June is Audiobook Month and Jen at Devourer of Books is hosting a special week dedicated to audiobooks this week.
Today’s discussion topic is about how we choose our audiobooks:
How do you decide what you’ll listen to? Do you mostly listen, or split time between listening and reading? Particularly if you split time, how do you decide what you’ll consume in audio and what in print?
I split my time between reading print books and listening to audio books. It’s definitely not a 50-50 split, more like 65% print – 35% audio. I always have at least 3 books going – one in print/e-format and two in audio – one in the car and one on the iPod. Depending on what I’m doing in the course of a day, I’m able to get some “reading” in – whether that be from a book or one of the audios.
As far as what I choose to listen to versus read…I don’t necessarily have a clear cut answer. I think it all depends, especially since I primarily get my audios from the library – both in cd format for the car and via Overdrive for the iPod.
Last year around this time, I made a decision to listen to a series of books that I’ve been wanting to catch up on – the Stephanie Plum books by Janet Evanovich. These are just great on audio – they are hysterical and the two narrators that I’ve heard narrate this series are really good. (If you were around last year, you might remember me being very apprehensive about the switch from CJ Critt, who narrates some of the early books to Lorelei King who does the rest of the series – well no need for that apprehension as I’ve come to really enjoy LK.) So, since then, I’ve made my way through 17 of the books (including the Between the Numbers books) and I have to say I’m loving this decision to go audio. I think the humor comes across better in audio than it would in print and they are very easy books to listen to – there’s not much heavy thinking needed!
My other reasons for choosing audio over print aren’t as straight-forward. Sometimes it depends on my mood when I’m at the library looking for a new audio to get; sometimes I’m looking for a particular audio that other bloggers have raved about. I will say that right now, I’m more likely to get to a book faster in audio than print due to the backlog of print books I have – both from my personal collection and from review requests.
When picking a book for my iPod, I tend to be a little more selective only because those books end up taking me longer to finish – I usually only use the iPod at the gym or while walking outdoors and go in spurts with how many walks I take/how long I walk for. It’s not uncommon for it to take a month or sometimes longer for me to finish an audio on the iPod, so I need a book that will hold my attention, but also be something I can easily jump back into after a break. I’m hoping this will change now that I’ve got my ‘Fitbit’ friends – I don’t want to be at the bottom of that leaderboard!!!
I don’t have a specific genre that I listen to – anything that catches my fancy will do. I’ve listened to historical fiction, women’s fiction, chick lit, psychological thrillers – they all work and can make for good audios. Good narrators help, but I haven’t really gotten to the point where I select a book because of the narrator.
What about you? How do you decide what to listen to and what you are going to read?
Oh my goodness, Stephanie Plum on audio? What a fantastic idea!! Now I'm going to find those….
Its so funny – I'm always laughing out loud!!!
Sometimes by narrator, sometimes by author, and sometimes by story 🙂 I am a pretty eclectic listener!
I'm all over the place, too but mainly by author or story.
One for the Money was one of the first audiobooks I ever picked up and I was hooked. Somewhere along the way I lost my way and never did finish the series but one of these days I'll get back to it.
I actually read the first book and then tried the second on audio and have been hooked ever since!
Fitbit is great motivation for listening more on your ipod, isn't it? I'll have to try the Stephanie Plum series on audio.
Yes, the fitbit is really great motivation – not only for getting audios in but also my dog is loving all the extra walks!
I find that when I start a series in audio, I have to keep reading it that way. Maisie Dobbs is keeping me busy this year.
I'm not familiar with Maisie Dobbs – will have to check her out.
Hmm, maybe I should try the Plum books on audio instead. The two I've read in print haven't quite worked for me, although I feel like I should enjoy them. And I've liked the two Wicked Appetite books and a couple of her older romances on audio.
I haven't tried any of her other books – either on audio or in print. Maybe once I finish the Plum series, I'll look into her other books.
Now I'm going to have to search for series to check out on audio! What an awesome idea.
Tanya Patrice
Girlxoxo.com
It's a great way to catch up on a series – and the Stephanie Plum series is perfect for audio!
I listen to a wide variety of books on audio, too. One of thee days I need to check out those Stephanie Plum books… and am starting to think I really need a Fitbit, too!
Definitely try Stephanie Plum on audio – they are hysterical and quite easy to listen to!
Let me know if you get a fitbit – we can be fitbit friends and encourage each other!
Isn't Overdrive great! I like the ease of downloading it on to the iPod vs loading every disc in the computer. The Stephanie Plum series is one that I've listened to and read at the same time, and then finish in print as I just can't put the book down!
Yes, and you were the one to help me out with it last year so thank you again!!! I still have to use my little cheat sheet to remember how to do it, but it is great!