We've all heard the adage that books shouldn't be judged by their covers, and I'm here to tell you that I've not really ever followed the advice. Covers grab my attention enough to read the synopsis and if that appeals I'll at least add it to my wish list. Sometimes, the artwork is such that I don't even bother doing that, so I buy it and hope the content will equally fill me with joy, knowledge, or something that doesn't make me consider ditching the book after ripping the cover off to frame.
Sometimes the cover doesn't do much for me but the title intrigues. I'm rather fond of puns and plays on words, along with longer titles that have a sort of cadence to them. Between the cover art and titles, I've become pretty adept over the year at making good book choices for myself. I've also learned some other self-truths about my own reading preferences: I don't enjoy e-books, or internet texts (looking at you academic publishers), but do like enjoy audiobooks -- mostly.
Audiobooks add additional layers of complication:
Primo, there is the cost. I have never personally purchased an audiobook as they're just not in the budget*, therefore I rely on they local library system. As in most municipalities, community services are underfunded, add the fact that licensing for library versions of audiobooks is significantly higher than for e-books, which makes sense due to the additional production costs. As a result, libraries are limited in the number of books they can purchase licenses for.**
Secundo, the length. Sometimes these books are multiple dozens of hours long. This may be as a result of the actual length of the book (i.e. Outlander, other times it's the speed at which the narrators are reading. On the upside, most listening apps (I can't speak for CDs) include a tool to speed or slow the narration.
Tertio, the narrator's voice. This is the biggest challenge for me. Everyone reacts differently to different voices. There are some really well-loved narrators that I just cannot listen to. I've learned that I prefer voices with a lower register. Alternatively, the last book I listened to didn't really impress me much, not that it was terrible, it just wasn't really my favourite type of story; however, I continued to listen because I did really enjoy the author's voice. Had this been a physical book, likely I would have abandoned it. I also generally prefer multiple narrators, but it's not a deal breaker if there's just the one.
Knowing all of this helps me curate my choice of audiobooks, but I've come to learn that I'm less patient about these than I am with physical books and am more likely to Did Not Finish (DNF) a book. Although, I'm likely to add them to a physical book wish list than I am to never look at them again. Occasionally, I'll give a different narrator a shot first. I guess they're more or less set aside than DNF though.
Ultimately, like any other book medium, everyone has their preferences and once you know your own, the pleasure of reading increases.
*I'm not a supporter of Audible's parent company, therefore, this is not an option
**I'm theorising that due to Covid-19 some of this information may have changed, libraries may have for a year or two focused the bulk of their budgets on e-books and audiobooks. The number of audiobook options increase substantially in the past year, so I'm assuming this is the reason. If I get any additional info I will update.
No comments:
Post a Comment