[kelly]

Are any of you guys into audiobooks?

I've listened to a few, but been a little frustrated that (1) there are still more available on cassette than CD (What), (2) unabridged ones are harder to come by and (3) they're still somewhat expensive (probably due to the relatively small numbers sold).

Audiobooks are sometimes good for me for work when I'm doing really braindead stuff. I'd like to pick up more comedy type stuff for work. I have a few downloaded skits from Seinfeld and Kinison and that stuff's great to listen to while working--doesn't take a whole lot of brain power either. I've managed to load a handful of books onto an ipod which I can listen to in the car via the cassette adapter (yeah, I know I complained about the cassette format and I actually do have one cassette source now)--anyway, that works out pretty well. I don't really like to listen to music in the car that much and certainly not enough to spend megabucks on a good car audio system so talk radio and audiobooks are perfect for that for me.

If any of the rest of you guys are into it and have found some more affordable places to order, let me know.

 

[RacerX]

I have an hour commute so books on tape and other audiobooks are a must. I have several friends at work who share with me and I with them. Besides books, take a look at the courses available at The Teaching Company (www.teach12.com). Great college courses (usually 20+ hours long) taught by really engaging professors who specialize in the chosen topic. One caveat - only buy when the course is on sale as they can really get expensive.

Use an ipod, you do? Then you may wish to try audible.com which supports the new and old Ipod. Their downloadable (and burnable) format is of varying sound quality (often dreadful) but their prices cant be beat.

Finally, try a used audiobooks store or even Ebay to get secondhand audiobooks. Haven't had any problems so far and I dont mind listening to "used" material.

Good luck!

 

[elrod-tom]

I can't do books at work (music is distracting enough), but I used to work in sales and was on the road constantly. I'd have lost my mind without audio books.

There are stores around the Detroit-area (I don't know if they are elsewhere around the country) called Talking Book World. They have a very good selection, although I'm not sure how much of their stuff is unabridged. Lots of pop psychology stuff too...but a pretty good selection of novels and non-fiction. I think that they have some comedy stuff as well.

You can buy OR rent from these folks. It's a good way to check out some things that you might not otherwise buy. Hope this helps.

 

[TravelLite]

I've never actually listened to any audiobook before, but recently I've been rather intrigued by the whole LOTR series.

The Hobbit, unabridged - 10 CDs
The Lord of the Rings Trilogy, unabridged - 46 CDs
The Silmarillion, unabridged - 13 CDs

The shear scope of the thing has me equivocating though, LOL. I'm guessing that a commitment to listen to 69 CDs would be almost equivalent to a temporary lifestyle change.

TravelLite

 

[pigmode]

I have one (on cassette). It's The Odyssey translated by Alan Mandebaum and narrated by Derek Jacobi. It's abridged of course but it still consists of 8 cassettes, Jacobi is excellent and of the four I've read, Mandelbaum's verse translation is my favorite. I could wish for a full length version, but I'll check for a CD version anyway.

 

[zowie]

There used to be a audiobook rental place near my office, like a video store for audiobooks, with 1000s of selections, including from the educational publishers that aren't usually in B&N. I used that place quite a bit. The vast majority were still on tape back when they closed a few years ago.

Some public libraries have a decent selection.

Other than that, the only way I know of to get them at a semi-reasonable price is ebay.

Or you might try running an add in your local buy and sell. These are the sort of things that people buy to listen to once, maybe twice, and would like to get rid of. Buy people's collections, keep the 10% you want, sell the more valuable ones on ebay to get back what you paid, and donate the remainder to a library of good will for a tax deduction. It's more work but you end up ahead.

 

[daycart1]

I've found some good, cheap, unabridged stuff on CD by searching ebay. Not very imaginative, but it works!

 

[Davie]

I second the audible.com recommendation. The selection is vast and the prices are way lower than cassette or CD.

Also, the budget classical label Naxos has started releasing some books on CD at bargain prices.

 

[davidcotton]

They are more brand new stories than books read on disc, but I am heavily into the "new" Doctor Who audio cds that are made by the people at Big Finish.

Check out www.doctorwho.co.uk for more details. Its not just Doctor Who they work on though. They also do some Judge Dredd audios which work quite well.

Cheers...

 

[Trawlerman]

Quote:

Originally posted by pigmode I have one (on cassette). It's The Odyssey translated by Alan Mandebaum and narrated by Derek Jacobi. It's abridged of course but it still consists of 8 cassettes, Jacobi is excellent and of the four I've read, Mandelbaum's verse translation is my favorite. I could wish for a full length version, but I'll check for a CD version anyway.

Pigmode: That's Homer's Oddysey I presume?

I've been wanting to read that for a while but it seems a bit heavy for my liking. A talking book would probably suite me better initially. Get a feel for the story initially with tapes etc and then read it all in a book.




I have quite few talking books lying around. Got the BBC dramatised version of the Lord Of The Rings on 13 x 1 hours discs. Same with the Hobbit on 4 discs I think.

I have Jack Kerouac's - On The Road on 3 discs read by David Carradine. That's a nice one to listen to.

Also have a 2 cassette of Bill Bryson's Lost Continent. A piss take of the American Culture

Then there's the 4 cassette set of The Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy.

Knocking about somewhere, possibly in the old man's room are cassetes of the Cruel Sea and a Day Of The Jackal.



Hehehehe on a funnier note. Anybody else got the Binaural CD's of CYBORGASM? Pervy stories on a disc.


CRAP. Nearly forget. I've got the four Harry Potter books on CD read by Steven Fry. 40 discs I believe.

 

[legoman]

Just saw the Oddyssee at Border's today for $50 in a 13h+ version.

I just get them from the library or rent them from the video rental part of my local grocery store since I never listen to these things twice anyway.

 

[dvr]

I'm a big fan of http://www.booksontape.com, which rents and sells full-length audiobooks on tape, CD, and MP3-CD. For around $20, they'll ship you a set of tapes that you need to ship back in around 30 days. The box comes postage-paid, so you only need to seal the box and drop it back in the mail.

They have a much wider selection of tapes than CDs, which is a bit frustrating because of the inconvenience of using tapes and the sound quality issues -- many of the tapes I've heard must have been very old because the signal was lower that it should have been, likely from years of use.

One major benefit of using Books On Tape is the ability to get audiobooks that you would otherwise be unable to find. Last year I listened to Churchill's inside story of WWI: "The World Crisis", which is an amazing read (if you like reading about war) and nearly impossible to find in any other form.

 

[blessingx]

Audible. 2 books a month for $20.

 

[dparrish]

Kelly,

I HIGHLY recommend Audible

They have a GREAT selection, and since you have an ipod now, you can download to it using Audible's service and software.

I've been using the service for more than a year now, and have enjoyed listening to abridged and ESPECIALLY unabridged books (I especially have enjoyed Robert Ludlum's espionage thrillers).

The monthly fee makes it much cheaper than buying seperate books, and the downloading is SO much easier than using a cassette or CD that has to be rented/returned (INSTANT gratification

).

David