With the rise of Audible, Amazon’s audiobook company, pleasuring your eardrums with a fanciful adventure has never been easier. Here at FinalBoss towers, our main hobbies revolve around tech, gaming, movies and TV. However, another pastime that many of us enjoy is reading. I, myself, can think of little better than losing yourself in a whimsical fantasy adventure or travelling the stars in a surreal sci-fi. One way I love to consume books is by audiobook, where somebody with much more dulcet tones than I reads to me, bringing the characters to life with vivid detail.
In ye olden days, audiobooks were pretty expensive and bulky, being on many disced CD sets. However, with Audible, Amazon has created something that has helped me, and many others that I know, pass many happy hours.
But if you’re undecided about whether Audible, with their 30-day free trial, is for you, then here are 5 reasons why you should try Amazon’s Audible.
Read on the move or whilst you are doing something else
As FinalBoss’s Shaun aptly put it “you’re much less likely to get in a car crash if you are listening to an audiobook whilst driving than if you are reading an actual, physical book whilst driving”. Washing the dishes? Might as well listen to a bit of Harry Potter. Cleaning the bathroom? It would be rude not to partake in a bit of Hunger Games. Long commute to work? That’s the perfect time to listen to Lord of the Rings in my opinion. Make many of the mundane daily occurrences more entertaining by getting yourself engrossed in a story. All of that wasted time when your mind is only half on the activity you are doing is excellent for an Audible session.
Consume books faster
Leading on from the previous point, if you are consuming books whilst doing everyday activities, then you will be “reading” more than you were before. I have started getting through a lot more books since I have started Audible, as I have always had a paperback and an audiobook on the go at the same time. If I manage to finish an audiobook a month as well as what I have been reading anyway, that is 12 extra books read in a year!
Utilising audiobooks is also one of the ways Booktubers (YouTube book reviewers) manage to get through so many books in a month. One technique you can use if you need to get through a book really quickly is to have the same book on audiobook and as a physical copy, that you “read” at the same time. For example, listening until chapter two on the commute home, sit and read the paperback at home until chapter three, listen to chapter four and five whilst preparing and eating dinner, sit down and read chapter six after dinner with a nice cup of tea. Simple really.
Give the gift of Audible this holiday season!
Listen to some of your favourite actors and celebrities
There are many famous, talented actors that have put their voice to an audiobook on Audible. Not only for their own works and autobiographies, but other peoples work too. One famous actor, comedian and writer that has voiced many audiobooks is Stephen Fry. Not only does his glorious voice bring his three accounts of Greek mythology to life (Mythos, Heroes and Troy), but he is also well known for doing the audiobooks for the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling.
Audiobooks also give actors a chance to really explore their ranges by using many different accents, tones and expressing emotions using nothing but their voice. Michael Sheen, Welsh actor recently in Good Omens, did a fantastic job reading La Belle Sauvage by Philip Pullman. He really brought the characters to life and I look forward to hearing him read The Secret Commonwealth, which follows La Belle Sauvage and the His Dark Materials series.
The price is right!
Not only does Audible give you a 30-day free trial to see if audiobooks are your thing, but they also give you one free “credit” every month that is enough to buy one audiobook. The monthly cost is £7.99 (under £2 a week) and you can cancel anytime. I get through roughly one audiobook a month, which means I only use the one credit I get each month. So, most audiobooks essentially only cost me £7.99.
If you get through them quicker, it isn’t too much of a problem either. Although they are fairly expensive (in my opinion) to buy them without the credit, Audible often has sales and promotions on. One sale if capitalised on recently was their £3.50 sale, where every audiobook on their list (which added new works every day of the sale) was only £3.50. Many classics, popular novels and latest arrivals were on the list, so there was something for everyone.
Not great at reading? No problem!
If you struggle with reading or perhaps you can’t sit still for very long to read a book, Audible can help you read. It is a fantastic tool for consuming stories for those with dyslexia or those with visual impairments. Reading isn’t just for those that can sit down and read word after word, it can be for everyone with the right tools, no matter the difficulties.
I have often had somebody come up to me whilst reading and saying, “I wish I could sit down and read like you do”. My answer usually is “well don’t sit down and read like me if you can’t, listen to audiobooks”. The world’s literature has never been more accessible than it is right now, thanks to the dawn of Audible.
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