My audiobook experiment continues and I’ve discovered two new advantages with audiobooks:
1: My hubby likes watching TV and I don’t; I prefer reading. I can read to a lot of shows or movies, but some are just too noisy. For example when they’re dialogue heavy, or loud comedies (for example Family Guy) make it impossible for me to concentrate on what I’m reading. But now, the problem is solved: I put on my headphones and listen to an audiobook and hubby can watch whatever he wants without disturbing me 🙂
2: I’ve started packing up our apartment since we’re moving to a house in the country on April 16, and listening to audiobooks while packing, makes packing a whole lot less hell-ish. So yay!
But enough about that. Here are four of the books I’ve read since my last installment.
(And if you’ve missed the other parts of my experiment, here are the links to part 1 and part 2)
Promises, part 2 by A.E. Via taught me that a good narrator (and Aiden Snow is a very good narrator) can keep me interested even if I find the book just so-so. Aiden Snow’s voice for Quick, his southern drawl, made me swoon, and listening to him narrate sex scenes while I was grocery shopping might not have been the best idea I’ve ever had 😂 On the other hand: I tend to skim the sex scenes in books, especially if they’re numerous, and it’s a bit more difficult to do in audiobooks than when reading with my eyeballs. Not impossible of course, but a bigger hassle than just letting my eyes glaze over until they stop going at it.
Unfit to Print by KJ Charles (my first KJ Charles book, am I last to the party?) taught me that it’s easier to look up an unfamiliar word when reading with my eyeballs than when I’m listening to an audiobook. In an ebook, I can just copy the word and paste it into google (or even use the built in dictionary when available) but hearing the unfamiliar word presents a bigger challenge. It’s not impossible, but complicated enough for me to be bothered. Especially if unsure of the spelling. 🙂
Upside Down by N.R. Walker made me want to go to Australia, find narrator Glen Lloyd and kiss him! Gawd, he was fantastic. The Aussie accent. The way he narrated Jordan’s blurting motor mouth. His distinct and easy-to-follow voices for the different characters. He was perfect. And the book was super cute and over the top and I loved it. Not even the little miscommunication part could get me to not love it, and that says something, considering it’s my least favorite trope in the whole wide world.
Color of You by C.S. Poe taught me that Greg Boudreaux is quickly becoming one of my favorite narrators. (I listen to another book narrated by him, Invitation to the Blues by Roan Parrish – a re-read – and adored it). When it was bedtime on the day I read it, I had two hours left of the book and was in the middle of a very tense moment and couldn’t go to sleep without knowing what happened. But I also couldn’t stay up for two more hours, so what to do? I ended up eyeball reading the the last part (fast reader, remember, didn’t even take me an hour) since the ebook was also available in Scribd, and after that I could go to sleep. But the next morning, I was a bit disgruntled that I hadn’t heard the last part, too, because the narrator did such a stellar job with the voices, so I decided to finish listening to it, too. It was definitely worth it, even if I already knew what was happening. And Greg Boudreaux narrated that part just as beautifully as I’d suspected he would.
I’m very happy with how this experiment is progressing, and I admit I can no longer say I don’t listen to audiobooks, because I do. But I plan on a fourth installment before I deliver my final verdict, so come back. You don’t want to miss it.
And as always: feel free to recommend me your absolute favorite audiobook in the comments. I have an Audible credit to spend 😁
Nell Iris 