The Book Blogger Hop was originally created by Jennifer @ Crazy-For-Books in March 2010 and ended on December 31, 2012. With Jennifer’s permission, Coffee Addicted Writer relaunched the hop on February 15, 2013. Each week the hop will start on a Friday and end the following Thursday. There will be a weekly prompt featuring a book related question. The hop’s purpose is to give bloggers a chance to follow other blogs, learn about new books, befriend other bloggers, and receive new followers to your own blog.
The Book Blogger Hop post image was created by Coffee Addicted Writer.
This Week’s Question
Do you listen to audiobooks? If so, do you prefer listening instead of reading? (Elizabeth @ Silver’s Reviews)
I seldom listen to audiobooks. With each passing year I continue to realize that I do not retain information presented to me orally as well as in written form. So I overwhelmingly prefer to read a book rather than listen to someone reading it to me. However, I am currently listening to my second and third audiobooks of the year. But it takes me much longer to get through them than a book. The first one I listened to was THE HOBBIT by J.R.R. Tolkien. As I mentioned last week, I’m listening to WITHIN THESE WICKED WALLS by Lauren Blackwood and HARRY POTTER AND THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS.
Even though I am easily distracted while listening to audiobooks, these three audiobooks made me realize that it’s easier for me to pay attention if the narrator uses different voices for the characters. The audiobooks I listened to for THE HOBBIT and CHAMBER OF SECRETS both did this. And I found/am finding it’s easier for me to retain what happens. (I’m also aware that I’ve read and watched CHAMBER OF SECRETS oodles of times, so that helps with audiobook information retention, too.)
Moreover, I am also very much a mono-tasker. So I absolutely can’t listen to an audiobook if I have to devote more than a sliver of my attention to something else. This severely limits when I can listen to them, which occurs while putting laundry away, taking a walk, or cooking something I’ve made dozens of times before.
What about you? Are audiobooks or regular books more your style?
Was that the Serkis narration of The Hobbit?
No, it wasn’t out by the time I started The Hobbit. I found it on Spotify. It’s listed as “An Unexpected Journey” by Samwise Gamgee and the art associated with it looks like a stained glass portrait of Tolkien. Here’s the playlist if you want to check it out: https://open.spotify.com/show/6OkpF08aPvbZJ2HgGE2Fio
Hi Celeste,
until 2020 I denied to listed to audiobooks. I always thought this is not for me. But damn, I was so wrong. Now, I don’t wanna miss audiobooks in my life anymore.
But I gotta say, that I most likely listen to audiobooks when I have read the books before. First, I make my own imagination while I dig through the pages. But when I later listen to the audio version, and if the narrator has some good style, I experience that I am going deeper in to the story. And yes, if a narrator uses different voices for all the characters, it definitely helps even more.
Unthinkable two years ago, but now I have my wireless earplugs in and listen to any audiobook any given time, when I can hold a book. But most likely doing my daily household chores, during grocery shopping or anything else.
Cheerio
RoXXie
Hi RoXXie! I’m glad you’ve realized how much you enjoy audiobooks! If I continue to listen to audiobooks, I might take your route of predominately listening to books I’ve read before. I just find it so hard to retain plot information otherwise!
I can’t do audiobooks. I will occasionally find one that grabs my attention (The Fiancee by Kate White is one), but for the most part I find myself tuning them out, like if I were listening to music. I lose my place easily, and get frustrated. I don’t completely give up on them, but if given a choice, I will choose a hard copy book. Usually an e-book, since I read mostly self-pub and indie on my kindle.
I agree with you–I do find myself tuning them out to some degree, unless it’s my only source of distraction, like in a car ride. I was listening to an audiobook earlier this week and it was just so easy to accidentally tune it out, especially because 1) I hadn’t read the book before and 2) the voices are the same for all characters (granted, it’s from one POV). Hard copy or e-book are the way I go most of the time as well.