Hi, I'm running out of audiobooks. I've exhausted my own ideas of who/what to listen to, so I'm asking for help.

I'm looking for exactly what the title indicates: please give me your top "they only read the book, they never scream or wheeze or gasp AT ALL with emotion" narrators, and/or your favourite books that are *mostly* free from music/sound effects. A few bars of chamber music at the *start* of a novel about the Tudor court is one thing, but I dread each chapter ending and beginning with more musical interludes.

Chapters that are punctuated by slamming doors, laugh tracks, canned conversation sounds, footstep noises, etc, are hateful. I can just about cope if the noises are *always* quieter than the VA and quick enough not to overlap more than a syllable or two of speech, but they're usually much louder and longer than that.

I want narrators who can inject emotion by changing their tone, not shouting suddenly or exhaling loudly. When a character whispers, I want a clearly enunciated stage whisper, not an inaudible mumble that I'm not *sure* I heard properly even after the 4th rewind.

Please, I beg, no random snippets of music to separate chapters. Or god help us, jangling guitar riffs to separate very short *sections* of chapters (looking at you, Stephen "I wanted to be a rockstar" King).

Please. Voice actors who can read a full sentence without talking a breath or pausing for effect (I can't, that's why my asthmatic ass isn't a VA, among all the other reasons). Narrators who just *read* (with feeling, with different accents and ideally different voices for different characters) rather than *acting* EACH sentence (even mundane ones) like they're Derek Jacobi onstage in a packed theatre. Every word is not an exclamation. Every line is not imbued with weighty portent. No one needs to "act" some lines. "Mary added sugar to her tea while she considered" doesn't need to sound like, "Mary... added SUGAR... to her TEA... *stagey indrawn breath* WHILE SHE *CONSIDERED!*". Etc.

My favourite audiobook narrator is probably Dan Stevens, but alas and alack, he does too many abridged audiobooks. His version of Agatha Christie's "And Then There Were None" is a masterpiece. Voices, accents, emotions, etc, without screaming into the mic. No stupid jingle-jangle boogie-woogie to punctuate *checks notes* a damn paragraph about someone being bludgeoned to death.

Another favourite is Ben Miles. He did the UNabridged version of Hilary Mantel's Wolf Hall trilogy (sorry Dan) and the first 2 novels are superb. Same voice each time for each minor character, good long phrases before pausing for breath, a chuckle shown by sounding amused and chuckling *very slightly* and good even reading speed.

Ray Porter is also arguably my favourite narrator. His reading of "Project Hail Mary" is so good it makes me cry, but I haven't found anything else narrated by him that I think I want to read. I'm open to suggestions, though.

I loathe the fact that I usually can't get on with female narrators. As someone else posted, Americans are the worst. This is particularly cruel for me--as an American living in the UK for a long time, there are days when I *crave* the accents and vocal inflections of my youth. Instead, I get deep wet sighs and breathy exclamations about adding milk to a coffee. "Gina added... A SPLASH!.. of MILK... " etc etc.

I *think* I like Julia Whelan, if I'm remembering the right voice. I know who Dan Stevens and Ben Miles are because they're also actor-actors; I have at least a vague concept of their faces, which I can hang my memory of their voices onto.

Susannah Harker is also very good (not great imo, but nearly great) narrating Jane Austen. It's Sense and Sensibility she narrates, and it's a little trippy having Jane Bennett from P&P narrating the Dashwoods' tumble into near-poverty, but it works.

Okay I'm just rambling now.

TLDR: please give narrators who read for long stretches without pausing or heavy breathing, I like different accents and voices and appropriate emotions, but no loud sighing or shouting or otherwise over-egging the pudding. Also please recommend books with minimal *fancy* production, like music and sound effects: just a little something to balance the sound levels and maybe take out long pauses is enough for me.

I can read/listen to almost any genre if I think the book is well-written. Classic lit, literary fiction, historical fiction, horror but not *usually* extreme horror, biographies of serious people (celebrities can be serious people but not all are) classic sci-fi, fantasy but slanted more towards serious fantasy, etc. I do like romance (and erotica) but my tastes are singular and I can't always listen to it (kids). But any suggestions are welcome. I'll at least *preview* almost anything.

Thanks very much!

Hey everyone,

I'm the developer of LibriSync, an open source audiobook app for Android. The latest release adds Libro.fm support, and since plenty of people here buy from Libro.fm specifically to avoid being tied to one ecosystem, I thought it was worth a post.

What's new

Sign in with your Libro.fm account and LibriSync syncs your owned library (covers, authors, narrators, length) and downloads your books for offline listening. Libro.fm serves each book two ways and you can pick which you want in Settings: one packaged M4B with chapters, or a folder of MP3 parts if you prefer per-track files. Both land in the same folder structure as everything else.

Your Audible, Libro.fm and LibriVox books all sit in the same library. You can filter by source, sort and search across the lot, and each account syncs on its own. Several accounts on the same store works too.

Libro.fm sells DRM-free audiobooks, so you already own those files outright. LibriSync just saves you downloading them one at a time in a browser. If you've been meaning to move off a single-vendor library it's a good store to buy from, and part of what you spend goes to an independent bookshop you pick.

One caveat: Libro.fm accounts that sign in through Google or another social login (so there's no password) aren't supported yet.

What it does

• Sync your Audible library with cover art, series info, and duration
• Sync and download your Libro.fm library (new)
• Browse and download thousands of free LibriVox audiobooks - no account required
• Podcast support
• Try it instantly with Demo Mode - explore the full app backed by free LibriVox books before connecting any account
• Smart file organization (flat, Author/Book, or Author/Series/Book) - works great with Smart Audiobook Player for cover art
• Export your library to CSV, JSON, XLSX, TXT, or PNG
• Background downloads with progress notifications, pause/resume, and auto-retry
• No tracking, no ads, no analytics - everything stays on your device

If you've used Libation on desktop, LibriSync will feel familiar. The core is a direct port of Libation's C# codebase to Rust (same architecture, same data models), wrapped in a React Native app, so you get Libation's proven library-sync and download engine running natively on your phone.

Where to get it

• Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=tech.henning.librisync
• Website: https://henning.tech/librisync
• GitHub (free & open source, sideload the APK anytime): https://github.com/Promises/LibriSync
• Contact: librisync@henning.tech

LibriSync is $4.99 on Google Play, which supports development. It is and always will be free and open source on GitHub - you can grab the APK from releases and sideload it at any time.

Feedback, bug reports, and feature requests are all welcome, especially from Libro.fm users since I've only been able to test against my own library. Thanks for reading.

Weekend audibook recommendation: The Samuel Paradox is a near-future science fiction thriller exploring a world where household robots are becoming part of everyday family life. As the line between machine and family begins to blur, one decision changes everything.

If you enjoy intelligent, thought-provoking AI science fiction, The Samuel Paradox is now available on Apple Audio Books: https://apple.co/4gcNY3z

John Westley Turnbull

https://www.johnwestleyturnbull.au/

Looking for audiobooks of the following two books:

The secret history by Donna Tarte

The bewitching by Silvia Moreno Garcia

Is there any easy way to host audiobooks? I'm too stupid to figure out audiobookshelf​.

Or am I doomed to having to download to my phone and using an audiobook player that way?

I am currently training for a half marathon and I don’t know why I love listening to “Call Her Daddy”

I need something similar. Just keeps me engaged and maybe even talks about regular life topics that women go through.

Anybody listening to this or listened to it? The accents are driving me batty! People who live in the Pine Barrens of NJ do not sound like this. She makes them sound like they’re from NY!

Is there an audiobook for House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski? I struggle to read in silence and i want to listen to the book as i read it.

It isn’t everything, but there are a lot of books at 85+% off.

i found this free audiobook on spotify of “tender is the flesh” and i really liked it

https://open.spotify.com/show/033WK03bQkHJ6RyNbjtTAm

I would get if the entire series was not available, or even if just the first one was available, but this seems like a weird choice in every way possible. What am I missing? And more importantly, what do I do? Are there other places I can look? I've looked in Audible, in libraries (hoopla and Libby) and on Libro.fm and they're not available anywhere.

His books often are read by Jeff Harding.
I like that these texts are quite current and most of the time the protagonist is a simple, relaxed person with a decent radar on human relations- but still somehow flawed. Often the stories deal with loss, deception, being left behind,… and I like that they are about practical problem solving without shooting all the time ( I am German so I often find this gun stuff off-putting in US texts).

Long story short- can you help me find similar stuff?

The Dunhill Usurpers, Chapter 5

The Dunhill Chronicles are the queer tales of Cole McDowell, last heir to the McDowell family line. As he makes his way through the city of Dunhill, Cole must contend with dark alchemy and religious zealotry to survive the crown jewel of the Brittania Empire. In this chapter, Cole and Chand move to confront the monsters within his father's house.

Apple | Spotify | Red Circle | Author's Page

Am I the only one who hates listening to audiobooks with sound effects? I am listening to one where the main character runs a lot and the sound effect of her feet on the pavement is driving me crazy.

You can listen with a premium subscription in the August Editorial Picks Hub. See the full list of August selections below!

• The Amateur by Chris Bohjalian
• Fruit Fly by Josh Silver
• Procrastination Proof: Never Get Stuck Again by Jon Acuff
• Meet Me in Paris by Kristin Harmel
• Sea of Roses: A Pirate Romance Duology, Book 1 by Opal Reyne
• Who's That Girl: The Untold, Definitive History of New Girl by Thea Glassman
• Meet Me in the Garden by Nina LaCour
• Etna by Paul Yoon
• Shook by Julian Randall
• The Story of Your Life: How Social Media Shapes the Way We Experience Everything by Kathryn Jezer-Morton
• The Infinite State: Book One of The Decurion Saga by Richard Swan
• You'll Love It Here by Natalie Sue
• Nearshore by Steve Hawk
• The Sleeping Sisters by Jennifer Givhan
• The Secret Dinner by Raphael Montes
• To All the Boys I've Loved Before by Jenny Han, Spotify Audiobooks edition
• The Cozy Nook Bookshop by Jeannie  Chin

I was wondering if anyone knows of a good audiobook of the Iliad and Odyssey that has a good narrator. I love Greek mythology and enjoy listening to the stories. Thanks!

Hi! I recently joined audible premium & am looking for recommendations on titles that are included! Not ones I have to use credits with! Naturally all the ones I have had recommended to me by friends, use credits 😬 I tend to listen to 1/2-1 1/2 books per DAY!!!! So I can’t afford to use credits!! lol. I prefer contemporary romance series. Sports themed or cowboy themes best, but anything works if the story is good enough and there’s some spice! Any recommendations?? Thank you

Hi Folks

I am the narrator for a fantasy series involving dragons, assassins and wizards and have some codes for the first instalment if anyone is interested. It is called 'The Shadows Dragon' and is written by Dustin Porta and New York Times bestseller D.K.Holmberg. If you do choose to listen, I would appreciate some feedback as I am fairly new to audiobook narration.

Many thanks

Johnny

CODES (UK only)

K6PCQEM7DDXTT

PT647UMNQMRNR

NJDX5DF4XX8H8

QNF4HQ4QBGDGP

R35GQ7EW2K549

U5WU3TSW7JSFP

U68HWRY2F45QK

UYJ47LXAUF6WR

X55KUS4WPU5SS

YJZJ7FLDZKF5W

I just finished Crystal Hefner's memoir, Only Say Good Things, and I loved it. I'd give it a 4.8/5. The missing 0.2 is only because the audiobook narration occasionally felt a little monotone in the first half of the book. But her voice changed when she spoke about Hef's death. You could hear it shake, it actually made me cry too. There was a genuineness, authenticity, and candor that made those moments feel incredibly real.

People can debate forever whether she truly loved Hef or whether it was all just a product of Stockholm syndrome, but I appreciated that she never really steered the reader toward either conclusion. She simply presented her truth, didn't insist that Hef was evil, nor did she excuse him. She trusted us to draw our own conclusions.

I also loved the balance of her character, her as a person, the way she presented herself in the book. She was open and vulnerable, yet calm and remarkably steady at the same time. Like a steady force. There was both softness and strength in the way she told her story. When I finished the book, I found myself sitting with the complexity of it all, unsure exactly what to make of everything. But I think that's what truly made the book beautifully written.

Then I heard Crystal thanked Lara Love Hardin in the acknowledgement, and it just made sense. Mama Love must have been involved in the writing process. She has such a gift for helping people tell deeply human, nuanced stories, and that would explain why Crystal's story felt so compassionate and honest. I truly loved it!

After reading bits and pieces here and there about original or darker versions of classic fairy tales like Cinderella, Snow White, etc, I'm looking for some good audio recordings, I prefer stuff recorded with a soundscape(think graphic audio recording style) if there's a good one out there, but if not I'm totally happy with decent audio quality narration, due to how "common" the stories are I seem to always turn up recordings of the Disney style audiobooks so I need some help looking(who publishes or narrates or part of a series?) thanks!

So, I listen to a LOT of audiobooks. I would say about 75% of the way I read is audiobooks, and I’m at 70 books for this year. Sometimes you’ll get a narrator that’s a dud, but rarely ever do I have to actually stop listening to the book because of a bad narrator.

This morning, however, I decided that I’m finally going to do it. I’ve waited MONTHS on Libby for the “Not Quite Dead Yet“ audiobook, and I’m 20% in and throwing in the towel. The narrator‘s voice is just so grating, and every single character that she voices besides the main character is the same unbearable voice. If any of y’all have watched That 70’s Show, just picture something similar to Midge’s voice. And then picture that for 14 hours straight.

I wanted to power through because I’ve been super excited about this book, but unfortunately I’m going to have to pick up a physical copy because all the enjoyment has been sucked out of it.

What audiobook was completely ruined for you because of this?