LibriVox is a wondrously ingenious website. Basically, there are many books (mostly those published in 1920 and earlier) which are currently in the free domain, and which are therefore available online in places like Project Gutenberg for free. The folks who started LibriVox went one step further: Using volunteer readers, they have created and posted online for free listening and download a multitude of free domain audiobooks! Of course, this means that modern books covered by copyright are not included. But to a reader of my tastes, this does not matter. The variety is excellent, as since this is a database of basically fans reading books they like, there's many more obscure titles in audiobook form: Eddison, Dunsany, Chesterton, MacDonald, Morris, and other authors are represented, as are bigger names like Dickens, Melville, and Verne. I've even found a reading of 'The Song of Roland'!
The readers are all volunteers, but those I have listened to so far seem to read pretty well. I'm currently listening to The Worm Ouroboros, and the reader has a slight accent, perhaps Scottish, that I'm enjoying. It's not a professional reading, but it is certainly well done and makes for enjoyable listening. The audio is clear and of excellent quality. What really delights me about this website, though, is that it is for readers like me: Bookworms who have a penchant for obscure old books which normally would never be made into audiobooks. I mean, 'The Day Boy and The Night Girl' audiobook?? Whee!
So what are you waiting for? Go check it out!
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