Busy times call for some workarounds. One of the distinct advantages of audio books over its more physical form is that it saves time. Audio books take away a sliver of fun from the enjoyment of a book, but if the voiceover is well done, it makes up for it.
With the explosion of personal media players like iPods and even mobile phones which can carry media files, even a routine walk can be turned into an education.
Not all books are good for easy listening. Audio books on goal setting and motivation lend themselves well to listening while walking. That’s not to say you can’t enjoy an audio narration of a novel or even a bit of poetry.
The search for audio books may not always get you the title you want. Even then, you can get a few gems when you go searching. So, where do you go searching for free audio books to download and enjoy?
The following ten audio book websites, of course.
Booksshouldbefree
At this address you get free audio books in multiple genres and languages. You can check out the Top 100, drill through the genres, or use the Google search at the top to get the free audio book for download.
Pink explains in his new book Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us, the secret to high performance and satisfaction in today's world is the deeply human need to direct our own lives, to learn and create new things, and to do better by ourselves and our world.
Downloads are available in mp3 and iTunes format. The books are mostly classical literature and very well organized with reviews and a small preview. You can also check out the Wikipedia links on the book and the author.
NewFiction
NewFiction.com is one of the better “˜lookers’ in the class of free audio book websites. Perhaps, because it’s about “˜iSoaps’ or fictionalized stories delivered in episodes daily. Stories are voiced by trained dramatic actors for your aural appeal.
You can subscribe to the “˜iSoaps’ and play episodes online, get it as a podcast, or download it to your PC or your portable device (iPod, cell phone etc).
ThoughtAudio
ThoughtAudio is a neat little audio book website with a neat collection of classical works. You can listen to them online or download them in segments. You can also view the written text of some of the books as a PDF download.
LibriVox
Download Torrent Of The Audio Book Drive What Motivates Us Pdf
Our previous thorough reviewGet Free Public Domain Audiobooks From LibriVoxGet Free Public Domain Audiobooks From LibriVoxRead More on LibriVox covers this audio book website. LibriVox is a repository of free audio books in the public domain. It is a volunteer driven site, where enthusiasts record freely available books and make them available as MP3 downloads or podcasts.
You can also volunteer to be a reader, no qualifications other than an audible voice is necessary. You can search through the collection using the catalog search on the site. An advanced search option is also available.
Podiobooks
Podiobooks is a similar episodic audio rendition of free audio books as podcasts. Like lot of podcasts, you can receive them as RSS feeds or download them directly. The number of categories is well covered from alternative history to chick lit and satire. The audio book site has about 434 titles in its stock.
Open Culture
Audio books are just one of the sections covered on this site which focuses on educational media collected from other sites. You get to download free courses from universities in MP3 format, language lessons as podcasts, and a variety of other podcasts that cover subjects like technology, travel, music, science, and more.
Learn Out Loud
LearnOutLoud.com is a well designed and large collection of audio books. Their catalog has 25,000 audio and video titles in a mixture of paid and free. You can click on the tab marked as Free Stuff to access the free audio books that are available for download with a right click.
All usual genres are well represented. For instance, if you are into self development, you have 425 titles to choose from. All titles are rated and reviewed.
Project Gutenberg
Project Gutenberg is the ongoing effort to digitize and archive cultural works in the form of eBooks. It also works in co-operation with websites like LibriVox and AudioBooksForFree for creating audio books. As a result, you can browse through their comprehensive list of human and machine read audio books.
You can go through the list alphabetically for author and title. Audio books are also available in a number of languages. But the quicker way would be to use the Advanced Search page.
Storynory
A free audio book site especially for children is a nice little place for classic children stories like “˜A Christmas Carol’, fairy tales “˜Aesop’, educational stories that cover The Bible or history, and lots of other original stuff. You can download a free audio story every week.
Librophile
The interface at first glance appears a bit off-the-wall. Then you realize that it’s a search tool for eBooks. Librophile collects and displays eBooks mostly from LibriVox and Audible. Click on the Free button and then go through the listings.
A mouseover over the thumbnail cover gives you a sketchy summary. You can download the free audio books as a ZIP file, play it in the browser, or check it out as a readable eBook. Clicking on a title takes you to the Audible or LibriVox website.
Do you have any other free audio book site to add to the list? Personally, I have found audio books to be the best way to beat traffic jams. What about you?
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Explore more about: Audiobooks, Reading.
- Can you please tell me an online site to listen to it by Stephen king
- Hi I just want to say that Librivox is really the only one you need to use. Librivox audios are the audio carries by most of the other sites and it is the best catologed.Thanks!
- Adorable.
- I have recently rekindled my hobby of embroidery, and thought audiobooks while I work would be great. I had no idea where to even start. My IT skills are just a little better than beginner, Google brought me to your post, thank you so much, ready to start searching :)
- I HAVE GONE through over 50 sites and i can't find the book i want the book came out in 2000
book --- Plague Time by Paul W. Wald- Ask the Library of Congress
- The Library of Congress Talking Book Library has this title. If you don't qualify to be a member of this library perhaps you know someone who is and they can receive the book on any apple product after downloading the BARD app.
- Thank you for taking the time to prepare this nice list.I just wanted to offer an opinion about LearnOutLoud.com. I have been trying it, off and on, for years. I find that about 75% of it is PAID material, and among the freebies, there is not much useful. Much of the freebies consist of the first chapter of a narration that they sell, or the first lecture of a series that they sell, and much of the other stuff is either outdated or items of little appeal, such as perhaps the 9/11 report, or Clinton's speech given about some insignificant event. Every time I try the site, I wish I hadn't.All the other sites that you named may be very good. Thought Audio's narrations are simply wonderful, but the selection is rather limited.You may wish to add to your list EJUNTO.ORG for a few political and philosohical narrations, equally well done.Thanks again, my friend.
- Hello. The book called ' LET STALK STRINE' sent me here. I am going to learn some Australian English as I am an English tutor. I have this idea that if I get an audio-book and mix reading with listening, the process will carry on faster, like when you read subtitles if you don't understand some film in original. So, guys, could you tell me where to find this audio-book, if it exists at all? The 'written' book is here, if anyone gets interested 'http://www.textfiles.com/humor/strine.txt' P.S. +1
- audiobookbay is the only useful suggestion here.. unless of course someone wants only 100yrs old books or some amateur stuff.
- I'm a huge fan of https://archive.org/details/audio for all kinds of audio materials.
- this web site is really rich
god bless who made it
thank's a lotregardsworoudteleghma - There's also CraftLit, Forgotten Classics and Chop Bard.
- There's also CraftLit, Forgotten Classics, and ChopBard.
- And this is MY favorite tool to maintin my vast collection :)http://www.the-airheads.com (My Audiobook Collection) an extensive tool for my Audiobooks.
- And this is MY favorite tool to maintin my vast collection :)http://www.the-airheads.com (My Audiobook Collection) an extensive tool for my Audiobooks.
- For Muslims, there is an audio version of Holy Quran as well,To read it online check out, http://quran.com/
- Audiobooks turns your car into a university on wheels.
- My favorite book is the Bible. You can get an audio download here:
http://www.jw.org/index.html?o..Or, if you wish to read it online instead, go here:
http://www.watchtower.org/e/bi.. - My favorite book is the Bible. You can get an audio download here:
http://www.jw.org/index.html?option=QrYQZRQVNlVlYROr, if you wish to read it online instead, go here:
http://www.watchtower.org/e/bible/index.htm- For Muslims, there is an audio version of Holy Quran as well,To read it online check out, http://quran.com/
- I'm a road-warrior that listens to more books than music in a 5-7hr drive (one way). Not finding what I want through the local library has me thinking this post really-really helpful. Thanks a bunch for the list and descriptions!
- I love these! I have been using many of them for quite a while. Thanks for this list!
- Also, http://www.overdrive.com publishes a HUGE catalog of audio books that are offered through memberships at your local library. They have many newer titles, and are compatible with most MP3 players. Only downside is that you may have to wait for the title to become available, and the title expires and cannot be played after 14 days. Did I mention..it's FREE?
- Also, http://www.overdrive.com publishes a HUGE catalog of audio books that are offered through memberships at your local library. They have many newer titles, and are compatible with most MP3 players. Only downside is that you may have to wait for the title to become available, and the title expires and cannot be played after 14 days. Did I mention..it's FREE?
- Just move the audio book title you want to keep out of Overdrive's 'My Media' folder and it's yours forever!
- Don't forget http://LightUpYourBrain.com and http://FreeMP3AudioBooks.com
- Wong it! [Broken Link Removed]
- Don't forget http://LightUpYourBrain.com and http://FreeMP3AudioBooks.com
- Wong it![Broken Link Removed]
- AudioforBooks.com offers a growing library of free audiobooks for its members. Membership is free and there are other benefits for subscribers. I think you have summarized the benefits of audiobooks very well in the first paragraph of this page.It's the quality of the narration that projects the scene of the story into the mind of the listener that makes a great audio book. This is often borne out by listening to the same book, read by a different narrator.Recording an audiobook is no simple task and does require certain skills by the narrator, an analogy I sometimes use to explain this is, most people can sing! But not everyone can do it really well.Pete Markovic
Publisher of AudioforBooks.com - AudioforBooks.com offers a growing library of free audiobooks for its members. Membership is free and there are other benefits for subscribers. I think you have summarized the benefits of audiobooks very well in the first paragraph of this page.It's the quality of the narration that projects the scene of the story into the mind of the listener that makes a great audio book. This is often borne out by listening to the same book, read by a different narrator.Recording an audiobook is no simple task and does require certain skills by the narrator, an analogy I sometimes use to explain this is, most people can sing! But not everyone can do it really well.Pete Markovic
Publisher of AudioforBooks.com- This is not a free site!
The website AudioforBooks not offer free audio books!
Publisher Description
The New York Times bestseller that gives readers a paradigm-shattering new way to think about motivation from the author of When: The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing
Most people believe that the best way to motivate is with rewards like money—the carrot-and-stick approach. That's a mistake, says Daniel H. Pink (author of To Sell Is Human: The Surprising Truth About Motivating Others). In this provocative and persuasive new book, he asserts that the secret to high performance and satisfaction-at work, at school, and at home—is the deeply human need to direct our own lives, to learn and create new things, and to do better by ourselves and our world.
Drawing on four decades of scientific research on human motivation, Pink exposes the mismatch between what science knows and what business does—and how that affects every aspect of life. He examines the three elements of true motivation—autonomy, mastery, and purpose-and offers smart and surprising techniques for putting these into action in a unique book that will change how we think and transform how we live.
Most people believe that the best way to motivate is with rewards like money—the carrot-and-stick approach. That's a mistake, says Daniel H. Pink (author of To Sell Is Human: The Surprising Truth About Motivating Others). In this provocative and persuasive new book, he asserts that the secret to high performance and satisfaction-at work, at school, and at home—is the deeply human need to direct our own lives, to learn and create new things, and to do better by ourselves and our world.
Drawing on four decades of scientific research on human motivation, Pink exposes the mismatch between what science knows and what business does—and how that affects every aspect of life. He examines the three elements of true motivation—autonomy, mastery, and purpose-and offers smart and surprising techniques for putting these into action in a unique book that will change how we think and transform how we live.
Good
Great addition to predictably irrational. Kept me interested and surprised all the way.
Enlightening!!!
Daniel Pink has turned the science of motivation into an easy to digest, masterpiece that helps us understand how we too can motivate our troops!
Best book I've read in a LONG time!
Buy it now - I've recommended it to a number of colleagues and friends with nothing more than great responses. Well written and communicated. Two thumbs up. I hope Pinks other books are this good. Fingers crossed!