I’ve been experimenting with audiobooks.
I’m finding I prefer to read books. Audiobook narrators read too slow for me so my attention drifts. I really don’t like women narrators imitating male voices—sounds corny at best. Another disadvantage of listening to books involves my Looked It Up posts. Audiobooks are not conducive to highlighting or jotting down words to look up. For me, hitting stop creates a harsher break, and in spoken sentences pauses feel more disruptive to the story. Yesterday, I finished Some Girls Bite, Book 1 of Chloe Neill’s Chicagoland Vampire Series- narrated by Cynthia Halloway. I liked the story and the narrator was good—her male voices were better than most. But I didn’t write down a single word 😦 Chloe Neill likes to use a hundred dollar word where a five buck word would work, so there were plenty words I would have liked to look up and learn more about. Hence, no Looked It UP post this week. Sorry, but I did create a new Kindle Guy image for you . (Please pretend my earbud doesn’t look like a shower head.)
So, what are your thoughts on…
Listening to audiobooks VS Reading them?
Narrators imitating voices of the opposite gender?
People who claim listening to a book doesn’t count as reading a book?
Please share your comments!
KLeRosier 
a girl who reads
/ 03/30/2013I don’t like audiobooks either. I lose focus on what they’re saying very quickly because, like you said, they read too slow and I get bored. Plus, I can’t make notes or hightlight the lines I like.
klerosier
/ 05/11/2013I’m sorry for the delay in approving your comment so it posts–it sneaked past me somehow.
I get frustrated when I can’t mark a passage I like as well.
bethwarstadt
/ 03/30/2013I find that there are circumstances where I enjoy an audiobook, such as when I am driving or as I drift off to sleep. Generally, however, I also prefer reading. if I am going to be transported to a different world, which is why I read fantasy, then I need to block out all the evidence of reality, sort of like Christopher Reeve time-travelling in Somewhere in Time.Because I can look around or be otherwise occupied while I listen to a book, I remain too firmly grounded in the real world to truly escape.
klerosier
/ 04/01/2013Reading is one of the few things that holds my ADHD attention completely. I think the eyes working over the page keep me tuned in. Also a fantasy reader, I too get sucked deep into the world when I read.
Also I read fast and can adjust to the speed that my mind works.
Average adult readers read at 250 to 300 words per minute (WPM)
Audio books narrators are trained to read at 150-160 WPM. I think I read faster than average so that’s a big difference in speed.
Thanks for commenting.
Judy Westerlund
/ 03/31/2013I really enjoy audio books. I have a 45 minute drive one way to work and listening to books makes my drive more enjoyable, less boring. I have very little time at home to sit down and read so listening to audio books on my way to work allows me to satisfy my love of books. I still do read when I have the opportunity and can keep my eyes open at night.
Narrators reading voices for the opposite sex doesn’t bother me. Sometimes a particular narrator will annoy me and listening is less pleasurable, but that is very rare.
I find that listening to books enhances the reading experience, especially with particularly skilled narrators so I think that listening can sometimes be better than reading and absolutely counts as reading. Why do we read books to young children who can’t read yet, if not to have them experience the pleasure and excitement of books?
Recommended listening experience – Water For Elephants by Sara Gruen. Great story and narrators were great. Used 2 different voices for the main character – one when he was a young man and one as an old man.
klerosier
/ 04/01/2013Thanks for commenting Judy.
If I had a long drive or commute to work I would most definitely listen to books, even if I personally prefer to read. I’m glad both forms are now commonly available. I think the debate that listening doesn’t “count” as reading is ridiculous. The reader takes in the words, and Author’s message in either format. I loved being read to by teachers, Caddie Woodlong, Little House Books. I think it allowed me to grasp broader stories that would have been painful at my reading level.
Nancy Vilim Umstead
/ 04/02/2013I liked being read to as a kid. I have fond memories of Mrs. Nelson my 3rd grade teacher reading CHarlotte’s Web (& others) & doing all the different voices. Now if someone is reading aloud: I want to be able to read along. Seems I can’t follow along just listening.