books I downloaded the Kindle application to my phone and found me a book to read. Not only I was fascinated with the fact that I was at the doctor’s office reading my book without adding any more weight to my already packed purse, but that it was actually fun to read from an electronic device. It truly didn’t take as much out of the experience as I thought.

Can E-books be gifted?

I went back to Facebook to consult my friends. Wait a minute there is a disadvantage to this thing. I give books to friends and family all the time and now I won’t be able. Once again I was wrong. Amazon has a way to gift e-books. You would simply need to choose the “Give as a Gift” option for any book in the Kindle Store, and then send the gift to anyone with an email address.

Here are the instructions on how to do this on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html/ref=hp_200555070_kindlegifts&nodeId=200555070#purchase

Now sitting on the customer side I thought, what a wonderful idea! E-books are far less expensive than paper books. I’ll use Growth Lesson’s for example. Let’s say you read my book, loved it and thought ten of your friends should read this book. If you bought the paperback, at $9.99 each, that’s $100 and I didn’t add shipping. I wouldn’t complaint about your purchase, but your pocket might.  However, let’s use the same book, which will be on sale for 99 cents from today and throughout the whole month of December. You can now buy the book for the same ten friends for just $10 and no shipping costs. You can even buy 2-3 different books for each person in your gift list.

What about autographed books?

I wasn’t still satisfied in my battle between paper vs. electronic and came up with another reason why maybe paper was better. Well, I can’t get my book autographed by the author if it’s an e-book. Once again I was wrong. Actually you have a better chance to have an e-book personally autographed by the author than with a paper book. For the paper book you have to find out where the author will be hosting the book signing, stand in line and if the author never makes it to your city, it just may not happen. 

There’s this fabulous website called “Kindlegraph” http://www.kindlegraph.com/ if the e-book is registered on Kindlegraph all you have to do is submit a request and the author will personally sign it for you, absolutely free!

Yes, personally. It is not an automated signature that goes into each request. The author will be signing with their own hand and mouse (instead of pen) each request. You do need a twitter account to enter the request, but if you do not use twitter, you can make up the account just for this purpose, it’s free and who knows it may get you tweeting!

So as this Christmas season approaches, and with our budgets a little tighter this year, think of gifting an e-book. Don’t worry if the person doesn’t have a Kindle reader per se. Remember that the Kindle app is free for anyone with an IPad, IPhones, Android phones, Blackberry and both Mac and PC’s.

Before you leave, one more question; what if the person who I’m trying to give an e-book doesn’t have a kindle or rather have books for other formats?

I have good and not so good news. The technology is so new that at this moment Amazon is the only provider that allows direct e-book gifting. But, the other formats like Barnes & Nobles (Nook), Smashwords, Sony, Apple (iTunes) and others have a gift card option. You can buy a gift card for the person and let them know the title of the book you intended to get for them, that way they can choose the format that is convenient for them and still get that wonderful inspiring book that you wanted to share.

Let’s give the gift of reading uplifting books this Christmas season.

Merry Christmas!

About Naty Matos

Naty Matos was born in the city of New York, from Puerto Rican descendant parents. She grew up in the beautiful Island of Puerto Rico and now lives in the city of Atlanta. She holds a Bachelor's Degree in Clinical Psychology with a Minor in Mass Media Communications and a Master's Degree in Mental Health Counseling. Naty writes Christian fiction and non-fiction. She’s the author of the live changing devotional Growth Lessons.  She maintains a blog on Christian Living Topics at www.therisingmuse.com

Growth Lessons on Amazon:  http://www.amazon.com/Growth-Lessons-ebook/dp/B005WZ1BGK/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1321557564&sr=8-1

Growth Lessons kindlegraph: http://www.kindlegraph.com/books?utf8=%E2%9C%93&search=growth+lessons

Naty Matos on Twitter @natycmatos

Naty Matos on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/pages/Naty-Matos/172298772847562