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Joe90
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13 Dec 2022, 9:49 pm

I used to rely on YouTube and other free sites for audiobooks but due to sh***y copyright s**t the choice is very limited, so I switched to Audible and Google books, because I thought that by paying I would get a wider variety of choice.

But even after listening to a 4-minute sample of an audiobook I still find that it's not quite what I want once I've bought it, and due to my impulsiveness the app will no longer let me get refunds so I'm just wasting my money.

I love audiobooks and need them to help me relax. But I sometimes get bored with the same audiobooks. That's the thing about ebooks and audiobooks bought online - once you purchase one you can't sell it or donate it, it's just stuck on your phone forever unless you delete it but then you've wasted your money (at least when I donate things I no longer want it goes to a good cause so I feel I haven't completely wasted my money).

I just wish there was an app that you pay monthly for and it provided EVERY single unabridged (audio)book you can think of in the entire world and no charges for each book, all you got to do is type in the title and bosh! it's right there, ready to listen to. But no, it's too easy. :roll:


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ToughDiamond
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18 Dec 2022, 8:46 pm

I sympathise, but I can't be of much help if YouTube is getting worse, except to recommend downloading anything good you do find there before some killjoy zaps it. It can take a long time to get through an audiobook and you don't want to miss the ending.

Libravox recordings are always free, but the quality of the reading skill is mixed. There were a few good things on Archive.org but recently a lot of them seem to be borrow-only, and I don't know how that works or if it's any good.

I've no idea about paid-for audiobooks, having never tried any. They might have some such CDs in a public library. Our local library used to have a big collection of talking books back in the days of audiocassettes.



Joe90
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18 Dec 2022, 9:27 pm

Usually they don't have the audiobooks I want on CDs, even if I go on to Amazon.

I did try downloading an audiobook on to my phone but when I played it there was no sound for some reason.

I hate when people read audiobooks themselves and put it on YouTube. It just isn't the same, with coughing and shuffling background noise and poor quality.

I like the Diary Of A Wimpy Kid audiobooks but the CDs I own and the ones available on Audible are all read by Dan Russell and I don't think he's a very good audiobook reader. His tone goes loud and quiet and he says the sound effects in all the pictures. I prefer Ramon D'Accampo (or whatever his name is) to do the Wimpy Kid audiobooks but he is only available on YouTube with all the irritating ad interruptions.

I like audiobooks aimed at children and adolescents because adult books seem too complicated. One time I bought an audiobook on Audible that was a series of scary stories for adults, but strangely enough I found scary stories for (older) children scarier. I love Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark but the way the narrator reads them out is way too scary for me to fall asleep to (fantastic though).


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18 Dec 2022, 10:01 pm

Our local libraries have audiobooks on CD still, as well as digital (online) audiobooks. Have you tried your local library's online resources? If your local library doesn't have access to the item you want, you might try requesting it via inter-library loan or suggesting it for purchase.

Your local used book/media stores may also have books on disc. Those could be returned if disliked or resold after use.

Do you have a list of your fave readers/narrators? You could google the reader & look at their other available works.

There are lots of free websites that can rip the audio (&/or video) off youtube videos if you have the URLs of the ones you like. They won't have ads. There are also many free ad blockers for web browsers that work well on youtube. Some of the web browsers on smartphones have extensions as well that will block ads, but the user has to access youtube thru the browser then and not the youtube app.



ToughDiamond
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18 Dec 2022, 10:31 pm

Hmm......if the only sticking point to hearing Ramon De O'Campo's version of Diary Of A Wimpy Kid is YouTube's ads, then in theory all you need is a browser on your device, then you'll be able to go to a link such as this:

https://invidious.snopyta.org/watch?v=efaN6fTAM14

This page also gives a downloading option:
https://invidious.slipfox.xyz/watch?v=efaN6fTAM14

For either website, you'll be able to hear it without ads. What device(s) do you have for listening to audiobooks?



blitzkrieg
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24 Dec 2022, 12:39 am

You're already using Audible, and for quality audiobooks that's the most highly rated app that there is.

I don't think there is such a thing that exists as a decent audiobook alternative source, that is free. With movies you can torrent, but I don't think there are many audiobooks that people share on places like PB, for example.

It's sad that everything is a matter of price nowadays and the books are way overpriced on Audible in my opinion. even the subscription terms are a con, despite giving credits that can be used to buy audiobooks.



Joe90
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24 Dec 2022, 7:57 pm

Quote:
For either website, you'll be able to hear it without ads. What device(s) do you have for listening to audiobooks?



I use my phone.

Quote:
You're already using Audible, and for quality audiobooks that's the most highly rated app that there is.

In that case it should have all the audiobooks I want.

I know I'm grown-up but I find I love listening to the Kitty books by Bel Mooney. Yes, really. There are about 12 books altogether (which I have in paperback from childhood), but there's only about 9 available on Audible (nowhere else on the internet does them and Amazon doesn't sell them in CDs). Audiobooks of the Kitty stories I can't find do actually exist because I used to have a couple of them on tapes, but obviously the tapes have worn out over the years and I don't own a device with a tape deck any more.

I sometimes just get frustrated with the internet. I want a digital audiobook, mostly the options are physical paperback. I want a physical DVD, most of them are digital only (on Disney+ or Netflix). Always against me.


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DanielW
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24 Dec 2022, 8:45 pm

The trick with audible is to cancel your membership when there are months you can't find a book you want. You can always start again when you find something. At least what you do buy is yours to keep and you aren't wasting money paying every month.

The trouble with audiobooks is not every book has been recorded, and those that have been are not available in every country. (the US store has 10 of the "Kitty" books btw). Its frustrating yes, but I wouldn't call it a rip-off.



blitzkrieg
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24 Dec 2022, 11:26 pm

Joe90 wrote:
Quote:
For either website, you'll be able to hear it without ads. What device(s) do you have for listening to audiobooks?



I use my phone.

Quote:
You're already using Audible, and for quality audiobooks that's the most highly rated app that there is.

In that case it should have all the audiobooks I want.

I know I'm grown-up but I find I love listening to the Kitty books by Bel Mooney. Yes, really. There are about 12 books altogether (which I have in paperback from childhood), but there's only about 9 available on Audible (nowhere else on the internet does them and Amazon doesn't sell them in CDs). Audiobooks of the Kitty stories I can't find do actually exist because I used to have a couple of them on tapes, but obviously the tapes have worn out over the years and I don't own a device with a tape deck any more.

I sometimes just get frustrated with the internet. I want a digital audiobook, mostly the options are physical paperback. I want a physical DVD, most of them are digital only (on Disney+ or Netflix). Always against me.


Yeah, not everything is available on the internet, unfortunately - and when it is, often it doesn't come cheap. 8O



blitzkrieg
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24 Dec 2022, 11:27 pm

DanielW wrote:
The trick with audible is to cancel your membership when there are months you can't find a book you want. You can always start again when you find something. At least what you do buy is yours to keep and you aren't wasting money paying every month.

The trouble with audiobooks is not every book has been recorded, and those that have been are not available in every country. (the US store has 10 of the "Kitty" books btw). Its frustrating yes, but I wouldn't call it a rip-off.


Yeah, having Audible is better than no Audible. Not everything is going to be perfect.



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03 Jan 2023, 12:17 pm

There are also apps that will read you a book using "text-to-speech" which would offer many more books.
I prefer a professional voice artist reading a book with good inflection and voice performance (different voices for different characters) but if you just want to be able to "read a book" while you are busy with your hands or eyes then the "text-to-speech" apps would work.

epubor.com - top E-Readers with Text-to-Speech feature

Do you use iPhone or Android?

Project Guttenberg has books read by humans:
gutenberg.org - Audio Book, human-read
And books read by computers:
gutenberg.org - Audio Book, computer-generated

but these may not be books that you want to "read".

Project Guttenberg books are all free so you cannot get "ripped off" from a money point of view.


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ToughDiamond
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03 Jan 2023, 1:17 pm

Fenn wrote:
There are also apps that will read you a book using "text-to-speech" which would offer many more books.
I prefer a professional voice artist reading a book with good inflection and voice performance (different voices for different characters) but if you just want to be able to "read a book" while you are busy with your hands or eyes then the "text-to-speech" apps would work.

I looked into that myself recently to see if the technology had improved since the days when everything sounded like Stephen Hawking. It has, but not enough for me. I was impressed by how natural the results can be, but on listening for a while I started to hear the imperfections in the intonation, and unfortunately they seem to be of the kind that messes with my abiliity to follow the story. Even so, it's a good idea for anybody not quite so picky as I am, and at this rate of improvement it might not be long before they've ironed out the remaining flaws. When that happens, it's only going to take one provider to offer the service for free, and we'll have something very useful indeed. Then the only problem left will be getting transcripts of books that are still in copyright.



Fenn
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03 Jan 2023, 2:45 pm

^ In other news - I read where Stephen Hawking (RIP) was offered a new "voice" by the tech guys, but he had gotten to like the one he had, and others recognized it, so he asked them to keep it the way it was. My son once wanted to know more about the exact details of how Stephen Hawking's tech worked to I hunted down the facts.

hardware.slashdot.org - stephen hawkings speech system


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ToughDiamond
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03 Jan 2023, 3:20 pm

^
I could probably listen to his voice if it was a fairly short piece about the universe, but I don't think I'd be able to keep my focus for long enough if he read me a story. Though I haven't tried that yet.



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09 Jan 2023, 11:30 am

I pretty much live on audiobooks listening to as much as 40 to 50 hours a week. I have tried several options for listening to audiobooks over the years.

Libby app by OverDrive app.
https://www.overdrive.com/apps/libby

VVV How Libby works VVV

The Libby app is a way checking out audio books from your local library. Your library has to purchase those audiobooks and have them on a digital catalog that you can then download and return just like a regular library book. For example my library has 136 digital copies of Harry Potter Book 1. If I check it out it goes into my bookshelf and I can download it to my phone. When I "return" it it gets deleted.


Not every library system has this but most in my area do (Ohio,USA) There may be other "competitors" out there. I would be interested to find out if there are other systems like Overdrive.

Text reader apps
Quote:
There are also apps that will read you a book using "text-to-speech" which would offer many more books.



I personally use @Voice aloud reader.(Android)
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.hyperionics.avarLic

I use this alot for web serials like The Wandering Inn https://wanderinginn.com/. which is IMO the best book series EVER. and it's 100% free. It's the largest single author English fiction book series ever written. 9 million words and she is only half way through her story outline. This is definitely one of my special interests.

Last is Audiobookbay.li I am not recommending this and providing as information ONLY.

I "DON'T" :wink: use this all the time. It is using .torrent peer to peer sharing to download books from other people. It is illegal I'm most countries so... There are however countless audiobooks and users. Many of them ripped from audible.