College Students! discussion

For the longest time I refused to listen to audio books, I thought of them as the lazy way to read a book. I've just recently started listening to some audio books; so far my favorite is Harry Potter. The reader is incredible! I've also listened to Angels and Demons and really enjoyed that.

Do you enjoy listening to books? What are some of your favorites?

I have only listened to Angels and Demons and I really enjoyed it. I don't have a problem with audio books. Sometimes I wish I drove more so I could listen to them. Haha. I know you can get them on your iPod too but I would rather just sit and read. And to listen to them in the car...I always just sleep in the car too. (If I am the passenger! Haha) But I do like them! I am interested to hear what other audio books people have really enjoyed!

A good chunk of my reads this summer were audio books. I think it is a fantastic way to enjoy books. Don't get me wrong, I love sitting on my front porch with a new book, but a good narrator can make the experience just as enjoyable. My favorite audio books have been The Time Traveler's Wife and The Giver.

I've only listened to one. I was always against them too..but then I tried I Know This Much Is True on my way to and from work..and I thought it was great! Such a good way to spend my time on my long commute!

I have never listened to one, and I constantly am nagging a friend because he won't read a book, he will only listen to them, so I would say I am against them.

First it is because I really enjoy reading. Second, I am usually not in the car for longer than 5 minutes. I don't think I would get anything out of the story.

I also will listen to them while I drive to campus. If I leave from home its a 20 minute drive, I get bored while I'm driving so audio books are great. And I love having audio books for long drives. This weekend I'm driving down to my grandparents house. Its a 6 hour drive and I'll be driving alone, so I'm trying to find a good audio book to take with me.

I started listening at work when I got bored with my job (overnight stock at a 9am-9pm department store). It was great. Since I was in school I didn't get much chance to read, so I got a lot of fun reading in while I was at work. I also listened sometimes while I was in studio. Now I listen to them when I craft. Except that my new library doesn't have a very good selection, so I haven't been listening to much at all. I kind of miss it.

Anybody have any good suggestions of good audio books?

His Dark Materials Trilogy.
Peter and the Starcatchers (Jim Dale is a genius)
A Christmas Carol (Jim Dale again, the abridged version is Patrick Stewart!)
Angels and Demons or any in that series
Slaughter House Five was a pretty good audio book, I liked the reader. I'm not sure if he reads all of Vonnegut's books, but he's good.

I just listened to the first Nancy Dew book, The Hidden Staircase, read by Laura Linney. I never read the series when I was a kid, but this made me wish I had.

Do you guys listen to longer or shorter books? When I'm at the library I always think about getting some long ones, but I can't decide whether or not listening to a 12 hour or more book in 20-30 minute (or less) intervals while I'm driving is worth it. I've only listened to one long book, and it was for an hour and a half at a time.

ANYTHING by Bill Bryson, he narrates all of his books. He is a fantastic narrator. I'd recommend his memoir, The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid A Memoir, or I'm a Stranger Here Myself Notes on Returning to America After 20 Years Away. They are absolutely fantastic.

I found an audio version of Beowulf today, and I think I'm going to get it. It's in our bargain section, it's only $6 plus I get my discount. I've been meaning to read it but there is always something I'd rather be reading, so I figured this was a good way to do it haha.

I've only listened to one audiobook. I want to get more audiobooks from the library but I never think of it while I'm there.

I love listening to audio books. I had a long drive and was able to listen to a CD a day, however I live five minutes from everything now. Im going to try listening to books when I go to the gym. We'll see if I can listen to a book and also concentrate on not falling off the treadmill.

Here are my top four!
The Help FANTASTIC I didnt want the book to end.

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

The Ice Queen

And all 7 Harrpy Potters!

I have load more than I have listened to I have a shelf on my profile that has them all in there. If you want to take a look I have them rated. I include the reader in my rating, so some might be low even though it was a good book.

I love audio books. Anything by David Sedaris (read by David Sedaris) is great. My first read of The Time Traveler's Wife was audio book.

About half my library is made up of audio books. Certain books I refuse to go anything but paper on, but going audio allows me to easily keep track of two different stories. Plus my 25 minute drive to and from work/school (same place) allows me good reading time.

That's why I figured I'd do audiobooks. My commute when I was working my last job was long and when I commute to go see my bf it's 45 minutes. It would be nice to listen to a book on the way. I've only ever listened to I Know This Much Is True and it was a really great audio..I thought so at least. It kept my attention while I was driving.

Any good sites for downloading audio books? I've seen www.audibles.com but didn't know if there were anymore. I finally started using my iPod again... so I figure I'll put a couple up there.

Audible pretty much has the market cornered on audiobooks. iTunes offers quite a few but it's really just Audible selling through them so you don't have to have a subscription.

I use iTunes all the time. But besides that, you'll probably have to go through audible.com.

I've been looking for the unabridged version of The Hobbit, does anyone know where I can buy/download it?

I listened to David Sedaris' Holidays on Ice while on the treadmill and mostly before going to bed, when I couldn't sleep I'd listen for a bit.

Which is fine, but maybe not a Sedaris book before bed next time? One night I listened to one of the short stories in Holidays on Ice, called "Season's Greetings to Our Friends and Family!", and it ended up to be rather disturbing.

But I do enjoy having the option to listen to a good book during times when I can't actually read one (like running or the dishes).

Holidays on Ice had a lot of disturbing moments. "Seasons Greetings to Our Friends and Family!" especially. I loved "Santaland Diaries" though.

I just started driving and it's about 20 minutes to school each way so thought I should give audiobooks a try. I'm just finishing The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time and love it!

Any other suggestions?
I want to try I Know This Much is True but it seems really long so I might save that for when I have a trip planned.

As a recent convert to audio books I gotta admit they are much better than I thought when I wasn't driving.

Rachel wrote: "Any good sites for downloading audio books? I've seen www.audibles.com but didn't know if there were anymore. I finally started using my iPod again... so I figure I'll put a couple up there."

AND ANYONE ELSE LOOKING FOR EBOOKS AND AUDIOBOOKS!!

You didn't hear it from me (because it's not really legal), but of course it falls under that 'everybody is doing it' category...

I've found this tremendously helpful as I'm a student and can't afford the extremely high prices of audible and amazon kindle books. I do still pay for books when I can swing it, but times are tough!

The search bar works extremely well but is sometimes very picky about keywords. A little confusing, but you sign up for a username (free) and then pick the things you want, then click the 'torrent downloads' button (in blue when you scroll to the bottom of a title), then you use a torrent downloading site (like Vuze or something) to get the actual files. That may have sounded confusing on it's own but if you've ever downloaded music or anything you know the drill.

Of course you would assume all risks associated with these sites, blah blah blah...I've never had a problem, but then again I have a Mac so that might be why.


e-book torrent goldmine: http://theebooksbay.com/
audiobook torrent goldmine: http://theaudiobookbay.com/

You can also download copywright-free or expired audiobooks through the public domain (also free, but perfectly legal. great for classics and stuff): http://librivox.org/


Some of my favorite audibooks include The Glass Castle (Walls), Wild (Strayed), all of Michael Pollan's books, Role Models (Waters), and An Object of Beauty (Martin). These may or may not be on the sites mentioned above as I have paid for some things in my life!!

I just discoverd Audiobooks for work - sometimes my days can get a litte tedious so I downloaded audbile. Amazing!

If you're looking for a good audiobook, try Little Princes: One Man's Promise to Bring Home the Lost Children of Nepal - it's narrated by the author and it's fantastic. The story and the reading.

That's probably my favorite thing about audiobooks -it's fascinating with the author is the one reading the story. I think it adds such a nice perspective; especially when it's a memoir!

Anyone have any good audiobook suggestions that is read by the author?

audiobooks are a life saver for me being that I'm in a wheelchair and can't hold the book up. I just put my headphones on and i'm immediately in a whole another world.

My two favorite audio books of the year were probably Bossypants by Tina Fey and Steve Jobs. The Tina Fey one was hilarious and I listened to it more than once. The Steve Jobs book was so cool because it wasn't just a fluffy biography, but an honest (and sometimes brutal) look at the industry and what it took for the man to become an icon of success. I highly recommend both of them!

The Golden Compass is a full cast, but the narrator is the author. :)

They FINALLY have unabridged versions of Hobbit and the LotR trilogy! And the reader is excellent! I've been listening to Hobbit. :)

I loved audible for the whispersync, but the price is just too expensive for me. And the problem is I don't really listen to an audio book more than once. I can pick up a book and easily flip to my favorite part. Not so much with an audio book. :P
Anyway, I now solve the problem by checking out audiobooks from the library. I had to buy a new ipod for that (WMA format doesn't work on my android cell phone), but I think it is worth it.
Recently listened to The Hitchhiker's Guide to Galaxy, and I loved, loved, loved Stephen Fry! The subsequent books are narrated by Martin Freeman. Even though I also love Martin Freeman as an actor (and an adorable guy), he is no match to Stephen Fry in terms of book reading.

I check out audiobooks from the library a lot, mostly on CD because I listen to them in the car, but occasionally through Overdrive. I can't listen to WMA on my iPod either, but MP3s work fine.

Martin Freeman AND Stephen Fry? I am definitely getting those.