Comments on: Speaking of Audiobooks: Audible’s Game Changer

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By: Grace

Grace — Mon, 23 May 2011 20:56:53 +0000

I have listened to audios for nearly 20 years. I started out with an abridgment of Anne Rice books and others borrowed from a work friend since we are allowed headsets at work. The greatest thing I discovered was unabridged!!! LOL, I had no idea how much of the books I was missing. I discovered SEP unabridged at the library. It was like I hit the lottery! I had read her in print and enjoyed the books but the late reader Anna Fields was pure gold. I would sit in my driveway and listen, cracking up. I couldn’t get out of the car. Until the reader passed away, I always waited for SEP audios.
For me, the reader makes all the difference in the world. If you have a boring reader, or they don’t have a voice you like, or one that has bad habits, like one the guy wheezed every time he took a breath, they ruin the book for you. If you can be taken away by the story and it is like a play, and you are drawn in and all you want is more of the story, then you have a good reader. It helps that the book is good too, but in an audio, you listen to every word, and a bad reader can ruin a good book. (A great reader can make a not so great book seem like it is great) I recently tried a Lisa Jackson RS book and the reader sounded like an old man that was shouting. I had to turn that off.
As a reader, I may skip a section I find boring or repetitive. It’s harder on audio because you can’t see what you are skipping. I have an audio going almost all the time, sometimes 2. I’ve listened to the Harry Potters by 2 different readers, both were excellent but I actually have a preference. I had invested a lot of money at Recorded Books for my obsession, but fortunately I have found cheaper avenues. For me personally, I don’t like the straight romances as much on audio as I do in print. (I listen anyway since it’s free time in the car, and I have a long commute)Sometimes when read aloud, they seem too silly, and predictable, and occasionally…boring. That’s just me but then I’ll listen to almost anything with a good reader.

By: Abhi

Abhi — Wed, 18 May 2011 10:50:09 +0000

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By: gmat1984

gmat1984 — Wed, 18 May 2011 10:48:46 +0000

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By: Lea AAR

Lea AAR — Tue, 17 May 2011 12:40:17 +0000

I know I am much a better listener than when I started listening years ago and I do think it requires practice for those less than perfect books (and I consider most audiobooks less than perfect). Give me Outlander by Diana Gabaldon and my ear/brain just immediately falls into the task. I can’t imagine reading Outlander after hearing it performed – it’s audiobook perfection in my mind. Others that come close are Susan Elizabeth Phillip’s Chicago Start series, Julie James’ Practice Makes Perfect, the Sookie Stackhouse series, Linda Howard’s Death Angel, & Sandra Brown’s Envy. I just tune in and enjoy. But others usually take a little getting used to in some way – maybe the hero’s voice could be just a bit deeper or the female voice just a little more feminine (without sounding falsely high). There may be awkward pauses or an irritating phrase from the author that repeatedly pulls me from the story. All of these things I can now ignore for the most part if the book is well performed and the story is one I enjoy. I’ve also learned to immerse myself a little more into a secondary activity if there is a boring stretch. I can skim a book as well as most good readers but I tend to make myself stick with every page – I don’t want to miss anything. So a boring stretch here or there doesn’t bother me – I read AND work at the same time!

That’s another thing I love about audio listening. I can easily do two things at once!

But for me there is now little that is equal to a good audio book. Unless the world building is intense (and I need to refer back), I now listen without reading first – nearly all the time. I’m not great at backing up my iPod but I’m proficient enough to relisten to favorite scenes and go back to listen again for better understanding. I do both of these things when reading books. A well-performed audiobook is clearly a level above reading the printed word. There’s just more to enjoy! And now that I know narrators I prefer and authors who I enjoy, I rarely have a less than good audio experience.

By: Donna Lea Simpson

Donna Lea Simpson — Tue, 17 May 2011 11:35:05 +0000

Such great points… I wonder if listening to audiobooks does train a different part of our brain? Maybe it would make us better listeners in general if we all listened to books once in a while. Perhaps we’d tune in to conversations and really hear the other person?

By: Barbie

Barbie — Tue, 17 May 2011 10:52:28 +0000

WOOH! I am so happy to hear this maybe now Its better to have an audiable account! I m happy b/c I have many books that were ” On tape” and soon I will be listening to them digitally. My first hope is that Juidth McNaught’s Paradise comes out soon and to see more “classical” or older romances on audiable.My biggest complaint about audiable was that the romances they put out to market were not from any of my fav. authors or themes.

By: Kaetrin

Kaetrin — Tue, 17 May 2011 06:55:10 +0000

Great link Vic – thx!

By: Vic

Vic — Tue, 17 May 2011 04:12:41 +0000

Speaking of sex in audiobooks… Lorelei King just posted a blog entry on narrating sex scenes http://loreleiking.blogspot.com/2011/05/sexual-spieling.html .

As a listener, I definitely agree with her tips.

I admit that there are authors (Christine Feehan specifically because I’ve listened to a ton of her books and after a while the sex scenes sound the same and some last way too long), regardless of narrator, that I fast forward most of these scenes. Tavia Gilbert has done a decent job on them (Chp 32 of book 2 Cat/Bones anyone…). I have never minded Davina Porter reading any of them in the Outlander series. I thing Angela Dawe did a fine job in Psy/Changling and Riley Jensen series. Laurel Merlington is a FF most of the time. I liked LK’s reading for both Stephanie Plum and Mercy Thompson. Again, it’s a combination of writer of the scene and reader on how well it comes out IMO.