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Romance, Love, Happy Ending!

Posted on February 1, 2023 by | Posted in about LibriVox, Blog, Books, For Volunteers, Monthly Picks, News | Comments: Comments Off on Romance, Love, Happy Ending!

Valentine’s Day should bring some fresh romance into your life, whether in an old relationship or a new one. Let’s celebrate all things love with 10 gems from our catalog.

All things love definitely include Homogenic Love. Edward Carpenter was an early LGBT pioneer who laid out his thoughts on homosexuality in this little book from the late 19th century.

In the early 20th century, Laurence Hope was a popular author. She spent her adult life in India and let the country and its people inspire her to original poetry. Some of it is collected in India’s Love Lyrics.

It’s said that love is eternal, it has certainly be around for long enough, as Langus‘ story from Ancient Greece shows. Two orphans grow up as neighbors and fall in love, but they must face many hardships before they can enjoy The Pastoral Loves of Daphnis and Chloe.

Gilliatt suffers self-imposed hardships when he tries to salvage the engine of a wrecked steamship. Just to win the hand of rich Deruchette, he becomes one of the Toilers of the Sea in the novel by Victor Hugo.

Charles Rex, on the other hand, is already a rich man when he discovers a female stowaway on his yacht. Although immediately drawn to her, he feels he must find her a more suitable match… Find out if he succeeds in the novel by Ethel M. Dell.

Fallen woman Kitty prefers to take matters in her own hands. When she meets widower Robert, all stars seem to align for the couple. May Sinclair writes about this Immortal Moment – but how long will it last?

The love of Cyrano de Bergerac and Roxane is meant to last a lifetime. Unfortunately, ugly Cyrano has to hide behind handsome Christian to woo Roxane in the famous love-triangle play by Edmond Rostand.

Elbert Hubbard did not include any love triangles in his Little Journeys to the Homes of Great Lovers. There is still enough tragedy to be found, however, in the stories of 12 famous couples including Lord Nelson and Lady Hamilton, Dante and Beatrice, Petrarch and Laura…

Laurence Housman decided to publish an anonymous Englishwoman’s Love Letters because of “a request, conveyed under circumstances which the writer herself would have regarded as all-commanding”.

Renold decides to temporarily send his sister to a convent when he sees her secretly meeting Hippolyt, the count’s son. But she disappears and the mystery can only be solved on Schloß Dürande… This short novella was written by Joseph von Eichendorff.

Enjoy – and Happy Valentine!

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New Year’s Resolutions

Posted on January 1, 2023 by | Posted in about LibriVox, Blog, Books, For Volunteers, Monthly Picks, News | Comments: Comments Off on New Year’s Resolutions

Happy New Year! Have you made any New Year’s resolutions, big, small, or medium-sized? Get inspired to change your life with 10 gems from our catalogue.

But first, let’s properly celebrate A Happy New Year with 27 verses by Charles de la Poer Beresford. Some poems fit this season, others have more special topics, like the Londonderry city election.

It’s a very special day for Tom Playfair when he is sent to St. Maure’s boarding school run by Jesuits. There, the unruly boy must learn to adapt in the novel for young boys by Francis J. Finn.

When an American visits England, smaller adjustments are to be expected. But when WWI breaks out in this story by H. G. Wells, war upends the lives of everybody. It is possible that Mr. Britling Sees it Through?

In such cases, a Victorious Attitude is invaluable. Orison Swett Marden teaches you how to improve your life and overcome obstacles by reducing negative thoughts and having faith in yourself.

In football, such advice comes from the coach – but the team of Clearfield High hast just lost theirs. Can they find a new one before The Secret Play against Springfield? Ralph Henry Barbour knows more.

Want to know more about cooking? Janet McKenzie Hill is an expert on Salads, Sandwiches and Chafing-Dish Dainties. This short book will turn you into a veritable god or goddess of food.

Then again, being a god isn’t all it’s made out to be. The gods of Ancient Greece find themselves in modern society and need a new purpose. How this turns out is explored in the comedy Os Deuses de Casaca by Machado de Assis.

Johann Peter Hebel is a quite funny writer too. His short Kalendergeschichten were written for – and became a highlight of – the Rheinländischer Hausfreund. This is a selection of six of his stories.

The imperial diamonds, a highlight from Turkey, went missing in London. While police suspect an insider, Reginald Brett thinks otherwise. Can the hobby detective solve The Albert Gate Mystery in the story by Louis Tracy?

A new year – a new hobby! How about learning the Art of Ventriloquism and Vocal Illusions from Frederic Maccabe? This little book provides you with the theory and with practical exercises. Both will come handy when you start recording for us this year. Just sayin’…

Enjoy – and we wish you all a wonderful 2023!

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14 Years in the Making

Posted on December 30, 2022 by | Posted in Blog | Comments: 1 Comment on 14 Years in the Making

Just in time for our end-of-2022-party, we reached another … well, not quite a milestone, but definitely reason enough for celebrations:

Mengelilingi Doenia Dalam 80 Hari is our very first book-length project in Indonesian!

This is a translation of Jules Verne’s Around the World in Eighty Days, a book that has always been extremely popular on LibriVox. In addition to the above Indonesian version, we also currently offer it in the original French, five English translations, as well as in Dutch, German, and Spanish.

This project took a group of Indonesian speakers 14 years to complete, which goes to show that LibriVoxers never give up! And also, that each and every contribution, no matter how small it may seem, brings us closer to our objective:

To make all books in the public domain available, narrated by real people and distributed for free, in audio format on the internet.

Join us – it’s fun! (No, really!)
If you needed just the right New Year’s Resolution for 2023, this is it! See you in the forums!

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Spirituality & Christmas

Posted on December 1, 2022 by | Posted in about LibriVox, Blog, Books, For Volunteers, Monthly Picks, News | Comments: 1 Comment on Spirituality & Christmas

Happy December, month of Christmas! Whether you’ll be celebrating it or not, here are 10 gems from our catalog to lift your spirits.

Given the time of the year, The Spring of Joy may seem an odd choice. But Mary Webb was passionate about nature, and this collection of essays helped her through a bout of serious illness.

Even more serious is the mission of centurion Marcellus: eradicate the Christians of Rome. But when he delves deeper into their world and hears about The Martyr of the Catacombs, his own life is soon on the line too. Find out what happens in our dramatic reading of the book by James de Mille.

Not only Jesus is seen as the god of protection, compassion, and tenderness. In Hinduism, it is Sree Krishna, the Lord of Love, who has these attributes. Baba Premanand Bharati explains the circular life of the universe in this introduction to Hinduism.

Christie Tucker is introduced to the new railway in her town in a most exciting way: By a birthday train ride to visit her uncle for a day. But Christie’s Christmas doesn’t go as smoothly as planned in our brand-new novel by Pansy.

A soldier’s duty is never easy, especially during holidays. In La navidad en las montañas by Ignacio Manuel Altamirano, a soldier and a priest meet unexpectedly and proceed to celebrate Christmas together.

A group of colorful people come together on a missionary trip to northern Siberia. But На краю света (On the Edge of the World), life takes on a new meaning. Nikolai Leskov expresses rare ideas of freedom of faith in this Russian novel.

Although Buddhism is one of the largest faiths in the world, the absence of a god makes it more of a philosophy, rather than a religion. H. S. Olcott gives a very brief introduction to its history and morals in The Buddhist Catechism.

Some moral lessons are timeless and transcend culture. The Baital Pachchisi (aka the Vikram Betal) from 11 century India uses 25 short stories to teach children moral and social lessons. This edition is by Duncan Forbes.

For many kids, Christmas wouldn’t be the same without Santa Claus. But honestly, what do we really know about the guy on a reindeer sleigh who brings presents? L. Frank Baum lifts the mystery in his book The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus.

No matter if you’re still a kid or already grown, you can prepare for your very own Christmas in Poetry. This is a collection of 40 Christmas carols and poems by many authors from different lands and different times.

Enjoy – and have a wonderful and merry Christmas!

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