Audiobooks?

 

I have to admit, I’ve never really been a fan of audiobooks before. I found them difficult to listen to and they put me to sleep more often than not, no matter what the book was or who the reader. This year I’ve vowed to give them a second chance, and try to get into the audiobook culture a bit more. There’s a few reasons I want to do this but the biggest reason is pretty basic, I can’t always dedicate as much time to reading as I would like. Lets face it, we’ve all got busy lives and while we may be able to fit in some time here and there on a daily basis, is it really enough? Of course not! Instead of listening to the radio all day long while I work at my standing desk, I want to try audiobooks. Will I stick with it? Who knows, but I want to give it a proper effort.

There are lots of places you can get audiobooks these days. Two very popular options I was given are Audible (now owned by amazon) and LibriVox. Of course the hardest part of listening to an audiobook is not finding a book that you want to listen to – but finding a voice who can read the book you want to listen to – well. You want someone who can pronounce names and places, who doesn’t read in a strict monotone, and who you can actually understand. Thankfully Audible lets listeners vote and comment, so you won’t be thrust into a horrible situation unaware. LibriVox is a bit touch and go, especially as all readers are volunteers but there are a lot of gems.

Right now I’ve picked up Moby Dick from LibriVox, since I’ve never read it before. The reader is fantastic, and I’m on chapter 7 so far and haven’t fallen asleep. That’s a good sign for me. I’ve never been much of a podcast listener for the exact same reason.

Have other audiobook suggestions? Any sites or books that you just absolutely fell in love with? Let me know in comments!