audio books

[Lothlorien]

I just got myself into the 21st Century :smiles:. I bought myself an MP3 player. I intend to rip some audio books onto my computer from the library, so I can listen to books that way.

However, I'm just wondering if anyone uses any of the audio book downloading sites online and if you were happy with them.

I bought a Sansa MP3, not an IPod.

 

[hearts and roses]

I can't wait for someone to post with info because I have been trying to figure this out myself! I got a nano for Christmas and want to download some books as well.

 

[mrscatinthehat]

I download podcasts (various different ones on different topics - history, music, comedy). One of the podcasts talks about a book download site I will have to go look it up.

Beth

 

[mrscatinthehat]

found it. Not sure if it is something you would have in mind but it is called audible.com . I haven't used it yet but had planned to.

beth

 

[Nancy]

Well I'm trying to find out the same information. I have an Ipod and everytime I try to transfer an audiobook from a cd that I get from the library it transfers the chapters in random order and then they play in random order.

I have checked out a few download sites but none of them had the books I was looking for so it's cheaper and easier to order them at the library and transfer them, if I can only figure out how..

Nancy

 

[witzend]

How to download an audiobook into I-Tunes for your I-pod

1) Open I-Tunes

2) insert your first disk in the cd audiobook into the disk drive

3) When your I-Tunes shows the CD, open that folder so that you can see all of the tracks.

4) On the drop down file at top, click on edit; preferences; Advanced; Importing. Choose "Import Using - AAC Encoder" and the "Setting - Spoken podcast" and select OK

5) On the list of Tracks, Right click the first track. Choose "Get Info". (For the purposes of explanation, I am going to say that I am copying the Bible, because it's a short name.) Select the "Info Tab". Under Name, rename the track "Bible Disk 01". You can also add things like what year published, who the author is, etc. Click "OK".

6) You will be back at the list of tracks. Hit "Control A" which should select all of the tracks.

7) With all of the tracks selected, go to the drop down "Advanced" menu at the top of the screen, and select "Join CD Tracks".

8) Click Import.

(It's not ready yet.)

When the import is complete, go to your "Music" file. (It may also show up in your Audiobook file - different versions of I-Tunes vary.)

1-b) Right click on "Bible Disk 01".

2-b) Select "Show in Windows Explorer"

3-b) Right click on the file, which will be named "Bible Disk 01.m4a" in Windows Explorer, and select "Rename".

4-b) Rename this file "Bible Disk 01.m4b", then close that window.

Go back into your music (or audiobook) file and click on "Bible Disk 01". You will get an error message that says "Cannot find Bible Disk 01, would you like to locate it?" click yes, then click on the Bible Disk 01.m4b file. Your disk will play. When you play this book on your pod and stop, it will bookmark your place so that the next time you turn it on there will be no fast-forwarding needed.

Repeat these steps, naming subsequent files Bible Disk 02, 03, etc. Be sure that when you are "finding" the file for 02, that you don't select "01" and rename it. You might have to "go up" a file folder to find 02.

Hope this makes sense...

Nancy, it sounds like you have your "Shuffle" set to automatic. If you copy the disk with tracks joined (without all of the other stuff to make a bookmark) you should eliminate that problem.

Once the download is complete, you can also right click on the disk in your music (or audiobook) file and go to "Get Info". There you can insert artwork, in the "options" tab you can choose to not have the book play when shuffling songs.

 

[Lothlorien]

apparently, if you have an Ipod, a lot of the sites don't support it. I chose not to get an Ipod because I didn't want to be limited on using their software; plus, I use Yahoo Music. I just got a bunch of books from the library and ripped them onto Media Player. It will play randomly if I put the MP3 player on random play, but if I go directly to the album, it will play each CD separately and one file after the other.

I have checked into audible.com, but you still have to pay a monthly fee and you can only download one or two books a month with that fee. There's one site that I found that has free books, but it's a computer generated voice (yuck!)

I'd like some of the classics. One of the books on my list is Beowulf. Our library has it on cassette, which is not going to work on my MP3.

 

[Nancy]

Thank you witz, i'm going to print off the instructions and try it.

Nancy

 

[Lothlorien]

I've already ripped about 15 cds onto my computer and transfered them onto the MP3. I even got some music cds from the library!

So far, I got the third novel from the Bartimeus series. Outlander, by Diana Gabaldon (looks like my kind of read), The Icon by Neil Olson and The Fourth Hand, by John Irving.

Anyone read these before?

 

[Fran]

I just downloaded my first novel from I tunes onto the I phone. I got to listen to it while driving yesterday. It wasn't too difficult if I could do it.

 

[Hound dog]

Hey, you got me to wondering.......

Travis' cassette recorder for audio books given to him by the library for the blind and visually impared went kaput several years ago. He's missed having his audio books. And silly boy is too embarrassed to send his recorder back to the library for a free replacement.

Loth would you mind telling me a few of the links to books you enjoy? I can give them to him and have him check it out. I'm sure he'll love it. I don't think he's thought of it himself because he hasn't mentioned it.

Thanks.

 

[Lothlorien]

Lisa, go to Audible.com You can hear a sound bite of some of the books. What types of books does he like?

I like stuff like LOTR, The wheel of time series by Robert Jordan. The stuff that I listed above. I would like to start reading a couple of other series, but some just aren't available at our library on audio, which drives me nuts. There is a series by Weis and Hickman that I purchased the paperbacks for my Dad and I'm really interested in getting those on audio.

 

[Hound dog]

Travis is a huge fan of LOTR. Just about anything along those lines he enjoys. Also sci fi. From what I can tell he has a wide range of authors and isn't hesitant to try someone new. Since he's an avid reader (almost to the extreme) this is a good thing or he'd have run out of material long ago. lol

But here over the past months I've noticed it slacking off some. He's been complaining that it's becoming too difficult to read normal books. Straining to read the text gives him headaches. So this would be great for him to get back in to. The reason his tape recorder went kaput is because the boy just plain wore it out. lmao

Thanks for the link, I'll have a look.

Hugs

 

[Lothlorien]

Lisa, you can pick up a tape player (like a walkman) for about $8.00 at Walmart. The Sony is better ( I have that one). The sony is about $35. They also have a lot of books on CD if he has a cd player. Or, you can do what I've been doing; take cd books out from library. Rip them to Media Player and put them on his MP3, if he has one.

 

[Lothlorien]

Announcement!!!!

I just caught onto something cool through my library. My library doesn't offer downloadable audio, but through your libary (if offered) if you have a library card, you can download whatever books are available on other libraries.....I found CLEVNET through the library and they have a lot of book titles, downloadable. You have to download the software for it, which took about 30 seconds.

I'm off to go see if i can download the book that I want now!

 

[witzend]

Loth, you took the words right out of my mouth!

 

[SRL]

I'll have you know that I listened to LOTR twice. I was having a hard time getting into audiobooks so when nothing else looked good I just repeated it a few months later.

HP is fun to listen to--lots to be picked up from listening that gets missed reading.

I think you'd like Sea of Trolls and Ender's Game. Focus on the Family has a wonderful production of Narnia--it's their radio theater. Kids like it, I like it...

 

[witzend]

husband has listened to every single Janet Evanovich/Stephanie Plum book on tape and loves them. He also listens repeatedly to the Harry Potter books.

 

[Lothlorien]

I want to listen to the Harry Potter Series. I can't find it on my library list of audiobooks to download. I'll get them, eventually.

I've heard that Janet Evanovich is a really funny author. I would like to listen to her stuff too. I'll get there.

SRL, I've listened to LOTR twice also. I enjoyed it even more the second time, since I did miss stuff the first time.