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Laura Carlin is the bestselling author of The Wicked Cometh, a dark and mysterious tale set against the backdrop of the slums of Georgian London. This is Laura’s debut novel, and it earned her a nomination for the Books Are...
March 18, 2019
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At Listening Books, our library is made up of audiobooks from publishers like Penguin and HarperCollins, as well as audiobooks we record in our studios. So, as well as audiobooks read by celebrities such as Stephen Fry, we also work with narrators who volunteer their time. If you've borrowed a Horrible Histories audiobook from our library, or swotted up before an exam with a York Notes A Level guide, then it was most likely made in our studios.
July 31, 2018
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This weekend the clocks change, so we picked our favourite books featuring time!
March 26, 2018
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This doesn't just happen in classics. Authors of historical fiction often use historical slang to make their settings more realistic. Here are some of the best old slang expressions from the past that are inadvertently hilarious now.
February 12, 2018
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This year, the UK is celebrating Banned Books Week to highlight the history of censorship. One of the most famous examples is Lady Chatterley's Lover by D. H. Lawrence. The book was famously banned in the UK because of its explicit content. In 1960, Penguin Books won a court case to publish it due to the 'Obscene Publications Act'. This act said that any book considered obscene but with "redeeming social merit" could be published. After six days, the jury found the book was not obscene. It sold out across the UK on the first day of publication, with 200,000 copies bought. Almost 60 years on, this is considered a landmark case that represented the end of an era.
September 25, 2017
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There are many reasons why some people think audiobooks might not be for them. I know, because I used to be one of those people. I thought my tiny attention span wouldn't be able to tolerate listening to the same person read for ten hours. Or I thought that it might not feel like I'd really 'read' a book. I now hang my head in shame and admit how wrong I was. All I needed was a great first audiobook.
September 4, 2017
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If you're finding reading difficult, school can be particularly daunting. There always seems to be so many things to read! This is where our Sound Learning service comes in. We record educational audiobooks from ages 7 and up so that at least getting through the reading doesn't have to be difficult. We've collected some of the best back to school audiobooks in our library, so get a head start on listening!
August 23, 2017
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I know, I know, non-fiction has a bit of a reputation as being dry, but I'm here to let you know there are some really fascinating non-fiction audiobooks out there. I’ve pulled together five of the ones I’ve learnt the most from, so sit back, relax, and learn some cool facts while being read to!
June 21, 2017
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When dealing with the otherness of disability, the Victorians in their shame built huge out-of-sight asylums, and their legacy of “them” and “us” continues to this day. Two hundred years later, technologies offer us an alternative view. The digital age is shattering barriers, and what used to the norm is now being challenged.
May 22, 2017
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By the estimation of award-winning author Donal Ryan, there are times when 300 sales might be enough to make a chart topper – the bestseller mantle tends to have more promotional than monetary value. Of course there are the literary blockbusters — titles like Harry Potter and The Da Vinci Code — books that ship hundreds of millions of copies. But combine the sales of JK Rowling and Dan Brown, even throw in John Grisham, and you’re still lagging behind the sales figures of the world’s true bestselling author — James Patterson.
April 18, 2017
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