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Public Domain Audio Books

Since I have a surplus of brain capacity for my current job, I often listen to audio books while working. I am a bit picky though; I only listen to solo reads and the voice and style of the reader has to appeal to me. Since I listen to the books while being outside, the reader needs to read at a more or less constant volume or parts might drown in the street noise. The story itself has to be somewhat entertaining and not to complicated, since I sometimes miss parts due to traffic noise or distractions.
These are some of the free audio books that I enjoyed listening to:

Titel	Author	Year	Recording
The Prisoner of Zenda	Anthony Hope	1894	Andy Minter (5:42:29)
I once read Heinlein's 'Double star', of which I later learned that it is based on 'The prisoner of Zenda'. So, naturaly I became curious when I stumbled upon an audio book of it. When I first listened to this recording, the Librivox announcement was either missing or I didn't notice it. I thought it was so well read that I actually went to check if it was pirated! The story is about a young British man named Rudolf, who is a (very) distant relative of the king of Ruritania, a kingdom that is supposed to be located somewhere between Germany and Austria. He visits Ruritania as a tourist at the time of the coronation of the king. By chance they meet and as it turns out, he resembles the king as if they were twin brothers. Which turns out to be a lucky thing, since the king gets incapacited by his enemies and Rudolf has to impersonate him to keep the peace. After that, all kinds of complications follow, including ofcourse romantic involvements... Links: Wikipedia, Project Gutenberg, Librivox
Rupert of Hentzau	Anthony Hope	1895	Andy Minter (8:45:26)
'Rupert of Hentzau' takes place three years after 'The prisoner of Zenda'. Rupert was a henchman of Black Micheal, the bad guy of the first novel. Rupert escaped and is now plotting revenge against Rudolf and the queen. Rudolf gets himself involved ofcourse and again makes use of his resemblance to the king. The ending of the story wasn't what I expected, having read Heinlein's 'Double star', but I guess this ending is more fitting to this original version. Links: Wikipedia, Project Gutenberg, Librivox
The Card	Arnold Bennett	1911	Andy Minter (7:58:21)
A 'card' is an excentric character, someone who gets talked about by everyone in the town for his entertaining or daring antics. The main character, Denry, is a rather poor clerk. Through tricks, luck and smart bussiness arrangements he manages to gain wealth and he rises in the social circles (although he gets himself on the brink of financial ruin every once in a while). Some of the highlights for me were his early afair with Ruth, his elaborate plot to get his mother to move to another house and the newspaper war. It is interesting to see the similarities and differences between life in the past (last quarter of the 19th century) and present times. I, for instance, had no idea there were chocolate vending machines in those years! I thought the ending was a bit abrupt, but I probably missed some parts due to traffic noises. Links: Wikipedia, Project Gutenberg, Librivox
The Secret Garden	Frances Hodgson Burnett	1909	Kara Shallenberg (9:08:25)
This turned out to be a crossover between a children's story and a self help book. A young girl who is spoiled, but very neglected when it comes to attention from her parrents, becomes an orphan and is forced to go live with an uncle she has never met before. He has a manor in the middle of nowhere on the moor in Yorkshire. Her uncle leaves her mostly alone, but she finds a friend in the servant Martha. There is a walled off garden, where no-one is allowed in. The manor harbors one more secret though... The story praises the beneficial effects of being in the great outdoors and the joys of gardening. Towards the end of the book it sometimes seems like 'The secret' by Rhonda Byrne (not that I read it). Kara Shallenberg even does a Yorkshire accent, eventhough I have no idea what that is supposed to sound like, I think she does a great job! 'The secret garden' will leave you with a strange desire for gardening, which will probably disappear the moment you're actually standing there with a spade in your hands. Links: Wikipedia, Project Gutenberg, Librivox
Heidi	Johanna Spyri	1880	Kara Shallenberg (9:45:20)
It's, well, Heidi! While listening to it, I kept imagining parts of the cartoon, although I can't even remember for sure whether I actually saw it when I was little. It's a feel good children's story, with christian morals all over it (that didn't bother me though). This story will cause a longing to Swiss Alps. Links: Wikipedia, Project Gutenberg, Librivox
The Wind in the Willows	Kenneth Grahame	1908	Adrian Praetzellis (6:55:21)
To quote wikipedia: 'The story is alternately slow moving and fast paced, focusing on four heavily anthropomorphised animal characters in a pastoral version of England. The novel is notable for its mixture of mysticism, adventure, morality, and camaraderie.' I once saw an animated movie of 'wind in the willows', I especially remember Toad and his love for fast cars. I do wonder how he solved his problems with the police in the end... The sound volume of this recording differs a lot between some chapters. Links: Wikipedia, Project Gutenberg, Librivox
Der Struwwelpeter	Heinrich Hoffman	1845	Kara Shallenberg (0:17:45)
This one is in German. Ten short stories that will scare children into good behaviour. It doesn't realy comply to my rule of 'not being complicated', since it is in German and I have to concentrate to be able to follow it all, but it did make me laugh. Links: Wikipedia, Project Gutenberg, Librivox
Right Ho, Jeeves	P. G. Wodehouse	1934	Mark Nelson (7:57:17)
When Bertie Wooster comes home from a vacation, his butler Jeeves informs him that his old friend Gussie has come by a couple of times during his absence. Bertie is disgruntled to find out that his friend didn't come to see him, but his butler Jeeves! When he finds out that Gussie came to ask Jeeves advice on women, he decides he should be the one to help Gussie and takes over from Jeeves. Ofcourse things go from bad to worse and hilarity ensues. There are many Jeeves stories, but at this time only two are available as audio books from librivox (partly due to copyright). Links: Wikipedia, Project Gutenberg, Librivox
Treasure Island	Robert Louis Stevenson	1883	Adrian Praetzellis (7:32:32)
Shiver me timbers, this be a pirate story! It doesn't get much more piraty than this! You really should go read the history of this book on wikipedia (don't read the plot summary though, it will spoil the book). Listening to this adventure story was great fun. I'm not going to digress on the plot, it's about pirates, that's enough information ;-) Links: Wikipedia, Project Gutenberg, Librivox
De lotgevallen van Ferdinand Huyck	Jacob van Lennep	1840	Anna Simon (19:14:32)
Het verhaal speelt ergens in de 18de eeuw, de periode waarin een welgesteld man zijn huis niet zonder pruik verliet en waarin je een probleem had als je 's avonds te laat bij de stadspoort aankwam. Ferdinand Huyck, de zoon van de hoofdschout in Amsterdam, keert na een lang verblijf in Italië weer terug naar zijn familie in Amsterdam. Echter, op het laatste stukje van zijn reis, tussen Amersfoort en Amsterdam, beleeft hij van alles (met messentrekkers, geheimzinnige heren en schone juffers!). Na thuiskomst blijken zijn avonturen nog lang niet voorbij, maar raakt hij er alleen maar verder in verwikkeld. Bovendien blijken Jan en alleman er mee te maken te hebben. Langzaam maar zeker wordt hem duidelijk hoe de vork in de steel steekt. De inleiding is nogal saai, maar is allerminst representatief voor de rest van het verhaal, dat bol staat van het avontuur, intrige en romantische verwikkelingen! Het oud-nederlands is een plezier om te horen, er worden continu bekende plaatsen en straten genoemd en je steekt nog eens wat op over de gebruiken in die tijd (wanneer je in een uitspanning een hapje eet, pak dan niet zomaar het eerste het beste mes dat op tafel ligt! Of zou dat zijn verzonnen?). Links: Wikipedia, Project Gutenberg, Librivox
My Man Jeeves	P. G. Wodehouse	1919	Mark Nelson (5:12:51)
This book consists of eight short stories. Half of them are about Berti Wooster and his valet Jeeves, the others are about Reggie Pepper. These are stories from the early days of Jeeves, Reggie is a kind of protoype for Bertie. The Jeeves stories fall in the 'light comedy' genre and usualy concern a problem between Bertie (or a friend of his) and a friend, young lady or family member. They try to solve it, ask Jeeves for help, but fail at solving it because of some unexpected coincidence and worsen the problem until Jeeves effortlessly comes up with a brilliant solution. Links: Wikipedia, Project Gutenberg, Librivox