50000 Books, Audiobooks: Libby

First remember it’s free. It’s amateurs. It’s volunteers. It’s people practicing English as a second language. It’s people practicing using their voice for use in broadcast, podcast or public speaking. Sure, sometimes there’s mic noise from movement or a cat jumps in their lap. And there’s different qualities of microphones and different acoustics in the rooms. But it’s free. And it’s kind of interesting to hear the different accents, drama levels, and different voices that the readers create to perform different characters. For example in “The Princess of Mars”, there is a black woman reading the words of a confederate soldier. It’s ironic. But she puts her heart in it. Her voice sounds like she should be reciting poetry. And she gives the different characters different voices and adds drama to the reading. She’s not just reading it, she’s performing it. So reading roulette. Everyone so far is understandable. And sometimes you hear a voice that you wish would read everything. And it’s free.

I just started and the first thing I noticed was that it’s very confusing and the set up is unorganized. I didn’t even see the search button. Also(and this could just be my internet) when I try to download a book it kicks me out. The book still downloads but it’s really annoying. Everything else is great. I love that it’s free and is easy to get. I love this app it just needs a few improvements. 😁

First I have to say as a lover of classic and vintage books that I LOVE this app and how it has made old books easily available! That being said, as a millennial used to sleek apps, this one is cumbersome to use. My main issue is currently with the audiobook portion of the app (yes hey have audiobooks!) and how the app doesn't keep your place of where you stopped. That means, when I pause the audiobook and go back to play it (even if the app isn't cleared out) I get taken to the home page and have to remember which minute of which chapter I was on. This kinda of makes me uneasy since I have to track the chapters instead of listening without much thought. The cool thing is the chapters all play consecutively. I also don't like how my library only puts the books in alphabetical order instead of last opened.