Listen to London Review of Books
Turn any lrb.co.uk essay into audio. Open the piece in Chrome, click CastReader, and listen from the headnote through the last paragraph — with paragraph highlighting. LRB reviews are essays disguised as reviews, and essays are what audio is for.
Why Listen to LRB with CastReader?
LRB essays are 4,000–12,000 words of argument and digression. Audio makes the form work outside the armchair.
Full Review
Headnote, Byline, Body
CastReader reads the headnote (the LRB's characteristic 'Book Title by Author' preface with publication info), the byline, and the full review body in order. Paragraph highlighting follows along — useful for the LRB's long paragraphs that wander through a few different points.
The Real Form
Reviews That Are Actually Essays
An LRB review is nominally a review of a book. It's actually an essay that takes the book as a starting point. These essays are built to be read linearly, which means they're built to be listened to. Audio fits the form.
Clean Audio
Skips Subscribe Walls and Shop Rails
Lrb.co.uk has a subscribe paywall, 'LRB Shop' banners, newsletter prompts, and a podcast rail. CastReader reads only the essay body. For subscribers the full essay plays end to end.
100% Free
Unlimited Longform Listening
No signup, no quota. A typical LRB essay is 40–70 minutes at 1.5x — the length of a long walk, which is the right venue.
Frequently Asked Questions
Everything about listening to London Review of Books with CastReader
How do I listen to an LRB essay?
Open the piece on lrb.co.uk in Chrome (URLs look like /the-paper/v48/n08/author-name/the-title). Click the CastReader icon. It reads the headnote, byline, and full body.
What about the subscription wall?
CastReader reads what your browser rendered. LRB subscribers see full essays in the DOM — we read them. Non-subscribers see the free excerpt — we read that. We don't bypass paywalls.
Does it handle LRB Diary pieces?
Yes. The LRB Diary (memoirs, personal essays) reads the same as reviews. So do the magazine's At the… pieces (exhibition reviews), Short Cuts, and all the other regular columns.
What about the LRB Podcast?
The LRB Podcast is audio already — use a podcast app. CastReader is for reading the magazine's written essays. Many podcast episodes have written introductions on the episode page; CastReader reads those introductions.
What about the headnote with book info?
The headnote (the block at the top of a review listing the book title, author, publisher, page count, price) is read first because it's how LRB reviews orient themselves. After the headnote the audio moves to the essay body.
What gets skipped?
Subscribe banners, 'LRB Shop' promotions, newsletter signup prompts, related-articles rails. Only the essay body reads.
Can I adjust reading speed?
Yes. 0.5x through 3x. LRB essays often want 1.5x–1.8x — the prose is dense enough to follow at speed, but the argument rewards attention.
Is it free? Any limits?
CastReader is completely free with no limits. The LRB itself is subscription-based — the extension reads whatever text your browser has loaded, which for subscribers is the full essay.
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Start Listening to LRB
Completely free. No signup. No limits. Install CastReader and open any LRB essay.