Perhaps you are one of the many people in the world who love
listening to audio books. They can be found just about
anywhere--the World Wide Web, book stores, rental services and
department stores, among other places; and now nearly any book
imaginable is available on both compact disc and audio cassette.
Perhaps, also, you are flat broke. Maybe the holiday season
has left you banknote impaired--yet you just cannot manage to
free yourself from a desire to finally relax and enjoy listening
to a favorite book. Fortunately, that is not an impossible
dream, regardless of the circumstances. And it is a dream that
can be realized without spending a single penny!
There are many ways in which to attain free audio books. An
obvious example would be your local library. While this bit of
advice may not be true of all libraries, it can be said that
many branches are now catching on to the trend. Of course, there
are always those whose local libraries are a bit too
"old-fashioned" but on the other end of the spectrum, many
libraries are now offering free audio book downloads.
If, however your local library seems to be of the antique
brand, then there are many options for those with internet
access. A Los Angeles based service, Jiggerbug.com offers free
trials of their audio book rental service. They provide an
extensive catalogue of audio book titles; and if you like the
audio in their collection, then feel free to burn them onto CD
for your own personal use (meaning do not get caught selling
multiple copies of Brokeback Mountain from your car's trunk).
Copyright laws don't take kindly to being broken; the
consequences of doing so can be heinous.
Also worthy of mention is Project Gutenberg
(http://www.gutenberg.org ), a website consisting of free
computer generated audio that are available for download.
Although their selection does not include many contemporary
reads, it is a good source for classic literature.
And finally, there's always the do-it-yourself method: record
your own audio books! This is especially a great idea for
parents of young children. With free software Microsoft Speech
SDK and Text Aloud MP3, you have only to decide on a book that
you believe your child or children will most enjoy. Also, you
shouldn't worry if you don't have the voice of James Earl
Jones--the kids don't care. It wouldn't be a bad thing, though,
would it?
While these suggestions may be considered obvious to some, it
is often the obvious things that are overlooked. Regardless of
your methods, though, it's hard to go wrong when you're getting
stuff for free!
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