Get the Most Out of Audible Without Spending a Fortune

Maybe It’s the child in me that loves being told stories, or it helps with my bad eyesight? Whatever the reason, I’ve always liked audiobooks, and I listen to them more and more.

Also, not being a native speaker I find it useful to listen to the audiobook while reading the ebook: it helps me to get an idea of how words sound, and even more important to get a better understanding of how sentences and paragraphs are constructed to convey rhythm.

For the last fifteen years or so I have mostly been purchasing my audiobooks from Audible. At first glance though, Audible looks very expensive with prices varying between a few bucks to $70 or more for a single audiobook. But that’s only at first glance.

Here is a recap of all you can do to get the most out of Audible without spending too much–and some titles suggestion to help you get started, if you need it.

This Special Edition of “The Handmaid’s Tale” is exactly the same as the standard edition I also own. Both beautifully narrated by Claire Danes but the Special Edition comes with a few cool bonuses: if you don’t already own the previous edition, get this one instead.

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“The Martian Chronicles” Read by Ray Bradbury

![Martian Chronicles audiobook, read by Ray Bradbury](http://davidbosman.fr/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/RayBradburyMartianChronicles.jpg)

Nice finding in one of my old iTunes account I was about to delete: a bunch of audiobooks, including *The Martian Chronicles* read by Bradbury himself.

Random House produced it, and it’s from Audible.com. I could not find much else about it, besides [this webpage](https://www.learnoutloud.com/Catalog/Literature/Contemporary-Literature/The-Martian-Chronicles/2292). If by any chance you have more info, [contact me](https://mobile.twitter.com/david_bosman).

What bugs me is that I can’t find any trace of this book, or the other that were waiting for me in this old iTunes account, anywhere in my Audible Library. That’s odd, because many of the audiobooks I’ve purchased along the years on Audible have since then been removed from the shop, but all are still available in my Library for download.

Is it possible I had purchased these directly through iTunes, hence them being backed up by Apple but not appearing in my Audible account? Whatever, I’m glad I found them, this one in particular, *and* I’m glad Apple is so much more reliable than me regarding backups.

Having been an Audible customer since around 2001, it means these books might be 17 years old? No way, I can’t be that old 😛

Maybe I should look for some way to strip the files from their DRM, even if it’s not planned anymore to close this account. And seeing how Apple has preserved them for me–despite my own carelessness–it’s not like there is any urgency in backing them up either.

So, if you’ll excuse me, I think Ray’s been waiting long enough to tell me his next Martian chronicle 😉