Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Let's talk about audio books shall we?

This is a completely nerdy topic that for some reason I have been afraid to discuss. For some reason people get touchy when audio books are brought up. I think you are either for them, or against them. I have always been in the against camp. I know, I  know, I'm an ass (or awesome, depending on your camp). 

My main complaint with the audio book is it doesn't count as reading. Here is the definition of reading for those of you who don't know it. 


1: the act of reading
2
a : material read or for reading
b : extent of material read
3
a : a particular version
b : data indicated by an instrument
4
a : a particular interpretation of something (as a law)
b : a particular performance of something (as a musical work)
5
: an indication of a certain state of affairs 



And then I got a Audible account. 

A few months ago I signed up for a gold membership, it was all because of a boy, isn't it always about a boy?


{via google}

This boy to be exact. Have you ever heard Ed Westwick talk in his English accent? SWOON. I found out (by stalking his IMDB page) that he is one of the narrators for City of Fallen Angels (Mortal Instruments, Book 4).  I have already read this book (like, with my eyes) and I thought it was the best one of the series. I figured what the hell and signed up for the Audible account to get the book for free and listen to Ed's voice for 5 hours. WIN. 
Then they charged my credit card for 2 more months after that (it was legit, I just forgot, oops!). So I got two more credits (you get 1 credit, which is one free book a month with a gold membership). So I got Clockwork Angel (Infernal Devices) and Clockwork Prince (Infernal Devices). Now, these two I haven't read (with my eyes) so it's going to be different for me when I do listen to them (in Eds voice, duh). When I do finish them I won't count them towards my reading goal, which I have yet to decide what it is this year. I feel like listening is cheating still. When I am listening to these books I am doing it while I study and write papers, normally my focus isn't 100% on them, when I read I want my focus to be 100% on the book.

So what side of the fence are you on when I comes to the audio book? Let me know in the comments, see if you can sway me!
Posted by The Nerdy Katie at 6:00 AM
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9 comments:

  1. I like audiobooks. I never really thought much about them either way before Audible.com was introduced to me. I'm definitely a fan of audiobooks while I'm at work. It seems to make the day go by faster to me when I'm listening to something I enjoy.

    I can definitely say, however, that a narrator can make or break an audiobook. A bad narrator can completely obliterate a good book for me and make me hesitant to read it again. I definitely take the opportunity to hear a sample of the audiobook before purchasing. There are some excellent narrator's out there, but there are also some awful narrator's that have no business being a narrator.

    Plus, there's something oddly nostalgic about having a book read to you :)

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  2. I've listened to one audio book - Cell by Stephen King - because I really didn't want to put forth the effort of actually reading it. It wasn't bad, but I found (after pulling up the ebook) that I read faster than the narrator did on that book. So I think I'll stick to real books for now. LOL

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  3. My high school English teacher used to always make us listen to audiobooks, so that's all I think of! But having a hot English guy read to me, may not be so bad...

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  4. I am not a big fan of audiobooks, not that I would say they don't count but I feel like its very different from actually reading and comprehending a physical book.

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  5. My dad just got me an audible 6 month membership for my birthday. Like you, I love reading... with my eyes. I find that when I listen, I don't concentrate as much or grasp as much content. But, I AM counting listening to my reading goal. And here's why. 1. I can't do other things while listening... like I can do chores/cook, but I can't be otherwise productive, as in reading a book with my eyes while listening to one with my ears. And 2. It probably takes LONGER to listen to one than to actually read one... because the narration is slower than my own reading speed.
    The only book I've listened to so far was Tina Fey's Bossypants and I loved it. I loved that it was HER words in HER voice. I have a new credit to access now and I don't know what to get. Maybe I'll look into your British boy. :)

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  6. No audio books for me, I much prefer to read it myself and honestly if I wanted it read to me in an english accent I would just ask my boyfriend haha

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  7. I used to listen/read a lot of the audiobooks when I used to commute longer to work. Once I moved out of the city into a smaller town, I found that I didn't listen as much, so I suspended my account. I definitely think it counts as reading though! I got through so many books that way!

    I was trying to talk my mom into getting some audiobooks though and she just didn't get it. She reads actual books even more than I do, but the whole audiobook thing sounded weird and expensive to her. I tried to explain that audible is actually MUCH cheaper than just buying the audiobook outright from a bookstore, but she was still skeptical. Lol. She didn't actually try it though, which is how I got hooked. Once you try it, it's hard to stop!

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  8. I'm not an audio fan but if Ed (aka Chuck Bass) is reading.. I might change my mind. ;)

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  9. I really enjoy listening to audio books. I have a longer commute and they keep me company in the morning. I hate listening to radio morning shows. This way I can get more "reading" done. I can have one book and one audiobook. I just love books so much I want to enjoy as many as I can.

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