Spoonie Reads discussion

Hey guys!
Because of my chronic illness, reading has been difficult so I want to become an audiobook person.

Another Spoonie told me about LibriVox (which is both a website & an app) which is pretty cool. It has free audio books but its only for old books where the copyright doesn't limit access anymore... what is that called again? freak.. my mind isn't working hahaha.

Anyways... was trying to find an app for current books that you don't need a subscription too.

Though I heard you don't have to subscribe to Audible to get the audible books on Amazon... does anyone know how that works exactly? It seems like you have to buy both the e-book and then add on a price for the audio... like you can't just only buy the audio.

Also was told about Overdrive which you can download ebooks and audiobooks from your local library with a library card. I need to get a card pronto.

Would love to hear what you guys use for audio books...
Thanks

- Jess
twitter: @always_spooning
blog: alwaysspooning.wordpress.com

I listen to Librivox books on my iPod using an app rather appropriately called Librivox. I believe there are a number of apps available for different devices. I think you can download directly from their site as well.
Librivox have a Facebook group and a site forum if you want to chat to someone more informed than me.
I've never heard that you can listen to audible books without subscribing. I'd be interested to hear more about this.
My library doesn't subscribe to Overdrive. Wish it did. It does give me access to an audiobook app called Borrow Box. But I find they are very limited in the genres they supply.
I've also started using the speech feature on my iPod. The quality isn't good enough for me to listen to, but I find it helps my comprehension to read along with it.

I listened to Little Women and The Count of Monte Cristo (unabridged) on Librivox but yes limited choices. So much depends on the reader too - the fella who read The Count was soo good. Also since the readers volunteer many books have various readers which might not appeal to some. I did listen to the entire Harry Potter series on YouTube but it was a pain. I'd never heard of Overdrive but does your library carry a selection of Audiobooks on CD? Thanks for bringing this up Jess - hope others have some ideas.

@Janelle
Also I recently heard of Hoopla which some libraries give access to I think.

@Betsy
I'm sure my library does. I haven't really checked it out though. If it did... is it easy to get transfer it onto my iPhone? I don't listen to music on my iPhone so it's not synced to my iTunes but I'm sure I could figure it out. I just rarely leave the house to begin with... having to leave to get the CDs sounds tiring lol.

Oh wow you listened to HP on youtube. That does sound like a pain.

Thanks Jess. I'll check hoopla out.

I don't have an iPhone Jess so wouldn't know. Can suggest 2 podcasts I recently listened to -S-Town and Serial ( 1st season) by This American Life producers.

@Janelle I haven't tried it yet but I hope it works for you.

@Betsy it's all good. Thanks! <3

I had a quick look, Jess and I don't think it will work for me. It looks like an American site, and as I'm in Australia I don't think my library would be affiliated with it.

I use audible religiously. It's so good, if you don't mind paying $14.95 a month. It's great because you can listen to a sample of the book before you use your credit to buy it. Then you can return/swap the book if you decide you don't like it. You download the book from the website and then it automatically gets added to the app on your phone. Really massive selection of old and new high quality books, in several languages but mostly English. I've also used Scribd because it's cheaper than audible but didn't have the same selection size.

Overdrive from the library is amazing. I used to not like audiobooks but since being diagnosed with POTS, I love them.

I suggest everyone check if your library has Overdrive. It has two pros: 1. Being free and 2. You can borrow it from bed, no need to leave the house.