Suggest a "Staff Pick" for archive.org

[knotyouraveragejo]

A few more:

A Lady's Life in the Rocky Mountains

https://librivox.org/a-ladys-life-in-the-rocky-mountains-by-isabella-l-bird/

Riders of the Purple Sage

https://librivox.org/riders-of-the-purple-sage-by-zane-grey/

The Story of the Pony Express

https://librivox.org/the-story-of-the-pony-express-by-glenn-d-bradley/

[Availle]

The staff has picked for October - 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.

The theme for next month will be

Darkness

I am happy about all suggestions concerning darkness: crime fiction, murder mysteries, disappearing people, adventures in the fog, dark spaces, tragedies,... It's a November theme, obviously.

Especially welcome are suggestions of plays and poetry.

Thanks for your help!

[Carolin]

Sorry for not responding earlier, i havent been in this forum much.

I have some poetry suggestions which might fit the theme

http://librivox.org/the-spook-ballads-by-william-theodore-parkes/
http://librivox.org/ardours-and-endurances-by-robert-nichols/
http://librivox.org/shapes-and-shadows-by-madison-cawein/
http://librivox.org/yesterdays-by-ella-wheeler-wilcox/
http://librivox.org/beyond-the-hills-of-dream-by-william-wilfred-campbell/

[Availle]

Spook Ballads.

[Kitty]

I have a few suggestions, if it's not too late yet

For Drama:

The Castle Spectre, by Matthew Lewis, who is more known for his famous Gothic Novel The Monk (which you could mention as well). Here it's a Gothic drama, you can read the synopsis here:

https://librivox.org/the-castle-spectre-by-matthew-lewis/

For Poems:

Edgar Allan Poe of course comes to mind, but you probably had him already. But maybe his most famous poem The Raven in multilingual editions may be a novel choice ?

https://librivox.org/the-raven-multilingual-by-edgar-allan-poe/

For Novels:

Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu is a good example for Gothic literature, a bit less known than Bram Stoker maybe, but his stories are similar in creepiness and writing style. I found a few in our database, here is maybe a good example:

https://librivox.org/the-evil-guest-by-joseph-sheridan-le-fanu/

Another good writer is Richard Marsh, and there is actually one novel I contributed to. The Joss. It was written from the perspective of 4 people, two men and two women, so 4 LV readers took those chapters to stay in character. It was my first foray into prose chapters, after only doing short poems Quite a revelation for me, back then. Unfortunately my microphone was not a good one yet, so maybe this is not a good example to tout...but Marsh also wrote other novels, if you like to present another one.

https://librivox.org/the-joss-a-reversion-by-richard-marsh/

For other languages than English:

Recently I DPLed a Spanish short story collection by Leopoldo Lugones. The stories all have a creepy element, but embedded and explained in a sort of scientific explanation (like for example, a man invents a machine which creates sounds that would melt matter, so when he tries it on himself, his brain melts and he is found dead after some days ) That sort of thing.

https://librivox.org/las-fuerzas-extranas-by-leopoldo-lugones/

Enough for the moment

Sonia

[ToddHW]

What wonderful suggestions. And the last one makes me wish I knew Spanish or had one of those translating fish things...

Thanks, Todd

[Kitty]

What wonderful suggestions. And the last one makes me wish I knew Spanish or had one of those translating fish things...

the Babel Fish ? I'm not sure I would want to put that in my ear to be honest.

I was surprised by how much I understood from those Spanish stories, because believe it or not, I don't speak Spanish. But since the language is so similar to other languages I speak, and Victor (the reader) is really narrating quite expressively and slowly enough to follow, it was a real treat to get to know about this writer. That's why it came to my mind now when I read about the topic.

Sonia

[Availle]

The staff has picked for November - 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.

The theme for next month will be

Spirituality

I am happy about all suggestions concerning Religions (any!) / Christmas and other celebrations / Feel-good stories / moral tales...

Especially welcome are suggestions of plays and poetry.

Thanks for your help!

[MARTIN GEESON]

Poetry:

An eloquent, and beautiful, affirmation of the power of spirituality to overcome earthly tragedy - here, the loss of a loved-one:

https://librivox.org/in-memoriam-ahh-by-alfred-lord-tennyson/

Martin

[commonsparrow3]

For a play, what about the medieval classic Everyman?

[Availle]

Thank you both!

I was hoping for something slightly more uplifting, maybe?

[Carolin]

Some Poetry suggestions

http://librivox.org/songs-of-cheer-by-john-kendrick-bangs/
http://librivox.org/irradiations-sand-and-spray-by-john-gould-fletcher/
http://librivox.org/beyond-the-hills-of-dream-by-william-wilfred-campbell/

Thank you

[Basquetteur]

Related to spirituality may be something on philosophy by Bertrand Russell?

1. May be from "The problems of philosophy":
https://librivox.org/the-problems-of-philosophy-by-bertrand-russell-2/

this concluding chapter: the value of philosophy
http://ia800606.us.archive.org/0/items/problemsofphilosophy_1706_librivox/problemsofphilosophy_15_russell_128kb.mp3

There is another earlier version of the same book, I do not know which one is better read:
https://librivox.org/the-problems-of-philosophy-by-bertrand-russell/


2. Another one from Russell is "A free man's worship", which has been recorded 4 times I think:

https://librivox.org/modern-essays-by-christopher-morley/
https://librivox.org/librivox-short-nonfiction-collection-vol-002/
https://librivox.org/short-nonfiction-collection-vol-048-by-various/
https://librivox.org/mysticism-and-logic-and-other-essays-by-bertrand-russell/


3. In a complete different vein, If you wish I could search some poetry in French from one of the 9 compilation de poèmes volumes that Ezwa coordinates and reads. There must be several about spirituality.

Regards,

Basquetteur

[Availle]

The staff has picked for December - 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.

The theme for next month will be

MUSIC

I am happy about all suggestions concerning playing/listening to music / musicians / songs / instruments ...

Especially welcome are suggestions of plays and poetry.

Thanks for your help!

[Availle]

Happy New Year!

A bit later than usual, but finally, the staff has picked for January.
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 - once I have actually made and updated that page... (sorry, very busy here...)

The theme for next month will be:

Winter

I am happy about all suggestions concerning winter/cold/snow/ice/freezing/...
Especially welcome are suggestions of plays and poetry.

Since I sometimes seem to have problems attracting suggestions and/or finding good books myself, here are a few guidelines that I use to choose the staff picks each month:

- Any language goes!
I have started to add suggestions in any language, not just English. It is hard for me to find relevant entries in our catalog, however, so if you know of a book that fits the current staff pick theme, please post your suggestion!

- Any standalone project goes, whether it is a solo, group project, duet, trio; I'm happy about fiction, non-fiction, drama, poetry...

- However, I prefer not to use single recordings (poems, stories, essays) in collections. The reason for this is that they are difficult to link to (I have to link to the whole project instead of the one recording), and may be hard to find for ones looking at the staff picks. I also prefer not to use weekly poetry projects.

Edit: It also helps staff picking tremendously if there's a good summary on our catalog page

Thanks for your help!