What are we listening to? (audiobooks)

[badgoodDeb]

Originally Posted by CRussel

This is completely counter intuitive, and yet I completely agree. I can simply zone out of whatever I don't want to listen to, focusing on whatever else I'm doing at the time. (I rarely just listen to a book. I listen and knit, I listen and swim, I listen and cook, etc.)

Whereas I only listen to audiobooks while on long distance driving trips. Not much else to pay attention to! And that's *why* I'm listening.

[CRussel]

Originally Posted by badgoodDeb

Whereas I only listen to audiobooks while on long distance driving trips. Not much else to pay attention to! And that's *why* I'm listening.

I _do_ listen on driving trips. But there it's equally easy to zone out for me. Just focus on the road for a while, or the scenery (assuming you aren't on I-5 in central California.)

[badgoodDeb]

Originally Posted by CRussel

I _do_ listen on driving trips. But there it's equally easy to zone out for me. Just focus on the road for a while, or the scenery (assuming you aren't on I-5 in central California.)

But I can't even "zone out" (or work) when music is on. I actively listen. Unless it's classical or something. Anything 1940-2 till now requires listening, per my brain. So I doubt I could ignore a voice speaking (audio book) either.

Similarly, I can sleep to any white noise .... which includes heavy construction machinery ... but not voices.

[WT Sharpe]

I can't sleep to TV.

[CRussel]

When I was younger, I couldn't work with music on. And I still can't when I'm writing a script. But when I'm writing content in a chapter or article, I put the headphones on and write. Of course, by the time I'm writing, the thinking is pretty much done, and it's all about conveying that information to my readers. The music best for that seems to vary over time, but is currently West Coast Cool Jazz.

[pwalker8]

Originally Posted by CRussel

When I was younger, I couldn't work with music on. And I still can't when I'm writing a script. But when I'm writing content in a chapter or article, I put the headphones on and write. Of course, by the time I'm writing, the thinking is pretty much done, and it's all about conveying that information to my readers. The music best for that seems to vary over time, but is currently West Coast Cool Jazz.

That's pretty much the way it is for me. If I'm having to do a programming task that requires either creativity or intense focus, I can't listen to music, podcast or audiobooks. It's best to be somewhere quiet, but when I'm at the office, I use either nature sounds (Naturespace is really good) or a white noise generator. Past that it depends on mood and what I'm doing. I mostly listen to audiobooks when I'm in the car, though I sometimes do at work when I'm doing repetitive tasks.

[sakura-panda]

Originally Posted by CRussel

When I was younger, I couldn't work with music on. And I still can't when I'm writing a script. But when I'm writing content in a chapter or article, I put the headphones on and write. Of course, by the time I'm writing, the thinking is pretty much done, and it's all about conveying that information to my readers. The music best for that seems to vary over time, but is currently West Coast Cool Jazz.

Originally Posted by pwalker8

That's pretty much the way it is for me. If I'm having to do a programming task that requires either creativity or intense focus, I can't listen to music, podcast or audiobooks. It's best to be somewhere quiet, but when I'm at the office, I use either nature sounds (Naturespace is really good) or a white noise generator. Past that it depends on mood and what I'm doing. I mostly listen to audiobooks when I'm in the car, though I sometimes do at work when I'm doing repetitive tasks.

When I was in college, I listened to hard rock (hair bands and similar) to work through engineering problems and movie soundtracks for everything else. Pop and top 40 for driving around or just hanging out.

I haven't figured out what works best for work because it turns out that most engineers prefer dead silence, which makes me crazy, but I'm not comfortable blocking out everything (with headphones) while I'm working, so I've evolved to listening to nothing, although it really isn't working out. I used to sometimes go to the cafeteria, just to work in the noise, but lately even there seems to be a quiet place.

I listen to audiobooks in the car because it's the only place where I won't get distracted and wander off (like I do at home.) Even if my attention is grabbed by traffic or whatever, I haven't missed much and can get back into the story. At home, I tend to leave the room where my speaker is, forget I was listening to something, and may not come back for 10-20 minutes.

I'm nearly three hours into the 45 hours of Written in My Own Heart's Blood, just to remember what the thread topic is. LOL

[CRussel]

@sakura-panda: Try a set of open-ear headphones. They allow you to listen to music while not blocking out the world. When I'm in my home office, they're my preference. I have a little I/O switcher from SESCOM that allows me to switch between headphones or speakers. I put it on speakers when I'm the only one in the house, and on headphones when I'm not. The headphones are Sennheiser PC360, and they are open-ear so I don't completely isolate from the world.

Currently listening to Phoenix in Shadow, by Ryk E. Spoor, read by Madeline Powers. This is the second of three, and is just as enjoyable and quirky as the first. I'm quite enjoying this series.

[orlok]

Originally Posted by WT Sharpe

I can't sleep to TV.

Boy I wish I had that problem. I'd see the end to a lot more shows.

[Catlady]

Latest listen: All Is Not Forgotten, by Wendy Walker. This is definitely one of the top books I've read this year.

It starts out a bit frustratingly, with what seems to be an all-knowing narrator who is not identified. But then the story begins to take off, with a lot of different threads to it that come together without the author needing to resort to an information dump. It didn't have big surprises, per se--the reveals were all set up so well that I didn't know what was coming, but when it did, I thought, Of course.

It was a disturbing book, both because it deals with a violent rape and because it raises ethical questions. I highly recommend this one.

[sgoldin]

Just read The Cuckoo's Calling by "Robert Galbraith" (pseudonym for J.K Rowling). I enjoyed the Harry Potter books a lot, but this blew them away. It's a fully adult mystery, starting slow but building steadily to a fine conclusion. Rowling proves with this that she's way more than a one-shot phenomenon, but a serious and talented author. And there are at least 2 more books about this P.I. already out.

[CRussel]

I don't think I'd have gone quite that far, but I definitely enjoyed The Cuckoo's Calling and have read the second of the series, with the third sitting on my iPhone waiting to listen to it. The narrator for these is Robert Glenister, and he does an excellent job. But first, I need to finish the current Phoenix book.

[Tarana]

Currently listening to Thrillers: Stories to Keep You Up At Night edited by James Patterson. This was the first book put out to provide support for the International Thrillers Association. It's good, I enjoy it, but I might figure out a way to eliminate the front info on the author (usually several minutes) to just the stories themselves for a future relisten.

[ApK]

Originally Posted by sgoldin

Just read The Cuckoo's Calling by "Robert Galbraith" (pseudonym for J.K Rowling). I enjoyed the Harry Potter books a lot, but this blew them away. It's a fully adult mystery, starting slow but building steadily to a fine conclusion. Rowling proves with this that she's way more than a one-shot phenomenon, but a serious and talented author. And there are at least 2 more books about this P.I. already out.

I enjoyed Cuckoo's Calling, and didn't realize there were other books out in the series. I'll have to check them out.

[copyrite]

I think the series gets better as it goes on.

from my Galaxy S6