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Free Audio Books: Download Great Books for Free

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Re: Free Audio Books: Download Great Books for Free

#81

If anyone is looking for some free modern genre fiction, I can highly recommend the Worm audiobook: http://audioworm.rein-online.org/ It's longer than the entire Games of Thrones series, plenty of content there. It is a fan created recording and the early parts are a bit rough, but gets more professional over time and eventually becomes extremely polished. This is a sample (standalone, relatively spoiler free since t…

Worm really opened up a whole new section of "books" for me. Previously I thought that most web serials were on par with fan fiction in quality and subject matter. That being said another free audio book that is also a web serial (not sure if it's complete just yet) is Mother of Learning: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zjR6qnMXU9o&list=PL1R6q3pUbd...

Re: Free Audio Books: Download Great Books for Free

#82

Does anyone else have an issue with audiobooks as literature? Like, if I'm not able to control the pace at which I'm paying attention, it's problematic. I can't guarantee I'll pay 100 percent attention to noise that otherwise would almost be background to me. Regardless, the selection here is pretty bad-ass.

I do find that audio books do set a pace that's slower than normal reading. But often my mind takes off with it and enables a richer experience than I'd have if I read at my normal speed.

However many audio book players allow you to control playback speed. I do find the occasional voice actor that's just too fast or slow for my comfort.

Re: Free Audio Books: Download Great Books for Free

#83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Voice quality and price seems good enough for me to use a lot - as most books / media I want to read are too niche for Audible, etc. I tried to order, but it errored out because of some file not readable error, but error was fatal and with no recourse but doing everything again. I would use this all the time if it was a little smoother. Hit me up if I can be helpful. (see my profile here for email)

Will do, thanks for letting us know about the error.

Update: these guys were great.

They quickly reached out to me with the fixed file and the output is really good.

This is the first voice synthed audiobook that I can actually stand to listen to at length, and it plays well using Podcast Addict on Android, and the voice speeds up well too (encoded at 93%, listened to it at ~1.7x)

Re: Free Audio Books: Download Great Books for Free

#84
post #42

Does anyone else have an issue with audiobooks as literature? Like, if I'm not able to control the pace at which I'm paying attention, it's problematic. I can't guarantee I'll pay 100 percent attention to noise that otherwise would almost be background to me. Regardless, the selection here is pretty bad-ass.

Is there something inherent in literature that requires it to be visually consumed? Yes, it's too easy to let one's mind wander while listening to an audiobook but I find it helps to have a group/book club with which to discuss the book afterward. One significant negative of audiobooks is that I tend to listen while doing "active but mindless" activities (mowing the lawn, commuting, cleaning my office, doing dishes/c…

Check out In Our Time on BBC4, there's a podcast.

Re: Free Audio Books: Download Great Books for Free

#86

If your favourite book isn't available as an audiobook, give us a try: https://auditus.cc

FYI - the "Explore Voices" link gives a 404.

Thanks for letting us know about the issue, we are working in a fix. For now, use the voice explorer on the homepage: https://auditus.cc

Re: Free Audio Books: Download Great Books for Free

#87

What do you use to listen to audio books files? Some normal audio player is rather cumbersome, due to missing progress tracking.

I really like Smart Audio Book Player. It is freemium. I think I don't need any the premium features, but I liked so much the usability of the app that I paid for it.
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