Audiobook Review Article

Public Domain Audio Books: Listen To The Classics

Did you know that there were classics available to be downloaded for free from the internet. You may want to investigate the opportunity and hopefully, the websites will be around for quite some time so that you can take advantage of it. The books are available for free.

There is a wealth of information including great works of literature available for free in the public domain. These are full works that are available and can be downloaded for free. Approximately, 10 to 15% of all books fall into this category of being accessible due to public domain.

The information is free and accessible if it is not copyrighted. If they have a creative commons license they can be downloaded for free. Some books have never been copyrighted. Also some books may have been copyrighted at one time but, no longer are.

Volunteers read public domain audio books. There are groups that sponsor volunteers who upload the books for others to read. If they are unable to obtain volunteers or there is a shortage, they use computerize voices to read the books.

There are a multitude of file formats that are used for the public domain audio books. The MP3 format is the easiest because it can be made into a compact disc or can easily be listened to on a player. Another popular version is the OGG which can be listened to on a portable player.

There are a few websites that feature public books such as Librivox and others. Librivox is the most popular. They feature some famous authors and books that are legendary such as Jane Austen’s, Sense and Sensibility, Mansfield Park, Lady Susan and Persuasion. Other authors and poets such as EE Cummings, Robert Frost, Emily Dickenson, Walt Whitman, Sylvia Plath, Amy Lowell and Maya Angelou. Volunteers read the books.

There is an archive of books on the website archive.org. Similar to Librivox, the books are read by volunteers. Some of the most popular books featured on this website and are available for free are Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Pride and prejudice, Uncle Tom’s Cabin, Christmas Carol Collection and Sickness in the World. There are also Gutenberg Project books, poetry, book classics, religious books, dictionaries, cook books. You may want to spend some time browsing the websites because all these books are free and accessible to anyone.

Other items are available to be downloaded such as cover art and book summaries. Fairy tales and fables, the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, Declaration of Rights, Poetry and short story collections. You may want to consider browsing through the titles that are available so that you have a general idea what is available. You may be surprised by what you find.