Tuesday, August 17, 2010

My Newest Addiction Should Be Yours

It's a good addiction, trust me. But, like any addiction, it isn't for everyone. It keeps me up at night. It enthralls my mind with imagination. It keeps my creative juices spinning. It helps me with plot ideas by coming up with new "What If" questions. It lets me devour certain goals in no time. I can do it anywhere. I can do it while I drive. I can do it while I sleep. I can do it while I do the dishes or the laundry or watch my kids play. The versatility makes this addiction, or obsession, fatal to those who have a hard time controlling themselves.

What is it, you ask?

Do you really want to know? Can you handle the truth? If you think you can, I'm not liable for any of your future lackings...lack of paying attention to your kids, lack of studying skills, lack of taking interest in anything else the entire time you are under consumption.

Audio books.

There, I said it. Audio books.

It's true, though. I started them back in the spring when I realized I had a very hard time fitting in "reading time". It's hard sitting down with two kids, then under 5, and concentrate on reading words while they climb on you as if you were the latest jungle gym at McDonalds. And at night, when your husband hates light, why must you be forced to read somewhere other than where you want to be: in your own bed? And don't even get me started on reading while you drive...

I got hooked on them this summer when night classes started and I had to go to class 4 nights out of the week. My 20 minute drives turned into 30 minute ones just so I could listen to more of my book. They are a God send. I can finish a book just as quickly now as if I were single and childless! (ahem...not that I wish to be, just sayin'...)

I will say, the voice does make or break it. There's only been one book I just couldn't get through because the voice over artists was just....bleck. Sometimes it takes a few chapters for me to adjust to the voices (especially with women trying for a guy's voice and it's just too corny or bad), but eventually I get pulled into the story and the voices don't bother me anymore. The best, by far, is the Gemma Doyle books by Libba Bray. Not just he writing, but Josephine Bailey is the absolute best voice over person I've ever heard in my entire life. Her male voices sound male! And she distinguishes each character in just enough inflection that I always know who is speaking. And she puts such personality into each voice, she's just bloody brilliant!

So, have you tried a hit of audio yet? I've gotten . . . gosh . . . (goes to check goodreads) 7 books completed (plus a few I actually read) during the summer semester...and that's saying something for a full time mommy and night school person! (Not trying to toot my own horn, but really!)

Of course, I don't get enough sleep because of it....I do tend to get a little over my head and listen to a CD until my brain can no longer function enough to understand what it is I'm listening to, and it's 1am, and oh crap I have kids that wake up at 6:30am I better get to sleep, but oh no, what's this, something else is about to happen!

Try it out if you haven't. So convinient. If you have, do you like it as much as this audioholic? (That would be me, because for some reason, I like referring to myself in the third person right now....blame it on the oral presentation I had to do and then all the rest I had to listen to in class tonight....)

8 comments:

  1. My favorite audio book readers are Brendan Frasier and the guy who played Spike in Buffy. Frasier does all the character voices (not all of them human) and it's so entertaining.

    There was one I listened to that was read by the author and it was horrible.

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  2. I haven't listened to audio books, but I just won the Bourne Objective & am looking forward to trying it out :)

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  3. I've never tried audio books. I should see if my library has them. Thanks for the recommendation - I love me addictions!

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  4. Sarah...the one I disliked was also read by the author..I wonder if it's the same one lol. Brendan Frasier...now I'm going to have to go see which books he's done work for!

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  5. I love Audiobooks! Sometimes its the only way I can read during the week, especially now that I'm in school.

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  6. I've never once listened to one! Something to consider, I suppose.

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  7. This is a great idea. I will have to check my library. I too have very young kids and by the time I can actually sit down to read (about 11pm at night), my eyes are simply to tired to follow the words on the page and I barely read more than twenty to thirty mintues. Maybe this is the solution to help me get through some books I really want to read. Thanks for this post!

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  8. Hm. I'll have to give them a shot: I've never used an audio book. Thanks, Christa!

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