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Audio Freebie
(Any audio goes: audiobooks, music, podcasts, you name it.)
I've not been a listener of audiobooks for long and I'm not fully converted into the cult of their wonderfulness yet so I debated whether to bother taking part in this week's topic.
In the end, I decided I was going for it and I was going to list my long-held reasons for why audiobooks weren't for me and what I've discovered by seriously giving them a try!
Narrators are annoying.
OMG seriously! They can be so annoying! An unbearable accent, a tone of voice, or their weird pronunciations can ruin the entire flipping book!
My opinion now I'm a listener:
Narrators are annoying.
You can listen to someone or you can't. Audible at least let you exchange a book if you don't like the narrator so it's not all bad.
I can read faster.
In the end, I decided I was going for it and I was going to list my long-held reasons for why audiobooks weren't for me and what I've discovered by seriously giving them a try!
Narrators are annoying.
OMG seriously! They can be so annoying! An unbearable accent, a tone of voice, or their weird pronunciations can ruin the entire flipping book!
My opinion now I'm a listener:
Narrators are annoying.
You can listen to someone or you can't. Audible at least let you exchange a book if you don't like the narrator so it's not all bad.
I can read faster.
I can read an 18hour audiobook in less than a third of that time so why would I bother with listening?
My opinion now I'm a listener:
Still true. There's no beating this.
Turning up the 'read speed' doesn't work as I'm left feeling like I'm listening to a chipmunk on drugs!
The cost.
The most I pay for a kindle book is £6.99 (aka the price of a paperback) but the majority are significantly less. The average audiobook is £15-£25. Why would I pay so much more just to listen to someone with a dodgy accent read me a story?!
My opinion now I'm a listener:
Yes, audiobooks are expensive.
However, an Audible monthly subscription gives me 1 credit a month for only £7.99, plus I can buy cheaper top ups/bolt ons working out at £6 (or less) per book.
Also, If I own the kindle book, the audible is usually heavily discounted - like an extra £3-5 on top of the ebook so much more reasonable.
Attention span.
I can't follow a story unless I'm actively listening.
For me, this means sitting still, emptying my head and focusing 100% on the task. Sitting still staring into space and listening feels like it defeats the point of audiobooks. If I'm going to sit for hours on end to enjoy a book, then I might as well be actually reading it!
My opinion now I'm a listener:
I think listening to an audiobook is an acquired skill.
In the beginning, I couldn't do anything but sit still and listen so I started by listening in the car. In the car, I'm a captive audience and I've found that listening to an audiobook is no more difficult (after a few days) than listening to the radio or chatting to a passenger.
After a couple of books, I branched out and tried listening while cooking, listening while ironing, cleaning and colouring.
All successful.
This is time that would otherwise be 'wasted' - aka not reading - therefore introducing audiobooks has been awesome in maximizing reading time.
My preferred genre.
I'm a romance reader and I don't exactly listen to 'clean' romance. Listening to a random stranger read out a graphic sex scene while eating my cheerios or sitting at traffic lights is more than I can handle!
My opinion now I'm a listener:
Still true! But easily solved by not listening to contemporary romance or erotica on audiobook.
I've been listening to my son's audiobooks - Rick Riordan's back catalog to be precise - and there's no sex or smuttiness there! Just amazingly good and engrossing stories that I can't get enough of.
Things I hadn't considered before trying audiobooks
Relief of Eyestrain - PRO
I work on computers. I blog on computers. I even do my weekly food shop on a computer because I'm time poor (and maybe a little bit lazy 😆) therefore come the evening my poor eyes have often reached their limit and I don't want to read anymore, especially on a screen.
Listening to (a non-irritating) someone read me a story? It's a win!
They take up no physical space - PRO
My opinion now I'm a listener:
Still true. There's no beating this.
Turning up the 'read speed' doesn't work as I'm left feeling like I'm listening to a chipmunk on drugs!
The cost.
The most I pay for a kindle book is £6.99 (aka the price of a paperback) but the majority are significantly less. The average audiobook is £15-£25. Why would I pay so much more just to listen to someone with a dodgy accent read me a story?!
My opinion now I'm a listener:
Yes, audiobooks are expensive.
However, an Audible monthly subscription gives me 1 credit a month for only £7.99, plus I can buy cheaper top ups/bolt ons working out at £6 (or less) per book.
Also, If I own the kindle book, the audible is usually heavily discounted - like an extra £3-5 on top of the ebook so much more reasonable.
Attention span.
I can't follow a story unless I'm actively listening.
For me, this means sitting still, emptying my head and focusing 100% on the task. Sitting still staring into space and listening feels like it defeats the point of audiobooks. If I'm going to sit for hours on end to enjoy a book, then I might as well be actually reading it!
My opinion now I'm a listener:
I think listening to an audiobook is an acquired skill.
In the beginning, I couldn't do anything but sit still and listen so I started by listening in the car. In the car, I'm a captive audience and I've found that listening to an audiobook is no more difficult (after a few days) than listening to the radio or chatting to a passenger.
After a couple of books, I branched out and tried listening while cooking, listening while ironing, cleaning and colouring.
All successful.
This is time that would otherwise be 'wasted' - aka not reading - therefore introducing audiobooks has been awesome in maximizing reading time.
My preferred genre.
I'm a romance reader and I don't exactly listen to 'clean' romance. Listening to a random stranger read out a graphic sex scene while eating my cheerios or sitting at traffic lights is more than I can handle!
My opinion now I'm a listener:
Still true! But easily solved by not listening to contemporary romance or erotica on audiobook.
I've been listening to my son's audiobooks - Rick Riordan's back catalog to be precise - and there's no sex or smuttiness there! Just amazingly good and engrossing stories that I can't get enough of.
Things I hadn't considered before trying audiobooks
Relief of Eyestrain - PRO
I work on computers. I blog on computers. I even do my weekly food shop on a computer because I'm time poor (and maybe a little bit lazy 😆) therefore come the evening my poor eyes have often reached their limit and I don't want to read anymore, especially on a screen.
Listening to (a non-irritating) someone read me a story? It's a win!
They take up no physical space - PRO
Digital book hoarding for the win!
You can't skip ahead - CON
I know, I know, aright! Skipping ahead to see what happens before working your way through the story is 'evil'. I get it, BUT I like doing it and I'm unrepentant! If things are tense and causing me anxiety I like to flick ahead and see what happens. I like to know if everything works out ok or prepare myself if it doesn't.
Sue me.
🌻
Any additional pros or cons? Are you an audiobook reader?
I'm not really an audiobook reader but I do have some of my favourite books in that format. I can't sit still long enough to just listen and as I don't work, I have no commute to use for listening to them. I find the ones I want way too expensive to buy on audio cd and I'm not interested in subscriptions of any kind. I'll always prefer my real books or ebooks!
ReplyDeleteebooks are my first love.
DeleteThanks for sharing what you think of audios now that you've listened to more. I don't drive, but if I did, I think listening in the car might be the way to go for me. Otherwise I just cannot focus, and I miss things. LOL
ReplyDelete-Lauren
www.shootingstarsmag.net
That was my biggest problem too: Zoning out and missing things.
DeleteGreat post. I think in the car would probably work better for me. But I'm a huge music lover (in fact I took a music direction with my post today) so I hate to give it up. It's the only time I really get to listen to music at all.
ReplyDeleteI would miss music if I switched to audios completely. Now, I just switch according to mood.
DeleteI'm not really a massive audiobook listener, but I am trying to get more into them this year, especially as I'm a slow reader so I'll probably be able to get through audiobooks faster than physical books.
ReplyDeleteMy TTT: https://jjbookblog.wordpress.com/2019/03/26/top-ten-tuesday-204/
I think they just take some getting used to. Good luck!
DeleteThis is a great pro and con list. I'd say my biggest reason for listening to audio books is that I can read so much faster than a narrator can speak.
ReplyDeleteMy Top Ten Tuesday post.
That is hugely frustrating for me.
Deletehahaha Yeaaa... that's why I don't listen to romance books on audio if there is sexy parts involved I am not sure I can handle it being narrated to me with a straight face
ReplyDeleteKnowing my luck, something especially filthy would be going on and I'd end up stopped with the window down next to an elderly couple in a car and cause a major accident.... Easier to just avoid. 😂
DeleteI tried an audiobook a couple of times, it's just not for me.
ReplyDeleteI agree, they're not for everyone.
DeleteLOVE this post! What a great idea to look back at your preconceptions about audiobooks and see how they compare to the reality.
ReplyDeleteNicole @ Feed Your Fiction Addiction
I've went back and forth on audiobooks so much since starting this blog so it was easy to recap them all, lol.
DeleteOooo, great list!! Very creative!! I am an avid audiobook listener and almost enjoy listening to audiobooks more than reading books.
ReplyDeleteHere's a link to my TTT post: https://captivatedreader.blogspot.com/2019/03/top-ten-tuesday-audiobook-freebie-my.html?showComment=1553617757328#c4963295880076597634
Oooh, I'm not sure I'd ever get to that point, lol.
DeleteRomance books are my goto when it comes to audiobooks. I mostly listen to them at work, and when they get to those really graphic scenes, I am usually laughing, because I wonder how the narrators are able to utter some of those lines with a straight face.
ReplyDeleteIt's a very different experience reading it to listening to it... I do wonder how many takes it takes for them to get it recorded, lol.
DeleteI'm not quite a convert either yet, although I do keep trying to be indoctrinated haha! Speed is part of the problem, that and getting distracted easily if I'm doing something else. Great list of pros and cons though- some of these cracked me up. :)
ReplyDeleteI keep trying too! I hope this time it sticks.
DeleteA narrator can definitely make or break the listening experience. I've been lucky in that I haven't encountered too many that just truly turned me off, but there was one that was so bad there is no way I will ever continue the series (audio or otherwise). I disliked the narration so much that it really just ruined the whole story. Thankfully that's the rare exception. There are some narrators that I just adore and actively seek them out.
ReplyDeleteI need to gain a wider experience of narrators but I bet I'll have a list of trusted/hated before long.
DeleteHONESTLY, I FEEL LIKE I GHOST WROTE THIS? You put to words so many of my thoughts and issues re: why I struggle with audiobooks so I'm just over here applauding you entirely. Also, 100% with you on the I read faster thing. I'm a fast reader and not in the whole "I skim things" way, I just am quick and process printed words much quicker than spoken, I guess! Great post.
ReplyDeleteI'm with you, I don't skim read either, I just read fast so the time thing is one of my biggest complaints.
DeleteI had all the issues as well, except maybe romance sex scenes))) I must agree, that listening to audio books is acquired skill, and I hope now people can join us))
ReplyDeleteI always have the same problems with audiobooks. I can read so much faster than the audiobook reader can read to me. Great list!
ReplyDeleteKrystianna @ Downright Dystopian
Yeah for me it's not a substitute for actual reading it's used to fill the times when I CANT read an actual book but don't want wasted time. Exercising/cleaning/etc. If I can get 2-3 extra books "read" in a month this way I count it a win :)
ReplyDeleteNarrators do make or break it. Changing the speed on the audiobook can really help, too. Not by a lot but just .15-.25. Some narrators lose their obnoxious qualities when it's not at 1.0 speed but that smidge faster.