Recently in my wanderings around the internet I came across a really great site-Books Should Be Free.com
Now I’m sure you all know by now that I’m a reader. I really, really love to read. But I get terribly car sick if I try to read in the car, and if I’m the one driving, well, I just can’t read and drive.
Or rather I could read & drive but I’d probably accidentally kill someone.
There are other times when I would love to keep my mind occupied but can’t read. For example when I’m washing dishes, taking a walk, or weeding the garden.
So I just love listening to audio books when I’m doing those activities. I do take cd’s out from the library and have downloaded some audio books from their service, but the selection is frankly quite limited. And don’t even get me started on buying copies. EXPENSIVE!
So this Books Should Be Free site really seems great.
Of course, it has some limitations:
The books available are all books that are in the public domain. That means books that no longer hold a copyright and anyone can copy and use–so lots of older books and classics (think Tom Sawyer, The Call of the Wild and Romeo and Juliette). You are not going to find the newest releases here.
The audio versions have all been created by volunteers (mostly via Libravox). That means that the quality, well, it varies. And sometimes the person reading can change by chapter.
On the plus side:
It’s free.
Most books are not only available as both MP3′s and Ipod compatible files, but also in various formats for E-readers and even as PDF’s. All still free!
There is a very wide variety of books.
There are books available in 29 languages.
All in all, I think it’s worth checking out! I think this could be an especially good resource for kids who read slowly or have reading disabilities and have to read the classics for school.
Enjoy!
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