I’ve been listening to a lot of audiobooks recently. They oprovide a great way to multitask (at work, the gym, driving) while plowing through some new books. Paying hardcover prices on iTunes for audiobooks seems a little rediculous to me, especially seeeing how more or less useless audiobooks are once you’ve finished them. That is, if its not a book you plan to re-enjoy soon, there’s little it can do besides waste space. Revisiting sections and searching for quotesor passages is more cumbersome than it is worth.
So I though about getting into a subscription based audiobook program to keep up with newer books, but then I decided just to start borrowing audiobooks from the library and ripping them to my computer. In the meantime, I began getting audiobooks from a site called LibriVox, where volunteers upload recordings of readings from public domain books. I was immediately (and still am a little) astounded at the high quality of the readings and recordings. They are pleasant and professional. They are also free.
Audiobooks (not the most creative of names) is a free app from the Appstore that provides an iPhone/iPod conduit to the LibraVox catologue. It is a really great program for quickly and easily getting public domain audiobooks and listening to them. The presentation isn’t fancy, but it’s not ugly either, and it is certainly functional. You can browse by author, title, or genre, search for a specific book, or choose “Surprise Me” and get a random offering. You can only choose from LibraVox’s library, which comes from the Project Gutenberg library, and you cannot upload your own audiobooks (which would be totally unecessary seeing as the iPhone has a built in iPod). LibraVox’s selection is satisfyingly deep. Find a book you like and hit download, then you’re good to go.
Downloading files requires WiFi, which might prove a bummer in certain situations, but all in all it’s not that big a deal. With files that can be in the hundreds megabytes range, waiting for the 3G download would be a pain in the tookus. It’s also worth noting that unlike with reader apps, it’s not a good idea to go downloading like crazy when you first get the app. Though a small pocket library of audiobooks would be nice, the large file sizes can chew up the limited space on your device quickly. You can listen to the first chapter while the rest download, which is a nice touchthat lets you dive right in .
A free app that offers a wealth of high quality content is a welcome addition to my home screen indeed. I’ll certainly be listening to most of my audiobooks between Audiobooks, LibriVox, and Overdrive, rather than paying harcover prices for forgettable books.