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Many of you were avid listeners last year, borrowing over 100,000 audiobooks! You listened your way through lockdowns, journeys, sleepless nights and busy days - but what were the titles you favoured the most? Without further ado, we present to you: the Top Ten Downloads of 2021.
January 10, 2022
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This year the Bookseller is celebrating 30 years of the British Book Awards by adding an extra category which will decide the best books of the last three decades.
February 21, 2020
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Audiobooks are a great way to experience stories. Listening Books member Colleen tells us how she started enjoying them after reading print became difficult.
May 29, 2018
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School children reading to help children in hospital - what could be better? How Read for Good sets alight the literary love, wherever your child may be.
March 5, 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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November 2017 marks 100 years since the Battle of Passchendaele ended. To commemorate this we recommend a list of First World War books, from must-reads to forgotten classics.
November 6, 2017
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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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It can always be difficult to pick your next title to listen to. Whether you've just come off the back of listening to a book you loved or one that you're not sure was quite right for you, or if you've never listened to an audiobook before, how do you pick from the vast range of books out there?
June 5, 2017
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When you read something, you first need to detect the words and then to interpret them by determining context and meaning. This complex process involves many brain regions.
March 20, 2017
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Roald Dahl Day is celebrated every year on his birthday, 13th September, and events go on throughout the month. However, this year is a very special one - Dahl's 100th birthday! Dahl penned 39 books and many have become firm favourites around the world. His books have also been adapted into much-loved films, such as The Witches and Matilda. The most recent release - the BFG - reminds us that Dahl's influence and magic is ever-present! His style and imagination capture the hearts of many, the Listening Books team included. So here are our favourites from Dahl's expansive catalogue.
September 13, 2016
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