And are a delight to carry, listen to in the car and at home and take each child away into the world of stories. Steps of courage men and women we have never trodden journeying on our own. Sometimes children want me to read books after books, stories after stories. While dirty dishes pile up waiting to be washed and dried. I feel guilty when I allow these disruptions in my head-- to read without listening to what I'm reading. It rarely happens, but, when that happens, my voice inflection becomes contrary to what the story is up to at the time. Anyway, thanks to people who have come up with brilliant idea. Classic books in audio-- ready to be downloaded for free! Some classic authors' books I'm familiar with are now available online. It's called, librivox.com https://librivox.org/ It's been fantastic!
Interesting finding indeed! I remember when audiobooks were the latest trend to keep reading up back by listening to the stories recorded in cassettes back on... the 1990s? Think so, though my first experience listening to recording stories can be traced back to the early 1960s when my mother gave me a 45 RPM Chrstimas story record we listened to in an old Magnavox console looking much like this: I'm happy to hearing there is a site on the web from where we can get free public domain audio books, because not all of us can afford to pay the price of an audio file available for download, let's say via Amazon. Even though, I did not even remember that audiobooks can be found as digital files to be played online or carry along with our MP3 players. I was an avid reader and music lover in the past, but as time has passed by, I have forgotten to give myself time to enjoy of these simple pleasures of life. Thanks for sharing this audiobooks resource with us
Wow! What a piece of wooden artwork! "Giant CD" player . Yes, amazon.com does have audible books. But the prices are incredibly unaffordable.
Never thought of it but, yes, we could consider old those consoles kind of giant CD players. I remember my father being enthusiast of these consoles and always looking forward to finding one he could remember to have at his family's home, a console with an integrated TV set, which by his description was probably something like this: But back on topic, I think it was about prohibitive prices what made me forget about audiobooks once that standard cassettes became obsolete, as many tape recorders stopped to work by end of the past century. Not sure if such issue was connected with the Y2K problem affecting computerized systems, clocks and electronic calendars not designed to support dates after year 2000, but the fact is that all my tape recorders stopped to work and while I had loads of audiobooks in cassettes, I have no idea what happened later with them. The worst part of this story is that new tape recorders are again available for sale, just as there are turntables after being extinct for some years, but nowadays essential for DJs Whether digitized or recorded in a medium, listening to an audiobook is always a good way to enjoy the literary work of our favorite authors.
I have trouble following audiobooks. I have several, since I have a subscription to Audible. However, I find that I don't really know much about what I've heard when I'm listening to an audiobook. I use them while I am driving long distances since I'm not a huge music fan and they are better than trying to keep a radio station tuned. But it's not like reading a book. When it's done, there isn't much that I remember from the book. On the occasions when my wife is away, I often play an audiobook when I got to bed, not because I'll wake of as if having read the book but they have a way of inserting themselves into my dreams that I find interesting.
I haven't tried that audio stories on my phone yet because our house is normally noisy. But I had listened to some audio books when we were testing the internet in the office a long time ago. It's like listening to a radio drama. Although I am not fond of music so expect me to be inclined to watching tv than listen to audio stories. But in fairness to audio stories, they are good for young mothers who have toddlers to take care of. This reminds me of the radio drama of old which was the favorite of my grandparents. Our hi-fi radio would be in loud volume when the drama starts at 10 in the morning. Now there is only 1 radio station doing that drama - DZRH.
I really love audiobooks, and I find them to be really useful whenever you are busy with something else, especially if you are driving or doing some hand work such as repairing some furniture around the house or simply cleaning out the house. My wife and I love them because it means that we get to experience books together, at the same time.
Since this thread began and ended only a few months after the forum was opened, I thought this might be a topic that some of you who are here now might want to weigh in on. My position is pretty much the same as in my other post in this thread. I can't usually follow the story in an audiobook but I use them sometimes when I'm sleeping, if my wife is away somewhere, which doesn't happen often. I've listened to several of them but I don't find audiobooks to be nearly as effective as actually reading a book. I have let my subscription to Audible lapse because I wasn't using it often. However, if my eyesight were to deteriorate further, to where I couldn't read easily, I might rethink my use of audiobooks.
My eyes started bothering me badly about twenty years ago. I have floaters from old construction and metal working injuries. I used to read voraciously but can hardly read two pages at a time now. Audiobooks don't take up the slack for me. I don't absorb all I'm hearing. Also, I tend to fall asleep in little five minute naps when I'm listening. Then I have to rewind and try to find what I last remembered. I mostly indulge in movies and videos online.
Reading isn't as easy for me as it used to be. I like using audiobooks while I'm sleeping. It's not like actually reading a book, but the storyline does work its way into my dreams sometimes. I can't usually do that because my wife prefers having talk radio on - either Coast to Coast or old episodes of Art Bell, which I like too.
As I'm writing this, I'm listening to Written in my Own Heart's Blood, the 8th book in the Outlander Series by Diana Gabaldon. Like @Ken Anderson, I love inserting these novels into my dreamscape, and as Dwight said, I find listening easier than reading, given recent eye trouble. But I do have to back up for missed sections and can't really multitask well if I really want to absorb the story. Next Audible waiting for me is The Autobiography of Kathryn Janeway. That should be fun!