Stacking the Shelves (40)

It's the 10th week of the 2015 SYNC program. SYNC gives away 2 FREE audiobook downloads every week each summer. SYNC audiobook titles are given away in thematic pairs. Young Adult focused titles are partnered with classics, required reading titles and other thematically appropriate Young Adult tiles to encourage literacy and listening in young people across the country.

Okay! I'm not a Young Adult. But I enjoy reading books targeted to the YA audience. I may never listen to all the books I've received through this program, but I have discovered some wonderful authors and books. This week is all about exploration.

Bookcrossing:

David Mitchell penned a historical drama set at the turn of the nineteenth century on a man-made island in Nagasaki harbor. Isolationist Japan has confined all foreigners on Dejima island, an outpost of the Dutch East Indies Company, and there conducts trade with the West. Jacob de Zoet, a devout and resourceful young clerk, arrives with a plan to make his fortune in five years and then return home to marry his fiancé back in Holland.

Plans, however, don't hold up when fate intervenes. Jacob falls in love with Orito Aibagawa, a young Japanese midwife. Jacob's romantic dilemma is only one of the cultural and moral conflicts faced by many of the characters.

Freebies:

Is there anyone who hasn't heard of Around the World in Eighty Days? It's a classic that most of us were required to read in high school. And, its appearance on so many required reading lists is certainly the reason it's one of the free audiobooks this week.

Phineas Fogg makes an outrageous bet that he can travel around the world in 80 days or lose his entire life savings. Now remember, this is prior to the easy availability of air travel. It's definitely trains, boats, elephants, and maybe a hot air balloon—I've forgotten all the details.

And, the companion audio book is The Explorers Club by Neil Benjamin. Set in roughly the same time period as Around the World in 80 days, the members of the all male Explorers Club must deal with an adventure they couldn't have imagined—the induction of the club's first female member.

 

How about you? Any new books? You're invited to tell us all about it by joining the fun at Stacking the Shelves. According to the reviewers at Tynga's Reviews who host the meme:

Stacking The Shelves is all about sharing the books you are adding to your shelves, may it be physical or virtual. This means you can include books you buy in physical store or online, books you borrow from friends or the library, review books, gifts and of course ebooks!