Holmes and the Holidays

http://www.storiesnow.com/

The above link might be of interest to my fellow bookworms, as it has a quite good selection of old audio plays based upon various works of literature available for free listening. The Sherlock Holmes ones are particularly fun. I don't know about you, but I enjoy old radio plays. I even have the entire BBC Lord of the Rings radio play on cd, and I love listening to them.

Being in a rather Holmesian mood, I am thinking now of that new Sherlock Holmes movie coming out on Christmas day. I do not know if I shall go to watch it, as it seems like it has a rather good Watson and a rather dreadful Holmes, so I'm not sure if it would be worth it. Do you have any thoughts on the matter?

But anyway, that in turn has me thinking of Christmas! I am eagerly looking forward to the day, and was pleasantly surprised in church this morning when I saw the Advent wreath set up and the first candle being lit. I hadn't realized we were entering Advent yet! I love Advent--Family and prayer and the decorations going up and the decorating of the tree--and the singing Christmas Carols in Latin! Here's a celebratory carol for you--one of my favorites. Merry Advent!

(P.S. Don't forget the Lord of the Rings fan film "Born of Hope" is being released online on Dec. 1. I'm looking forward to that, too!)

Free Audiobooks!

Got your attention?

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!