Monday, August 29, 2016

My Experience with Audiobooks!

These past couple months, I've been behind in my goodreads goal. Because of this, I finally plunged into reading via audiobooks, which I have always been hesitant to do. I've had my ups and downs, but I think I have finally found my groove. Keep in mind, I am still a newbie to audiobooks!

My First Audiobook

The Book of Ivy by Amy Engel was the first book I listened to. Just over a year passed before I picked up my next audiobook, The Conspiracy of Us by Maggie Hall. Though I didn't necessarily dislike The Book of Ivy, it was such a different experience I didn't know what to think of it. At that time, I still had issues focusing solely on an audiobook and got distracted easily.

My Favorite Audiobook

The Conspiracy of Us is by far my favorite audiobook. It kept my attention the whole entire time, and it is one of the only audiobooks I have listened to where I was anticipating the next time I had time to listen. It was also easy to differentiate among the characters and I never had to rewind because I was confused, which happens a lot for me when I lose focus for a couple of seconds!

My Least Favorite Audiobook

I'm sorry to say that The Kiss of Deception is my least favorite audiobook. I was really into it at first, but the way the narrator did the voices for old texts took me out of the story. After a while, I lacked focus and had to schedule out time to listen to the book. If I do continue on with the series, I will be doing it physically. However, I did like how there were several narrators for the book! The narrators for both Rafe and Kaden were fantastic!

My Current Audiobook

My current audiobook is Crash by Nicole Williams. I am actually listening to it right now as I type! I don't know what to think so far, considering I am only 35 minutes in. (Well, I'm now about two hours in, and liking it!) The two main characters definitely have chemistry, but I can guess their relationship will be pretty tumultuous. Cassandra Campbell is the narrator, and so far she is believable as an upcoming senior in high school.


Besides these four, I've only listened to one other audiobook, City of a Thousand Dolls by Miriam Forester. This is actually right behind The Conspiracy of Us enjoyment-wise. The narration always held me attention. Unlike The Kiss of Deception, I will pick up the second installment in this series via audiobook as well. While five seems like a measly number, I've started to finally decipher what I like and dislike about audiobooks. It takes me a couple days to read them, but I'm starting to feel comfortable with them. It is now the norm for me to listen to an audiobook while driving than listening to music! Audiobooks have allowed me to not only read books that I was somewhat hesitant about reading, but read more often!



Do you like listening to books? What tips would you suggest for me?

Thanks so much for stopping by and I'll see you soon with another post!

Happy Reading!

Genni @ Ready, Set, Read!


10 comments:

  1. Haha, I'm behind on my Goodreads challenge too. I haven't considered using audio books yet, though, but this post makes me want to take the plunge and try it out! :D

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    1. I would suggest you do! They're really fun. Whenever I'm doing chores, it's immediately what I turn to! :)

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  2. I love audiobooks. I wrote a post on how I learned to love them: http://gotmybook.booklikes.com/post/1350552/intro-pt3 and another on all the reasons I love them: http://gotmybook.booklikes.com/post/1405576/musings-ttt-audiobooks

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  3. One that I recently finished on audiobook was Kill the Boy Band - I think you would prefer listening to it as the narrator does such a good job. One of my favorite narrators is Luke Daniels for The Iron Druid Chronicles by Kevin Hearne and James Marsters is very good on The Dresden Files by Jim Butcher. I also really enjoyed the audiobook productions in Rick Yancey's Monstumologist series, the Leviathan series by Scott Westerfeld (read by Alan Cumming), and Cristin Terrill's All Our Yesterdays.

    I'm glad you liked The Conspiracy of Us on audio - it definitely was engaging, wasn't it.

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    1. Thanks so much for the recommendations Lauren! I remember hearing good things about the Monstrumologist series a while back.

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  4. I listen to audio books occasionally. If I know I have a long road trip ahead of me, I'll borrow one from the library. I have very little experience with them also. I like to draw or drive while I listen because I have to be doing something or else I'll zone out. And I have DNFed audio solely on the basis that the narrator bored me to death. XD But I did listen to Percy Jackson and the Battle for the Labyrinth on audio. That one was really good. I tried listening to a Ranger's Apprentice on audio, but the narrator gave the main character the most annoy voice. Eck. My favorite though was The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman. Neil actually reads it and he gives each character a different regional accent; I loved it so much!

    Awesome post!

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    1. I borrow my audiobooks from the library as well! I respond to comments while I listen, which is what I'm doing right now. XD Lucklily I haven't gotten bored to tears yet, but I am sure it will happen eventually. Especially once I become a more critical listener. I've heard amazing things about The Graveyard Book! I haven't read anything by Neil Gaiman, so I might give it a shot!

      Thanks so much Ashley! :)

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  5. I am so behind on my goodreads challenge too, but I haven't tried audiobooks yet unless celebrity memoirs count. Maybe I will try one soon!

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    1. I would recommend it! I haven't made too much headway with my challenge, but I am reading more books.

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