Does anybody have

Chatterbox: Blab About Books

Books on Tape
Does anybody have...

Does anybody have different opinions on these compared to regular books?  Any reccomendations?

I think that audio books are good when you want to be doing something else, like knitting, running or other various activities that you can't do with a book.  Also, since I read things really fast, I tend to notice more and have more time to think when I'm listening to a book.  But most of the time, I like paper books.

Recommendation:

The Penguin unabridged version of The Future of Us by Jay Asher and Carolyn Mackler.  BEST BOOK ON TAPE EVER.  I listened to it for literally four hours yesterday.

Has anybody heard of Playaways?  They're one book downloaded onto an MP3 player.  Our school library has them.  Like books on CD or tapes, but more compact.  Plus they have earphones, which is good on trains, sneaking a couple chapter before bed, etc.

So, erm... uh... any thoughts?

submitted by Holmes, The Library
(September 24, 2012 - 4:25 pm)

back to the Blab about Books

I usually read books instead of listening to them on tape BUT I did listen to The Hunger Games on tape. They were really, really good. The woman who read them put a lot of emotion into it. :) 

submitted by Elizabeth M., age 13, Germany
(September 25, 2012 - 6:43 am)

TOP!!!!!!!!!!!

submitted by top
(September 25, 2012 - 4:35 pm)

I like audiobooks when the reader is very good; I don't really see the point otherwise. My favourite audiobooks are ones read by the author. I have a recording of E.B. White reading Charlotte's Web lying around somewhere, and Neil Gaiman has videos of himself reading all of The Graveyard Book up on one of his websites. (Neil Gaiman has a gorgeous voice, too, which makes it even better. He's one of those people who could read anything out loud and I'd want to listen to it. See also, Paul McGann, whose voice is pure auditory chocolate.)

submitted by ZNZ
(September 25, 2012 - 7:15 pm)

I can't do them at all, because the lack of visual input destroys my concentration and I end up missing hundreds of pages worth of detail. So unless I read along with them, I don't get anything out of them. 

The only exception is if Jim Dale is reading because I love his voice. (but even then, I listen for the voice, not the words) 

submitted by TNÖ, age 19, Deep Space
(September 27, 2012 - 1:33 pm)

@ZNZ

Neil Gaiman was on an episode of Arthur, on PBS Kids.  He was actually giving writing advice to one of the characters.

I like books on tape for when I am trying to fall asleep and it's a book I love.  I normally use my Kindle's text-to-speech feature.

submitted by Melody, age 14, Soarin'
(September 27, 2012 - 5:14 pm)

Yes, I've seen that episode! It was gorgeous. God bless PBS. (Should that be "the PBS"? I wouldn't dream of saying "the NPR," but of course you say "the BBC," so I'm not at all sure. "God bless PBS" and "God bless the PBS" sound equally awkward, really. I'm possibly overthinking this, but if anyone has any idea?)

I don't like the Kindle text-to-speech function; it's so unpleasant to be read to by a robot, and it goes either impossibly slowly or unthinkably fast. (The other reason most audiobooks annoy me is that I can read to myself so much faster, so I get dreadfully impatient.) 

 

I think most Americans would say PBS without "the." But we'd say the Public Broadcasting System. Not consistent at all. The British are much more correct.

Admin

submitted by ZNZ
(September 28, 2012 - 9:28 pm)

I don't really like them because I usually imagine the characters' voices when I read. With books on tape, it's the same voice. Just my opinion.

submitted by Miki G., The Milky Way
(September 27, 2012 - 6:37 pm)

Last school year I was really busy, so my mom decided to start using audiobooks because we were in the car so often. We listened to almost all of the books in the 39 Clues Series (which I absolutely love). We didn't finish them, so now I am reading them on my own. Even though we don't use them now, I think they are great for long car rides. Personally, I would rather read a book though.

submitted by Choco, age 14, Here
(September 30, 2012 - 1:20 pm)

I could never stand to listen to books on tape. The reader just always reads it wrong somehow. I don't like being read aloud to either. There are only three people in the world who can read aloud to me and I will actually listen.

submitted by Jess
(October 1, 2012 - 1:48 pm)

I have all of the Harry Potter books (except for the Chamber of Secrets) on my i-pod, as well as Lord of the Rings. Stephen Fry (who does the HP books) is an amazing audiobook reader- and he does all of the house elf voices too!

submitted by Blue Moon
(October 17, 2012 - 3:36 pm)

I love books on tape!  They are the best companion for road trips, which is really the only time I listen to them.  If Jim Dale narrated my life, I would ask for nothing else ever again.  His voice is gorgeous - thank goodness Harry Potter is a rather long series since that gives us all the more time to listen to the beauty.  Speaking of pretty voices, I heard Benedict Cumberbatch reading poetry the other day.  I don't think I need to say anything else on that subject... 

But in terms of the books themselves, as I said, I like to listen to audio books on long road trips.  A cool side effect of doing that is that I end up associating certain portions of books with certain areas.  Example: Whenever I think of a certain area on a road trip I took, I think immediately of Ron, Fred, George, and Harry coming back from the Dursleys in the flying car and getting in massive trouble with Mrs. Weasley.  Like TNÖ, I usually need to read along if someone is reading something, especially if that person is reading a book to me in person.  My dad read Harry Potter to me (a tradition that started when I was really young and that continued after I should technically have outgrown it), and I had to read the words while he was reading it or else the words would go over my head.  However, I have seemed to do fine with audio books, and like you Holmes, I end up not missing details that I could have skimmed over accidentally when reading a physical book.

However, when simply reading a book and not in the car, I like physical books.  In fact, I never really thought that audio books could be used for a purpose other than road trips.  But I think it's a great idea to listen to them when one is otherwise preoccupied.

Great topic! 

submitted by Leaf, age 15, on a tree!
(November 27, 2012 - 7:50 pm)

I can't listen to audiobooks because I space out and miss the whole story. And all the audiobooks I've listened to had boring/weird narrators. Like the Coraline audiobooks. The rat voices were creepy.

On a completely unrelated note, you guys have heard the Harlem Shake before, right? Well you know how at the beginning there is Spanish? CON LOS TERRORISTAS. Translation: with the terrorists/ like a terrorist 

submitted by Maggie the Whovian, age 11, Charlotte
(March 13, 2013 - 8:12 pm)