Does anyone have audible.com?

I was a huge reader, 2-3 books a week my entire life. I stopped buying books over 25 years ago and have solely used the library. After I got POTs, my concentration has been blown to bits, it now takes me about a month to read a book and the enjoyment just isn't there. This just about breaks my heart because reading was my "thing". I have downtime during the day and I spend it listening to podcasts but I would prefer an audiobook. my library has stopped getting new books on CD, only on some other format and only for "popular" titles which don't tend to be my thing, there is a long waiting period for these "books". The type of books I request are not coming with a digital or audible option as of late.

I am living on a very low income so audible would be a splurge but it costs less than 1 book a month and I think I would really enjoy it. I have enough money saved to pay for a year upfront and there is a deal going on right now. The bottom fell out of my life in Sept of 2015, I have been trying to get my "read" back since then. I think I've given it a good try and there's nothing wrong with reading a book by listening. I will, however, keep trying to read with my eyeballs, but audible would ease the frustration.

has anyone tried it? am I being too spend-y?

Hi, freshstart! I had an Audible subscription years ago. I stopped it because the books kept stockpiling and I wasn't getting to them, but I was working full time (in a corporate office as opposed to working full time on my own at home) and I am able to read books, which is my preference also.

But, I find listening to books to be a great alternative to reading. I listen to books in the car a lot, or sometimes if I'm too tired to read in bed, I'll listen rather than read. Kindle often offers the audible version of ebooks, and I've bought them once or twice. And speaking of ebooks--do you have an e-reader? One of the biggest benefits I think is the ability to adjust the font size. My MILs eyes were bad and she suffered a huge diminishment in her quality of life when she couldn't read anymore. We considered getting her a Kindle, but they were $500 at the time.

Why not just buy a single audio book and see how it goes? Then you can subscribe if you feel it's worth it for you. Does your library rent audio books? Maybe you could try that route first.
In terms of being spend-y, a subscription of one book a month to do something you truly enjoy is not what I would consider a frivolous purchase.

Just to express my hope that you find a solution that perfectly meets your needs.
Gutenberg has seven audiobooks which is very limited - https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/sea...ry=audio+books
I wonder what other sites might have audio versions as well?

I used to drive all day for hospice to see patients and listened to books on CD so I know I like them. My library is cutting back on getting books on CD. They didn't get the new David Sedaris on CD and the line to get the audiobook was 70+ people long. Their selection of audiobooks is limited to what's popular, NY Times Bestseller stuff, not my cup of tea and I don't want to wait in a 70 person line. Audible has a one month free trial, I might try that.

I do have a kindle paper white

ugh, I just read Audible is just one book a month for the lowest subscription, I'll blow through that in no time. There's another one called All You Can Books that has 30k titles for unlimited for $20 a month, with a one month free trial. Maybe I'll start there.

I also think it's time to force myself to actually read more. I used to say it was brain rehab but I fell off the wagon when I got frustrated with my slow pace and lack of remembering. It's never going to get better if I don't try harder.

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Originally Posted by catherine

And speaking of ebooks--do you have an e-reader? One of the biggest benefits I think is the ability to adjust the font size. My MILs eyes were bad and she suffered a huge diminishment in her quality of life when she couldn't read anymore. We considered getting her a Kindle, but they were $500 at the time.

In terms of being spend-y, a subscription of one book a month to do something you truly enjoy is not what I would consider a frivolous purchase.

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I do have a kindle because I had a detached retina years ago and my vision in that eye is poor. So I use that with library books but the selection is poor or I get books in large print format from the library. They are getting more and more large print books every month.

Thanks for saying I'm not being frivolous, I just needed to hear someone say that, lol!

That other audiobook service had bad reviews so I decided to take a closer look at my library. I went back in and searched for the new Sedaris, now they have it on book on CD (my preferred format). Then I went through the first page of books I keep of books I want to request from the library. I'd say they had about half on CD, the other half on audiobook, a few in print only. So my library is not as bad as I thought. It used to be a PITA to download an audiobook, I'm going to call them to re-learn how to do it. I'm excited to get reading agin in whatever form it may be.

I'm happy you've figured a way to sample what 's available. I hope the library works out well.

went into the library and had the reference librarian show me how to download an audiobook, it's easy on an iPad. then I asked to review how to download books and again, super easy on the iPad, on the kindle paper white-not so much. He couldn't get it. That's ok, I'll use the iPad for everything from the library and the kindle for books I get for free that download easily to it. I'm glad I didn't rush into Audible, I just have to get back in the flow of constantly requesting materials from the library so I always have something available.

I use Hoopla through my library. I've listened to audio books, read e books, and streamed tv and movies through it.

Edited to add: You can check out 7 items per month on Hoopla.

I find my iPad superior to the Kindle for reading Kindle books. I have the Kindle app on it and it's great. My Paperwhite is smaller, even though I have an iPad mini. I think you made a great choice, freshstart! Good luck with it!

EBooks from the library are becoming a staple in my entertainment arsenal. I download them to Kindle for PC, following a series of prompts from the library and Amazon. Then they are available to all my other devices via Amazon's cloud. I have Bookbub, so get a daily list of suggested books to work from (I'm not sure where Bookbub got the idea dystopian fiction was my thing..). If they're free or 99 cents, I usually download them on the spot, or I can check the library for availability--especially for the more expensive titles. I have a backlog that will probably outlive me. I've also downloaded audiobooks on occasion. I'm a huge fan of our library system and all that it can do these days.

I use Bookbub, too. It thinks I like bodice rippers. Does anyone have flipster? My library offers that, it's tons of free magazines best viewed on a regular sized iPad. I am in awe of my library system and if I have a little leftover, would like to leave some money to the only left in the ghetto. My librarians knew me so well over the years that when I suddenly stopped coming in for so long, they told me they thought I had surely died, they all hugged me when I came back, lol.

I did a test subscription of it just to hear Wil Wheaton reading Masters of Doom, and then Redshirts, but I am planning to cancel once I finish Redshirts. I don't have a commute that makes audio books a really useful thing, and I can read books a lot faster than I can listen to them. I only wanted to hear Wil Wheaton's rendition of the stories....(for those who don't know him, he played Wesley Crusher on Star Trek TNG, and became a geek icon who appears on the Big Bang Theory).

I learned about Librivox from someone here on the forums. Free public domain audiobooks. They're mostly classics, like Jane Eyre, etc., but I love listening to them. You might want to check it out. Librivox.com

thanks, I'll check that out