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Sarah's Bookshelves Live

Ep. 70: All Things Audiobooks with Claire Handscombe (of Libro.fm) + Book Recommendations

Sarah's Bookshelves Live

Sarah Dickinson

Arts, Books

4.7 • 785 Ratings

🗓️ 11 November 2020

⏱️ 54 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

In Episode 70, Claire Handscombe from Libro.fm joins me to talk about Libro.fm, tips for audiobook listeners, and shares a TON of fantastic audiobook recommendations.

Special Offer for New $5/month Patrons (sign up here)

Libro.fm is offering 1 free audiobook credit to anyone who signs up to support Sarah's Bookshelves on Patreon during the month of November!

Plus, we've got some fun things planned for patrons for the end of the year:

  • Best Books of 2020 Tournament for Patrons (culminating in a bonus podcast episode breaking down the tournament)
  • Goodreads Choice Awards Breakdown – bonus podcast episode with Carla from Happiest When Reading
  • "How to Get the Most Out of Your 2021 Reading Tracker" bonus podcast episode (plus, a 25% discount on the purchase of the 2021 tracker for patrons)

This post contains affiliate links, through which I make a small commission when you make a purchase (at no cost to you!).

Highlights

  • How Libro.fm supports independent bookstores.
  • The biggest differences between Libro.fm and Audible (including some I was unaware of).
  • What happens to the author of an audiobook you return to Audible.
  • How to return an audiobook to Libro.fm (email hello@libro.fm).
  • Steps Libro.fm has taken to promote diversity, equity, and inclusion.
  • Tips for people who tend to zone out while listening to audiobooks.
  • "Starter" audiobook recommendations [21:43]
  • 2020 audiobook listening trends and any changes in listening trends when COVID-19 hit.
  • Audiobooks that would make great gifts [26:12]
  • Big audiobooks coming out this winter that we should be excited about [28:19]

Claire's Book Recommendations [33:53]

Two OLD Books She Loves

Two NEW Books She Loves

One Book She DIDN'T LOVE

  • The Colour of Bee Larkham's Murder by Sarah J. Harris [44:27]

One NEW RELEASE She's Excited About

Last 5 Star Book Claire Read [50:53]

Other Books Mentioned

Other Links

About Claire

Website | Instagram

Claire is a British writer who moved to Washington, DC, in 2012, ostensibly to study for an MFA in Creative Writing at American University, but really, let's be honest, because of an obsession with The West Wing.

She focussed on fiction during her MFA, but also took classes in literary journalism, poetry translation, and political speechwriting (because, yes, of The West Wing).

Her work has appeared in a wide variety of publications in four countries, including both of the UK's best-selling writing magazines, as well as the Washington Post. She is also a regular contributor to the largest independent book site in the US, Book Riot, and the host of the Brit Lit Podcast, a fortnightly show of news and views from British books and publishing.

Her début novel, Unscripted, is forthcoming from Unbound. She is also the author of Conquering Babel: A Practical Guide to Learning a Language, as well as the editor of an anthology of essays and interviews about the impact of The West Wing on lives and culture.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

Welcome to Sarah's Bookshelves Live. I'm Sarah of the blog Sarah's Bookshelves. Each week I'm

0:15.5

talking with one bookish guest about two old books they love, two new books they love, one book they don't love, and one new

0:22.7

release they're excited about. We're going to get real and sometimes a bit snarky about all things

0:28.3

books. If you like the show, I'd really love your support. Spread the word to your reader friends,

0:33.8

subscribe to the show, rate and review it wherever you listen to podcasts, or get bonus podcast episodes

0:40.8

by supporting the podcast on Patreon. There's a link in the show notes and in my Instagram bio to my

0:47.5

Patreon page. Let's get rolling. Hey everyone, welcome to Sarah's Bookshelves Live. Before we get to today's guest, I wanted to share a couple

0:56.0

things I have going on for patrons. Our guest today is from Libro FM, which is an audiobook listening

1:02.6

platform that enables you to support independent bookstores with your audiobook purchases.

1:08.8

And Libro FM kindly gave every one of my patrons a free audiobook credit to use during

1:14.4

the month of November.

1:16.2

And they are offering a free audiobook credit to any new patrons that sign up during the month

1:22.1

of November.

1:23.0

So if you've been considering becoming a patron of the podcast, now is a good time to join.

1:28.1

I'll email anyone who signs up a custom link to redeem your free audiobook.

1:32.6

The other reason it's a good time to join right now is because we have a couple really fun

1:36.9

things happening for end of the year.

1:39.4

And this is outside of our normal routine about what occurs for patrons, which I'll get

1:43.8

to in a moment.

1:44.8

But the fun things we have going on for the end of the year are, number one, we are doing,

1:50.5

for the first time ever, a Best Books of 2020 tournament bracket just for patrons.

1:55.6

We just kicked this off.

...

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