Audiobook Week: A Conversation on Audiobooks
Audio Chat
Sheila at Book Journey and I have been chatting about audiobooks and how much we love the format and why everyone else should love them too. Out of our conversation we came up with some questions that readers might have. I’ve answered a few here and Sheila has more of our conversation on her blog.
We know some of our readers already love audiobooks but there are a few of you out there we want to encourage to give the format a try, or another try as the case may be.
A Q&A on Audio
How long have you been listening to audiobooks and how long did it take you to be comfortable with the format?
What made you try audio again?
Audiobooks are an acquired skill. What should new listeners look for when selecting a book? What should they avoid?
The best way to find a good audiobook is to read reviews or ask for recommendations. A good review site is Audiobook Jukebox. When I review an audiobook I’m now including a difficulty rating ie Easy, Intermediate or Difficult. And not all narrators are the same. Some are such a pleasure to listen to that they could read the phone book and I’d enjoy it! Cassandra Campbell, can you hear me?
Things to avoid: Too long, complex plot, too many characters or changes in point of view, or multiple jumps in time and place. Having to constantly press the rewind button can get very frustrating. An example of a book I should never have attempted in audio was Neuromancer.
What was the book that hooked you on audio?
What audiobooks would you recommend to new listeners?
Wait, There’s More
Any non-audio listeners out there going to give it a try? Yes? No? Why not? Audiobook lovers, any audio recommendations for new listeners? Convince them to try?
Win an Audiobook:
I am giving away a CD Audiobook of your choice of The Lost Years by Mary Higgins Clark or The Thief by Clive Cussler (US/Canada addresses only). I will draw from the comments that contribute to the discussion and choose a random winner at the end of Audiobook Week.
More audio goodness can be found at Book Journey where Sheila will give you more reasons to love audio. Also, don’t forget to stop by the Audiobook Week Discussion Post hosted by Devourer of Books. There are discussions, reviews, link-ups and prizes for participants and commenters.
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© 2012 Under My Apple Tree. All rights reserved.
Under My Apple Tree 
Loved this Q/A by you and Sheila — I want to listen to Animal Veg….by Kingsolver
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Definitely go with the audio on this one. The author and her family do the reading and it’s very well done.
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OOH – thanks for that Leslie – that is the way I will go too then!
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I listen to audio books on long trips. They are great for passing the time travelling.
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The first time I tried that I had a bad experience and got lost! But I’m ok listening on car trips now and it sure makes the time go by faster.
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Great post! Mine will be up in a little bit, had to get the other audio book question up. I haven’t listened to Animal Vegetable Miracle but the book has sat unread on my shelves for years… perhaps it is time in audio format?
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Go with the audio on this one. I flipped through the book and while it’s good it can’t compare with the audio production. The author does the narration and her husband and daughter read the asides. Her husband reads the scientific research, her daughter reads the recipes and… there are sound effects from the farm. I was hoping all audio productions would be this good. The chapters on turkeys is not to be missed!
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Books like Bossypants and anything by David Sedaris are perfect for people just starting with audiobooks.
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I forgot about David Sedaris. That’s a great recommendation for new listeners.
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AND a new narrator to me I think…. how have I missed him?
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Great Q&A. I love the difficulty rating – may start including that in the few audiobooks I review.
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Ooh, meant to also say: Just finished listening to Little Princes. The author read it and I LOVED it. He did an outstanding job reading his memoir.
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I read this originally but some day I want to go back and listen to it on audio too 🙂
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I haven’t read this yet and I want to so I will go audio too.
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Great conversation! I do think memoirs would be a good way to “break into” audiobooks. As you know, I have not listened to many audiobooks, but I am open to the possibility in the future. (I have an Anita Shreve audiobook waiting for me in the car.)
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I’ve read a lot of Anita Shreve’s books but never listened to one on audio. Do let us know how you liked it when you finish.
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I am and will always be a diehard audiobook fan! I have quite a few favorite narrators that I would listen to if all they read was the phone book. I wonder have either of you had a favorite narrator read a book that could not hold your interest?
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I can’t think of a favorite that disappointed me with their narration even if I wasn’t crazy about the book itself.
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I’ve only attempted a few audio books, one being Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk: A Modest Bestiary by David Sedaris. LOVED that! Then tried Love In A Nutshell by Janet Evanovich and only got through the first chapter. I couldn’t take anymore of the narrator.
I asked Sheila, and now would like to ask you, do you prefer male or female narrators, or does it matter to you?
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…adding to my want list now….:)
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It doesn’t matter if the narrator is male of female. The only problem I have is when the narrator cannot do a good voice of the opposite sex. And very few can pull that off well. George Guidall is the exception. He has a great range of voices and can do a very good female voice.
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I really wanted to listen to Love In A Nutshell by Janet Evanovich, but the female narrator doing the male voice just got on my nerves big time.
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I find that when I get into traffic I stop paying attention to the story and then realize I’ve missed something. Since I listen with my children I’ll just stop it and have them review what I missed for me. Gets me caught up and lets me know that they are listening and comprehending what we are listening to. I use my ipod for funning and cleaning. You are right that some narators are not up to par and can ruin a good story.
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Listening in the car is the one place that I will get distracted and need to rewind… sometimes the entire chapter.
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Hi Leslie,
I have to admit that I don’t ever listen to audiobooks and I don’t think that either of you will be able to change my mind.
First off, I can’t stand ear pieces of any description, as without exception, they all cause me ear ache.
Secondly, I have never liked being ‘read to’, even as a young child. I find that I take a story in much better if I have the printed word in front of me and I certainly enjoy it more.
Finally, I find that most narrators of audiobooks are pretty boring and fail to insert the correct nuances and speech inflections in the right place, in order to get the message across to the listener. Perhaps if the authors were to narrate their own audiobooks, it would be more successful, after all they are the ones who know exactly how a story should sound to the reader/listener.
This is not a rant, just a matter of opinion and I found the post extremely interesting and thought provoking, thank you.
Yvonne
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OOH….. I want to say, “Ready Player One” will cure all your audio doubts… but maybe not 🙂 You are right about authors reading their own books- that can often be very good… and if you can find a subject matter that you enjoy perhaps that would engage you.
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I’m going to listen to Ready Player One! Too many good reviews to ignore this one. Silly me, I read the book as an ARC.
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Yvonne, I can appreciate that. A novel would probably never work for you. However, you still might like something non-fiction or a memoir, it’s an entirely different type of audio storytelling.
I’ve found that authors reading their memoirs do add emotion and inflection. I listened to Regis Philbin’s memoir, How I Got This Way, which he narrated, and it was fantastic. Of course you have to like Regis otherwise it would just be annoying.
Thanks for the opinion. I do enjoy hearing all sides, even audio non-lovers.
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What a fun Q&A! And I like the idea of including a difficulty rating. Agreed that memoirs are a good place to start with audiobooks, but what got me hooked is listening to a book I’ve already read.
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I’ve had people tell me that before, that a re-read is a good way to begin. I did that with a book that I needed to re-read for a discussion and was disappointed that the narrator didn’t sound anything like the voices I already had in my head for the characters. She had an angry tone too much of the time. I’m going to try an audio re-read again with Ready Player One… from the reviews I think I’ll love it. And besides, I like Wil Wheaton (the narrator) so that’s a plus.
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This made me laugh. I enjoy long, character rich, complex science fiction audiobooks, and even I avoided Necromancer. I like the idea of difficulty levels. I listen to a lot of audiobooks, but I often choose that match my mood, and the complexity of the plot and ease of listening definitely goes into that.
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I thought perhaps a difficulty level would help newer listeners avoid a mistake and then think they can’t do audiobooks.
Neuromancer was big mistake! I listened to Doomsday Book and was ok with that, it’s complex. But what I failed to take into account was it was a re-read for me and not much world building. It’s not the science fiction that was the problem, it was William Gibson. He needs to be ‘read’ and read slowly in my case!
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Animal, Vegetable, Miracle is the audiobook that got me hooked too! I loved the way the author narrated it herself and when I saw your comment about the turkey chapter I had to laugh. It was a memorable one for me as well!
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I don’t think anyone except the author could have pulled off reading the turkey chapter.
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Do you keep two specific seperate book lists? One you want to read/listen to on audio and one you want a hard/paper copy of? Or is it all just happenstance with how you’ll choose?
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There are a lot of variables as to when I’ll choose audio. I have one big list of books I want to read that I keep in goodreads. When I see a lot of positive reviews of one of them in audio, like with Bossypants or Ready Player One, or the book has a narrator I like, I’ll see if my library has a copy and go with the audio version. I’ll also take a chance on new release audiobooks if I’m offered a review copy and it’s a book I want to read.
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I just came over from Book Journey…where I have shared that I am finally seeing what all the hype is about! Like you, Leslie, the first time I tried an audio book was while driving to work and I was concentrating so hard I was stressed. Tried two books and gave up, but then I spotted The Dressmaker by Kate Alcott at the library and gave it a try. I’m loving it! For me the narrator makes a big difference.
Also, I work with seniors who have Alzheimer’s and I do a lot of research in neuroscience. Studies say to challenge the brain. Listening to audio books is a challenge and it is an acquired skill, so I feel I am not only getting pleasure from the book but also learning a new skill and keeping my brain active!
Thanks for the giveaway!
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That’s a good point about audiobooks stimulating the brain. And it’s definitely a different mental process to listen rather than read the print.
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Great post. Good point about memoirs too. I’m really digging Stories I Only Tell My Friends.
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I’ve already read Animal Vegetable Miracle but the audio sounds like it would be well worth listening to anyway…:)
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Animal, Vegetable, Miracle was such a good audiobook. It was read by the family that wrote it and their humor and love of the land really came through.
I too avoided audiobooks for years…..because I was a dork. I figured I was quite capable of reading, thank you very much. But I have this long commute and was slowly loosing my mind to it. So I tried Drood by Dan Simmons. It was long and complicated and kept my mind from fracturing into little bits of boredom on that commute. Now I find it difficult to sit in a vehicle without an audiobook.
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Thanks for the shout-out for Audiobook Jukebox. We always appreciate your reviews as you write well. I’m actually listening to Ready Player One this weekend as I have a lot of driving. Susan just finished it and loved it. I’m including links to a couple of things that may help reviewers new to audiobook reviewing.
The first is a link to an article written by Mary Burkey that appeared in AudioFile Magazine in 2007. We’ve found it very useful.
http://www.audiofilemagazine.com/features/fea1007.html#_lex008
The second it a link accessible from our homepage that Susan wrote to help reviewers.
http://www.audiobookjukebox.com/reviewing-audiobooks/
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I have mixed emotions about audiobooks. On one hand I love them when done well, recently I listened to one that had a great storyline, but the narrator’s interpretation of the main protagonist’s character set my teeth on edge. There was even an interview with the author at the end and she loved it. It is hard to believe that a book that reads so well would end up sounding the way my ears heard it and be what the author expected. Maybe it is just the eye of the reader that sees different characteristics in the ones they are portraying. On the other hand I have listed to some real awesome reads on audio. So I suppose it all comes down to reading / listening is very subjective and what I enjoy you might not and vice versa 🙂
dz59001[at]gmail[dot]com
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The first audiobook that I listened to was Cold Sassy Tree by Olive Ann Burns. It was wonderful!
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I am so glad you told me about Audiobook Julebox for reviews. I also like the idea of commenting on easy, intermediate and hard.
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i enjoy audio books 😉
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