Audio Books Podcasts
Librivox: Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, Written by Herself by Jacobs, HarrietJoin Now to Follow
Harriet Jacobs' autobiography, written under the pseudonym Linda Brent, details her experiences as a slave in North Carolina, her escape to freedom in the north, and her ensuing struggles to free her children. The narrative was partly serialized in the New York Tribune, but was discontinued because Jacobs' depictions of the sexual abuse of female slaves were considered too shocking. It was published in book form in 1861. (Summary by Elizabeth Klett).
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Librivox: Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners by Bunyan, JohnJoin Now to Follow
Grace Abounding is the spiritual autobiography of John Bunyan, who also penned Pilgrim’s Progress, perhaps one of the most significant pieces of Christian literature, second only to the Bible. Grace Abounding follows Bunyan’s struggle to find true repentance and forgiveness, his battle with Satan’s temptations of unbelief, his comfort found in the Bible and his overarching victory gotten by the grace of God through Jesus Christ his Son. Readers familiar with Pilgrim’s Progress will recognize that many of the allegorical points in his famous work came out of Bunyan’s own struggles and discoveries, and it has been said that Bunyan could not have written Pilgrim’s Progress without first going through the battles chronicled in Grace Abounding. (Summary by Stephen Escalera)
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Librivox: Epistle of Polycarp to the Philippians, The by PolycarpJoin Now to Follow
Polycarp's Letter to the Philippians (often simply called To the Philippians) composed around 110 to 140 AD [1] is described by Irenaeus as follows: There is also a forceful epistle written by Polycarp to the Philippians, from which those who wish to do so, and are anxious about their salvation, can learn the character of his faith, and the preaching of the truth. (J Stevenson, A new Eusebius [London: SPCK, 1965] p. 120) This is one quote from the epistle: "Stand fast, therefore, in this conduct and follow the example of the Lord, 'firm and unchangeable in faith, lovers of the brotherhood, loving each other, united in truth,' helping each other with the mildness of the Lord, despising no man." (Summary by Wikipedia)
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Librivox: Midsummer Night's Dream, A by Shakespeare, WilliamJoin Now to Follow
Magic, fairies, young lovers chasing each other through a forest, a man with a donkey's head, and impish Puck wreaking havoc right and left. What's going on here? It's A Midsummer Night's Dream , Shakespeare at his most fanciful. The play opens with Theseus, Duke of Athens, preparing for his wedding. Egeus complains to Theseus that his daughter Hermia refuses to marry Demetrius. When Hermia is given the choice between marriage to Demetrius or life as a nun, she and her true love Lysander flee into the forest. Demetrius follows them; and Helena, who loves Demetrius, follows him . Also in the forest are Oberon and Titania, king and queen of the fairies, at odds with one another. At Oberon's behest, Puck causes Demetrius to fall in love with Helena -- oops, he missed, that was Lysander instead. Mayhem ensues. In the meantime, a group of bumbling craftsmen rehearses a play. Puck gives one of them, Bottom, the head of an ass and makes Titania fall in love with him. Further hilarity results as Bottom sees nothing at all odd about this. Eventually everything is straightened out, Bottom and the rest "perform" their play, there is a triple wedding, and Puck assures us the whole thing has been a dream. Number of quotes you know: 5 (what fools these mortals be). Useful insults: 19. (Summary by Laurie Anne Walden)
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Librivox: New Jerusalem, The by Chesterton, G. K.Join Now to Follow
The opinions expressed are not necessarily those of anyone involved in the production of this book, and are not the views of LibriVox. On the road to Cairo one may see twenty groups exactly like that of the Holy Family in the pictures of the Flight into Egypt; with only one difference. The man is riding on the ass." "The real mistake of the Muslims is something much more modern in its application than any particular passing persecution of Christians as such. It lay in the very fact that they did think they had a simpler and saner sort of Christianity, as do many modern Christians. They thought it could be made universal merely by being made uninteresting. Now a man preaching what he thinks is a platitude is far more intolerant than a man preaching what he admits is a paradox. It was exactly because it seemed self-evident, to Muslims as to Bolshevists, that their simple creed was suited to everybody, that they wished in that particular sweeping fashion to impose it on everybody." (Summary from Wikipedia)
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Librivox: Short Poetry Collection 065 by VariousJoin Now to Follow
LibriVox's Short Poetry Collection 065: a collection of 20 public-domain poems.
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Librivox: Жития Святых, т. 08 априллий (Zhitiia Sviatykh, v. 08 - April) by Dimitriĭ, Saint Metropolitan of RostovJoin Now to Follow
Жития и похвалы святых подобятся светлостию звездам: якоже бо звезды положением на небеси утвержденны суть, всю же поднебесную просвещают, тыяжде и от Индиан зрятся, ни сокрываются от скифов, землю озаряют, и морю светят, и плавающих корабли управляют: ихже имен аще и не вемы множества ради, обаче светлей доброте их чудимся. Сице и светлость святых, аще и затворены суть мощи их во гробех, но силы их в поднебесней земными пределы не суть определенны: чудимся тех житию, и удивляемся славе, еюже Бог угодившыя Ему прославляет. [St. Symeon Metaphrastes on the Lives of the Saints, 10th century A. D. ENGLISH TRANSLATION: The lives and the eulogies of the Saints resemble, by their luminosity, the stars: for as the stars, firmly studded in the firmament as they are, illume the entire universe, and the same stars are beheld by the Indians, and are not hid from the Scythians, and shed their radiance over the earth and the seas, and show the way to the ships: and even if we know not their names for their multitude’s sake, we as yet admire their brilliant loveliness. So, too, doeth the brilliance of the Saints, even when their relics are shut under a tombstone, yet their miracles in the entire universe are not bound by earthly confines: we admire their lives and wonder at the glory wherewith God glorifieth those who have pleased Him. This succinct description is found as introduction to each of the 12 volumes of the Church Slavonic Lives.]
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Librivox: Multilingual Poetry Collection 007 by VariousJoin Now to Follow
In LibriVox’s Multilingual Poetry Collection, LibriVox volunteers read their favourite public-domain poems in languages other than English. (Summary by David Barnes).
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Librivox: Fables de La Fontaine, livre 11 by La Fontaine, Jean deJoin Now to Follow
Ce onzième livre des fables de Jean de La Fontaine est celui qui contient le plus petit nombre de fables: 10. Toutefois, les textes de ces fables sont plus élaborés que ceux des textes des premiers livres du fabuliste. Le message est plus songé et aussi... moins accessible, ce qui pourrait expliquer que ces fables soient moins connues du grand public. (de Jean Lambert)
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Librivox: This Side of Paradise (version 2) by Fitzgerald, F. ScottJoin Now to Follow
Amory Blaine grew up in a wealthy family and was given an Ivy League education. Without a need to learn a profession, he chiefly dabbled in literature and partying. His school chums were of similar background, and the ideas they reflected to each other grew in their minds to be of the greatest importance. Amory began to think of himself as somewhat of a character in a Rupert Brooke poem (from which the book's title is taken). World War I intervened in this happy fog and brought focus to some, doubt to others. In the rapidly changing technology of the war era, the financial underpinnings of the Blaine fortune began to fall apart. The deaths of Amory's parents left the finances without a rudder and as Amory's situation deteriorated he came to realize he had only his interest in literature to fall back upon. Meanwhile, a series of young women traipsed through his life, attracted to his handsome face and bright wit like moths to a candle. But Amory could never master the role of being a real person... and, one by one, they traipsed out. This Side of Paradise was F. Scott Fitzgerald's first novel and was one of the nation's most popular books in the year it was published. It has some definite parallels with Fitzgerald's own life, and is in some ways an autobiography. Summary by Mark F. Smith)
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