Research shows that if a person reads a book while listening to the text then he can retain the text for longer period and can finish the book much faster. With the advancement of technology and science and advent of audio books, it is possible to listen to the text while reading the book. Here is a list of 10 best places to find free online audio books.
1. Librivox
Librivox’s motto is to make all the books available in the public domain, that too free, in audio format on the internet. The website is a project which is not focused upon profitability and runs completely on donating its recordings to the public domain. All Librivox recordings are available in the public domain.
2. Spoken Alexandria Project
The Spoken Alexandria Project came into being basically to create a library of spoken word recordings which is free to be accessed by the public. The project consists of recording the recorded works in the public domain (that too with permission, so that nothing is illegal or against any country’s governmental rules). The audio books are available for free from this website in widely used formats which can be downloaded too.
3. Learn Out Loud
Learn Out Loud is a website which has scoured the internet to get for its users over 5000 audio and video titles, that too free. The website’s directory has free audio books, lectures, speeches by famous people, sermons, interviews to learn from and many other great free audio and video resources which you would love to listen and watch. The audio files can be downloaded in MP3 format so that you can listen to them on the go. The videos though cannot be downloaded but can be streamed online.
4. Gutenberg Audio Books Project
The Gutenberg Audio Books Project is innovative in its functionality. The books on the website are available in two types: Human – read, in which of course a real human reads the book loud which is then recorded and listed on the website. The other type is computer-generated audio books, in which the book’s text is converted to a voice with the help of technology and computer. Because of the quality, the files may be large so it is not a wise decision to download them if you use a low-speed connection.
5. Books should be free
Books should be free is a place where people say “Books should really be free”. The website is a great collection of audio books on nearly every topic imaginable on earth – including classics and children’s literature.
6. Free (hyphen) Books (dot) org
Free (hyphen) Books (dot) org features a wide variety of free downloadable MP3 audio books which you can listen to on the go. The categories of audio books available include American literature, European literature, Children’s literature, Science, History, Shakespeare and Poetry. The website includes more than 1,00,000 pages of free books and teaching materials. More than what you are willing to read!
7. Podiobooks
Podiobooks provides free serialized audio books with some innovative process. It does not give you the whole book at once but one chapter at a time so that you do not feel burdened. You can set the schedule when you want the next chapter. The website is focused upon bringing together the listeners of audio books and authors of the books and taking the advantage of the vast space of internet.
8. Audio Literature Odyssey
The Audio Literature Odyssey is a place of collection of interesting short stories, poetry and other readings. The audio books are recorded from voice actor Nikolle Doolin. The website includes works from some famous writers such as Henry James, Edgar Allan Poe, Shakespeare and many more.
9. Simply Audio books
Simply Audio books is a website which has a small collection of free books which can be downloaded in MP3 format. The website owners believe that we can rediscover our passion by listening to audio books. They understand that time and money both are precious, so they have provided audio books, which are free (saves money) and can be listened to in your car while you are driving to your work (saves time).
10. Audible
Though Audible is not a site which provides audio books for free, but still it is listed here because of its 14-day trial period in which you get two free books. Just make sure that you cancel before the 14 days trials period is over.
