The audiobook

Hello, and happy Friday.  Thanks for coming back to my little corner of the webosphere.  Today, I wanted to share my thoughts about audiobooks. I just read…errm, listened to my first one. It is with mixed emotions (feeling unreasonably melodramatic today) that I share my thoughts with you.  Book review on the audio book in question will be coming soon…so stay tuned!

To keep things simple, I am segregating my thoughts into a pros and cons evaluation.  

Pros:

1. My audiobook was free!  I mean it doesn’t get any better than that.  If you download the audible application, an amazon company, to your phone, your first book is free. Score! I have noticed too that on amazon audiobooks are frequently less expensive than the other formats.
2. For time constrained people (aren’t we all?!) they are convenient.  You can listen to them in the car while driving to work or any other destination.  You can turn one on while cooking, folding laundry, or any other everyday task.
3. Audiobooks are eco-friendly.  I hear this is all the rage.
4. They will bring you, and Marie Kondo ‘joy’, as they take up no space.
5. They are a welcome break for your eyes, especially if you sit in front of a computer all day.
6. If you have vision problems and love to read, your problem is solved.

Cons:

1. For a book reading snob like me, who really has no reason to be one except that I feel like I am, reading a tangible book makes you all warm and fuzzy inside.  There is nothing quite like cozying up on the couch with a soft blanket, a cup of honey-sweetened chamomile tea, and a good book at night. The audiobook did not have that effect on me. Maybe I will adjust. When I was first gifted a kindle, I didn’t want to use a tablet for a book. I wanted to turn actual pages, and look at a drawing on an actual piece of paper.  Weird, I know.
2. When I read something in a book that has an impact on me, I stop for a moment.  You don’t get to do that with an audiobook. It just keeps right on going.
3. Usually you cannot share audiobooks, and I love sharing a favorite read with a friend or family member.
4. I don’t know if all audiobooks sound alike as I have only read…there it is again, LISTENED to one, but the narrator on mine had a robotic undertone.  If you are into non-fiction, it probably wouldn’t bother you, as you are a fact seeker. The audiobook I am listening to now is non-fiction, but that is a rare read for me. I love fiction because of the way the novels transport me to another place, and I need emotion and feeling in that, not a robot.
5. In audiobooks it is a little tough to refer back to a place you want to find, though this is not a dealbreaker for me.

So, I know inquiring minds are dying to know if I will listen to an audiobook again (J/K I know you are in fact completely indifferent).  The answer is YES, of course I will. They fit into my perfect, crazy busy, life and I find them irreplaceable. Make no mistake though, a good ‘ole paperback will always have my heart.

What are your thoughts on audio books?  Have they made you into a reader when you were a non-reader?  Share your thoughts, even if it is to disagree with anything I have said.  

Have a wonderful weekend. See ya’ll soon.  Same bat time, same bat place.