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Post by windysisters on Apr 3, 2024 8:39:59 GMT
I've noticed that several of us are listening to more audio books and I wondered a few things.
My own experience is that I used to listen to them a lot when at my old job, borrowing CD versions from the library to play in the car on my hour-long journey to work. After I changed to my current job, the journey was different (although the same length) and I found I couldn't pay attention to the book. Since then I have borrowed some and uploaded them onto my mp3 player and I usually listen to them to get me off to sleep - this means I often list to little bits throughout the book. Eventually I decide to get through the whole book properly and have to be doing something else at the same time like cooking, sewing, jigsaw etc otherwise my mind wonders or I fall asleep! Since getting my new car complete with new audio system I've decided to give it another go. My library uses the Libby app for audio books but I find it quite temperamental. Only driving to work 3 days a week limits the time and if the book won't play I miss out on a session - I've had to renew my current book twice. I've been trying to listen when cooking dinner and, in due course, will probably do it when gardening.
So my wonderings:
Are you able to just sit and listen or do you have to be doing something physical at the same time?
Do any of you use the Libby app and what is your experience?
Are you selective in the type of book you listen to?
Does the narrator's voice have an impact on your enjoyment (have you noticed you don't get on with some and then avoid their work?)?
Any other suggestions or comments?
Thanks!
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Post by natsplatt on Apr 3, 2024 12:29:15 GMT
I use the borrowbox app from my library, and also treated myself to audible for a few months with my Christmas money to grab some more popular ones that aren’t available on borrowbox, although I’m debating cancelling it and switching to kindle unlimited, as I’ve lost interest a little in audios! I think I’m going to finish what I have already and then make the switch!
I have to be moving to listen though, because if I’m just sat my mind wanders off! I tend to listen walking to/from work and occasionally while doing housework! I used to go through loads when I was doing the cleaning job as I listened while I worked, but I have tailed off since, as my walk to work and back is only about half hour each way!
I don’t like when the narrator tries to do voices for different characters, and find I alter the speed depending on the narrator! I almost always listen at x2.5 speed but some narrators talk too fast and I have to slow it down!
Nat
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Post by windysisters on Apr 3, 2024 13:14:32 GMT
It's quite funny you saying about the speed. I didn't realise this could be changed until I did it accidentally and ended up with the narrator sounding like Pinky and Perky  |
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Post by geminii on Apr 3, 2024 18:22:36 GMT
Great discussion topic, Wendy ..
I've just looked on my Goodreads shelf for my Audio reads - my first was in Feb 2018 & I've just finished my 276th one today !!
I use Borrowbox via my library & I must admit to usually having one on the go most of the time ..
I can read a tree book quicker than listening, especially if it's a crime thriller where the pages can speed by, but I cannot listen to much more than 1.25x unless the narrator is painfully slow - but 2.5x that Nat can do would just fry my brain .. lol
I started just looking for short 2 hour reads to fill the quiet when I'm doing chores / cooking mainly (lots of Agatha Christie's are read by 'Hastings' and are about an hour) or Kids classics like Dahl, Blyton etc .. then I discovered that Asian Authors like Lisa See use traditionally speaking narrators (not simply an American) and the translated word in the native tongue really help bring the whole story to life - I still remember listening in awe to Snow Flower & the Secret Fan & The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane .. Nordic ones are brilliant too
I love when a Narrator uses different voices, esp when they can do it well .. Juliet Stephenson in The Mermaid & Mrs Handcock was my first experience of this & Stephen Fry reading all the Harry Potter books blew me away - how he can sound exactly like the Actors in the Films, I cannot fathom ..
Other faves include Daisy Jones & the Six (full cast) and The No 1 Ladies Detective Agency (the African accent takes me to the Botswanan sunshine) .. I have just finished Books 2 & 3 in the 'Dear Mrs Pearce' trilogy - highly recommended again
I also use it as a way of trying our new Authors because I just trawl through the New Releases periodically and save them in my Borrowbox Reading list (it's quite long) ..
So, my routine ..
I always extend the length of the borrow for as long as I can - Borrowbox allows 3 renewals up to 60 days total, so I get this in first
I never download the whole book - usually in chunks of 5 or 10 chapters at a time & when I start Ch 11, I delete the previous ones - means I know where I am most of the time .. lol
I love to listen at bedtime, and always use the timer for the end of chapter or 30 mins
Because I do Step 2, even after falling asleep mid Chapter, I know where to go back to
Although there's no-one here to interupt me, I use bluetooth headphones when I'm pottering about the house - usually when I'm cleaning, cooking, washing the car, in the garden etc
I can listen when I'm watching some Sports on TV that doesn't need the commentary on - when I'm doing a jigsaw etc but I cannot listen when I'm doing Computer stuff (like now) where I need to focus, I just zone out of the book
I only listen in the car on long journeys where I'm on the Motorway or a quiet road - work is only 10 mins each way but in Town centre rush hour traffic, so distractions are not advised
In short, I love them - I've read more Books by Authors I'd never have tried because it fits in with the 40BC or even my Book Club read .. sometimes if I own a book with really small print or I don't want to 'sit and read it', I find it on Audio & flit between the two formats
** Forgot to say, lots of Bio's etc are narrated by the Author / Personality (Michelle Obama was brilliant) .. also I'm waiting for the latest Dawn French audio to become available (The Tw*t Files). I can read the book, but I think that Dawn 'performing it' to me when I'm in me Marigolds doing the washing up will be much more fun !!
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Post by rosemary3 on Apr 3, 2024 19:59:11 GMT
I never thought I would take to audiobooks, but I did! I think I started them in Covid when I was going for a long walk every day. Now I mostly listen when I'm on my own at work doing routine things like filling shelves or looking up prices, but also when walking. I sometimes listen when driving, but I don't drive that often. I find I miss a lot of the story when driving because I switch my attention to the road, so I wouldn't listen to anything like a murder mystery or I'd miss the clues! I would never just sit and listen to an audiobook without getting something else done at the same time. I always have an ebook and at least one tree book on the go, so if I'm sitting, I'll pick up one of those.
I don't usually listen in bed because I tend to get too interested in the book and it keeps me awake, but it depends on the book. If I do have a soporific one, I turn the speed down to 1 to help me go to sleep, and set it to stop at the end of each chapter. (At other times, I listen at about 1.4 speed.)
Sometimes a narrator annoys me by the way they do an accent or a voice, but I probably wouldn't avoid them or even remember their name.
My library has both Libby and Borrowbox, and I've never had a problem with Libby.
I've noticed I have more patience with long books on audio - I don't mind if the plot is slow because I'm doing something else at the same time. So if there's a long book I want to read, especially classics, I will often try to get it on audio. I have Audible and I don't like spending my credits on short books  I have a lot of free books from Audible too. |
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Post by windysisters on Apr 4, 2024 7:51:10 GMT
Libby let me down again this morning  . My sister says I can use my BIL's library membership to access Borrowbox from their library so I might try that for my next audio book (if I ever get to finish this one!) and then can sort my own membership if it's better. |
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Post by windysisters on Apr 4, 2024 10:06:43 GMT
I sometimes listen when driving, but I don't drive that often. I find I miss a lot of the story when driving because I switch my attention to the road, so I wouldn't listen to anything like a murder mystery or I'd miss the clues!
My journey to work is pretty straightforward so I can listen to the plot alongside watching the road. There is one tricky junction where I have to turn right so I usually pause the audio book while I get through that  |
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Post by alison44 on Apr 4, 2024 10:39:57 GMT
I have an Audible subscription. I listen to audiobooks when I'm cleaning, or when I'm in my craft/sewing room. I never just sit and listen, but then I never just sit and watch television either. I always have to be doing something with my hands at the same time. I tend to listen to crime fiction and authors like Marian Keyes rather than heavier, more literary novels, which I prefer to read. I do occasionally struggle with narrators. I almost gave up on Elly Griffiths' Ruth Galloway series when they changed their narrator. The new one was so irritating! Thankfully, they changed back to the original one, so maybe I wasn't the only one who felt that way about her.
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Post by eightlegs on Apr 4, 2024 19:18:43 GMT
I enjoy audio books, like you Wendy I used to listen on long journeys (on cassette then on CD, all borrowed from the library!) and when the kids were younger we did kids books on CD but I hadn't done audio for a while.
Encouraged by others on here I decided to try Borrowbox which is what our library use and I'm now a regular (especially the last few months as I currently have no car radio!
I tend to pick easy reads and ones that don't require lots of concentration and I listen around the house at times as well as in the car, always when I'm doing something else including cooking, washing up, tidying etc and also when crocheting/sewing.
Narrator is everything in my opinion, a good narrator makes all the difference. I have, a couple of times, listened to a few minutes then returned the book to the library immediately as I don't like the voice, which is the great thing about borrowing rather than paying for audio books.
Also, I'm shocked by the idea of listening at a different speed, isn't the voice really odd or does it not make too much difference if it's only a bit faster? Either way, I'm happy with normal speed and it taking a bit longer, it's part of the pleasure for me. I sometimes feel like I'm being read to like when hearing a bed time story which I love - my current "listen" has an Irish narrator, I'm enjoying the voice as well as a story.
Finally, I'm with Suzanne, an autobiography read by the author is especially good and I'd second the recommendation for Michelle Obama. I also enjoyed Claudia Winkelmann's (written in response to having no work in lockdown!).
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Post by rosemary3 on Apr 6, 2024 8:03:16 GMT
There is also a thing called Librivox which offers free audiobooks read by volunteers - mostly older books that are out of copyright. It's a bit weird because you can get several different people narrating (not reading different characters, but doing a chunk each) and they're generally not professional actors so the quality is very variable! But can be fun.
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I have a lot of free books from Audible too.
. My sister says I can use my BIL's library membership to access Borrowbox from their library so I might try that for my next audio book (if I ever get to finish this one!) and then can sort my own membership if it's better.
