I really enjoyed this guest post. As an avid reader, I've never used audio books, but have always wondered if I'd enjoy them. I must admit, it took me a while to enjoy my Kindle....there's just something about holding a real book in your hands!
With this newfound knowledge, I might give audio books a try. Thanks for the education, AdriAnne....and thanks for inviting her to post, Gayla. 💚
I agree there’s nothing like holding a physical book!! It took me a bit to figure what kind of books I liked to listen to but I’m sure there’s some out there that you’d enjoy! Let me know what you find!
Give audiobooks a try. The worst that can happen is you find you don't like them. But think of the possibilities if you find a new way of interacting with books. :)
Reading with young kiddos is *really* hard. We have 3 young ones between 2-8 and we rely on two things: waking up early (5am for us; 7am for kiddos pretty reliably) and reading for ~30 minutes before we go to sleep at night. Those don't always work for folks, though, for a variety of reasons. Audiobooks are a great way to get more reading in when that dedicated time becomes less and less available. :)
Thanks for a terrific guest post, AdriAnne and Gayla! I’m a huge fan of audiobooks, which I discover and listen to these days via the Libby app. I haven’t got young kids to distract me from reading actual physical books anymore, but I’m always cooking, walking or traveling, it seems, so audiobooks keep me greet company and stimulate my mind. Excellent narrators make ALL the difference. I’ve enjoyed many over the years--especially those who capture accents well. I agree that long books pose a challenge--sometimes serious ones too. I will check out those you recommend here. They all sound great!
I think one of my problems with audiobooks is that I enjoy listening to podcasts and I have a hard time pulling myself away from the podcasts long enough to listen to a book.
Those are great tips. I use all of them, but I especially like turning up the speed to finish faster. Also, a great narrator is James Masterson formerly Spike on "Buffy the Vampire Slayer." His rendition of "Storm Front" was awesome.
You're welcome. I hope you or someone you know will be interested in my film review due out tomorrow (7-13). It's a brief look at the effects of a literary theory called deconstructionism on film heroes. I hope I can earn your/friends subscription.
This is a great post — thank you AdriAnne and Gayla. I have always wanted to get into audio books, without too much success, but this post really offered some great next steps (specifically: Libro.fm and Libby). Now I just have to give things another try. (Can't see myself doing 1.7 speed though!)
It was shocking to me at first but some books just need to the speed, in my opinion. I appreciate articulation but there’s a point at which I find myself needing the story to move quicker!
I've been sticking almost exclusively to non-fiction on audiobooks recently as I kept finding fiction hit and miss. I now realise it's the length of fiction that's been the tricky bit! You're absolutely right that it's hard to keep track when it's a long one. Thanks for the tips, I'll be getting back to shorter audiobook fiction now!
What a delightful guest post, and some great tips! I have gone back and forth with trying audiobooks, and I feel myself finding my way when I can have a book on hand with my audiobook to help me though parts of might have zoned out. Something about having the tangible book helps keep me in the right frame when listening.
Ohh interesting! I’ve had that thought a few times as well, that it might be nice to have the physical book with me while listening. Fun to know that you do that!
I've had several people tell me that they like to listen and also read the book at the same time. I tried that with a book in verse (Elizabeth Acevado)and it did help a little to hear it differently that I was reading it to myself.
What a nice profile AdriAnn. So many ways to enjoy a book. It always strikes me in my book club when someone says they read it on Kindle or listened on Audible, the old guard is protective of the old-fashioned physical book. Why not love them all?
I'm in several FB groups and usually every day I'll see a post where someone asks, "do you count audiobooks as books read," and off to the races everyone goes. A couple of hundred comments later, people are insulting each other and the admin has to turn off the comments. All over personal preference. I'm convinced these people start these posts just to cause a ruckus.
This seems to emerge in our book club when someone shares, somewhat defensively how they consumed our book of the month. The older I get, the more sure of myself I become that one of the key principles in life is to seek a settled mind. This was hilarious Gayla!!! It sounds like you are smart enough to recognize the pattern and let it go like most fleeting thoughts are meant to be treated. I imagine if we had a transcription device that could capture all of our fleeting thoughts in a day more than 95% of them are meant to be ignored and we mostly managed to do that until recently. We've managed to invent a way where most of these throwaway feelings and emotions get placed in front of us in a text box on our phones...ugh...hard to resist as they achieve permanence in a website when they were meant for the cleanup cycle for our brains to scrub when we sleep each night.
My old friend, the legendary writer Meridel LeSuer, radical Midwest writer of the Great Depressison and afterwards, after also being blacklisted during the Mcarthyy Period, tolld me and others at various writers conferencs in the late seventies and eighties( she gave one of the keynote speeches at the founding convention of the National Writer Union in 1983 icity cciyn NYC, coming to the city at age 83 on the Greyhound Bus from her home in St. Paul Minnesota,
told some of her fervid fan when asked about her "time to read and write" while raising five kids, "Well, I didnt have a wife so after my girls fell asleep I stuck my head under the faucet then wrote or read for two to three hours every day for about almosst every day and every night."
It is called "Going The Extra Mile." Some say it originated on The Trail of Tears when AndrewJackson and the US Army drove thousands of Cherokee, Creek, and Choctaw tribes out of beautiful fruitfull Georgia to the barrens of blank Oaklahoma where years later the discovey of mass oil deposits caused yet more murder of indigenous people, many who had survived tthe brutal Trail of Tears in the continued genocidal policies oftheUs to the only true situational NATIVEAmericans.
Great post. I am a person who does not process information well through hearing only so I've never been able to listen to stories--I lose track too easily. I sure wish I could, though! This is such a helpful rundown of options.
I was like you when I started listening to audiobooks, but it has gotten a little easier over time. My mind still tends to wander quite often, but I've learned focus on the story again. I don't know if I'll ever be a great audiobook listener, but I'm trying. lol
I really enjoyed this guest post. As an avid reader, I've never used audio books, but have always wondered if I'd enjoy them. I must admit, it took me a while to enjoy my Kindle....there's just something about holding a real book in your hands!
With this newfound knowledge, I might give audio books a try. Thanks for the education, AdriAnne....and thanks for inviting her to post, Gayla. 💚
I agree there’s nothing like holding a physical book!! It took me a bit to figure what kind of books I liked to listen to but I’m sure there’s some out there that you’d enjoy! Let me know what you find!
Thanks so much, Adri. I'm looking forward to exploring!
Give audiobooks a try. The worst that can happen is you find you don't like them. But think of the possibilities if you find a new way of interacting with books. :)
Reading with young kiddos is *really* hard. We have 3 young ones between 2-8 and we rely on two things: waking up early (5am for us; 7am for kiddos pretty reliably) and reading for ~30 minutes before we go to sleep at night. Those don't always work for folks, though, for a variety of reasons. Audiobooks are a great way to get more reading in when that dedicated time becomes less and less available. :)
Those are some of my favorite time times to read, early morning and before bed! Everything’s quiet and calm.
I remember how difficult it was to find time to read with just one kid. I can't imagine how hard it is with more than one.
Thanks for a terrific guest post, AdriAnne and Gayla! I’m a huge fan of audiobooks, which I discover and listen to these days via the Libby app. I haven’t got young kids to distract me from reading actual physical books anymore, but I’m always cooking, walking or traveling, it seems, so audiobooks keep me greet company and stimulate my mind. Excellent narrators make ALL the difference. I’ve enjoyed many over the years--especially those who capture accents well. I agree that long books pose a challenge--sometimes serious ones too. I will check out those you recommend here. They all sound great!
I think one of my problems with audiobooks is that I enjoy listening to podcasts and I have a hard time pulling myself away from the podcasts long enough to listen to a book.
I find that since I’ve started listening to audiobooks, my podcast intake has dropped off drastically. It’s hard to do it all!
Maybe that's my problem. I don't want to listen to less podcasts. lol
Yes! I love the company of my audiobooks and my podcasts, too!
Those are great tips. I use all of them, but I especially like turning up the speed to finish faster. Also, a great narrator is James Masterson formerly Spike on "Buffy the Vampire Slayer." His rendition of "Storm Front" was awesome.
I still such a newbie at audiobooks that I can't have the speed very fast at all. It annoys me when the narrator doesn't sound normal. lol
Adding it to my list! Thanks for sharing!
You're welcome. I hope you or someone you know will be interested in my film review due out tomorrow (7-13). It's a brief look at the effects of a literary theory called deconstructionism on film heroes. I hope I can earn your/friends subscription.
I envy those who can listen at a faster speed!!
This is a great post — thank you AdriAnne and Gayla. I have always wanted to get into audio books, without too much success, but this post really offered some great next steps (specifically: Libro.fm and Libby). Now I just have to give things another try. (Can't see myself doing 1.7 speed though!)
It was shocking to me at first but some books just need to the speed, in my opinion. I appreciate articulation but there’s a point at which I find myself needing the story to move quicker!
I don't do the faster speed either. I've tried it, but everyone sounds like they've just sucked a balloon of helium and I don't like that sound. lol
I've been sticking almost exclusively to non-fiction on audiobooks recently as I kept finding fiction hit and miss. I now realise it's the length of fiction that's been the tricky bit! You're absolutely right that it's hard to keep track when it's a long one. Thanks for the tips, I'll be getting back to shorter audiobook fiction now!
Yes! It took me a minute to figure out why some just weren’t working and I think the length makes a big difference!
I thinkg non-fiction/memoirs are easier for me also, with the exception of full cast audiobooks. Those are magical.
What a delightful guest post, and some great tips! I have gone back and forth with trying audiobooks, and I feel myself finding my way when I can have a book on hand with my audiobook to help me though parts of might have zoned out. Something about having the tangible book helps keep me in the right frame when listening.
Ohh interesting! I’ve had that thought a few times as well, that it might be nice to have the physical book with me while listening. Fun to know that you do that!
I've had several people tell me that they like to listen and also read the book at the same time. I tried that with a book in verse (Elizabeth Acevado)and it did help a little to hear it differently that I was reading it to myself.
What a nice profile AdriAnn. So many ways to enjoy a book. It always strikes me in my book club when someone says they read it on Kindle or listened on Audible, the old guard is protective of the old-fashioned physical book. Why not love them all?
True! It can be such a lovely format for many types of books and I’ve loved the listening experience so many times that I really appreciate it now.
I'm in several FB groups and usually every day I'll see a post where someone asks, "do you count audiobooks as books read," and off to the races everyone goes. A couple of hundred comments later, people are insulting each other and the admin has to turn off the comments. All over personal preference. I'm convinced these people start these posts just to cause a ruckus.
This seems to emerge in our book club when someone shares, somewhat defensively how they consumed our book of the month. The older I get, the more sure of myself I become that one of the key principles in life is to seek a settled mind. This was hilarious Gayla!!! It sounds like you are smart enough to recognize the pattern and let it go like most fleeting thoughts are meant to be treated. I imagine if we had a transcription device that could capture all of our fleeting thoughts in a day more than 95% of them are meant to be ignored and we mostly managed to do that until recently. We've managed to invent a way where most of these throwaway feelings and emotions get placed in front of us in a text box on our phones...ugh...hard to resist as they achieve permanence in a website when they were meant for the cleanup cycle for our brains to scrub when we sleep each night.
My old friend, the legendary writer Meridel LeSuer, radical Midwest writer of the Great Depressison and afterwards, after also being blacklisted during the Mcarthyy Period, tolld me and others at various writers conferencs in the late seventies and eighties( she gave one of the keynote speeches at the founding convention of the National Writer Union in 1983 icity cciyn NYC, coming to the city at age 83 on the Greyhound Bus from her home in St. Paul Minnesota,
told some of her fervid fan when asked about her "time to read and write" while raising five kids, "Well, I didnt have a wife so after my girls fell asleep I stuck my head under the faucet then wrote or read for two to three hours every day for about almosst every day and every night."
😯 wow! I wish I had that kind of discipline!
It is called "Going The Extra Mile." Some say it originated on The Trail of Tears when AndrewJackson and the US Army drove thousands of Cherokee, Creek, and Choctaw tribes out of beautiful fruitfull Georgia to the barrens of blank Oaklahoma where years later the discovey of mass oil deposits caused yet more murder of indigenous people, many who had survived tthe brutal Trail of Tears in the continued genocidal policies oftheUs to the only true situational NATIVEAmericans.
Great post. I am a person who does not process information well through hearing only so I've never been able to listen to stories--I lose track too easily. I sure wish I could, though! This is such a helpful rundown of options.
I was like you when I started listening to audiobooks, but it has gotten a little easier over time. My mind still tends to wander quite often, but I've learned focus on the story again. I don't know if I'll ever be a great audiobook listener, but I'm trying. lol
Tying is good! And maybe I should again, too, it would probably be good for my brain!
Whoops, make that "trying" not "tying!"