Anyone who follows my updates on Goodreads and/or Twitter knows I listen to a lot of audiobooks. And honestly, I would listen to every book as an audiobook if I had the opportunity (and the money. Man are they expensive). I am here today to sell you on audiobooks and list the pros and cons of them! Hopefully this helps you decide if you want to try them out!
Pros:
- Can do other things while reading
- Know how to pronounce those funny looking names
- Can listen at very fast speeds and finish books faster than reading them
- Different forms of reading = spicing up your reading schedule
Cons:
- Don't know how to spell ANYTHING
- Can lose focus
- If the narrator is no good, you're toast
- Can't write down quotes
- Harder to update progress on GR
Even though the list of cons is larger than the list of pros, I think the best part of audiobooks is the fact that you can feel productive about "reading" while doing other things! You can do chores, housework, driving, commuting, etc. while listening to an audiobook, which increases your reading time and your productivity time. As someone who spends two hours a day in her car, I love that I can get some "reading" done while I commute to my job. Not only does it help me stay on top of my reading, but it also gives my eyes a break! I don't have to actually READ while still enjoying a novel! Plus, those giant, thick Fantasy novels (like A Song of Ice and Fire) that would take you WEEKS to finish? You can finish them in half that if you listen to them at 3x the regular speed! Sign me up!
Do you listen to audibooks? Will you try them out now?
Let me know in the comments!
I adore audiobooks. I've actually listened to three of my recent favourites rather than read them. Between writing, a full time job, a polyamorous lifestyle and trying to sometimes exercise -- I don't get heaps of spare time. Audiobooks allow me to multi-task. I can clean the house while I listen, go for a walk, maybe even catch up on my emails. I love the flexibility! The only real downside for me is that they take a long time. It took me about 18 hours of listening time to 'read' Throne of Glass, whereas it would have taken me about 6 hours to read.
ReplyDeleteI adore audiobooks aswell. I even read most of my ebooks via a text to speech app on my phone. The app doesn't compare to a great narrator, but is better than some of the monotonous lip smackers I've heard.
ReplyDeleteI'm another huge audio book fan! When I first discovered them, they were on cassettes, so I only listened to them in my car until I got a personal player and would wear while cleaning though it was a pain as I'd constantly bump it into things. CDs were starting to be available but again limited to my vehicle. It wasn't until my library started offering downloads of audio books that my listening majorly increased. I picked up a small mp3 player so now I'm always listening even at work! The only drawback to that little player is I can't speed up the narrations like I can via the audible app on my phone. I can't imagine what I'd do with out that option for reading (besides read a lot less)
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