Audiobooks discussion

http://www.librivox.org is a site where volunteers record public domain works. Some are good, some aren't.

I thought it would be useful to list the ones that are really well done.

Here are ones that I think compare to professional readings:

The Card By Arnold Bennett - sort of a Ferris Buehler in Edwardian England.

The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Orczy - adventure against the backdrop of the French Revolution.

El Dorado by Baroness Orczy - sequel to Scarlet Pimpernel.

Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery - classic YA story.

If you get books from librivox, please share the ones you've found that you really liked.

I liked the second version of Northanger Abbey pretty well (all one reader). She reads pretty fast though, so be warned. She does the British accents pretty well.

I'm so glad that librivox came into existence. There are so many "old" recordings from these "professional" audiobook manufacturer that for me anyway have been totally impossible to listen to. And the price is sooo right

Want to add

The Old Wives' Tale by Arnold Bennett - the lives of two sisters as England changes from the nineteenth century to the twentieth. Read by the pitch-perfect Andy Minter, a librivox all-star.

I'm listening to librivox' Candide now, and while the reader tries a bit too hard, he's pretty good, and the book is so quick he won't have time to really bother me.

OK, this thread is mostly me, but there needs to be, somewhere on the internet, a list of what books on librivox rise above the rest of librivox, and that the typical audio-book junkie would be willing to stick with through the whole book.

Candide by Voltaire. In a narrator's rating scale, I'd put this second-tier, below Andy Minter and the woman who read The Scarlet Pimpernel, but still better than 90% of what's at librivox. He's clear, he's not monotone, and he 'gets' the jokes and delivers them dryly and well.

I'm loving the fourth version of Persuasion.

...read by Karen Savage. No wonder. I'm glad you mentioned this - I didn't know she had done a version of Persuasion. Thanks.

Is she a well-known reader? A professional? (I'm new to the LibriVox scene...)

If you like her stuff, this is a list of what she's done so far on LibriVox.

I got Pride and Prejudice from the library and the lady who read it whistled her "s". Seriously!!

anyway, from Librivox I like Anne of Green Gables (all of them available are good)

The Picture of Dorian Grey (solo version)

Jane Eyre (solo version)

Karen Savage is not a professional, but could be, as far as I'm concerned. I've listened to her Anne of Green Gables, Scarlet Pimpernel, and El Dorado.

Cool! I guess I just hit upon a winner! Lucky me!

The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton. Read by Brenda Dayne, it's her only complete book for librivox. That's a shame, because she's pretty good. I wish in the first several chapters she put a bit more emotion into it, because the first several chapters are hard to get into. I should be clear - she's not monotone in the least - I just would have liked a bit more oomph.

Then the last half was excellent. I "couldn't put it down." Of course, it's a great book, but the reading similarly sang.

Minor nitpick - I was aware of maybe 5 mispronunciations in the whole text.

Overall, it's a highly listenable reading of a great book. I'd gladly listen to another book read by her.

bup wrote: "The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton. Read by Brenda Dayne, it's her only complete book for librivox. That's a shame, because she's pretty good. I wish in the first several chapters she put a bit ..."

Thanks for the tip, bup. I will check it out.
I share your feelings about mispronunciations: little speed-bumps along the way. I have heard them in big-budget productions from Recorded Books and Naxos as well.

Jonathan wrote: "bup wrote: "The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton. Read by Brenda Dayne, it's her only complete book for librivox. That's a shame, because she's pretty good. I wish in the first several chapters sh..."

I listen to the Wheel of Time on audiobook and the readers change pronunciation as they go through the book. Very annoying! But, I've done some recordings for librivox, and sometimes you don't even know you're mispronouncing something until you listen to it later...

Some Experiences of an Irish RM by Edith Oenone Somerville, and read by Andy Minter.

This is another perfect book for Andy Minter - if you're a fan of the Britcom As Time Goes By, his voice reminds me of Geoffrey Palmer (Lionel) - he captures the put-upon, detached, slightly jaded curmudgeon that is perfect and a half for the narrator/protagonist of the book. That protagonist is an old-before-his-time regional magistrate from England sent out into the 'boonies' of Ireland to be a judge for small-time cases. Wow is it funny - and bonus - it's considered a 'classic.'

I recommend this for anyone with no reservations.

Anything read by Elizabeth Klett is wonderful.

Cool - I just started her version of Ethan Frome yesterday. I hadn't 'found' her until now, but I think I'll be listening to anything she does.

She's an interesting person.
She has a blog which has a section on her LibriVox work. And also her personal reading, sewing and knitting.

http://amingledyarn.wordpress.com/

Her Ethan Frome was GREAT!

So is her version of Northanger Abbey, Jane Eyre and Howard's End.

This is such an old thread at this point but it was the first thing that came up in a Google search for "Best librivox books" and I think it's a great idea.

I have to cast my vote for Siddhartha. It's read by Adrian Praetzellis, who is British with this fantastic peaceful lulling voice, perfect for Siddhartha.

Oh - I'd forgotten about this thread.

You know what other librivox reader could be professional (and kind of is - she's an actress)?

Mil Nicholson.

She's set a goal of recording every Charles Dickens novel. So far she has Barnaby Rudge, Dombey and Son, The Old Curiosity Shop, and Our Mutual Friend.

Simply a wonderful voice for reading Dickens, and easily thirty distinct character voices at her fingertips.

Too bad I've already read Siddhartha, in dead-tree form - I'm always looking for great new librivox stuff.

I have the gothic mystery Uncle Silas on my TBR pile - I've never listened to a Librivox book before, but I sampled this one, before going through the trouble of getting its 60 files together just the way I wanted them, and liked what I heard.

Well, Uncle Silas was all recorded by one reader - that's a good sign. If you liked one section, you're probably fine.

I have a question about Librivox links.

I notice that with many of the Librivox links provided in this thread, the listener must first download mp3 files into his computer.

However, there are some Librivox links I've found that don't require such downloading. For example, see the following:

http://www.archive.org/details/select...

http://www.archive.org/details/magnif...

At the above links, I simply click on the title I want and I immediately hear the voice of the reader.

My question: How does one method differ from the other? Why aren't all the methods as simple as the ones at the links I've posted above?

(BTW, I just discovered this Goodreads group today by serendipity. I was happy to find such a group.)

Welcome to the group, Joy!

I'm not very familiar with Librivox, but others here who really like it should be able to answer your question.

I think it might have to do with the way they make the links on the different sites. But actually if you go to the librivox.org site, you should still just be able to click on the link and it will play in your browser, you don't necessarily have to download it. At least that's been my experience.

Thank you for the welcome, John. You seem like an old friend because I've been reading some of your posts at CR. It was good to see a familiar face here... and a few others too.

I hope that someone will be able to answer my question.

Kate wrote: "I think it might have to do with the way they make the links on the different sites. But actually if you go to the librivox.org site, you should still just be able to click on the link and it will play in your browser, you don't necessarily have to download it...."

Kate, I went to the librivox.org page and clicked on a title and it doesn't appear to be quite so simple. I'm just glad I have found what I've found so far. I guess I was just lucky.
For example: http://www.archive.org/details/magnif...

Hmm...that's strange, not sure why it wouldn't work the same way for you as it does for me. I guess you'll have to just keep using archive.org. Sorry!

PS - The following page seems to lead to the type of layout I'm referring to:
LIBRIVOX: http://www.archive.org/details/libriv...
(Click on some of the links there.)

Kate wrote: "Hmm...that's strange, not sure why it wouldn't work the same way for you as it does for me. I guess you'll have to just keep using archive.org. Sorry!"

Kate, I think you've hit on something. Yes, the links I posted have started out at archive.org and then led to Librivox.

I don't know how I happened to come upon the good link. It was probably just luck. I just kept exploring and clicking.

I find the home pages to be very confusing. It's just trial and error for me!

Thank you for your help.

BTW, when I find a valuable link, I immediately save it to an .rtf file on my computer. That way I can always find it again. In the .rtf files you can click on your link and go directly to it.

I've also been known to send the link to myself by email. :) That was before I discovered the handy .rtf files.

PS-The .rtf files are known as WordPad files [as opposed to NotePad files (.txt) which are simpler].

I'll be interested in ideas from this discussion. Here is my one-page rated Librivox list, that I try to keep up as I listen:

http://librivoxlist.blogspot.com/

That's a good list. Having two ratings is a great idea - it's got something I haven't been able to communicate well on goodreads. As I browsed it, I was wishing it was sortable by your literature rating and by reader rating.

I also highly recommend the Dickens works recorded by Mil Nicholson. She's methodically recording every one of Dickens' novels, and so far I've listened to Barnaby Rudge, The Old Curiosity Shop, and am listening to Our Mutual Friend (she seems to be going in reverse order of greatness), and the recordings are all incredibly great - 11 out of 10.

(The URL should be in quotation marks...)

Thanks for kind comments. I've made a comment now and then at the Librivox forum, mainly when my MP3 player didn't handle a download right, and my little blog does get "hits" from there.

Re BUP, I thought hard about how to "do" the list on a blog site, given my limited skills, and decided a one page static list was optimal for my own effort and for listener convenience. Hope is that readers will look at the list once in a while and possibly get new ideas about good texts and readers/interpreters. Thanks, I've noted your suggestion - she's on my "to listen" list.

I've read a number of good free audiobooks from Librivox and other sources. You can see my list at myt blog, Free Listens. If you click on the label "Librivox" on the right side, it will filter only those from Librivox.

Based on your blog, I just bookmarked Ben Hur. Mark Smith is kind of hit-or-miss for me, but he's gotten a lot better (and apparently has gotten some professional gig recently).

My favorite Librivox reader is Karen Savage but beware, once you start listening to her, you will find it hard to want to listen to anyone else. Here is her web page listing her readings for Librivox http://www.karenrsavage.com/librivox.htm Ms. Savage's ability for several different accents is amazing and her delivery of dialog is wonderful due to her acting background. I have read all of her works for the "Anne" series and all of her Austen readings...Sense and Sensibility is now completed. A Little Princess, The Scarlet Pimpernel and The Elusive Pimpernel were also wonderful. If anyone is familiar with Karen Savage's readings, would you please let me know of another Librivox reader who has her similar talents?..Thank you.

Deniseo. wrote: "If anyone is familiar with Karen Savage's readings, would you please let me know of another Librivox reader who has her similar talents?"

I enjoy Karen's narration, but in my opinion, the best LibriVox narrator is Adrian Praetzellis. If you prefer a female voice Elizabeth Klett is also excellent. You can search readers in the catalog by clicking on "More search options" on the catalog search page.

Seth wrote: I enjoy Karen's narration, but in my opin..."

Thank you for such a quick response. I have bookmarked the results of the search on those two readers you recommended. I used that search option months ago and forgot all about it. I've bookmarked that link too. Thank you very much!

Note that Librivox was hacked last week and email/PW information was stolen from it. It's worth visiting the site for the details. It might be of serious concern to those using their main email address and a standard password that has other uses.

I found a helpful Wiki page for those interested in Science Fiction Short stories.
http://wiki.librivox.org/index.php/Li...
I also have created a simple template for reviewing them. Since most are not reviewed at all.

---------------------------

First Published in:
Audio Book MP3 downloaded from
http://librivox.org/short-science-fic...-
Public Domain stories from Project Gutenberg, that are read by volunteers.
I listen to these short stories while walking to and from work.

File Size:
Play Duration:
Read By:
----------------------
Here is an actual example:
Or Your Money Back Randall Garrett (I gave it 3 stars)

A fun tale of science vs. gambling.

Well recorded and read, a good voice.
First Published in:
Audio Book MP3 downloaded from http://librivox.org/short-science-fic...
Public Domain stories from Project Gutenberg, that are read by volunteers.
I listen to these short stories while walking to and from work.

File Size: 24.1 MB
Play Duration: 51 min 26 sec
Read By: Tom Weiss

Operation Haystack by Frank Herbert (I gave it 4 stars)

A story of political intrigue.

Well recorded and read, a very good voice.
First Published in:
Audio Book MP3 downloaded from http://librivox.org/short-science-fic...
Public Domain stories from Project Gutenberg, that are read by volunteers.
I listen to these short stories while walking to and from work.

File Size: 20 MB
Play Duration: 48 min 15 sec
Read By: Gregg Margarite

Regarding readers similar to Karen Savage, I enjoyed her abilities (thought didn't like the book) reading "The Scarlet Pimpernel" - as a talented reader with a UK accent, she reminds me of Lizzie Driver, who did a very good job on Walter Scott's "The Talisman."

I've been recording for LibriVox for over 4 years on solo and group projects. They're a great bunch of people. My personal favorites are 4 names already mentioned here: Karen Savage, Elizabeth Klett, Andy Minter and Mil Nicholson (who is also a professional actress). On a couple of group projects, I had to follow Mil Nicholson and I told her I hoped that never happened again. :P I would also add Kara Shallenberg, Laurie Anne Walden, Cori Samuel, Kirsten Ferreri, Kristin Hughes, Roger Melin, Mark Smith, and the wonderful Ruth Golding.

I know that I've left some good ones off but LibriVox really does have a lot of talent. You can usually (at least for solos) listen to a portion of the first chapter and get a pretty good idea of the reader's voice and style.

I've never listened to any of their stuff, but I have two Librivox books on my TBR pile:

Poor Miss Finch by Wilkie Collins, read by Sandra G.

Uncle Silas by Joseph Sheridan Lefanu, read by Great Plains

Let us know what you think. I haven't listened to either of those. Since LibriVox has almost reached the 5,000 mark with their recordings, there's a lot to keep your ears busy. :)

Claire wrote: "I've been recording for LibriVox for over 4 years on solo and group projects. They're a great bunch of people. My personal favorites are 4 names already mentioned here: Karen Savage, Elizabeth K..."
I am now as big a fan of Elizabeth Klett as I am of Karen Savage. Can't believe I had never read Jane Eyre. Ms. Klett's read was wonderful. Thank you for your list of readers added to those two I've mentioned. I will search their works with LibriVox ASAP