Librivox

Hello

I looked at Librivox after it was mentioned in a previous post. I would certainly like to get some audio copies of the classics there; however, quality is important to me given that I may be listening to these books for a while.

What is the quality of the records and the readers? Any readers that are particularly good and would be recommended?

Thanks!

Chip is particularly good - he read several chapters of Fanny Hill by John Cleland and has THE most lascivious voice ever - perfect for reading that one! He also read The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving, which was an excellent quality recording.

Avoid anything read by TBOL3 - I started listening to Around the World in 80 Days by Jules Verne and he was terrible - hesitant with every other word mispronounced. It was such a ponderous and laboured reading that I quit two minutes into the second chapter. I'll wait for the recording currently in progress (being recorded by Alex Foster).

I've listened to quite a few recordings from Librivox now and there have been mixed readings from various readers, but 9 times out of 10 it's been at least pretty good.

Audio Books I've used from Librivox with what I thought of the readers:
The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde (read by John Gonzales) - not bad
The Adventuresof Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain (read by John Greenman) - not bad
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain (read by Annie Coleman) - pretty good
The Invisible Man by H G Wells (read by Alex Foster) - not bad
My Man Jeeves by P G Wodehouse (read by Mark Nelson) - pretty good
Right Ho, Jeeves by P G Wodehouse (read by Mark Nelson) - pretty decent
The Prisoner of Zenda by Anthony Hope (read by Andy Minter) - excellent
Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen (read by various readers) - good
King Solomon's Mines by H Rider Haggard (read by John Nicholson) - not bad
Fanny Hill by John Cleland (read by various readers) - excellent (especially the sections read by Chip and Peter Yearsley)
The Hound of the Baskervilles by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (read by Laurie Anne Walden) - not bad
The Sign of the Four by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (read by Robin Cotter) - not bad
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving (read by Chip) - brilliant
The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson (read by David Barnes) - pretty good
A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court by Mark Twain (read by Steve Anderson) - currently listening to this one and it's pretty good

As you can see, some are better than others, but then again these are not professional readers - they're regular punters like you and me, and sometimes it also depends on the material as much as the reader themselves. One of these days, when I've got the recording equipment, I might sign up to read a few myself.

I hope you'll get a lot out of using Librivox - I've certainly been enjoying it! :)

Wow Kell. Thanks for the great reviews. I will definitely start working on getting those downloaded.

And, I think I may look at signing up to read as well.

Thanks again.

I've only listened to a few from LibriVox so far. The Warden and Barchester Towers by Anthony Trollope was quite good, I particularly enjoyed Andy Minter's chapters.

I reckon ChrisCzech has done a great job with Nicholas Nickleby, however its not complete and only the first 26 chapters are available (at http://librivox.kayray.org/uploader/files/nickleby/ ) but there is a lot of emotion in his reading... I read the rest of the book myself since I had a copy.

At the moment I'm listening to Robinson Crusoe which is OK. After that, I'll be looking for more Dickens or maybe George Eliot...

I agree with Kell, some recordings are pretty good considering they are done by volunteers. But there is variation in both the quality of the reading and the recording. I tend to download one chapter and see if I like the reader and the quality before downloading the rest.

Heart of Darkness was full of pronunciation errors. I forget who read it now but I'd run far far away from any of her books.

Journey to the Centre of the Earth was read by the world and his wife and I really got fed up of the huge range of quality.

Oh... and librivox generally seems to be really really quiet on it's recording levels. I can't hear much of the audio on my mp3 player on a busy street for example.

I had to use software to boost the sound.

>5 arukiyomi: "Heart of Darkness was full of pronunciation errors."

Did you let them know...? They do have a suggestions/feedback forum
http://librivox.org/forum/viewforum.php?f=24

Thanks for posting about this site! I am a high school Eng. teacher and am always looking for the classics on MP3 for my kids. I will be perusing this site for a long time! :)

The Internet Archive is another site (I've just stumbled across) which offers free audio books etc at http://www.archive.org/details/audio They also provide LibriVox audiobooks at http://www.archive.org/details/librivoxaudio and include reviews/ratings (correct me if I'm wrong but I don't think LibriVox's own site has a place to rate their books? wish they did though! :) and an option to preview tracks before downloading.

That's a great website digifish! Thanks for telling us about it. I love free audiobook sites and I love listening to old time radio programs, especially the mystery and sci-fi ones. Internet Archive will be great for that!

Here's another benefit of Internet Archive. An entire catalog of Grateful Dead Shows!!! So, when you lack the concentration to listen to a book, or are otherwise multi-tasking you can listen to Jerry and the boys.

Sorry for the digression. 'Just couldn't find the group, "Dead-heads who like to LibraryThing" ;)

Recently finished listening to the following LibriVox books (I've rated these in a similar way to Kell's list, above) :

Our Mutual Friend by Charles Dickens - average
(multiple readers - some better readers than others. Some audio quality issues with some chapters).
http://librivox.org/our-mutual-friend-by-charles-dickens/

The Invisible Man by H G Wells - above average
(solo reader, Alex Foster, British accent, good reader. There was, however, a distracting background of static in most of his recordings).
http://librivox.org/invisible-man-by-h-g-wells/

Moby-Dick, or the Whale by Herman Melville - excellent
(solo reader, Stewart Wills, US accent, good reader, good audio quality)
http://librivox.org/moby-dick-by-herman-melville/

(Edited to add links to LibriVox)

More LibriVox...

Seven Little Australians by Ethel Turner - excellent
(solo reader, Ophelia Darcy, Australian accent. A relatively short, classic Australian story. Very well read!)
http://librivox.org/seven-little-australians-by-ethel-sybil-turner/

(Edite to add links to LibriVox)

More children's classics on LibriVox (but entertaining for young-at-heart, too :)

The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame - excellent
There are several versions of this book on LibriVox, but by far the best is the one by Adrian Praetzellis (solo reader, British accent. Does a brilliant 'Toad' character)

http://librivox.org/the-wind-in-the-willows-by-kenneth-grahame-solo/

Washington Square by Henry James - excellent
(solo reader, Dawn Murphy, US accent. Nicely read!)

http://librivox.org/washington-square-by-henry-james/

BTW, LibriVox have just catalogued their 1000th book - a major achievement for a voluntary organisation! I hope no-one minds if I continue to sing their praises here...? :)

The Railway Children by Edith Nesbit - excellent
(solo reader, Karen Savage. Nicely read!)

http://librivox.org/railway-children-by-e-nesbit/

The Card, A Story Of Adventure In The Five Towns by Arnold Bennett - excellent.
(solo reader, Andy Minter, British accent. Nicely read, and a funny little story. Recommended!)

http://librivox.org/the-card-by-arnold-bennett/

Charles Dickens, the last of the great men by G.K. Chesterton.
(multiple readers)

Some interesting insights on Dickens, his life and works.

http://librivox.org/charles-dickens-by-g-k-chesterton/

The Prisoner of Zenda by Anthony Hope - excellent.
(solo reader, Andy Minter, British accent. Nicely read. Andy is one of my favourite readers. Recommended!)

http://librivox.org/the-prisoner-of-zenda-by-anthony-hope/

Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen - excellent.
(solo reader, Elizabeth Klett, US and British accents. Highly enjoyable!).

There are two versions of 'Northanger Abbey' available on LibriVox. The one I listened to (and prefer) is version 2 by Elizabeth Klett.

http://librivox.org/northanger-abbey-by-jane-austen-2/

I was just about to downloaded Northanger Abbey, I am eager to start listening to it. Thanks for the info, I will check to see who reads it before I continue.

Thanks digfish. I will look for these readers. They can really make or break an audio experience.

#18: did you know Andy Minter has also recorded the sequel to Prisoner of Zenda? It's called Rupert of Hentzau (no touchstone) and is available here:

http://librivox.org/rupert-of-hentzau-by-anthony-hope/

I haven't listened to it yet so don't know how good it is.

>21 Rarcar1: Thanks, Rarcar1 ~ Of course, reading style, speed and accents, etc are a matter of personal preference; so feel free to disagree with any of my recommendations :)

>22 ChocolateMuse: ChocolateMuse ~ Thank you, I will grab that one soon! I noticed that Andy is also about to complete his recording of The Old Wives' Tale by Arnold Bennett. I think he only has a few chapters to go. Could be interesting..?

This week I listened to the children's classic, A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett, read by Karen Savage. Karen reads quite quickly but I found it both the story and the reading to be excellent. Again, its a book with several versions on LibriVox. The one I preferred was:

http://librivox.org/a-little-princess-by-frances-hodgson-burnett-2/

I just finished Karen's version of A Little Princess a weeks or so ago and I loved it too. She was the first librivox reader (she does a great job with Pride and Prejudice I listened to and I think she is fantastic.

ETA: Okay, evidently I had an echo...

Ha ha, how funny. I've never seen a quinposting before

(does 'quin' mean 5?? I can never remember)

David Barnes reading Three Short Works by Flaubert. Has anyone listened to this? Is the reading competent? I have no experience with Librivox; so far I have always listened to professionals. Is this worth the purchase?

>31 polutropos:
Well, it isn't a purchase. You just download it to your computer, so it isn't the end of the world if it is terrible. I would just download one of the chapters and give him a listen before downloading the whole thing if you are worried. I just listened to a second or two and he seems to have a nice voice and read fluently, but I didn't listen long enough to be sure.

You can also preview how chapters sound by clicking on the Internet Archive link for any LibriVox book. I find this is a quick method for checking reading quality.

Thanks, jl and digi. I have only ever listened to audiobooks in my car, never on my computer, so what I was going to do, is pay someone on Ebay who sells Librivox CDs. But you are telling me to save me money, I guess :-). I will get my son to show me how to download it on my computer, and then I guess I can burn it on a CD myself, if it seems a decent reading. Thanks again.

I really liked The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin read by Gary Gilberd. Very well done.

I'd looked at Librivox a number of times, but only just listened to my first download from there. It was Edith Wharton's The age of innocence, read by Brenda Dayne. She didn't have the range of voices that some of the professional readers are able to do, but her voice was very pleasing, and I enjoyed her reading a good deal. She's read parts of a few other things, but I think this is the only complete book she's done so far. Definitely worth a listen.

http://librivox.org/the-age-of-innocence-by-edith-wharton/

Edited to add Librivox link.

This is my first experience with Librivox also - Age of Innocence - I mean. I also find her reading enjoyable. There is a lot more range than in the other book I'm listening to, Survivor by Chuck Palahniuk which is read by Paul Garcia. His voice is totally deadpan. I thought it was going to drive me crazy, but by disc 2, it actually totally suits the character. So ya never know.

I'm listening to The Old Wives Tale by Arnold Bennett now, read by Andy Minter. Very different to The Card: a story of adventure in the Five Towns, by the same author and reader.

I'm enjoying it a lot, yet I know that I'd never keep going with it if I'd just sat down and read it from the book. A combination of Andy Minter's reading along with the fact that I can do housework while I listen makes enjoyable what would probably have been tedious otherwise. As it is, I've been sucked right into the lives of Constance and Sophia, and won't put anything else on my iPod until it's finished.

Link here: http://librivox.org/the-old-wives-tale-by-arnold-bennett/

>38 ChocolateMuse: Hey, that's really great, ChocolateMuse! I also enjoyed Andy's reading of The Card: a story.. and am looking forward to listening to The Old Wive's Tale in the near future :)

Hey digifish, you haven't been putting many on here lately, have you run out of good ones?? I'll get to the end of Old Wives Tale soon, and then what will I do...? :)

>40 ChocolateMuse: You're right, it's time I added in my recent LibriVox audiobooks!

Some Experiences of an Irish R.M. by Edith Somerville & Martin Ross. Read by Andy Minter (including attempts at Irish accents! ;).
http://librivox.org/some-experiences-of-an-irish-rm-by-edith-oenone-somerville-a...

No Thoroughfare by Charles Dickens & Wilkie Collins. Read by Alan Chant. Pretty good and one I would probably listen to again someday.
http://librivox.org/no-thoroughfare-by-charles-dickens/

The Red House Mystery by A.A. Milne. Nicely read by Kristin Hughes.
http://librivox.org/the-red-house-mystery-by-a-a-milne/

Lady Audley's Secret by Mary Elizabeth Braddon. I do enjoy Elizabeth Klett's reading. The novel itself has some weaknesses, but all in all it's one I'd recommend.
http://librivox.org/lady-audleys-secret-by-mary-elizabeth-braddon/

Just finished listening to Idle Thoughts of an Idle Fellow by Jerome K. Jerome, read by 'czechchris' (another of my favourite LV readers).

http://librivox.org/idle_thoughts_of_an_idle_fellow_by_jerome_k_jerome/

Ooh, thank you! I think we have very similar tastes.

My iTunes is looking well-fed again :)

By the way, I knew A.A. Milne wrote scholarly plays, but I didn't know he wrote mysteries. Sounds awesome...

Another one I've just finished and would recommend is The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton. While I did find some aspects of the story itself a little tiresome, the reading and audio quality were excellent!

http://librivox.org/the-house-of-mirth-by-edith-wharton/

I haven't quite finished this one, but love it so much I want to share it: Patricia Brent, Spinster, by Herbert Jenkins, read by Anna Simon.
Here: http://librivox.org/patricia-brent-spinster-by-herbert-jenkins/.

Also loved The Story of the Treasure Seekers by E Nesbit, read by Karen Savage.
Here: http://librivox.org/the-story-of-the-treasure-seekers-by-e-nesbit/

Both absolutely outstanding.

This is a great thread. I've always wanted to give Librivox a try but was concerned about varying quality.

I can second The Legend of Sleepy Hollow which was practically a professional quality recording. (http://librivox.org/the-legend-of-sleepy-hollow-by-washington-irving/)

I also found the short story The Phantom Coach a solid recording. (http://librivox.org/ghost-story-collection-005/)

My latest: Something New by P.G. Wodehouse, read by Debra Lynn. The fact that the reader is American doesn't detract from it at all. Most enjoyable.

http://librivox.org/something-new-by-pg-wodehouse/

>38 ChocolateMuse: ChocolateMuse ~ I am listening to The Old Wives' Tale, read by Andy Minter at the moment. As usual, Andy's reading is delightful :)

I gave Doyle's The Lost World read by Mark F. Smith a listen. It was a pretty good reading and the characters were given enough of distinct voice. Several of the tracks had a noticeable hum in the background, but nothing so bad it interfered with my enjoyment of the story.

http://librivox.org/the-lost-world-by-sir-arthur-conan-doyle/

I"m trying to find the link to itunes that is supposed to be on the catalogue page but I can't find it. Can anyone suggest where this is?

Ah I found it..now just have to give it a try. It will be my first time using this.

Good luck alans, I hope you enjoy it. I am an official LibriVox addict.

> 48 digifish, it's great isn't it! So glad you're enjoying it too!

Psmith in the city by PG Wodehouse, read by various readers was another one I enjoyed. I started out in LibriVox being intolerant of different readers reading one book, but I've come to enjoy it now, and most of the readers on this one are pretty good. And the story is unmatchedly excellent :)

http://librivox.org/psmith-in-the-city-by-pg-wodehouse/

I am currently enjoying The Pickwick Papers by Charles Dickens, read by various people again.

http://librivox.org/the-pickwick-papers-by-charles-dickens/

The first Dickens I have ever enjoyed, apart from A Christmas Carol, which I listened to on the podcast at www.theclassictales.com. It seems Dickens works better for me when read aloud as opposed to reading from a page.

I quite enjoyed Alan Chant's (solo) reading of Sailing Alone Around the World by Joshua Slocum, complete with seagull sound FX! :D

http://librivox.org/sailing-alone-around-the-world-by-joshua-slocum/

I have a somewhat different question, how do you enter these librivox audiobox into librarything?
They have no isbn numbering etc...

I would want to do that as to see which books I've "read"...

I do a manual entry on my Librivox books. However, you could also add from where ever and then just edit the book so that the info matches (no isbn), publication info (I put "Librivox (date) Audiobook, unabridged"), etc. You can look at my library for examples if you like - you can search 3:audio for audio books - about a fourth are from Librivox (I'm guessing).

>36 HeathMochaFrost:
I second your nomination of Brenda Dayne's reading of The Age of Innocence. Dayne's other work for LibriVox includes narrating the title charecter's letters in this version of Jane Austen's Lady Susan. She also has a knitting podcast called Cast On.

What an interesting and useful thread! I have listened to several Librivox recordings this year, a couple of them on the basis of recommendations on this thread, so I thought I would provide some feedback for others....

The two that appear above were Seven Little Australians by Ethel Turner and The Prisoner of Zenda by Anthony Hope. I concur that both the readers - respectively Ophelia Darcy and Andy Minter - are excellent. Thank you! Minter gives Zenda exactly the right flavour and is the best narrator I have come across so far. Likewise Darcy's Australian accent brings out the best in the Australian childrens' story.

Carmilla by J. Sheridan LeFanu, was perfectly read by Elizabeth Klett. I had read the tale before, but Klett brought extra nuances to the story.

The Awakening by Kate Chopin was another good choice. It is read by various narrators, several of whom do not appear to be native English speakers, although they read very competently. A very good book, well, though unevenly read.

My Man Jeeves by P G Wodehouse was well read by Mark Nelson, though I found the book far too twee and could not recommend it. I have never enjoyed Wodehouse - perhaps aficionados will get along with this better than I.

The Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane was not badly read by Mike Vendetti, though with a few stumbles and mispronunciations. The original work is good enough to make this recommendable.

The Water-Babies by Charles Kingsley was well read by Cori Samuel, but the story, while not devoid of charm, is now probably too dated to be of much interest and is rather moralising.

A Short History of England by G K Chesterton was the worst of the bunch. The reader, Ray Clare, has a flat, monotonous voice that perhaps fitted the material well - not recommended.

I'm now on to My Antonia by Willa Cather, read by various voices. Very good so far.

>58 chrisharpe: Thanks for your recommendations, Chris.

As far as Wodehouse goes, I do prefer Jonathan Cecil's reading (i.e. non-LibriVox).

Hello digifish!

I just finished My Ántonia and found the "book" absoultely wonderful, although the reading, by a number of narrators, was a little uneven. This is definitely a work I would want to get hold of on paper now, just to relish in some of those passages. What an accomplished writer! She must have been a very brave woman for her time, too. I have to admit that realistic portrayals of nature are important to me and nothing puts me off more than innacurate writing about animals or environments. I'm no expert on Nebraska, but Cathers poignant descriptions rang dead true. I see there is plenty more Cather on Librivox and I've already downloaded O Pioneers!, though I want to savour the aftertaste of My Ántonia. Recommended!

I've just listened to Tess of the d’Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy.

read by Adrian Praetzellis.

Very well read. Fits the story nicely! Recommendable! A bit of backround noise on a few of the chapters, but allround highly enjoyable! (Even though the story in itself is quite sad!)

http://librivox.org/tess-of-the-durbervilles/

I recommend the reader Kara Shallenberg. She has done a number of projects and I just finished listening to The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett. She also runs her own website that she updates with her librivox recordings. You can check it out at: http://kayray.org

I have to thank Chocolate Muse for directing me to this discussion. I found Librivox about two years ago and have loved using it. I would say to the poster that says she is a high school English teacher that this is very underused site and it is a tragedy that more young people have not been directed to this site. I am homeschooling my 10th grader and she had to read Sense and Sensibility and Frankenstein this year. We downloaded both books to our iTunes account and listened to the books together. What was so great was that we could pause and discuss the ornate language in S & S and by the time we got deep into the book she was able to totally understand the dynamics of the characters and thoroughly enjoyed the book. She received an A on her paper and her test on this book. I do not believe that she would have had the same experience reading the book by herself because she would not have stopped and looked up or listened to the explanation of the difference in the language. Then we listened to Frankenstein for the second semester and I have to admit that I was the one that did not want to listen to it. Boy, was I wrong. It made all the difference. There were multiple readers and only one was not great but the story took on the "original" meaning rather than the one that has been portrayed so much in the movies. She loved it. There are many different ways to teach our children and we are missing the opportunity if we don't try all the different ways that are out there. We could expand a student's comprehension level by audiobooks if they are not reading at the level that is required by their grade. I have now downloaded my 15 yr. old's summer reading list and I put it on her iPod one book at a time for her to listen to and then we delete it when we sync it. I have to say that my all time favorite reader is Annie Coleman from St. Louis MO reading all of Ann of Green Gables. Wow, she should be paid for her work. I would listen to the entire series if she was reading it.

I can't wait to go download some of the recommendations that have been listed here, especially the Brenda Dayne one because I follow her podcast on knitting and love her voice. I was not aware she had read a book. I apologize for my long post and I will step down off my box now. :>)

Yay, go LibriVox! :)

I've started Tess of the D'urbervilles, and it's turning out pretty good so far - read slowly but very well.

http://librivox.org/tess-of-the-durbervilles/

i downloaded Sister Carriefrom Librivox and three of
the chapters have error written on them so the set wasn't completed. Should I presume this is a permanent bug with the title or will it work again at another time?

Just finished The White Company by Sir Arthur Colan Doyle, narrated by Clive Catterall. Excellent presentation.
Set during the Hundred Years’ War with France, The White Company tells the story of a young Saxon man who is learning what it is to be a knight. Raised by Cistercian Monks and rejected by a violent elder brother, Alleyn Edricson takes service with one of the foremost knights in the country. When Alleyn falls in love with the knight’s daughter, he must prove himself to be a courageous and honourable knight before he can win her hand. Alleyn and his friends set forth with the other men-at-arms to join Prince Edward in Bordeaux, from where they will take part in the Prince’s campaign into Spain. It is in Spain that Alleyn and others must prove themselves to be very valiant and hardy cavaliers. (Summary by Clive

If you enjoy classic literature, you will love this reading of the 1910 book Literary Taste and How to Form It by Arnold Bennett. It is read by Timothy Ferguson - a Brit. Note: The book being read is the 1913 version.

I have this book in my library and was surprised to find it on Librivox. The book/reading is quite good and comical in a snobbish way. Timothy pulls it off perfectly.

Linked here

Oops, sorry. Timothy is Australian.

#67 Tames, I too enjoyed listening to Literary Taste & How to Form It and agree that Timothy Ferguson reads it well. I loved Bennett's list of what books we should read and how much they cost. Ferguson reads in a tongue in cheek manner which I suspect is not exactly how Bennett would have wanted his book handled.

Librivox fan for a few years. Always checking for new posts to catalog.
Recently catalogued and enjoyed:

The Good Soldier, Ford Madox Ford
http://librivox.org/the-good-soldier-by-ford-madox-ford/
One of my all time favorites in print. The gorgeous gorgeous language handled well by L's audio reader!

Any short stories by Saki on Librivox (link below is to search inside short story collections by various authors), especially The Toys of Peace --enjoyed it several times -- my teens got a kick out of it, too, found here: http://librivox.org/short-story-collection-002/

index of Saki stories:
http://librivox.org/newcatalog/search.php?reader=&mc=&bc=&cat=&g...

Also enjoyed all stories by Kate Chopin
http://librivox.org/newcatalog/search.php?reader=&mc=&bc=&cat=&g...

I found librivox not too long ago. I have listen to a few things and have enjoyed them. I think this is the year I might listen to some more. I believe I would enjoy the short story collections.

Thanks for all your input...you guys are giving me some great ideas.

I'm listening to Mil Nicholson's (solo) narration of Dombey and Son by Charles Dickens. Very enjoyable! http://librivox.org/dombey-and-son-by-charles-dickens/

I'm listening to A Pair of Blue Eyes by Thomas Hardy read by Tyghe (not sure I spelt that one correctly). So far it's a simple story of young lovers unable to overcome the social divide but I really can't recommend it as the narrator is quite difficult to understand. He has a lovely irish lilt to his voice but he speaks softly and mumbles a bit. I should have listened to a sample before I burnt the whole book onto discs.

How about Tim Bulkeley, as a reader? Thanks Librivox and all of you who come out with some suggestions. Now I'am lestining to Chip in The Legend Of Sleepy Hollow (thanks kell smurthwaite).

Has anyone created a personal library of librivox titles and put them in a Tinycat?

Well it certainly hasn't ever occurred to me...