http://www.openculture.com/2015/06/isaac-asimovs-favorite-st...
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version 2 https://youtu.be/rjqjSP7kOO4
Amazing resource, though. After recording a short story I wrote, I have even more respect for people who volunteer their time to librivox. I had to do a surprising amount of editing and re-takes just reading my tiny story. Could barely get through a paragraph without some sort of error, even if it was just a weirdly timed breath.
https://apps.apple.com/us/app/oldio-audiobook-classics/id135...
https://librivox.org/the-count-of-monte-cristo-version-3-by-...
https://wiki.mobileread.com/wiki/EBook_Lending_Libraries#Wid...
If you're in the US some cities will give access to their library system as long as you live in the state. Overdrive has a good UI, and with waitlists, I always have something to read.
I feel kinda bad that I haven't been inside my local branch in a very long time. I love libraries and are very grateful for how much material they have lent me over the years. I am glad that they continue to provide those services for people, and hope that the shift to digital resources doesn't result in closing branches. They're still needed.
Just last week on a Saturday, I took my daughter to Numbers Camp and it was a librarian teaching patterns. There were activities on patterns (stamps, bracelets to make patterns), and books about patterns. The room was full of families.
For a free conversion tool, checkout
- https://github.com/sandreas/m4b-tool
It's longer than the entire Games of Thrones series, plenty of content there. It is a fan created recording and the early parts are a bit rough, but gets more professional over time and eventually becomes extremely polished.
This is a sample (standalone, relatively spoiler free since this is 100% flashback) chapter from the sequel story Ward. Read Worm first but this specific chapter can be read by itself. http://parahumanaudio.com/podcast/gleaming-9-x/
If it feels like audiobooks aren’t having an impact on you then I’d suggest trying to relisten to them and not treat them as a once-through.
One significant negative of audiobooks is that I tend to listen while doing "active but mindless" activities (mowing the lawn, commuting, cleaning my office, doing dishes/chores) which means I'm not in a position to stop and take notes in the margin or in a notebook. To really absorb a work and make it your own I think you need to take notes and summarize the main points of each chapter, in your own words, after finishing each chapter.
That said, listening-only is far better than having no exposure to these great works. Would I would love even more is to have commentaries or Joe-Rogan-Style recorded discussions about the books by academics so I could read the book, listen to discussions about the book, then read the book again with these critiques in mind.
Audio books impose a strict pace on me; I have no choice but to keep up. Personally, I like also being able to speed them up. My brain accommodates the new transmission rate just fine after some time. So, what would normally be unintelligible becomes a really low-effort way for me to ingest content.
For me, background noise creeps in when I'm trying to read by sight. It can be exhausting.
My 2¢
But even with physical books, I could often drift mentally when I was reading and would need to reread a page or two when I noticed I hadn't been fully present.
However many audio book players allow you to control playback speed. I do find the occasional voice actor that's just too fast or slow for my comfort.
it took me a while to get "used" to them but now i can easily focus on them while doing chores (washing the dishes, walking the dog).
I tried to order, but it errored out because of some file not readable error, but error was fatal and with no recourse but doing everything again.
I would use this all the time if it was a little smoother. Hit me up if I can be helpful. (see my profile here for email)
That uses Speech Synthesis Markup Language (SSML), which can achieve realistic pauses gaps in speech.
Nice work though!
Auditus looks like a great idea.
[1] https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.acmeandroi...
on mobile, vlc
Some advantages I have experienced:
When I read James Joyce "Ulysses" several years ago, it was somewhat difficult to follow the narrative. I then listened to it as an audio book with a half a dozen good actors reading the parts and the book came to life for me.
I have some arthritis in my hands, and any time not using a keyboard, holding a physical book, or an eBook reader helps.
When I am working in the yard, cleaning up the kitchen, etc. it is good to listen to a book.
The one thing that bothers me is the possibility of losing a large investment in Kindle and Audible books if I ever lost my Amazon account. I mitigate this somewhat by buying some eBooks and audio books on Google Play and on Apple's store. --> don't put all of your eggs in one basket.
http://www.openculture.com/2015/08/iggy-pop-reads-edgar-alla...
As for timestamps, I'm not aware of anything other than the chapter markers.
They need to make money somehow.
[1]: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.acmeandroi...
Not encouraging!
Also, subscription plans are designed around most people not using them fully, and not optimizing their purchases.
Soon enough neural net TTS + ebooks will be nearly equivalent, and doesn't cost any more than the base ebook. Plus TTS allows synchronizing between print and speech which you can't get between ebooks and audiobooks; i.e. it would be nice to read in print, then switch to TTS while commuting or working out, then back to print.
It can work. There's an Indian celebrity ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bappi_Lahiri ) who is famous for his great love of gold. And for the Hindi dub of Moana, he was cast as the voice of Tamatoa.
Narration quality is a big deal. I am pretty impressed with the latest TTS but if I'm going to spend 10-50+ hours listening to a single audiobook I will be happy to pay a few bucks for the best narration.
