Frugal Reading: Free Audiobooks!

A long while back, I kicked off my Frugal Reading Series with some tips on becoming a frugal reader. And then I moved, got pregnant (and very sick), had a baby, and moved again. Now that I’m back, I’m excited to continue this series combining two of my favorite things – reading and frugality!

For so long I had serious Audible envy. No matter what new member promotions, Black Friday deals, or other money-saving contrivances I came upon, the simple fact remained that Audible costs money. That’s not to say the cost isn’t justified for the product; it just isn’t practical for my budget. I’d sometimes troll the library for books on CD and listen in the car, but audiobooks were largely inaccessible to me.

Then I discovered LibriVox and it is possibly the best thing to potentially ever happen to anyone, anywhere in the history of the universe.

If you know me, you’ve probably heard a manic, gushing recommendation for LibriVox, not unlike Leslie Knope gushing about Lil’ Sebastian. Hey, it earns the praise. LibriVox is an awesome organization dedicated to “mak[ing] all books in the public domain available, for free, in audio format…” Volunteer readers from all over the world contribute to this massive library of free audiobooks. FREE AUDIOBOOKS.

I was quite skeptical at first. I mean, free audiobooks? Volunteer readers? Sounds a bit sketchy, no matter how noble the mission. I expected to find a small selection of mediocre to somewhat okay-ish audiobooks.

I soon repented of my skepticism. There are so many fantastic readers volunteering for LibriVox, including many professionals who generously bring their talents to this free platform (I can vouch for Elizabeth Klett and Mark F. Smith!). But many of the amateur readers are amazing as well; Margaret Espaillat and Becky Miller got me through George Eliot’s monstrous works, Middlemarch and Daniel Deronda – each about 32 hours of wonderful audio I could not stop listening to. There are even dramatic readings, with a full cast bringing a book to life like a radio drama. My favorite of these was the hilarious Lady Susan by Jane Austen (a laugh-out-loud gem, and much more enjoyable than the recent movie based on it, Love and Friendship.).

The selection is also incredible. There are so many excellent audiobooks on LibriVox that I’ve stopped thinking about Audible altogether. The catch is, the books on LibriVox are all in the public domain, so it does not include works published after 1924 (but you can purchase more recent works through the app). However, there are so many freaking amazing books written before 1924, and audio is a great format if you’ve struggled to get into classics.

Logistics first: There is a free app for Android and iOS – they have some ads, but honestly I don’t remember ever noticing them much. I opted for the $1.99 version, just because I wanted to support an awesome organization. You can also listen and download books on their website, LibriVox.org.

How to find great books on LibriVox

All gushing aside, there are a lot of not very good books, and I struggled to find the good ones when I was new to LibriVox. Even now, I often decide on a book only to find there isn’t a good recording. There is no vetting for volunteers, so anyone can read – no matter how monotonous their voice or how much background noise their microphones pick up. And many books have different readers for different chapters, which is just not my cup of tea. Here is how I consistently find great books on LibriVox. (You can skip to the end for my book recommendations!)

1. Read Reviews

LibriVox is kind of like AirBNB: there is no shortage of excellent options, but if you ignore the the reviews, you’re going to have a bad time.

I generally only consider recordings with an average rating of at least four stars. Reviewers usually comment on the narrator, especially if they are particularly excellent or particularly terrible. I recently listened to Oliver Twist when I’d had no intention of doing so, because the reviews were crazy about the reader, Tadhg. It did not disappoint.

2. Compare Versions

Don’t default to version one. Many of the most popular classics have two, three, or more versions by different readers. The reviews will tell a lot, but if there is no stand-out I like to sample a minute or so of each to pick my favorite reader. Usually you can tell in the first ten seconds if you’ll get along with a reader or not, and it’s worth the extra effort when you’re going to be spending 10-20 hours with them.

3. Be Wary of “LibriVox Volunteers” (but not too wary)

“LibriVox Volunteers” listed as the reader means that there are multiple readers for that books. I avoid these (for the most part). Multiple readers make it much harder for me to stay interested. It is such a wonderful experience to travel through a whole book with one amazing reader.

The exception to this rule is full-cast recordings. These are generally indicated as “(dramatic reading)” in the title – but not always, so read the book description and reviews for clues. I nearly passed up fabulous book The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins, but saw a review clarifying that it is a full-cast recording. The book has multiple first-person narrators, each with their own reader – so it didn’t quite qualify as a dramatic reading, but also didn’t just randomly switch between readers. Thank you again, reviews! (The chapter summaries can also give you a hint, as they will list the reader for each chapter.)

4. Follow the Reader

If you love a reader, look them up to see what else they’ve recorded. Most have multiple books available, and some have recorded a veritable library of their own. I fell in love with Elizabeth Klett’s reading of The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton. She has recorded tons of excellent women’s literature like Jane Austen, the Brontes, Elizabeth Gaskell, and more Edith Wharton. I’d be occupied for years just with the excellent novels she’s recorded.

5. Be Ready to Bail

Sometimes you just won’t connect with a reading for whatever reason. I always go into chapter one ready to cut and run if I don’t like it. This may sound fickle, but most of my choices are 15-30 hours long. And even one hour is a long time to listen to obnoxious background noise, a dull voice, or a flat-out boring book.

Bonus Tip: Make a Favorites List

I always forget whatever book I was so excited to listen to next. Inevitably, I remember it when about halfway through my contingent, and finish that one only to discover that the book I was so excited about is not available or has a two and half star rating and a pile of scathing reviews. Always a disappointment. But I recently discovered you can create lists, so I’ve been looking up books as I think of them and adding them to a list if I find a version that meets my criteria. Now I have a short, curated list of books to choose from, and no longer wonder with furrowed brow what book I’ve forgotten.

Books I Love

Here are my recommendations if you’re wondering where to start:

• Reader Elizabeth Klett is my favorite. She has over sixty solo recordings available on LibriVox you can peruse, or you can check out one of these excellent titles:
  • Lady Audley’s Secret by Mary Elizabeth Braddon (My favorite audiobook ever!)
  • Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
  • Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë
  • The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton
  • Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery
• For a great adventure story, check out reader Mark F. Smith. I enjoyed:
  • The Three Musketeers by Alexander Dumas
  • The Mysterious Island by Jules Verne
• And some suggestions from other readers:
  • The Sherlock Holmes series read by the perfect Watson, David Clarke. Start at the beginning with A Study in Scarlett.
  • P.G. Wodehouse is always so fun in audio format.
  • Lady Susan by Jane Austen, full-cast recording
  • Middlemarch and Daniel Deronda by George Eliot
  • The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins
  • Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens

I’ll have a follow-up post soon with children’s book recommendations for LibriVox!

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Frugal Reading: Before the Hunt

I am a little bit obsessed with books – my house is literally overflowing with them. I have a way of just accruing books without really trying (see #5 below!), and lots of strategies for getting books cheap or free. I love owning, but there are lots of other ways I consume books on the cheap as well.

I thought it would be fun to write on my favorite frugal reading hacks (I’m a blogger now, so that means I get to call my strategies “hacks”). Before getting into the where, I will go over the how. Here are some basic rules to live by that will make you a better bargain book hunter.

1. Keep a list of your to-reads, and have it with you always. I like to use Goodreads to keep track because all the info is right there from author to ISBN. I can accessit  from my phone anywhere to review my to-reads or add a book. I take advantage of custom shelves and have a “to buy” shelf for books I’m most eager to acquire.  In the past I’ve used Google Keep or a Moleskine that fit nicely in my purse. Whatever works for you, but if you’re writing down your list don’t forget to include the author. That was always my mistake.
2. Embrace used. Personally, I prefer a used book to a new one. There is just something about giving that book another chance to be read, imagining who read it in it’s past, and taking in that old book smell. Every used book has a story that you could be a part of. When I was choosing a book to read on my trip to Paris last year, I picked up a used copy of Emma I’d purchased years ago and flipped through the pages. You know what I found? A train ticket from the Gare de Lyon in Paris for a bookmark. This book had already been to Paris! A new book could never be that cool.

   

   This book has been to Paris twice!

3. It helps to be into the classics. Great, cheap copies of classics are everywhere, even brand new. Most are in the public domain, meaning there are plentiful free ways to consume these books, some of which are excellent.
4. Constant vigilance! Once you train yourself to be on the lookout, you’ll find there are used books everywhere.
5. Don’t hide your bibliophilia. People give me books all the time, both on special occasions and completely spontaneously. When I was pregnant, I had a separate shower from each side of the family and they both came up with the exact same theme–baby books–and sent practically identical invitations. That’s because everyone knows I’m crazy about books. I had a coworker who gave me her books when she was done reading them even though they weren’t books I would like because she thought I could sell them at Half Price Books and get something I would like. When people ask what I want for Christmas, you can bet I have a slew of books on my wish list. And besides gifts, friends always send me tips if they discover a used book sale, or a clearance sale at CPH.org. If your love of books is well-known, they basically fall out of the sky.

   

   A bookish birthday gift!

6. Budget for books. Let’s face it, I’m going to buy books whether I’ve budgeted for them or not. Planning for a bit of book spending means you won’t have to starve just because you found a book you simply couldn’t leave behind. And setting some limits helps you be discerning about what you bring home. I always get very excited in bookstores and pick up a billion books, but I pare it down to keep my spending reasonable. This also helps me bring home only quality books I’d actually read.
7. That leads nicely into my last point–just because a book is cheap (or even free!) doesn’t mean it’s a good value. I may find a book I’ve been looking for at a garage sale for a quarter but, on inspection, find it has obnoxiously narrow margins, tiny font, dog-eared pages, and the like. I would rather hold out for quality. Do you hate holding large hardcover books? Is that movie cover paperback just not as attractive as the original cover art? Do you hate it when a books has writing and underlines all over? Then you might not want to bring books like that home, because you are unlikely to enjoy reading them–or read them at all. I used to bring books like this home all the time because it was free or cost ten cents, but they just became clutter in my home. I often bought a second copy of the same book because I found it more aesthetically pleasing. Know what you like in a book and don’t settle for just anything with pages.

Because I could tell my post was going to get ridiculously long if I went into detail on all my favorite frugal book sources, I will be splitting it up into a series and periodically highlighting one at a time.