LM386 ADC values

Forum 2005-2010 (read only) Hardware Interfacing
1

I want to read values from an LM386. The circuit is from "Physical Computing" p.357. I have made this a number of times the same results; inconsistent figures, mostly 1~20. I assume the problem lies with the sketch. ADC is something of puzzle, even though I have read a number of descriptions. Would you please advise an alternative to:

void setup() {
   Serial.begin(9600);
}

void loop() {
  
  int soundLevel =  analogRead(0) ;
  
  Serial.print( "soundIn = ");
  Serial.println(soundLevel, DEC);
 delay (1000);
}