Audiobooks Recommendations

I found out recently that Audible will scan your device library and make .mp3 audiobooks available for listening. I don't know if you can use it without being a member, however.

I just use iTunes and iBooks, it gets the job done. I never thought about getting a dedicated app but now I wonder if there is something better out there.

@Mannish

FYI: I just tested the Dropbox method and it seemed to work really well. I pushed a zipped mp3 audiobook with cover art from the dropbox app to Bookmobile. If it's not zipped Dropbox only allows you to send one file at a time.

I've seen a method for combining a bunch of MP3s into single M4b file using itunes, but I haven't tried it yet- that should make it easier to upload. I still use an old Sansa 250 with Rockbox for a lot of audiobooks since it plays ogg and speex files, and I wish the iphone was as easy as that- plug it in and it mounts like a drive, then just copy files and go.

qaraq wrote:

I've seen a method for combining a bunch of MP3s into single M4b file using itunes, but I haven't tried it yet- that should make it easier to upload.

"Chapter and Verse" will do this and add cover art and chapters markers. Because of some kind of iphone limitation really large books still need to be two files but it gives you a warning when that is the case.

I think I tried C&V and it had some problem using itunes to convert the files- they came out with an absolutely terrible bit rate or something like that. It's been a while so I may have to try again.

qaraq wrote:

I think I tried C&V and it had some problem using itunes to convert the files- they came out with an absolutely terrible bit rate or something like that. It's been a while so I may have to try again.

Yeah, it does that when you try to override iTunes bit rate with a custom option. What you have to do is check the box that says "Use itunes settings". You can then change the bitrate in itunes to what you want under the imported audio options.

EvilDead wrote:

@Mannish

FYI: I just tested the Dropbox method and it seemed to work really well. I pushed a zipped mp3 audiobook with cover art from the dropbox app to Bookmobile. If it's not zipped Dropbox only allows you to send one file at a time.

I tried my dropbox sending a link to the zipped file (along with a OneDrive link), and it didn't seem to like it. Maybe my sharing was off.

I just used the "push via web browser" route. It was only one book of 10 MP3's, so wasn't too bad.

What I had to do was open the dropbox app on the phone, download the zip file, then use the "Open in" menu option. Then you pick the Bookmobile app and after a minute or two of processing the Bookmobile app will popup and import it. I used an overdrive download (Uprooted) so it contained the album art as well as 1 or 2 metadata files.

http://freshmowed.com/bookmobile/Imp...

Anybody listen to the Locke & Key audiobook? It's the daily deal from Audible today for $5. Looks like it's a cast production.

I read the graphic novels a couple of years ago, and liked them.

I grabbed that on Audible with my free monthly credit but I've not gotten around to it yet. It's on the to-do list!

MannishBoy wrote:

Anybody listen to the Locke & Key audiobook? It's the daily deal from Audible today for $5. Looks like it's a cast production.

I read the graphic novels a couple of years ago, and liked them.

Sorry for the really late response.

I've listened to it and it's a great production, but it is more or less a direct dramatization of the comic with nothing added to describe the missing visual component, so if you haven't read the original I can't see it being very enjoyable. Like you I had read the books previously and found it a great way to enjoy the twists and turns of the story over again.

Thanks. I ended up buying it, but haven't gotten around to listening yet.

Cross posting from book thread:

Hmm, found a weird loophole at Amazon. If you "borrow" one of the Prime Lending books, you can get the Audible book for the whispersync "upgrade" price. Just bought the audible book of The Palace Job for $2 instead of full price.

Somebody needs to test it on some books that are in Kindle Unlimited for reading, but not listening. Might do that once I get a line up of books I want in Kindle Unlimited.

Big Finish has been having daily deals for some of their Doctor Who audio dramas. Today is a collection of Sixth Doctor short stories: https://www.bigfinish.com/news/v/12-...

All really good stories, I especially liked "Of Chaos Time The" and "The Curious Incident of the Doctor in the Night-Time." and for ~$3, not a bad deal.

EDIT: Today's deal is an audio drama version of THE WONDERFUL WIZARD OF OZ. The trailer sounds delightfully campy.

https://www.bigfinish.com/news/v/12-...

Didn't realize that Audible Channels had full books. For instance, a series of space opera books often recommended in the books thread by Lois McMaster Bujold has a book in there. Shards of Honor. Really like that series.

Android phone is arriving Friday so trying to pre-plan. I have been looking at Smart Audiobook Player but not sure if it can:

1. Use the bluetooth headset controls to skip back 15-30 seconds instead of full chapters.
2. Grab audiobook files using a wireless method like Drive or Dropbox.

Edit: Also, might as well recommend me a podcast player too!

EvilDead wrote:

Android phone is arriving Friday so trying to pre-plan. I have been looking at Smart Audiobook Player but not sure if it can:

1. Use the bluetooth headset controls to skip back 15-30 seconds instead of full chapters.
2. Grab audiobook files using a wireless method like Drive or Dropbox.

Edit: Also, might as well recommend me a podcast player too!

Official podcast app of GWJ Android community is Pocket Casts. Some might mention others, but every time this comes up in the Android apps thread, that's the dominant suggestion.

1) Yes. You can set the skip time, and I think it goes to your short skip. The skip options are short, medium, and file.

2) I don't think so? I don't see it. However, getting files on an Android phone is pretty easy comparatively. I drag and drop mine over USB, but if need to move them on from a cloud app, you can do it by using a file manager to put them in an audiobook folder, or maybe even pointing the player app to your sync'd folder. Haven't really messed with it.

I've got a 128GB microSD, so I just keep a lot of books on that.

I actually own both Smart Audiobook player and Listen. I used to use Smart more, but now have migrated to Listen. I just like it's widget controls better. One main reason is it has a progress bar in the widget, where Smart doesn't. Minor thing, but a quality of life thing for me.

Both are so cheap you could try them. I think Smart lets you use all features for a period of time, but Listen lets you get a refund or something if you don't like it. I occasionally switch up and go back to Smart to see if there are things added that are interesting, though. Both are good.

Thanks Mannish! Trying to make this transition as smooth as possible. I might mess around with pointing it towards a cloud storage folder and see what happens. Just added Listen to my wishlist in the playstore.

MannishBoy wrote:

Official podcast app of GWJ Android community is Pocket Casts.

In that case, I hereby declare that Pocket Casts is also the official podcast app of GWJ iOS too!

On second thought: I'm not trying to start a "best" app war, just hyperbolically stating how great I think this app is.

EvilDead wrote:

Thanks Mannish! Trying to make this transition as smooth as possible. I might mess around with pointing it towards a cloud storage folder and see what happens. Just added Listen to my wishlist in the playstore.

Sure. Let me know what you find out.

Smart seems to be more popular, so I just might be weird. Both are very good over all. Both also seem to get frequent updates.

One thing Smart is better at is dealing with SD cards. Listen works, but it takes forever to delete an old book that's on an SD card on my phone. That's not done enough to make it a big deal for me, but it always makes me wonder if I ever actually hit the confirm delete button it stays on that box so long.

Don't know if it's an option on iphone audiobook apps, but the function to auto sleep if the phone isn't moved every so often is in both apps and is great if you go to sleep listening to books. Listen also adds a bunch of time stamps to a drop down that will let you immediately go back to the last time you started playing, so if you've set it for sleep of 15 minutes, and immediately fall asleep, you can just go right back to where you started (another feature I like better on Listen).

I like this feature so much I hate having to go to Audible, because their app has a manual sleep that I often forget to set.

Oh wow, that is awesome. Would be nice on long plane trips where I tend to use audio to help me sleep. (If there was enough turbulence to bounce the phone around I wouldn't be sleeping anyways).

EvilDead wrote:

Oh wow, that is awesome. Would be nice on long plane trips where I tend to use audio to help me sleep. (If there was enough turbulence to bounce the phone around I wouldn't be sleeping anyways).

The sensitivity is adjustable (in both apps). I keep it on extra high, so that it never goes off if I'm driving. But you can adjust it to your phone's sensitivity.

It's been a year on this thread

Audible has their annual plan for $99 again right now. Not a bad deal. I picked that up last year and saved some decent money over paying month to month.

If you have an account already, you can probably cancel, then resubscribe to get the deal. It's only really supposed to work for new subscribers, but pretty much any deal will work if you cancel your existing plan.

Terry Pratchett's Discworld Novels Are Getting New, Star-Studded Audiobooks

Live-action adaptations of Sir Terry Pratchett’s beloved Discworld books have always been a mixed bag, but we might have finally found a winner. Penguin Random House has announced that it has commissioned new audiobook recordings of all 40 Discworld novels, using a variety of British stars to bring them to life.

What’s cool is that each of Discworld’s “subseries” of books—i.e., the novels starring Rincewind, the Witches, the Wizards, the City Guard, Death, or other characters—will have their own distinct narrator. So, for instance, Game of Thrones’ Indira Varma (who played Ellaria Sand) will record Equal Rites, Witches Abroad, Lords and Ladies, Maskerade, and Carpe Jugulum, all starring the Lancre coven of witches. Other announced narrators include Fleabag’s Sian Clifford, Merlin’s Colin Morgan, and Lords of the Rings’ Andy Serkis, who will handle the Death books, the Wizard books, and the standalone title Small Gods, respectively.

However, they won’t be alone. Peter Serafinowicz, who provided the voice for Darth Maul in The Phantom Menace and was the star of Amazon’s recent Tick series, has been cast as Pratchett’s iconic version of Death for the entirety of the project. Moreover, Bill Nighy will read all of Pratchett’s many, many footnotes that he scattered through the Discworld books. The actor said, “I’m honored to voice the footnotes and bring to life one of the funniest, quirkiest, and best-loved aspects of Terry Pratchett’s world. He added footnotes to the pages of all of his Discworld novels. They are his personal commentary on the action, little snippets of information or funny asides. They feel very much like the voice of the great man himself commenting on the action. I’ve enjoyed it enormously.”

All told, the “ambitious project narrators will read nearly four million words, with nearly 150 days in the studio and resulting in over 400 hours of finished audio.” But obviously, there’s still plenty we don’t know—like who’ll be narrating the Rincewind, City Watch, Tiffany Aching, and Moist Van Ludwig series, or if other major characters like Death will have their own unique voices. Stay tuned, and share your dream Discworld audio cast in the comments!

This thread kinda just died off. Probably since most books have audio versions now. Anyways, I haven't used IOS in years and my buddy is looking for the best app to play DRM free mp3 books. What is the easiest audiobook app to use for getting books on the phone? I remember having to jump through hoops so hopefully it isn't as bad these days.

I don't think I can really help here but I use Overdrive to access local library books. That might work?

EvilDead wrote:

What is the easiest audiobook app to use for getting books on the phone? I remember having to jump through hoops so hopefully it isn't as bad these days.

I can’t speak to audiobook apps, but if you want a simple MP3 player for iOS check out Evermusic. It can pull down from most cloud services or you can simply attach your device via usb. It’s a stellar player that even supports CarPlay.

Top_Shelf wrote:

I don't think I can really help here but I use Overdrive to access local library books.

Theres an updated app from OverDrive called Libby which is fantastic. This app also supports CarPlay. I don’t know why OverDrive Inc has two different apps as the core functionality is the same for both but Libby is the much better app in my opinion.

Definitely needs an audiobook app for remembering position. I've never actually used Overdrive or Libby but do either let you play content that is not in their ecosystem? When I get library audiobooks I always play them on Smart Audiobook Player (unfortunately android only).