I've Tried That - We lose money so you don't have to!

This post wanders a little from our usual territory, but it might be useful to some readers, anyway. If, like me, you spend a lot of time commuting or walking, jogging, or threshing grain with your MP3 player, this post is for you.

I listen to music and audio books on my Zune 30. I get the audio books from Audible.com, where a gold membership gets me one audiobook per month plus access to thousands of others at low prices.

I love that I don’t have to rip books from CD to my Zune…a simple download and I’m there, all for about $15 per month. The Web site works flawlessly for me every time, and unlike some people have experienced with Kindle, I own the audio books I buy. In case you’re curious, here are the books playing on my Zune:

• The Year of the Flood, Margaret Atwood (my current listen)
• A Mercy, Toni Morrison
• Omnivore’s Dilemma, Michael Pollan
• The Hunger Games & Catching Fire, Suzanne Collins
• Catch 22, Joseph Heller
• Home, Marilynne Robinson
• The Sparrow, Mary Doria Russell
• The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, Sherman Alexie

Get a Free Audio Book

Audible is running a promotion just for friends of members. (Don’t you feel special?) You sign up for a free, two-week trial of its service and you get to download one free audio book to see if it’s a good fit for you. If you stick around, it’s only $14.95 per month for a Gold membership and that includes one audio book each month.

Click here to check out the offer. Instead of listening to Fergie or something while you jog, you could be getting smarter with audio books!

And remember, the first one is free and there’s no obligation to extend your membership beyond the free trial. Take a look at Audible today.