Audiobooks discussion
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Where/when do you listen?
I always have an audiobook on in the car no matter where I go. I'll listen to an audiobook when I clean my office, too, or doing the laundry.
I had a NYC college experience that included a 90-minute commute each way (two trains and a bus), with no guarantee of a seat on any of those vehicles, so listening to a book was much easier than reading print! I still have no car, so listen on the bus as well as waiting for buses, walking to errands, etc.Audiobooks are great while eating pizza or burgers, where print books require a juggling act!
I second audiobooks during cooking, cleaning and ironing, too.
I travel a bit, so listen on planes as well.
I listen while I exercise and on long car drives. Don't get to do the car thing often, my commute to work is less than 10 minutes.
There is always a book in the car. My office is about 10 minutes away, but I do travel at times. I also have one with me in my purse at all times. I don't always remember to put my reading glasses in there but I DO remember my audios.
I listen mostly when I am in the car but I will also do some at home if the kids are not around.
I listen when I walk the dogs. I also listen on my 20 minute (more or less) commute every day. I'd love to listen while doing things around the house, but that is apparently some sort of felony that people have to keep me from commiting. Just let me put my i-Pod ear buds in, and someone, somewhere must ask me/tell me something. If I don't put the ear buds in, I could die of boredom because nobody says anything! We also listen on car trips. We usually have to negotiate something that both of us want to listen to. During the summer, I listen while doing yard work.
I started listening when I first had an hour round trip commute -- it kept the time from seeming to be so wasted, and quickly became a necessity. Mostly I listen in the car, but will sometimes bring the books in and listen when painting or doing my craft stuff.
When I was working I always had a book in the car for my 30 minute travel time.I also started listening to my MP3 player when I would sit up with my 94yo dad during his last 7 months of life. He would try to climb out of bed at night so audio books were perfect for reading in the dark.
A true audioholic will try to listen anytime anywhere. A moment wasted is another book not read. So I can't wait for an Mp3 player that will fit in or on my ear.
I listen in my car, mostly. My drive to work is only about 6 or 7 minutes, but I go home for lunch every day, so that ends up being at least 24 minutes a day. I also drive around in my car for work quite a bit, plus errands...If I'm REALLY into the book, I'll bring the CDs in the house and listen while I do dishes, cook dinner, do the laundry. I'd listen while working out, but they have TVs at my gym.... ;)
I listen when I'm in the train or when I do my laundry or when I feel like it at home.What I need to listen to an audio book is silence and time to let a chapter pass. If there is too much noise next to me I can't listen correctly and I get too distracted...
I'm another in-the-car listener. Sometimes I end up sitting in my driveway after I get home just so I can "finish this good part".
I am currently at the hospital with my Mom. While she is sleeping I listen to a book or two or three.She has been in the hospital for 23 days so I have spent a lot of time with a book in my ear lately.
Vicki, I am sorry to hear about your Mom's hospitalization. The books on tape do sound like a wonderful way to maximize all of the hours spent there.Laura, I do the same thing and will sit in the car in the garage to listen to a good part. My oldest son worried that I would get carbon dioxide poisoning so I now wait until I am ready to turn off the car before I close the garage door.
Audio books sure are a great way to "read" while accomplishing other things.
I brought my IPOD to the dentist yesterday and put in one earphone, but I was afraid to turn it on, even though I was listening to a good book (A Fraction of the Whole) - I was too scared I'd miss an important instruction, like "open wider" or something.
Plane trips -- I can't stand the sappy muzak they pipe in during boarding, so I listen to my book until the "please put away electronics" announcement.
I listen in the car to and from work, and when I'm at home doing something quiet like folding laundry or dusting. And yes, folding laundry and dusting have become my favorite chores and I do them as often as possible!
Like most of you guys, I also listen to books in the car, even if I'm only going to drive for five minutes! when you have an iPod/MP3 player that you can just plug into your stereo it makes your listening life very easy!I also tend to have my MP3 player plugged into my ears while exercising, cooking and cleaning, and while knitting. Nice and relaxing. :)
I listen during my commute to and from work. It's a little over an hour each way so I can usually get in 2 CDs per day. When the weather is nice I like to take walks during my lunch hour and I listen then, too.
I started listening 4 years ago when I lived in Spain (my husband was working with NATO) and was having a hard time finding books in English. We joined Audible.com and bought a couple of iPods. My 5 boys (10,12,16,18 and 20) have loved listening to a book every night as they go to sleep for about 10 years now. They used to get them from the library and we bought our favorite ones like the Harry Potter series. But now they listen to books we download which works well since you can set an automatic timer for it to turn off. My husband has even listened to books now as he commutes, which is great since he's never been a reader. He likes to know what we are talking about when we talk of Eragon or other series the family is listening to.I listen to books while I cook, do housework, fold laundry, curl my hair -- the daily, 'have to do' stuff. But I often listen much more than that because I have MS and sometimes I hurt a lot or I am very dizzy with vertigo and listening gives me a fun challenge for my mind. I have even listened many times while drawing and doing Sudoku. Other times I feel fine, but am just really into the book and listen when I should be doing other things. I just finished "Three Cups of Tea" and loved it.
Car.I used to listen to my iPod on my bike. I learned from experience that's very stupid.
bup wrote: "Car.I used to listen to my iPod on my bike. I learned from experience that's very stupid."
Yeah.... I listen in my car also, which is great when I have the CDs with me, but my car is too old to have an MP3-player jack in it, so if I have a book on my Zune.... well, I'm not buying the $70 car package, so I'd drive with my headphones in. BUT, my husband told me that it's illegal to drive with headphones on, so I've got a dilemma. I usually drive with one in and one out.
Do you have a cassette player in your car? That's what I have. They have converters that plugin to your iPod/CD player like headphones, but instead of headphones it's a cassette-shaped thing that goes into the cassette player. They run about $20.
Yeah, I have one of those, but it's broken. The thing will only play out of the speakers on one side of the car at a time. I need to get another one, I know. What can I say? I'm lazy... ;)
driving... sometimes while doing other tasks at home.
i am an artist and i listen while in the studio!
Only a few states actually have laws against driving with headphones, and in most of those it only addresses having BOTH ears covered.
I second Jessica... I do stained glass art and I listen to a book while I'm griding (which is a loud and annoying noise but otherwise very satisfying!) Also, cooking, in the car mostly...
I googled and found this: "The law varies from state-to-state, and is not federally legislated.I'm in Texas, and if I'm just listening to an audiobook in one ear, I can definitely hear emergency vehicles and vehicle horns. Woo! Now I don't even have to feel guilty!
"For example, in Texas, there is no law concerning headphones at all, so it is perfectly legal to wear headphones while driving (but is just as unsafe as leaving your music loud enough to overshadow emergency vehicles and vehicle horns).
"In California, unless specifically permitted to do so by law (such as emergency vehicles, highway maintenance crews, earplugs to protect from injury, hearing aids, etc.), you are barred from wearing headphones on both ears."
- From Wiki Answers
My theroy is that one ear is just about the same as driving with the radio on or a blue tooth in your ear.
Is there anyone out there who listens to audiobooks on San Francisco's BART (or similar public transit on rail)? My daughter complained that it was difficult to listen to her iPod while riding BART because of the background noise (caused by steel wheels on steel rails). So for Christmas I gave her some noise cancelling earbuds. They have a small "back box" on the cord that creates equal and opposite sound waves to cancel out the background noise sound waves. My daughter reports that they are effective and make listening while riding BART a more pleasant experience. According to the literature they reduce background noise by about 10 decibels, so surrounding sounds can still be heard at a lower volume. Thus the background noise is not suppressed so much that's it's dangerous to the wearer.
I could use that for listening on planes - brand name and cost?
Sara, I'm in Texas too - but even so, I generally only wear one earphone (or else have it pretty quitely), so hearing emergency vehicles is not a problem. For a while I even had a set of earbuds where one of them had broken. I cut off the broken one and called it my "driving phones".
Hahaha.... Way to recycle! ;) It's not just emergency vehicles, either. You need to be able to hear the tornado siren! (We don't have one here, but we did in Fort Worth. Those things are LOUD! We only lived maybe... 10 blocks from the dang thing...) (If anyone hasn't experienced one of those, turn the volume WAY down on your computer, and go to this link: www.youtube.com/watch?v=5y0o9YyWXKg . You only need to listen for about 10 seconds to get the drift... This is more what it sounds like from a distance: www.youtube.com/watch?v=4v6Q_NvPHNg )
John wrote: "I could use that for listening on planes - brand name and cost?"The Philips HN060/37 Noise-Canceling Earbuds appears and costs about the same as what I bought. Amazon.com sells them for $33.85.
John wrote: "I could use that for listening on planes - brand name and cost?"Yeah, there are a lot of different noise-canceling headphones out there, and they ARE good for listening on planes. I have the type that cover the ear, and sometimes when I'm on a plane I don't even listen to music or to a book, I just turn 'em on and go to sleep.
On the subject of noise-canceling headphones:It's my understanding that the more expensive noise-canceling headphones that cover the ear are very effective at cutting out background noise, and thus they are definitely not a good idea for use while driving.
On the subject of driving:
It is my opinion that listening to audio books while driving is not as dangerous as listening to music. The sound of a siren, horn honking or squealing tires is much more likely to be covered up by the sound of music than the sound of the a human voice. I know from personal experience that music hides the sound of my cell phone ring more effectively that an audio book.
Clif wrote: "On the subject of driving: It is my opinion that listening to audio books while driving is does not as dangerous as listening to music. The sound of a siren, horn honking or squealing tires is much more likely to be covered up by the sound of music than the sound of the a human voice."
Agreed. Listening to an audiobook in the car isn't much different than if you had a friend in the car with you and were talking with them.
I think listening to audio books in the car actually makes me a better driver. I’m calm, I’m mellow, I’m in no hurry. And I don’t have to constantly change the radio station. :)
Regarding earphones for noisy environments, another option is the kind of earphone that fits into the ear canal and has foam surrounding it to block the ear canal, similar to earplugs. You can still hear background noise but it's much quieter. I have Koss Sparkplugs and they work well. They cost about $11 at Amazon.
Carol wrote: "Ok, here's a question for you all: where/when do you listen to audio books? When I mention that I listen to a lot of books, most people say "where do you find the time?" Sort of like asking "wher..."There is always a book in mp3 player. I listen as I commute back and forth to my day job, sometimes during my lunch hour, while doing housework (almost makes housework fun), running household errands, and sometimes in the evenings.
My commute is an hour and a half each way on my way to school, so lately I've been getting a book a week!
I listen to audio books while working on the computer at work and at home.
I listen when taking the dog for a walk, in the car (one earbud here also), and when doing chores or projects around the house. I used to have to choose between getting projects done or reading - now I get to do both. Life is good.
I try and listen when I am in bed on laptop and I am going to start adding them to my MP3 player when it arrives. I also tend to take my CD player and Tape player (when I go and visit friends and family).
Fiona (Titch) wrote: "I try and listen when I am in bed on laptop and I am going to start adding them to my MP3 player when it arrives. I also tend to take my CD player and Tape player (when I go and visit friends and f..."Fiona, it funny you mention tap player. I tried to buy a small portable one in the summer and I thought the salesman at The Future Shop was going to laugh in my face. I found out you can't buy tape players any longer.
Wendy wrote: "Fiona (Titch) wrote: "I try and listen when I am in bed on laptop and I am going to start adding them to my MP3 player when it arrives. I also tend to take my CD player and Tape player (when I go a..."Wendy, if you can find a small portable stereo. We call them boombox lol. You can play CDs and Tapes as well as radio too. See if you have them around. If not, we will have to find a way for us to send you 1 from our local Argos (catalogue shop).
You might still be able to get them at Walgreens/Rite Aid/CVS and similar chains.
Anyway, I listen when I exercise, go for walks in the woods, fold laundry, cook, iron (the few times a month I do that), and take long car trips. How about you?