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Audio books: Your thoughts?

radcen

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Audio books: Your thoughts?

How do they compare to the paper version in terms of complete content?

I bought a book on tape about 25 years ago. It was a book that I had recently finished as I wanted to assess how good the format was relative to the actual book. I was very unimpressed. Hence, I have not purchased an audio book of any kind since.

However, I am thinking of giving the format another try, primarily for driving as I have a 45 minute commute each way.

Do you do audio books? In your opinion, what are the pros and cons?

Thanks. :)
 
Audio books: Your thoughts?

How do they compare to the paper version in terms of complete content?

I bought a book on tape about 25 years ago. It was a book that I had recently finished as I wanted to assess how good the format was relative to the actual book. I was very unimpressed. Hence, I have not purchased an audio book of any kind since.

However, I am thinking of giving the format another try, primarily for driving as I have a 45 minute commute each way.

Do you do audio books? In your opinion, what are the pros and cons?

Thanks. :)

I was exactly like you a few weeks ago, I had the same curiosity...I've always enjoyed reading, but the last few years I havent had the motivation.

Just 2 weeks ago I listened to an audiobook While at work and driving and I finished it in like 3 days ... and Im on my third one since then :)

So far I like it a lot.... and as far as my analysis of what it's good for is is that it's good to get you motivated about a book... Listening to the first 5 chapters, it didn't matter if I had it in book form or audio form anymore to me, I was drawn in. I could have easily switched between the two. For some reason in my head, the effort of an audiobook is not as stressful as getting into a book.
So aside from the convenience factor of it being audio, that is another thing that it does for me.

Youtube has a good amount of audiobooks with ads
 
My dad was blind and had these massive cassettes in the post from the "Talking Book" service. I was an avid listener but do remember that the reader could make a huge difference. A flat delivery can kill the best story.
 
If it has a good reader I am all for it. Generally I love audio books as I can listen to the story while relaxing or doing something.
 
Audio books: Your thoughts?

How do they compare to the paper version in terms of complete content?

I bought a book on tape about 25 years ago. It was a book that I had recently finished as I wanted to assess how good the format was relative to the actual book. I was very unimpressed. Hence, I have not purchased an audio book of any kind since.

However, I am thinking of giving the format another try, primarily for driving as I have a 45 minute commute each way.

Do you do audio books? In your opinion, what are the pros and cons?

Thanks. :)

Me personally, I have zero interest in audio books. However, my mother loves them. Nowadays I think most are complete and unabridged. The ones my mother listens to, that I have to hear when I drive her around, have professional actors reading it, and seem to put real effort into giving the various characters unique, identifiable voices and appropriate inflection.

For me though, I could not get past the handiness of paper and E-books. Being able to set it down to look something up(or being able to look it up in book with E-books), being easily able to refer back to a passage, and so on ensure I won't be going to audio books any time soon.
 
Audio books: Your thoughts?

How do they compare to the paper version in terms of complete content?

I bought a book on tape about 25 years ago. It was a book that I had recently finished as I wanted to assess how good the format was relative to the actual book. I was very unimpressed. Hence, I have not purchased an audio book of any kind since.

However, I am thinking of giving the format another try, primarily for driving as I have a 45 minute commute each way.

Do you do audio books? In your opinion, what are the pros and cons?

Thanks. :)

I am a huge audiobook fan.

As far as content, they are just like their printed counterpart. If you want the whole picture, only go for unabridged versions. They are a word for word reading of the book.

The reader, or narrator is critical to the enjoyment of audiobooks. Some readers are so good, I follow them as much as I do a good author. A good reader brings the characters alive, creating distinctive voices and personalities for each separate character. It becomes more of a performance. I don't, however, much like dramatic audiobook performances with the use of sound effects and the like, too distracting for me. A little bit is okay, but it's easy to overdo IMHO.

Another factor is cost. Physical copies of audiobooks on cd can be quite expensive, and even electronic copies can be costly. I subscribe to Audible, and get one credit per month for fifteen bucks. Most books are one credit, but some wildly popular books can be two. But, as a member there are also discounts and sales all the time. Another great resource for me here in Ohio is something called the Ohio Ebook Project. With a library card number, there are literally thousands of titles that can be downloaded for free. The DRM is strong, and like any other library material there is a checkout period. But basically, once it's loaded onto your player you can listen at your leisure. I imagine other states have similar programs.
 
Another factor is cost. Physical copies of audiobooks on cd can be quite expensive, and even electronic copies can be costly. I subscribe to Audible, and get one credit per month for fifteen bucks. Most books are one credit, but some wildly popular books can be two. But, as a member there are also discounts and sales all the time. Another great resource for me here in Ohio is something called the Ohio Ebook Project. With a library card number, there are literally thousands of titles that can be downloaded for free. The DRM is strong, and like any other library material there is a checkout period. But basically, once it's loaded onto your player you can listen at your leisure. I imagine other states have similar programs.

Son, just hit up your local library. They probably have a lot of audiobooks and if not, get an inter-library loan. Burn those onto your hard drive and your good.

I know that my library has audio books which you can virtually take out as well as many on CD.
 
I LOVE audio books. I spend about 4 hours a day commuting in my car and if not for audiobooks and podcasts I would probably go insane.

My absolute favorite way to enjoy a book is to read it on my Kindle, outside, in a hammock, on a sunny day with a gentle breeze. But it is very difficult for me to find time to do so nowadays. I have two young children so when I am at home I am occupied with them.

But I enjoy audiobooks almost as much and, sometimes, the voice actor is so good I actually enjoy it more than if I had read the book myself. I have even gotten to the point now that I will decide which audiobook to read next often based off of who the voice actor is.

Audible.com is awesome. If you don't buy audio books often you can of course just buy the audio book and pay the sticker price which will run you around the cost of its hard cover equivalent. But if you listen to a lot of audio books you should get one of their membership plans. In these plans you buy "credits". And with the exception of some of the 1,000 pager books, one audiobook costs one credit. The more credit you buy the cheaper they are. I usually buy 12 credits for $149. So I am paying just over 12 bucks for an audiobook, which is a really good deal because I tend to enjoy long books. If you just buy a lot of short one then you might be better off paying cover price.

And if you have a smart phone the Audible app makes it easy. Sometimes, when the voice actor speaks very clearly, I will even listen to it at 1.25 or 1.5 speed without much loss at all in quality.

I am a gold member. For example With the exception of some of the thousand pager books, one book is one credit.
 
Son, just hit up your local library. They probably have a lot of audiobooks and if not, get an inter-library loan. Burn those onto your hard drive and your good.

I know that my library has audio books which you can virtually take out as well as many on CD.
That's why I mentioned The Ohio Ebook project. That's where I get most of my audiobooks. It's free, and you need travel no farther than your computer. I never had much luck checking out audiobooks from brick and mortar libraries. The CDs are usually so scratched up that ripping them onto your hard drive is impossible. I like my little Sansa Clip music player, it's tiny and clips to my shirt collar. Also, the library website has a great player app for the smart phone, as does Audible. But, sometimes Audible is the only source for certain books. Also, some popular titles have long waiting lists. I usually have two or three on hold at any given time. :D
 
That's why I mentioned The Ohio Ebook project. That's where I get most of my audiobooks. It's free, and you need travel no farther than your computer. I never had much luck checking out audiobooks from brick and mortar libraries. The CDs are usually so scratched up that ripping them onto your hard drive is impossible. I like my little Sansa Clip music player, it's tiny and clips to my shirt collar. Also, the library website has a great player app for the smart phone, as does Audible. But, sometimes Audible is the only source for certain books. Also, some popular titles have long waiting lists. I usually have two or three on hold at any given time. :D

Bruh... the only person I know who has a Sansa (three of them in fact) is my mom. Get an Ipod. :mrgreen:
 
Bruh... the only person I know who has a Sansa (three of them in fact) is my mom. Get an Ipod. :mrgreen:

Dude, iPods are huge. The Sansa clip clips to my shirt. I work in construction, I need something portable and inexpensive. Plus, the clip is one of the most audiobook friendly devices out there. Not all devices are. Besides, I don't need an iPod, I have a smart phone and an iPad.

The clip plus is the most durable player I have found. Couple that with a silicone cover and a good pair of ear buds and it's perfect for me. I constantly have to pause and rewind with wet hands, I've destroyed a TON of music players with wet hands. The clip plus is about 1 1/2" x 2" and about a half inch thick. Sansa Clip+ MP3 Player by SanDisk
 
Audio books: Your thoughts?

How do they compare to the paper version in terms of complete content?

I bought a book on tape about 25 years ago. It was a book that I had recently finished as I wanted to assess how good the format was relative to the actual book. I was very unimpressed. Hence, I have not purchased an audio book of any kind since.

However, I am thinking of giving the format another try, primarily for driving as I have a 45 minute commute each way.

Do you do audio books? In your opinion, what are the pros and cons?

Thanks. :)

I like them.I listened to Dreams From My father, The Koran, Holy Bible, book of Mormon, and Trickle Up Poverty on audio book. Trickle Up Poverty was written by my favorite talk show host Michael Savage. But the guy paid to read it seemed kind of boring and dull,so it was not enjoyable to listen to that book.Maybe if I never heard Michael Savage's voice before then the voice of the guy paid to read it may have been more tolerable. Dreams from my Father was read by Barrack Obama.It had the feel as if I was watching one of those PBS history shows where they a lot of old photos and some guy is narrating it. The dramatized audio book of the bible I listened to had different sections,verses and etc read by different people, and had the feel of a TV show with multiple actors and actresses playing different parts. The Koran and Book of Mormon were not dramatized but there were not boring to listen to.
 
If anyone enjoys sci-fi and audiobooks try out some of the books narrated by R.C. Bray. I could listen to him read the phonebook and enjoy it.
 
Audio books: Your thoughts?

How do they compare to the paper version in terms of complete content?

I bought a book on tape about 25 years ago. It was a book that I had recently finished as I wanted to assess how good the format was relative to the actual book. I was very unimpressed. Hence, I have not purchased an audio book of any kind since.

However, I am thinking of giving the format another try, primarily for driving as I have a 45 minute commute each way.

Do you do audio books? In your opinion, what are the pros and cons?

Thanks. :)

i love them. it's a different experience. i really like the voice actors on Audible.com; every one of them is flat out awesome. i also enjoy audiobooks because i drive and exercise a lot. it makes both activities much more enjoyable.
 
Audio books: Your thoughts?

How do they compare to the paper version in terms of complete content?

I bought a book on tape about 25 years ago. It was a book that I had recently finished as I wanted to assess how good the format was relative to the actual book. I was very unimpressed. Hence, I have not purchased an audio book of any kind since.

However, I am thinking of giving the format another try, primarily for driving as I have a 45 minute commute each way.

Do you do audio books? In your opinion, what are the pros and cons?

Thanks. :)
I use Audible. All the books I have are unabridged. I'm currently finishing up the Monument 14 trilogy.
 
My dad was blind and had these massive cassettes in the post from the "Talking Book" service. I was an avid listener but do remember that the reader could make a huge difference. A flat delivery can kill the best story.
The reader for Game of Thrones is terrible. His vocal range is narrow, all of his femail voices sound like old women, his character voices are inconsistent and he runs dialog between characters together so you think one person said everything.
 
The reader for Game of Thrones is terrible. His vocal range is narrow, all of his femail voices sound like old women, his character voices are inconsistent and he runs dialog between characters together so you think one person said everything.
Roy Dotrice was a fantastic reader in the first couple of books, but as his health deteriorated, his reading became worse, he changed the voices of some of the characters, most notably, Daenerys Targaryan. I still think he was a good reader. Love his voice for Tyrion. He was actually going to play the role of Grand Maester Pycell on the HBO series, but health issues sidelined him. Personal preference I guess. My absolute favorite fantasy novel reader is Michael Kramer. He read Jordan's Wheel of Time series, along with his wife, Kate Reading (also a great reader).
 
The reader for Game of Thrones is terrible. His vocal range is narrow, all of his femail voices sound like old women, his character voices are inconsistent and he runs dialog between characters together so you think one person said everything.

The real test of a good narrator is how they handle dialogue from the opposite sex. There is definitely an art to it not sounding cheesy.
 
Our neighbor is pretty much blind. His sight is such that watching TV or reading is not an option. Audio books gives him some entertainment and keeps his mind active.
 
I have tried them but I just find them too slow, I am a very fast reader so I prefer to just read it.
 
He read Jordan's Wheel of Time series, along with his wife, Kate Reading (also a great reader).

I prefer there just being one really good narrator but I have listened to audiobooks where there were two narrators, one for the male characters and one for the female characters. I enjoy that sometimes. Oddly, though, I don't enjoy ensemble casts of narrators. I keep trying listen to my Dune audiobook, which has five different narrators for all the different characters. I don't really like that. It starts to sound too much like a movie for me.
 
I have tried them but I just find them too slow, I am a very fast reader so I prefer to just read it.

The Audible app lets you listen at 0.75x, 1.0x, 1.25x, 1.5x, 2x, 2.5x, and 3.0x speeds without affecting the pitch. If you start right off at 2.0x speed it sounds wierd, but if you gradually work up to it your brain adjusts to it easily, as long as the narrator has a clear speaking voice.
 
Audible subscriber here. Great for driving and airplane trips. The only problem I find is if I switch off for a little bit or something interrupts me, it's really difficult to find the spot where I left off. You can't scan through it to the right place.
 
I prefer there just being one really good narrator but I have listened to audiobooks where there were two narrators, one for the male characters and one for the female characters. I enjoy that sometimes. Oddly, though, I don't enjoy ensemble casts of narrators. I keep trying listen to my Dune audiobook, which has five different narrators for all the different characters. I don't really like that. It starts to sound too much like a movie for me.

I am the same way, but Kramer and Reading are a special team. They both do male and female in WOT, just from different POVs.

They both do stand alone readings, and I have followed them both through multiple authors.
 
I am the same way, but Kramer and Reading are a special team. They both do male and female in WOT, just from different POVs.

They both do stand alone readings, and I have followed them both through multiple authors.

I'll have to check them out.
 
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