Audio Books Podcasts

Librivox: Selected Riley Child-Rhymes by Riley, James Whitcomb show

Librivox: Selected Riley Child-Rhymes by Riley, James WhitcombJoin Now to Follow

Riley was an American writer known as the "Hoosier poet", and made a start writing newspaper verse in Hoosier dialect for the Indianapolis Journal in 1875. His favorite authors were Burns and Dickens. This collection of poems is a romanticized and mostly boy-centered paean to a 19th century rural American working-class childhood. (Summary by Val Grimm)

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Librivox: Mayor of Casterbridge, The by Hardy, Thomas show

Librivox: Mayor of Casterbridge, The by Hardy, ThomasJoin Now to Follow

The Mayor of Casterbridge (1886) is a tragic novel by English author Thomas Hardy subtitled, "The Life and Death of a Man of Character". It is set in the fictional town of Casterbridge (based on the town of Dorchester in Dorset). The book is one of Hardy's Wessex novels, all set in a fictional rustic England. (Wikipedia)A poor, disgruntled, drunken young man sells his wife and child to the highest bidder. When he awakens, sober, the next day he regrets his rash act and vows to give up drink and find his family and bring them home. Eventually he is forced to give up the search and move on with his life. He does this quite successfully until, nearly 20 years later, his past comes back to haunt him. (DebraLynn)

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Librivox: Two Treatises of Civil Government by Locke, John show

Librivox: Two Treatises of Civil Government by Locke, JohnJoin Now to Follow

The Two Treatises of Civil Government is a work of political philosophy published anonymously in 1689 by John Locke. The First Treatise is an extended attack on Sir Robert Filmer's Patriarcha , which argued for a divinely-ordained, hereditary, absolute monarchy. The more influential Second Treatise outlines a theory of civil society based on natural rights and contract theory. Locke begins by describing the "state of nature," and goes on to explain the hypothetical rise of property and civilization, asserting that the only legitimate governments are those which have the consent of the people. Locke's ideas heavily influenced both the American and French Revolutions. His notions of people's rights and the role of civil government provided strong support for the intellectual movements of both revolutions. (Summary adapted from Wikipedia)

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Librivox: Second Jungle Book, The by Kipling, Rudyard show

Librivox: Second Jungle Book, The by Kipling, RudyardJoin Now to Follow

Kipling shows his love of the sub continent and its people and understanding of their beliefs in these tales. An older Mowgli roams the jungle with his old friends and investigates the ways of his people, a Prime Minister becomes wandering holy man, scavengers tell their tale and we leave India for the far,far north of Canada. (Summary by Annise)

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Librivox: Popular History of Ireland, Book 09, A by McGee, Thomas D'Arcy show

Librivox: Popular History of Ireland, Book 09, A by McGee, Thomas D'ArcyJoin Now to Follow

Thomas D'Arcy McGee was an Irish refugee and a father of the Canadian confederation. His work on Irish history is comprehensive, encompassing twelve books; Book 9 subtitled “From the Accession of James I Till the Death of Cromwell”, addresses the early Stuart period’s unsettled history and the actions of that person, who, seen from the Irish perspective, was certainly one of the most villainous of men: Cromwell. (Summary by Sibella Denton)

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Librivox: Mary Louise by Baum, L. Frank show

Librivox: Mary Louise by Baum, L. FrankJoin Now to Follow

The Bluebird Books is a series of novels popular with teenage girls in the 1910s and 1920s. The series was begun by L. Frank Baum using his Edith Van Dyne pseudonym,then continued by at least three others, all using the same pseudonym. Baum wrote the first four books in the series, possibly with help from his son, Harry Neal Baum, on the third. The books are concerned with adolescent girl detectives— a concept Baum had experimented with earlier, in The Daring Twins (1911) and Phoebe Daring (1912). The Bluebird series began with Mary Louise, originally written as a tribute to Baum's favorite sister, Mary Louise Baum Brewster. Baum's publisher, Reilly & Britton, rejected that manuscript, apparently judging the heroine too independent. Baum wrote a new version of the book; the original manuscript is lost. The title character is Mary Louise Burrows. In the first books of the series, she is a fifteen-year-old girl with unusual maturity (though the other girls in her boarding school find her somewhat priggish). She is suddenly confronted with the fact that her beloved grandfather is suspected of no less a crime than treason against the United States. With the help of old and new friends of Mary Louise … the truth is uncovered. The novel features a federal agent named John O'Gorman; he is assisted by his daughter Josie, a young woman he has himself trained to function as an investigator. (The Josie O'Gorman character, despite preceding Nancy Drew by more than a decade, is much less traditionally feminine.) (Summary from Wikipedia)

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Librivox: Trials and Confessions of a Housekeeper by Arthur, T. S. show

Librivox: Trials and Confessions of a Housekeeper by Arthur, T. S.Join Now to Follow

Is housekeeping such a trial? Mrs. Smith thinks so and confesses all in this merry account of her escapades and near disasters! (Summary by Kehinde)

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Librivox: Murder in the Gunroom by Piper, H. Beam show

Librivox: Murder in the Gunroom by Piper, H. BeamJoin Now to Follow

The Lane Fleming collection of early pistols and revolvers was one of the best in the country. When Fleming was found dead on the floor of his locked gunroom, a Confederate-made Colt-type percussion .36 revolver in his hand, the coroner's verdict was "death by accident." But Gladys Fleming had her doubts. Enough at any rate to engage Colonel Jefferson Davis Rand—better known just as Jeff—private detective and a pistol-collector himself, to catalogue, appraise, and negotiate the sale of her late husband's collection. There were a number of people who had wanted the collection. The question was: had anyone wanted it badly enough to kill Fleming? And if so, how had he done it? Here is a mystery, told against the fascinating background of old guns and gun-collecting, which is rapid-fire without being hysterical, exciting without losing its contact with reason, and which introduces a personable and intelligent new private detective. It is a story that will keep your nerves on a hair trigger even if you don't know the difference between a cased pair of Paterson .34's and a Texas .40 with a ramming-lever. (Summary from the text)

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Librivox: Auld Lang Syne by Burns, Robert show

Librivox: Auld Lang Syne by Burns, RobertJoin Now to Follow

LibriVox volunteers bring you 11 recordings of Auld Lang Syne by Robert Burns. This was the weekly poetry project in honor of Gung Haggis Fat Choy, a cultural event originating from Vancouver, Canada, celebrating the timely coincidence of Robert Burns Day with the Chinese New Year. January 25th, 2009 marked the convergence of the 250th anniversary of the birth of Robert Burns and Chinese New Year's Eve. (Summary adapted from Wikipedia.)

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Librivox: Flaming Forest, The by Curwood, James Oliver show

Librivox: Flaming Forest, The by Curwood, James OliverJoin Now to Follow

A tale of mystery, romance, and honor, as David Carrigan must choose between his duty as an officer of the law and a girl who holds him captive; a girl who Carrigan thinks he may have fallen in love with no less! Who is this strange girl Jean-Marie, and why won't she give him his freedom? And who are the people that she surrounds herself with along the great Canadian rivers and wilderness barrens and forests of the northwest? Summary by Roger Melin.

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