I've been making an effort to listen to more audiobooks this year but it's not going well. I struggle with audio in general, my attention wanders too much, which is fine for podcasts, but with books I so quickly lose the flow. I'm also super sensitive to voices and accents (I seem to suffer from severe misophonia) and so if a voice grates on me, I can't persist. I had to give up How to Say Babylon, which was recommended to me, because I couldn't deal with the author and narrator's voice. Audio is risky, I suppose.
I was struggling a bit the other day with The Adventures of Augie March by Saul Bellow, but I didn't give up and I'm glad I didn't, because it's picking up and now I'm in the flow. Bellow's style can be challenging at times and it had been a while since I read him.
I feel with audiobooks it takes practice to find the right one. If I found myself wandering i would start it again, mostly now I am fully engaged. I totally get being sensitive to voices. My top tip (what worked really well for me) was choosing accents that I really like. I listened to a few narrated by Irish, Indian and Scottish accents and i didn’t once
I would love any book narrated by an Irish, Indian or Scottish accent. I guess it's tricky to find a balance between a book I want to read (or listen to) and the right narrator. I'll do my best to persist.
I DNFd a book yesterday because I got it from the library and realized I just wanted to spend a month reading things from my backlist exclusively 😅 I'll just have a thought and abandon any books in my way for no reason. It's not great ✨
I've been making an effort to listen to more audiobooks this year but it's not going well. I struggle with audio in general, my attention wanders too much, which is fine for podcasts, but with books I so quickly lose the flow. I'm also super sensitive to voices and accents (I seem to suffer from severe misophonia) and so if a voice grates on me, I can't persist. I had to give up How to Say Babylon, which was recommended to me, because I couldn't deal with the author and narrator's voice. Audio is risky, I suppose.
I was struggling a bit the other day with The Adventures of Augie March by Saul Bellow, but I didn't give up and I'm glad I didn't, because it's picking up and now I'm in the flow. Bellow's style can be challenging at times and it had been a while since I read him.
I feel with audiobooks it takes practice to find the right one. If I found myself wandering i would start it again, mostly now I am fully engaged. I totally get being sensitive to voices. My top tip (what worked really well for me) was choosing accents that I really like. I listened to a few narrated by Irish, Indian and Scottish accents and i didn’t once
feel jarred by the narrators voice.
I would love any book narrated by an Irish, Indian or Scottish accent. I guess it's tricky to find a balance between a book I want to read (or listen to) and the right narrator. I'll do my best to persist.
100% agree on reading a book in a different format. Because sometimes it just works.
Yes exactly! Sometimes it’s good to hear the audio to get in a better rhythm and other times it’s the narrators voice throwing it off!
agree. I’ve had classics where I had a hard time getting through them but when I listened to the audio, I loved it.
I DNFd a book yesterday because I got it from the library and realized I just wanted to spend a month reading things from my backlist exclusively 😅 I'll just have a thought and abandon any books in my way for no reason. It's not great ✨
i do love that about library books you don’t feel compelled to finish it!