
Free Audio Books: Download Great Books for Free - thisisastopsign
http://www.openculture.com/freeaudiobooks
======
rasengan0
Welcome to the internet 2020

[http://www.openculture.com/2015/06/isaac-asimovs-favorite-
st...](http://www.openculture.com/2015/06/isaac-asimovs-favorite-story-the-
last-question-read-by-isaac-asimov.html)

version 1 "debug_error": { "errorCode": "auth", "errorDetail": "0",
"errorMessage": "Video unavailable", "lh": "This video contains content from
Penguin Random House, who has blocked it on copyright grounds.", "xA":
"ec.150;ed.0;es.This video contains content from Penguin Random House_ who has
blocked it on copyright grounds." }

version 2 [https://youtu.be/rjqjSP7kOO4](https://youtu.be/rjqjSP7kOO4)

~~~
zie1ony
The only book I've checked before going to comments.

------
fmela
See also [https://librivox.org](https://librivox.org) for free public domain
audiobooks.

~~~
hombre_fatal
These kinds of sites really could use a "Top 100" or "Most Popular" feature
for when you just want to see what's on tap and don't necessarily have a
specific book in mind.

Amazing resource, though. After recording a short story I wrote, I have even
more respect for people who volunteer their time to librivox. I had to do a
surprising amount of editing and re-takes just reading my tiny story. Could
barely get through a paragraph without some sort of error, even if it was just
a weirdly timed breath.

~~~
knbt
Librivox content is hosted on archive.org and can be sorted and searched more
easily there

------
gsail11
Also, most public libraries have extensive audiobook and ebook archives, and
there are apps that bring all that content straight to your phone. If you live
somewhere that has library access, you can greatly and easily expand your
access to books, new and old through that method.

~~~
PostPost
Even if you _don 't_ live somewhere that has library access, there's a number
of options available. Here's a few options: [https://weightywords.net/best-
non-resident-library-cards-for...](https://weightywords.net/best-non-resident-
library-cards-for-overdrive-access/)

[https://wiki.mobileread.com/wiki/EBook_Lending_Libraries#Wid...](https://wiki.mobileread.com/wiki/EBook_Lending_Libraries#Widely_Accessible_Libraries_and_Subscription_Services)

If you're in the US some cities will give access to their library system as
long as you live in the state. Overdrive has a good UI, and with waitlists, I
always have something to read.

------
sandreas
If you are looking for free german audio books, checkout

\- [https://www.vorleser.net/](https://www.vorleser.net/)

For a free conversion tool, checkout

\-
[https://github.com/sandreas/m4b-tool](https://github.com/sandreas/m4b-tool)

\-
[https://github.com/gonzoua/AudioBookBinder](https://github.com/gonzoua/AudioBookBinder)

\-
[https://github.com/yermak/AudioBookConverter](https://github.com/yermak/AudioBookConverter)

~~~
sosuke
Thanks for the conversion tools. I was lost trying to deal with m4b audio
books and SubSonic not supporting them.

------
JonathanFly
If anyone is looking for some free modern genre fiction, I can highly
recommend the Worm audiobook: [http://audioworm.rein-
online.org/](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 this is 100%
flashback) chapter from the sequel story Ward. Read Worm first but this
specific chapter can be read by itself.
[http://parahumanaudio.com/podcast/gleaming-9-x/](http://parahumanaudio.com/podcast/gleaming-9-x/)

~~~
iN7h33nD
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...](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zjR6qnMXU9o&list=PL1R6q3pUbd2m-QPJvDpLAERJMSteFBaCI)

------
walterkrankheit
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.

~~~
mikece
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/chores) which means I'm not in a position to stop and
take notes in the margin or in a notebook. To really absorb a work and make it
your own I think you need to take notes and summarize the main points of each
chapter, in your own words, after finishing each chapter.

That said, listening-only is far better than having _no_ exposure to these
great works. Would I would love even more is to have commentaries or Joe-
Rogan-Style recorded discussions about the books by academics so I could read
the book, listen to discussions about the book, then read the book again with
these critiques in mind.

~~~
textfoo
Guess blind people are just kinda SOL then.

------
lopis
I considered whitelisting the website on uBlock but then I noticed 25+
different blocked requests (that number usually explodes after whitelisting
too). Is this really necessary?

------
KloudTrader
If your favourite book isn't available as an audiobook, give us a try:

[https://auditus.cc](https://auditus.cc)

~~~
nickpinkston
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)

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

~~~
nickpinkston
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)

------
eXpl0it3r
What do you use to listen to audio books files? Some normal audio player is
rather cumbersome, due to missing progress tracking.

~~~
Libbum
For android I use "Listen Audiobook Player". Automatic progress tracking for
multiple books, and generally all round great for daily audiobook usage.

~~~
freedomben
I also use Listen Audiobook Player [1]. Loaded with well thought out features.
The app also saves your progress/stats in a json file in your audiobooks
directory, so you can easier move it to a new phone/tablet whenever you want.

[1]
[https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.acmeandroi...](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.acmeandroid.listen&hl=en_CA)

------
mark_l_watson
Cool site, but for myself, I will stick with Audible because of the
convenience. I have probably spent about $1000 on Audible books and I feel
like that has been a good value, over many years.

Some advantages I have experienced:

When I read James Joyce "Ulysses" several years ago, it was somewhat difficult
to follow the narrative. I then listened to it as an audio book with a half a
dozen good actors reading the parts and the book came to life for me.

I have some arthritis in my hands, and any time not using a keyboard, holding
a physical book, or an eBook reader helps.

When I am working in the yard, cleaning up the kitchen, etc. it is good to
listen to a book.

The one thing that bothers me is the possibility of losing a large investment
in Kindle and Audible books if I ever lost my Amazon account. I mitigate this
somewhat by buying some eBooks and audio books on Google Play and on Apple's
store. --> don't put all of your eggs in one basket.

~~~
mrmuagi
If I could suggest on your last point, that if you are fearful of Audible ever
going the way of the dodo, that you look into OpenAudible. I've used it to
keep an offline Archive of my content.

------
thekevan
Not what I expected to see: Iggy Pop reads Edgar Allan Poe

[http://www.openculture.com/2015/08/iggy-pop-reads-edgar-
alla...](http://www.openculture.com/2015/08/iggy-pop-reads-edgar-allan-poes-
classic-horror-story-the-tell-tale-heart.html)

------
tomerbd
I prefer TTS machine generated voice than non professional readers such as
librivox, so for me it's either a professional reader or TTS.

------
zerop
Do these free audio books collection also has transcripts? I want to use them
to train my Speech to text model.

~~~
wiml
If you don't already know about it, you'll probably be interested in Mozilla's
Common Voice data:
[https://voice.mozilla.org/en/datasets](https://voice.mozilla.org/en/datasets)

------
Glosster
How do we know they're great? There's no review section like on Audible or
Librivox.

------
sams99
Is there an app on iOS that indexes ubuweb, I noticed Junky read by Burroughs
there which would be a fascinating listen, but it comes in lots of pieces and
consuming it on the run seems somewhat tricky

------
reallydontask
Was surprised to see the free books in Audible, turns out that this is free
only if you sign up and you only get one book, which is pretty misleading

~~~
me_me_me
As oppose to having some books free but riddled with vpn and pill commercial
very 10 mins?

They need to make money somehow.

~~~
reallydontask
Amazon "sells" classics for free, I thought there was something similar in
Audible that I was not aware of

~~~
feintruled
If you have an Alexa they now give you access to free audiobooks to listen to
for the month:

[https://www.audible.co.uk/ep/alexa-free-
audiobook](https://www.audible.co.uk/ep/alexa-free-audiobook)

Caveat being, audiobooks can be rather long and it might be a push to fit them
into the month!

------
drumttocs8
So, what software/app do you guys use to consume audiobooks? I haven't found a
decent one that works with external downloads.

~~~
freedomben
On Android, Listen Audiobooks [1] is my go to and has been for years. As long
as your books are DRM free it's the best UX I've had.

[1]:
[https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.acmeandroi...](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.acmeandroid.listen&hl=en_CA)

------
AllegedAlec
First link I click on is a dud (Asimov, Isaac - "The Last Question" ) due to
copyright claims. Not a great start tbh.

~~~
lgl
Both "The Last Question" and "The Last Answer" are fantastic shorts that I
can't recommend enough to everybody. Don't let this version being a dud stop
you from reading them. They're available in text form from other websites.

------
fabriceg
This is great! thank you

------
cryptozeus
Why is this sorted by author name ? Site is very spammy and unusable

~~~
cyxxon
Also all "free on Audible.com" links simply go to their own page telling the
reader to sign up for a free trial with a referral link, instead of audiobooks
that are free on Audible. Uhm, so it is NOT free on Audible, and that seems
fishy and scammy as well. I understand making money in general (Audible) and
referral links (this site), but just tell me, don't skirt around it please and
pretend something is free when it isn't.

------
harshreality
I think this (pre-recorded) audio book thing is a short-term phenomenon that's
creating an economic distortion. Recording audio books requires extra labor,
but not much (how many person-hours does it take to record War and Peace
compared to person-hours spent by each publisher publishing a new edition,
even assuming the use of an existing translation?). Yet Audible rakes in huge
amounts of cash by charging a premium (particularly popular titles) for
audiobooks over regular ebooks. Sometimes it's because they get famous people
to read books, which is a blatant cash grab by the voice artist and/or by
Audible. You could find 10 people who have better reading voices than any
particular famous person, unless your only objective is to hear your favorite
famous person read a book, any book.

Also, subscription plans are designed around most people not using them fully,
and not optimizing their purchases.

Soon enough neural net TTS + ebooks will be nearly equivalent, and doesn't
cost any more than the base ebook. Plus TTS allows synchronizing between print
and speech which you can't get between ebooks and audiobooks; i.e. it would be
nice to read in print, then switch to TTS while commuting or working out, then
back to print.

~~~
thaumasiotes
> You could find 10 people who have better reading voices than any particular
> famous person, unless your only objective is to hear your favorite famous
> person read a book, any book.

It can work. There's an Indian celebrity (
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bappi_Lahiri](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bappi_Lahiri)
) who is famous for his great love of gold. And for the Hindi dub of _Moana_ ,
he was cast as the voice of Tamatoa.

