Audiobooks - Yea or Nay?

Are you a fan of audiobooks? If so would you call yourself a reader or a listener? Do they count toward a reading goal?

All valid questions from a somewhat controversial topic for most readers. All of which I will answer with my own honest opinions, which you then can choose to agree or disagree with for yourselves.

I am personally a huge fan of audiobooks especially when used as a companion to the physical book. I like to think of myself as a “Reading Listener” and yes I have just made that up! I love to turn the pages of the physical book whilst having it read to me. It adds an extra level to my reading experience. Almost as if it is brought to life more vividly in my imagination more than it would otherwise be if I did either listen and read alone.

I am however quite picky when it comes to audiobook narrators. I have a subscription to audible.co.uk which in my opinion is a fantastic facility to have at my disposal. Audible offers its members exclusive audible shows and audible exclusive story’s which are either free of charge or at discounted prices. It is very reasonably priced, you have an entire library at your finger tips for the price of one book. Each month as a member you receive “credits” which you can exchange for a book of your choice, basically giving you a free book every month.

If you are a kindle owner some books have a function available called “whispersync for voice” meaning that you are able to seamlessly switch between audio and page without ever loosing your place. As each sentence is read in page mode it is highlighted so that you can flawlessly follow along with the book. This is my favourite way to read right now, it gives you such freedom, you can enjoy turning the pages of a physical book as well as listen to your favourite narrator bring the story to life. Some people have the opinion that audiobooks make you a lazy reader but having this function available in my opinion proves that it is not necessarily true.

As for whether or not audiobooks count toward a reading goal, I believe they do for that exact reason. As long as your audiobook is an unabridged version you have that choice.

I will never be able to recommend audiobooks highly enough my library has expanded considerably since my discovery of them, and will continue to expand further in the future because of them.