Public-domain stories, poems and old magazines, read by volunteers
3dAudioBooks collects LibriVox recordings of out-of-copyright texts. Most recordings open with a public-domain notice, and all are read by volunteers. The range runs from Arthur Scott Bailey's gossiping meadow creatures to Henry Lawson stories performed by a full cast, with Bible retellings and short poems in between.
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3dAudioBooks is a feed built from LibriVox recordings, volunteer readings of books, poems and periodicals that are out of copyright. Most recordings open with a short notice that the work is in the public domain, followed by an invitation to volunteer. Then the text takes over. The feed is defined by its range, not by any single voice. In The Tale of Betsy Butterfly (Version 2), Arthur Scott Bailey fills Pleasant Valley with distinct neighbors: Jasper Jay is the noisiest, Peter Mink the most rascally, Freddy Firefly the brightest after dark. The plot turns on gossip. Mrs. Ladybug hears that Betsy has been taking Farmer Green's butter and eggs and rushes to spread the news. Jen Broda is credited on the first chapter. The Black Cat Vol. 02 No. 08 May 1897 is a very different period piece, reading an issue of the magazine section by section. Its first story, by Collins Shackelford, follows Captain Amos Dawson back to New Bedford in the winter of 1879, set on finding out what became of the Pollyann after it ran away from him in the North Atlantic. Later sections turn to a lieutenant whose name has been put before the president as cavalry troops are ordered into the field, and to water gushing up around a derrick at sunrise. Sonia and Greg Giordano are among the credited readers. Poetry gets its own treatment. Dorothy Parker's Recurrence is read by one volunteer after another, so lines like 'One of us must love the more' return again and again in different voices. The Wounded Soldier in the Convent, by Francois Capet in George Curzon's translation, is a short verse portrait of a swearing veteran who leans on his gun as a crutch and grumbles at the nuns. By the end, their quiet care has him answering 'so be it' to their prayers. Scripture comes through Mother Stories from the Old Testament, an anonymous retelling that covers Eden, Joshua outside Jericho and the capture of the city, and David weeping as he parts from Jonathan. Along the way it asks the listener who the man with the drawn sword might have been. Wooly Bee and Nan Dodge are credited as readers. Dramatic Selections from Henry Lawson's Short Stories is performed by an ensemble. A cast list is read out first, and separate volunteers take Sister Hannah, Jack Moonlight, Billy Woods and a long run of other parts. Lawson's Australia comes through in small scenes, such as a cold Christmas dinner at Billy Woods' place with the hose running on the veranda in spite of the bylaws. Because the readers and the format change from one entry to the next, the feed is best browsed by author or by form.
Made for: Suits a listener who likes older writing read aloud and is happy to go from a meadow tale about insects and farm creatures to 1890s magazine fiction, Bible retellings and short verse. It also works for a household that wants animal stories and scripture retellings in the same feed as material written for adults.
What sets it apart: Instead of one narrator reading one book, it brings together LibriVox volunteer recordings in several formats. These include chapter-by-chapter readings, a magazine issue split among readers, a full-cast Henry Lawson dramatization, and one Dorothy Parker poem read by several voices in turn.
Listen to thousands of Audio Books here - from fiction to comedy, from science fiction to family, from romance to horror and from drama to short stories - you'll find everything here.
Betsy Butterfly faces a butter-theft rumor; your next listen could be a baking powder manual.
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Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.
A many-voiced LibriVox visit to Henry Lawson's Australia, full of pub talk, bush life, and gum-leaf country.
LibriVox turns Henry Lawson's Australian stories into an ensemble reading that ranges from Sister Hannah and the Salvation Army to Waddy's pub, bush workers, Christmas dinner, river travel, and a coach ride loosened by whisky and arguments about Australia.
A graceful butterfly becomes the subject of meadow gossip after a jealous rumor turns mistaken evidence into commotion.
Betsy Butterfly stands out as Pleasant Valley's loveliest resident, all red-brown mottled wings tipped in violet and easy movement among the flowers. Her charm sits at the center of a brisk little misunderstanding: jealous Mrs.
A missing whaling brig, cavalry orders, and a strange desert well shape this wide-ranging period fiction recording.
The Black Cat, Volume 2, No. 8, May 1897 opens on Captain Amos Dawson's return to New Bedford in the winter of 1879, still looking for the truth behind the missing whaling brig Pollyann.
A wounded veteran's fury slowly gives way to a convent's patient care.
A wounded veteran is brought by ambulance into a quiet convent after being hit by a shell, using his gun as a crutch and bracing himself for the loss of his leg.
A precise, velvety trip through Calumet cake ideals, cookie methods, and plenty of oven guidance.
The Calumet Book of Oven Triumphs treats branded baking advice as a tidy little study in cake ideals. Its focus is not just whether a cake succeeds, but how that success should feel: an even rise, a tender brown crust, and a moist, springy crumb described as "velvety." With Paul…
A reading of Christopher Morley's essay 'Religio Journalistici' from a Librivox recording, reflecting on journalism and human nature.
The Black Cat, Volume 2, No.
The Tale of Betsy Butterfly turns on Mrs.
LibriVox's dramatic reading of Henry Lawson's "That Pretty Girl in the Army" sets a Salvation Army collection outside Waddy Bothway's Carrier's Arms in Bourke, where heat, beer, and a backyard fight frame the night.
3dAudioBooks presents repeated LibriVox readings of “The Wounded Soldier in the Convent,” attributed in the recording to Francois Capet and translated by George Curzon.
3dAudioBooks presents “Mother Stories from the Old Testament,” a narrated sequence beginning with Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden and continuing through Joshua's leadership in Canaan.
["The Calumet Book of Oven Triumphs sells Calumet double-acting baking powder as the route to 'velvety crumb' in cakes, biscuits, muffins, waffles, and gingerbread.", "Section 1 explains first action in the mixing bowl and second action in the oven, then warns that too much or too little baking powder can cause humped, uneven, dry, coarse, or flat cakes.", "The book gives a standard proportion of one level teaspoon per cup of sifted flour and frames that amount as thrift and 'economy' compared with many competing powders.", "Later sections move through butter cakes, sponge cakes, cookies, brownies, fruit cake, and a 'Miracle Cake' batter that can become orange layer cake, jam squares, or cupcakes."]
3dAudioBooks presents James Stevens's 1920 Irish fairy tale Mangan's Frenzy, recorded by Michelle Fry for LibriVox.
Christopher Morley’s “Religio Journalistici” compares the newspaper profession with the church, arguing that both filter larger realities through public rituals and conventions.
3dAudioBooks’ The Chinese Dragon introduces Luther Newton Hayes’s fourteen-year study of a creature said to have shaped Chinese thought for more than 4,000 years.