This is a public group. Anyone can join and invite others to join. rules
1. Complete as many books from this biblio-centric list of recreational & professional books
... before 9/21/11.
2. Write a short review. Please make it good!
3. If you've already read a book on the list, write a review (if you can remember it).
4. A Leaderboard will be updated weekly.
5. "Special prizes" for "Special" readers will be awarded at a pagan ritual held on the Autumnal Equinox in the following 3 categories:
- # of reviews written.
- # of books read between 6/23 - 9/23/11.
- A special Magoo award to the person who reads the greatest #of books on an e-reading device (Kindle or Nook)
Babs, you're forgetting that June is officially Audiobook Month. According to the Audio Publishing Association (APA), 25% of Americans had listened to an audiobook in the last year. Audiobook listeners tend to be avid readers who listen to audio when they are not able to read. In fact, 94% of audiobook listeners had read a book in the past year vs. 70% of non-audiobook listeners.
ReplyDeleteMore 'fun' facts from the APA -- most people listen in their cars but people are also listening while they are exercising, cooking, gardening -- and even at work. (Shhh! We won't tell.) And the average audiobook listener spends about 5 hours a week listening.
Just a little reminder (from my blog earlier this month) http://freezeframelah.blogspot.com/2011/06/june-is-audiobook-month.html
Tune in, turn on to books (print and audio), and go with the flow...
BTW, Goodreads.com also has a pretty good thread going on audiobooks.
ReplyDeleteClaire, dear. No audio books allowed in this reading group unless you are legally blind, and have a doctor's excuse to prove it. If you have glaucoma and are being treated with medicinal marijuana, you will need to report directly to Babs.
ReplyDeleteAh, but the point is that readers are currently doing BOTH. I think that's great. We've had people tell us on LibriVox that they had never been able to get through, e.g., Moby Dick but found the reading there (by a particularly good male reader) one that drew them in. With some classics, that could make a big difference. Same with a guy who said that he'd never read Pride and Prejudice because he thought of it as strictly a chick's book. Not so -- as any Austen-ite will tell you. After listening to the reading by our own Elizabeth Klett, this guy realized what he has missed.
ReplyDeleteI have found, though, that I can't do certain activities while listening to a book. Nothing that demands thinking because then I'm not concentrating on the book. It's better if what I'm doing is mindless (housework, exercise, etc.)
Speaking of doctors, one of mine told me that with her schedule, listening to audiobooks in her car between the long commutes between USF and TGH a couple of times a day is the only time she has to devote to reading for pleasure. Professional reading eats up the rest of her free time.
Good luck with your challenge. I'm currently reading one book and recording two so I'm 'booked' for now. :D
Okay I'm easy. To rope in the likes of Claire and Emma, audiobooks allowed.
ReplyDeleteYes, Claire, I am one of those voracious readers who does BOTH. I always listen on my walks, and a long car trip is made infinitely more enjoyable with a good book on my iPod. I find it especially helpful on 800+ page tomes, like Dickens or Dostoevsky -- I read from the book at night, but knock off several chapters during the day via audiobook, in the course of running errands in my car and my 3-mile morning walk. A great narrator not only helps with the pronunciation of strange foreign names, but can bring the story to life, giving you that push you sometimes need to hang in there with a long classic. I couldn't live without my subscription to Audible.com!
ReplyDeleteGood for you, Emma! I think we just outnumbered Babs on her own blog. :P Go, Babs!
ReplyDeleteI am very flexible. You'll never catch me listening to an audio book, or reading a Kindle. Ha, by now I should know, "never say never."
ReplyDelete