Audio books

that guy · Post by **that guy** » Sun Jan 20, 2008 7:29 am

I'm getting sick of all the music I listen to in the half our drive to work and figured since I don't really read books any more it would be cool to listen to some audio books. It then occured to me that I did not have any audio books. Is anyone aware of a non-dodgy way to get free audio books?

fox · Post by **fox** » Sun Jan 20, 2008 11:34 am

I don't think there are many free audio books availlable. Especially not the good ones since they use professional readers/voices that also work for the movie industry. They are quite expensive and royalties for the book itself need to be paid as well.

Post by **Jonas** » Sun Jan 20, 2008 2:55 pm

Can't you get 'em at the local library? My mom brings them home in droves and puts them on her iPod.

Post by **Trestkon** » Sun Jan 20, 2008 9:33 pm

Jonas is right, you can get them from your local library.

My girlfriend's parents got hooked up with some kind of e-library through their regular library, and they can rent the books online. You can check out 5 at once and you're legally entitled to burn most of them. The rest have digital rights for 3 weeks, or something.

Deus Diablo · Post by **Deus Diablo** » Tue Jan 22, 2008 11:58 pm

Audio books are no substitute to actually reading books IMO. First of all its much faster to read them yourself, second, without really being able to explain it, reading the books makes them much more enjoyable. Without distractions it comes more alive I guess. I've been getting into reading again recently (actually took a surprising amount of time to get used to it again as I was too easily distracted). The Northern Lights (aka The Golden Compass) was one of the books I re-read over the holidays, took 2 days and I absolutely loved it. Can't wait to read the two sequels again.

Post by **Trestkon** » Wed Jan 23, 2008 12:08 am

Reading books is better for most people, but not everyone enjoys reading, so I think a lot of people can get more enjoyment out of the audio books.

Mr_Cyberpunk · Post by **Mr_Cyberpunk** » Wed Jan 23, 2008 2:15 am

I listened to the Neuromancer audio book.. Gibson is excelent but having U2 and Bono yelling in my ear kinda sucks.. fing hippies.

that guy · Post by **that guy** » Wed Jan 23, 2008 2:10 pm

I've never listened to an audio book before (except perhaps as a kid) and used to read all the time. However I never really have time to read anymore. I do however do about an hour of driving every day. The audio books is more a solution to that problem than an alternative to book reading.

fox · Post by **fox** » Wed Jan 23, 2008 4:44 pm

Yeah, I agree that reading a book yourself is deeper but I still find it quite enjoyable to listen to an audiobook in bed sometimes. It's more relaxed than reading where you have to hold a position in order to read the book. I am also a slow reader so that I am able to get more input when someone else reads it for me. That's ok for some books.

justanotherfan · Post by **justanotherfan** » Thu Jan 24, 2008 1:27 am

I find audiobooks helpful. I can "read" without paying attention, or rather without having to stare at something and ignore everything else. Some content doesn't seem to match the medium though, at least for critical study. Things can be said a lot faster than they can be understood. Extremely complex subjects, or intentionally fragmentary or obfuscated texts, become unfathomable when they're just said aloud. On the other hand, you can speed up an audiobook when it's easy to follow.

There's a lot of audiobooks on P2P. Publishers often put out an audiobook version of books. Often you can actually get the author reading their book to you.

Mr_Cyberpunk · Post by **Mr_Cyberpunk** » Thu Jan 24, 2008 2:27 am

Like William Gibson in Neuromancer.. very geeky

it'll sound better when I start hiring VAs for my game