Suggest a "Staff Pick" for archive.org

[Availle]

You mean the whole thing dedicated to Ukranian authors?

Well, I would need to be able to fill all 10 slots:
5x fiction
3x non-ficiton
1 drama
1 poetry

Preferably with different authors, and preferably (also) in English translation (since our listeners are predominantly English-speakers, I'd say). I know we have done a lot of Ukranian and Ukraine-related works lately, but I don't know these in detail. Somehow, I feel there's not enough to choose from at this point. There will be another LibriVox world tour, though.

In general, I am open to suggestions in any language and from any author if they fit the current theme. I like to have non-English picks, even if they don't have a translation.

[zachh]

Here are a few which came to my mind that I've listened to over the last several years. The first 5 are fiction. The first three are about women who are negatively affected by the society around them and its expectations, the third is about women's suffrage and specifically the violent fringe of that movement in England, and the last is about a woman who defies societal pressures to join the anarchist movement but then decides that movement is too much of a mess to continue with.

The last two are nonfiction, and the last was my first solo, since you had mentioned explorers in the earlier post.

https://librivox.org/the-story-of-avis-by-elizabeth-stuart-phelps/

https://librivox.org/the-house-of-mirth-by-edith-wharton/

https://librivox.org/red-pottage-by-mary-cholmondeley/

https://librivox.org/delia-blanchflower-by-mary-augusta-ward/

https://librivox.org/a-girl-among-the-anarchists-by-isabel-meredith/


https://librivox.org/land-of-the-burnt-thigh-by-edith-eudora-kohl/

https://librivox.org/a-womans-way-through-unknown-labrador-by-mina-benson-hubbard/

[Availle]

Thank you Zach!

I remember the last one (made a cover for it ), and I may have picked it already before... I'll have to check.

[HannaPonomarenko]

https://librivox.org/maskarad-by-elena-pchilka
A book about and by a Ukrainian woman, if anybody is interested, read in Ukrainian without English translation.

[Availle]

Sounds great, thank you!

[zachh]

Maybe it's too late in the month, but I just thought of this book I had listened to a year ago, about a woman who lived by herself on an island in a Canadian lake through a winter:

https://librivox.org/a-winter-of-content-by-laura-lee-davidson/

[Availle]

The staff has picked for this month! Please have a look at this page for the current pickings. You can also check out our (soon to come) wiki page for a plain vanilla list that contains all the staff picks for this year plus the readers.

Several countries celebrate Children's Day in April, so...
Let's hear it for the kids!

Kids' books - should be fairly easy to find. Child prodigies. Books for young readers, by young readers perhaps? I'm not sure if we have books written by children, though. Fiction and Nonfiction, as always.

Especially welcome are suggestions of plays and poetry!
And, as always: All languages welcome!

Suggest away!
(and please give me a plot summary (with spoilers) or a reason why you picked the book. Thanks!)

[redrun]

Two fiction picks, though I'm sure there will be plenty of those!

First, here's one actually written by Jane Austen at 14 years old!
https://librivox.org/love-and-freindship-by-jane-austen/

Second, a fictional tale of growing up (still on my listening list):
https://librivox.org/bee-and-butterfly-by-lucy-foster-madison/
Of course, there are also such classics as Heidi, The Secret Garden, and The Box-Car Children, along those same lines.

A book of poems for children, of which I recognized one from my own childhood!
https://librivox.org/the-cambridge-book-of-poetry-for-children-by-kenneth-grahame/

A collection of classic children's fables, as dramatic plays:
https://librivox.org/childrens-classics-in-dramatic-form-by-augusta-stevenson/

Another dramatic series, teaching life elssons by granting wishes:
https://librivox.org/five-children-and-it-dramatic-reading-by-e-nesbit/

[LCaulkins]

Hey, that post for the March picks is really great.

children's picks:

Little Peanut is an adorable very young reader who has produced several audibooks for LV. I loved this one: The Peter Patter Book of Nursery Rhymes (version 2)

Some dramatic reads for children that have young readers in them:

The Wind in the Willows (version 7)

Little Men (version 4)

Jack and Jill (version 2)

[TriciaG]

I looked through this Wikipedia page. Most of them are by teenagers (aged 18-20), but a few were by children. The only one I found in our catalog was the following.

Written when she was 9 years old: https://librivox.org/the-young-visiters-by-daisy-ashford/ (The book summary doesn't say so, but her author page does.)

[Lynnet]

The Mary Frances Cook Book
https://librivox.org/the-mary-frances-cook-book-by-jane-eayre-fryer/
In the days before equality...
'Among the Kitchen People', where young girls are encouraged to be mother's helper's in the kitchen, as Mary Frances wants nothing more than to be useful. She learns (and shares) how to make tea, toast and boiled eggs, among other things, as she enjoys adventures with her many friends, including Mantel Clock, Auntie Rolling Pin and Yellow Bowl.

Seed-Babies by Margaret Warner Morley
https://librivox.org/seed-babies-by-margaret-warner-morley/
This book is to encourage children in early natural exploration, through seeds and then insects and frogs.

And children need to be educated:
Spontaneous Activity in Education by Maria Montessori
http://librivox.org/spontaneous-activity-in-education-by-maria-montessori/
Children gain a sense of satisfaction through doing work of their own choosing, and that the role of the adult was to allow this natural ability of the child to flourish through careful design of the environment, and the development of freedom within a positive structure.

[msfry]

I highly recommend Dr. Montessori's Own Handbook, read by Phil Chenevert, which is the simplest explanation of the theory behind the Montessori Method of Education for children ages 3-6, and the book which set me on my life long path of educating children and establishing my own Montessori school. As stated in the summary "It is a short work, intended as a manual for teachers and parents, detailing the materials used as well as her philosophy in developing them."

[Availle]

How lovely, thank you all!

I didn't know we had such a young author in our catalog!

[msfry]

I can also HIGHLY recommend Helen Keller's Letters, enchantingly read by Victoria Neely. These letters begin when Helen is 6 years old and go through about age 17, written to her many friends, teachers (such personalities as Alexander Graham Bell), who took great interest in her progress, sent her books, gifted her with many trips, books, dresses and puppies, and gained her access to the behind-the-scenes at the World's Fair, factories, zoos, etc. These lesser-known letters exude such charm, enthusiasm and gratitude, they help explain Helen's phenomenal leap to stardom.

[Availle]

The staff has picked for this month, thank you for your many suggestions! Please have a look at this page for the current pickings. 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.

April sees Towel Day, so we're going for... no, not the textile industry, thank you very much. It'll be:

To the stars, into the universe!

Don't Panic, but I'm looking for Science Fiction of all stripes and for all ages, with a preference for space travel (obviously).

Especially welcome are suggestions of plays and poetry!
And, as always: All languages welcome!

Suggest away!
(and please give me a plot summary (with spoilers) or a reason why you picked the book. Thanks!)