Books on tapes are nothing new. I can remember hearing about them when I was much younger. At that point in time, they were primarily intended for blind or visually impaired individuals. If I’m not mistaken, they tended to be the classics. They had a special cassette player you were given and then you checked the individual books out of a library.
Spin the years forward to today. Now Audiobooks are widely available. Most authors readily embrace audiobooks as a way to reach yet another segment of the audience. Also, they are available from more places.
Off the top of my head, I can think of 4 different sources. There are more. I can think of NetGalley, BookFunnel, iTunes, and Audible. These are the ones I use.
So why would you listen to an audiobook? There are many reasons, while taking a long trip, while shopping, walking the dog, taking a hike. I’m sure you can think of others. Recently, however, I came across other reasons.
Since I’m somewhat of a speed reader, there are often things that my mind just glosses over. When you are listening to an audiobook, you can’t do that. So details that previously escaped you are brought out. No matter how many times I read “Brought to Heel” by Delta James, I completely missed the fact that Dylan’s pack is located in the Tidewater, Virginia area.
After listening to more of that series, I was delighted to hear how the narrator was able portray the assorted regional accents the characters would have. It also helped me to locate where Ravenscar was. Ravenscar is a major pack in the Alpha Lords series. Obviously, I knew it was in Great Brittan, but until I listened to the last book in the Wayward Mates series, I didn’t know it was located in England itself.
Something else that others may find happening while they are reading. Foreign names just fly by me. I can’t pronounce them to save my soul! But when Anna Lowe had her Aloha Shifters recorded, her narrator does an absolutely fabulous job of the tongue-twisting Hawaiian names!
So there are many reasons to listen to audiobooks. I hope you’ll try some soon!
Book Reviews by the Reluctant Retiree 