I’m not a big audiobook listener, for two reasons:
1. I’m a fast reader, so find it’s quicker to read than to listen.
If I’m enjoying a story, I want to get on with it … which means reading faster and faster, not waiting for the audio to catch up with my thoughts. Yes, I know audiobooks (well, some audiobooks) can be played at 1.5 times or 2 times speed, but then they can end up sounding like Alvin and the Chipmunks …
2. I don’t spend a lot of time in my car or doing tasks that would make listening an option.
Where I do have car time, I tend to listen to podcasts—they’re shorter, and it doesn’t matter if you miss a couple of details (the really important content, like the links, will be in the show notes). With a novel, it’s important to be able to see/hear and retain all the details because missing an important detail might affect your overall enjoyment or appreciation of the book.
Also, audiobooks are long—usually eight to ten hours, and sometimes longer.
I can see the appeal of audiobooks for someone who has an hour or more a day of otherwise dead time e.g., driving or waiting for children, or even exercising (assuming they’re going for a quiet walk, not taking a class or exercising in a gym pumping loud music out of the speakers).
If you’ve got a good chunk of time each day and can get through an audiobook in a week or two, then I can see them as a great way to pep up otherwise useless driving or waiting time. But they are less good for someone like me who would only be listening in ten or fifteen-minute slots two or three times a week. It would take forever to get into the story, and would be too easy to forget the details between sessions.
I love audiobooks. I started listening when my daughter was in college and I traveled twice a week to attend her soccer games. I got my husband hooked on car trips to see his mom. She lives 6 hours away, and the Agatha Christie mysteries were the perfect length for listening — 3 hours there and 3 hours back. I also listen when I walk in the mornings. I generally choose books that I have been meaning to read, but haven’t found the time or to “catch up” with an author.
That’s a great way to make a long car journey fun!