Audiobooks discussion

hello there i have never listened to an audio book btu am thinking i should try ... ?

Welcome! Audiobooks may or may not be for you... the only way to know is to try :)

Be sure to try an audiobook in a genre you like with a good narrator. Audible rates audiobooks not only on what is written, but also on the quality of the narration. This is a good resource for figuring out which book to start with. Your local library is likely to have audiobooks available, so you can try them without spending a lot of money.

If you like fantasy, Jim Dale's reading of the Harry Potter series is classic. Simon Vance is also another low-risk selection for anything he reads if you like the genre of the book. There are lots more, but without a specific genre, it's hard to recommend. You might try the Favorite Narrator thread in this group to get some recommendations. There are also some other threads with favorite audiobook or next listen recommendations as well.

Many people listen to a book while on their commutes, others listen while doing household chores, and others just listen ;) You might find that audiobooks are a great way to increase the number of books you are able to read by maximizing your time by multi-tasking.

Anyway, I hope you find a good first listen and come back to share the experience!

aw thank you :)

Giz, audiobooks are new to me too, but I love them now. You kind of have to learn what kinds fit your tastes. Some people prefer fiction over non-fiction for their audiobooks. For others it is the reverse. I had to sort of learn how to do it properly. I have to rewind to catch everything that is being said sometimes. I cannot do other things while I listen as so many others can. Some books are in fact improved by narration because they force you to listen slowly to the lines. A good narrator can even make a bad book sort of good! To an extent. In any case they can improve a book. Have fun trying them out.

And welcome.

thank you :)

Giz

You might like to try these they are free right now

AudioBookFans ‏@AudioBookFans
Free Audiobook Roundup! http://bit.ly/OHTbi3 We found several audiobooks currently offered for free. Follow the link for the full list.

Always nice to try for free :)

I started out with a couple of books that I knew well - Memoirs of a Geisha and Rebecca. I figured tthat would help me follow the audiobook easier.

When I began listening to audio books, I chose to listen to those I alrady read. This was in case I couldn't really pay attention but slowly I learned how to listen and multi task. As of this momrnt I am listening to the ending of Friends Forver by Danielle Steel (don't bother) and typing this message.

Just like the I PAD, I didn't think I would enjoy audio books but I love them now and never go anywhere without one. I recently joined a gym and realized the other day that I can listen to an audio while walking on the treadmill through my I PAD. In addition, this week I will be receiving my new I Phone and will also be using this to listen to in the future.

BTW - I have audio players in my bedroomn, my office kitchen and of course my car. They come in real handy as I move around.

Nancy wrote: "When I began listening to audio books, I chose to listen to those I alrady read. This was in case I couldn't really pay attention but slowly I learned how to listen and multi task. As of this mom..."

You're hooked like I am.

I also started out by listening to books I'd already read and knew well, mostly novels by Jane Austen and Georgette Heyer. That was about two years ago and since then I've become totally addicted. I listen when I go out for a walk in the morning, while I'm commuting to and from work and while I'm cooking. Audibooks have more than doubled my total reading time. Most (although not all) audiobooks I listen to are classics and I find that I have no difficulty at all listening while doing something else at the same time. If anything, I pay more attention to audiobooks because I have to listen to every word and can't skim.

Kim, you say, "I pay more attention to audiobooks because I have to listen to every word and can't skim." I agree! There is no skimming with audiobooks, but different from you I certainly cannot cook dinner or do anything else at the same time! I tried making dinner once while listening and managed to burn absolutely everything. I had to throw everything out and start over. I got so messed up that in the end I also had to re-find where I was in the audiobook and listen to that again too! If I am alone, I love listening to the book while I eat a meal.

Hi Chrissie! In the past when I was alone, I always listened to the radio - not to music, but to current affairs and radio documentaries and the like - so I was used to listening while doing other things. For me it was very easy to move from listening to the radio to listening to an audiobook, but I can well imagine that it would be more difficult for someone who wasn't already used to listening and doing something else at the same time..

Kim wrote: "I also started out by listening to books I'd already read and knew well, mostly novels by Jane Austen and Georgette Heyer. That was about two years ago and since then I've become totally addicted. ..."

I have been having so much fun with classics on audio. I think that same thing - having to pay more attention, not being able to skim anything - just squeezes out all the goodness possible in these books which might be a little dry on paper.

Tracey wrote: " - having to pay more attention, not being able to skim anything - just squeezes out all the goodness possible in these books which might be a little dry on paper...."

So true! I would never have gone back to reading Thomas Hardy, for example, if it hadn't been for Alan Rickman's reading of The Return of the Native. I spent about 35 years thinking I didn't like Hardy and then found out I was wrong!

Kim, seeing is easier than listening for me - and nevertheless I love audiobooks! The same is true when I learn languages. I can remember the written words, but their sounds float right by my head and away they go.

Exactly, Tracey! I love your expression: "...just squeezes out all the goodness possible in these books which might be a little dry on paper." It is sometimes hard to rate the book versus the whole package. Sometimes I try and think how I would react to the words without the narration.

Chrissie wrote: "Kim, seeing is easier than listening for me - and nevertheless I love audiobooks! The same is true when I learn languages. I can remember the written words, but their sounds float right by my head ..."

Ah, that explains it. I'm much more auditory than visual, including with stuff like language learning.

As far as the classics, in Victoria times it was common for one person in a family to read a book to the other family members. It was their entertainment for evening rather than television. And, some members might not have been able to read, or not have proper vision to read. I wonder if the writers of those days were very aware of that, and wrote with an eye to their words being read.

Susan wrote: "I wonder if the writers of those days were very aware of that, and wrote with an eye to their words being read..."

Excellent point. The language rewards listening to a really good narration. I can't really wrap my head around listening to some current novels.

For one thing, I remember a story someone on GR told, a man of shall we say mature years who had decided to try something a little different and had an urban fantasy (iirc) playing in his truck as he went about his work. And as he pulled up in front of a client, the narration happened to be in the middle of a sex scene ...

Susan, wonderful point! In addition this new concept of several threads with different times is often more difficult when it is narrated. I have often wondered if authors consider this when they write.

It is interesting how the structure of the novel has changed. In the old days novels would begin at the beginning with "I am born," and the personality and events of the character's life develop from there. Now you meet the character at any point of his life, and slowly, sometimes exceedingly so, his past is revealed to show his upbringing and prior traumas. This is probably more realistic, because you don't often learn of a person's past until you have known him for a long time. Just recently I learned of the "sordid" past of a neighbor, and was amazed to find that such drama existed in the life of such a meek little man.

Susan, that is an interesting take on how this has developed.