Simply Audiobooks Inc.

You may love the audio books by Charlaine Harris. But have you tried the new video game?

I know I can’t believe it. Not only does Charlaine Harris have a new Sookie Stackhouse novel on the way called ‘Dead Reckoning’ in May, but fans of the author who inspired HBO’s True Blood, can now play Dying for Daylight. Produced by iPlay Entertainment, you can play as the feisty Dahlia, with the entire objective of the game being to search for the legendary potion that can allow vampires to survive in the sunlight.

What I thought amusing about the release of the video game is that this may be new territory for other authors. Ie. James Patterson has also received an iPlay offer. I would suspect it’s a great new way to experience characters like never before. It works even better if you are dealing with visual characters in the first place, like vampires.

According to Charlaine Harris, who doesn’t normally play video games, anyone who has never played a game before can slowly learn it and get caught up in the fun. So I gave it a shot myself and guess what? She couldn’t be more right. It is definitely an epic hunt.

So even though you may not have access to a PC, do you think the realm of video games is a great territory to bring characters from our favorite stories to life? Would you play them if you could, or would you rather just spend your time reading or listening to audio books? I personally thought it was a cool concept, and even though I’m not an avid gamer, I think it’s a great opportunity for gamers to be exposed to characters we probably know all too well.

James Lee Burke’s newest novel The Glass Rainbow is finally here!

The Glass Rainbow: A Dave Robicheaux Novel by James Lee Burke and narrated by Will Patton is already being hailed as perhaps the best novel in the Robicheaux series. On amazon.com, out of 30 user reviews it has been given 26 five stars!

Overview: Detective Dave Robicheaux is back and he seems to be embroiled in the most harrowing and dangerous case of his entire career.

The brutal murders of seven young women has set Detective Robicheaux up against a level of evil greater than any enemy he has confronted in the past. While the crimes have all the telltale signs of a serial killer, the death of Bernadette Latiolais does match up. She is a high school honour student as opposed to the kind of hapless and marginalized victim psychopaths usually prey upon.

What will happen when the case takes a nasty turn for the worse? Listen and find out! Rent, download, or buy it here!

June is Audiobook Month and we want to get you listening! And we’re going to do it with a good ol’ fashioned Battle of the Books.

Most of you are familiar with Simply Audiobooks’ free audiobook download of the month, but this month we’ve got a little something extra up our sleeve. For the entire month of June we’re going to be offering a new free download every week as voted by you.

On Tuesday June 1st watch for our first free audiobook download – you can find it right here on the blog, on the Simply Audiobooks homepage, or on our free download page. Once you’ve downloaded your first free book of the month, head right back here to the Simply Audioblog and vote for the title you want to see as next week’s free book. Voting will start every Tuesday afternoon and will close the following Monday when the winner will be declared. The winning title will be posted the following day as the new free download and two new contestants will go head-to-head to vie for the title of ‘free download’ for the next week. This will go on for the entire month of June, which means, if my math is right (and it hardly ever is), you can get 5 free audiobooks this month.

You don’t have to be a member to vote or download the free titles, so spread the word and the audiobook love.

P.S. You can vote once every day so visit us regularly to help get the title you want voted the winner.

Let the battle begin!

Relax this weekend with Gail Seymour’s “Just Relax”

In this world’s hustle bustle, it can be hard to sit back, relax, have a good sleep, or even just enjoy the good moments that can be hard to find when life gets so stressful.

Allow Gail Seymour to walk you through her self-narrated audiobook, “Just Relax” as she helps you unlock the key to relieving anxiety, insomnia, stress, restlessness, chronic fatigue, or even bad nerves. Not only is this audiobook a spoken self-help tool, but it also has sound therapy (healing tones that will help you in relaxation).

This audiobook has been said to be highly effective! And you work hard – so treat yourself to what you deserve – the ability to RELAX.

Rent “Just Relax” today for yourself if you feel you’re in the need for a kick start to relaxing, or help out a friend and suggest this audiobook to them.

Happy (and Blissful) Listening.

This Mother’s Day give mom the gift of unlimited books! A Simply Audiobooks gift subscription is an instant and unique gift that will give her access to over 11,000 titles! Print or email a gift card and reach mom today, anywhere you are. Starting from just $14.95, it’s affordable and she’s guaranteed to love it.  Happy Listening!

The best classroom of all is Life.

Michael J. Fox has once again delivered a meaningful read. In this book he discusses that the best lessons in life don’t always come from a classroom, but come from the experiences around us. He walks us through the important lessons he learned in his life and how they got him to become the person he is today.

Michael J. Fox does not try to be an adviser or a teacher in this novel, but tries to explain to you that you don’t need a book to recognize what is going to make you happy in this life or where you will learn the best lessons. That answer comes from you, and this book will help you recognize opportunities in life, make the best of your strengths, and work on your weaknesses.

Reading this book is like having a conversation with the Canadian actor himself. A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Future Audiobook, narrated by Michael J. Fox himself, allows for you to hear his story the way he wants it told.
A great inspirational pick for a friend, or an upcoming/recent graduate. This novel really puts a kick start to a life in sculpting!  Purchase a gift card on Simply Audiobooks today.

A little something of interest for all our Twilight fans (courtesy of Perezhilton.com).

Oprah is gearing up for the release of Eclipse, the third book in the Twilight saga, which is set to hit theaters June 30 – and she’s looking for some die-hard Twilight fans to be on her show!

From Oprah.com:

Are you or your kids obsessed with the Twilight series? Have you or your kids read all the books, seen both movies and now you are counting down the days until the release of Eclipse? Have you already made plans for the release of the newest movie in June? Who’s your family’s favorite Twilight star…and why?

Tell us how the Twilight series has inspired you or your family! Please only write if you are willing to appear on The Oprah Winfrey Show.

Visit Oprah.com for full details and to submit your entry.

Rent the entire Twilight saga on CD from Simply Audiobooks.

They were books.

Lately it seems like there are a lot of books being made into big budget movies, but I tend to lean toward the old adage that the book is always better. Check out some of these books-made-movies and tell us which you think is better: the book or the movie.

The Last Song, by Nicholas Sparks

The Last Song is the latest of Spark’s books to be adapted for the big screen. The book follows seventeen year old Veronica “Ronnie” Miller as she visits her estranged father and finds her first love. The book is set in North Carolina, but was changed to Georgia for the film after states campaigned for months to host production. The movie, starring Miley Cyrus (a.k.a. Hannah Montana) and Greg Kinnear, is set to hit theatres at the end of this month.

New Moon, by Stephenie Meyer

Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight series has sold more than 85 million copies, captivated teens and adults alike and has sparked Team Edward vs Team Jacob arguments the world over. The books enjoy must-have status among teenage girls, and the movie versions, starring every young Hollywood heart throb under the sun (Robert Pattinson, Taylor Lautner), are becoming their own phenomenon. New Moon was just released on DVD, and the third book in the saga, Eclipse, is set to hit theatres this June.

The Road, by Cormac McCarthy

I have to admit, I’ve never actually read a Cormac McCarthy book, BUT, I did see the movie version of The Road, and I have to say, I really liked it. I can only assume then that the book is *amazing*. It’s on my rental shelf, and I’m really looking forward to giving it a listen. This post-apocalyptic tale follows a father and son as they walk alone through a burned America, searching for food, hiding from cannibals, and trying to make the best of nothing. The movie stars Viggo Mortensen and Charlize Theron.

The Lovely Bones, by Alice Sebold

The Lovely Bones was a surprise success when it was first published in 2002. Sebold had previously written a memoir, but she was a young author and this was her first novel, and the plot and narrative device was unconventional. It ended up selling more than a million copies and remained on the New York Times bestseller list for more than a year. The movie version, released last month, was directed by Peter Jackson (of Lord of the Rings fame), and stars Mark Wahlberg.

Dear John, by Nicholas Sparks

Dear John is the story of John, an angry rebel who drops out of school and enlists in the Army because he doesn’t know what else to do with his life. Then he meets Savannah. They fall in love and want to settle down, but 9/11 changes everything. The movie, starring Channing Tatum and Amanda Seyfried hit theatres earlier this year.  Dear John follows a long list of Sparks novels that have been optioned into feature films, including The Notebook, Message in a Bottle, A Walk to Remember, and Nights in Rodanthe

The Blind Side, by Michael Lewis

The Blind Side tells the story of Michael Oher. One of thirteen children by a crack-addicted mother, Oher doesn’t know his real name, his father, or even his birthday. He is taken in by a well-off family who introduce him to love, and football, and change his life completely.  Sandra Bullock stars in the film adaptation as Leigh Anne Tuohy, the woman who takes Oher in. She won the Oscar for Best Actress for her performance.

And there’s more:

Push, by Sapphire, was made into the Oscar-winning film Precious.

Percy Jackson and The Olympians: The Lightning Thief became a movie by the same name.

Diary of a Wimpy Kid, the extremely popular kids series, just hit the big screen.

Last week the folks around Simply Audiobooks threw down our theories about who we thought would win the Grammy for Best Spoken Word Album. Our money was on Michael J. Fox for his memoir Always Looking Up. We were right. This post is partially to gloat in our correct prediction, but mostly to congratulate Mr. Fox on a beautiful, inspiring book that absolutely deserved this recognition.

The Grammy Awards are coming up this Sunday, and we’ve been taking bets on who we think will take home the prize for Best Spoken Word Album (includes Poetry, Audio Books, and Story Telling).

The nominees are (drum roll please):

Always Looking Up, written and narrated by Michael J. Fox.

Always Looking Up is a memoir of Fox’s past decade, told through the critical themes of his life: work, politics, faith, and family. The book is a journey of self-discovery and reinvention, and a testament to the consolations that protect him from the ravages of Parkinson’s.

In the Simply Audiobooks crowd, Fox is the hands down favorite to take home the hardware.

We Can Have Peace in the Holy Land, written and narrated by JImmy Carter.

Nobel Peace Laureate and former President Jimmy Carter argues that the present moment is a unique time for achieving peace in the Middle East – and he offers a bold and comprehensive plan to do just that.

Carter comes as a close second for our favorite to win; he has a previous win for Our Endangered Values: America’s Moral Crisis, and has the whole presidential angle working for him. Since 2005 the Grammy for Best Spoken Word has gone to audio books by Al Gore, Bill Clinton, Carter, and two audio books by Barack Obama.

Wishful Drinking, written and narrated by Carrie Fisher.

Fisher rounds out our top 3 with this memoir which was adapted from her one-woman show. She tells the true and outrageous story of her bizarre reality with wit, unabashed self-deprecation, and infectious humor.

The Lincoln-Douglas Debates, narrated by Richard Dreyfuss and David Stathaim.

The Lincoln-Douglas Debates made history and changed its course through seven legendary match-ups between Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas during the 1858 Illinois senatorial race. Although he lost the election, Lincoln’s gift for oratory and his anti-slavery stance made him a nationally known figure, and led to his election to the presidency in 1860.

This is the first time these debates have been presented in audio.

The Maltese Falcon, and Jonathan Winters – A Very Special Time round out the nominees.

Who would you like to see win?