Welcome to the Australasian Christian Writers Tuesday Book Chat, where we encourage book lovers to answer our bookish question of the week.
Today’s question is:
Do you listen to audiobooks? Why or why not?
We look forward to hearing your thoughts. Please join in the conversation in a comment on this post or in a comment on the blog post shared in our Australasian Christian Writers Facebook Group.
Let’s chat!
When I first read this question, I thought hmm… I like the idea of audiobooks, but I haven’t discovered how to make them work for me.
I can’t listen to fiction audiobooks while I’m driving because they’re too distracting (I’m seeing and hearing the story in my mind and not concentrating on my driving).
I often listen to shorter podcasts while cleaning my house and doing chores, but I’m skim-listening, with my attention on what I’m doing. I tried this for fiction but found I’d lose track of the story. If I’m sitting or lying down listening to fiction audiobooks, I’m likely to fall asleep and lose my place in the story
Please let me know if you have any tips for successfully and efficiently listening to novel-length audiobooks.
What do you think? Do you listen to audiobooks? Why or why not?
And don’t forget: if you’d like to participate in our weekly Book Chat by posting the question and your answer on your blog, drop us an email via our Contact page and we’ll send you the list of questions for 2020.
Mostly I just let my Kindle Fire read an e-book to me. The fake narrator does a good-enough job of reading expressively that I don’t feel any reason to spend the money to get the audiobook. Plus it starts right where I stopped reading, and I can start reading exactly where the text-to-speech reader stops. I do buy some audiobooks as gifts for my husband for when we take long drives. He does want me to personally record all of my own novels for him. The first one took 11.2 hours, and that’s the second shortest one. But I’ll keep working on those for him. I do read more like a real narrator than like the AI Kindle Fire lady. 🙂
Carol, my husband asked me to record my books as well-just yesterday in fact. I haven’t done it yet. It might be a good topic for a blog if you can share your experience of recording your work.
Christine Dillon is also another good person to ask about audiobooks, as she’s recorded hers. It would be awesome if you could do yours, Elaine.
Hi Carol, Elaine & Nola, I haven’t tried the auto-device voice features for listening to audiobooks. I have enjoyed the narrator experience which adds in the voice inflections, tone and pauses etc. that bring the stories to life. My mum read stories to us every night when I was younger. She was an early childhood educator and knew how to make the reading experience fun. 😊
Yes, Christine Dillon has posted blogs with us on her experiences creating her own audiobooks.
Carol & Elaine, I look forward to hearing more about your plans to narrate your own audiobooks.
I listen to audiobooks while I’m doing jobs like wasing up or making the bed. It’s a great way to get more books onto me.
Hi Adam, yes, being able to listen to stories and multi-task is an efficient way to enjoy more stories. 😊
I like listening to audiobooks while I’m doing stuff around the house or exercising. I’m kinda picky about the narrators though. I usually listen to a sample to hear how they do certain accents or how they sound when reading lines of people of the opposite gender.
Kailey, do you enjoy listening to books with the author as a narrator?
I think that I would enjoy that
Hi Kailey, I can understand why you’re picky. It’s not ideal for the narrator’s shortcomings to be the main thing you remember about the story experience. I’ve stopped listening to audiobooks I’ve borrowed from the library because the narrator’s voice or style wasn’t for me. Thanks for stopping by. 😊
Sometimes I wish I lived the kind of life where audiobooks would work, but at the moment I don’t. I read on my Kindle app or with physical books because I can’t walk around the house with headphones on. We’re a homeschooling family, so I can’t be seen to ignore my children to listen to a book. It’s easier to fold washing and glance at my phone if I want to read so my ears are always available. 😊
Hi Sheridan, yes, I remember those days when my children were younger. I rarely used headphones back then, lol. Thanks for stopping by. 😊
I do love them on a road trip when I’m not the driver. I think I need some much longer road trips. I have tried when doing housework but someone usually interrupts me.
Hi Perrianne, yes, I can easily listen if I’m not driving. Long country drives on the same road where I don’t need to think or pay close attention to road signs etc. are doable if I’m driving. Unfortunately these opportunities do not arise often. Thanks for stopping by. 😊
Yes and no. I have a couple of audio books on CD, but you really have to have someone who reads them well. I love it when the person reading them is the author!! I have a couple of Robin Jones Gunn books that she did as audio books. I also have a Dee Henderson book, not read by her, but done very well.
I have also heard some that made me cringe.
Hi Beth, yes, I agree. Quality matters, as well as personal taste re. narrators. I’ve heard that there are readers who follow their favourite narrators and listen to all the stories they narrate. I’ll look out for the audiobook titles you’ve mentioned. Thanks for commenting. 😊
I’ve listened to a couple of audiobooks and enjoyed them. If they’re read by a good actor, they can be really engaging. I usually borrow the CDs from the library and listen to them in my car, but my car is getting old and the CD player sometimes plays up. Was thinking about going to something like Audible, but I’m not sure I’d get my money’s worth each month. I subscribe to a lot of things already, so each new subscription has to be weighed up for pros and cons.
I think I’d find it hard to concentrate on an audiobook if it was a really complicated plot where you wanted to keep flicking back to check things. But a good way to make a long journey entertaining.
Hi Nola, Our library system in Canberra has audiobooks that you can download into an App eg. BorrowBox. I’ve chosen not to use Audible until my ebook tbr list is under control (which may never happen, lol). 😊
My apologies for being so late in replying to comments – this week has been crazy busy for a bunch of reasons and I finally have a chance to read and reply individually to your comments. Usually we try to reply to comments with 24-48 hours of the post going live. Thanks everyone for stopping by and continuing the conversation. 😊