If you went to school in the UK or Ireland, you’ll probably remember celebrating World Book Day every year. This charity event is all about the joy of reading and gives millions of schoolchildren free vouchers to spend on books and audiobooks.
To mark this year’s World Book Day, on Thursday 5 March, we’ve put together a list of our favourite audiobook websites. Why not celebrate World Book Day by diving in and finding something you haven’t read before?
And to celebrate World Book Day the iD way, we’re running a competition for all you bookworms out there. Comment below and tell us about a book you love, and you could win an Amazon Kindle e-reader! Find out more below.
Top audiobook websites
Audible
Audible, owned by Amazon, is the world’s biggest audiobook provider, with hundreds of thousands of titles available to download. The subscription fee gives you one credit a month, which you can use to buy any audiobook, regardless of the price. If you don’t like a book, you can exchange it for free, and you can also cancel your subscription at any time.
Download the Audible app here.
Rakuten Kobo
KoboeReaders are one of the main rivals to Amazon Kindle, but did you know that Kobo (owned by Rakuten) also specialise in audiobooks? They offer a free 30-day trial, followed by a subscription package. As with Audible, the fee gives you one credit a month, which you can use to buy any audiobook.
Listen to Rakuten Kobo audiobooks on Android and iOS.
Downpour
Like Audible and Rakuten Kobo, Downpour is a subscription site where you use credits to buy an audiobook every month. All of its titles are DRM-free (which means they have no digital lock), so you can listen to them on as many of your devices as you like. Downpour also offers a rental service, which is cheaper than a monthly subscription. You can borrow audiobooks for up to two months, and pay to extend the loan if you need to.
Check out Downpour on Android and iOS.
Google Play Books
Google Play Books sellsaudiobooks individually, so it’s ideal if you don’t want to commit to a monthly subscription. You can buy several titles in one go, and listen to a free sample before you buy. If you’re listening on a Google Home device, you can use voice commands to control the playback – great when you don’t have a hand free to press buttons. Another nice feature is the Google Play Family Library, which lets you share audiobooks with up to 5 other people.
Listen to Google Play Books on Android or iOS.
LibriVox
If you don’t want to pay for audiobooks, then why not try LibriVox? It has a huge selection of titles – more than 13,000 at the last count – and they’re all available for free. The books recorded have to be in the public domain, so you won’t find the latest bestsellers here. And the readers are all volunteers, so the audio quality can be uneven. But if you love classic literature and don’t mind the odd bit of background noise, then LibriVox could be the best site for you.
Check out LibriVox here.
Win an Amazon Kindle!
To celebrate World Book Day, we’re giving away two Amazon Kindle e-readers. To enter the competition, all you need to do is comment below this post and answer this question:
What is your favourite childhood book, and why?
The two lucky winners will each receive an Amazon Kindle 6" e-reader (2019) - 4 GB, White.
Don’t miss out! The competition ends on 8th March 2020 so get commenting. T&Cs apply
Good luck!
