I've never been interested in these before but now with the massive availability of public domain recordings thought I'd download an app to my phone and give them a go. I've listened to the first five minutes of about three now (from the sci-fi genre) and, I don't know, maybe it's just me but I can't listen to the story being told because I'm concentrating on too many other aspects, like the quality of the recording, the narrator's voice, how well they read, and how jarring it is when they emphasise or pause inappropriately. I think trying to listen to an entire audio book, for me, would result in nothing but severe migraines and frustration.
I had to train myself to listen to audiobooks - I started with really light stuff with really good narrators, like comedians presenting their own material, and that helped get me used to the format. I gradually worked up to short non-fiction, then long non-fiction, and finally novels. Now I love them. I probably listen to more audiobooks than I read regular books. ETA: But you've got to get the right narrators. I wouldn't waste my listening time on an amateur, not when there are pros out there doing such a great job.
I don't like them either, but other than music I don't enjoy media or entertainment that are more or less exclusively an auditory experience. Talk radio, podcasts, audiobooks, DVD commentary... they all bore me to death, even if the content is something I'd normally enjoy.
I think this might have been half the problem. When I searched for them on the app store there was one which was clearly the choice of most users, but on further investigation found it was linked with amazon so no doubt infested with ads, sign-ups, push notifications and 'trial' periods. So I disregarded that one and went with another which had pretty good reviews on the whole. Many of the narrators are, as you say, clearly amateurs.
It's exactly the same for me. I wonder what it is? Like you say there are thousands of podcasts out there discussing subjects I'm passionate about, but I've no interest in listening to them. I think with audio books it boils down to two things. One being the fact I stopped having stories read to me before I reached double figures, but also that I read in a very specific way, and because no one else can possibly duplicate that, none of what they're saying enters my consciousness. Ultimately all I'm hearing is someone droning on. I hear their words, but not the story.
I trained myself to enjoy podcasts by listening to them as I played 'zone out' games (for me that was a lot of Starbound, Sunless Sea, and The Binding of Isaac; YMMV). The game occupies sort of the mechanical part of my brain, which makes it easier for me to absorb the podcast. I also used to listen to WTNV while I was cooking, actually, now I think about it. After a while I got to where I could more actively pay attention to the podcast without distraction. The same might work for audiobooks - I dunno. I've thought about trying to get into them but I didn't know there was a lot of public domain stuff. What app did you get?
I did a lot of gardening and other manual labour while I was training myself, so maybe there's a connection, there. And of course I listen while driving, so that's another time I'm busy with a fairly routine task and still able to listen. That may be part of the secret, because e-books are so damn slow compared to regular reading. I listen on 1.25 speed and it's still slow. So I can see it being boring if it's all I was doing.
I used to spend a lot of time on the road, so I've tried this more than once, but I found I was either not giving enough attention to the road or I would get occupied driving and miss a chapter or two without meaning to. I found pretty much the only time audio books are really useful to me is if I have one of those migraines where looking at anything hurts or makes me nauseated. Then I can sometimes put one on low and try to distract myself with it. I used to go on LibriVox to download them free, but some of the recordings are just plain difficult to listen to.
@The Dapper Hooligan - I think a lot of the readings on the app I'm using are from LibriVox, but like you say, they're terrible on the whole. This is why they're free, of course.
I have heard one or two. I am kinda partial to the ones that add the ambient background noise, like some of the WH40k longer novels do. Though on the other side it can be a bit campy for a robust male voice to do the higher pitched talky bits imitating a woman. But on the whole they are not so bad. But Bay is right about finding the sound of the narrator to be something you can tolerate up to 9-12 hrs, without wanting to gouge your eardrums.
I always have an audio book on when I drive. A crappy narrator ruins the book but there are more and more narrators now and some of the more poor readers seem to be getting less assignments. I don't have a problem concentrating on driving with an audio book playing. Rather, if I try to listen to an audio book when I'm not driving, I can't sit still and listen and my attention to the book is constantly distracted. What I do sometimes is get both the book and the audio CD from the library. I'll read the book when I'm not in the car, then move the audio book ahead when I'm back in the car. I get most of my audio books from the library. That allows me to try a number of books that I don't finish if I don't like them after the first CD or two. I'll buy then sometimes when there's a recommended book out and the library doesn't have it yet.
I'm almost certain now, that my experience with audio books has been sullied from listening to public domain freebies read by volunteers, many of whom sound like they're reading the book for the first time.
