Audiobooks - Recommendations & Reviews

[KevanGuy]

After you finish a book do you say to people, "I just read that new Bill Bumface biography, it was shinguardy" or, " I just listened to that new Bill Bumface bio..."?

And if someone asks, "what are you reading?" will you answer with an audiobook, if that's how you consume books?

Asking for a friend.

[JohnnyB]

Originally Posted by KevanGuy

After you finish a book do you say to people, "I just read that new Bill Bumface biography, it was shinguardy" or, " I just listened to that new Bill Bumface bio..."?

And if someone asks, "what are you reading?" will you answer with an audiobook, if that's how you consume books?

Asking for a friend.

I always find this kind of awkward to talk about too. I go through a lot of books in audio format, and I often find myself relating something I've learned from an audiobook to others, but for some reason it seems weird to say I've been listening to a book and also wrong to say I've been reading it. Is it even a book in audio format, or a performance of a book?

I usually just say something along the lines of "I've been getting through" or "I just finished" or "In ... it talks about ..." to just gloss over whether I've been listening or reading.

[Knut]

"My ears read that book"

[KTrain]

I'll admit it annoys me when some says they've read X number of books when they include audiobooks. Especially when they listen to audiobooks at increased speed (1.25x or more) to get through them more quickly.

But admittedly that's my own hangup.

[troutman]

If the Librarian reads to you at Story Time, do you say you've read the book?

[troutman]

Science says:


Audiobooks or Reading? To Our Brains, It Doesn’t Matter

Stories stimulate the brain in the same way, regardless of whether they're read or heard.

https://www.discovermagazine.com/min...-doesnt-matter

[KevanGuy]

Interesting, thanks for the link. I use audiobooks because I enjoy doing something at the same time as "reading", like clean or walk or whatever. Just sitting and looking at a book is not satisfying to me.

[CliffFletcher]

Originally Posted by KTrain

I'll admit it annoys me when some says they've read X number of books when they include audiobooks. Especially when they listen to audiobooks at increased speed (1.25x or more) to get through them more quickly.

But admittedly that's my own hangup.

People who listen to audiobooks at increased speed are sociopaths.

[JohnnyB]

Originally Posted by KevanGuy

Interesting, thanks for the link. I use audiobooks because I enjoy doing something at the same time as "reading", like clean or walk or whatever. Just sitting and looking at a book is not satisfying to me.

Me too. I actually find I can focus better on the content when I'm doing something else like cycling or walking. My mind wanders off less than it does when I'm actually reading. I do a tonne of actual reading too, but unless it's dense info I find my imagination often ends up taking over as it follows some thread from the book and the part of my brain that's actually reading just continues on autopilot, then I need to go back to find where my attention wandered off and reread from there.

Originally Posted by CliffFletcher

People who listen to audiobooks at increased speed are sociopaths.

I'm pretty sure that most books on Audible are actually slowed down and you need to listen to them at 1.15 or 1.25 speed just to make it natural. Audible sets the price of audiobooks in relation to length, so there's an incentive to make them longer by slowing them down.

I also find that the faster I listen the less distracted I get and the more I remember. The more I listen at increased speeds, the more comfortable it gets too. When I had long commutes a couple of years ago I got through more than 70 books in a year, including lots of long books and dense subject matter. I don't enjoy doing it with fiction very much, but with non-fiction I used to find 2.25 was my optimal speed for retention and I could listen for extended periods at up to 3.0. Slower than 1.25 is painful even with fiction though.

[Coys1882]

I've been listening to Shogun on Audible on my drives to work and the voice acting is fantastic. It takes a bit of getting used to but once you do I really enjoy it.

[JohnnyB]

I remember reading that Shogun is the longest title on Audible. The longest I've listened to is 34 hours , but that one is way longer. How far in are you now?

[KTrain]

Originally Posted by JohnnyB

Me too. I actually find I can focus better on the content when I'm doing something else like cycling or walking. My mind wanders off less than it does when I'm actually reading. I do a tonne of actual reading too, but unless it's dense info I find my imagination often ends up taking over as it follows some thread from the book and the part of my brain that's actually reading just continues on autopilot, then I need to go back to find where my attention wandered off and reread from there.

I listen to them on long drives, rather than music. My family all sleep while I drive so I throw on a book and it helps me focus a bit so I don't get tired as easily.

[Titan]

Just finished Obama's new book and if you are into politics at all it is very good. He reads it so READ it at normal speed just to hear him talk. A very honest assessment of his journey.

Just started the Snowden book and enjoying it a lot as well.

[JohnnyB]

Originally Posted by Titan

Just finished Obama's new book and if you are into politics at all it is very good. He reads it so READ it at normal speed just to hear him talk. A very honest assessment of his journey.

Just started the Snowden book and enjoying it a lot as well.

Yeah, the Snowden book is a good one. I really enjoyed that too. One person I would actually like to see Trump pardon before he leaves office.

[CorsiHockeyLeague]

Originally Posted by troutman

URL]https://www.discovermagazine.com/mind/audiobooks-or-reading-to-our-brains-it-doesnt-matter[/URL]

I consume most books by audible now but this is an incomplete picture. There are other things that you get out of reading than having your brain interpret the meanings of words or absorbing a story. Reading words from a page as opposed to hearing them spoken affects your ability to write, for example. I'm sure it varies from person to person to some extent.

[CliffFletcher]

Originally Posted by JohnnyB

I remember reading that Shogun is the longest title on Audible. The longest I've listened to is 34 hours , but that one is way longer. How far in are you now?

Two titles in my Audible library have that beat: Complete Sherlock Holmes at 58 hours, and the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire at 126 (!) hours. Hard to beat that value on an hours per dollar basis.

[JohnnyB]

Wow! 126 hours? Titles like that defy the subscription model.

[Slava]

Originally Posted by JohnnyB

Wow! 126 hours? Titles like that defy the subscription model.

I’d like to see the stats of how many times that’s been completed though. Come to think of it, I wonder that for a lot of books both audio and otherwise. I used to force myself to get through some, but with such easy access to content I would say I finish less now as a percentage. I could be an anomaly though.

[CorsiHockeyLeague]

Originally Posted by KTrain

Today they released The Sandman by Neil Gaiman on Audible.

I've listened to the first couple hours and it's incredible. Easily the highest production value of any audiobook I've heard before. So far it's better than World War Z and American Gods.

Narrated by Gaiman with voice acting by James McAvoy, Riz Ahmed, Kat Dennings, Taron Egerton, Samantha Morton, Bebe Neuwirth, Andy Serkis and Michael Sheen.

Well worth an audible credit for 11 hours.

Ok, yes, this was good, but I was pretty annoyed to figure out partway through that it's nowhere near the whole thing. It's like the first... two books out of ten, maybe? I guess they'll make more but if anyone is interested in this I would suggest just waiting until they're actually finished because who knows when the next chapter will be done.

[KTrain]

Originally Posted by CorsiHockeyLeague

Ok, yes, this was good, but I was pretty annoyed to figure out partway through that it's nowhere near the whole thing. It's like the first... two books out of ten, maybe? I guess they'll make more but if anyone is interested in this I would suggest just waiting until they're actually finished because who knows when the next chapter will be done.

To be fair, it's right in the description that it only covers the first 3 volumes of the series.

This first installment of the audio series The Sandman adapts volumes 1-3 of the graphic novel series (Preludes & Nocturnes, The Doll’s House, and Dream Country).

It's also only 11 hours. They'd have to cut a lot to get 76 issues in that time.