Audible. Does anyone subscribe to it?

Audible is brilliant…. I was an avid reader …but after my cataract op went wrong 4 years ago all the reading stopped! I signed up to Audible and I have not looked back. I must have 70 books downloaded …. I’m a Amazon prime customer so the £7,99 per month covers it all…. I get one ‘free credit’ a month.
1 credit = 1 book
Any other book I wish to purchase you either pay for OR like me buy 3 credits for £18 . You do the Maths….. get any book for £6.00. I love this service. But…. read the reviews first…. some of the narration is not up to scratch. So make sure you ‘know’ the actor doing the narration. I recently ‘bought ‘ a Edith Wharton book and the narration was/is atrocious ….. I cannot finish listening to it. Awful… so be careful.

Sign up for free 30days and make a note in your diary when the time is up so you can cancel if you don’t want to continue that way you can give it a fair trial

I gave up on Audible when I realised that I can’t use Amazon tokens on Audible even though it’s owned by Amazon. Loads of stuff to listen to on BBC Sounds.

Love Audible! Just keep buying too many books. All books are yours to keep even those on special offer. Free access to loads of books too!

I signed up for the 30 day free trial and forgot to cancel but as I get a free credit each month, I've carried on with it. I listened first to The Midnight Library by Matt Haig after catching bits of it on Radio 4. Some biographies - Queen Victoria by Lucy Worsley, Becoming by Michelle Obama and my favourite - Lady in Waiting by Anne Glenconner.I really recommend that one. But best of all Still Life by Sarah Winman, read by the Author - what a treat. Sarah is an actress and brings a beautiful story to life. I heard some of it read by someone else on the radio and it wasn't a patch on the Author's version. I've now got her "When God was a Rabbit" ready to go. It's really worth trying the free trial.

Yep been a member for years , husband and daughter share my account and we could all log in and listen to something different at the same time I’m currently on the free 45 hours of Jane Austin. Listen on headphones or via Sonos speaker in the kitchen , or it bluetooths to the car audio system. Give it a go ?

When I went to look, it seems I’ve acquired more than 5. I was saving them for our holiday, when I can’t sleep.

Doodledog

*I’d just have a splurge then. They only allow you to build up 5 credits anyway.*
I have six just now?

Me too. You can pause your membership but only once in any one year period. I’m amassing credits at the moment but intend to pause them once I reach the one year point since my last pause. I think it’s a cheek that they take back your credits as you have already paid for them.

Gate=hate

Our library has Borrowbox and I do use it, but there aren’t enough copies if popular books and I gate waiting.

You can also freeze your membership for 3 months if you’re building up credits.

Libby not Lobby ! Lobby has alot of magazines on as well.

I also have borrow box and lobby which are free you just link them to your library card with loads of excellent audio books . I am listening to Bob Mortimers autobiography at the moment which is only just out. I've listened to the Salt Path , Where the crawdads sing, loads of Bill Bryson and Jodi Picoult books - all for free !

I doubt anyone would become dependent - they are just a different way of accessing books. With Kindle you can switch between reading and listening, which can be useful. The two work in synch, so if you have both the audio and kindle versions and are signed into Amazon they know where you are up to and carry on seamlessly.

I sometimes prefer to read, as the narrator is making choices about the characters (in the tone of their voice and so on) that I would sometimes want to make myself, but for something straightforward and 'easy listening' they are handy when you can't hold a book, such as when cooking. I prefer listening in the bath, too.

Can I also make a plea for good old fashioned paperbacks, for those who can read them? They can be passed on to charity shops; lent to friends and (in good condition) donated to libraries - none of which audio books or e-books can. I understand that sometimes we need different options but I would hate to think that we will all become dependent on being read to (unless we have sight problems).

I'm not a customer but a good friend is and she's forever sending out emails asking if anyone would like an audio book because she's still got credits she hasn't used (you can gift them to friends). It has rather put me off the idea myself. Would rather stay where I am and use either my local library, borrow books from friends or use my Kobo e-reader. I think it's expensive for what it offers (sorry).

I don't pay for any books. I borrow free audio books and e books from the library with the Borrowbox app. I can always find something interesting. Also the Libby app for lots of free magazines.

I'm obviously in a minority here, but, no matter how accomplished the narrator, one single voice doesn't hold my attention for more than 10 minutes. Audio plays with a full cast are a different matter and I find far more entertainment on BBC radio 4 extra.

I have been a member of Audible since 2006, before they were bought by Amazon. I have over 600 titles in my library. I don’t think they can be beaten for the number of titles they offer and for the speed at which newly-published books are added.

Although it is always worth checking whether a title is available through free library apps such as Borrowbox or Libby, there is often a long waiting list for popular titles as councils have licence restrictions limiting how many copies of an audio book can be lent at any one time.

In addition to my one Audible credit a month, I make good use of the Plus Catalogue - free books including many classics and popular writers. For example, they have made a huge number of Ruth Rendell/Barbara Vine books available including all the Wexford stories.

You can return a title if you aren’t enjoying it but be aware that Audible monitor accounts and will grey out the Return Title option if too many books are being returned. I’m told that some members listen to a whole book and then return it for a credit and do that over and over until stopped. Not really in the spirit of things. If your account is flagged in this way, it doesn’t mean you can’t still return something but you need to do it via customer services either by phone or webchat until the restriction has been listed. I do occasionally return a title usually because I don’t like the narrator. The five minute sample you can listen to before buying isn’t always enough.

If you subscribe and find books backing up you can always freeze your subscription for three months. While frozen you can still listen to titles you have purchased but not those from the Plus Catalogue.

I like that the phone app has an option to Airplay the sound to a compatible device so that I can listen to the better sound quality of a soundbar. I do that a lot. The in-built sleep timer is useful at bedtime.

I agree with Toddleo, Casstown15 and Keekaboo. I use BorrowBox and Libby for audiobooks and e reading. It’s completely FREE and all you need is an up to date library card. You can register on line by accessing your county library website. Or you can get help at your local library.
Since my husband died I have listened to over 350 books both Fiction( crime mainly my favourite) and non fiction.
It well worth a try.

I have not tried this idea , but it does sound quite a faff to organise it and costs money as well!! As a rather hard up yorkshire woman, I still find the library the best for me , but do like to have mostly books to actually hold. Hate kindle to read on. but there are audio books you can borrow from the library too. I am no doubt out of date by still have quite a lot of cds and cd player. I did over 10 years 3 days a week, as a volunteer driver for the ambulance car system. Used to take 3 or 4 patients at a time to and from hospital in my car. I used to have quite a few regular patients and used to keep a set of cds with me. No good to use when the car was full as the sound wasnt totally equal front and back but marvellous for a single patient on a long journey often over an hour in a rural area.Also had special ones for children too. The great Martin Jarvis with Just William was popular with many and once I dropped a mother and child off and was carrying on with an elderly gentlemen . I turned the cd off and he said a little gruffly " If you want to hear the end of it I dont mind you leaving it on"!! wouldnt say he was enjoying it. The marvellous Alan Bennetts Talking Heads with wonderful readers like Patricia Routledge. I also kept Strauss walzts for one person, and John Philip Souza marches for a person in a brass band. The other two things I had were a lovely bird song cd which allowed us to be talking and just gave a very enjoyable background and a lovely river sound where it began with a trickle and you heard the waters increasing and going over waterfalls etc . But that was for women only! Why? Put that on for men and you needed to keep stopping for the loos!! Well however we receive them the joy of books is there for us all which is what matters. I too find authors and read everything they have written and am sad when there are no more to follow. At the moment , given the miserable situation with covid and fuel prices etc ., my most cheering thing to do is to go to bed early and I have the wonderful Billy Connolly 's Tall Tales and Wee Stories. I can hear his voice in my mind as I read it and lightens the mood, sends me to sleep with a smile, cheaper than alcohol and better than sleeping pills . I recommend anything of his.

Love Audible. Lots of free books and podcasts available for your subscription. Customer service amazing and you can place a hold or cancel at any time

I love audible books and get them free online from my council library it’s been great during lockdown. I’ve put all my friends and family on to it and they love it too.
I can borrow 10 books at a time if you want both audible and ebooks and you get to have them for a month before they are returned.

I’m worried that once I subscribe to audible my book reading will end and books have been such a huge part of my life. I look on favourite books on my shelves as old friends. So, if I subscribe do I then have to pay for each book or do I get so many free ones a month and how much will I have to pay for each book?

If you belong to a library, you can use BorrowBox for free. You do have to wait for popular books sometimes but there are thousands of either audiobooks or online books on there. It’s brilliant.