Readarr is just a tool that facilitates downloading via bittorrent or usenet. You can just use those the old fashioned way without it.
Edit: The program Lazy Librarian that some people are mentioning also assists with the searching and downloading, if you prefer not to do it by hand.
You can purchase audiobooks too, especially from authors who make them available on DRM-free platforms.
And there’s always https://librivox.org/
The whole collection of software forces the user to limit themselves to the single version of canonical media which has been officially sanctioned by a centralized authority.
The more mainstream and corporate your media and arts interests are, the less you will notice this problem. But even with TV and movies it is a barrier once you deviate. With music and books, which due to lower production costs are literally endless in number, variations, mixes, imprints, translations, editions, covers, releases etc, it is an impossible model.
I don’t know if it’s too much inference but I sort of feel bad for the developers. This assumption about the superiority of homogeneous media and art pervades the projects in a way which suggests it is completely invisible to them. It’s very bleak.
I’m not sure if I properly get the concept but it seems that rreading-glasses is something you use in addition to readarr not an independent application.
I can’t offer any specific advice but there seem to be a great many projects going to fill this need:
https://alternativeto.net/software/spotify/?license=opensource&platform=self-hosted
I used LL years ago before I got into any of the arrs. I was planning to return to it but ran into some sort of install/dependency issues. Maybe I’ll give it another whirl in case they’ve solved spontaneously.
I’m actually using Audiobookshelf as my main server. I just wanted Readarr to get metadata and organize the folders. Do you have any workflow tips for that?
I’m hoping someone will have some info about what happened because it seems strange. What does this mean?
Unlike R——'s proprietary service, this is much faster, handles large authors, has full coverage of G——R—— (or Hardcover!)
yes that is correct. it is a server/client solution so you can track you progress.
zero finding ability. try Lazy Librarian.
remember that audiobooks are relatively rare due to their high production costs. so a lot of books do not have an audio version. Could consider text to speech.
there are some massive torrents that have like thousands of audiobooks in them and you have to go and select which ones to download. I’m not sure how I stumbled on these in the past so if you figure that out let me know.