Top 5 Audiobook Recommendations

The Invention of Wings: A Novel 

Written by: Sue Monk Kidd

Length: 13 hrs and 46 mins
Summary: From the celebrated author of The Secret Life of Bees comes a magnificent novel about two unforgettable American women. Sue Monk Kidd presents a masterpiece of hope, daring, the quest for freedom, and the desire to have a voice in the world. Hetty “Handful” Grimke, an urban slave in early nineteenth century Charleston, yearns for life beyond the suffocating walls that enclose her within the wealthy Grimke household. The Grimke’s daughter, Sarah, has known from an early age she is meant to do something large in the world, but she is hemmed in by the limits imposed on women.

Imperial Life in the Emerald City 

Written by: Rajiv Chandrasekaran 
Length: 10 hrs and 18 mins
Summary: The Washington Post's former Baghdad bureau chief, Rajiv Chandrasekaran, takes us into the Green Zone, headquarters for the American occupation in Iraq. In this bubble separated from wartime realities, the task of reconstructing Iraq is in the hands of 20-somethings chosen for their Republican Party loyalty. They pursue irrelevant neoconservative solutions and pie-in-the-sky policies instead of rebuilding looted buildings and restoring electricity, angering the locals and fueling the insurgency.

Divergent, Book 1 

Written by: Veronica Roth

Length: 11 hrs and 11 mins
Summary: In Beatrice Prior's dystopian Chicago, society is divided into five factions, each dedicated to the cultivation of a particular virtue - Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the intelligent). On an appointed day of every year, all sixteen-year-olds must select the faction to which they will devote the rest of their lives. For Beatrice, the decision is between staying with her family and being who she really is - she can't have both. So she makes a choice that surprises everyone, including herself.

   

Duty: Memoirs of a Secretary at War 

Written by: Robert M. Gates

Length: 25 hrs and 42 mins
Summary: From the former secretary of defense, a strikingly candid, vivid account of serving Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. When Robert M. Gates received a call from the White House, he thought he'd long left Washington politics behind: After working for six presidents in both the CIA and the National Security Council, he was happily serving as president of Texas A&M University. But when he was asked to help a nation mired in two wars and to aid the troops doing the fighting, he answered what he felt was the call of duty.

Sycamore Row

Written by: John Grisham  

Length: 20 hrs and 50 mins  
Summary: Seth Hubbard is a wealthy man dying of lung cancer. He trusts no one. Before he hangs himself from a sycamore tree, Hubbard leaves a new, handwritten, will. It is an act that drags his adult children, his black maid, and Jake into a conflict as riveting and dramatic as the murder trial that made Brigance one of Ford County's most notorious citizens, just three years earlier. The second will raises far more questions than it answers. Why would Hubbard leave nearly all of his fortune to his maid? Had chemotherapy and painkillers affected his ability to think clearly?

Save Gas Money In Eight Simple Steps

With gas prices skyrocketing and living wages stagnating, it's only logical that we would try to stretch every dollar a little further. That includes certain habits to get the most out of each tank of gas when we fill up. But have you heard about these lesser-known yet expert tips to help maximize each tank for longer periods of time? Check out these eight steps below:

Step 1. It's ok, enjoy your air conditioner on the highway. Consumer Reports says that AC's gas-guzzling reputation is undeserved. And, at higher speeds, opening the windows or sunroof can hurt on gas miles by increasing drag.

Step 2. Don't fill up your tank until you're practically on empty; the less fuel you're toting, the lighter your car, and the more you will save on gas.

Step 3. After filling up your car, turn the nozzle upside down before you remove it from your tank. You'll get another half a cup of gas that's stuck in the hose that will save on gas.

Step 4. Tighten your gas cap after filling up so you don't let any precious fuel evaporate. Try to park in the shade. This will also help save on gas by preventing evaporation.

Step 5. Put your car in overdrive for highway driving. It lowers your RPM, or revolutions per minute, which saves you gas money. Check your owner's manual for the recommended speed at which you may use overdrive. If you're due for new tires, get radials; they improve gas miles by two or three percent saving you gas money.

Step 6. Stay in one lane as much as possible; weaving uses up more gas miles.

Step 7. Use cruise control when you're on a flat highway, where it can increase gas miles by 7%. But don't use it on uneven roads, where it's not efficient.

Step 8. Turn off all electronics and climate controls before you cut the engine. With the extras off, your engine won't have to strain so hard to restart, leading to better gas miles.

Millennials skip showroom, use social media for car-buying

When 20- and 30-somethings go car shopping, they’re likely to ask their friends for help – their Facebook friends, that is. The youngest generation of car buyers is far more likely to turn to social media for advice than head for the showroom, according to an eBay Motors study.

More than nine of 10 so-called millennials -- "Generation Y" babies born between 1980 and 2000 -- turn to the Internet when shopping for a new car or truck, according to the eBay research.

They aren’t alone. A separate study found that the majority of buyers now go online to begin the car buying process – and more than half will be strongly influenced by what their friends have to say on Facebook.

94 percent of millennial car buyers gather information online;

More than a third use mobile devices to do that research, compared to 19 percent of older car shoppers;

Only 13 percent of millennials view visiting a dealership as their preferred method of shopping, while 25 percent of older buyers prefer to go to a showroom.

The study, based on responses from over 1,000 U.S. adults, also found that millennials are more comfortable using portable devices than older drivers when researching a possible purchase. One of five of these young motorists reported that they would be open to going through the entire purchase on a mobile device, according to eBay Motors.

Millennials aren’t alone. The survey found that two of three older motorists say technology is changing how they shop for a car.

That’s supported by the Automotive Social Media and Reputation Trend Study which finds 81 percent of buyers read reviews to narrow down the right car or truck, a figure that has grown substantially in the past six months. The study, by research firm Digital Air Strike, named Cars.com, Edmunds.com and Yahoo! among the most influential sources of reviews. It also noted social media outlets Facebook, Yelp and Google Plus.

Twenty-four percent of those surveyed indicated online reviews are the single “most helpful” factor in the final choice of a vehicle. According to the study by Digital Air Strike, “There is a 59 percent probability that a consumer will trust a review from a Facebook friend more than reviews on other sites.”

Meanwhile, the survey of 2,000 shoppers found that 43 percent said they would use Facebook to search for a local dealership.

While there has been a lot of debate about the effectiveness of Facebook advertising, the Automotive Social Media study found that clicks on dealership ads jumped to 39 percent from 16 percent between October 2012 and April 2013.

Watch this walkthrough of the 2015 Corvette's Performance Data Recorder

We're really quite excited about the 2015 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray and its Performance Data Recorder – and not just because of its unbridled potential for providing the world with more "dash cam" videos. We love the idea if only because it means we won't necessarily have to fiddle with GoPros while out on track. The new technology fits the Stingray with a 720p video camera, a microphone and all manner of GPS doodads to record your progress as you lap a track or your favorite winding road.

The techies at Engadget had a fairly extensive hands-in with the Corvette Stingray and its PDR ahead of this week's Consumer Electronics Show. For a firsthand look at the system and how it works, check out the full article on Autoblog complete with video coverage: http://aol.it/19iXtc1

A History of the Automobile, Part I

Ever wonder who first planted the seed for the idea behind your speedy coupe or beastly SUV? The history of the automobile takes root in humble origins:

It all began with several Italians who recorded designs for wind-driven vehicles. First among them was Guido da Vigevano in 1335, who created a windmill type drive to gears and thus to wheels. Vaturio designed a similar vehicle which was also never built. Later, Leonardo da Vinci designed a clockwork-driven tricycle with tiller steering and a differential mechanism between the rear wheels.

In 1712, Thomas Newcomen built his first steam engine. It had a cylinder and a piston and was the first of this kind to use steam as a condensing agent to form a vacuum and with an overhead walking beam, pull on a rod to lift water. The steam was not under pressure, so Newcomen's lift would have only been limited by the length of the rod and the strength of the valve at the bottom. It was not until 1765 that James Watt developed the first pressurized steam engine, which proved to be much more efficient and compact than the Newcomen engine.

The first recorded vehicle to move under its own power was designed by Nicholas Joseph Cugnot and constructed by M. Brezin in 1769. A second unit was built in 1770 which weighed 8000 pounds and had a top speed of 2 miles per hour on the cobblestone streets of Paris.

Above, you will see the first model on its first drive around Paris, when it hit and knocked down a stone wall. This unsteady prototype also had a tendency to tip over forward unless its weight was counterbalanced with a canon in the rear, for which purpose it was built to carry out.

Corvette C7.R Set to Debut in Detroit

Chevrolet has already confirmed that it will debut the 2015 Corvette Z06 at the Detroit Auto Show next month, and now its motorsports division has announced that the Corvette C7.R racecar will also be on display in Detroit. The new C7.R will then make its racing debut in the Tudor United SportsCar Championship (USCC) racing series at the Rolex 24 at Daytona, on January 25.

In addition to the news about the C7.R, Chevy Racing is also celebrating a strong year in motorsports with a total of 12 championships across various racing series like NASCAR, Grand-Am, IndyCar and American Le Mans Series. For more details and the official press release, check out the full article on Autoblog.

Terrifying commutes from around the world

Tired of rush-hour traffic? Exhausted from hour-long drives to work? These people's commutes will make yours look like a walk in the park!

1. Anyone who has to drive along the North Yungas Road in Bolivia. Where's that horse and buggy when you need it?

2. Anyone hoping to get on this train in Beijing. Claustrophobia is a valid excuse for being late to work... we hope.

 
3. Anyone who constantly has to risk their life by driving under the Devil’s Nose. Must be quite a sight when it rains.

4. Anyone who has no choice but using a zip line to get to town in Colombia. For a handful of families living there, zip lines are the only way to cross a river and not a source of recreational amusement.

5. Anyone who has to cross the Hussaini Bridge in Kashmir. The bridge divides a village in two - on one side are houses, on the other are farms. What was that old saying about a house divided?