Audio book vs print book

[Alisa]

The more time I spend on GR the more I hear about audio books and I've been thinking about trying some. What do you guys think? Do you like or dislike audio & why? Also, if you like audio what are your sources for obtaining them?

[Shanna]

audible.com
iTunes.com

I love audio books if the "voice" is good. James Marsters (Spike from Buffy and Angel) reads Storm Front and most of the others of the Dresden files series and I love it(he could read the phone book for me I think...). Stephen Fry read the British Harry Potter and loved that, the girl who read the Twilight books,loathed her, she emphasized words oddly and the voice grated. So its a mixed bag, but if you can get that trinity of good book and good voice and it actually being made into an audio book they are great.

[Sonia]

James Masters is absolutely incredible with Dresdes... he IS Harry Dresden. I've heard that the narrator from the iron druid chronicles is also good.

And the narrator from Daughter of Smoke & Bone and Days of Blood & Starlight is simply amazing.

The one from the Kate Daniels series is nothing special.

I also like Sookie's "voice" and Barbara Rosenblat that is the narrator from all the dragons' books from Katie MacAlister

[Mary X]

I love audiobooks. They really make housework and long drives less tedious. My house is always cleaner when I have a really good audiobook going. I like to listen when I cook and walk the dogs.

James Masters is good. Jim Dale was awesome reading the Harry Potter books. The Eragon books were excellent on audio. I also like Davina Porter and Lorelei King.

I also find audiobooks a good way to get some of those long, slow classics in that I might not have the patience for in print.

[Mary X]

I forgot to mention where I get them. I've used booksfree.com and simplyaudiobooks.com to rent CDs. I've used Audible and Emusic.com to download them. But most of them I get from my library or the Philadelphia Free Library (they sell out of state library cards for $35/yr for ebooks and digital audiobooks). I get a fair amount from paperbackswap.com.

[Gin]

I'm the same way Mary. I listen to books when I'm cleaning, cooking, and also taking walks. I could never replace reading with audiobooks, but I like to always have one going. I'm pretty picky about my audiobooks though. I'll only choose ones that the narrator has a reputation for making the book better. It also helps to listen to a slow paced book that you are not in a hurry to get through as they take longer than reading the book. I use audible.

[Mary X]

Yeah I can't just sit and listen to an audiobook. My mind wanders or I get sleepy. But they really help make a chore more enjoyable.

From the library, I get whatever looks good to me. But I always sample any that I'm going to pay money for on audible or Itunes or somewhere.

There's also librivox that you can download free audiobook podcasts of classics through Itunes. But I didn't like those. They don't use professional readers or even the same reader throughout the whole book. Once chapter might be read by someone with a British accent, the next by a southerner and then the next by someone with a Spanish accent. No continuity.

I've purchased some cheap audiobooks of classics through Audible by buying the ebook first. The ebooks were free and then the audio version was only a dollar or two via the Whispersync thing.

[Gin]

I did that same thing with Persuasion. That's really nice too. I can sit down and read and then get up and cook dinner and continue listening where i left off reading.

[Darcy]

What I like about audio books are that they give you a different perspective when listening. They are my favorite way to re-read, if I space out for a bit, it is ok, I know what is coming.

[Sandra J]

I like to listen to audio books when I've got a project to knit or to bead.

[Lauren]

I started listening to audiobooks 3-4 months ago in an attempt to remedy my first person pet peeve. I could never identify with the main character's POV as I kept hearing my own voice in my head (if that makes sense).

Being able to associate the main character's voice with someone else has solved this issue for me and now I am 100% hooked on listening.

It is great being able to "read" all the excellent books that I couldn't before.

[Alisa]

Mary wrote: "I forgot to mention where I get them. I've used booksfree.com and simplyaudiobooks.com to rent CDs. I've used Audible and Emusic.com to download them. But most of them I get from my library or t..."

Thanks for the great suggestions of where to get audio books. I hadn't heard of most of these. Can't wait to check them out.

[Lisa Kay]

Yes, love audiobooks. Decades ago they used to be a luxury for us when we were going on a long trip; it was fun to see what my husband and I could agree on. Also, what we like from each other's genres.

I agree with Mary; great for travel, or housework. And I'm with Darcy - also a wonderful to revisit my favorite books. I think I discover something new, when it is read to me and the narrator is excellent, than I did the first time around.

[Lisarenee]

If I listen to an audio book I try to keep a hard copy somewhere close at hand. Sometimes I can't figure out what is being said no matter how many times I try to back up the CD and relisten which isn't has easy to do as when recordings were on tape. I had one CD that was only sectioned into 2 parts. Plus, a CD can't tell you the proper spelling of a name and they aren't easy to quote from. Also, some of the newer CDs are formatted differently than they used to be. The CD player in my car can't play the newer formats. My husband suspects they're formatted in an MP3 format which my older CD player can't decipher.

Upside for the Audio is I now know how to pronounce the names of some of my favorite authors and those of their characters.

[Darcy]

Lisarenee wrote: "Upside for the Audio is I now know how to pronounce the names of some of my favorite authors and those of their characters."

This was especially helpful when I listened to Game of Thrones series and Kenyon's Dark Hunter series.

[Lisarenee]

Darcy wrote: "Lisarenee wrote: "Upside for the Audio is I now know how to pronounce the names of some of my favorite authors and those of their characters."

This was especially helpful when I listened to Game o..."

Even seeing the names spelled out I was confused. When you have a bunch of new names all starting with the same letters it made it confusing for me to keep track of them.

[Angela(demonsangel)]

I would rather listen to the audio books than set and read one., especially if the audio is 20hrs long, imagine how long it would take to read. With audio books you can do normal house chores. I know some listen to their audio books at work. It does depend on the narrator. Kim Harrison has all her books read by MARGUERITE GAVIN. I think Marguerite does a wonderful job. Her voice changes to each character is exceptional and her voice is pleasant.
I've listened to close to 300 audio's in a year and a half, to me that's a lot. I listened to all the Tiger's Curse audio's written by Colleen Houck and if you have read them then you didn't get the pleasure that they deserve. The first audio had two narrators but the male narrator only read a poem or quote at the beginning. I didn't know until I listened to the second audio. The narrator for all four audio books of the Tiger's Curse trilogy is a woman but she's that darn good. I have never heard.a narrator than can speak with an India accent.and switch her accents from an American woman to different male and female characters from India. I think if I remember right there may have been some Latin read. I don't have a clue where Colleen or her publisher's found her but they did not go wrong. If you just have to know her name now, it is ANNIKA BORAS. I checked on Audible and she's never read a book with them before. The Tiger's Curse books are urban fantasy but these audio's are for everyone. Try the first book and if you don't love it, call Audible. Audible will refund your money or credit back. I Capone's guarantee once you listen to the first book you will be getting the other three. I did halfway through but I had to wait on the fyourth audio but I was extremely happy when I did listen to it. Audio verses book, I will take the audio any day. Can you read while in a car,wash dishes, or really do anything? Plus your hands wont hurt from holding a book and its easier getting comfortable.

[Angela(demonsangel)]

I would rather listen to the audio books than set and read one., especially if the audio is 20hrs long, imagine how long it would take me to read. With audio books you can do normal house chores. I know some listen to their audio books at work. It does depend on the narrator. Kim Harrison has all her books read by MARGUERITE GAVIN. I think Marguerite does a wonderful job. Her voice changes to each character is exceptional and her voice is pleasant.
I've listened to close to 300 audio's in a year and a half, to me that's a lot. I listened to all the Tiger's Curse audio's written by Colleen Houck and if you have read them then you didn't get the pleasure that all four audio's deserve. The first audio had two narrators but the male narrator only read a poem or quote at the beginning. I didn't know until I listened to the second audio. The narrator for all four audio books of the Tiger's Curse trilogy is a woman but she's that darn goo

[Angela(demonsangel)]

Ohh sand I buy the book also. I've read quite a few books also. Also I always go back and read the hard copy. If I find an audio I love or think my teenage daughter will like, I then will by the complete series that's out and add more books as they come out

[Lisa Kay]

I like to have a hardcopy on hand, too. And Lisarenee is right; love to hear how a character's name is really pronounced.

[Lisarenee]

Angela(demonsangel) wrote: "Ohh sand I buy the book also. I've read quite a few books also. Also I always go back and read the hard copy. If I find an audio I love or think my teenage daughter will like, I then will by the c..."

lol That happens with me and my daughter. Some people's daughters steal their clothes, mine steals my books. So far it's just my YA books. She used to wait until I read them first, but she doesn't anymore. I like being able to discuss them with her and if I think she'll like one too, I usually go ahead and buy it. Too bad audio books are so expensive or I'd buy them. I get mine from the library.

[☀Rachael☀]

I'm 99% audiobook 1% ebook and I only buy the book version if its not on audio. I listen all the time while at home, walking, driving at the gym lol!

[Dawn, Desperately seeking new worlds]

I have a love hate relationship with audio.

I like it in theory because it is cool to be read to. My challenge with them is time. If I am running I do not care to hear anything, at the gym ah maybe but it competes with music, at work I prefer music, driving sometimes but it competes with the news. I say all this to say that my time that I spend on it is really limited. It takes me about two weeks to finish one book.

I prefer reading, something happens in my brain when I read that does not happen when I listen.

I usually get my audio books from the library that have a great collection. I do have an audible account but that is mostly for my son, he loves audio books and he goes through about one a week.

[Lisa Kay]

Just an FYI: Got on audio as a gift! Woohoo! Yes, it finally came out on audio. Loving it so far, though I've read it at least twice - no thrice - before. Great narrator.

[Alisa]

I saw an ad on my fb that this week audible.com is giving a free copy of if you join now.

[ladymurmur]

Alisa wrote: "The more time I spend on GR the more I hear about audio books and I've been thinking about trying some. What do you guys think? Do you like or dislike audio & why? Also, if you like audio what ar..."

Audiobooks are fine for when I can't read and have no company - such as when driving alone on long car trips. But listening seems to use a different portion of my brain than reading does, and I simply don't enjoy it as much.

Also, I'd MUCH prefer to have a live person read to me than listen to an audio book. My sweetie and I used to travel cross-country a lot, and we tried audiobooks a few times. We always, always ended up having the passenger read to the driver. There's a designated "car book", the next in a series that we only read on car trips (currently the Phule's Company series by Robert Asprin).

[Terri ♥ (aka Mrs. Christian Grey)]

I much rather listen to a audio book than read if the narrator is good. It adds so much to the story. It's like listening to a movie. Now you only have to see the words on your head not hear them to.

[Ashley]

I like my print books just fine. I think reading an audio book, I'd be too distracted with the voice. I much prefer to create the character's voice in my head. Also, it makes me proud and happy to just see my bookshelves physically growing. :)

[Star]

I love audiobooks! They are the reason I was able to get back into reading. Im lucky in the fact that my job allows ipods and such to listen to as much as you want while you work so im able to listen all day long. Sometimes theres a series i listen to that im not able to get all the books in audiobook format. Ill get it in a eBook in Kindle format for my android phone and read it in the narrators voice in my head. lol As it stands now ive got around 600 books in my audible library since 2008. Most of them are in a series.