In our go-go, hypermediated society, it’s rare to meet anyone who has time to curl up with a good a book. But reading remains one of the ultimate escapes for a hectic world and one of the most genuine and enriching human pleasures available. Thanks to audiobooks, we can reclaim the joy of reading without scaling back our hectic lives. Free audiobooks also help to cut back the costs of enjoying audio books, since most professional recorded versions of novels, biographies and nonfiction books can easily cost more than $25 per listen. To help you fill your digital library with hours of enjoyment, I’ve compiled a list of the top five sources of audiobook downloads – for free!
1. Librivox.org
Librivox is a collection of literarture and texts that have entered into the public domain and are therefore free to distribute and enjoy. Most of these texts are lifted from Project Gutenberg, which is a massive database of classic texts, such as Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland, Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, James Joyce’s Ulysses, Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and more timeless books.
Librivox kicks it up a notch by organizing volunteers to read the books aloud and record them into audiobooks. It’s the best stories on Earth provided at the best price – free. You can download these as MP3 files and sync them to your iPod or iPhone or burn them to a CD.
The only downside of Librivox is that, with a few rare exceptions, you won’t have the pleasure of hearing a professional reader or voice actor read the book. Also, the audio quality is sometimes a bit low, making it hard to hear, especially when the volume is very low. But for a vast library of absolutely free audiobooks, Librivox is the essential source.
2. iTunes U
The iTunes Store is an obvious source of audiobooks, but did you know that they have plenty of free downloads, too? The best source for free stuff on iTunes is ITunes U. Here, you can sit in on lectures from renowned universities, such as Harvard and Berkeley, absolutely free of charge. But most importantly to us, check out the University of South Florida’s Lit2Go audio channel. Here, you’ll find podcast audiobooks free for download, such as books from H.G. Wells, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Bram Stoker and more.
3. Audible
Audible isn’t free, but I’ll let you in on a secret – you can get virtually as many free trials as you want. Plus, when you threaten to cancel your free trial, they’ll usually sweeten the deal with a $20+ coupon. Audible is hands down the best source for professional quality audiobooks read aloud by such recognizable voices as Ira Glass, Conan O’Brian, Stephen Colbert, Matt Damon, David Sedaris, Chuck Klosterman and more.The trick is to never buy anything from Audible without a coupon code or some other kind of discount. Audible is very aggressive in garnering new customers, and you can make this work to your advantage.
So, there you have it – three great sources for endless free audiobooks. Unless you live to be a thousand years old, you’ll never run out of free listening material. Enjoy!
Free Audiobooks - Best 3 Sources For Downloads
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