My Journey to the Audiobook World
Let me start this by saying that (not including my Teddy Ruxpin books on tape) I am new to the audiobook world. Here’s a little background as to why.
I read fast. I get that am an anomaly, I can read a 200 page book in a couple of hours. Fortunately, I am able to read and comprehend what I read in this time. But with that, it held me back from audiobooks. I could read a book much faster than I could listen to it, and I want to get as man books into my life as possible. So why waste time on that.
But with our community, there multiple members who rave about the audio books and how amazing they are. So I decided, let me take the plunge. I decided to dip my toe into the world with books that I have already read, because I was able to work on other things and not focus 100% as to what was going on in my ears. And I discovered that I loved living in these worlds in a new way. I found that I need to listened to the book at 1.75-2.00 speed, which my kids think is crazy. I realized that I can mutli-task like a boss when I am listening.
Recently, I listened to AL Jackson’s newest release Promise Me Always before I eyeballed the book. And let me tell you, it was an EXPERIENCE. *you can listen to us rave about it here as we chat with author AL Jackson* A big part of of that is the casting of Connor Crais and Samantha Brentmoor for the narration, because truly a narrator can make or break a book. But while I listened to the book, I tried to go back and eyeball it as well, and I found that I wasn’t able to get deep into the characters with the pages. I needed to live in those moments through the audio.
In my short foray into the audio world, I have found that not every narrator works for a book. I listened to a suspense series that I adore recently, and the audio fell flat. Which was extremely disappoint. I ended up turning off the audio and going back to the e-book to fall back in love with the characters.
Not sure where to start?? Becky did a blog post recently about where to find audio books… check it out here.
