Audio books… What do YOU think of them?

Since my feature that covered the past three months on eBooks seemed to be quite a hit, I decided to try a discussion about another format of books I have come to love recently, audio books. I have become a convert to this format in the past two years.

How did it start for me? Well I’ll tell you. It can be summed up in two words… Harry Potter. Yes, that lovable young adult series made me an audio fan. I have bought every single Harry Potter book, in hardcover as they’ve come out, but I never have time to sit down and read them with my other obligations. My books I get to review always take precedence over anything else and I get so many of those that it takes up almost all of my reading time. I would think, “I need to read Harry Potter,” then I’d look at the size of the books and they’d be put off yet again. It all started with Book 5, Order of the Phoenix. When that book came out two summers ago, I advance ordered it, but couldn’t read it since I’d not yet read any of the books before it. I just happened to be in Little Rock in July 2003, just after the book was released and was talking with my coworkers who have read them. One of the women I work with told me she had all the books in the series on tape and asked if I wanted to borrow them. I was hesitant at first thinking I wouldn’t like listening to books so I told her I’d think about it. I was out there again a few months later and decided what the heck I’d give it a shot. She didn’t have the first book available just then as her father had borrowed them so I had to wait again. But finally I was back out there in December or so of that year and got my hands on the first three books on tape.

I was so excited I started listening to book one on the way home in the car and I was hooked for life! I think it helps I picked such a great audio series to start with since Jim Dale does such a fantastic job of performing them. And yes it IS a performance on most audio books. It’s not just someone reading to you, they get into the story and the characters, with different voices and such. I found that I got totally engrossed in the story by listening to it. I thought it would be hard to follow listening as opposed to reading, but it isn’t at all.

So I plowed through the first three books, actually finding I wanted to spend MORE time driving (and anyone who knows me well knows how much I abhor driving a lot.) so I could listen a little farther in the book. After I polished off the first three, I moved on to Books 4 and 5 in the series. That was it for me. Now I’m a true audio fan and listen to books all the time.

I find though, that I choose audio for different kinds of books then I read normally. I’m a huge romance novel fan, but I don’t do a lot of romance in audio format. There’s something about hearing someone read those love scenes spelled out in detail to me as opposed to reading them quietly myself. It does make for some interesting looks from other cars on the road when the windows are open though and I have my books cranked up so I can hear them. J I have eclectic reading tastes, though romance is my first love. I just don’t have as much reading time as I’d like anymore. So audio is the way to go for me. I choose to listen to books in my library that are other than romance. I have discovered that this makes it easier for me to get through my HUGE collection of books to read and gives me some variety and a chance to read other than my usual romance.

And the obsession grows. I started talking in some of my book groups about how I got turned on to audio books and now I have made converts of some of my friends. They also swear by audio now. And I listen more then just in the car, though most of my audio is done that way. I drive all over Texas for work so I put a lot of driving time in. This gets tiring when you are on the road all the time, and seeing miles and miles of nothing but highway ahead of me puts me into a drowsy mood. Ever since I started listening to audio though, I don’t have as much of a problem getting sleepy behind the wheel. Of course my primary focus is on my driving, but having a book playing forces me to stay more alert so I can follow what is happening. Yes, I do have times driving takes all my concentration and I miss parts of a book, so I find I have to rewind and replay segments now and then. But for the most part, I don’t have to.

I’ve even gotten to the point now where I listen to audio books at work. I pop one of my earphones in so I don’t disturb my office mate with my book, but that leaves the other ear to listen for visitors and the phone to ring. So I feel like I’m accomplishing twice as much. I’m getting my work done, and my reading at the same time. Being the multi-tasker that I am, this is a great thing.

Now the important part, where do I get my books? Audio books get very expensive as I have found out by buying some of them. So what’s my solution? I rediscovered my local library. I’ve not rented a single print book from there since I moved here two years ago and got my library card, but I’m a regular audio book borrower. Almost weekly I am up there picking something out. And I discovered their “wish list” feature on their website. I have over a hundred audio books listed there and I just go in when I need a new book and pick one. I reserve it a week or so before I’m ready for it, and then by the time I need a new book, it’s usually back if it was already checked out.

I do still buy some now and again of certain authors or series that I love and want to have to listen time and again if I so choose, but most of my audio books come from the library. It sure saves me a lot of money since one audio book can run $40 or more. It all depends on the length of the book it seems. More pages to read and record mean more tapes and CDs to make so more money shelled out to complete the book and they have to make their profit of course. <g>

I have discovered some websites online as well though I’ve not tried any of those yet. Many will allow you to rent audio books for a fee, always less then to purchase the book, and some websites have download options so you can download the book and record it yourself to CD if you so desire. Or you can just load it to a handheld device and play it from that.

I’m thinking I’ll get in to some of that in my next column. I’ll track down some websites that do this for you, some audio book publishing options, and some of those download sites as well.

What I want to know right now is… What do YOU think of audio books? Are you a fan of listening while you drive or work? Or do you prefer to read the book yourself and get pleasure out of reading that way? What sorts of books do you choose to listen to if you go that route? Do you find yourself listening to different things then you would normally read? Or do you listen to the exact same types of books you normally read yourself. I want YOUR input! Send your thoughts and suggestions to me at [email protected] and I’ll compile them for my next column. Until next time, I hope you find wonderful books to curl up with and read, or listen to.