Audio Books

Those interested in Audible I think there is a free offer currently I’m sure it keeps appearing on Facebook. It would be worth checking.

chelseababy

If you have a kindle book Alexa can read that to you. Not as good as the real thing but adequate.

How does that work, Chelseababy? Do you mean Alexa can read print books from your Kindle app?

I suppose my favourites are old now. I love Miss Read’s Thrush Green books read by Gwen Watford. There are other readers, but I can only listen to Gwen Watford. Stephen Fry has a very good voice. Jeremy Irons reading Brideshead Revisited was excellent. I like Received Pronunciation, and am likely to be irritated by regional accents - oh, except for Alan Bennett.

I must look into available audiobooks. I haven’t had a new one for a long time.

Thank you Chardy I think I should give it a go.

mumski

I use Borrowbox but get frustrated with how hard it is to borrow certain authors. I wondered about joining Audible. I'm I right in thinking you pay a monthly fee £7.99? and then you have to pay for each book you download?

I pay £7.99/month and get one credit for one book. You can pay £14 for 2 credits etc. There are all sorts of deals.
There are loads of free books (fiction and non-fiction) by well-known authors, and podcasts.
I have nearly 200, and it's been one of the best buys I've ever made.

If you have a kindle book Alexa can read that to you. Not as good as the real thing but adequate.

My library uses Libby and has a reasonable selection of audio books.

We've got some BBC radio plays of the Charles Paris books (by Simon Brett) that we love listening to in the car on long journeys. Read by Bill Nighy.

I use Borrowbox but get frustrated with how hard it is to borrow certain authors. I wondered about joining Audible. I'm I right in thinking you pay a monthly fee £7.99? and then you have to pay for each book you download?

I have hundreds of Audible audio books, it is where I spend my money. I found that I often go to sleep with some narrators. A blessed relief I can tell you. I love some narrators and find them so wonderful that I listen more than once. I like detective stories (though some are gruesome). I adore certain Scottish detective stories and can often been heard giggling my head off at them. I love the accents (mainly Glaswegian) as my mum was from that great city and it’s like hearing her voice (though usually male) all over again, her speech patterns certainly. I can do something else while I’m listening (ironing, cleaning, driving), it’s brilliant.

There are a number of options to slow down or speed up the narrator’s pace. The only reason I’ve returned audible books is because of the grating voice of the narrator. Always check it first now.

I think the answer is you're basically an audible fan or not. There are narrators I don't 'gel' with, but the format basically suits me when I want to listen and get on with other tasks. Yes I often sometimes have to rewind because I've lost the plot, but on the whole I love being 'read to'

Another Borrowbox I love are the books by Liane Moriaty, read by Caroline Lee. She is a brilliant reader and I just love hearing these stories set in Australia being read with an Aussie accent.

I’ve just discovered McLevy too on Sounds and love Brian Cox’s accent. Glad there are so many series to listen to.

Maggiemaybe

I’ve just thought of another pet hate - narrators putting on different voices for different characters, particularly if it’s a man putting on a woman’s voice or vice versa. Drives me mad.

Absolutely.

I find Audiobooks a bit difficult, as I lose concentration. I can't just sit and listen, so start doing other things, and then realise I've missed something important. But anyway - I am a fan of Val McDermid's books, and the chap who does a lot of her narration is awful, and a lot of that is down to the accents. Tony Hill sounds bad, the policeman from outside the area (can't remember who or where) is worse, but the Chinese woman who does all the computer research is like a very bad parody - it verges on racist (think Mr Moto!).

Rosie51

Oh I love Robert Glenister reading the Strike novels, but I must admit the Cornish accent is sometimes a little too pronounced.

I've enjoyed Robert Glenister reading the new Strike so much that I'm currrntly re-listening to the previous one. He does so many voices, male and female, so well, and manages to make each sound different - I'm in awe.

My local library uses ULibrary, which is excellent. You can keep each audiobook for a fortnight, but if you’re busy and it gets returned after that time, you can take it out again and it starts where you left off.

Thanks for that, I never gave my local library a thought. It is mainly self-service but there will be at least a librarian hidden somewhere.

You can use your local library (if in UK). I use on my phone or iPad via BorrowBox- you just need your county library card to access ebooks and audio. It is very easy to use.

Mollygo - snap, yes I still have a collection of taped audio books. Used to use them in my car back then.
Then a whole lot on CD's
Now all on Alexa and my smartphone.

You should definitely go for it, you won’t be disappointed!

Thanks, I have 3 Alexas!

Charleygirl5

Do they come in the form of discs or memory sticks, please? I am totally tech challenged.

Hi Charlie
I subscribe to Audible and listen through my Alexa.

I’m sure I remember you saying that you’ve got Alexa, apologies if I’m mistaken.

The cheapest option for Audible is about £7 a month. You get one book a month for that, and there is absolutely loads of free stuff included. They seem to have a constant sale on too.

There are lots of different subscription options. After my first year, I opted for the top tier one where it’s about £100 including 24 books, and I get unlimited returns for that too (it doesn’t advertise that, but they do).

I highly recommend it.

My first audiobooks were on tapes, would you believe? Then on CDs. Now mine are downloaded. You can save them to a memory stick.

Do they come in the form of discs or memory sticks, please? I am totally tech challenged.