Having a free audio book in the car for when you run errands, on your phone when you’re traveling, or on your computer to enjoy while you work, can keep you sane and add some fun and interest to your day.
These websites offer completely free audio books for you to download and listen to whenever you want. With these free audio books, no more “I don’t have time to read”. All you have to do is listen.
1. LOYAL BOOKS
The site offers free audio books from a multitude of genres, from adventure and romance to science fiction and historical fiction. Users can download titles from Loyal Books to be listened to via an MP3 file or through the Apple Podcasts app, or to stream on an RSS feed. The site offers content in 28 languages, from Ancient Greek to Urdu, not including multilingual titles.
2. OPEN CULTURE
Open Culture wants us to learn today. The site does more than provide a wide array of audio books: It offers free cultural and educational media to whomever wants it. You can find online educational courses on everything from economics to philosophy and even demography to guided meditations, textbooks, and movies. Selections can be listened to via free mp3 downloads, streams, or iTunes downloads. Open Culture runs on donations.
3. DIGITAL BOOK
Digital Book, which is powered by Amazon, offers a wide range of titles and genres, and it looks good doing it; unlike many a competitor, the site’s design is “clean and simple.” Many of the audio books offered can be listened to as podcasts, so you can access them easily on an iPhone via the Apple Podcasts app. And because Digital Books has an up-to-date trending chart of books, you can get recommendations from your fellow audio book listeners.
4. LIBRIVOX
Of course LibriVox grants its users with free audio books, but it also takes the process one step further: Because the site’s free audio books are made possible by volunteer readers, you can volunteer your voice — and dramatic reading skills — to help LibriVox expand its library. In particular, LibriVox needs your help to record books in the public domain, or those that were published before 1923 (no audition or prior recording experience is necessary). Turn your love of audio books into a way to give back to the public domain, of which your recorded voice will become a part! LibriVox’s audio book catalog can be enjoyed by downloading audio book files onto a computer, smartphone, or CD-ROM.
5. LIT2GO
As indicated by its name, Lit2Go focuses on the classics. What sets the site apart from the rest, however, is that it’s a treasure trove for an expansive selection of poetry compilations, many of which can be hard to find in the catalogs of other audio book sites. Lit2Go boasts compilations of Emily Dickinson’s work, poetry found on vintage scenic postcards from Florida, and much of Paul Laurence Dunbar’s finest writing (just to name a few). Lit2Go invites users to support literacy by donating, and its collection is available in mp3 format.
6. PROJECT GUTENBERG
As the oldest digital library online, Project Gutenberg has been working to archive as many books as possible since its founding in 1971. The site’s catalog now consists of over 60,000 free eBooks downloadable as mp3 files. That number was made possible by the site’s practice of approving 99% of the requests it receives to turn books into audio books or eBooks. Similar to LibriVox, Project Gutenberg asks readers to donate their voices if they’re willing and able. Volunteer voices contribute to their human-read audio book collection, and the site also houses a computer-read audio book collection. If you’ve got a book you’d like digitized that Project Gutenberg doesn’t already have in their catalog, send them an email. Otherwise, the organization is powered by donations.
7. STORYNORY
StoryNory’s offerings are as cute as its name suggests: The site offers free audio book versions of stories, fairy tales, poems, music, and myths. That includes narrative works by classic authors (think Dickens, Carroll, and Baum), myths from Welsh, Norse, Greek, and other world cultures, and fairy tales from the Brothers Grimm, Aesop, and Charles Perrault. StoryNory is perfect for parents looking for a great way to entertain kids, or for folks of all ages who just want to be read a bedtime story. The books are read by an enthusiastic, kid-friendly voice, and selections can be streamed from the site, which stays up and running thanks to Patreon donors.
By Samiah Olabimpe
