I first turned to audio books when I realized I wasn’t living up to my full book-devouring potential; three books a week just wasn’t enough for me. That, and I was going to be driving eight hours in a single day. My first audio book was A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan. It’s ten hours long, which at the time seemed ridiculously long but this was before I tackled the Outlander audio book (which clocks in at 33 glorious hours).
My biggest take away from my first audio book experience is that they’re awful because you can quantify exactly how much time you are wasting on a book you don’t enjoy. I wasted ten hours of my life on a book I was too stubborn to give up on. Ten long and winding hours.
My relationship with audio books has come a long way since then. We’re sort of BFFs these days. I am regularly listening to an audiobook while reading another book. But wait! What if I’m listening to a book in the car and then need to sit in a waiting room for what feels like forever? I love Amazon’s Whispersync because it allows me to seamlessly switch between reading on my Kindle and listening on Audible (no, this is not a plug).
I went from despising audio books to being obsessed with them and I appreciate and seek out great narrators. And sometimes, I let those great narrators read to me as I fall asleep (thank you Audible sleep timer).
My first experience with audiobook was out of necessity. I had just had eye surgery and could not read or watch TV and I was bored!!! I ended up downloading the audible app for my iPad (since the screen was larger than my iPhone) and signed up for their 14 day trial. I downloaded my first book - Beautiful Bastard. I went for a book that I had already read figuring if I fell asleep I could just pick up where the Audible sleep timer went off. However, I had enjoyed Grace Grant’s reading of this story so much I found myself rewinding to where I was before I fell asleep, even though I knew the story.
After my first experience with Audible, I ended up keeping my membership and started downloading books that I have already read. I know that seems weird, but there is a method to my madness. One of the reasons why I did this was because I enjoy re-reading books, but my TBR list started to grow because I was too busy re-reading some of my favorite books instead of discovering new favorites. Listening to them instead of re-reading them seemed to solve that problem.
While I still listen to some of my favorite books, I am starting to branch out and listen to books I have not read. I realize by doing this, I am able to tackle more books on my TBR list, and as some of you have heard me elude to this, it is a big list. It has been hard, because I find myself having to rewind because I am not paying 100% attention to the story, so I may have to try out the Whispersync feature, when I want to switch to the ebook. (Thanks for the suggestion Jenny!)
Unlike Jenny, I have always had a positive experience with audiobooks, and have enjoyed have the ability to either read or listen to my favorite story.
Hopefully our experiences with audiobooks has made you think about trying out audiobooks, if you haven’t already. To help you decide what is the best service for you to try out audiobooks, we did a little research and put together five different options that are available.
| Options | Costs | Plan Includes | How to listen | Comments |
| Audible.com | $14.95 a month - $22.95 a month | 1 or 2 credits a month, Save on 30% on all audiobook purchased without credit | Listen via the Audible App Stream from audible.com Downlaod the book to listen via itunes or mp3 players |
You can try out audible with a free book as part of a 14-day trial. |
| Itunes | Varies on the cost of the book | No plan available | Itunes | No real cost savings since itunes does not offer a plan for audiobooks |
| Audiobooks.com | $24.95 a month | Similar to Netflix streaming, you will have unlimited access to its 10,000+ library of books | Stream from audiobooks.com website | Only able to stream books so if you will not have internet access, this option may not work for you |
| Simply Audiobooks | $17.98 - $47.98 a month | Similar to Netflix rental, you build your library queue and Simply Audiobooks will ship out the audiobook CD | CD Player | No internet needed to listen to audiobooks |
| Local Library | Free | No plan available | Depends on how audiobooks are available at your local library - CDs or MP3s | Not all libraries will have the MP3 option, but most will have books on CDs |
If you are interested in Audible, they have a 14 day trial with a free audiobook download, simply go to Audible to sign up.
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