The Next Best Book Club discussion
Revive a Dead Thread
>
To audio or not? That is the question.
I'll go first.I really prefer books over audios. Mainly I like the images I create in my mind to go with the story. Not to mention most of the readers voices annoy me.
However, I am listening to The Thirteenth Tale on audio. I just couldn't wait to read it and it didn't seem like it was going to break to the top of the pile anytime soon. So far so good. The 2 voices used are great.
I listen to audio books every now and then. Here's a tip for you. Don't listen to books read by the author. Try to find books that are read by an actor/actress. Even very very good authors generally do not have a good reading voice. EX-Jim Dale does an AMAZING job reading the Harry Potter books. Michael Chabon read his own Summerland, which is a book I loved but couldn't get through two CD's on audiobook because of his voice.
Mod
I dont think I am going to jump onto the audio train anymore after that.
I much prefer reading a book in my head than having it read to me anyways...
I cannot do audio books at all. I have no patience for people reading to me. I can't concentrate...my mind wanders all over the place and I wouldn't remember half of what was said.I am much more of a visual learner. I have to see something to be able to retain the information for any length of time. That being said, sometimes it would be nice to have someone pronounce the difficult character names or terms so that I don't feel like I'm bumbling them in my head throughout the entire book. :-)
Those that enjoy audio books and can retain the information have my utmost respect!
They do make a nice change of pace if your commute is long or if you're going on a trip. Makes the time in the car go faster!
Well said Charity. I'm also a visual learner and have a hard concentrating as well. I haven't tried an audio book for this reason. Anyone who has tried it...have you found that it improves your listening skills?
Charity, I am the same way, audio books just cannot hold my attention. I can barely stay awake sometimes when my boyfriend reads his chapters of Harry Potter to me.
I have not yet tried audio books, either. My fear is similar to others, that the experience won't be the same as reading, that I won't be able to stay awake, or that I won't even pay attention. I've considered giving them a try 'cause sometimes all the talk on the radio on my commute can be annoying, but I just haven't gotten to that point yet.
Ditto Charity & Jessica — the only time I can (sort of) concentrate on an audio book is if I'm in the car. My husband listens to a ton of them, but I just can't get into it. Plus, I just plain love BOOKS. The feel of them in my hand, the smell of the paper — everything about them.
I don't think I could even get into them in the car. My mind wanders a lot when I drive, most of the time I will be singing along to a song and it will end and I won't even remember listening to it!
I can't do it either...need to have the book in front of me and see the words. I tried with Wicked last summer on my train ride...couldn't get into it at all.
I prefer books. They make the experience so much more enthralling. However, I spend an inordinate amount of time in my car. I got to thinking about how I could be spending all those hours reading, so decided to try it. Many books have been terrific and others not so good. Reading a book read by the author, example The Kite Runner, really heightened the experience. And, all readers are not created equal. But, I would not be making the progress on my To Read list if it wasn't for audio books.
The only audio I like is the sound of my kids reading to me...Sweet music....Other than that, I only read my books.
I have only ever listened to one audio book and I only got half way through - Jude the Obscure. I tried listening to it in my car on really long business journey but, by god it bored me to tears. I don't know if it was the slow pace of the narrator or the most boring book on earth.I love to read books so I can hear it in my own head. Mind you, I know Kirsty listens to books on her ipod in the gym and I actually think that is a really good idea - I may try something a little fluffier for the gym though rather than Thomas Hardy, LOL.
I prefer reading! I have never actually tried the audio but I do think that it would take away from the whole experience of reading a book.
I've only just recently started listening to audio books. I decided that my commute, even though it's only about 30 minutes each way, was far too much time that could be used for "reading". The last one I had was a bad combination: bad reader and boring book. But I'm listening to A Great and Terrible Beauty at the moment and I'm really enjoying it. The reader does a good job and I find myself really getting into the story. (Which may not be such a good thing since I'm driving. Oh well.) I've already requested the next book in the series on CD so I'll listen to that next.So overall I like the audio-book-for-the-commute-or-long-drive idea.
Hi, all. New here. I actually enjoy both. However, I love reading so much more that there have been times when I was listening to such a good book, I was too impatient to finish it so I got the book instead.I agree about the driving and mind-wandering thing, so what I do is listen to a book that I've already read. That way I don't concentrate so hard on remembering the characters and what's going on that I T-bone someone at an intersection.
Some excellent ones I've listened to are:
To Kill a Mockingbird / read by Sissy Spacek. Don't laugh. I didn't have high hopes but she did an excellent job.
Anne Tyler's books read by Blair Brown. Wonderful.
The Harry Potter books. Jim Dale is excellent.
A Thousand Splendid Suns / I can't recommend this one enough. Read by some Afghani actress. Her voice was mesmerizing.
The Kite Runner / read by the author. I'm iffy about author-read books, but he was actually very good.
Shopgirl / read by the author Steve Martin. Excellent.
Alice Hoffman's books read by Mare Winningham.
I'm currently plodding through my first audiobook. It's ok, but doesn't come close to reading. I have to keep going back because I zone out... BUT... it does pass the time quicker in the gym!
Audio is tough because I have a tendency to do other things while listening and lose concentration. It does, however, make you form pictures in your mind the same way a book does.
Amber,I concur with many opinions here. I started audiobooks for 2 main reasons:
1. I got so sick of hearing the same 8 songs on my commute to and from work. Like Macy, it's only ~30 min each way, but that's an hour a day I felt I was wasting.
2. My To-Read list is waaayy too long!
The first one I listened to was Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult (also my first Picoult novel). It was soo long (16 discs or something!!!), and the dialogue sounded sooo fake. Couldn't tell if it was the author or the narrator. But, I kept trying.
Amber, the Thirteenth Tale I also listened to, and I think it's one of the best I've heard.
I've only listened to 1 book narrated by the author, and I think it was appropriately done. It was Stephen King's On Writing. B/c it's partially a memoir and all his own thoughts, I thought it worked well. A note of warning-he does have a wierd voice, but the way the book is written, you feel like he's actually having a conversation with you.
I'm trying Atonement now. Since I was afraid of McEwan's tediousness, I thought audio may be a good choice. Unfortunately, I tune out sometimes, and I got it from the library and people have abused the CDs (it skips a lot!).
2 Notes about audiobooks: they take longer for me (I read faster than the narrator). Also, I will no longer pick up one that is >12 discs long. At 1 hour long, I can get through 1 CD per day of commute, and more than 2 weeks of listening to one book is too much.
I admit I'm an audio virgin. I don't know how it would feel to listen to a book. For me, the only reason I would do so is because I'm driving or at work. So, this being the case, it seems I would have to face distractions which would take away from my reading..er, hearing experience. So, I don't really see the point then. But again, I shan't knock it too hard til I try it.
Amber, I just finished The Thirteenth Tale on audiobook. It was also my first audiobook.I'm actually quite glad that I "read" that book that way because I don't think I would have made it through it otherwise. Too descriptive for my taste. However, I really liked Jill Tanner as Vida Winter - great voice, it tells such a story!
I've decided to keep going with audiobooks... The one that I started this morning on the way to work is The Monsters of Templeton by Lauren Groff.
I love audio books! They are great at work and in the car. I can't listen to my music of choice at work because of general appeal issues, so I've listened to tons of children's fantasy books. They really do make the day/drive go much faster.
I have never tried audio books unless you count the read-a-longs with the ding when it's time to turn the page as a child. I need to read my books, absorb them, make my own voices/personalities for the characters. I wouldn't mind being the voice in audio books though.
I love audio books. They're a great way to get through a to read list that is just wayyy too long. My mind does wander sometimes too but it's usually just a little and if I've really missed something I can always rewind. There are a lot of times when I'm listening to an audio book and I'm so into it I have to read the actual book at the same time so I read in house, listen in the car. I did that with the Thirteenth Tale actually, plus it was helpful to be able to flip back and forth. I got a playaway from the library which I wound up returning before I finished listening but the cool thing about it was that it had 3 speeds so you could speed up the narration. Maybe that would work for those of you who feel audio books would be too slow for you.
I love audio books, too. Especially on a long trip. The last trip I took with my mother and it was so great to share the book, Skinny Dip by Carl Hiaason, together. We laughed at the same parts and at gas/food/etc breaks we talked about the book which I got a kick out of because we rarely ever talked about books when I was younger other than for her to tell me to put the book down to go do my chores. :)
I find that audiobooks can be really enjoyable, especially if they are done by a good reader. What to understand is that they are not the same experience as reading. But, depending on the book, this can actually be good. One that I actually really enjoyed hearing was a reading of a Harry Potter book. The reader did a great job and for some reason it was easier to follow the sprawling plot on this one. But I will always reach for a book first.
A friend just asked if I felt I was cheating when listening to Books on CD. At first, yes, (comparable to reading Reader's Digest Condensed Books - ACH!, but now I actually prefer my fiction reading in this form.
I use audio books on car rides and when I walk. I generally pick up/download books that people say are good, but when I pick up the book, I second guess if I would be able to get through it. My first 2 were Kite Runner and The Historian. Because I am very picky with writing styles, I also download.
I listen to them during work, helps the day go faster! Much better than music. I dont however consider it a book I have read, until I buy the book and actually read it myself, which I do quite often when I like the audio so much
Audio books were a great help to me when I had a boring job. And they are good for walks and if you feel the need to do something, instead of just sit there reading. I listen while I am sewing, or knitting, cleaning, whatever. I still consider it a book I have read because I remember just as much from an audio book as I do from actually reading. And you still get the mental images. You do have to be careful about the voice actors though. I wouldn't recommend listening to anything Stephen King reads. He sounds kind of whiny actually...its strange.I read The 13th tale awhile back, the audio for that was wonderful! And I just finished Dolores Claiborne. The voice was a little disorienting at first because they chose the perfect actor for the movie, but in the end I enjoyed it just as much.
My mom just loves audio books but I can't get into them. I just have to hold a book, and smell it too.
I have really tried audio books and they just do not work for me. I've tried to listen while driving with them and nothing. I've tried to listen while cleaning, and I miss some important part. Maybe someday I'll get into them.
I've tried two audiobooks. First I listened to The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde, and then I also tried The Sunday Philosophy Club by Alexander McCall Smith. And I loved listening to the first, but stopped listening to the second of the two. I think it has a lot to do with the person reading the book. And if it's not a good book, I think it shows so much more if you listen to an audiobook, but that's just my experiences.
I have never tried an audiobook. I don't really know if I could get into it. I love to hold the book and see the words, and I don't know if I would be able to pay attention to the book being read. I have a hard enough time listening to movies and people around me! However, I do have a pretty long commute for work, so maybe an audiobook would be good for me to sift through my TBR pile. I guess the only way to find out is to try it.
Never tried an audio book, I like holding it in my hand , plus I think my mind would wander.
My commute is roughly 45 minutes each way, so audio books are a nice way for me to pass the time. They do take some getting used to though. When I first started listening to them, my mind would wander, or I got distracted and had to back up and start again. One of my favorite readers was Frank Muller. Unfortunately, he was in a bad motorcycle accident in 2001 and suffered head trauma from which he never recovered. He passed away in June.
Jeff Woodman did a wonderful job reading The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time.
Basil Rathbone and Vincent Price were perfect readers for The Edgar Allan Poe Audio collection. The stories were so chilling that I sat in the car for 15 minutes after pulling into the parking lot at work and ended up being late!
It's trial and error...some don't read as well as others and it all depends on your taste. As someone mentioned, it is better to stick with actors or professional readers rather than the authors themselves.
To all those who share the "hold the book, see the words, smell the text", I say to you:I WAS THE SAME WAY! And I walked into my first audiobook (figuratively speaking) with much trepidation. But.....I appreciate them now.
I will not pay for them (I know I'll never go back and listen to a book again-I may reread occasionally), so I'm limited by what selection my county's library has. And some books I won't get audio for the same reason listed above.
I am a huge fan of audiobooks. Because I have a long commute to work on the desolate NJ turnpike, audiobooks make the ride much more palatable. If you get a good reader, it can bring the story to life. For example, Michael York is the reader for The English Patient. I could listen to his voice all day. On the other hand, if the reader is not good, it can destroy the experience no matter how good the book actually is. When I was in graduate school, audiobooks allowed me to read books that I wanted while not feeling frustrated that I had no time or level of concentration to read for pleasure. My county library has a great collection of audiobooks and purchases many new titles in audio as well as print. Now, I'm listening to Little Children by Tom Perrota, which is a very disturbing. However, I would recommend it to others.
I love Frank Muller as a narrator, I didn't know he passed away! I took an audiobook out where he was the reader, I think it was a Pat Conroy book but I'm not sure, and the librarian gushed over how much she loved his audio books. So sad.I listend to Little Children too-it was really disturbing. In the end, I actually kind of liked the movie better. I never say that but somehow what seemed so depressing in the book (the husband's online "romance" with slutty Kay?) was somehow funny in the movie. They did change the ending however-weird.
Oh, and I don't pay for audio books either-it's a library only thing with me.
It's hard. I see the advantage, I can listen in the car or while at the gym and very few times that convenience has won over. However, I am very picky about the narration and if I can't deal with it, it's a waste of money. So really, 99% of the time I will read. I did like Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd on audiobook. I assigned it my first year of teaching and many of my students were reading ahead and wanted to talk privately about it. I needed to read it fast, so it was useful to have it in the car.
Nancy, as I've posted before my commute is 40 minutes one way - don't know what I'd do without books on CD. I will agree that when I first started listening it took a while to get used to. Ever take the wrong exit because you were so engrossed in a book? I have!
Or sit in your driveway because you just can't wait to hear what happened next? I do that all the time. I've also been late for work because I didn't want to get out of the car.
I commute and sometimes find myself doing filing and data-entry at work, so it's wonderful to have a nice store of podcasts and audiobooks to alleviate the monotony. I prefer listening to short stories than full books because it's often more difficult to get back into an audiobook once you've put it down. Something you can listen to all in one go is perfect. For that reason, I'm a huge fan of The New Yorker Fiction podcast. Each month an author recently published in The New Yorker, selects and reads a short story from the magazine's archives. Then, at the end, the fiction editor and the reader discuss the story. My favourite so far is The Gospel According to Mark by Borges.
If you like audiobooks you HAVE to check out Librivox. Volunteers from all over the world read public domain books, short stories, and poems. It's very hit-or-miss but I've had more hits than misses.
http://librivox.org/
http://www.newyorker.com/online/podca...
LOL, Joanie - me too! Today, I missed my exit because I was so engrossed! NTM, my daughter and son-in-law, with whom I share he house, wonder why I'm still in the driveway long after I've pulled in ...
Me, too! Listening to my first audiobook, I was driving to my uncle's near the beach and I got so engrossed I missed my turns a couple of times. I wound up arriving about 4 hours late. hehehehehe
I have sat in the driveway and missed an exit because I wanted to hear what happened next. I think this happened the most when listening to the Harry Potter books. Jim Dale, the narrator, is so fantastic with all of the character's voices that you don't want to turn it off.
Oh Angela, please listen to the Redwall series of books by Brian Jacques if you get a chance. I love the voices. The accents are unbelievable!Also, the woman who reads the Stephanie Plum books sounds just hilarious!
I love to listen to my audiobooks while working around the house or yard.
The Next Best Book Club
Books mentioned in this topic
Eat, Pray, Love (other topics)The Road (other topics)
Gone for Good (other topics)
Home to Big Stone Gap (other topics)
Rebecca (other topics)
More...
Do you like them? Hate them? Use them at all?
Is listening to an audio the same as "reading" the book?