How do you all feel about audio books ??? To me I feel they’re just not the same…thoughts??
How do you all feel about audio books ??? To me I feel they’re just not the same…thoughts??
86 Answers
You must be logged in to post a comment.
Loading Please wait
I love audiobooks. I listen to them while I’m driving, cleaning, and shopping. It’s especially fun when a character in the book has an accent and the reader does the accent. I read books when I don’t have to multitask.
I only started listening to audio books in May. What I love is even when I am super busy, driving, cleaning, cooking etc. I can still catch up on my book. When I have time I can sit and read.
I wish those who listen to them all the luck, but they aren’t for me.
@Dorothy I just dont feel like I’m really concentrating on the story and what’s going on..m
I can listen to them, but within five minutes I completely forget what I listened to. I made it halfway through Gone Girl and could not tell you anything that happened in the beginning.
Oh my gosh, Gone Girl was the audiobook that got me addicted to audio books! It was very well performed, and I thought the voices really suited the characters. I had just started back at the gym and wanted to use the time to catch up on books I hadn’t gotten around to. So glad I did!
I love them. I still prefer to read written text, but I can still get through my books when I’m driving, cleaning, gardening, or cooking.
They aren’t for me.. it’s like watching the movie version of a wonderful book, I would always prefer the book. And seeing words and reading them is my thing hehe
Depends upon the quality of the audio and voice richness. Because if it is done professionally, then it is like some one is whispering a book in my ears…
My mom loves to listen to them while she does dishes and cleans.
I enjoy them as long as I can sit and enjoy them without doing things that are too distracting. I can fold laundry while I listen but that’s it for house cleaning.
I love audiobooks. I could barely read anything if it weren’t for them.
And remember not everyone can read. Audiobooks help many people who physically can’t see to read. As long as you’re enjoying it there’s nothing wrong with it. ?
@Alli hadn’t thought of it that way..excellent point
And dyslexics as well. Audiobooks aren’t for everyone but are a good option for some.
Exactly! They’re a god send for a lot of people. I have severe anxiety and most days I can just not make myself sit down and read. Audiobooks calm me and help so much. I’d be lost without them.
I can do 3 audiobooks in the time it takes me to sit down and read a book. I still do both but audiobooks are such a gift. They’ve allowed me to branch out into classics which were too much for me before. I would take so long to read all the long winded pages I would forget what was even happening! Librivox to the rescue! 🙂
I listen to audiobooks when I’m cooking or exercising and driving in a car, I totally dig them.
I would totally listen to them on long drives?
They are awesome when I am driving back and forth to work. Takes the tension off the traffic
I prefer reading to listening but I love knowing that I have that option if my eyesight fails me in the future
I listen to them all the time! Can download them to my phone from the library so there’s nothing to return lol. I hate the radio. They force me to work on my listening skills as I am a visual learner.
I listen to them all the time. I love them
Never used one
I find them useful for work pop my head phones in do my job get a few more books in a week that way. The only drawback for me is I read faster than they talk
I have nevet read them, but how wonderful for sight impaired, long drives and the many adults who are sadly illiterate!
They’re not for me. I read faster than the audiobook can be read, so I often get bored.
Many (most?) apps let you adjust the speed. The one I use the most goes up to 1.5x, but others can do 2x or 3x.
I tried my first one this year. It wasn’t too bad. I only listened to when I went to and from work. This wasn’t an issue as I usually have a couple books going. I found that I only like audios that have a British accent. Lol I’ve bought 3 more and they are light reading easy mysteries.
It also makes a difference listening to a good narrator. A good narrator makes the book great.
I will always like paper books
When I am cleaning the house or exercising, I just cannot read a “real” book, so audio books are great for that. For me, it is not a question of either or, I use them both.
Good idea!!!
That I what I do too.
I tried it and hated it. I just couldn’t around all the characters having the same voice. Lol
The good readers do different voices for each person. Some female readers do a great job for the men’s voices and I forget it’s a woman doing the voices. Some companies have men read the men’s parts and women read the women’s parts.
I love audiobooks! They help with the monotony of driving and the radio since I drive an hour one way to work each day. There are some books that are slightly spoiled as audio versions due to poor readers though. There are many books I have caught myself sitting in the driveway listening to bc I can’t bring myself to shut them off they’re so good!! I also do not like abridged versions – it’s too much like a movie by leaving parts out. I still enjoy physical books and books in my kindle app.
I’ve only listened to audio books for work. mental health field. I’ve never listened to my Books I read for pleasure
I can’t stand to be read to like that.
I’ll listen to them while I’m crocheting and enjoy them that way. I get to enjoy two hobbies at one time! ?
They are the only way to safely read while driving! They are also good for when you are doing crafts, like knitting or crocheting.
BUT- I like actually reading something much better.
(E-books are “ok,” I have both a Kindle and a Nook, but nothing beats a physical “page-turner!”)
Agree. Not the same.
I do audio books while cleaning
When I worked in the business office of a hospital, on swing shift (long story) I would listen to an NPR program which was essentially an audio book program (this was before CDs even). It was a great way to get through the evening and also meant I “heard” books I would almost certainly never read on my own.
I started listening to them at the gym. By now I can’t leave the house without one. I have it on my phone and walk to the metro, do my shopping and lots of other chores while listening to one. Quite like it, though I often have to rewind I give you that. Overall it feels different, I think I don’t get so much from an audio book as if I read it myself.
I like to listen to one at the gym sometimes.
Or I get car sick, so it’s music or audiobooks
I’d be serving time for mass homicide without them, so I figure they’re a good thing.
I can’t stand audio books. I have to read. I can’t stand reading along or anything. I have to read my own book, on paper (though ebooks are okayish), and in mostly silence
Love them, I like hearing the narrator talk when I’m cleaning/walking the dog and I can actually find out how certain things are pronounced (aka character names/place names)
used to love them as a child. would bring more imagination to me whenever i closed my eyes. i could even sleep to the soft voices that spoke :3
Love them. They have introduced me to authors and genres I would have never otherwise taken the time to sit down and read. When the narrator and the story come together in a harmonious flow then there is norhing like it. I still enjoy reading books but some authors and books are taken to another level when combined with the right narrator.
Love listening to audio on trips.
For a long car ride they would be great but otherwise they are not for me.
Listening to self help books at night are nice lol
Love them for road trips and my commute is an hour each way, it kills the time AND I am entertained!! I especially like when the author reads the book.
Never tried it
Took me a lil time to get used to – but as hubby is legally blind I listen to audio more now then I used to
I love audio books. I can do other things while I listen to the book. I download them from the library so no cost. I love when they are done in the local dialect. Love the southern drawl of Mary Kay Andrews or the northern twang from Stephanie Plum. I have discovered authors and books that I would not have read but have enjoyed listening to.
My mind wanders if I’m not actually seeing the words. I’m a very visual person
Not the same but great in the car, especially on a long ride.
I love audio books, they allow me to drive, work or cook whilst I listen to them. I also agree with Judy Sewell some narrators are excellent and bring a whole new dimension to the story, one of my favourites is the Sookie Stackhouse books, Johanna Parker has the Southern twang down and it makes the books so much more enjoyable.
Good for insomnia. Bedtime stories- Zzzz.
And ooh lala, with a “good” reader- Sweet Dreams.
I love audio books! I only recently started listening to them but I looooove them.
It depends where I am. I prefer to read a book in print rather than on something electronic. it’s the dinosaur in me. But, there are times when you can’t read a book whether it is in print or on a device. On those occasions, usually on a long car journey, I like to listen to a good audio book. The miles seem to drift by and an eight hour journey is soon complete. It is really important to get a narrator who is engaging to listen to because some can be so boring there is a danger of falling asleep.
I always have one going.. Listen to books while exercising, doing housework, etc I usually listen to non-fiction or mysteries..
Back in history, before audio books, people would read aloud to each other. Remember the scene in ‘Gone with the Wind’ where Miss Melanie is reading Dickens aloud to the other women while they are doing their needlework? Nothing wrong with audio books. I, myself, love listening to very light mysteries while I do my needlework. I listen to books that I’d more than likely not spend the time on reading.
I know, I love doing that, but the other person just looks at me like I’m crazy.
Yep
Audio books help me get through long drives. The narrator makes a big difference, though. I really disliked the narrator for the Hush Hush series.
I’ve heard some narrators that mispronounce something in their characters job field. In one series the main character was a computer programmer and the narrator mispronounced computer terms. It made it hard to really get immersed in the story because the main character would never do that.
Yup not same but interesting
I love audio books. The narrator makes a huge difference though. Makes or breaks it for me.
I can’t get into them….
Love listening to P. G. Wodehouse Blandings set on audio. If I am feeling blegh then Martin Jarvis (the best UK reader anyway) can always make me feel much better quickly, he reads so well, and Wodehouse never had a word wasted.. Other audio books help work pass quickly (particularly my local library app) and some of the chores get done to them too (though I do tend to get distracted if it is a good book) in general they slow my reading down (which is a very good thing!
Fine for a long car ride
never really try them
I read Neil DeGrasse Tyson’s book Astrophysics for people in a hurry and then I listened to him read it on audio… I got a lot more out of it with him reading it because of them expression and his emphasis in certain parts. It drove home what I had missed just reading it by myself.
I love it when authors read their own books
? just noticed my typo… 16 hours at work yesterday and having to be back up first thing this morning made my brain mush! Should be “the expression”. Sorry
I didn’t even notice 🙂
I commute an hour each way for work so love them. Books are better of course, but until they get self driving cars perfected……
Not the same, but it’s entertaining in the car for mind distraction.
The only audio books I like are for my college classes makes it a lot easier to read those boring books.
I love them I travel a lot and it keeps me company.