Bookish Talk: Why I Like Audiobooks

I recently started listening to audiobooks on my daily commute to and from work (which roughly equals an hour and twenty minutes in the car every day). I used to be really iffy on audiobooks. Why would I want someone to read to me? That didn’t sound like something I would like. At all. But my new to me car doesn’t have an auxiliary port in it, I absolutely hate the radio, and I was starting to outplay all of my physical CDs. I work in a library and a bunch of my patrons told me how much they love audiobooks, so I thought I might as well try. What could go wrong?

Well, I started with The Dead Fathers Club, which was absolutely amazing. I had a couple of crappy ones in between, which I DNF’ed (see Eat, Pray, Love), but then I listened to The Help (INCREDIBLE), The Labrador Pact, Wonder (enjoyable save for the end), and Shiver, and I realized I actually like other people to read to me. If they have a good voice, of course.

The reason I’m telling you all this is because I had a really awesome/crazy moment while listening to my current audiobook – Doll Bones – yesterday morning on my commute. I got in my car, turned on the radio, and didn’t resurface from under the spell Nick Podehl put on me until I was almost all the way to work. Do any of you listen to audiobooks? It’s such a weird feeling. I didn’t even realize I was driving (I mean, obviously I knew I was driving) or how long my commute was or anything. I was focused on the story.

The part that really tripped me up though was when I realized what was happening. There was a general scene in the book in which a person’s room is being described. I realized as I was driving down the road that a picture was being painted in front of me. I could both see the road and the character’s room.

It’s a completely different feeling compared to reading a book, in which you picture everything in your mind along with the words. You’re stationary. You have something concrete in front of you that you’re holding and reading, but with an audiobook, it’s different. I don’t know if I’m doing it justice, but it is such a cool thing that I would’ve missed out on had I not tried audiobooks.

Basically, the point of this post is to say that you should try audiobooks if you’ve ever been curious about them. 🙂

Do you read audiobooks? Do you get the same feeling as me? Recommend some good ones to me in the comments!

Bookish Talk: Why not to be ashamed of what you’re reading

I was recently over on Rachel aka Confessions of a Book Geek’s page, reading THIS post about being ashamed of some of the things you read. It got me thinking about how I have never felt ashamed of what I read. I know that this is a big thing amongst readers, being ashamed to read certain things in public or around people who might judge you for it. I don’t want you to think I’m criticizing Rachel’s post. I’m not. I’m just writing a reaction to it.

I have been lucky enough to grow up with parents who have always supported me and my passions, be it for reading, music, art, traveling, whatever. It doesn’t hurt that my dad is a pretty big bibliophile too. I have been lucky enough to never have someone tell me that I couldn’t read something because it wasn’t right for me or my age. Or if I did, I don’t remember because it went in one ear and right out the other. I have never cared what other people think about what I read. I think this is probably in part due to the fact that I was worried about people caring about the fact that I have no hair. But now I don’t even care about that, so I’m just completely care free when it comes to what other people think of me or my passions or choices.

Sure, I get strange looks when I’m reading in public (of course, I also get strange looks for different reasons). I just ignore them. I love what I love (and look how I look) and if other people don’t get it, that sucks for them. Not me.

This whole post is just about the fact that I really don’t think you should be ashamed of what you like to read. Read what makes you happy. Read what gives you an escape. Read what excites you, what teaches you about yourself and the world. Read what you want. Whether that be young adult fiction, comics, children’s books, adult literature, classics, or the newspaper. You’re reading, and that’s what matters.

Just know that no matter what you are reading, you are ALWAYS welcome on my blog. Add me on Goodreads and tell me about books you’ve found and loved. Comment on my posts. I am always happy to hear about a book, comic, blog post, or website you’ve found and enjoyed reading.

❤

Bookish Talk: DNF-ing books – Do you do it?

I’ve been talking to several people recently about when or if you should DNF a book. For those who don’t know DNF means “did not finish.” In other words, it is a book that you started and didn’t like, so you chose to leave it unfinished.

Some people I’ve spoken to about this said that they never DNF a book. I was kind of shocked. I don’t DNF a book often because I really appreciate the time and effort it took for that author to write the book. I know that it can take years to write a book, find a publisher, and get it published. I feel horrible when I DNF a book, but sometimes you just have to put it down. Sometimes you don’t connect with a book or like the writing style or you aren’t in the mood for that book at that moment and you need to move on.

To NEVER put a book down because of an inner need to finish every single book you pick up seems crazy to me.

I used to force myself to finish books even if I wasn’t enjoying them, but then I realized: life is really short. Why would I waste precious reading time on a book that I just wasn’t enjoying?

I want to spend my time reading books that pull me in and don’t want to let me go. I want to dive into a world in which I can escape for a time, that will open its pages and wrap me up in them. I don’t want to waste time in a world that makes me roll my eyes or makes my skin crawl or makes me laugh for all the wrong reasons.

I know it probably seems that I DNF books left and right, but I don’t. I give every book I buy or borrow or receive for review a fair chance to suck me in. I just want to read as much as I can in my lifetime that will change me and teach me things and make me fall in love, and I don’t want to waste time on things that won’t. Some people ask how long I give a book before I know whether or not I’ll finish it, but it’s different for every book. I’d like to say that I give each book 50 pages or 10 chapters, but sometimes, if I’ve read 20 pages and I just can’t force myself any farther, I’ll stop. The last book that I DNF-ed was Whiskey Tango Foxtrot. I gave it 6% on my Kindle ARC before I DNF-ed it. That’s not a lot. I just know what I like, and that was not it.

So I want to know what you think. Do you guys DNF books? At what point do you do so? Let’s start a discussion in the comments!