audio book questions

[Ruth (tilltab) Ashworth]

Once when I was a child, to keep me quiet during a very long drive, my mum bought me some books on tape. Way back then, I decided I wasn't a fan of the format, and in all the years since, I have never been tempted to try again. However, due to financial troubles, I could only read the November book pick via the free audio book trial from audible. And I'm surprised to say, I really enjoyed it...but not without having a few issues. As such, I'm curious if others, particularly those avid audio book listeners, have the same troubles.

The strongest feeling for me right now is a strong urge to actually READ the book. I want to see the words on paper, and I've been itching to do so since I first started listening. Back near the beginning of the book, I found myself in a book shop and rushed to the physical copy to run my eyes over the words of the introduction, feeling positively relieved to be able to do so. It seems that Veronica tends to buy both the e-book AND audio book version, which would obviously relieve that issue, so I wonder how common it is to buy both. If people, like me, cannot afford to do this, do they, too, feel this niggling urge to actually read, or are they completely satisfied with just listening to the books?

Related to that, there were various points where I would wonder how I would respond to the story if I was actually reading it. In Dirty Streets Of Heaven there were places which had a few repeated ideas related in similar ways, and, perhaps because I was listening, I was very aware of this, and had to check to make sure I wasn't listening to a part I'd already heard. I'm not sure I would have noticed in written format...or maybe I would. Questioning this sometimes distracted me from listening, and then I'd miss parts of the story. Do you find you view things differently when you are listening to when you are reading? How about the voices? Do they sometimes distract your imagination? Do you ever pause to think about how you would have heard the voice otherwise?

With a physical book, I find it quite easy to find where I left off judging by how deep into the thickness of a book I have got. This is a little harder reading ebooks, but I can usually find my place on kindle by going to the approximate location and reading around until I find my spot. But with audio, I found it incredibly difficult. I was listening on my kindle, and then at one point decided to listen from my computer, and I assumed since it was audible they would both link up, like with ebooks, but somehow the starting point on the computer was way ahead of where I had been, only I didn't notice until I got back to my kindle later, which started from where I had left off the previous night, which has me really confused. Any tips for how to keep track of where you are?

Also, is it normal to find the details harder to remember? I normally remember all kinds of details from what I have read, but while I enjoyed what I was listening to, and the images in my head flowed very nicely at the time of listening, I would find it very hard to retell the story if someone asked me too. Perhaps related to that is that I always find trouble deciding where to stop listening, since in the written word, I wait for an obvious break, sometimes flicking forward a few pages to see how far I have to go before I can stop properly. Sometimes I would stop mid sentence, because I couldn't tell how much longer I would have to wait, and when I came back to the book, I'd have to skip back several minutes to remember what on earth was going on.

Finally, right at the end of Dirty Streets of Heaven, just when the final words were being spoken, music stated to rise up, completely distracting me from what was being said. Even after skipping back and listening two more times, I still can't remember the last words of the book, and felt robbed of a full and satisfying ending. The memory I am left with is 'ding ding ding ding'. Do audio books normally do this, or is this just a mistake from the people who put the book together, perhaps fading up the music just a little too early? If it's a common trait, do others find it distracting, or is this just a strange quirk of my brain?

Sorry for the long ramble here. I hope people will add their thoughts here, and feel free to add any questions of your own.

[Tim]

I listen on the standard music player built in to my iPhone (synced through iTunes). It works fine, never loses my place and clearly shows how long till the next chapter break. The only thing I don't like is the crappy low res cover artwork that Audible uses. To me, audiobooks are perfectly natural, but then I grew up with quality radio drama and narrative from the BBC. (I was a Radio 4 head from an early age!)

I have no idea how a kindle handles audio, since my PaperWhite doesn't do audio.

I almost never buy the ebook/DTB of something I listen to. There are exceptions, but it's rare.

As for musical cues, quality of voices etc... depends entirely on the book and/or narrator. There are several recent threads here discussing which narrators are good/bad etc.

[Rob, Roberator]

I'm kind of set in my ways and have been slow to embrace both audio books AND ebooks. I still prefer to read a physical copy when I can.

That said I started doing audio books a few years ago for my 7+ hour drives to visit friends and family. As I usually make the drive alone, it really helps pass the time.

I have made it a point to pick books I might not read otherwise, saving the stuff I really want to read for print.

Lately I've been doing books on my really short daily commute, and while doing chores around the house. But those are books I've read before (Harry Potter currently).

I really like this option and hope to re-"read" a few other series that I really enjoy without trading off my normal reading time, which I'll reserve for new books on my list.

[David Sven]

I will listen to an audio book while I drive and exercise, and then I will read a different couple of books on the Kindle. I generally don't read and listen to the same book at the same time - but I have read a book and then gone back and listened to it. I don't find I have a problem with any of the mediums.

I will say, a good audio narrator can really enhance a book beyond simply reading the book. For example, I read the First Law Trilogy by Joe Abercrombie on Kindle and then listened to Best Served Cold and The Heroes on audio with narrator Steven Pacey. I now wish I had listened to the original trilogy as well.

On the other hand, a bad narrator, or should I say a narrator you don't like, can really wreck a book. That's why I now make myself listen to the sample on Audible before deciding.

[Tim]

David Sven wrote: "On the other hand, a bad narrator, or should I say a narrator you don't like, can really wreck a book. That's why I now make myself listen to the sample on Audible before deciding.."

I second that. There have been several audiobooks that I've lemmed purely because of a bad narrator.

[Leesa]

For me, it took training in order to listen to an audiobook. I first started listening to audiobooks when my husband and I would go on road trips. If I'm a passenger, I'm more likely to fall asleep. Also, we tended to listen to books he liked, so they were of the abridged Star Wars or fantasy stories, neither of which are really what I like.

Then we started listening to non-fiction audiobooks, and I was able to stay engaged.

Now I use my iPod almost exclusively for audiobooks or podcasts. Even if I'm only going out for a ten-minute trip, I'm still listening to an audiobook. If I didn't train myself to enjoy audiobooks, I wouldn't get half the reading done that I do.

I have no problem rewinding a few seconds when my mind wanders. I liken it to turning back a few pages when my mind wanders during reading. It's just no big deal.

I do find that I have to restart some audiobooks if I'm not instantly engaged. Again, I sometimes have to do this during reading too.

I will say that narration is important; however, I have listened to a few classics from Librivox, and if anyone is familiar with this service, the books aren't read by professionals nor recorded at high quality. Some narrators are sometimes not that great. Sometimes there be different narrators throughout the book and there'll be different accents and pronunciations. Not for dramatic effect, but simply that's the nature of volunteerism sometimes. A good story can overcome subpar narration.

Saying that, however, I am furious with Roy Detrice's narration of A Dance With Dragons. He changed the accents of too many characters--accents he established in narrating the first three books! As a result, I just can't listen to it and I'll end up having to read my husband's hardcover copy.

[Bob]

Jim Dale is awesome. I started listening about the same time I started reading, so it's not difficult for me. I prefer the page, because I tend to "fall in" a lot more fully, but a good reader it doesn't matter. A good story it doesn't matter. I listened to Name of the Wind in audio format and the reader, I thought, sucked. But the story was so good I didn't even mind.

I was just listening to Eye of the World this morning and had the bizarre feeling that the world I was looking at, sitting inside my car outside work, was "wrong" because I was so entranced. Which was cool.

[terpkristin]

I love audio books when I drive, go for walks, when I go to the gym (when I'm able), and when I'm doing housework. I've found I can't really listen to them when I'm just loafing around, unless I. Near the climax or end of a particularly good book. The narrator makes all the difference. The right one can make a mediocre book enjoyable, the wrong can make a great book terrible.

I find that most female narrators don't work for me. I'm not sure why that is, but have definitely noticed a correlation between audiobooks I've given up on and female narrators. Kate Reading is an exception to that rule; she is fantastic in the Jordan and Sanderson books. Michael Keating is also good for fantasy stuff, with Roy Dotrice, Jim Dale, Gerard Doyle, and Stephen Fry. I like Stephan Rudnicki and Fry for science fiction books, too. Rudnicki has a bit of a creepy robotic tone which I like for some science fiction. And Grover Gardner does thrillers well, or really any story where the main character is from NY/NJ.

[Tim]

Problem with female narrators seems to be that they don't put any pace and energy into it. They read it to me like I'm a 5 year old kid & it's bed time and they want me to settle down & not get excited. Far fewer female narrators seem to have a go at doing the voices to, or even doing anything to differentiate between characters. (based solely on the ones that I've heard)

To counter that, Dawn French was very good reading her own stuff, and the woman - who's name I forgotten - that reads the Jasper Fforde Thursday Next books (in the UK anyhow) is very good too.

[Sandi]

Tim wrote: "Problem with female narrators seems to be that they don't put any pace and energy into it. They read it to me like I'm a 5 year old kid & it's bed time and they want me to settle down & not get exc..."

Emily Gray does the Thursday Next books. I have read all of those in print except the most recent. I kind of want to go back and listen to the rest now. Unfortunately you miss the sight puns in listening, like Jack Schitz's name.

I really like Cassandra Campbell's narrations. She hits just the right note with Jesse Petersen's Living With the Dead series.

[Tim]

Sandi wrote: "Emily Gray does the Thursday Next books. I have read all of those in print except the most recent. I kind of want to go back and listen to the rest now. Unfortunately you miss the sight puns in listening, like Jack Schitz's name."

No, it's Gabrielle Kruger here.

[Sandi]

Wouldn't it just be easier if they secured the rights to get the same narrator for both countries?

[Bob]

I think it's all about accents.

[Mark]

Stefan Rudncki
<3

I would listen to that man recite the phone book

[Tim]

Bob wrote: "I think it's all about accents."

Don't think so. The instances where I've seen different narrators (Harry Potter, & now Thursday Next) the narrators both have the same accent. They tend to do a pretty good job tying the accent of the narrator to the setting of the book.

Certainly there can be differences in the text, for Harry Potter at least - the US edition has been "translated", as was Hunger Games, going the other way. Interestingly, HG is an example where the US and UK editions of the *book* are different, but the audio was the same US text and (awful) narrator...

[[deleted user]]

I have tried once to listen to an audio book and I found it really hard, I thought I would do the pots and listen to a book whilst I was doing it and I couldn't concentrate on it even when doing something mundane like the pots, I would annoyingly repeat what the narrator was saying and I wouldn't actually take in what was being said, after a while it hurt my head.

I wouldn't sit and listen to an audio book when I could just as easily read the book but I don't seem to be able to do something and listen at the same time, i'm probably the only women who cant multi task lol but I should be ok if im listening whilst on a journey, will have to try it out.

[Meghan]

Leesa wrote: "For me, it took training in order to listen to an audiobook. I first started listening to audiobooks when my husband and I would go on road trips. If I'm a passenger, I'm more likely to fall asleep..."


Everything Leesa said.

I've listened to so many audio books at this point, that I've actually trained myself to be able to listen to them while I work and not really miss anything. Occasionally I have to rewind, but the audible app has that handy previous 30 second button.

Narration really is key, and I've found that some narrators are just fantastic while others, no matter how good the book is, can ruin it for me. I've had excellent experiences with professional actor narrations, which audible seems to be doing more and more now.

[David]

I got into listening to audiobooks when I had a forty-minute commute to work. Most books seem to survive the transition fairly well, but a good narrator definitely helps--The Children of Húrin is read wonderfully by Christopher Lee (Saruman), for instance. Of course, audiobooks don't include any of the artwork that may be part of the dead-tree version; I was astounded when I picked up The Way of Kings after listening to it (several times) and saw how much I'd been missing.

Now that my commute's shorter, I'm switching back over to mostly dead-tree/eBooks for my reading...but I still think audiobooks are good options for when I'm travelling.

[Ruth (tilltab) Ashworth]

Lucy wrote: "i'm probably the only women who cant multi task"

lol, don't worry, you're not alone; I'm exactly the same. I also find volume an issue when trying to listen and do housework; I miss bits as I clatter around. I agree that I felt I was being lazy and wasting time if I tried to just sit and listen without doing anything else, but I was ill at one point, and then it was lovely to let the words drift over me while I rested my eyes - much better that struggling to hold a book, or even e-book, when you are feeling awful. I also listened just before bed when I was too sleepy to read.

Tim wrote: "Certainly there can be differences in the text, for Harry Potter at least - the US edition has been "translated", as was Hunger Games, going the other way"

You mean Hunger Games was 'translated' from American to British English? Really? How daft! I'm very used to hearing such things happening the other way, which is always a point of ridicule, because, come on, its the same language; leave it alone; but I've never heard of it this way. When I was a teen I remember being very confused about what a faucet was, but I wouldn't have wanted it changed just because we don't use that word in British English.

David Sven wrote: "I will say, a good audio narrator can really enhance a book beyond simply reading the book. "

Well, I have little to compare it with, but I thought Dirty Streets Of Heaven was wonderfully narrated. Joe May really brought the characters alive. I'm not sure I'd agree that this made it better than reading it myself, but it certainly added to my enjoyment of the audio book and added a different flavour to the book I might not otherwise have had. There seem to be plenty of suggestions on here for people who read for audio books really well, so I'll keep my eye out for those in the future.

Rob wrote: " But those are books I've read before (Harry Potter currently).

I really like this option and hope to re-"read" a few other series that I really enjoy without trading off my normal reading time, which I'll reserve for new books on my list. "

That's a great idea! There have been a few series I'd like to re-read the early books of again in order to fully know the story before jumping in with previously unwritten sequels, and that would be a wonderful way to make it fresh, rather than a drag on my reading time. Now all I need is money. ;)

[Rob, Roberator]

Ruth wrote: "That's a great idea! There have been a few series I'd like to re-read the early books of again in order to fully know the story before jumping in with previously unwritten sequels, and that would be a wonderful way to make it fresh, rather than a drag on my reading time. Now all I need is money. ;)"

You don't have a location on your profile, but if you live in the states, check if your library system uses Overdrive. I'm not sure how widespread it is, but I know many public libraries are starting to use it.

And if not, most should at least have some audio cds you can borrow, which is how I got started.

[David]

I'd also recommend PodioBooks.com; there're some really well-done independent books available there, on a "tip the author what you feel is appropriate" basis. Can take a bit of digging to find the good stuff, but that's really not any different from anywhere else, is it? :-)

[Emy]

I'm pretty sure from the BrEn comments that Ruth is over here ;) The UK has Overdrive too, but many councils have limited it's use as the costs can be prohibitive for the libraries.

On the earlier point, narrators really make a difference to me too. I've been listening to some Classical texts through LibriVox, and sometimes a narrator will really click for me, and then he/she doesn't read the next book (e.g. the Aeneid). The other narrator can really kill it for me :(

[Michael]

It seems to me that audio books are somewhat of an acquired taste. I'd echo quite a few comments above, about the quality of the narrator being important part, but also that some stories are good enough that the writing can overcome a poor narrator. I think it's also true that it's just a matter of taste. For example, I thought the narrator for Hunger Games was amazing (Catherine McCormack, I think, not positive and too lazy to go look it up), and I saw a commenter above stating the opposite. Another narrator I thought was phenomenal was the kid who reads Brandon Sanderson's Alcatraz books.

Finally, I would re-iterate Rob's suggestion for checking your local library. Our public library (Seattle, King County) has a pretty awesome selection of both audio and e-books you can check out, and their online accessibility, while ugly, is very functional. Definitely check out your local library if cost is a relevant issue.

As for audio books in general, these are my personal opinions:
1) Intro/Outro music sucks in all cases. (Please stop producing audio books with music!) Same is true for added sound effects -- rattling chains, spooky ghostly sounds, clashing swords, etc. If I want that stuff, I'll watch a movie. Let my mind do all that stuff on it's own. Most audio books don't have this, but those that do are really annoying.
2) Similarly, dramatic readings involving a team of narrators for different voices is kind of neat, but overall I find it makes the experience disjointed. The beauty of books is what they allow your mind to do with what's being read. Adding that much drama in the audio reading diminishes the capacity for imagination, for me at least.
3) I really only listen to audio books in my car. I can't listen to audio books while doing other things -- working, chores around the house, etc. Far too often I realize I haven't been following the book, and have to stop and go back.
4) I can't do audio book in bed, which is a prime reading time for me, and switching between audio book and ebook for me was too much of a pain. So I generally end up reading two books simultaneously -- one as audio and one as ebook.

Overall though, while it took me a bit to get used to audio books in general, I can't imagine not having that option now. I 'read' so many more books because of it!

[Nick]

I got a considerable amount of mileage out of the Harry Dresden audiobooks, as narrated by James Marsters, as well as any of Neil Gaiman's books as narrated by Neil Gaiman.

I find that I prefer to listen to an audiobook while driving to work, or while drifting to sleep. When I listen to the audiobook while sleeping I make certain to turn on the sleep timer.

Additionally Audible usually sorts its books into chapters, which you can use to find your place on iTunes.

Bob wrote: "I listened to Name of the Wind in audio format and the reader, I thought, sucked. But the story was so good I didn't even mind.
"

I found this statement to be odd, because when I was listening to the NotW audiobook it made it much more apparent to me the rhymeplay that Kvothe uses when he speaks. I also noticed for the first time that Kvothe and Denna often rhyme at one another in iambic pentameter.

[Ruth (tilltab) Ashworth]

Sleep timer?

Hmm, not sure what happened, because I know I composed a paragraph or two yesterday, and I can't see it here, but I have found that my library DOES do audio books via overdrive, though, as yet, all the books I've searched for haven't been available. Still, something to keep in mind, so cheers for the idea.

[Sandi]

I used The Name of the Wind in audio for a re-read before the sequel came out. I loved it. I caught so much that I missed the first time out, especially the stories within the story. It was great.

As for female narrators, I can't believe I forgot to mention my absolute favorite female narrator, Robin Miles. She is the very best narrator I've ever heard with accents. Her straight voice is fabulous. It never sounds like she's reading.

[Shaina]

I really want to be able to listen to audio books, but so far the narrators always distract me. I want to hear the story in my own head in my own voice, I don't like having someone else between me and the words. I also don't like that someone else decides what part of a sentence to emphasize because the emphasis can change the meaning/tone of the book.

I feel like if I want to read a book I should really read it and not listen to it.

[Rik]

I love audio books because my job keeps me in a vehicle up to 6 hrs a day which is where I listen.

I find that I actually remember things better on audio than in print and in fact when I've listened to books that I've read before I've picked up on things I missed the first time through. For instance I've read the entire Wheel of Time series two times but in the months before the book that came out a few years ago I listened to them for the first time and was amazed about how many little clues and hints I caught since I was actually being forced to hear every word since too often I skim when reading.

[Josh]

I discovered audiobooks by roving my local library and became quite addicted several years back. Initially, I could only listen to non-fiction book and I almost never listened anywhere other than my car during commutes. I ate up biographies, science books, religion books, but whenever I listened to a fiction book, I got so annoyed at the readers' attempts at different voices; especially when a male narrator tried to do a female's voice.

Then I discovered Dune. First of all, I did not read Dune until I was in my late twenties when I found the paperback for a dollar and took it to the beach with me. After I read it, I was completely obsessed and found the audiobook in the library. To this day, I think it is the most amazingly produced audiobook I have ever listened to, and I listen to it often (along with the other 5 novels that follow). After that I found the Harry Potter books with Jim Dale and the production of His Dark Materials and since then I always have two or three from the library in my house. Along the way, I have found many narrators that I absolutely love (Simon Vance and Jim Dale specifically), and a few that I really did not care for. Scott Brick read some of the Dune spin-offs by Brian Herbert, and I really could not stand his reading style; it seemed like he was always being melodramatic. But, I can't tell if I just hated his reading because I hated what Brian and Kevin were doing to Frank's work.

Now I've moved on to Audible which I actually like more for the speed reading. I can't quite do the 2x, but 1.5x is nice for when I'm driving or doing chores. I've decided that kindle+audible will be the way to go for the slog of the Wheel of Time I've decided to perhaps maybe think about consider tackling.

[Tim]

My first audiobook was The Hollow Chocolate Bunnies of the Apocalypse by Robert Rankin, read by the author. I was in New Zealand recovering from an extended stay in hospital (long story) and I had to walk several miles a day as part of the therapy. Well I'd wangled a membership of the Wellington public library, and they had an extensive audiobook section. So I borrowed the CDs and ripped them to my iPod to listen to as I walked.

[Ruth (tilltab) Ashworth]

Just wanted to say that posts on this thread encouraged me to check out some of the audio books I get get via overdrive from local libraries. I'm starting to really enjoy being able to read at times when I wouldn't be able to read, like when I'm taking a walk, and I'm finding it far easier than I first did to keep a grasp on the story. Really enjoyed listening to Hunger Games and a few other things.