Audiobooks

Last updated 12 November, 2006

When I bought my iPod, I decided to get it discounted by purchasing a monthly Audible.com subscription (something that's become a better and better deal as the Canadian dollar rises, by the way). The subscription gives me access to one audio book and one audio magazine every month. I've listened to enough of these now to want to comment on the experience.

At first I thought I wouldn't have much use for audiobooks, since I enjoy actually reading with my eyes. However, then I discovered the amazing multi-tasking benefits of the audiobook: it frees up your eyes to do other things while you're reading. For example, while on vacation, you can enjoy the scenery outside your window while reading. And at home, you can cook dinner and follow a recipe book, while reading another. It's kind of cool.

But there is strangeness to it also, the most notable being the bother of going back if you've missed something. On paper, you can pretty easily flip through the pages; if it's non-fiction, you probably also have an index to guide. In audio, you're limited to the rewind and fast-forward options, which are kind of awkward. So I usually don't bother, and just accept that I'll miss some stuff.

There is also the curiousity of audiobooks typically not taking full advantage of the sound medium. For example, audio versions of the New Yorker magazine include reviews of CDs. In these, I always find myself wishing they would just play song excerpts rather than talk about them. I know why they don't—they've had to pay royalties on the song—but it's still just odd to hear someone talking about a CD yet refusing to play even a note of it.

Audible service

One of the issues I have with it is that it is an American service, so the number of Canadian books is quite limited. Basically, any author known only in Canada (Jane Urqart, Russell Smith, Jay Ingram) is not represented. This is annoying, as it turns out that I read a lot of Canadian books.

I've also had difficulties of late downloading through a router. The workaround has been to plug into the Internet directly, but I'm going to have to experiment to see if I can find a way to do this without rewiring each time.

One thing I like is that there is no limitation on downloading items you've purchased. For various reasons, I've had to do this more than once with certain items, and it's no hassle whatsoever. This is a big improvement over, say, iTunes, which would force you to purchase the song/album again if you wanted to re-download it.

Reviews

All items reviewed are unabridged versions, except New Yorker Magazine, which does include full articles, but doesn't necessarily include all articles.

Emily Griffin: Baby Proof

One of three books I discuss on the page covering books about the choice of whether to have children or not.

David Sedaris: Me Talk Pretty One Day

Oh my God, this was hilarious. We were listening to this on the Toronto subway, and probably looked like insane people, we were laughing so much. Though the usual mix of bittersweet and very funny, this abridged version seemed to focus on the funny. Many essays dealt with the issue of learning French, a topic which generally causes a great deal of mirth for Jean and I. It's read by the author, and it's highly recommended way to get introduced to audiobooks.

Steve Martin: Shopgirl

I think we were both surprised at just how good this Steve Martin (yes, the comedian) novella was. It was the story of naive, shy young woman from Vermont trying to make her own way in Los Angeles. She works at the glove counter in Nieman-Marcus, which means long days of tedium, as not too many people buy fashion gloves any longer. Her life is altered when she enters into a relationship with a wealthy, much older man.

Though it has its funny moment, this is not primarily a comic novel. The main characters are enveloped in a lot of sadness. It really shows a profound understanding of human nature, and was a very pleasant surprise.

Bill Maher: New Rules

The Rules is just a series of short rants by Bill Maher on social changes he'd like see. Each segment begins with his "New rule" statement. Many of the segments, read by the author, are quite funny. But the format still grew somewhat tiresome to listen to. This one is probably better to just read (and a fast read it would be).

Anthony Bourdain: Kitchen Confidential

Also read by the author, this is a series of essays on the restaurant business, not completely in chronological order. For foodie types, pretty interesting. It includes some valuable advice on dining out (such as why not to order fish on Mondays), and some interesting behind-the-scenes of the restaurant business (one I'd never want to work in).

We could have done without the many descriptions of injuries food workers can get, and there was probably a bit more than we needed to know about the biz. But overall, a good listen.

Roald Dahl: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

I read this as a kid, but after seeing the movie, become interested in reading it again. The narrator is Eric Idle of Monty Python, so he brought a lot of expression to the job. The book is great fun and, weird as it seems, it gave me even greater appreciation of the movie, as it was clear how closely Tim Burton stuck to this original story. And what a challenge that was.

The only thing missing was having an actual tune for the songs, instead of them just being read as poetry.

Malcolm Gladwell: Blink

Blink is Malcom Gladwell's exploration of the impressions we form instantly and how to harness the power of these. And avoid their dangers. Gladwell reads the book, and I appreciate how he alters the text where appropriate to reflect the fact that we're listening to it rather than reading it. As with his previous book, Tipping Point, he looks at lot of common phenomenon in a new way, and brings a lot of clarity to his explanations. It's easy to see why his books are best sellers. They make you feel smarter without having to work that hard—and I mean that in the best way possible.

New Yorker Magazine

The weird thing is that, despite being a big magazine reader, I've never read the New Yorker before. But now I'm pretty hooked on this audio version (despite my previously mentioned issue with the music reviews). The New Yorker features long articles on varied subjects (absinthe, Arial Sharon, muzak); short humorous pieces; short stories; personal accounts of relationships; and reviews of cinema, theatre, books, and music.

The writing is uniformly good. It's a bit weird getting pulled into articles that you'd likely just skip in the print version (for some reason I never just fast-forward), but finding something of interest anyway. One jarring bit, though, it the transition between articles, which often seems to short. For example, if going from a tragic story about a baby dying to a movie review—it's just disconcerting.