LibriVox Audiobooks

Jane Austen famously described Emma Woodhouse, the title character of her 1815 novel, as "a heroine whom no-one but myself will much like." Yet generations of readers have loved Emma, as much for her blunders as for her wit and vivacity. Emma, "handsome, clever, and rich," has nothing else to do but try to pair off her friends, and she consistently mis-reads the relationships and situations around her as much as she mis-reads her own heart. The novel features a wonderful cast of characters, including Emma's hypochondriac father, the odiously prideful Mrs. Elton, the mysterious and reserved Jane Fairfax, and Miss Bates, who never stops talking. (Summary by Elizabeth Klett).

mily Brontë's only novel, published in 1847 under the pseudonym Ellis Bell, tells the tale of the all-encompassing and passionate, yet thwarted, love between Heathcliff and Catherine Earnshaw, and how this unresolved passion eventually destroys them and many around them.Now considered a classic of English literature, Wuthering Heights met with mixed reviews by critics when it first appeared, with many horrified by the stark depictions of mental and physical cruelty. Though Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre was originally considered the best of the Brontë sisters' works, many subsequent critics of Wuthering Heights argued that its originality and achievement made it superior.

Walden (first published as Walden; or, Life in the Woods) is an American book written by noted transcendentalist Henry David Thoreau, a reflection upon simple living in natural surroundings. The work is part personal declaration of independence, social experiment, voyage of spiritual discovery, satire, and manual for self-reliance. First published in 1854, it details Thoreau's experiences over the course of two years, two months, and two days in a cabin he built near Walden Pond, amidst woodland owned by his friend and mentor Ralph Waldo Emerson, near Concord, Massachusetts. The book compresses the time into a single calendar year and uses passages of four seasons to symbolize human development. -

Ulysses is a groundbreaking novel in which Irish author James Joyce explores realism through stream-of-consciousness technique and shifting narrative styles. It was published in serial form between 1918-1920 and first published in book form in 1922. The story follows Leopold Bloom through Dublin during the course of one day: June 16, 1904. The events and characters of Ulysses parallel those of Homer's Odyssey, with Bloom corresponding to Odysseus. Although the book was the subject of early obscenity prosecutions, was banned in several countries, and has been considered unreadable by many, it is nevertheless one of the most important English-language works of the 20th century and is undoubtedly a masterpiece of Modernist literature. To this day, the 16th of June is celebrated as Bloomsday by Joyce enthusiasts. (Summary by Laurie Anne Walden)Production note for Episode 15 (Circe): Circe was written in the style of a play complete with stage directions. It was recorded as it was written, with 73 LibriVox volunteers providing more than 230 character voices.Credits for Circe:Book coordinator: AvailleAudio editor: David LawrenceNarrator: Peter WhyLeopold Bloom: Richard WallisStephen Dedalus: mbLynch: Ben Lindsey-ClarkZoe Higgins: Amanda FridayAdditional voices provided by: alanmapstone, AS - andreastrano, Availle, bala, Elizabeth Barr, Bill Boerst, CaprishaPage, Phil Chenevert, Ted Delorme, Charlotte Duckett, Barry Eads, Nadine Eckert-Boulet, ElleyKat, Margaret Espaillat, Elliot Gage, Filippo Gioachin, Kristin Gjerløw, gmrbill, Libby Gohn, April Gonzales, Amy Gramour, Aiden Herrera, Nathanial W.C. Higgins, hikarudream, Hunter, Grant Hurlock, Drew Johnson, Kevin Johnson, Emily Jones, Kanta, Kevinc, KHand, Josh Kirsh, Elizabeth Klett, Pamela Krantz, David Lawrence, Loveday, Brendan MacKenzie, Marty, MaryAnn, Chris Meabe, Eric Metzler, Andy Minter, Moromis, Cynthia Moyer, Julia Niedermaier, NoelBadrian, David Olson, Naomi Park, Lucy Perry, Algy Pug, Rapunzelina, Jaysen Raye, rookieblue, Savannah, shivagogo, Anna Simon, Anastasiia Solokha, David Stephenson, thechanneler, Beth Thomas, ToddHW, tovarisch, TriciaG, Laurie Anne Walden, Chuck Williamson, WoollyBee, and zaanta.Ulysses was proof-listened by Betty M., Ken Sterry, HeartofTexas, Annise, David Lawrence, and TriciaG.

A mysterious map, pirates, and pieces of eight! When young Jim Hawkins finds a map to pirates’ gold he starts on an adventure that takes him from his English village to a desert island with the murderous Black Dog, half-mad Ben Gunn, and (of course) Long John Silver. Arr Jim lad! R.L. Stevenson (1850-1894) was born in Scotland and travelled extensively in California and the south Pacific.

William Walker Atkinson (1862 - 1932) William Walker Atkinson was one of the most prominent contributors to the literature of the New Thought movement, a non-denomination spiritual philosophy which developed in the late Nineteenth Century. Although he achieved eminence in a number of professions, Atkinson never sought personal publicity, and many of his numerous works were published under a variety of pseudonyms.Most of Atkinson’s works are manuals of practice rather than pure expositions of philosophy. Many of his books are concerned with the training of the mind, and one of the most typical of these is Your Mind and How to Use It: A Manual of Practical Psychology, first published in 1911.Summary by Algy Pug Genre(s): Modern Language: English

Fannie Hardy Eckstorm (1865 - 1946) The Woodpeckers is a wonderful introduction to the world of bird study for the young naturalist, covering such topics as how he finds food, courting, how he builds his nest, the interesting ways he uses his different body parts as tools, among other topics discussed in the book.If you wish to investigate further, the online text has a few diagrams and an Appendix that contains more technical information such as detailed descriptions of the different species of North American woodpeckers which were not read as part of this audiobook. (summary by Laura Victoria) Genre(s): Science Language: English

Helen Keller (1880 - 1968) The World I Live In by Helen Keller is a collection of essays that poignantly tells of her impressions of the world, through her sense of touch, smell, her imagination and dreams.My hand is to me what your hearing and sight together are to you. In large measure we travel the same highways, read the same books, speak the same language, yet our experiences are different. All my comings and goings turn on the hand as on a pivot. It is the hand that binds me to the world of men and women. The hand is my feeler with which I reach through isolation and darkness and seize every pleasure, every activity that my fingers encounter. With the dropping of a little word from another's hand into mine, a slight flutter of the fingers, began the intelligence, the joy, the fullness of my life. Helen Keller, quoted from her essay, The Seeing Hand (Summary from text and Laura Caldwell) Genre(s): *Non-fiction, Biography & Autobiography Language: English

Henry Hazlitt (1894 - 1993) "The Way to Will-Power" is far from a standard self-help book. With ample wit and an occasionally sardonic tone, American journalist and free-market advocate Henry Hazlitt debunks popular concepts about the will, incorporates classical conceptions about human nature into a coherent whole, and imparts to readers everyday wisdom on how to best live life. - Summary by Loren Eaton Genre(s): Self-Help Language: English

T. S. Eliot (1888 - 1965) The Waste Land is a highly influential 433-line modernist poem by T. S. Eliot. It is perhaps the most famous and most written-about long poem of the 20th century, dealing with the decline of civilization and the impossibility of recovering meaning in life. Despite the alleged obscurity of the poem—its shifts between satire and prophecy, its abrupt and unannounced changes of speaker, location and time, its elegiac but intimidating summoning up of a vast and dissonant range of cultures and literatures—the poem has nonetheless become a familiar touchstone of modern literature. Among its famous phrases are “April is the cruelest month” (its first line); “I will show you fear in a handful of dust”; and “Shantih shantih shantih” (its last line). The title is sometimes mistakenly written as “The Wasteland”. (Summary from wikipedia.org) Genre(s): Poetry Language: English

Henry David Thoreau (1817 - 1862) This was originally a lecture given by Thoreau in 1851 at the Concord lyceum titled "The Wild" . He revised it before his death and it was included as part of the June 1862 edition of Atlantic Monthly. This essay appears, on the surface, to be simply expounding the qualities of Nature and man's place therein. Through this medium he not only touches those subjects, but with the implications of such a respect for nature, or lack thereof. (Summary by Chris Masterson) Genre(s): Essays & Short Works, Nature Language: English

Jack London (1876 - 1916)Translated by S. J. Barentz-Schönberg "Vóór Adam's tijd" is het verhaal van een jongen die droomt dat hij het leven leidt van een vroege mensachtige, Australopithecus. Het verhaal geeft een vroege visie op de menselijke evolutie weer. Het grootste deel van het verhaal wordt verteld door het prehistorische alter-ego van de jongen, één van de holenmensen. Naast de holenmensen waren er de geavanceerdere vuurmensen, en de primitievere bomenmensen. Ook wilde dieren, zoals een sabeltandtijger, spelen een rol. Samenvatting van Wikipedia Genre(s): Historical Fiction, Nature & Animal Fiction Language: Dutch

William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616) Venus y Adonis es un poema de William Shakespeare, escrito en 1592-93. El argumento está basado en pasajes de las metamorfosis de Ovidio. Es un trabajo complejo y caleidoscópico que utiliza un tono y una perspectiva constantemente cambiantes, para presentar puntos de vista contrastantes sobre la naturaleza del amor. Genre(s): Fantastic Fiction, Poetry Language: Spanish

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (1859 - 1930) Doyle's final novel featuring the beloved sleuth, Sherlock Holmes, brings the detective and his friend to a country manor where they are preceded by either a murder or a suicide. A secretive organization lies culprit and an infiltration of it is in order. (Summary by Katie Riley) Genre(s): Detective Fiction Language: English

Booker T. Washington (1856 - 1915) Up From Slavery is the 1901 autobiography of Booker T. Washington detailing his slow and steady rise from a slave child during the Civil War, to the difficulties and obstacles he overcame to get an education at the new Hampton University, to his work establishing vocational schools—most notably the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama—to help black people and other disadvantaged minorities learn useful, marketable skills and work to pull themselves, as a race, up by the bootstraps. He reflects on the generosity of both teachers and philanthropists who helped in educating blacks and native Americans. He describes his efforts to instill manners, breeding, health and a feeling of dignity to students. (Summary from Wikipedia) Genre(s): Biography & Autobiography Language: English

Victor Hugo (1802 - 1885)Translated by José García de Villalta (1801 - 1846) Víctor Hugo escribió esta obra a raíz de ver a un verdugo ensayando con la guillotina para la ejecución del día siguiente- Quedó de tal manera impresionado que decidió escribir este alegato en contra de la pena de muerte, de la que era detractor absoluto. Hugo nos deja un relato en el que detalla todo lo que puede pasar por la mente de una persona en momentos tan infinitamente duros. Palabras, sentimiento y desolación de un hombre, sin nombre. Podría ser cualquiera...cualquiera.“Dicen que no es nada, que no se padece apenas, que es un fin muy dulce, y que la muerte está de este modo bastante simplificada. ¿Y qué es, pues, esta agonía de seis semanas y este ahoguío de todo un día? ¿Qué son las angustias de estas irreparables veinte y cuatro horas que pasan tan despacio y tan deprisa? ¿Qué, esta escala de tormentos que va a salir al patíbulo? “ (Summary by Montse González) Genre(s): Fictional Biographies & Memoirs Language: Spanish

W. Stewart Wallace (1884 - 1970) Volume 13 of The Chronicles of Canada Series. This volume sheds light on the often misunderstood Americans who chose to remain loyal to the Crown of England during and after the American Revolution. While the vast majority of American writings which detail the Revolution paint the Loyalists (sometimes called Tories) in the most negative fashion, this volume explains the reasons behind their election to flee to Canada (and other countries) rather than remain on American soil. While no exact numbers exist of Loyalists who fled to Canada in 1783-1784, the estimates of John Adams and others of the time period range in the vicinity of one third of the population, which places that number at about a million. These were not people who fled in fear, rather they were generally people who felt the benefit of support from the British Crown outweighed the support they would receive from the unproven social, financial, and political structures which had yet to be formed. Some were opportunists in search of free land. But all were a brave people who chose to leave the comfort of their homeland to help settle uncharted territories of what we now know as Quebec, Ontario, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia; a people who held their heads high as they settled a largely untamed land. (Introduction by Roger Melin) Genre(s): *Non-fiction, History, Early Modern Language: English Group: Chronicles of Canada Series

Edgar Wallace (1875 - 1932) Well-known mystery writer John Lexman is charged with murder and sent to Broadmoor Prison. His friend T.X., head of a special branch of Scotland Yard, tries to prove his innocence. (Summary by Gesine) Genre(s): Detective Fiction Language: English

Arnold Bennett (1867 - 1931) "Which of us lives on twenty-four hours a day? And when I say 'lives,' I do not mean exists, nor 'muddles through.'" -- Arnold Bennett knew a "rat race" when he saw one. Every day, his fellow white-collar Londoners followed the same old routine. And they routinely decried the sameness in their lives.-- So Bennett set out to explain how to inject new enthusiasm into living. In this delightful little work, he taught his fellow sufferers how to set time apart for improving their lives. Yes, he assured them, it could be done. Yes, if you want to feel connected with the world, instead of endlessly pacing the treadmill (or, "exceeding your programme", as he called it), you must do so.-- For time, as he gleefully notes, is the ultimate democracy. Each of us starts our day with 24 hours to spend. Even a saint gets not a minute more; even the most inveterate time-waster is docked not a second for his wastrel ways. And he can choose today to turn over a new leaf! -- Bennett believed that learning to discern cause and effect in the world would give his readers an endless source of enjoyment and satisfaction. Instead of only being able to discuss what they had heard, they could graduate to what they thought... and lift themselves completely from the deadening influence of a day at the office. (Summary by Mark F Smith) Genre(s): Self-Help Language: English

William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616) Hidden and mistaken identities, requited and unrequited loves, pranks and jokes abound in this romantic comedy. (Summary by Karen Savage)Cast:Orsino, Duke of Illyria - Joshua B. ChristensenSebastian - Madame TuskAntonio, a Sea Captain, friend to Sebastian - Alan Davis DrakeA Sea Captain - Kara ShallenbergValentine, a gentleman attending on the Duke - Zachary Brewster-GeiszCurio, a gentleman attending on the Duke - Heather BarnettSir Toby Belch, uncle to Olivia - Alan Davis DrakeSir Andrew Aguecheek - Andy MinterMalvolio, steward to Olivia - John GonzalezFabian, servant to Olivia - James RyeFeste the Clown - Larysa JaworskiOlivia, a rich Countess - Kristin HughesViola - Karen SavageMaria, Olivia’s waiting woman - Rosalind WillsServant - Larysa JaworskiPriest - J.C.First Officer - Christie NowakSecond Officer - Rosalind WillsNarrator - Gesine Genre(s): Comedy Language: English