I’ve been meaning to do this tag ever since I saw it on Nicki, and then on Meggy’s fabulous blogs so I’m happy to have finally got to it today!

HAVE YOU ALWAYS LISTENED TO AUDIOBOOK OR WHEN DID YOU BEGIN?

I used to enjoy audio books on cassette as a young child (I played the tapes in my Teddy Ruxpin!) but then stopped listening to books for a long time. I started again when I began my English Literature degree as a mature student a few years ago. I always liked to read a book all the way through before going back to read it slowly and making notes when I was studying so doing my first read through on audio book during my two hour round trip commute each day (five days a week) helped me get my reading done. I discovered how much I loved listening to books and have enjoyed them ever since, and now I couldn’t read as much as I do without them!

 

 

WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE AUDIOBOOK?

Gosh, that’s a tough question. I recently listened to Daisy Jones and The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reids on audio and that was such a brilliant listen, I recommend it! I also really loved Just Kids by Patti Smith, it added to the book for me that Patti reads her book herself. I also have a real fondness for Michel Faber’s The Book of Strange New Things, narrated by Josh Cohen. I also just finished The Trouble with Goats and Sheep by Joanna Cannon (read by Paula Wilcox) and it was sheer perfection, the narration is spot on for the book!

 

WHAT IS YOUR LEAST FAVOURITE THING ABOUT AUDIOBOOKS?

The only thing I can think of is the inability to make notes or highlights of favourite paragraphs. I love highlighting on my kindle and I put loads of sticky tabs in books that I’m enjoying so I do miss being able to do that with audio books. Oh, and if I fall asleep reading on my kindle it opens to the page I was on whereas on audio it can be really difficult to find my place again!

 

WHAT DO YOU THINK IS THE DIFFERENCE IN EXPERIENCE BETWEEN PHYSICALLY READING A BOOK AND LISTENING TO IT?

For me, there isn’t really a difference. I can take in a story and remember it just as well when reading as I can when listening. I suppose when I think about it the biggest difference for me is that audio books allow me to keep ‘reading’ on the days when I physically can’t hold a book or turn pages, or when my eyes are particularly bad and I can’t focus to read.

I also find that some books seem to naturally work better for me on audio and some on the page, and I find that really interesting.

 

HOW AND WHEN DO YOU LISTEN?

I listen via either my iPhone or iPad mostly. I love how audio books give me much needed distraction when my pain levels are very bad and I can’t physically do much of                                        anything. I also listen when doing my physio exercises as they allow me to focus on two things at once which is really important for learning how to balance equally on both of my legs. I’ve also been known to listen to a couple of minutes of my audio book on my way up and down stairs (my stairlift is quite slow)!

 

WHAT STYLE/GENRE DO YOU PREFER?

I pretty much listen to audio books in the same genres I enjoy reading so non-fiction, memoir, thrillers, general fiction, historical fiction.

 

WHAT ARE SOME AUDIOBOOK/NARRATOR RECOMMENDATIONS?

I highly recommend Daisy Jones and The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid, which has multiple narrators and is so well done. I also recently listened to The Wych Elm by Tana French, and found the narrator Paul Nugent perfect for this novel so it really enhanced the reading experience for me. The Blue Bench by Paul Marriner (narrated by Colleen MacMahon) was a brilliant listen for me so I recommend that one too. I also really enjoyed Dead in Venice by Fiona Leitch, it was a good story and the narrator Deryn Edwards really brought the book to life. Oh and I have to mention Lucy Mangan’s Bookworm, that was such a lovely listen and I do love when an author of non-fiction narrates their own book.

 

*I’m a paid member of Scribd (as mentioned above) and they have given me a code that will allow you to sign up and get two months free (and I would get one month free). If you’d like to try them out here is the link. I love Scribd and highly recommend them.

 

Do you listen to audio books? Do you have any recommendations to share?