December 16, 2010

Audio Book Boxed Sets

Boxed Sets always make excellent gifts for those extra special people in your life. There are a number of audio book boxed sets, but they’re not necessarily the easiest to find so we decided to put together this list of the some of the best boxed sets and collections on audio. These include literature sets as well sets of audio books from specific authors and a number of other collections. We’ve divided them up by fiction & nonfiction. Starting with nonfiction boxed sets:

Nonfiction Boxed Sets:

The C.S. Lewis Signature Classics Audio Collection: The Problem of Pain, The Screwtape Letters, The Great Divorce, & Mere Christianity

Malcolm Gladwell Box Set: The Tipping Point, Blink, & Outliers

The Essential Barack Obama: The Audacity of Hope & Dreams from My Father

Eminent Lives: The Presidents Collection

Martin Luther King: The Essential Box Set

The Giants of Philosophy Boxed Set

Rich Dad’s Advisors: Box Set

John C. Maxwell’s Complete Leadership Series

The Eckhart Tolle Audio Collection

The James Herriot Collection: All Creatures Great and Small, All Things Bright and Beautiful, and All Things Wise and Wonderful

The Making of Music: Volumes One & Two

ESV Hear the Word Audio Bible

The Bible: The New Testament Narrated by Gregory Peck

The Ultimate Bible: The Old Testament, King James Version

Fiction Boxed Sets:

The Chronicles of Narnia CD Box Set by C.S. Lewis

Lewis Carroll Box Set: Alice Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass

The Complete Casebook of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

The Neil Simon Collection

The Noel Coward Collection

Stieg Larsson Millennium Trilogy: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The Girl Who Played with Fire, The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest

Stephenie Meyer Twilight Saga CD Set: Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse, & Breaking Dawn

A.A. Milne’s Pooh Classics Boxed Set: Winnie-the-Pooh, The House at Pooh Corner, When We Were Very Young, and Now We Are Six

Complete Arkangel Shakespeare

Shakespeare: The Essential Comedies, Volume 1: Twelfth Night, Much Ado about Nothing, The Taming of the Shrew, A Midsummer Night’s Dream

Shakespeare: The Essential Tragedies, Volume 1: Romeo and Juliet, Julius Caesar, The Tempest, King Lear

Collector’s Limited Edition Complete Star Wars Trilogy

The J. R. R. Tolkien Collection

December 15, 2010

50 Stocking Stuffers For Under $20

Still don’t know what to get a friend or family member for Christmas? We’ve got a great (and a bit biased…) suggestion: Audiobooks. Why are audiobooks such great gifts? Because they don’t require the recipient to take any extra time out of his or her day. They can just pop the audiobook on while driving to work, exercising, etc. and each time they’ll think of you and thank you for making their commute or workout a little more interesting.

To help you out in finding an affordable stocking stuffer we’ve put together all of our titles on sale for less than $20 in LearnOutLoud.com’s Audiobook Outlet. Here you can browse titles by category that are Under $5.00, Under $10.00, Under $15.00, and Under $20.00. Find a great affordable gift in the LearnOutLoud.com’s Outlet:

LearnOutLoud.com Bargain Bin Outlet

Also if you missed out last newsletter be sure to checkout our “2010 Audio Book Gift Guide” which features almost 100 of the best audio books released in 2010:

2010 Audio Book Gift Guide

We’ve also put together this list of the 50 best stocking stuffers available for under $20. Along with being available on Audio CD, many of these are also available on Audio Download.

Arts & Entertainment:
A Life in Comedy by Garrison Keillor
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy Live in Concert by Douglas Adams
The Woman I Was Born to Be by Susan Boyle
Put on Your Crown by Queen Latifah
Tinsel Tales: Favorite Christmas Stories from NPR
The Story of Classical Music by Darren Henley

Other Notable Releases:
Idiots Unplugged by Glenn Beck
Speak Spanish with Confidence by Angela Howkins
Putting Out of Your Mind by Dr. Bob Rotella
Seabiscuit by Laura Hillenbrand
Shadow Divers by Robert Kurson
Aristotle by Thomas C. Brickhouse
Hot, Flat, and Crowded by Thomas L. Friedman

Get a great little gift for a loved one this holiday season to aid them in their lifelong learning!

December 9, 2010

2010 Audio Book Gift Guide

Looking for some great holiday gifts? At LearnOutLoud.com we’ve assembled a list of the best new and most popular audio book releases from 2010. You can check out all of our new releases here:

All 2010 Audiobook New Releases

All the audio books on our list are available on Audio CD and are in stock and ready to ship from LearnOutLoud.com. And many of them are available on Audio Download. No matter who you’re giving gifts to this year, you’re sure to find an audio book they’ll enjoy and learn from. To make it easy, we’ve divided this list of the best new releases from 2010 into categories. We’ve picked a selection of potential audio book gifts from our most popular categories. Here is a selection of great audio book gifts from the categories of Self Development, Business, and Religion & Spirituality:

Self Development Audio Book Gifts:

1. Manifesting Change by Mike Dooley

2. The Essence of Happiness by His Holiness the Dalai Lama

3. The Power by Rhonda Byrne

4. Chicken Soup for the Soul Series by Jack Canfield & Mark Victor Hansen

5. Carrots and Sticks: Unlock the Power of Incentives to Get Things Done by Ian Ayres

6. The Happiness Advantage by Shawn Achor

7. The Genius in All of Us by David Shenk

8. What Would Napoleon Hill Do? by Napoleon Hill

9. Coach Wooden’s Pyramid of Success by John Wooden

10. The Fearless Heart by Pema Chodron

11. The Shadow Effect by Deepak Chopra, Debbie Ford, & Marianne Williamson

12. Relieve Stress with Medical Hypnosis by Steven Gurgevich

13. Women Food and God by Geneen Roth

14. Living in Favor, Abundance, and Joy by Joel Osteen

15. Living from the Overflow by Michael Beckwith

16. As Long as We Both Shall Live by Dr. Gary Smalley

17. The Upside of Irrationality by Dan Ariely

18. Mindsight: The New Science of Personal Transformation by Dr. Daniel Siegel

19. Click: The Magic of Instant Connections by Ori & Rom Brafman

20. The Courage to Be Free by Guy Finley

Business Audio Book Gifts:

1. Think and Grow Rich: Gold Standard Edition by Napoleon Hill

2. Sell Like a Pro by Dale Carnegie

3. The Way We’re Working Isn’t Working by Tony Schwartz

4. The Big Short by Michael Lewis

5. The Leader Who Had No Title by Robin Sharma

Religion & Spirituality Audio Book Gifts:

1. The Christmas Spirit by Joel Osteen

2. One Year Chronological Bible – NLT MP3 CD

3. The Weight of Glory by C.S. Lewis

4. Toward a True Kinship of Faiths by His Holiness the Dalai Lama

5. The Message Remix: Solo: An Uncommon Devotional MP3 CD

6. Muhammad: A Story of the Last Prophet by Deepak Chopra

7. What Good Is God? by Philip Yancey

8. Buddhism: A Beginner’s Guide to Inner Peace and Fulfillment by Jack Kornfield

9. Storm Warning by Billy Graham

10. The Art of Letting Go: Living the Wisdom of Saint Francis by Fr. Richard Rohr

Biographies as Audio Book Gifts:

1. Autobiography of Mark Twain, Volume 1 by Mark Twain

2. Hitch-22 by Christopher Hitchens

3. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot

4. Colonel Roosevelt by Edmund Morris

5. Conversations with Myself by Nelson Mandela

Arts & Entertainment Audio Book Gifts:

1. Frank: The Voice by James Kaplan

2. I Remember Nothing by Nora Ephron

3. The Daily Show with Jon Stewart Presents Earth by Jon Stewart

4. They Call Me Baba Booey by Gary Dell’abate

5. A Life in Comedy by Garrison Keillor

Literature Audio Book Gifts:

1. Nemesis by Philip Roth

2. Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk by David Sedaris

3. Freedom by Jonathan Franzen

4. The Neil Simon Collection: 10 Plays by Neil Simon

5. The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest by Stieg Larsson

History Audio Book Gifts:

1. At Home: A Short History of Private Life by Bill Bryson

2. American Colossus: The Triumph of Capitalism, 1865-1900 by H.W. Brands

3. Atlantic: Great Sea Battles, Heroic Discoveries, Titanic Storms, and a Vast Ocean of a Million Stories by Simon Winchester

4. NPR: The First 40 Years

5. The War Lovers: Roosevelt, Lodge, Hearst, and the Rush to Empire, 1898 by Evan Thomas

Politics Audio Book Gifts:

1. Revival: The Struggle for Survival Inside the Obama White House by Richard Wolffe

2. Decision Points by George W. Bush

3. A Journey: My Political Life by Tony Blair

4. America by Heart: Reflections on Family, Faith, and Flag by Sarah Palin

5. Obama’s Wars by Bob Woodward

6. Pinheads and Patriots by Bill O’Reilly

7. Dismantling the Empire by Chalmers Johnson

8. Idiots Unplugged by Glenn Beck

9. Game Change: Obama and the Clintons, McCain and Palin, and the Race of a Lifetime by John Heilemann & Mark Halperin

10. The Promise: President Obama, Year One by Jonathan Alter

Science Audio Book Gifts:

1. The Grand Design by Stephen Hawking & Leonard Mlodinow

2. The Moral Landscape: How Science Can Determine Human Values by Sam Harris

3. The Language God Talks: On Science and Religion by Herman Wouk

4. Blind Descent: The Quest to Discover the Deepest Place on Earth by James D. Tabor

5. NPR Sound Treks: Animals & NPR Sound Treks: Birds

And you can check out 100s more in our 2010 new releases divided up by category:

Arts & Entertainment New Releases

Biography New Releases

Business New Releases

Education & Professional New Releases

History New Releases

Languages New Releases

Literature New Releases

Philosophy New Releases

Politics New Releases

Religion & Spirituality New Releases

Science New Releases

Self Development New Releases

Social Sciences New Releases

Sports & Hobbies New Releases

Technology New Releases

Travel New Releases

From now until Christmas, LearnOutLoud.com is offering free standard shipping and free ground shipping on all orders over $25! To take advantage of our Free USPS Media Mail Standard Shipping & Free UPS Ground Shipping between now and Christmas, simply enter in this coupon code:

SHIPFREE

On the bottom of the payment page of checkout below where you enter your credit card information click “Apply a LearnOutLoud.com Gift Certificate or Coupon” and enter in this coupon code. Note: this coupon only works with credit cards and not Paypal. This coupon is valid through Christmas Day, December 25th, 2010.

Browse over 11,000 titles to buy on CD and download in our audio book sale section:

LearnOutLoud Audio Book Sale Section

We thought it best to feature our shipping options in this newsletter. We currently offer four different shipping methods for shipping audio books:

Standard Shipping
USPS Media Mail
8-10 Business Days (USA)
10-14 Business Days (Canada)
$3/order + $1/item (FREE with Coupon!)
Order by 12/10 to Receive by 12/23

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Order by 12/16 to Receive by 12/23

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Order by 12/15 to Receive by 12/23

Air Express Shipping
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Order by 12/20 to Receive by 12/23

Additionally you can ship orders as gifts complete with gift wrapping and a gift message.

LearnOutLoud.com ships to any of the 50 United States & Canada. We currently only ship within the U.S. and Canada, and we do not ship internationally outside of these countries. We do however ship to United States military (APO/FPO) addresses. You can review our shipping policy here:

LearnOutLoud.com Shipping Policy

November 25, 2010

Complete Arkangel Shakespeare on Audio Download

One of the best ways to encounter the plays of William Shakespeare is listening to them dramatized on audio with a great cast. LearnOutLoud.com is pleased to present for the first time on “a la carte” audio download the Complete Arkangel Shakespeare collection which features all 38 fully-dramatized unabridged plays of William Shakespeare. You can browse all the plays along with over 100 other editions of Shakespeare’s plays on our Shakespeare author page:

All William Shakespeare Plays on Audio

The Complete Arkangel Shakespeare represents one of the great achievements in audio book history. This collection features nearly 400 actors, almost all past or present members of the Royal Shakespeare Company, including Eileen Atkins, Joseph Fiennes, Sir John Gielgud, Ciaran Hinds, Alan Howard, Jane Lapotaire, Amanda Root, David Tennant, Sophie Thompson, Samuel West, and Timothy West.

All of these plays are produced by a single creative team with state-of-the-art technology, along with original music and subtle sound effects that heighten the drama. We are offering them as MP3 downloads at 192 kbps bit rate which is CD quality audio.

All 38 plays are produced in their entirety, based on the authoritative Complete Pelican Shakespeare, under the supervision of scholars. The Complete Arkangel Shakespeare audio plays are a multimillion dollar production that was five years in the making.

Here they all are divided up by genre:

COMEDIES:

All’s Well That Ends Well
As You Like It
Comedy of Errors
Love’s Labour’s Lost
Measure for Measure
Merchant of Venice
Merry Wives of Windsor
Midsummer Night’s Dream
Much Ado about Nothing
Taming of the Shrew
The Tempest
Twelfth Night
Two Gentlemen of Verona
Winter’s Tale

HISTORIES:

Cymbeline
Henry IV, Part I
Henry IV, Part II
Henry V
Henry VI, Part I
Henry VI, Part II
Henry VI, Part III
Henry VIII
King John
Pericles
Richard II
Richard III

TRAGEDIES:

Antony and Cleopatra
Coriolanus
Hamlet
Julius Caesar
King Lear
Macbeth
Othello
Romeo and Juliet
Timon of Athens
Titus Andronicus
Troilus and Cressida

November 19, 2010

University Press Audiobooks

Sorry we no longer sell University Press Audiobooks directly but you can get them through Audible.com.

Up until now the university press has been one area of the book industry that typically hasn’t made its way onto audio book. These academic, nonprofit publishing houses publish great scholarly titles and now we are excited to present a new publisher that is making these works available for the first time on audio download:

University Press Audiobooks

University Press Audiobooks publishes titles from the Harvard University Press, Yale University Press, Princeton University Press, University of California Press, and many other presses of prestigious universities. We’re starting with over 30 of their audio books authored by prominent scholars such as Edward O. Wilson, Harold Bloom, Robert Pinsky, and more. These initial works span a variety of academic disciplines from philosophy to science to politics just to name a few. Here are a few highlights in these disciplines:

Philosophy:

Truth and Truthfulness by Bernard Williams – What does it mean to be truthful? What role does truth play in our lives? What do we lose if we reject truthfulness? No philosopher is better suited to answer these questions than Bernard Williams.

Philosophy and Real Politics by Raymond Geuss – Many contemporary political thinkers are gripped by the belief that their task is to develop an ideal theory of rights or justice for guiding and judging political actions. But Raymond Geuss argues that philosophers should first try to understand why real political actors behave as they actually do.

The Secular Mind by Robert Coles – Best-selling author Robert Coles offers a profound meditation on how secular culture has settled into the hearts and minds of Americans. This book is a sweeping essay on the shift from religious control over Western society to the scientific dominance of the mind.

Science:

The Big Questions in Science and Religion by Keith Ward – Can religious beliefs survive in the scientific age? Are they resoundingly outdated? Or, is there something in them of great importance, even if the way they are expressed will have to change given new scientific context? Keith Ward, an Anglican priest who was once an atheist, offers compelling insights into the often contentious relationship between diverse religious views and new scientific knowledge.

On Human Nature by Edward O. Wilson – With characteristic pungency and simplicity of style, Edward O. Wilson challenges old prejudices and current misconceptions about the nature-nurture debate. His goal is nothing less than the completion of the Darwinian revolution by bringing biological thought into the center of the social sciences and the humanities.

Primates and Philosophers by Frans de Waal – “It’s the animal in us,” we often hear when we’ve been bad. But why not when we’re good? Primatologist Frans de Waal tackles this question by exploring the biological foundations of one of humanity’s most valued traits: morality.

Politics:

On Democracy by Robert A. Dahl – In this accessible and authoritative book, one of the most prominent political theorists of our time provides a primer on democracy that clarifies what it is, why it is valuable, how it works, and what challenges it confronts in the future.

Inventing the Job of President: Leadership Style from George Washington to Andrew Jackson by Fred I. Greenstein – Fred Greenstein examines the leadership styles of the earliest presidents, men who served at a time when it was by no means certain that the American experiment in free government would succeed.

The Myth of the Rational Voter by Bryan Caplan – The greatest obstacle to sound economic policy is not entrenched special interests or rampant lobbying, but the popular misconceptions, irrational beliefs, and personal biases held by ordinary voters. This is economist Bryan Caplan’s sobering assessment in this provocative and eye-opening book.

And here are a few more titles that may be of interest:

Democracy, Culture and the Voice of Poetry by Robert Pinsky

Food Politics: How the Food Industry Influences Nutrition and Health by Marion Nestle

Ruin the Sacred Truths: Poetry and Belief from the Bible to the Present by Harold Bloom

And there are many other interesting titles all of which are worth looking at:

Browse Over 30 Titles from University Press Audiobooks

We look forwarding to adding many more titles from this great new publisher in the near future.

August 31, 2010

10 Free Introductory College Lectures to Download

The school year is here. Whether you are going back to school or not, it’s a great time to learn about a new subject that interests you. We currently have over 125 Modern Scholar audio courses you can choose from. If you’ve not downloaded one yet, the Modern Scholar courses are recorded lecture audio courses taught by university professors. Each course has 14 lectures with each lecture lasting approximately 35 minutes, and each course comes with a book-length course guide. You can browse all the courses on audio download here:

Modern Scholar College Course Downloads

To help introduce you to more of the magnificent Modern Scholar series where great professors teach you, we’re offering another 10 free lectures to download from 10 of their top courses. These recorded lectures are taught by eminent university professors.

Here are the 10 lectures you can download right now on MP3. Note: For downloading these files you have to right-click on the Download button and select Save Target As… Then it will allow you to download the file to an assigned place on your computer.

1. What Was the Enlightenment?

In this lecture Professor James Schmidt talks about what Immanuel Kant called “man’s emergence from his self-imposed immaturity”. The Age of Enlightenment began the elevation of science and reason in Western civilization. It was an era where great thinkers began to think for themselves and question the absolute rule of religious and political authorities. Professor Schmidt talks briefly about many of the key figures of the Enlightenment including Denis Diderot, Isaac Newton, Immanuel Kant, Adam Smith, and Voltaire, and he talks about where the ideas of the Enlightenment prospered primarily in England, Germany, and France.

2. The Buildup to World War I

Learn how the “The Great War” started in this lecture from Professor John Ramsden on the buildup to World War I. He talks about the rise of Germany as an imperial power which sought to rival Britain. Ramsden also describes the alliances that had formed at the dawn of the 20th century such as the Franco-Russian Alliance which the British would eventually join and the alliance between Germany, Austria–, Hungary, and Italy. As these alliances began to entangle, Germany saw itself as being threatened and when the Archduke Franz Ferdinand was assassinated in June of 1914 it lead to a series of events which triggered the world’s first truly global war. At the end of the lecture Ramsden examines which nation was most responsible for the war and he cites that most contemporary historians blame Germany.

3. How Words Can Change Reality

In this lecture Professor Michael Drout introduces rhetoric through the Speech-Act Theory outlined in John L. Austin’s influential work How to Do Things With Words in which Austin posits the locutionary, illocutionary, and perlocutionary speech acts. Professor Drout provides examples of how these speech acts are used in everyday life to influence reality. He also shows how people misuse these speech acts to get what they want such as when politicians make promises about things they don’t have any control over. It’s an introduction to the world of rhetoric.

4. Introduction to Dinosaurs

In this lecture Professor John Kricher provides a concise overview of what modern science currently knows about dinosaurs. A lifelong dinosaur lover, Kricher explains the basic facts, including size and weight ranges, dinosaur intelligence, and how they have survived into modern day in the form of birds. Ever since the first fossils were identified in the early 19th century, our dinosaur knowledge has evolved rapidly, and this lecture represents the most current developments.

5. Quick History of Christianity from Jesus to the Crusades

If you’re curious about the Crusades, this lecture from professor Thomas F. Madden sets the stage for what became a 400 year war between Christians and Muslims over the Holy Land and between competing sects within these religious ideologies. This lecture focuses on the history of Christianity from its humble beginnings to its rise to prominence in the Roman Empire with the conversion of the Emperor Constantine, the development of the Papacy, and the formation of the Byzantine Empire. It’s an informative lecture covering a lot of Christian history from the time of Christ to the start of the First Crusade in the 11th century.

6. Essentials of the Supreme Court

In this introductory lecture Professor Kermit Hall lays out the basics of the Supreme Court from its origin in the U.S. Constitution. He focuses on how it developed from the limited early role it played in the United States to the powerful force it plays in American society today where it interprets the constitution and provides rulings on the legalities of major issues such as slavery, abortion, and more. If you want to learn about the Supreme Court or refresh what you might’ve learned in the past, then this lecture is a good place to start.

7. What is a Star?

Professor James Kaler shares his genuine awe and lifelong fascination with the stars in this opening lecture. He describes what a star and provides info about our closet star, the Sun. Kaler covers the colors, brightness, and sizes of stars, the history of stars, and the number of visible stars. The lecture will help you put things in perspective in relation to our universe.

8. A Brief Biography of Thomas Aquinas

In this introductory lecture to the Philosophy of Thomas Aquinas, Professor Peter Kreeft provides a brief biography of a theological titan. Kreeft views Aquinas’ prolific body of work as an important bridge between Greek philosophy and the early western philosophers such as Descartes. Seeing no division between faith and reason, Kreeft describes Aquinas as a quintessential truthseeker who was willing to take from secular and religious sources alike in the formation of an inclusive philosophy that is still vibrant and alive to this day.

9. The History of Literary Journalism

In this lecture Professor William McKeen discusses the history of journalism in America and specifically journalism which took on a literary quality of storytelling. Through his research Professor McKeen unearths journalism which resembles what would become the late 20th century art form of literary journalism espoused by authors such as Tom Wolfe, Hunter S. Thompson, and other creative nonfiction writers. The last half of this lecture focuses on Mark Twain and the literary merit he brought to his journalistic efforts. McKeen reads an extensive excerpt from Mark Twain’s amusing report on the state of journalism in Tennessee.

10. Evaluating Alexander the Great

Professor Robin Fox begins a thorough biographical portrait of Alexander the Great in this first lecture for The Modern Scholar Series. Describing his subject right off the bat as probably the greatest king and conqueror the world has ever seen, Fox offers a brief sketch of the Alexander as a historical figure and then provides the context of Alexander’s time, place, and the most important people in his life. From the start Alexander’s relatively short, but incredibly eventful reign was chronicled by court historians, and this has proven to be a mixed blessing for modern analysts when it comes to separating fact from fiction.

Enjoy these free sample lectures. At LearnOutLoud.com we plan to listen to all of these Modern Scholar courses! Join us in listening to the classes of some of the best teachers in the world.

July 29, 2010

List of Our Top Free Lists

In the past few years we’ve put together a lot of lists of the best free resources that we offer through our site in different categories that we feature. In case you missed any of those we wanted to offer you this list of those lists. We’ll start off with our top free resources from the past 4 years:

Top 25 Free Resources from 2006

Top 50 Free Resources from 2007

Top 25 Free Resources from 2008

Top 50 Free Resources from 2009

And here our some free resource lists that focus on specific topics. For many of these lists we have added new free resources and we’ve noted that below:

Top 40 Free Audio Books Online

Ten Famous Speeches in American History

Ten Top Audio & Video Debates

Top 25 Free Philosophy Books & Podcasts on Audio

Top Ten Free Meditations

Top 15 Free Online Psychology Audio & Video Resources (5 New Resources Added)

Top 25 Free History Audio Titles (5 New Resources Added)

Top 20 Free Self Help Titles (10 New Resources Added)

Top 20 Wealth Building & Economics Free Audio & Video Resources (5 New Resources Added)

Top 20 Best Contemporary Literature Author Interviews and Talks (5 New Resources Added)

Top 20 Free Christian Audio Resources

Top Ten Podcasts Featuring 100s of Thought Leaders

Top 25 World Religions Free Audio & Video Resources (5 New Resources Added)

Top 15 Free Liberal Speeches & Lectures

Top 20 Free Conservative Speeches & Lectures

Top 50 Free Motivational Resources

And our last group of lists is the best of resources from various spots on the web:

Best of Free Audio Downloads on TeachOutLoud

Best of LibriVox

Best of FORA.tv

That’s enough lists for now. Enjoy all of these free resources.

July 29, 2010

100 Best Novels on Audio Book

At the close of the 20th century the publishing company Modern Library (which is now owned by Random House) published a list of the best 100 novels of the 20th century. This list was compiled by a prestigious board of authors and literary enthusiasts including Daniel J. Boorstin, A. S. Byatt, Christopher Cerf, Shelby Foote, Vartan Gregorian, Edmund Morris, John Richardson, Arthur Schlesinger Jr., William Styron, and Gore Vidal. We’ve taken their list and sought out all the novels that are currently available on audio book and generated a list of our own. Ones that aren’t available on audio are noted. Also a number of novels that are in the public domain now are available as a free audio download and we have noted those as well. Most of them we feature on LearnOutLoud.com, but for a few of them we link to Amazon.com. We’ll continue updating the list as more of these novels make their way to audio book.

1. ULYSSES by James Joyce (Free Download!)

2. THE GREAT GATSBY by F. Scott Fitzgerald

3. A PORTRAIT OF THE ARTIST AS A YOUNG MAN by James Joyce (Free Download)

4. LOLITA by Vladimir Nabokov

5. BRAVE NEW WORLD by Aldous Huxley

6. THE SOUND AND THE FURY by William Faulkner

7. CATCH-22 by Joseph Heller

8. DARKNESS AT NOON by Arthur Koestler

9. SONS AND LOVERS by D.H. Lawrence

10. THE GRAPES OF WRATH by John Steinbeck

11. UNDER THE VOLCANO by Malcolm Lowry

12. THE WAY OF ALL FLESH by Samuel Butler

13. 1984 by George Orwell

14. I, CLAUDIUS by Robert Graves

15.TO THE LIGHTHOUSE by Virginia Woolf

16. AN AMERICAN TRAGEDY by Theodore Dreiser

17. THE HEART IS A LONELY HUNTER by Carson McCullers

18. SLAUGHTERHOUSE-FIVE by Kurt Vonnegut

19. INVISIBLE MAN by Ralph Ellison

20. NATIVE SON by Richard Wright

21. HENDERSON THE RAIN KING by Saul Bellow

22. APPOINTMENT IN SAMARRA by John O’Hara (Not on Audio)

23. U.S.A. (trilogy): The 42nd Parallel, 1919, The Big Money by John Dos Passos

24. WINESBURG, OHIO by Sherwood Anderson

25. A PASSAGE TO INDIA by E.M. Forster

26. THE WINGS OF THE DOVE by Henry James

27. THE AMBASSADORS by Henry James

28. TENDER IS THE NIGHT by F. Scott Fitzgerald

29. THE STUDS LONIGAN TRILOGY by James T. Farrell (Not on Audio)

30. THE GOOD SOLDIER by Ford Madox Ford (Free Download)

31. ANIMAL FARM by George Orwell

32. THE GOLDEN BOWL by Henry James (Free Download)

33. SISTER CARRIE by Theodore Dreiser

34. A HANDFUL OF DUST by Evelyn Waugh

35. AS I LAY DYING by William Faulkner

36. ALL THE KING’S MEN by Robert Penn Warren

37. THE BRIDGE OF SAN LUIS REY by Thornton Wilder

38. HOWARDS END by E.M. Forster

39. GO TELL IT ON THE MOUNTAIN by James Baldwin

40. THE HEART OF THE MATTER by Graham Greene

41. LORD OF THE FLIES by William Golding

42. DELIVERANCE by James Dickey

43. A DANCE TO THE MUSIC OF TIME (series) by Anthony Powell

44. POINT COUNTER POINT by Aldous Huxley (Not on Audio)

45. THE SUN ALSO RISES by Ernest Hemingway

46. THE SECRET AGENT by Joseph Conrad (Free Download)

47. NOSTROMO by Joseph Conrad

48. THE RAINBOW by D.H. Lawrence (Free Download)

49. WOMEN IN LOVE by D.H. Lawrence

50. TROPIC OF CANCER by Henry Miller

51. THE NAKED AND THE DEAD by Norman Mailer (Not on Audio)

52. PORTNOY’S COMPLAINT by Philip Roth

53. PALE FIRE by Vladimir Nabokov

54. LIGHT IN AUGUST by William Faulkner

55. ON THE ROAD by Jack Kerouac

56. THE MALTESE FALCON by Dashiell Hammett

57. PARADE’S END by Ford Madox Ford

58. THE AGE OF INNOCENCE by Edith Wharton (Free Download)

59. ZULEIKA DOBSON by Max Beerbohm (Free Download)

60. THE MOVIEGOER by Walker Percy

61. DEATH COMES FOR THE ARCHBISHOP by Willa Cather (Not on Audio)

62. FROM HERE TO ETERNITY by James Jones

63. THE WAPSHOT CHRONICLES by John Cheever

64. THE CATCHER IN THE RYE by J.D. Salinger (Not on Audio)

65. A CLOCKWORK ORANGE by Anthony Burgess

66. OF HUMAN BONDAGE by W. Somerset Maugham

67. HEART OF DARKNESS by Joseph Conrad (Free Download)

68. MAIN STREET by Sinclair Lewis

69. THE HOUSE OF MIRTH by Edith Wharton (Free Download)

70. THE ALEXANDRIA QUARTET by Lawrence Durell

71. A HIGH WIND IN JAMAICA by Richard Hughes

72. A HOUSE FOR MR BISWAS by V.S. Naipaul (Not on Audio)

73. THE DAY OF THE LOCUST by Nathanael West

74. A FAREWELL TO ARMS by Ernest Hemingway

75. SCOOP by Evelyn Waugh

76. THE PRIME OF MISS JEAN BRODIE by Muriel Spark

77. FINNEGANS WAKE by James Joyce

78. KIM by Rudyard Kipling

79. A ROOM WITH A VIEW by E.M. Forster

80. BRIDESHEAD REVISITED by Evelyn Waugh

81. THE ADVENTURES OF AUGIE MARCH by Saul Bellow

82. ANGLE OF REPOSE by Wallace Stegner

83. A BEND IN THE RIVER by V.S. Naipaul

84. THE DEATH OF THE HEART by Elizabeth Bowen

85. LORD JIM by Joseph Conrad

86. RAGTIME by E.L. Doctorow

87. THE OLD WIVES’ TALE by Arnold Bennett

88. THE CALL OF THE WILD by Jack London

89. LOVING by Henry Green (Not on Audio)

90. MIDNIGHT’S CHILDREN by Salman Rushdie

91. TOBACCO ROAD by Erskine Caldwell

92. IRONWEED by William Kennedy

93. THE MAGUS by John Fowles

94. WIDE SARGASSO SEA by Jean Rhys (Not on Audio)

95. UNDER THE NET by Iris Murdoch

96. SOPHIE’S CHOICE by William Styron

97. THE SHELTERING SKY by Paul Bowles

98. THE POSTMAN ALWAYS RINGS TWICE by James M. Cain

99. THE GINGER MAN by J.P. Donleavy (Not on Audio)

100. THE MAGNIFICENT AMBERSONS by Booth Tarkington

July 29, 2010

2010 Audie Award Winners

The Audie Awards took place on May 25th, 2010 in New York City. For those of you who’ve not heard of the Audies, they are basically the Oscars for audio books.

Here are some highlights of the winners which we feature on LearnOutLoud.com:

Audiobook of the Year
Nelson Mandela’s Favorite African Folktales
Publisher: Hachette Audio
Author: Nelson Mandela
Narrator: A Full Cast including Samuel L. Jackson, Helen Mirren, Don Cheadle, and Alan Rickman

Fiction
The Help
Publisher: Penguin Audiobooks
Author: Kathryn Stockett
Narrator: Jenna Lamia, Bahni Turpin, Octavia Spencer, and Cassandra Campbell

Audiobook Adaptation
Maltese Falcon
Publisher: Blackstone Audio
Author: Dashiell Hammett
Narrator: Full Cast

Classics
Great Expectations
Publisher: Audio Connoisseur
Author: Charles Dickens
Narrator: Charlton Griffin

Personal Development
Nurtureshock: New Thinking about Children
Publisher: Hachette Audio
Author: Po Bronson and Ashley Merryman
Narrator: Po Bronson

Biography/Memoir
Anne Frank Remembered
Publisher: Oasis Audio
Author: Miep Gies and Leslie Gold
Narrator: Barbara Rosenblat

Business Information/Educational
Rain: What a Paperboy Learned About Business
Publisher: Brilliance Audio
Author: Jeffrey J. Fox
Narrator: Jeffrey J. Fox

History
Tears in the Darkness: The Story of the Bataan Death March and Its Aftermath
Publisher: Tantor Media
Author: Michael Norman and Elizabeth M. Norman
Narrator: Michael Prichard

Humor
Church People: The Lutherans of Lake Wobegon
Publisher: HighBridge Audio
Author: Garrison Keillor
Narrator: Garrison Keillor and a Full Cast

Inspirational/Faith-Based Non-Fiction
The Word of Promise: Complete Audio Bible NKJV
Publisher: Thomas Nelson Word
Narrator: A Full Cast including Michael York, Richard Dreyfuss, Gary Sinise, and others

Literary Fiction
Wolf Hall
Publisher: MacMillan Audio
Author: Hilary Mantel
Narrator: Simon Slater

Narration by the Author or Authors
Odd and the Frost Giants
Publisher: Harper Children’s Audio
Author: Neil Gaiman
Narrator: Neil Gaiman

Non-Fiction
The National Parks: America’s Best Idea
Publisher: Random House Audio
Author: Ken Burns and Dayton Duncan
Narrator: Ken Burns and Dayton Duncan

And check out the Audie Award Winners from the past four years:

2009 Audie Award Winners

2008 Audie Award Winners

2007 Audie Award Winners

2006 Audie Award Winners

July 22, 2010

Free Liberal Speeches & Lectures

If you lean left with your politics, we’ve got a good selection of 15 free resources, featuring some of the top liberal and progressive thinkers in one place. Over the years we’ve featured hundreds of free audio & video resources as part of our Free Resource of the Day Emails, and from these, we’ve hand-selected a wide array of material, including historical recordings from John F. Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson and George McGovern, and archival audio from famous Democratic National Convention speeches. We also give plenty of space to modern liberal pundits, including Noam Chomsky, Bill Maher, Howard Zinn, and Cornel West, among many others. Get a thorough overview of American progressive thought by clicking the links below:

1. Howard Zinn with Special Guests: Lannan Readings & Conversations

In this recorded event from the Lannan Foundation, Howard Zinn introduces dramatic readings from Voices of a People’s History of the United States which is a companion to his A People’s History of the United States, and features speeches, letters, poems, songs, memoirs, and protests from voices of resistance throughout American history. This live event features Jane Fonda reading Susan B. Anthony, Marisa Tomei reading Emma Goldman, and many more reknowned actors reading from activists throughout American history. This recording is available on streaming audio & video. Lannan also offers it on as an Enhanced Podcast that contains photographs as well as Chapter Markers that allow you to jump directly to individual readings from this Lannan event.

2. 1960 Democratic National Convention Acceptance Address by John F. Kennedy

Listen to John F. Kennedy’s 1960 Democratic National Convention Acceptance Address delivered on July 15, 1960 at Memorial Coliseum in Los Angeles. He addresses his Catholic faith and hopes that “no American, considering the really critical issues facing this country, will waste his franchise and throw away his vote by voting either for me or against me because of my religious affiliation.” Kennedy also contrasts his platform of change with the “old ways” of 1960 Republican presidential candidate Richard Nixon. Finally he addresses the “New Frontier” that America faced in the 1960 election. This speech is available on streaming audio and MP3 download from American Rhetoric.

3. Ralph Nader: The Good Fight

In this talk delivered at Cody’s Books in San Francisco, controversional presidential candidate and lifelong grassroots political activist Ralph Nader talks about the themes of his book The Good Fight: Declare Your Independence and Close the Democracy Gap. Delivered to a crowd of progressives, Nader tells them the best ways to directly influence their representatives and dismisses anyone who feels they cannot create change in the policies of their government. Naders talks about issues seldom mentioned by Republicans or Democrats, such as the United State’s bloated military budget, the confrontation of corporate crime, fraud, and abuse, and the concentration of the corporate mass media on the public airwaves. This talk is available on streaming video and MP3 download through FORA.tv.

4. Discourses on Iraq and the Middle East by Noam Chomsky

There’s so much going on in the Middle East right now and it is certainly causing a lot of controversy. In today’s free resource of the day, MIT professor and renowned author Noam Chomsky offers his opinions of what has recently transpired. Chomsky is a very sharp mind and while many disagree with him his perspective is decidely a valuable one. Check out our entire Noam Chomsky Audio & Video Resource.

5. HBO: Real Time with Bill Maher Podcast

One of the most popular podcasts in our podcast directory currently is HBO’s Real Time with Bill Maher Podcast. Host and comedian Bill Maher features a panel of guests discussing current events in politics. There is a week-long delay on the audio podcast from when the show airs, and they currently feature the previous 7 episodes on the podcast feed, along with some extra material from each show that wasn’t aired on HBO.

6. Cornel West with Amy Goodman: Lannan Readings & Conversations

In this inspiring oration from the Lannan Foundation, African American intellectual Cornel West calls for revival in America’s democratic tradition which draws on our religious, philosophical, and literary history. This speech demonstrates West’s charismatic speaking talent in the tradition of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X. This talk is available on streaming audio.

7. The Great Society by Lyndon Johnson

Today’s resource of the day is President Lyndon Johnson’s address in 1964 that put forth his vision of The Great Society: a society in which our prosperous nation eventually fulfills everyone’s basic needs and sees to it that everyone is given education and opportunity to live out their hopes and dreams. The ideas in this speech lay out the agenda of the Great Society program that Johnson initiated the next year. This speech is available from American Rhetoric on streaming audio.

8. Keeping the Faith in Difficult Times: Conversation with Studs Terkel

Author and radio broadcast personality Studs Terkel recently passed away at the age of 96. In this hour long streaming video interview, Conversations with History host Harry Kreisler interviews Studs later in his life. It is a fascinating and funny interview which covers much of Terkel’s life and his philosophy on life in America. He also openly expresses his opinions about the media and the politicians today. Although in his 90s at the time, Terkel lucidly reminisces about his life and the lessons he has learned from it. This video is available to stream through YouTube.

9. President Obama’s Weekly Radio Address

President Barack Obama gives a series of radio addresses to the country that are updated weekly. With these weekly speeches Obama lays out his strategy for tackling the big issues facing Americans today, including the financial crisis, the war in Iraq, climate change and more. A great way to learn more about Obama’s policies, this podcast is also a handy way to stay abreast of current events.

10. Message To The Grass Roots by Malcolm X

In his “Message To The Grass Roots” speech Malcolm X rallies African Americans to rise up for revolution against white people and form a black nation separate from the United States. He argues against the non-violent principles of the civil rights movement and sees self-defense and violence as central to the African American struggle in the U.S. This speech shows a different side of the black struggle for human rights in the 1960s. It’s available on streaming audio and MP3 download from American Rhetoric.

11. Emma Goldman Essays

From the folks at Audio Anarchy comes this collection of essays from one of history’s most well known anarchists and feminists: Emma Goldman. In these essays Goldman writes of what anarchism stands for, as well as essays about prisons, woman’s suffrage, and more. These essays are well read by Audio Anarchy’s narrators and available on MP3 Download.

12. 1988 Democratic National Convention Keynote Address by Ann Richards

Ann Richards was the former Governor of Texas and recently passed away at the age of 73. Listen to the speech which earned her national attention. At the 1988 Democratic National Convention she delivered a witty and heartfelt speech which conveyed traditional Democratic values. This speech is available from American Rhetoric on streaming audio and MP3 download.

13. The One Percent Doctrine: Deep Inside America’s Pursuit of its Enemies Since 9/11 by Ron Suskind

In this lecture from the University Channel, author and journalist Ron Suskind delivers a rousing lecture on his book The One Percent Doctrine: Deep Inside America’s Pursuit of its Enemies Since 9/11. He weaves a narrative of America’s War on Terror since 9/11, providing examples of how it is being conducted. Suskind delivers his message with wit and outrage, keeping listeners engaged throughout. This lecture can be downloaded on MP3 audio.

14. Fighting World Hunger by George McGovern

In this talk from the Miller Center of Public Affairs, former U.S. Senator George McGovern discusses how he became involved in fighting world hunger and the methods and ideas he has for how we will do so in the future. He also throws in some comments regarding the war in Iraq and how it is distracting America from issues such as world hunger. This talk is available on MP3 download.

15. The Republican War on Science by Chris Mooney

In this interview presented by UCTV, science scholar Naomi Oreskes dialogues with author Chris Mooney about his book “The Republican War on Science”. Here Mooney gives his opinion that the Bush Administration has consistently interfered with scientific progress due in large part to moral and economic interests. Oreskes uses her scientific background to give some context to Mooney’s arguments, and the result is a short debate that shows viewers how raw data can change according to who’s presenting it. This dialogue is available on streaming video and downloadable video from Google Video.

We’ve been sending out our Free Resource of the Day Emails for many years now. If you’ve not subscribed yet, we highly encourage you to do so.