Audiobooks: Preferred Media For Fiction?

I have a passion for fiction in all forms of media. In decades now passed it was popular for someone that loved fictional stories to read A LOT! Well, I can't do that for an extended period of time. I just don't have the patience for your average work of fiction. It is a testament to my lack of literary refinement that as a boy I was in love with the Goosebumps books by R.L. Stine. Those books are criticized for being overly formulaic and “too easy” to make it through. On the other hand that's kind of the point of that series. Produced quickly so that they are read quickly and you are ready to buy the next one when it came out. That's the subject of a different article so I digress.

I did manage to make it through several of the works of Shakespeare and Poe. Perhaps that keeps some of my academic pride intact. At any rate as an adult I tend to avoid reading fiction. I can read pages upon pages of non-fiction so it isn't a case of laziness. I love watching television and movies so maybe that is a contributing factor. After all a popular fictional book written in modern society is made into a movie fairly quickly. In some cases the movies are made without thought as to whether the book would make a good movie … and it still sells.

Anyway, I have discovered the platform that allows me to enjoy fictional works and I wanted to share it with you. Audiobooks! When I first discovered audiobooks they were in medium sized cases stored on cassettes. There was no way I was lugging those plastic cases around. Now, in the age of portability, I can download an audiobook onto my mp3 player and slip it in my pocket. That's perfect for me! I can do some serious multi-tasking with audiobooks. In fact, at this moment I'm listening to an audiobook of one of Jim Butcher's books from the Codex Alera series. As I write I'm becoming more and more engrossed in Jim's fictional universe. Don't worry, I take out the earbuds when it's time to proofread.

Before I re-discovered audiobooks I tried using an e-book reader. Really, I tried. I wanted it to work for me because my inner technophile wanted it to be a happy marriage. I love the technology but it just wasn't meant to be. I have a few friends who swear that their e-book readers are the greatest thing since the invention of the wheel. It feels no different to me than reading a book except that I tended to strain my eyes even more than I do reading books.

There are a few drawbacks to using audiobooks. If you play them out loud the noise of the rest of the world may force you to play the audio a bit louder than seems appropriate. If you play them using headphones you may feel the urge to wear the “grunge” style clothes of the '90s. That was sarcastic of course, but seriously, if you wear the headphones and sit somewhere people assume you aren't busy because your hands are empty and will talk to you or expect your assistance. I haven't yet solved that particular problem.