How to Listen to Audio Books for Free

Listening to audio books can be a great way to pass the time, entertain yourself and learn something new. Audio books can make a long road trip more fun, or make your commute to and from work a more productive time. Books on CD can help you catch up on classic novels or self-help books you have always wanted to read but haven't had the time for, or allow you to study topics related to your career. You can also listen to MP3 files of audio books as you do housework or work out at the gym to make those activities more fun.

Instructions

1

Check out books on CD from your library. This is probably the easiest way to listen to audio books for free, and it will give you the largest selection of newer books. The limitations to this method are that you can only listen to them on a CD player or on your computer, and you may have to wait for another patron to return the book you want if it's checked out when you visit the library.

2

Ask your library if they have eAudiobooks or a similar program. These programs will allow you to download audio books by simply entering your library card number on a website. Not all libraries participate in these programs, but many do, so it's worthwhile to ask. One limitation is that, largely, these collections are educational and include a lot of nonfiction and older classic novels. If you are looking for the latest thriller or chick-lit book, this will probably not be the best route for you.

3

Check out Project Gutenberg online. Project Gutenberg offers a wide variety of books in text for free, but they also offer a rather large selection of audio books. All of these books are older ones that have gone into the public domain and can be downloaded and listened to for free, without any copyright issues. That means, again, you won't find the latest thrillers here, but they do have an interesting collection of older volumes, from "Aesop's Fables" to Jules Verne. Another limitation is that the file sizes and types may not be compatible with your MP3 player; in some cases, you may only be able to listen to these books on your computer (see Resources below).

4

Visit other websites that allow you to download audio books for free. If you're a science fiction fan, sffaudio.com will link you to a variety of websites that offer science fiction and fantasy audio book downloads for free. The Internet Archive (archive.org) will also allow you to download audio books for free, as will librivox.org. The one downside to listening to audio books read by volunteers is that the quality of the reading can vary wildly. Some readers are quite good, while others read in monotones or have inferior recording equipment. With Librivox, especially, you may have five or ten different authors reading various chapters of the book, and this is often not as satisfying as listening to one professional actor reading an entire book on CD.

5

You can also do an Internet search to see if some of your favorite authors might offer short stories or books on audio for free. You will be surprised how many will do this simply to get their names out there and widen their audience. One author who does this frequently is science fiction author Cory Doctorow (see Resources below).