Books: Do You Audio?

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After my grandchildren came to live with me, I got heavily into listening to books. I spend a lot of time in the car, especially since we live at least thirty minutes from any and every thing. Over time, I've read more audiobooks than regular books. Although it's a great way to enhance all of the necessary trips I end up making, it does have it's pros and cons.




Pros

  1. I can read when I need to have my eyes on the road.
  2. I can read while doing housework.
  3. I can read while getting ready in the morning.
  4. I can enjoy books with my grandchildren while we're driving.
  5. I don't have to give up my love of reading since I have less down time for it now.
  6. Some stories blossom if the right narrator reads the audiobook.
  7. I pick up nuances to the story better when I hear it.

Cons

  1. Some narrators are not very good--luckily those are few and far between.
  2. My grandson often interrupts the story which frustrates his sister.
  3. If I start a book with both children in the car, we can only listen to it when both of them are in the car.
  4. If there's a lot of traffic, I end up backing up the audio book to figure out what I missed.
  5. I have to be careful when listening around the house since some stories throw in expletives that I'd rather my grandchildren not hear.
  6. Audiobooks are expensive, so I need to find them through special deals on Chirp or Kubo or check them out through the library. All of these have limited inventory.


I Still Audio

As you can see, the pros and cons are almost equal. Still, I will continue to read audiobooks because they give me an opportunity to read when I normally can't.

Do you read audiobooks? Why or why not?


Image courtesy of Thomas Wolter on Pixabay

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