"CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW?"

                                        

                                  The Advantage of Audio Narration for Your Books 

I am a huge fan of all sorts of books. Of course, I’m partial to romance. I’ve recently discovered YA fiction, fantasy which we adults know as twenty-first century science-fiction. As a child, I grew up watching Star Trek, which is still one of my favorite television and movie series, ever.

I appreciated how watching this show captivated my imagination and it brought to life all the imagery I needed to keep me engaged.

Audio books work pretty much that same way. Instead of just reading a great book, you can also listen. Is this awesome or what?

As I said before I am an avid reader, which means I read every day. The thing is I also wok a full-time job, two actually because I’m a writer and blogger which in most cases could be a serious issue.

This is where audio books come into play.

Not only can I read while I’m working but also on my way to and from the job.

Whoever came up with this idea, I love and hate them because I didn’t think of it first. Nevertheless, it is a great invention.

Now you can have the best of both worlds.

Audible narration is available on most devices as an application that you download. Such as Kindle, Nook, or some other reading tablet.

The cool thing is that it allows you to flip from reading the book to listening in a seamless stream. I love the fact that I can download books on my iPad and it automatically links to my iPod, and iPhone. Isn’t technology wonderful?

Not only that, but audio books are taking the world by storm. They are engaging, especially when the story and narrator complement each other.

I personally believe this is why this form of reading/listening is so popular.

Now, there are times when I’ve found the perfect book in both eBook and audible collaboration. Yet the narrator’s voice leaves much to be desired and messes up what I hoped would be a hours of listening pleasure.

Not always the case, but to elevate this issue you can listen to a sample of the book first before you buy.

One of the best pairing of story and reader is the Outlander series. Davina Porter, is a prime example of what can happen when you accomplish the perfect mix. In fact, one of Audio.com’s featured narrator’s, an accomplished professional who gives life to this series of books as well many others. She is a consummate performer who is able to bring life to each character she takes on in a story.

She is also one of my personal favorite narrators, but I do have others that I enjoy as well.

What I love about audio books is that they provide for me dimension and allow my mind to view each character as they were created to be.

This is not my first discussion about audio books, in one of my broadcast I spoke in depth about the advantages of reading in this format. Such as how inexpensive they are and the different memberships, you can join to obtain your favorite genre.

Okay technically it’s not reading but more listening than anything else, but still great.

If I were to conduct a poll on the pro’s and con’s of audio verses eBooks, or paperback’s which do you think would receive the highest vote?

Of course, I love them all, but for a person who is always on the go, audio books get my vote every time.

I am a visual type of person, which explains why I love audio narration so much.

Not that reading doesn’t garner the same affect, and it does. However, listening to someone tell a story versus reading one, opens the imagination to unspeakable heights.

As a child, I loved story time with my mother who was a gifted storyteller. She would spend hours engaging my siblings and I with amazing tales. She encouraged us to use our imaginations and taught me to read at three years of age. I am forever grateful for her desire to not only teach but the importance of reading. Hey, now that I think about it, this was my first experience of audio narration.

No wonder I enjoy it so much. As with anything there are always plus and minus’s.

Some might say that listening to books might not be the best thing for young individuals. Such as it doesn’t allow them the same advantages of actually reading and seeing the words on paper. In some ways, it might hinder their learning ability to read.

In some ways, I agree with this analysis, because young children should be introduced to the process of learning to read from printed books. Nevertheless, listening to my mother tell stories was my preamble to learning to read for myself.

Let’s face it we all know that reading is fundamental, but it is not the single way to enjoy doing it. Listening is also a proven learning tool. It is the key that unlocks the door to other avenues.

Audio books no matter how great or trailblazing they are, will never replace physical books.

Overall, my reading preference is just that. I love audio books, but I love books in general. I’m a book worm, a self professed reading nerd who find anyway plausible to satisfy my reading obsession.  

In whatever way you engage in this activity is fine with me, just as long as you pick up a book, find a quiet and comfortable spot to read to your heart’s content.