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Audiobooks 2

Rexedgar

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My sight is starting to make reading more challenging. I’ll read before bead and often I have to backtrack the next time because i have lost the thread. I am thinking that I may fall asleep while listening and find it hard to pick up where I left off. How are others finding audiobooks and what are the choices for content. Amazon has Audible, are there other sources?
 
I had Audible for a few years and still have about 15 books to listen to on it. I think it's still $14.95 a month for 1 selection of almost any book you want regardless of the price of your selection.

Not a bad deal, but, if you're a busy bee, as you can see, you'll get backlogged.
 

I drive so audiobooks are a godsend. I share Audible with my spouses. We also use Chirp, which is doing pretty good.

Sent from my cp3705A using Tapatalk
 

I have failing eyesight as dyslexia so reading takes me much longer than it should. It's made even worse since my eyesight has started to fail me it seems my biggest reading issue is in the transition from the end of one line to the next. I have equal chance of accidentally skipping ahead an extra line or restarting the line I just finished.

The only real upside I find is that when I read something I have usually read it at least three times by the time I'm through it. :lol:

I even find that when I type I can type much faster if I don't look at the screen as I type since my eyes keep trying to pick up where I am and it creates a sensation not unlike trying to talk while your voice is being echoed back on a delay. I do most of my typing looking at my hands and most of my editing in my head. [insert joke here]

Because of all this I have taken to audio books. It helps that I have a long commute and have had to do a lot of long road trips over the last few years, so I burn through audio books.

I have learned over the last few years to only listen when there are no distractions, much like my old routine for reading books, and not as a prelude to a nap of at bedtime because I invariable wake up after an hour or more has played in my sleep, and I end having something spoiled and have an unerring sense of deja vu when I re-listen to the parts I missed.

I've managed to finish over 20 books in the last year which is more than I could manage when I was reading them myself.
 


Since my post, I have signed up for Audible. My first selection was “Truman” by McCullough. After beginning, I found a paperback copy on my shelves. The narrator speaks in a mostly smooth monotone. When he pauses, it’s difficult to tell if this is a natural break, that is section or chapter break, or just a pause. I can’t listen while driving as I think it takes too much attention away from the task at hand. When I am listening. it is sometimes easy to daydream and lose concentration. I have marked the paperback copy with a bookmark as I am proceeding;
I think “Truman” can qualify as a ‘tome.’
 

I don't have a problem driving and listening, the two processes occupy different lanes, I guess.

What I don't get is I have a younger brother who is a voracious reader and he can read and watch a movie simultaneously. That definitely poses a traffic jam in my brain.

As for what I read, I alternate between bubblegum action/fantasy, philosophy and historical fiction/non-fiction.

I just tried a double header going from "Helmet for my Pillow" to "We were Soldiers once, and young"... but that proved to be too deep a dig into human suffering for me. Two weeks submerged in the horrors of war fighting is too much, apparently. I took a break with Somewhither, and then the new Dresden Files book dropped and I can't say no to a book by Jim Butcher. I'll finish "We were Soldiers" when I'm done with the latest edition of The Dresden Files.
 
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Oh, also, since you seem fairly new to this, I can loan you some of my Audible library if you want as well. I have about 70 books in my Audible library.
 
jmotivator said:
Oh, also, since you seem fairly new to this, I can loan you some of my Audible library if you want as well. I have about 70 books in my Audible library.
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Thanks.
How does that work?
 
Rexedgar said:
Thanks.
How does that work?
Click to expand...

Hmmm... on further review, they appear to have changed it from "Loan" to giving books as gifts. I'm OK with that as well, since most of these I won't listen to again.

I'd need your email address, though. I have a selection of Fantasy, Sci-Fi, Historical fiction and non fiction to choose from. If you want something just PM me with your Audible account email address and I'll send you something. Here is some of the stuff I can part with (listened to them all at least once)

Historical Fiction:

The Killer Angels
A Good Clean Fight (RAF in North Africa.. sequel to A Piece of Cake)

Historical Non-Fiction:

Band of Brothers
Helmet for my Pillow
With the Old Breed

Fantasy:

Codex Alera 1-6 (Jim Butcher Sword and Sorcery in an Ancient Roman setting)
Game of Thrones series

Sci-Fi:

The Mote in God's Eye
Illium (hard to explain.. it's Sci-Fi, but also the Illiad.. and also neither. Great book)


I've never tried it, but I suppose in theory we can gift books and gift them back when we are done. But I'm willing to lose any of those titles and we can test the re-gift theory when you are done with it.
 
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Thanks for the offer, I have read all but the one on the RAF in Africa and I have never gotten interested in the other genres. (Sci-fI and fantasy)

Where are you in VA, we are in the greater Fredericksburg area.?
 
While on furlough and not at work I decided to use the exercise bike and listen to an audio book called After it Happened and it's excellent.
The story is about a group of people who survive a mysterious end of the world type event where almost everyone died and it's set in the UK.
The narrator is the amazing R. C Bray whose American and has a wonderful voice and somehow even with his deep and manly tone manages to portray a young girl who's a huge part of the story splendidly.

It's 6 books with a follow-on trilogy and I can heartily recommend it.

Robot Check
 
Rexedgar said:
Thanks for the offer, I have read all but the one on the RAF in Africa and I have never gotten interested in the other genres. (Sci-fI and fantasy)

Where are you in VA, we are in the greater Fredericksburg area.?
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I'm also in the greater Fredericksburg area. Small world. I think any more narrowing should be taken to PMs for our collective safety. :lol:
 
jmotivator said:
I'm also in the greater Fredericksburg area. Small world. I think any more narrowing should be taken to PMs for our collective safety. :lol:
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Even smaller. I had a great aunt and great uncle who lived near Fredericksburg, IIRC. Mom got her spinning wheel (yes still functional). We live in Salisbury on Delmarva.

So if you have Amazon Prime and get e-books, you can pick up the audio book for a discounted price and then play it on Audible.

If you can find it, I highly recommend The Game Is Life series. There was only 4 books when I first discovered it, but it seems that it's up to 8 books. Don't know how the audio book will be.

If you are an Avatar:Last Airbender fan, the audio of The Rise of Kyoshi: Book 1 was excellant.
 
Update, I subscribed to Audible, by Amazon, and selected Truman by David McCullough. One drawback is at the beginning the hours are displayed; 50+ hours of narration, sort of intimidating.
The other drawback is that I haven’t been able to figure out how to page ahead and find where the breaks are. Across multiple devices, sometimes the bookmarks get confused. Listening to a narrative, it is much easier to get distracted and day dream. “Truman” is interesting in these strange times.....
 
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