Audible: The spoken-word producer has launched Audible Stories, which lets families listen to hundreds of free titles such as “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland,” narrated by Scarlett Johansson; “Anne of Green Gables,” read by Rachel McAdams; “Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone,” told by Stephen Fry; and Aldous Huxley’s “Brave New World.” The available books come in six languages: English, French, Spanish, Italian, Japanese, German.
Find it: The collection is at stories.audible.com
LibriVox: Volunteers from around the world record books in the public domain and then release the audiobooks online for free. Available titles include “The Adventures of Puss in Boots Jr.” by David Cory and “Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea” by Jules Verne in Spanish. You can browse the catalog by author, title, genre and language, which includes ancient Greek, Arabic and Portuguese. If you’d rather record a book than listen to one, anyone can volunteer to do so. No prior experience required.
Find it: Visit librivox.org
Spotify: The streaming service boasts a wide selection of recordings and free audiobooks narrated by well-known authors. Listen to Kurt Vonnegut read “Breakfast of Champions” and “Slaughterhouse-Five,” Edna St. Vincent Millay reflect on love or Charles Bukowski recite his poetry. You also can find audio editions of Franz Kafka’s “The Metamorphosis” and Jane Austen’s “Pride and Prejudice.”
Find it: Sign up for an account at spotify.com. Click on “Browser” (in the upper left corner), scroll all the way down to “Word,” and enjoy.
Project Gutenberg: This is a library of more than 60,000 free e-books, assembled by thousands of volunteers who digitize and proofread digital media. No fee, registration or special apps are required. Titles are available in Portuguese, French, Dutch, Finnish, Tagalog, Hungarian, Esperanto, German, Spanish, Latin and more.
Find it: Visit gutenberg.org
Scribd: Access e-books by bestselling authorssuch as Stephen King and Ann Patchett and other electronic materials at no cost (and no credit card) for 30 days.
Find it: Visit scribd.com
FreeBooksy: The website offers a daily selection of free e-books for Kindle, Nook, Apple and Kobo devices.
Find it: Visit freebooksy.com
ManyBooks: Browse thousands of free books, including Kahlil Gibran’s “The Prophet.”
Find it: Go to manybooks.net and search by title, author or keyword.
Feedbooks: Discover and download thousands of public-domain books such as Louisa May Alcott’s “Little Women” and J.M. Barrie’s “Peter Pan.”
Find it: Visit feedbooks.com and click on the “Public Domain” tab at the top.
International Children’s Digital Library: You’ll find award-winning books for various reading levels, including a collection of Mother Goose nursery rhymes. Browse literature in Hindi, Mongolian and other languages.
Find it: Go to en.childrenslibrary.org.Registration is optional, but registered users can select a preferred language and save books to a personal shelf
Find it: The collection is at stories.audible.com
LibriVox: Volunteers from around the world record books in the public domain and then release the audiobooks online for free. Available titles include “The Adventures of Puss in Boots Jr.” by David Cory and “Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea” by Jules Verne in Spanish. You can browse the catalog by author, title, genre and language, which includes ancient Greek, Arabic and Portuguese. If you’d rather record a book than listen to one, anyone can volunteer to do so. No prior experience required.
Find it: Visit librivox.org
Spotify: The streaming service boasts a wide selection of recordings and free audiobooks narrated by well-known authors. Listen to Kurt Vonnegut read “Breakfast of Champions” and “Slaughterhouse-Five,” Edna St. Vincent Millay reflect on love or Charles Bukowski recite his poetry. You also can find audio editions of Franz Kafka’s “The Metamorphosis” and Jane Austen’s “Pride and Prejudice.”
Find it: Sign up for an account at spotify.com. Click on “Browser” (in the upper left corner), scroll all the way down to “Word,” and enjoy.
Project Gutenberg: This is a library of more than 60,000 free e-books, assembled by thousands of volunteers who digitize and proofread digital media. No fee, registration or special apps are required. Titles are available in Portuguese, French, Dutch, Finnish, Tagalog, Hungarian, Esperanto, German, Spanish, Latin and more.
Find it: Visit gutenberg.org
Scribd: Access e-books by bestselling authorssuch as Stephen King and Ann Patchett and other electronic materials at no cost (and no credit card) for 30 days.
Find it: Visit scribd.com
FreeBooksy: The website offers a daily selection of free e-books for Kindle, Nook, Apple and Kobo devices.
Find it: Visit freebooksy.com
ManyBooks: Browse thousands of free books, including Kahlil Gibran’s “The Prophet.”
Find it: Go to manybooks.net and search by title, author or keyword.
Feedbooks: Discover and download thousands of public-domain books such as Louisa May Alcott’s “Little Women” and J.M. Barrie’s “Peter Pan.”
Find it: Visit feedbooks.com and click on the “Public Domain” tab at the top.
International Children’s Digital Library: You’ll find award-winning books for various reading levels, including a collection of Mother Goose nursery rhymes. Browse literature in Hindi, Mongolian and other languages.
Find it: Go to en.childrenslibrary.org.Registration is optional, but registered users can select a preferred language and save books to a personal shelf
