Random Audiobook Podcasts

A life lived backwards, with events happening in reverse order forms the strange and unexpected framework of one of F Scott Fitzgerald’s rare short stories. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button was published in Collier’s in 1927 and the idea came to Fitzgerald apparently from a quote of Mark Twain’s in which he regretted that the best part of life came at the beginning and the worst at the end. Fitzgerald’s concept of using this notion and turning the normal sequence of life on its head resulted in this delightful, thought provoking fantasy tale. The story was later incorporated in a Fitzgerald anthology, Tales of the Jazz Age. The story opens with a young, high society couple who are shocked beyond belief when they discover that their much awaited first born child resembles an elderly gent of seventy, complete with a white beard and whiskers, sitting up and querulously demanding to know, “Are you my father?” Their young son is born to live out a peculiar destiny. And so begins a grotesque journey through life, with the child, Benjamin “growing down” instead of up. Set in the Baltimore of the 1860s the story is also a satire of contemporary American society of the time. Though Fitzgerald maintains a cool and light tone throughout the story, it is in fact, deeply reflective and a very interesting take on the human condition. For contemporary readers who are familiar with the problems of aging and “second childhood” Benjamin Button’s difficulties with dealing with the demands of his chronological age vs his mental age are extremely interesting. As we find more and more older people succumbing to Alzheimer’s disease and dementia, requiring the kind of care that an infant does, the story is strangely prophetic of the condition of geriatric care in our century. The plot is not exactly new to literature, with several stories and novels being written on a similar theme by many other writers. However, Fitzgerald’s take on growing old and how we humans deal with it is what sets The Curious Case of Benjamin Button apart. The style is extremely readable, the premise is intriguing and refreshingly different and appeals to readers of all ages. The story was adapted into a film in 2008 and continues to fascinate Fitzgerald fans the world over. More great books at LoyalBooks.com

Categories: Arts, Comedy

Tags: audio books, audiobook, Comedy, Dramatic Works, ebooks, F. Scott Fitzgerald, fiction, free audio books, humor, Literature, Loyal Books, loyalbooks.com, Short stories, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Fifteen Thousand Useful Phrases is a practical handbook written by Grenville Kleiser. Grenville is known for his writings on humor, positive thinking and inspirational thought. This serves as a handbook of pertinent expressions, striking similes and terms for embellishing speech and literature. This book can be used to improve vocabulary for reading, writing and speaking alike. Through mastery of words, the most powerful and perfect expression of thought can be delivered orally. Choosing the correct words conveys ideas in a crisp and clear way that will hold and audience’s attention. Language can also act as an instrument to reach the human heart and awaken the soul. The author spent years of his life to provide the correct expressions in speech and in writing to help people convey their message excellently and extraordinarily. He has provided a means to increase the vocabulary of a person by practical methodology. This book forms the basis for speaking in a pleasing manner. Practice makes perfect and so here studying this book would surely make anyone an eloquent speaker. Do read this book if you want to master public speaking and develop the mental traits of clarity, exactness and precision.

Categories: Arts, Education

Tags: audio books, audiobook, ebooks, Essay/Short nonfiction, fiction, Fifteen Thousand Useful Phrases, free audio books, Grenville Kleiser, Languages, Loyal Books, loyalbooks.com, Non-fiction

The Dhammapada is is a Buddhist scripture, containing 423 verses in 26 categories. According to tradition, these are verses spoken by the Buddha on various occasions, most of which deal with ethics. It is is considered one of the most important pieces of Theravada literature. Despite this, the Dhammapada is read by many Mahayana Buddhists and remains a very popular text across all schools of Buddhism. – Excerpted from Wikipedia

Categories: Arts, Religion & Spirituality, Society & Culture

Tags: audio books, audiobook, Classics (antiquity), ebooks, free audio books, Loyal Books, loyalbooks.com, Non-fiction, Philosophy, religion, The Dhammapada, Unknown

The Last Man is an early post-apocalyptic science fiction novel by Mary Shelley, which was first published in 1826. The book tells of a future world that has been ravaged by a plague. The plague gradually kills off all people. Lionel Verney, central character, son of a nobleman who gambled himself into poverty, finds himself immune after being attacked by an infected “negro,” and copes with a civilization that is gradually dying out around him.

Categories: Arts, Kids & Family

Tags: audio books, audiobook, ebooks, fiction, free audio books, Literature, Loyal Books, loyalbooks.com, Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, science, science-fiction, Teen/Young adult, The Last Man

If you thought history was dull, dry and boring, you haven’t read Bill Nye’s books! He brings wit, humor, satire, irony and sheer nonsensical fun into the subject, making it both entertaining and memorable. The Comic History of England was published posthumously in 1896 after the writer’s tragic and untimely death half-way through the project. Hence it remains incomplete and covers the history of the island nation only up to the Tudor period. However, beginning with Julius Caesar, the Roman invasion of Britain, the Druids and Stonehenge, this book is still a rib-tickling ride through the centuries. Some of the humor is extremely topical and readers may in fact have to actually know some of the facts to get the jokes, but one thing is certain; this is no serious and scholarly tome to be pored over in a dusty library! Delightfully illustrated by W. W. Goodes and AM Richards, the book is embellished by truly hilarious illustrations which add to the comic element. Edgar Wilson (“Bill”) Nye was an American journalist. He was a trained to be a lawyer and was admitted to the bar. However, his interest lay in humor and writing and he soon began to contribute short sketches and humorous pieces to local newspapers. His works were well received and he was also popular on the lecture circuit as a comic speaker along with fellow writer James Whitcomb Riley. His brand of humor was uniquely American and he not only poked fun at people from all over the world, but also at himself and his fellow Americans. He once remarked that true humor rose from a “pathetic philosophy” of hunger and deprivation, making it all the more keen and hard hitting. His earlier book, Comic History of the United States had met with a rousing reception. The Comic History of England contains some droll and ludicrous takes on events like the advent of the Danes, the Norman Conquest and the Feudal System. Some of the humor is quite trenchant, as when he speaks of the Roman invasion of Caledonia (modern Scotland) and says one of the generals, Agricola, took some Scotchmen home and “domesticated” them! He also uses puns and word-play to enhance the humor, especially in the chapter that describes the advent of the Angles; the paragraphs are filled with “obtuse angles” “right angles” and the like! For a light-hearted, rollicking account of the centuries gone by, the Comic History of England is indeed unmatched! More great books at LoyalBooks.com

Categories: Arts, Comedy, Society & Culture

Tags: audio books, audiobook, Bill Nye, Comic History of England, ebooks, free audio books, History, humor, Loyal Books, loyalbooks.com, Non-fiction

Bruno and Waldo Gillespie are orphaned brothers living with the extremely eccentric Professor Phaeton Featherwit. One day they set off in one of the professor’s machines to investigate a tornado at close range and accidentally get sucked into it! They are then transported by the tornado and find themselves in a barren, uncharted wasteland wherein lies a city– a long lost Aztec city! Find out what happens next to the brothers and the professor in this harrowing and exhilarating adventure!

Categories: Arts, Kids & Family

Tags: Adventure, audio books, audiobook, ebooks, fiction, free audio books, Joseph E. Badger, jr, Kids, Loyal Books, loyalbooks.com, The Lost City

Banished from his own lands by a usurping brother, Prospero and his daughter Miranda have been living on a deserted island for years, until fate brings the brother within the range of Prospero’s powers. Will he seek revenge, or reconcilement? More great books at LoyalBooks.com

Categories: Arts, Comedy

Tags: audio books, audiobook, Comedy, Dramatic Works, ebooks, free audio books, Literature, Loyal Books, loyalbooks.com, play, The Tempest, William Shakespeare

Florence Scovel Shinn, an illustrator living in New York City, became a teacher of New Thought after a divorce. New Thought was a movement which holds the belief that individuals can create their own reality through intentional thoughts and prayer, much like the current Law of Attraction movement. The Game of Life and How to Play It is her first book, and is remarkable for being written by a woman and meant for a genteel female audience. More great books at LoyalBooks.com

Categories: Arts

Tags: advice, audio books, audiobook, ebooks, Florence Scovel Shinn, free audio books, Loyal Books, loyalbooks.com, Non-fiction, The Game of Life and How to Play It

The Histories of Herodotus of Halicarnassus is considered the first work of history in Western literature. Written about 440 BC, the Histories tell the story of the war between the Persian Empire and the Greek city-states in the 5th century BC. Herodotus traveled extensively around the ancient world, conducting interviews and collecting stories for his book. The rise of the Persian Empire is chronicled, and the causes for the conflict with Greece. Herodotus treats the conflict as an ideological one, frequently contrasting the absolute power of the Persian king with the democratic government of the Greeks.

Categories: Arts, Society & Culture

Tags: audio books, audiobook, ebooks, free audio books, Herodotus of Halicarnassus, Herodotus' Histories, History, Loyal Books, loyalbooks.com, Non-fiction

H. P. Lovecraft’s name is synonymous with horror fiction. His major inspiration and invention was cosmic horror: the idea that life is incomprehensible to human minds and that the universe is fundamentally alien. This collection contains 24 Lovecraft works that are in the public domain. More great books at LoyalBooks.com

Categories: Arts

Tags: audio books, audiobook, Collected Public Domain Works of H. P. Lovecraft, ebooks, fiction, free audio books, H. P. Lovecraft, Horror/Ghost stories, Loyal Books, loyalbooks.com, Short stories

Is there intelligent life on Mars? Why are there starless gaps in the Milky Way? What creates the Aurora Borealis or the Northern Lights? These and more are the interesting questions that are asked and sought to be answered in the 1909 book, Curiosities of the Sky by Garrett P. Serviss. Garrett Putnam Serviss was an American astronomer and popular sci-fi writer. He believed that science should be understood and enjoyed by everyone, not just by scientists. Though he was trained as a lawyer, he went to work as a newspaper reporter with The New York Sun in 1867. Here he discovered that he had an innate talent for explaining and describing scientific matter in a way that made it accessible to the ordinary public. Andrew Carnegie was struck by the talent of the young reporter and invited him to deliver a series of lectures on different subjects like cosmology, geology, astronomy and other such topics. Carnegie funded a country wide lecture tour and supplied Serviss with magic lantern slides and material to supplement his talks and make them more interesting. After the two year long lecture tour, Serviss decided to dedicate his life to the cause of popularizing science. He wrote more than fifteen books on different aspects of science. However, astronomy remained his favorite subject and he devoted eight books to this topic. Science fiction writing and short stories were also his forte. Curiosities of the Sky went on to become an extremely popular astronomy classic. It has been constantly revised and updated over the years as new discoveries are made and our knowledge of the universe expands. What makes the book so delightful is the engaging, poetic style and its wonderful eye for descriptive details. He also speculates about life on Mars and the Moon and the possible benefits of engaging with life forms on other planets and stars. Serviss’ preface to the book itself makes interesting reading. What the author has attempted to do in Curiosities of the Sky is to convey the mystery and celestial beauty of the universe in a way in which readers understand not just the insignificance of the tiny planet we inhabit, but he also seeks to stimulate interest and curiosity about everything around us. He ends with the frank confession that we really know very little about astronomy, but the theories and knowledge that we do have should spur us to explore further.

Categories: Arts

Tags: audio books, audiobook, Curiosities of the Sky, ebooks, free audio books, Garrett P. Serviss, Loyal Books, loyalbooks.com, Non-fiction, science

Bushido: The Soul of Japan written by Inazo Nitobe was one of the first books on samurai ethics that was originally written in English for a Western audience, and has been subsequently translated into many other languages (also Japanese). Nitobe found in Bushido, the Way of the Warrior, the sources of the virtues most admired by his people: rectitude, courage, benevolence, politeness, sincerity, honor, loyalty and self-control, and he uses his deep knowledge of Western culture to draw comparisons with Medieval Chivalry, Philosophy, and Christianity.

Categories: Arts, Society & Culture

Tags: audio books, audiobook, Bushido: The Soul of Japan, ebooks, free audio books, Inazo Nitobe, Loyal Books, loyalbooks.com, Non-fiction, Philosophy

“A man is literally what he thinks, his character being the complete sum of all his thoughts,” is one of the quotes from James Allen’s classic self help books, As a Man Thinketh. Published in 1902, it provides many more such insightful concepts on the power of thought and its effect on a human being’s personality and behavior. This volume is more of a literary essay than a complete book and its title is based on a Biblical proverb, “As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he.” Taking this piece of ancient wisdom further, James Allen explores the far-reaching effects of the inner workings of a person’s mind and motivation. He proposes that projecting one’s own desires, goals and needs in the outer world can provide clues to a person’s character. Thinking and the subconscious mind are assumed to be hidden from the outside world, and hence powerless to change the course of events or circumstances of one’s life. However, in this book, Allen presents ideas that can harness this subterranean force and bend our lives to our will if we so choose. James Allen was a British writer who wrote mostly about everyday philosophy for the lay person and was in a sense, a pioneer of the self help movement. His books and poems were inspirational pieces, meant to help people realize their own powers and take charge of their lives rather than being mere tools in the hands of destiny. Born in a working class family in Leicester, England, Allen and his younger brother grew up in straitened circumstances. His father, a factory worker, traveled to America in search of a better job, but was tragically attacked and killed by criminals in New York. James, the older son, was compelled to leave school and seek work back in England. He found employment as a secretary to a stationer and later worked as a journalist. He later discovered a deep and enduring interest in spiritual matters when he began working as a writer with a magazine devoted to spiritual themes. His first book From Poverty to Power was published in 1901. Subsequently, he also launched his own spiritual magazine. As a Man Thinketh was his third and most famous book. It became an instant bestseller and the sales of this tiny volume were so great that they allowed Allen and his family to retire to the country, buy a house and live in relative comfort for the rest of their life. The book’s language is very simple and the message presented here will certainly provide a basis for further thought and meditation. More great books at LoyalBooks.com

Categories: Arts, Society & Culture

Tags: As a Man Thinketh, audio books, audiobook, ebooks, Essay/Short nonfiction, fiction, free audio books, James Allen, Loyal Books, loyalbooks.com, Non-fiction, Philosophy, Psychology

Thomas Bulfinch (July 15, 1796 – May 27, 1867) explains the his work is “an attempt tell the stories of mythology in such a manner as to make them a source of amusement. We have endeavored to tell them correctly, according to the ancient authorities, so that when the reader finds them referred to he may not be at a loss to recognize the reference. Thus we hope to teach mythology not as a study, but as a relaxation from study; to give our work the charm of a story-book, yet by means of it to impart a knowledge of an important branch of education.” The Bulfinch version of myth, presents the myths in their literary versions, without unnecessary violence, sex, psychology or ethnographic information. The Bulfinch myths are an indispensable guide to the cultural values of the American 19th century.

Categories: Arts

Tags: audio books, audiobook, ebooks, fiction, free audio books, Literature, Loyal Books, loyalbooks.com, Myths/Legends, or Legends of King Arthur, The Age of Chivalry, Thomas Bulfinch

Hailed more as a literary masterpiece than an accurate account of historical facts, The History of England from the Accession of James the Second by Thomas Babington Macaulay is an admirable mix of fact and fiction. Modern day readers may find much that is offensive and insensitive in this five volume work which covers a particular period in the long and eventful history of Britain. However, it is certainly a book that leads the reader on to further research into the events and people mentioned. The book opens with an elaborate and detailed introduction which describes the writer’s motives and reasons for embarking on this project. He goes on to trace the early civilizations that preceded the establishment of the British Monarchy. He credits the British people with resisting all foreign influences beginning with the Romans and going on to the French, Dutch and Germans who had an important role to play in the affairs of the country. The British character and traditions are lauded and commended above all others. This was something which was characteristic of the Victorian age in which Macaulay lived, when the British Empire was at the height of its powers. He was still working on the fifth volume and the reign of William III when he died at the relatively young age of 59. For Macaulay and his contemporaries, Britain at that time represented the zenith of civilization. Macaulay himself was assigned the task of introducing English in British colonies, especially in India. Some of his controversial ideas included dividing the world into “civilization and barbarism” and his contempt of indigenous cultures. His famously insular outlook which he himself took great pride in was something which permeated through all his writings. The History of England… was seen as an essentially Whig representation of events. It inspired a generation of British politicians and thinkers, the most notable among them being Winston Churchill. The philosophy and viewpoint it represents evokes a past era in which the politics of the world was completely different. Macaulay is also famous for having insisted on personally visiting many of the places he describes and thus introducing the concept of social history in addition to a mere political discourse. In spite of all the attacks it received both when it was first published and later, the book remains a highly readable account of the history of the tiny island nation which went on to become a superpower. More great books at LoyalBooks.com

Categories: Arts, Society & Culture

Tags: audio books, audiobook, ebooks, free audio books, from the Accession of James the Second, History, Loyal Books, loyalbooks.com, Non-fiction, The History of England, Thomas Babington Macaulay

It is under a deep impression that the place and power of prayer in the Christian life is too little understood, that this book has been written. I feel sure that as long as we look on prayer chiefly as the means of maintaining our own Christian life, we shall not know fully what it is meant to be. But when we learn to regard it as the highest part of the work entrusted to us, the root and strength of all other work, we shall see that there is nothing that we so need to study and practise as the art of praying aright. … the Father waits to hear every prayer of faith, to give us whatsoever we will, and whatsoever we ask in Jesus’ name. (Andrew Murray, quoted from the Preface of this book) More great books at LoyalBooks.com

Categories: Arts, Education, Religion & Spirituality

Tags: Andrew Murray, audio books, audiobook, ebooks, free audio books, instruction, Loyal Books, loyalbooks.com, Non-fiction, religion, With Christ in the School of Prayer

Idle Thoughts of an Idle Fellow, published in 1886, is a collection of humorous essays by Jerome K. Jerome. It was the author’s second published book and helped establish him as a leading English humorist. The book consists of 14 independent articles arranged by themes.

Categories: Arts, Comedy

Tags: audio books, audiobook, Comedy, ebooks, Essay/Short nonfiction, fiction, free audio books, humor, Idle Thoughts of an Idle Fellow, Jerome K. Jerome, Literature, Loyal Books, loyalbooks.com, Non-fiction

A collection of podfics (audiobooks for fan fiction) for Destiel readers, by a Destiel reader.

Categories: Arts, Fiction, TV & Film

Tags: anthology, audiobook, deancas, destiel, fan fiction, fanfic, fanworks, shipping, supernatural