audio books

juice · 09-20-2004, 05:44 PM

Not sure how many of you are into audio books in addition to e-books but I thought I most direct you to http://www.audiobooksguide.com

I personally have gotten hooked on audio books in the last year due to my long commutes and find them great to listen to. While searching to see what was out there as far as audio books I found that the resources for knowing whats what were pretty limited.. so after spending some time researching this I've put them online as a guide to give you all the low down on which retailers sell which, what are the benefits, and even listed the latest coupons, deals and hardware reviews.. There's also a pricing search engine for searching audio book retailers..

anyways.. I thought i'd post this and see if anyone was interested..

-tom

cbarnett · 09-20-2004, 06:40 PM

Hi Tom,

I've never really tried audiobooks. I used to commute an hour or so a day before I moved to the country, where it would have been nice to be able to listen to a book rather than read (especially on the trip home when you're feeling a bit tired), but I just don't travel or have enough time to devote to listening to a book now.

I wonder what eveyone else's experiences with audiobooks is like. I imagine the reader can really influence the quality of the book.

Craig.

ignatz · 09-20-2004, 10:44 PM

I love audio books. My commute is only 25 minutes or so, but I get very burnt out on the news (especially now in the presidential election season here), and listen to a lot of them. The reader can make all the difference. A perfect book can become a trial to listen to with a poor reader. Recently I heard a few chapters of Howard Zinn's A People's History of the United States as read by Matt Damon. Let me tell you, whatever you may think of his acting, he is not a good reader. On the other hand, I have had the immense pleasure of listening to (twice now!) the unabridged recordings of the Lord of the Rings series, read by Rob Inglis. These are exceptional and I would recommend them to anyone who has enjoyed the books or the movies. I was surprised by how much those books in particular gain by being read aloud. It really feels vaguely Homeric, as so much of the speeches and description comes even more alive than when read silently. And Inglis' take on the characters is extremely well done.

I find that using my Palm with a 256 meg memory card I can keep many hours of reading on me all the time. It's not uncommon for me to do some fabrication work in our warehouse, and I like to listen to books then too. Sometimes I can squeeze in 5 or 6 hours in a day. Though that's better done with books that don't take a lot of focus, like thrillers, or something that I've heard before.

I also enjoy downloading and listening to news programs like Counterspin, Democracy Now!, and others. That way I'm not tied down to the radio schedule.

In my car I use one of those tape kits that plug into your headphone jack, but I've been considering getting one of those iRock FM broadcast tools. Has anyone used one of those?

hacker · 09-21-2004, 12:25 AM

And don't forget that Project Gutenberg has almost all of their works machine-translated into mp3 format on their site as well.

09-20-2004, 05:44 PM	#1
juice Junior Member Posts: 1 Karma: 10 Join Date: Sep 2004 Device: ericsson 610	audio books Not sure how many of you are into audio books in addition to e-books but I thought I most direct you to http://www.audiobooksguide.com I personally have gotten hooked on audio books in the last year due to my long commutes and find them great to listen to. While searching to see what was out there as far as audio books I found that the resources for knowing whats what were pretty limited.. so after spending some time researching this I've put them online as a guide to give you all the low down on which retailers sell which, what are the benefits, and even listed the latest coupons, deals and hardware reviews.. There's also a pricing search engine for searching audio book retailers.. anyways.. I thought i'd post this and see if anyone was interested.. -tom

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09-20-2004, 06:40 PM	#2
cbarnett MR prodigal son Posts: 1,085 Karma: 1083739 Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Australia Device: Kobo Aura H2O	Hi Tom, I've never really tried audiobooks. I used to commute an hour or so a day before I moved to the country, where it would have been nice to be able to listen to a book rather than read (especially on the trip home when you're feeling a bit tired), but I just don't travel or have enough time to devote to listening to a book now. I wonder what eveyone else's experiences with audiobooks is like. I imagine the reader can really influence the quality of the book. Craig.

09-20-2004, 10:44 PM	#3
ignatz mechanoholic Posts: 582 Karma: 1000217 Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: Sarasota, FL Device: Nook STR/iPhone 4S/EVO 4G	I love audio books. My commute is only 25 minutes or so, but I get very burnt out on the news (especially now in the presidential election season here), and listen to a lot of them. The reader can make all the difference. A perfect book can become a trial to listen to with a poor reader. Recently I heard a few chapters of Howard Zinn's A People's History of the United States as read by Matt Damon. Let me tell you, whatever you may think of his acting, he is not a good reader. On the other hand, I have had the immense pleasure of listening to (twice now!) the unabridged recordings of the Lord of the Rings series, read by Rob Inglis. These are exceptional and I would recommend them to anyone who has enjoyed the books or the movies. I was surprised by how much those books in particular gain by being read aloud. It really feels vaguely Homeric, as so much of the speeches and description comes even more alive than when read silently. And Inglis' take on the characters is extremely well done. I find that using my Palm with a 256 meg memory card I can keep many hours of reading on me all the time. It's not uncommon for me to do some fabrication work in our warehouse, and I like to listen to books then too. Sometimes I can squeeze in 5 or 6 hours in a day. Though that's better done with books that don't take a lot of focus, like thrillers, or something that I've heard before. I also enjoy downloading and listening to news programs like Counterspin, Democracy Now!, and others. That way I'm not tied down to the radio schedule. In my car I use one of those tape kits that plug into your headphone jack, but I've been considering getting one of those iRock FM broadcast tools. Has anyone used one of those?

09-21-2004, 12:25 AM	#4
hacker Technology Mercenary Posts: 617 Karma: 2561 Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: East Lyme, CT Device: Direct Neural Implant	And don't forget that Project Gutenberg has almost all of their works machine-translated into mp3 format on their site as well.

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