Sync Audiobooks Summer Program 2021

[Kristie, Moderator]

For anyone that is interested, Audiofile Magazine is running their annual SYNC summer program again. They give away two audiobooks every week beginning April 29th this year. The books are only available for 1 week, so you need to return weekly in order to get them all. The program runs through August 4th.

I believe you now need to have an app (Sora) in order to download them. So, you may want to check out the link for more information ahead of time.

This is the schedule with themes for the summer releases.

Week 1, April 29 - May 5, 2021: After Crossing the Border
Come On In
Illegal

Week 2 , May 6 - 12, 2021: Confronting Injustice
They Went Left
Trell

Week 3 , May 13 - 19, 2021: Rooted in China
Descendant of the Crane
Monkey: A Journey to the West

Week 4 , May 20 - 26, 2021: How to Be Human
Alive
What Makes Us

Week 5 , May 27 - June 2, 2021: Making a New Life
The Magic Barrel
Of Beetles and Angels: A Boy's Remarkable Journey from a Refugee Camp to Harvard

Week 6 , June 3 - 9, 2021: Off to Paris
Rook
Salty, Bitter, Sweet

Week 7, June 10 - 16, 2021: Creating Change
Crescendo: The Story of a Musical Genius Who Forever Changed a Southern Town
Extinction

Week 8, June 17 - 23, 2021: Listening to Art
Poemsia
This Is What I Know About Art

Week 9 , June 24 - 30, 2021: Take Pride in Your True Self
Sasha Masha
Stay Gold

Week 10, July 1 - 7, 2021: Back Stories
Dust
The Raven's Tale

Week 11, July 8 - 14, 2021: Romance and Relationships
The Henna Wars
Saints and Misfits

Week 12, July 15 - 21, 2021: The Chill of the Thriller
The Ruinous Sweep
The Body Snatcher and Other Stories

Week 13, July 22 - 28, 2021: Gleefully Familiar...Twisted
Not Your Sidekick
Spellsinger

Week 14, July 29 - August 4, 2021: Secrets
Keep This to Yourself
Storm and Fury

[Sandra, Moderator]

This looks good. I just downloaded the app and will register now. Thanks for the info, Kristie.

[Dee]

lots of good books this year - i'm looking forward to They Went Left

[Cherie]

Kristie - It is not that much. I have books from Audible, ebooks from Kindle and Nook, and print books on my spreadsheet. These are the ones I used to have a separate section for library books that were associated with series.
When I read a book that’s on my list, I try to remember to change the color of the text to red, or remove the title from my list completely. My biggest problem is remembering to add the books that I buy to my list. I indicate author’s name, cover info, publish date, # of pages, setting, MC names, etc - to allow me to gopher books for challenges. My list is the first place I go before I have to hit the Listopia links.

[Kristie, Moderator]

That's so organized. I tried to start a spreadsheet of all the books I own several years ago, but never got far with it. It's a lot of work. I love that you add so much info for gophering. I'd love to do that, but it would take many hours to set up. And I'm sure I'd forget to update it all the time too.

[Janice, Moderator]

I have a spreadsheet as well. I just started keeping track of details, like genre, theme, setting (both time and location), main character names, cover, etc. I don't do author because I can search that out easily enough on "My Books". I'm not going to go back and fill in details for earlier books. And I delete them once I've read them.

[Kristie, Moderator]

I noticed that Illegal is the second in a series, but I just realized that the first book in that series, Disappeared, was offered last year. If you downloaded it, but haven't listened to it yet, check your library. It should still be in there.

[Janice, Moderator]

This week's selections, available today are;

Descendant of the Crane
MonkeyMonkey

[Janice, Moderator]

I decided to get both books this week. I remember enjoying the movie The Lost Kingdom which was based on the classic "Monkey.

[Sandra, Moderator]

Thanks for the reminder, Janice. I'm still downloading everything because I can't afford to get distracted looking around (still studying) but will do some cleaning up when I'm "on vacations".

[Sandra, Moderator]

It's Thursday again!

I still can't see the books of this week in the app, but I guess they will be there soon.

[Dee]

the week 4 theme is How to Be Human and the books are

Alive - Scott Sigler
What Makes Us - Rafi Mittlefehldt

[Janice, Moderator]

I got Alive. BTW, it's abridged, if that makes a difference for anyone.

I didn't get What Makes Us.

Both books are full cast which I struggle with a bit. The second book wasn't all that appealing to me and the full cast tipped it for me. I had already downloaded the first book and may not have it I had realized it was abridged and full cast. Oh well, it might work in a toppler.

[Kristie, Moderator]

The list of books with links for the season are also in the first post of this thread. If you can't see them in the app and want to see what's offered for the week or going to be offered for the next several weeks, you can always check there.

[Kristie, Moderator]

This week's offerings didn't get a lot of love from my Goodreads friends. I haven't decided if I want to grab them or not, although free books... I mean it doesn't hurt to get them now and change my mind later.

I didn't realize it was abridged either, Janice. Hmmm... maybe I'll skip it after all.

[Dee]

Janice wrote: "I got Alive. BTW, it's abridged, if that makes a difference for anyone.

I didn't get What Makes Us.

Both books are full cast which I struggle with a bit. The sec..."

i don't think what Makes Us is full cast - it says you'll feel like it is - but only one narrator is listed

[Janice, Moderator]

Dee wrote: "i don't think what Makes Us is full cast - it says you'll feel like it is - but only one narrator is listed..."

You're right! Thanks for pointing this out. I must have seen the words and came screeching to a halt.

[Janice, Moderator]

Kristie wrote: "I didn't realize it was abridged either, Janice. "

I was adding it to my spreadsheet where I note the length (6:10 hours) and the print pages (365 hardcover). I thought that was really short for a 365 page book so double checked.

[Katrisa]

Janice wrote: "I got Alive. BTW, it's abridged, if that makes a difference for anyone.

I didn't get What Makes Us.

Both books are full cast which I struggle with a bit. The sec..."

Oh that's a bummer that's it's abridged. I don't normally do abridged - in fact I think I have never (at least knowingly) read an abridged version. I feel like it's disrespectful to the author.

[Dee]

its not abridged but rather a play/dramatization version of the book or that is how i read it - those in general tend to be shorter - every year has 1 or 2 of these full cast dramatizations - they aren't my favorite but some ppl like them

[Christina ❤️M❤️]

The information states that it is abridged. So my guess is that it is. I am in the same boat about not ever reading an abridged version. Seems that I will have to check out what is missing.

I have only listen to one "Movie in your mind" type audio and Enjoyed it. I hope they didn't take out to much. I like some descriptions.

[Margo]

Dee wrote: "its not abridged but rather a play/dramatization version of the book or that is how i read it - those in general tend to be shorter - every year has 1 or 2 of these full cast dramatizations - they ..."

I'm with you Dee, full cast readings turn me off in general.

[Katrisa]

I am mixed in how I feel about full cast recordings. I absolutely LOVED Audible's The Sandman which worked well as a full cast but sometimes they annoy me

[Janice, Moderator]

Is it just me, or are the offerings this year a little lackluster? Last week, I got The Raven's Tale. This week, they are offering The Henna Wars and Saints and Misfits, neither of which appeal to me.

[Sandra, Moderator]

I didn't do the programa last year, but I'm not finding the selection overly interesting so far.

[Dee]

i like that they moved more towards thematic weeks vs. the classics and tenative pairing with modern release. even if i don't think i'll like the book each week - I grab them since you never know about the future

[Kristie, Moderator]

I felt this way about the selections last year too. They've offered some really good listens in the past, but seem to have less impressive titles each year.

I think The Henna Wars is potentially one of the better offerings. It was a Goodreads Choice Award nominee last year and has a decent rating. Like Dee, I grabbed it just in case.

[Christina ❤️M❤️]

Idk... I have picked up most of them. I imagine quite a few will be DNF. However,I have started Crescendo and it is much better than I expected. I am actually enjoying it... so you never know.

[Janice, Moderator]

I got Crescendo too and I'm looking forward to it.

[Katrisa]

And you never know what will fit for a future challenge task! Lol!

[Christina ❤️M❤️]

I went in to check on the two books that I plan to read on Sora in January and they had four more books available... Shocked.

[Janice, Moderator]

That's surprising! A person might have to check the site every now and again.

[Dee]

Sora has a series of always available books

[Janice, Moderator]

Audiofile is touting this as a special early access preview.

[Kristie, Moderator]

I just checked the website recently to see if anything was new and I didn't see anything there. I just checked it again today and it seems they are offering four books as a "Special Early Access Preview" until December 12th.

The books are:
The Memory of Light
Paradise
Tevye the Milkman
This Is My America

Details can be found here: https://www.audiofilemagazine.com/sync/

Thanks for letting us know, Christina.

[Katrisa]

Yay! Thanks for the heads up!