Suggest a "Staff Pick" for archive.org

[Kitty]

I also remember this project: https://librivox.org/celebrated-women-travellers-of-the-nineteenth-century-by-w-h-davenport-adams/
biographies of women who travelled the world (often alone)

then there is this series about the Queens of England:

https://librivox.org/group/544?primary_key=544&search_category=group&search_page=1&search_form=get_results

Sonia

[Availle]

I also remember this project: https://librivox.org/celebrated-women-travellers-of-the-nineteenth-century-by-w-h-davenport-adams/
biographies of women who travelled the world (often alone)

I read for that one and it was... Not so much biographies, but more excerpts of the books the women had written themselves. What was even the point of that one?

[Availle]

The staff has picked for March, thanks for your many suggestions! Please have a look at this page for the current list. You can also check out our wiki page (maybe I'll get it done this month... ) for a plain vanilla list that contains all the staff picks for this year plus the readers!

Since this month's theme is women, we should go for full equality and have next month's theme as:

MEN

I am happy about all suggestions concerning books about men, by men, with men... of all ages!

Especially welcome are suggestions of plays and poetry.

All languages welcome!

Thanks for your help!

[ToddHW]

Howsabout these, based mostly on their titles? (I edited the catalog blurbs to focus on the men in the stories.)

The Bourgeois Gentleman by Moliere, https://librivox.org/the-bourgeois-gentleman-by-moliere/
A comic play in which a middle-class social climber is assured that by learning all the arts of being a true and noble gentleman, he shall truly become one.

The Double Life Of Mr. Alfred Burton by E. Philips Oppenheim, https://librivox.org/the-double-life-of-mr-alfred-burton-by-e-phillips-oppenheim/
Alfred Burton, a smooth-talking salesman, is having a perfectly ordinary day on the job when he stumbles across a strange plant in an old house. What he doesn't realize is that the fruit of the plant, when eaten, will change not merely the entire course of his life, but in fact his very self

The Good-Natured Man by Oliver Goldsmith, https://librivox.org/the-good-natured-man-by-oliver-goldsmith/
This is the comedic story of misguided philanthropy, mistaken identity, and secret romance. Will Honeywell, The Good-Natured Man, see through the lies and trickery surrounding his generosity?

Little Men by Louisa May Alcott, https://librivox.org/little-men-3-by-louisa-may-alcott/
Jo March's dreams of opening a home for boys comes true as she finds herself the mistress of Plumfield, a boarding school for children -- who have all stumbled in from various backgrounds. When new students arrive at her doorstep, they bring their own sets of troubles with them, such as dishonesty, disobedience, and naughty shenanigans. However, Mrs. Jo, alongside her steady husband, Fritz, uniquely guides each child along to the path to adulthood, inspiring him to become the best he can be.

The Pirates of Penzance by W. S. Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan, https://librivox.org/the-pirates-of-penzance-by-william-s-gilbert-and-sir-arthur-sullivan/
The story concerns Frederic, who, having completed his 21st year, is released from his apprenticeship to a band of tender-hearted pirates. Frederic finds out, however, that he was born on 29 February, and so, technically, he only has a birthday each leap year. His apprenticeship indentures state that he remains apprenticed to the pirates until his 21st birthday, and so he must serve for another 63 years.

The Strange Gentleman by Charles Dickens, https://librivox.org/the-strange-gentleman-by-charles-dickens/
Before he became a novelist, Dickens wrote several successful plays. This one from 1836, his first, he called, “A Comic Burletta in Two Acts”. Characters arrive at a village inn called “The St. James Arms” and much confusion ensues.

Thanks, Todd

[annise]

https://librivox.org/the-man-who-lost-himself-by-h-de-vere-stacpoole/ was an interesting version of the doppelganger concept .

Anne

[annise]

https://librivox.org/the-daredevil-by-maria-thompson-daviess/ is a different slant on being male and fun in a way even if it is somewhat unbelievable

Anne

[Availle]

Thank you very much!

I think we ran the Pirates already, but Little Men is definitely a good idea. But WHAT happens when Alfred eats the forbidden (?) fruit?

Doppelganger always sounds interesting. There is the belief that every one of us has one, somewhere...

[Availle]

The staff has picked for April, thanks for your many suggestions! Please have a look at this page for the current list. You can also check out our wiki page (Thanks to Tricia for helping with the update! ) for a plain vanilla list that contains all the staff picks for this year plus the readers!

It seems that people are concerned about their personal freedoms these days, so why not have a look at the opposite:

IMPRISONMENT

I am happy about all suggestions concerning imprisonment, people in prison, spending time in prison, trials... I am looking in particular for stories of people who were imprisoned for offences that today would go completely unpunished (like Oscar Wilde and his "Reading Gaol" etc.)

Especially welcome are suggestions of plays and poetry.

All languages welcome!

Thanks for your help!

[Lynnet]

If you run out of ideas for the inappropriately (by today's standard) imprisoned, you could go for serious bad boys (and girls) https://librivox.org/lives-of-the-most-remarkable-criminals-who-have-been-condemned-and-executed-for-murder-the-highway-housebreaking-street-robberies-coining-or-other-offences-by-arthur-l-hayward/
Volume 2 will probably be done within the month, too.

[Availle]

The staff has picked for May, thanks for your suggestions! Please have a look at this page for the current list. You can also check out our wiki page for a plain vanilla list that contains all the staff picks for this year plus the readers!

Next month is almost time for holidays again (goodness, time flies!), so why not have a look at keeping kids busy with

BOOKS FOR KIDS AND TEENS

I am happy about all suggestions concerning books for young people, easy reads (we had some questions about that for language learners). #1 question: What was your favourite book as a child that you read over and over and over?

Especially welcome are suggestions of plays and poetry.

All languages welcome!

Thanks for your help!

[ToddHW]

Howsabout some plays by Charles Brooks:

https://librivox.org/wappin-wharf-a-frightful-comedy-of-pirates-by-charles-s-brooks/
We had hoped that our drama's scene might lie on a pirate ship at sea. We had wished for a swaying mast, full-set with canvas—a typhoon to smother our stage in wind. We had hoped to walk a victim off the plank, with the sea roaring in the wings. But our plot deals stubbornly with us. Alas, our pirates grow old and stiff. They have retired, as we say, from active practice and live in easy luxury on shore. Yet we shall see that their villainy still thrives.

https://librivox.org/at-the-sign-of-the-greedy-pig-by-charles-s-brooks/
"Sometimes, in a mood of Spanish castles, there flits across my fancy the vision of an ancient city on a hill-top, with lofty battlements thrust upward from the rock and towers that stand on tip-toe…. Our stage is the square of this ancient city, seen dimly in the night.... The time of our play is remote and I choose to think the world is flat, that comets are of evil prophecy and witches still ride on the windy moon...." Published in the same book as "Wappin' Wharf: A Frightful Comedy of Pirates", this story is subtitled "A Frightful Comedy of Beggars". The play describes skulduggery at the tavern with The Sign of The Greedy Pig. Will the beggars be hung as vagrants? Will true love triumph at the end?

Thanks, Todd

[Kitty]

a few suggestions from me:

1) Heidi: definitely a classic, that doesn't need an introduction: https://librivox.org/heidi-by-johanna-spyri-solo/ we even have it as dramatic reading

2) The "Tuck-me-in-tales" series by Arthur Scott Bailey: https://librivox.org/author/464
You can pick any title which starts with "The tale of" (+ an animal), it's always short stories about that specific animal and the series is all set on the same farm, so the animals reappear in other books as well

3) maybe as one suggestion, you could point to the Children's Collection in total: https://librivox.org/group/473 or is that not specific enough ?

4) here I stumbled upon a book about how to tell stories to children. I haven't checked it out yet, but it got a good review. Maybe an interesting choice for a non-fiction example: https://librivox.org/how-to-tell-stories-to-children-and-some-stories-to-tell-by-sara-cone-bryant/ but ok, it's probably more for adults than for children. So it's not such a good idea.

5) Shakespeare for Children: https://librivox.org/the-childrens-shakespeare-by-edith-nesbit/

Sonia

[mightyfelix]

Well, since you asked about our favorites, I'll suggest The Velveteen Rabbit, which was one of my very most favorite stories growing up, and will still bring a tear to my eye. We have 9 versions, it seems, but this is the one that I enjoyed very much when I was a LibriVox listener and not yet a volunteer: https://librivox.org/the-velveteen-rabbit-duet-by-margery-williams/

I'll also suggest a good children's nonfiction, all about bugs and creepy-crawlies: https://librivox.org/insect-adventures-by-jean-henri-fabre/

[smike]

There is the Our Little Cousin series.

[xios01]

suggestions "BOOKS FOR KIDS AND TEENS"...

Five Mice in a Mouse Trap by the Man in the Moon (Laura E. Howe RICHARDS (1850 - 1943) )

https://librivox.org/five-mice-in-a-mouse-trap-by-the-man-in-the-moon-by-laura-e-howe-richards/