For the longest time, I’ve considered audio books cheating. Listening to a book doesn’t count as reading it. And who would want to sit there for hours listening when you could be feasting your eyes on written words.
I love words. I love looking at the way people weave words into unique sentences and perspectives. I’ve always felt that if I could only hear and not see, I would be missing out on truly appreciating someone’s writing.
Over the past few months, I’ve been listening to podcasts while taking Thor out for his daily walks. At first, I thought I wouldn’t like it (because listening to music seemed more fun and energizing), but I quickly realized that it was actually even MORE enjoyable. Haha! I found myself grinning like a fool, walking a little bit longer just to get to the end of a topic or episode.
This is what made me rethink my old, harsh opinion about audio books.
On Twitter, you guys suggested I give it a shot.
So, here we go. I just downloaded a free book and have 30 days to try it.
The audio book I chose is called The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains. It’s been on my Amazon wish list for months.
I’ll keep you posted. I’m very curious to see if I’ll be able to focus… Without visual guidance, my mind has a tendency to drift.
Hope you have a great week!
Thanks for reading,
Malu
27 Comments
I have the same opinion. Had an audio book my Brother-in-law loaned me for months. Never could “listen” to the book. (Doesn’t even sound right – “listen” – should be never could “read” the book.) Anyway, good luck.
September 20, 2016 at 4:05 pmWe’ll see how it goes! I listened to about 30 minutes yesterday, and it was an interesting experience. I’m hoping to write an update post at the end of this week to explain what it has been like, once I have a bit more hours of listening time. And yes, I agree “listening” to a book sounds weird. hahaha!
September 21, 2016 at 12:10 amHaha, the things you said about words reminded me your previous post about Brush Lettering.
September 21, 2016 at 12:03 amI never tried audio books myself, thinking it was completely different from a “classical” reading and less enjoyable. I thought this difference was similar to the one existing between real books and e-books. I tried e-books and didn’t really liked this so maybe I thought every kind of “alternative books” weren’t as good as real ones. Now that I read your post I feel like it may have been a mistake 😀
Moreover I like the way storytellers can give life to their tales…
Ok I will try this, definitely 🙂
Tell us if you liked it!
Hahahaha! 😀 So cool that you also read the Brush Letter post! 😀 I will definitely update you guys on what the experience is like. And if you do get to try it, please let me know what you think, too! I’m curious because we have similar views… I prefer real books to ebooks, as well. hehe!
September 21, 2016 at 12:07 amYour selection of audio book is interesting, as a video game nerd I would assume that you would enjoy fantasy or science fiction more than what you picked. If you haven’t done it yet, get the audio book, The Martian. The story is amazing, about 100 times better than the movie even though it had Matt Damon in it. While reading that one I found myself weeping quietly one moment and laughing like a fool the next. I think my wife thought I was going insane at the time. Then I listened to the audio book version and it is better than reading the book myself, probably because of who they got to read it.
October 3, 2016 at 5:27 amHehe! You’re right… it might seem like a bit of a weird book. 😀 I did think about possibly getting a fiction/fantasy book, but decided to start with this one to get familiar with the spoken word format. I still feel a little strange about having fiction set to someone else’s voice outside my mind. But, it’s something I definitely feel I need to try before making up my mind about audio books. Thanks for recommending The Martian! 😀 I enjoyed the film and I’m intrigued that the book/audio book is even better! 😀
October 3, 2016 at 8:11 pmi kiiiinda suck at reading. and audio books are like my only way i get to appreciate books.
i highly (super mega amazing and you are crazy if you don’t do this) recomend the Witcher saga by Andrzej Sapkowski. They are in my top 10 life experiences 😀 the Witcherh games where fantastic. but i found the books to be sooooooooooooooooooooooooo much better than the games.
September 23, 2016 at 2:00 pmI think it’s great that audio books let you still enjoy the incredible world of books. 😀 I read the first Witcher book, The Last Wish, and really loved it. I do want to read the rest!!! 😀 This one book immediately made me understand the characters to much better!
September 26, 2016 at 2:57 pmThe last wish was great. But it and the sward of destiny are short stories. The witcher saga,which is basicaly all about ciri, start with blood of elves, and is one of the greatest things i have ever experienced. 🙂
September 27, 2016 at 7:41 amOooh! I will make a note of this, thanks! 😀
September 27, 2016 at 5:28 pm<3
September 27, 2016 at 5:30 pmHey Malukah, I already try audio books like you but it’s not my cup of tea. The last i tried was “Twenty thousand leagues under the sea” a few years ago, and i’m very similar to you, if i don’t have a visual guidance, i can’t focus on it, and this feeling is very weird. It annoys me cause some friends advise me to try it, but i just can’t :(. Maybe i’m just like you, my opinion about audio books is really sharp and perhaps it’s just about open-mindedness and will.
Best wishes from France.
P.S : I’m just wondering what could give Fahrenheit 451 or the October Country in audio books (ALERT : Bradbury fan detected !). Maybe with books that i really love, it could change my opinion :).
September 26, 2016 at 11:27 amOooh, I remember I read Fahrenheit 451 many years ago and loved it very much! I do wonder if, as you say, picking books that you love could make a difference… The book I got is a non-fiction one, and so far it’s been a good experience… but, I definitely do drift away sometimes. heheh! I have to also try a fiction one to see if that would draw me in more. 😀
September 26, 2016 at 3:02 pmHeheh, thx for answering (and sorry for the late, i got some damned internet problems these days …). I wanted to buy the October Country shortly (i read it 8 or 10 years ago) and by seeing your answer, i’m looking for it in audio book format, but i’m disappointed, it seems that it doesn’t exist in french … Of course, it wouldn’t bother me to find it in english, but even if i don’t have great difficulties to understand english, my vocabulary is sometimes … hmm … whimsical ?
September 28, 2016 at 10:47 pmJust a little example : i understand nearly the entire lyrics of “Thunder Rolls”, the Ramuh’s Theme of FF XIV (i don’t count the first verse, it’s a fictional language), but i can’t give a sense of some words like “doth” or “stirreth”.
By the way, i really advise you to listen it, even if i can’t assign what kind of music could suits it for. It sounds like some electro-modern-soft-pop-rock or whatever kind of hybrid music ^^.
Oh, it’s too bad it’s not in French! 😀 And I searched for Thunder Rolls. Very lovely! And the words you pointed out are “Old English”. Doth is an old way of saying “does” and “stirreth” is an old way of saying stirred. At least, I think. haha! If you search for these words, you can decipher them. For example: https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/stirreth I love the way Old English sounds! Very magical. But, it can be confusing for us non-native speakers! Thank you so much for reading and writing! 😀
October 3, 2016 at 8:18 pmOh, i didn’t expect that … i think i’ll take a look about that, could be very interesting, like the Old French, tried once to read some old archives of my village few years ago (a text dated from the 17th century), sometimes it’s really weird XD, looks like formal language but more formal than what you could do with current french ^_^ (and it’s really hard to do more formal than that heheh).
October 3, 2016 at 10:36 pmI find it depends very much on the book itself. But with a 45 minute work commute they’re a very good way to pass the time. Plus it is fun to view the difference between read works and written ones (because be honest, you can never read/listen to Lord of the Rings or Harry Potter enough).
It also makes me ‘read’ books faster that I normally wouldn’t buy so fast.
September 26, 2016 at 6:46 pmOne thing I hadn’t realized that your comment just made me think of, is that since I have motion sickness, I am not able to read while in a car or bus. On a plane, it depends if there’s turbulence or not… So audio books are a great alternative for me to “read” when motion sickness makes me uncomfortable. And yes, there are some books that never get old! 😀
September 27, 2016 at 5:35 pmHaha, yeah exactly! It’s perfect for that.
Personally I don’t have that problem in those situations (in busses and planes at least). So then I usually combo read a book/listen to some music. Which is even better! :p
p.s. It’s a shame you don’t get alerts for these replies.
November 16, 2016 at 10:57 pmHi Thijs! I do get alerts on the replies! And you should get alerts, too. An email letting you know when I’ve answered? It sometimes takes me a while to respond. I’m trying to improve on that! Hope you’re doing well!
November 24, 2016 at 3:26 pmYes! I see it now. They were in my spam box. XD I’ve adjusted that issue now.
I’m doing very well. Currently busy with planning a vacation to New Zealand and organising a friend’s weekend for next summer.
November 28, 2016 at 11:31 amHope you are doing well too.
Sometimes Audio is all you have. I have retinopathy in both eyes.. over the past 5 years i have lost sight in left eye.. and poor right vison..cleared right poor left, blind, ok, etc etc.. vision in and out… I have 4k+books i cant read anymore, about 1.5k ebooks (for blowing up big on screens and now 600 odd audiobooks… mostly doubles of print or ebooks i know and love.
soz too long blurb but I have experience of being without choice and will eventually have no other choice… hearing books for the first time can be harder to get into than reading.. but its really really obvious how important reader is. I wish you’d read some books hey might be an income stream for you.
Try and listen to somethg by Alyson Johnson .. even the sample chapters on audible.. say On Basilisk station (scifi i am afraid) A great reader can bring the books to life… a poor one makes you want to throw the pc out the window.
October 4, 2016 at 2:05 pmFor eg i love RA Salvatore books.. easy light reading.. but i cant get thru Gauntigrym on audible.. keep stopping because reader doesnt take me in.
Hi, Jef! Thank you for the recommendations you sent. Sci-fi books are a lot of fun, and I agree with you that a great reader can bring a book to life. I am about to finish the first audio book I got, and once that is over, I hope to check out a fiction one! I’m very sorry to hear about your condition. I knew of it, very vaguely, and now I’ve looked up more information about it. Stay strong, and stay as healthy as possible! Much love from Mexico.
November 2, 2016 at 4:58 pmI usually find audiobooks to be extremely boring. About podcasts, I recommend “Welcome to Night Vale”.
October 4, 2016 at 3:09 pmWhat a great idea! I visited the website. It seems like a fun thing to listen to! Even saw Wil Wheaton is on there! 😀
November 2, 2016 at 5:00 pmHi! Nice to meet you Malukah!
November 5, 2016 at 2:34 pmMy name is Eol.
Unfortunately i’m not good at english, so i hope you understand what i mean to say.
A few days ago, i heared about skyrim song.
The song touch my heart, so i try to find the name of song.
The song is your ‘Tale of the Tongues’ cover version.
First, i thanks to you about give me happy experience.
And…it’s just my selfish hope, can you sing another game OST,Bioshock infinete?
I hope to hear the your cover version.
I’m ok if you not the sing that song.
But that game is very funny, enjoyable.
Thanks for watching this poor letter.
And thanks again that i heard your song.
Hi, Eol! Thank you so much for stopping by the site! I’m glad you enjoyed the Skyrim Tale of the Tongues cover! 😀 I think that the Bioshock Infinite song would be a very nice idea! I have several songs planned already, but I hope to record this next year! Thanks again for the recommendation and I hope you are well!
November 7, 2016 at 12:01 am