Classic Audiobook Collection

Latest Episodes:

The Odd Women by George Gissing ~ Full Audiobook [drama] Jun 14, 2023

Show notes

The Odd Women by George Gissing audiobook.

Genre: drama

In late-Victorian London, a demographic imbalance leaves many middle-class women with few prospects for marriage and even fewer for financial security. The Madden sisters - practical Alice, gentle Virginia, and the youngest, Monica - are among the 'odd women,' trying to survive on meager incomes while society measures their worth by husbands and homes. Across the city, two determined reformers, Mary Barfoot and her brilliant, uncompromising colleague Rhoda Nunn, run a training school that prepares women for office work and argues for independence over matrimony. When the idealistic world of female self-sufficiency collides with the allure and pressure of conventional romance, Monica finds herself pulled between necessity, desire, and the fear of a life narrowing into dependence. Meanwhile, Rhoda's convictions are tested by an unexpected emotional challenge and by the question of whether freedom must mean solitude. George Gissing crafts a sharp, compassionate portrait of ambition, loneliness, and social constraint, exploring what it costs to seek autonomy in a culture built to deny it - and what it costs to accept the bargain of respectability.

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Chapters (Approximate)

(00:00:00) Chapter 01

(00:15:38) Chapter 02

(00:48:44) Chapter 03

(01:01:41) Chapter 04

(01:36:18) Chapter 05

(02:05:55) Chapter 06

(02:38:12) Chapter 07

(03:13:38) Chapter 08

(03:44:51) Chapter 09

(04:07:42) Chapter 10

(04:29:56) Chapter 11

(04:50:57) Chapter 12

(05:19:53) Chapter 13

(05:50:54) Chapter 14

(06:19:22) Chapter 15

(06:51:16) Chapter 16

(07:21:52) Chapter 17

(07:56:01) Chapter 18

(08:17:40) Chapter 19

(08:36:29) Chapter 20

(08:53:25) Chapter 21

(09:20:27) Chapter 22

(09:55:27) Chapter 23

(10:15:26) Chapter 24

(10:38:21) Chapter 25

(11:15:35) Chapter 26

(11:44:17) Chapter 27

(12:18:39) Chapter 28

(12:49:35) Chapter 29

(13:22:14) Chapter 30

(13:45:32) Chapter 31

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Mozart - The Man and the Artist as Revealed in His Own Words by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart ~ Full Audiobook [biography] Jun 14, 2023

Show notes

Mozart - The Man and the Artist as Revealed in His Own Words by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart audiobook.

Genre: biography

Mozart - The Man and the Artist as Revealed in His Own Words invites listeners to meet Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart not as a marble bust or a mythic genius, but as a living, breathing, fiercely opinionated man speaking directly from the page. Drawn from his letters and personal writings, this portrait follows Mozart through the everyday pressures behind the extraordinary music: demanding patrons, exhausting travel, fragile finances, shifting public taste, and the constant need to prove himself in courts, salons, and theaters. Alongside the practical details of lessons, commissions, and rehearsals, Mozart reveals a sharp wit, a quick temper, a tender loyalty to family, and an unshakable conviction about what music should be. His own voice illuminates how he thought about composing, performance, and the role of an artist in society, while also exposing the private doubts and exhilarations that accompanied public success. Intimate, candid, and often startlingly modern, this collection becomes both a creative handbook and a human document, offering an unfiltered encounter with the mind and heart behind the masterpieces.

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Chapters (Approximate)

(00:00:00) Chapter 01

(00:04:52) Chapter 02

(00:07:09) Chapter 03

(00:14:11) Chapter 04

(00:32:34) Chapter 05

(01:06:20) Chapter 06

(01:17:29) Chapter 07

(01:28:38) Chapter 08

(01:38:56) Chapter 09

(02:03:03) Chapter 10

(02:12:14) Chapter 11

(02:36:57) Chapter 12

(02:45:15) Chapter 13

(03:03:49) Chapter 14

(03:17:21) Chapter 15

(03:25:12) Chapter 16

(03:34:33) Chapter 17

(03:47:08) Chapter 18

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Notes on Nursing by Florence Nightingale ~ Full Audiobook [history] Jun 14, 2023

Show notes

Notes on Nursing by Florence Nightingale audiobook.

Genre: history

First published in 1859, Florence Nightingale's Notes on Nursing is a foundational guide to the everyday work of caring for the sick - written not as a medical textbook, but as a practical manual for anyone responsible for a patient's comfort and recovery. With crisp, unsentimental clarity, Nightingale argues that nursing is an art of observing: noticing small changes in a person's condition, habits, mood, and environment, and responding with thoughtful, disciplined care. She examines the overlooked forces that shape health - clean air, light, warmth, quiet, nutrition, cleanliness, and the careful management of a sickroom - and shows how well-meaning mistakes can do real harm. Along the way, she challenges conventional assumptions about illness, household management, and women's work, insisting on accountability, hygiene, and patient dignity. Whether addressing a mother caring for a child, a family member tending to a loved one, or a nurse in training, Nightingale's voice remains direct and urgent. Notes on Nursing is both a portrait of nineteenth-century life and a timeless call to combine compassion with competence, replacing guesswork with evidence, and turning daily care into a deliberate practice that can save lives.

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Chapters (Approximate)

(00:00:00) Chapter 00

(00:10:48) Chapter 01

(00:30:05) Chapter 02

(00:48:33) Chapter 03

(01:01:28) Chapter 04

(01:27:11) Chapter 05

(01:36:19) Chapter 06

(01:48:09) Chapter 07

(02:05:09) Chapter 08

(02:15:31) Chapter 09

(02:22:15) Chapter 10

(02:32:25) Chapter 11

(02:37:59) Chapter 12

(02:55:45) Chapter 13

(03:30:02) Chapter 14

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The Semi-Detached House by Emily Eden ~ Full Audiobook [comedy] Jun 14, 2023

Show notes

The Semi-Detached House by Emily Eden audiobook.

Genre: comedy

In a quiet bend of the Thames, the villa called Pleasance promises peace and privacy - except for one flaw: it is semi-detached. When delicate, high-born Blanche and her level-headed sister Aileen settle in while Blanche's husband, Arthur, is sent abroad, they find themselves unavoidably joined to the Hopkinsons, a bluff, warmhearted middle-class family whose manners alarm Blanche nearly as much as they rescue her. As rain-soaked mishaps and forced introductions pile up, the wall between the two households proves far less solid than anyone expected, and the sisters are drawn into a tangle of visits, confidences, and carefully managed respectability. With Aunt Sarah's unshakable common sense as ballast and London society's watchful eyes never far away, friendships form across class lines - and the question becomes which connections are truly suitable, and which are simply true. Witty, observant, and gently sharp about money, breeding, and the performance of propriety, Emily Eden's novel turns a single shared wall into a lively test of character, loyalty, and love.

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Chapters (Approximate)

(00:00:00) Chapter 01

(00:10:37) Chapter 02

(00:23:29) Chapter 03

(00:36:12) Chapter 04

(00:47:28) Chapter 05

(01:00:32) Chapter 06

(01:07:56) Chapter 07

(01:23:29) Chapter 08

(01:47:50) Chapter 09

(01:59:03) Chapter 10

(02:14:55) Chapter 11

(02:22:05) Chapter 12

(02:36:11) Chapter 13

(02:51:33) Chapter 14

(03:07:53) Chapter 15

(03:21:01) Chapter 16

(03:37:24) Chapter 17

(03:57:44) Chapter 18

(04:12:51) Chapter 19

(04:27:46) Chapter 20

(04:40:44) Chapter 21

(04:54:27) Chapter 22

(05:10:22) Chapter 23

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The Semi-Attached Couple by Emily Eden ~ Full Audiobook [romance] Jun 13, 2023

Show notes

The Semi-Attached Couple by Emily Eden audiobook.

Genre: romance

In a country house full of sharp tongues and stricter rules, newly married Helen and her husband Arthur find that love is only the beginning of their education. Helen arrives with warmth and good sense, eager to build a home with the man she adores, but she soon discovers that Arthur's ties to his formidable mother and a demanding circle of relatives are not easily loosened. As visits, dinners, and house-party politics pile up, Helen must navigate the unspoken codes of rank and propriety while protecting her marriage from constant interruptions, misunderstandings, and well-meaning interference. Arthur, torn between affection and habit, has to decide what it truly means to be a husband rather than a dutiful son. With wit, social observation, and a quietly beating heart, Emily Eden turns domestic life into a battlefield of manners, where a glance can be a weapon and a kind word can be a rebellion. The Semi-Attached Couple is a bright, intimate portrait of marriage under pressure and the courage it takes to claim happiness on your own terms.

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Chapters (Approximate)

(00:00:00) Chapter 01

(00:16:09) Chapter 02

(00:22:08) Chapter 03

(00:34:13) Chapter 04

(00:44:14) Chapter 05

(00:49:02) Chapter 06

(00:55:30) Chapter 07

(01:03:47) Chapter 08

(01:09:17) Chapter 09

(01:15:48) Chapter 10

(01:22:25) Chapter 11

(01:27:24) Chapter 12

(01:38:56) Chapter 13

(01:48:03) Chapter 14

(01:52:09) Chapter 15

(01:57:15) Chapter 16

(02:08:50) Chapter 17

(02:13:15) Chapter 18

(02:27:55) Chapter 19

(02:33:41) Chapter 20

(02:43:49) Chapter 21

(02:53:43) Chapter 22

(03:07:31) Chapter 23

(03:15:25) Chapter 24

(03:23:05) Chapter 25

(03:30:02) Chapter 26

(03:45:22) Chapter 27

(03:58:52) Chapter 28

(04:15:53) Chapter 29

(04:30:46) Chapter 30

(04:40:08) Chapter 31

(04:46:22) Chapter 32

(04:59:21) Chapter 33

(05:04:10) Chapter 34

(05:18:35) Chapter 35

(05:27:18) Chapter 36

(05:39:01) Chapter 37

(05:57:47) Chapter 38

(06:03:06) Chapter 39

(06:16:30) Chapter 40

(06:22:15) Chapter 41

(06:31:58) Chapter 42

(06:47:27) Chapter 43

(06:53:53) Chapter 44

(07:01:00) Chapter 45

(07:17:28) Chapter 46

(07:22:41) Chapter 47

(07:36:05) Chapter 48

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Fighting France, from Dunkerque to Belfort by Edith Wharton ~ Full Audiobook [history] Jun 13, 2023

Show notes

Fighting France, from Dunkerque to Belfort by Edith Wharton audiobook.

Genre: history

In Fighting France, from Dunkerque to Belfort, acclaimed American novelist Edith Wharton turns eyewitness and correspondent, traveling through a nation at war to record what she sees and hears in the early years of World War I. Moving from the battered ports and trenches near Dunkerque to the contested eastern frontier around Belfort, Wharton enters hospitals, relief stations, military zones, and resilient towns that live under the constant pressure of modern warfare. With a sharp eye for detail and a deep sympathy for civilians and soldiers alike, she captures the texture of daily life: the improvisations of aid workers, the discipline of the army, the strain on families, and the fierce pride that holds communities together. The book is both a journey through devastated landscapes and a portrait of French endurance, blending vivid scene-setting with reflective commentary on duty, sacrifice, and national identity. Part travel narrative, part wartime reportage, Fighting France offers a memorable, intimate view of a historical turning point as experienced on the ground by one of the era's most perceptive observers.

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Chapters (Approximate)

(00:00:00) Chapter 1

(00:34:57) Chapter 2

(01:15:11) Chapter 3

(01:54:20) Chapter 4

(02:31:01) Chapter 5

(03:01:46) Chapter 6

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Wings and the Child by E. Nesbit ~ Full Audiobook [fantasy] Jun 13, 2023

Show notes

Wings and the Child by E. Nesbit audiobook.

Genre: fantasy

'When this book first came to my mind it came as a history and theory of the building of Magic Cities on tables, with bricks and toys and little things such as a child may find and use. But as I kept the thought by me it grew and changed, as thoughts will do, until at last it took shape as an attempt to contribute something, however small and unworthy, to the science of building a magic city in the soul of a child, a city built of all things pure and fine and beautiful.' -- E. Nesbit

'This lovely book describes the practicalities of building cities (or forts, secret bases and fairytale palaces) out of household odds-and-ends. It also goes much further to speak of the importance of developing a child's imagination and other aspects of Education beyond simple instruction. Nesbit may not have realised how multicultural her own Britain was, let alone ours now, or that the wider world might be interested in this book, so please forgive some rather dated phrasing in places.'

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Chapters (Approximate)

(00:00:00) Chapter 01

(00:10:59) Chapter 02

(00:21:40) Chapter 03

(00:30:24) Chapter 04

(00:38:51) Chapter 05

(00:49:49) Chapter 06

(01:06:15) Chapter 07

(01:20:08) Chapter 08

(01:39:46) Chapter 09

(01:55:21) Chapter 10

(02:07:45) Chapter 11

(02:22:14) Chapter 12

(02:37:28) Chapter 13

(02:52:47) Chapter 14

(03:06:35) Chapter 15

(03:17:28) Chapter 16

(03:29:31) Chapter 17

(03:43:37) Chapter 18

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Royal Children of English History by E. Nesbit ~ Full Audiobook [history] Jun 13, 2023

Show notes

Royal Children of English History by E. Nesbit audiobook.

Genre: history

In Royal Children of English History, beloved storyteller E. Nesbit turns the page of the past to meet England's kings and queens first as boys and girls. Rather than marching through dates and battles, Nesbit offers vivid, approachable portraits of young princes and princesses growing up inside castles and courts, where lessons in Latin and etiquette sit beside tournaments, long journeys, illness, and sudden danger. Each chapter introduces a different royal child and traces how family loyalties, rival claimants, stern guardians, and the expectations of a watching nation shaped their earliest years. Some children are cherished heirs, others are political pawns, hostages, or siblings pushed into the shadows, and Nesbit shows how quickly playtime could give way to responsibility when a crown was at stake. With a clear, conversational voice and an eye for the human details of childhood, the book invites listeners to consider how power changes a life before adulthood even begins - and how the private fears and hopes of children can echo through public history.

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Chapters (Approximate)

(00:00:00) Chapter 1

(00:12:37) Chapter 2

(00:24:38) Chapter 3

(00:36:36) Chapter 4

(00:48:52) Chapter 5

(01:00:13) Chapter 6

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Our Little English Cousin by Blanche McManus ~ Full Audiobook [history] Jun 12, 2023

Show notes

Our Little English Cousin by Blanche McManus audiobook.

Genre: history

In Our Little English Cousin, Blanche McManus invites young listeners into the turn-of-the-century world of Edith Howard, a bright English girl growing up beside the River Thames. Guided by family, friends, and a watchful governess, Edith turns ordinary days into a rolling series of small expeditions that open a window onto English life: garden teas, boat rides, and countryside drives, followed by visits to places whose names echo with history. As Edith ventures to Hampton Court, Richmond, and Kew Gardens, and later into the great swirl of London, she discovers that castles, abbeys, and city streets are not just landmarks but living stories. Along the way she meets cousins and companions, balances lessons with play, and learns the habits and traditions that shape her nation, from pageantry and public ceremonies to the quiet rules of manners at home. Warm, observant, and illustrated by the author, this book blends gentle narrative with vivid cultural detail, making England feel both unfamiliar and oddly close - like family across the sea.

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Chapters (Approximate)

(00:00:00) Chapter 01

(00:13:51) Chapter 02

(00:26:32) Chapter 03

(00:40:12) Chapter 04

(00:49:00) Chapter 05

(01:04:49) Chapter 06

(01:11:52) Chapter 07

(01:19:29) Chapter 08

(01:25:08) Chapter 09

(01:32:32) Chapter 10

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My Trip Abroad by Charlie Chaplin ~ Full Audiobook [biography] Jun 12, 2023

Show notes

My Trip Abroad by Charlie Chaplin audiobook.

Genre: biography

'A steak and kidney pie, influenza and a cablegram. There is the triple alliance that is responsible for the whole thing.'

So begins Charlie Chaplin's My Trip Abroad, a travel memoir charting the actor-director's semi-spontaneous visit to Europe. Fresh off the success of 1921's The Kid, Chaplin decides to 'play hookey' after his seven year stay in Hollywood. He return to his native Europe as an international superstar, beloved by fans and hounded by reporters. The 'triple alliance' of the book's opening line sends Chaplin on an whirlwind tour through Great Britain, Germany, and France -- and the results are both funny and insightful. My Trip Abroad gives us an intimate and moving portrait of a Hollywood legend.

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Chapters (Approximate)

(00:00:00) Chapter 01

(00:31:33) Chapter 02

(01:03:44) Chapter 03

(01:34:49) Chapter 04

(02:05:10) Chapter 05

(02:30:17) Chapter 06

(02:54:08) Chapter 07

(03:12:17) Chapter 08

(03:39:09) Chapter 09

(04:11:55) Chapter 10