Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme created by The Broke and the Bookish and now hosted by Jana at That Artsy Reader Girl.
The rules are simple:
- Each Tuesday, Jana assigns a new topic. Create your own Top Ten list that fits that topic – putting your unique spin on it if you want.
- Everyone is welcome to join but please link back to That Artsy Reader Girl in your own Top Ten Tuesday post.
- Add your name to the Linky widget on that day’s post so that everyone can check out other bloggers’ lists.
- Or if you don’t have a blog, just post your answers as a comment.
This week’s topic is Audio Freebie. Participants are encouraged to put their own particular take on the topic – as Jana puts it ‘audiobooks, music, podcasts, you name it’. As someone who has only recently experimented with listening to audiobooks, I’m coming clean with my Confessions of an Audiobook Newbie.
Confession 1 – I’ll admit to being a late adopter of technology generally. Until recently my experience of listening to books rather than reading the words was confined to books on audio cassettes many years ago. Yes, that dates me.
Confession 2 – I can’t emulate those people who can multitask while listening to audiobooks. So no listening while doing household chores, while at the gym (since that would involve actually going to the gym) or while driving (as that would involve being able to drive and owning a car). I find I need to give an audiobooks my full attention.
Confession 3 – I struggle with the fact that listening to an audiobook involves a longer investment of time than reading the physical version of the book. I’m conscious of the huge stack of books on my bookshelf waiting to be read and the number of books I might have been able to get through in the time it takes to listen to a single audiobook.
Confession 4 – Apart from my aforementioned experience with audio cassettes in the technological equivalent of the Dark Ages, I’ve only listened to three audiobooks so far: Zoo Station by David Downing, The Turn of Midnight by Minette Walters and All Among the Barley by Melissa Harrison.
Confession 5 – I only became recently aware that my local library offers the facility to ‘borrow’ audiobooks, albeit a fairly limited selection.
Confession 6 – I honestly intended to use a recent long flight to start listening to Tombland by C J Sansom but I got distracted by some of the films on offer.
Confession 7 – The two audiobooks I plan to listen to next (Now We Shall Be Entirely Free by Andrew Miller and The Western Wind by Samantha Harvey) I actually have copies of already on my Kindle (and have had for some time).
Confession 8 – I’m distinctly unfussy about the narrators of audiobooks. Male, female, I don’t care as long as they have clear diction and read at a suitable pace.
Confession 9 – Although I find listening to an audiobook very relaxing I also find it makes me sleepy – possibly a throwback to being read bedtime stories as a child.
Confession 10 – Don’t even mention podcasts – I’m a late adopter, remember…
What are your tips for learning to love audiobooks?
