what are your nonfiction LibriVox audiobook recommendations?

Comments about LibriVox? Suggestions to improve things? News?
Post Reply
Grognor
Posts: 14
Joined: March 4th, 2014, 11:36 pm
Contact:

Post by Grognor »

I am a truck driver, and I usually listen to things sped up, so I listen to a lot of stuff. I have all of my own recommendations catalogued here: http://grognor.stacky.net/index.php?title=Audio_Content. This lists not just LibriVox content, but also podcasts, lectures, and non-public-domain audiobooks.

I prefer to learn while I listen, so if you like any educational audiobooks not on this list (note that the "queued" section lists things I haven't gotten to yet), do tell.

Even though I'm asking for nonfiction, fiction is good too if it's really exceptional. Tolkien, for example, certainly increases the depth and strength of your soul when you read his works.
aphorisms and observations: https://twitter.com/grognor
TriciaG
LibriVox Admin Team
Posts: 60512
Joined: June 15th, 2008, 10:30 pm
Location: Toronto, ON (but Minnesotan to age 32)

Post by TriciaG »

Well, I was going to recommend Flatland, but I see you already have it on your "bad" list. :lol:

A lot of what is good is in the eye (ear) of the beholder, so it's hard to give recommendations.

Here are some that I enjoyed - either the readers or the ideas, or both:

http://librivox.org/essays-on-political-economy-by-frederic-bastiat/
http://librivox.org/the-unsolved-riddle-of-social-justice-by-stephen-leacock/
http://librivox.org/progress-and-poverty-by-henry-george/

http://librivox.org/how-i-filmed-the-war-by-geoffrey-h-malins/
http://librivox.org/two-years-before-the-mast-by-richard-henry-dana-jr/
http://librivox.org/sailing-alone-around-the-world-by-joshua-slocum/

Various government reports: https://librivox.org/group/593

There's a lot of good history stuff, too, if that is of interest.
Serial novel: The Wandering Jew
Medieval England meets Civil War Americans: Centuries Apart
Humor: My Lady Nicotine
philchenevert
LibriVox Admin Team
Posts: 24587
Joined: October 17th, 2010, 9:23 pm
Location: Basking by the Bayou
Contact:

Post by philchenevert »

Hi Grognor. For non fiction I listen to a lot of the Great Courses series that I download from my library. These are on OneClick, a service similar to Overdrive and available as MP3s. The great courses are recordings of the best university professors from around the world, on topics ranging from astronomy to ancient history to psychology and everything in between. Fascinating and free.
Peruvian owls always hunt in pairs because they are inca hoots.
89 Decibels? Easy Peasy ! https://youtu.be/aSKR55RDVpk
smike
Posts: 1941
Joined: April 23rd, 2013, 3:44 am
Location: Germany

Post by smike »

I haven't gone through your list, I'm sure you'll easily see if my suggestions are ones you already know.

I very much enjoyed:

The History of London

Poison Romance and Poison Mysteries

Francisco Pizarro and the Conquest of Peru

A Visit to the Holy Land, Egypt, and Italy
Claudia

So much to do, so little time...
Grognor
Posts: 14
Joined: March 4th, 2014, 11:36 pm
Contact:

Post by Grognor »

Thanks for your recommendations, comrades. I have queued most of them.
philchenevert wrote:Hi Grognor. For non fiction I listen to a lot of the Great Courses series that I download from my library. These are on OneClick, a service similar to Overdrive and available as MP3s. [...] free.
I've heard of The Great Courses. You'll note that some of them are on my big ol' list in the Lectures section. It doesn't seem like I can get them for free if I'm not a member of that library.
aphorisms and observations: https://twitter.com/grognor
philchenevert
LibriVox Admin Team
Posts: 24587
Joined: October 17th, 2010, 9:23 pm
Location: Basking by the Bayou
Contact:

Post by philchenevert »

Grognor wrote:Thanks for your recommendations, comrades. I have queued most of them.
philchenevert wrote:Hi Grognor. For non fiction I listen to a lot of the Great Courses series that I download from my library. These are on OneClick, a service similar to Overdrive and available as MP3s. [...] free.
I've heard of The Great Courses. You'll note that some of them are on my big ol' list in the Lectures section. It doesn't seem like I can get them for free if I'm not a member of that library.
I love them. A lot of libraries subscribe, and I assume they are international. Can't hurt to check, eh. I am currently listening to a fascinating series about sleep. great stuff.
EDIT: I assume their site can be subscribed to on an individual basis too but it is probably costly.
Peruvian owls always hunt in pairs because they are inca hoots.
89 Decibels? Easy Peasy ! https://youtu.be/aSKR55RDVpk
mammamimi
Posts: 1
Joined: March 18th, 2017, 3:31 pm

Post by mammamimi »

Recollections of a Confederate staff officer by Gilbert Moxely Sorrel. Written before he died in 1901 and published in 1905. It is in the Public Domain. It is a righthand account of the Civil War. Moxley Sorrel was Longstreet's right hand man. He was featured in the movie Gettysburg and a couple of other books. It's more of a look behind the scenes of the civil war. What was going on in-between battles, etc. I would do the read for this book if it got chosen which I'm really hoping it will. But as I am a woman I'd really like to hear it read by a man, preferably with a slight southern drawl. I work in the historical home that Moxley grew up in before the war in Savannah GA. I've researched and read mostly everything on Moxley and the family. Very interesting and a good look at what it was like back then.
Peter Why
Posts: 5801
Joined: November 24th, 2005, 3:54 am
Location: Chigwell (North-East London, U.K.)

Post by Peter Why »

mammamimi,

It would be worth putting a note about this in the Book Suggestions thread.

Peter
"I think, therefore I am, I think." Solomon Cohen, in Terry Pratchett's Dodger
Post Reply