Looking for the best books on librivox? then this article will be useful to you.
librivox is an internet resource for free public domain audiobooks that I have enjoyed and used over the last two decades. its (laudable) purpose would be to make all public domain publications available in sound versions.
You are reading: Best books on librivox
How they hope to do this would be to allow anyone to volunteer to read a magazine. this leaves its huge selection in the hands of a mix of excellent, average, and poor readers.
Instead of complaining about novels that aren’t worth listening to, I thought I’d post a list of exceptional titles. the most rewarding listening experience arises if there is a lone narrator, but I sometimes make an exception for this. enjoy these recent librivox recordings!
top rated librivox best books to read
here is a list of the best librivox audiobooks that penn book recommends reading:
behind the green door, mildred a. write
mildred a. Wirt was the author of the first 23 Nancy Draw (Carolyn Keine) novels. She loved nancy draw, but I didn’t understand that the same writer had written some other children’s collections.
Behind the Green Door is part of this 17-book series by Penny Parker, starring a high school student turned detective. Penny stumbles upon puzzles while working as a reporter for her father’s newspaper.
nancy drew will have a special place in my heart, but i like penny better. she is more individual: stubborn, reckless, and often overspends her tolerance. Cheryl Adam does a beautiful read, which made me laugh out loud, and she has already finished six novels in the collection.
wonderful adventures of mrs. seacole in many lands, mary seacole
Mary Seacole was a half-Scottish, half-Jamaican adventurer who worked as a nurse during the Crimean War. another of librivox’s best is wonderful adventures recounts her travels through central america and her adventures as a nurse, among other experiences. Mrs. Seacole includes a no-nonsense voice, significantly simplifying the 19th century.
It’s rare to hear the opinion of a person with a period who would have been marginalized, a girl and a man of color. cori samuel reading attracts mrs. Seacole’s bitter observations on life.
the husband of the rose garden, margaret widdemer
I love audiobooks about librarians, particularly romance books. The Rose Garden Husband is the story of Phyllis, a children’s librarian who secretly wishes she had a house of her own. having lost faith in love, she makes an arrangement to marry an invalid and take care of her (supposedly imminent) departure.
naturally, things don’t go according to plan. Fair warning: this is old-school love (originally published in 1915). it is quite heteronormative and reinforces many class and gender stereotypes. but it is very well written.
The author won a Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 1919 and is fluent in the English language. mary herndon bell’s narration for librivox brings out the best in this sweet story.
lost man lane, anna katharine green
If people start disappearing one after another off a specific country lane, Inspector Gryce calls in an old friend, Miss Amelia Butterworth, to scout. miss butterworth is the prototype of this nosy spinster detective.
As a huge miss marple fan, I was curious to know that miss butterworth had arrived. Anna Katharine Green was one of the first female mystery writers. Her work influenced greats like Agatha Christie and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.
The lane of this book is a persuasive mix of suspense and traditional cozy mystery, and I loved every moment of it. Librivox’s best reader, Mary Beard, is a captivating and personable Miss Butterworth.
flatland: a romance of many dimensions, edwin abbot abbott
flatland, originally published in 1884, is a great science fiction classic, coupled with a whimsical exploration of a mathematical idea. the story is set in a two-dimensional world occupied by geometric figures.
even the narrator, a square called square, explains his cultural habits and reports his strange experiences first using a one-dimensional universe called lineland, then using a three-dimensional world called spaceland. eventually portland (consisting entirely of one stage, the only inhabitant of this little universe).
flatland is a fascinating mathematical analysis and, at the same time, an oblique social satire on Victorian culture. I may not have discovered this novel were it not for ruth golding’s magnificent librivox recordings, and it remains one of the most remarkable feats of world building I have ever seen.
the thirty-nine measures (1875 – 1940), john buchan
Richard Hannay’s boredom is soon relieved when the resourceful engineer finds himself caught up in a web of secret codes, spies, and murder on the eve of World War I.
This exciting action-adventure novel was the inspiration for Alfred Hitchcock’s 1939 classic film of the same name. John Buchan (1875-1940) was Governor General of Canada and a famous novelist.
Although some condemned him for anti-Semitic conversation in the thirty-nine bars, his personality sentiments do not represent the perspective of this writer who had been identified in hitler’s sonderfahndungsliste as a Jewish sympathizer.
relativity: the special and general theory (1879 – 1955), albert einstein
that’s an introduction to einstein’s space bending, the time-stretching concept of relativity, he composed himself. general and special relativity describe the arrangement of space-time and provide a theory of gravitation, respectively. Einstein’s theories shocked the entire world with their counterintuitive results, for example, the dissolution of all time.
In this book, he also brings a simplified variant of his deep understanding of the subject to the layman. from Einstein’s words:
“this book aims, as far as possible, to provide a specific view of the theory of relativity to those great readers who, from a general scientific and philosophical perspective, are thinking about the concept, but who do not is it so. become familiar with the mathematical apparatus of theoretical physics.”
the post is hard at times.
however, when approached, it proves to be among the most lucid explanations of relativity to be discovered anywhere.
the parenticide club (1842 – 1914), ambrose bierce
ambrose bierce (1842 – 1914?), better known as a journalist, satirist and short story author. cynical in outlook, fashionable economics; Bierce disappeared during an audience with Pancho Villa’s army.
four gruesome short stories about a murder within the family were found through the gently innocent eyes of family members, usually the killer himself.
the house with a thousand candles (1866 – 1947) by meredith nicholson
one of the ten best sellers of 1906, the house with a thousand candles is part adventure/mystery and part love. The book begins with young Jack Glenarm coming from a variety of exploits in Europe and Africa to scan his grandfather’s will.
Inside, he may inherit his grandfather’s estate, but only when he can stay for a single year at the old man’s unfinished residence with a thousand candles in Annandale, Indiana, with his grandfather’s mysterious valet.
p>
when he violates the conditions of the will, the house will visit a young woman, previously unknown to him, with whom he will even be forbidden to marry if he wants to keep his inheritance.
See Also: What are the Standard Book Sizes in Publishing? • Your Guide to Trim Sizes
This sounds mundane to Jack, and he expects to get very bored in a relatively short time. Shortly after Jack’s arrival at Glenarm House, however, several strange events occur, and he finds himself consumed with the positive experience of his life!
the door through space (1930 – 1999), marion zimmer bradley
At one time, Hurry Cargill was the best representative of Terran intelligence in the complicated and mysterious world of Wolf. he had endangered his life among the half-human and non-human animals of this sullen world. and he had accomplished the fantastic quests before his name was blazoned with glory.
but that was apparently over. For six decades, he had sat behind a boring desk inside the fenced-off terran headquarters, cut there ever since he, along with a rival, had torn and invaded each other in a blood feud.
However, if the gate through space was abruptly opened, the feud was on and with this kind of plot made to try and destroy the terran empire.
the invisible man (1866 – 1946), h.g wells
This is one of the best-known science fiction books of all time. Composed by H.G Wells (1866-1946), it tells the story of a scientist who discovers the secret of invisibility and uses it on himself.
The story begins when the invisible man, wearing a bandaged face and a thick jacket and gloves, takes a train to parade through a country inn as he tries to find the antidote and make himself visible.
the house on the border (1877 – 1918), william hope hodgson
In 1877, two gentlemen, Messrs. Tonnison and Berreggnog, ventured into Ireland to spend a week fishing in the village of Kraighten. , they find in the ruins of an extremely curious house a diary of the guy who had owned it. its torn pages seem to hint at a perverse arrival on the side of the curtains of impossibility.
This is a timeless book that gradually bridges the gap between the brilliant, supernatural British writers of the late nineteenth century and contemporary horror fiction. early American horror author h. p. Lovecraft lists this, along with Hodgson’s other roles, as one of his major influences.
history of the jews in russia and poland, volume 1 [of 3], simon dubnow
simon dubnow was born in 1860 into a poor jewish family in the belarusian city of msts law and later became the jurisdiction of jewish and activist origin. Due to his Jewish origin, he had to go to Saint Petersburg, Odessa, Vilnius (Lithuania), Saint Petersburg (second period), Kaunas (Lithuania), Berlin and finally Riga (Latvia) after Hitler came to power.
When Nazi soldiers occupied Latvia in 1941, he was taken with tens of thousands of other Jews to the Riga ghetto and eventually killed.
His life is a symbol of Jewish suffering in Eastern Europe in the first half of the 20th century. This publication is the comprehensive and comprehensive study of the beauty and angst of the Jews in Russia and Poland during the 2000s.
the claverings, anthony trolope
“I think the narrative as a whole is excellent, although I’m not aware of people corroborating that verdict” – the writer.
the claverings is the best wrought iron of these audiobooks destined for the cornhill and indeed guessed like any book I’ve ever written.” – sadleir.
daniel deronda, george eliot
In this enduring Victorian classic composed in 1876, two stories intertwine: the first is about Gwendolen, one of Eliot’s most fabulous creations, developing from a self-centered youthful beauty to a thoughtful adult using a worldview that surrounds her.
The next one is about Daniel Deronda, the adopted son of an English aristocrat who is fascinated with Jewish ways when he meets an ailing Jewish philosopher named Mordecai and his sensitive sister Mirah.
the gilt, baroness emma orczy
from baroness orczy, el dorado is the sequel to the classic adventure novel, the scarlet pimpernel. It was first published in 1913. The publication is notable in that it is the partial basis for most of the film treatments of the first publication.
emma (version 3), jane austen
jane austen famously portrayed emma woodhouse, the main character of her first book published in december 1815, as a heroine whom no one but me will like very much. Still, generations of viewers have loved Emma as much for her mistakes as her humor and vivacity.
Emma, beautiful, smart and rich, has nothing to do but try to match her friends, and she always misreads the connections and situations around her as much as she misreads her own heart.
The publication features a wonderful cast of characters, including emma’s hypochondriac father, the obnoxiously proud mrs. elton, the mystical and reserved jane fairfax, and miss bates, who never stops talking.
the secret of lady audley, mary elizabeth braddon
Mary Elizabeth Braddon’s first publication, Lady Audley’s Secret, has been among the most widely read English-language audiobooks of its time. Originally serialized in 1862, it tells the story of this beautiful Lucy Graham, who is Lady Audley at the beginning of the book, and who is hiding a scandalous secret from her new husband and her loved ones.
The story, which includes madness, bigamy, attempted murder and charm, created this shocking but exceptionally successful narrative for Victorian crowds. it remains one of the foremost examples of impressive nineteenth-century fiction, and can be a wonderfully absorbing publication.
northanger abbey (version 2), jane austen
northanger abbey follows catherine morland and friends from the house mr. and mrs allen as they see bath, england. Seventeen-year-old Catherine spends her time seeing new friends, like Isabella Thorpe, and moving to dances.
catherine finds herself chased by isabella’s brother john thorpe (catherine’s brother, a friend of james’s from college) and henry tilney. She befriends Eleanor Tilney, Henry’s younger sister.
henry captivates his vision of audiobooks and his understanding of the world. General Tilney (Henry and Eleanor’s father) invites Catherine to come to his estate, Northanger Abbey, which, since she has been studying Ann Radcliffe’s gothic novel The Udolpho Mysteries, Catherine hopes will turn dark, historical and full of incredible mystery.
a room with a view (version 2), p. meter. forster
The 1908 book A Room with a View is the story of Lucy Honeychurch, a young Englishwoman traveling to Italy for the first time. While staying in Florence, Lucy runs into the offbeat George Emerson, with whom she shares a fervent kiss, much to the terror of her chaperone, Ella’s spinster cousin Charlotte.
In England, Lucy finds she has to choose between George and her fiancé Cecil Vyse. Forster’s superbly comic love lampoons turn-of-the-century English civilization (as does hers in another significant book of this period, Howards End).
the twist, henry james
The Turn of the Screw is a novel written by Henry James. It is a ghost story that was initially printed in 1898. An unnamed governess explains the events of 2 ghosts that haunt little children that she has control over. Is she trustworthy or an inventive neurotic?
the virginian, owen wister
Ostensibly a romance, the book revolves around a highly mythologized version of the johnson county war in wyoming in 1890. the publication takes this aspect of big ranchers and portrays lynching as frontier justice, meted out by the protagonist , which is part of a natural aristocracy among men.
wives and daughters (version 2), elizabeth cleghorn gaskell
Elizabeth Gaskell’s last novel was serialized in Cornhill Magazine from 1864 to 1866 and finished by her publisher. It looks like English life from the 1830s through the adventures of Molly Gibson, a widowed doctor’s daughter who grew up in the provincial town of Wallingford. when mr. Gibson decides to remarry, Molly has been forced to deal with a pretentious stepmother.
however, he takes solace in a close friendship with cynthia, his new stepsister. The women’s connections with the regional inhabitants, especially the squire of Hamley Hall along with his loved ones, make the events funny, romantic and tragic, by turns.
uncle tom’s cabin, harriet beecher stowe
Uncle Tom’s Cabin or Life Among the Humble is one of the most banned books in the United States. It was written by Harriet Beecher Stowe and had slavery as its central theme.
moby dick, or the whale, herman melville
moby dick is unlike any other novel, literature or anything else. The central theme of the novel is the obsessive hunting of Captain Ahab, the man responsible for the book’s white whale.
There are also digressions, paradoxes and philosophical riffs on whaling and life interspersed with the story. some have even referred to the first modern moby dick novel from 1851 as the first modern novel.
a tale of two cities, charles dickens
charles dickens novel, a tale of two cities, takes place in paris and london before and during the french revolution. is one of the most famous works of historical fiction literature. describes the demoralization of the French peasantry by the French aristocracy in the years leading up to the revolution.
The revolutionaries also show brutality towards the former aristocrats during the first years of the process. There are many social parallels between the novel and life in London at this period. these facts are reflected in the lives of many characters.
the wind in the willows, kenneth grahame
See Also: Chapter Summary
Kenneth Grahame’s children’s book, The Wind in the Willows, was first published in 1908. It alternates between slow and fast pace and centers on four anthropomorphized animals living in pastoral England. he is known for his blend of adventure, mysticism and morality and his admiration for nature’s evocation of the thames valley.
the adventures of tom sawyer, mark twain
The famous American story of youth, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876), is well known. Mark Twain’s entertaining tale of childhood adventures and troubles is set in St. petersburg, missouri.
tom sawyer and huckleberry finn are a couple of guys who have a lot of experiences. They have bug races in class, impress girls (especially Becky Thatcher) with stunts and fights in schoolyards, get lost in a cave, and play pirate on the Mississippi River.
great expectations, charles dickens
Great Expectations is the thirteenth and penultimate novel by Charles Dickens. is a bildungsroman that represents the personal growth of a boy named pip.
a carol, charles dickens
narration: solo, kara shallenberg
A Christmas Carol is a novel written by Charles Dickens. was first published by chapman & hall in london on december 19, 1843. it was a great success and received critical acclaim.
other best librivox books highly recommended:
- his final bow, sir arthur conan doyle
- the hound of the baskervilles, sir arthur conan doyle
- the jungle book, rudyard kipling first published in magazines in 1893-94
- the sign of four, sir arthur conan doyle
- a study in scarlet, sir arthur conan doyle
- a little princess, frances hodgson burnett
- anne of green gables series, lucy maud montgomery
- the valley of fear, sir arthur conan doyle
- the adventures of sherlock holmes (version 2) – short stories – read, ruth golding – sir arthur conan doyle
- blond house, charles dickens
- hard times, charles dickens
- the adventures of sherlock holmes, sir arthur conan doyle
- life and adventures of nich olas nickleby, charl es dickens
- little dorrit, charles dickens
- mark twain: the complete interviews, mark twain
- mark twain: his life and work, william m. clemens
- the old curio shop, charles dickens
- the wonderful wizard of oz, l. frank baum
- the memoirs of sherlock holmes, sir arthur conan doyle
- oliver twist, charles dickens
- our mutual friend, charles dickens
- little women, louisa may alcott
- adventures of huckleberry finn, mark twain first published in the united kingdom in december 1884 and in the united states in february 1885
- the secret garden, frances h
- jane eyre, charlotte brontë – narration: solo, elizabeth klett
- treasure island, robert louis stevenson – narration: solo, karawillenberg
- heidi, johanna spyri – narration: solo, kara shallenberg
- the robinson swiss family, johann david wyss – narration: solo , kara shallenberg
- alice in wonderland, lewis carroll, william glennon – narration: solo, kara s hallenberg
how to listen to librivox audio files?
Once you have downloaded mp3 or ogg vorbis files to your computer, there are several ways to listen to them:
on your laptop
the file format used by librivox audiobooks is not unique. So suppose you’ve used your computer to listen to audio files (such as mp3 files), music CDs, or video DVDs. In that case, you are ready to listen to our audiobooks.
You can listen to them through your computer speakers or connected headphones while using your preferred audio player (such as itunes, winamp, quicktime or windows media player) to play them. If you don’t already have any of these programs installed, you can download them for free.
troubleshooting
check these things if you’ve never played audio or video on your computer before and you’re trying to play an audiobook in your player app but you’re getting no sound:
Make sure your computer speakers are working.
- Your power supply and the cable to the computer’s sound output or speaker port are connected.
- They are on: Most speakers have an on/off switch. off.
- have the volume control set to a higher setting than the lowest.
make sure the system sound on your machine is set to:
- mute is not on.
- sound is amplified (this is different from the speaker volume control).
- both are managed by the “control volume control” software in microsoft windows.
on an mp3 player, like an ipod
audio files can be loaded onto an ipod or other portable digital audio player so you can listen while you exercise or walk the dog.
inside a cd player
You can play the files on your home radio or car stereo by burning them to an mp3 disc or audio cd.
best readers on librivox
even if we appreciate these readers, you should listen to a sample of the first chapter online before downloading any book to see if you would love the reader.
To see all the books a reader has contributed, click their name to go directly to their librivox page. just a few of their favorite novels they have read are listed here.
Also, for a more consistent reading experience, choose books that have been read by a single reader rather than a group, as there may sometimes be a chapter or two where the reader’s voice makes it difficult for you. impossible to hear.
wild karen
- anne of green tiles series
- the secret garden
- a little princess
- the children on the train
- jane austen books
- shakespeare tales
john lieder
- the adventures of johnny chuck
- the adventures of reddy fox and others from the same series
- the life of abraham lincoln
mark f. blacksmith
- the adventures of huckleberry finn
- the adventures of pinocchio
- the adventures of sherlock holmes
- the call of the wild
- captains brave
- gettysburg speech
- give me liberty speech
- great expectations
- robinson crusoe
- swiss robinson family
- the wind in the willows
laurie ann walden
- the book of dragons
- old mother west wind
- children of mother west wind
laura caldwell
- fifty famous stories retold
- beautiful childhood
- stories from American history
- beautiful stories from shakespeare
sibella dentex
- cranford by gaskell
- emma by jane austen
- four great americans
- egyptian history 1-3
kalynda
- historical tales 1-6
phil chenevert
- such are the stories
- esop’s fables
- how a man thinks
- dr. the montessori manual itself
- the jungle book
- pinocchio
- pollyanna
abagail rasmussen
- little women
- kara shallenberg
- alice’s adventures in wonderland
- a Christmas carol
- heidi
- a little princess
- the history of our island
- poems that every child should know
- the secret garden
- the swiss robinson family
- this country of ours
- treasure island
lee ann howlett
- Got it Betsy
elizabeth klet
- the adventures of odysseus and the tale of troy
- the sons of odin
- jane eyre
- a little princess
- jane austen – various
harris brand
- read several g. a. henty books
what are your favorite books in the librivox best audiobooks? please comment below! Happy reading!