Audiobook Appreciation

This year, I have expanded my reading world to the listening side of things. Audiobooks were never on my radar because of several things.

• I thought I would mourn the loss of a paperback in my hands.
• I sometimes listened to music while I read or multitasked so how could I possibly listen to something? What could I do if I was listening to a book? Sit there like a lump? 
• Narrators intimidated me. 
• If I listened to a book, what if any negative feeling towards the audio element of it made me dislike the actual book? What if I was missing out on a wonderful piece of art because something else got in the way? 
• I don't like change.

Looking back at my list, I realize that I sound like an old lady. I couldn't process this technology and didn't care to. I was still resistant even coming into the blogging world until I read Starry-Eyed Jen's blog. She is a big promoter of audiobooks and when I read her reviews, I questioned if I was really looking at audiobooks correctly. 

Then my sister started listening to The Hunger Games audiobook in the car and when I went with her on errands, she played it. Since I was forcing** myself to not reread The Hunger Games series until Catching Fire came out in November, I was okay with this arrangement. Sure, I was nervous when she started playing it that it would ruin my love for the series. However, that irrational thinking went out the window when she hit play and we were at the cave scene with Peeta. Well, hello there. 

**I was forcing myself because I had gotten so attached to the series that I got more emotional each time I read it. I needed to use self-control more and also not experience so much heartbreak. Yes, listening to the book is kind of like reading it, but let's not discuss that small detail. 

I still thought that I had no room for audiobooks even though I wanted to go on errands with my sister even more and just sit in the car when she went inside all the stores. But then LIGHTBULB! I realized that I could play it on the iPad speaker in the bathroom while I took a shower. So that's where I listened to all the emotional scenes with Peeta, sad Gale moments, even sadder Prim moments, and Finnick *sobs*. Of course, I also retracted my balking at the thought of listening to it on my daily walk because I couldn't just listen to them in the shower, I needed more time with this lovely series. There was also the fact that I kept getting goosebumps right after I shaved from all the feels. 

That's when I realized: Jen was right! Everyone was right! Audiobooks aren't boring and they shouldn't be intimidating. You can get into them and when you do, they are a wonderful thing. I actually did just sit on my couch as I played an addicting game wasting a lot of time when I should have been doing school so I could listen to my audiobook. 

The things I realized during my audiobook experiences expand every time. 

• Sometimes I don't have time to sit down and read a paperback. Even if I do, I probably just finished reading lots of chapters in my textbook or had to write and reread and reread and reread and reread some more an essay for school. Audiobooks are a great way to help your desire for fiction, but gives a break on your eyes. 
• Like I mentioned above, you can still multitask! Indulge yourself in an addicting phone game. 
• Narrators can give the story more life. Really, that surprised me the most. My audiobook review for The Song of the Lioness by Tamora Pierce will be coming soon, but the narrator? Fan-stinking-tastic. 
• I might get into books even more if I listen to them because the narrators not only give life to the story, but also pronounce words for me, give voices to the characters, and by listening to a book, I could possibly be wrapped up in the story more. 
• Sometimes change is a good thing. 

I still absolutely love my paperbacks and would rather get a physical book for my birthday than a disc, but audiobooks are great alternatives. 

How I now feel about audiobooks.

All summer, SYNCYA has been giving away two free audiobooks a week, one classic and one YA. It's wrapping up this month, but it's not too late to download a few! Unfortunately, my computer is being wonky and won't let me get to the website. So go to Jen's page and try to get to it there. Or use the powerful Google. 

I might be the last one to the audiobook party, but if you still haven't gotten into them, I strongly recommend starting. 

What are your favorite audiobooks? Do you use audiobooks?