Audiobooks: A Love Affair

Hello, hello!

 So, audio-books. My obsession. My love. My weakness.

I am always up to add another title to my virtual library and immerse myself into the next good book, and after reading this I hope you are too. :)

 My job allows me lots of "listening time." I'm normally in one room all day, away from people, with nothing but pets for company. I am a pet groomer with plenty of time just brushing, clipping, and bathing dogs and cats. I normally can let my mind wander while grooming, it doesn't take a lot of brain effort once you get into the routine of the clips I do day in and day out. This means lot of room to fill my mind with what ever I want. THIS. Just THIS! This is one of the reasons I love my job. To be able to go into a routine with my physical movements and to dive deep into my mind. Whether this be listening to Debussy while letting my *best Spongebob voice* IMAGINATION, run wild, listening to my favorite Podcast "Ear Biscuits," or to my normal Celtic, Punk, Bluegrass or Folk music when the barking gets too loud and I can't focus on the words. And finally, my personal favorite, audio books. An amazing invention.

 Now, before the steady growth of my obsession with narrated reading content, I actually didn't like the idea of audio-books. They weren't a trigger for me or anything, but something about them was just... off-putting.

When people said, "I've been reading a lot of (insert any book here) and I'm really enjoying it!" Then I would find out that they have actually been listening to the book instead of physically reading it I was bothered. I don't know why I was hated the idea of it so much, I guess I felt like it was cheating, like "you haven't been reading, someone has been reading to you, there's a difference." That is how I felt anyway. I guess the old me saw those people as lazy.  Keep in mind, this was a time in my life when I literally had all the time in the world, I was home-schooled young teenager, I stayed up till one or two in the morning reading and finishing off physical reads like I was running out of time, and in a way, I was. No wonder I saw reading a book with your ears inferior to reading a book with your eyes. BECAUSE I HAD TIME. Now I am jealous of the younger me, all the time in the world.

 I was feeling down about growing up, getting a job, and starting an online career school all while trying to balance a relationship, friend, and family life. I did not have a lot of downtime to read and finish stacks of books like I used to. My love of curling up for an afternoon with a book was diminishing and there was a point in time where I thought I might lose that part of my life altogether. I just didn't know how to start, let alone finish a book again. And then... they came.

 Audio-books, my friends.

These are what got me out of my reading slump and let me know that there were still ways to read while doing practically anything: Driving, cleaning, walking, showering, and even while I was at work.

This means that any of us and all of us can be reading a lot more books then we would be able to when matched to physical reads.

 But don't get me wrong, physical reads are still my love and passion. Audio-books will never be able to match up to pages, ink, and the smell and feel of books. Yet, audio-books do have some amazing perks and qualities. One of the perks of course is that you can listen anywhere. Also, if you've had a long day and you want to relax with a good book but you don't have the energy to sit up with the light on? Just lie down, lights off, and you can still enjoy diving into your favorite fantasy, a informative non-fiction, or a great self-help book. Some great qualities of a good audio-book are stunning narration! You can find a single reader who can bring you right into a story, or even an audio dramatization where there are voice actors for every character along with sound effects and soundtracks, those are some of my favorite, it's not just a book being read to you; it's a performance.

 So, if any of this convinces you that audio-books are fantastic and you need to try them out, where do you start?

 If you want to start out simple, check out LibriVox. It's a free app that you can download on your phone, key word FREE. It is great if you want to try out audio-books but you don't want to invest any money just yet. They have a ton of classical literature along with new independent artists too. If you are looking for books that are more mainstream or any new releases you won't find them here. But LibriVox started me on my audio-book journey and it is a great place to begin. There are a few problems with the app... sometimes it will glitch and pause, not all the readers are that great, and not everything is very high quality; but normally the they will have a few recordings of the same book and you can find a reader that appeals to you. Despite it's flaws you can use this app as a springboard for listening to books, and I still go back to this app every once and awhile to listen to my favorites. A few on there I would suggest are:

-The Time Machine by H.G. Wells read by Mark Nelson

-Robin Hood by J. Walker McSpadden read by Barry Eads

-The Invisible Man by H.G. Wells read by Alex Foster

-The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde read by LibriVox Volunteers

-The Man Who Was Thursday by G.K. Chesterton read by Zachary Brewster-Geisz

-The Gearheart by Alex White read by Alex White

-The Gearheart: Maiden Flight of the Avenger by Alex White read by Alex White

 The last three I HIGHLY recommend! I have probably listened those last three about 3 or 4 times each. Remember to vote and post a review on the ones you choose to listen too, this gets your favorite books to the top of the list for others to see.

 The second app I am suggesting is Audible. I was reluctant at first on paying for a subscription each month for something I was getting for free on LibriVox but Audible is a whole new experience. Better readers, better quality, better selection. Even though LibriVox is a great app and I still highly recommend it, Audible is a big step up in my mind. You get one credit (worth one book) each month through your subscription. You also get to choose 2 Audible Originals each month. So a total of three books per month at $14.95/per mo. Along with 30% off any additional books, and exchanges on books you don't like, and even if you decide to cancel your subscription you get to keep all the books in your library, it's a great deal! There are other monthly plans that you can look into but for now, the Gold Plan has worked for me.

 Some suggestions on Audible are,

-The Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling read by Jim Dale

-12 Rules for Life by Jordan B. Peterson read by Jordan B. Peterson

-The Home Front: Life in America During World War II by Martha C. Little and Dan Gediman read by Martian Sheen

-The Man Who Knew the Way To the Moon by Todd Zwillich read by Todd Zwillich and Angelo De Loreto

-Rivals! Frenemies Who Changed the World by Scott McCormick read by Prentice Onayemi, Samantha Turret, Khristine Hvam, Gabriel Vaughan, and Josh Hurley

-Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury read by Christian Rummel

-Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman read by Christopher Lee, James McAvoy, Natalie Dormer, David Harewood, Sophie Okonedo, Benedict Cumberbatch, and Anthony Head

The Man Who Knew the Way To the Moon and Harry Potter books are on the top of my list! If you like Harry Potter, books and movies alike, you will love diving back into the world with these audio-books. 10/10 performance by Jim Dale.

Audio-books have completely changed my reading game. Through the inspiration that audio-books have given me I found that physical reads are becoming part of my daily life again.

So, if you love books, you have to experience the masterpieces audio-books can be, I guarantee it will deepen your love for literature, expand your imagination, and make you realize that reading can be done anywhere through listening.

And if you don't like books or reading, audio-books can be a great place to start trying to build your love of the written word, even if you aren't physically reading!

  Thanks for taking time to read this blog!

         Have a great week, everyone!

                             -Hannah