Whispersync is an Amazon feature that allows you to switch
between an ebook version and an audiobook of the same title. It’s a pretty
cool way to read at home and listen to books on commutes or jogs. (This link explains Whispersync.) Not
all books sold on Audible.com are set up for this synchronization feature, however. For
my own audiobooks, only The
Shopkeeper is Whispersync ready. Bummer. But at least Amazon says
they’ll eventually get to the other books in the Steve Dancy series.
How do you know which books in your Kindle library are set
up for Whispersync? Amazon has made it easy. To reference your Kindle library
against existing Audible Whispersync titles, you can just log into Amazon.com/matchmaker which
automatically lists every Kindle book you ever bought that has a Whispersync
companion. This list will also give you the discounted cost to add the
audiobook to your library. This may not be very valuable for books you’ve
already read, but when I showed the list to my wife, she immediately added
several of these titles to her to-read list.
If you buy a print book, the Kindle version may be discounted—sometimes to 99 cents—and if you buy an eBook,
the Whispersync audiobook is discounted. Consuming books visually and/or
audibly has become a snap. If you don’t have lots of idle hours to read, try a
combo approach.