I’m a nerd. As such, I’m a big fan of audiobooks. I’ve had a number of people ask me where I obtain said audiobooks. The fact that I rarely pay to listen to my books seems to come as quite a surprise to most people. So, since I’ve got this old blog site sitting around gathering dust, I thought I’d throw together a quick blog post for anyone interested. Here’s how I listen to most of mine:

  1. Overdrive App https://app.overdrive.com/

To have access to audiobooks via this app, you must be a member of a participating library. If you’re a Texas resident, I’ve got good news for you. As a Texas resident, you are able to obtain a free membership to the Houston Public Library. This membership provides you with access to their audiobook library via Overdrive. Here’s how to become a member:

Go to http://houstonlibrary.org/find-it/my-link. Scroll down to the section that says “Registration by Mail.”

Print the form and mail it along with a copy of your Texas driver’s license. Tip: make a copy of your DL on a separate piece of paper rather than copying it onto the registration form to save paper or they will kindly reject your application……or so I’ve heard… (You can also email these items to them for faster turnaround, but I don’t generally condone the emailing of your driver’s license info.).

You will receive your library card along with a pin number in a couple of days. You can then use your membership information to log in to the Overdrive app and search Houston Public Library’s audiobook selection. (If you’re a fellow nonfiction junkie wondering which book to start with, tap your way over to the nonfiction business or religion section. I’d recommend any of Malcolm Gladwell’s books, any of Max Lucado’s books, Good to Great, Smarter Faster Better, Originals, Talk Like Ted, Think and Grow Rich, The Happiness Advantage, The Power of Habit, Switch, Freakonomics & SuperFreakonomics, or Drive).

2. 3M App http://www.yourcloudlibrary.com/index.php/en-us/

If you’re an Amarillo resident, 3M is their provider of digital content (i.e. audiobooks). You can access the Amarillo Public Library’s selection of audiobooks by logging in to this app with your membership information. You may need a pin number (which you can get by visiting your nearest library branch). Though I’ve found it to be less extensive than the Houston Public Library’s selection, there are still a number of great titles available. Also, your tax money is funding this resource. You’d might as well use it.

3. Audible.com http://www.audible.com/

You can usually sign up for a free trial and get anywhere from one to three books for free. Also, if you’re an Amazon Prime member, watch for additional offers (side note for you students out there: you can become an Amazon Prime member for free for 6 months and for 50% off for up to 4 years thereafter). After your free trial, you can get one audiobook per month for around $15/month (or two for around $23/month). This is a pretty good deal if you listen to a lot of books vs. the alternative of purchasing them one-by-one on iTunes–which can get pricey.

Oh, and, as I type this, Groupon is offering 2 months free here.

4. LibriVox https://librivox.org/

This is a wide selection of free, public domain audiobooks read by volunteers from all over the world. I’m more of a newer-non-fiction type of guy, but this is a good resource for all of you lovers-of-the-classics.

So, there you go. Do you have any other resources for audiobooks? I’d love to hear them. Comment below.