As an avid audiobook fan, I spend a good chunk of hours every week plugged in and listening. And I love it! Mostly.
The audiobook experience can be highly rewarding, but I have a few pet peeves that I’d love to see audiobook producers address.
Without further ado, here’s a guide to what I love about audiobooks… and what I think needs to change:
THE HIGHS:
- Being able to listen on the go: I listen to audiobooks on my daily commute and on my weekend walks. It’s a wonderful way to fit in more reading time.
- Terrific narrators: Not all narrators are equally talented, but there’s something amazing about finding a new favorite. A great narrator brings the story to life, embodying the characters’ voices, keeping the story moving, and providing emotion and movement to the narration.
- New ways to enjoy rereads: I find myself going to the audiobook versions of books I want to reread, such as when I want to reread the previous book in a series before a new book comes out. It’s a great refresher, doesn’t eat into my print reading time devoted to new books, and often gives me a new perspective on books I’ve already read.
- Keeping up with reading commitments: I’m always overloaded with books to read, and among those are my commitment books — especially, books for my book group, which has monthly picks as well as longer-term group reads. I tend to end up with the audio version of at least several of our monthly picks. This helps keep me on track, while also (like the previous bullet point) keeping me from feeling like I’m diverting attention from one of the many other books I want to be reading
THE LOWS:
- Names: It can be tough to pick up unusual names just from the audio. I’ve had several experiences where I only realized I was “seeing” a character’s name wrong after looking at the print synopsis. I try to be careful to vet name and place spellings against a print edition before posting reviews, but sometimes one will slip through the cracks.
- Details: When a lot of characters are introduced at once, or key information is shared in a detailed way, it can be tricky to keep track when I only have the audiobook. For example, one really enjoyable summer romance from this past year included a large family gathering, and it was practically impossible to sort out which children and spouses belonged to which of the characters. Sure, it was explained when they were introduced, but that’s a lot to keep track of while listening, without a visual reference.
MY MAJOR PET PEEVE ABOUT AUDIOBOOKS — AUDIOBOOK PUBLISHERS, I’M BEGGING YOU TO FIX THIS!
Breaking this one out from the lists above because it’s such a biggie for me! It is incredibly frustrating that audiobooks tend not to include certain vital pieces from the print editions.
First, the author notes: I’ve very rarely experienced audiobooks where these are included. And yet, author notes can add so much to the overall reading experience. If an author is sharing background on why they wrote the book, historical resources, inspiration, etc, I want to hear it!
Second, other extras: I’d like it if the “About the Author” info were also included in the audiobook. In terms of acknowledgments, maybe that would be less engaging to listen to, but I’d still like the option. Some print editions include extras like a Q&A with the author, and I’d want that too!
Third, visual references: I’ve listened to a couple of audiobooks that had downloadable materials available as well, such as the maps or photos that accompany a print edition. This seems to be rarely done, yet feels essential to me, and should be standard for all audiobooks.
My imperfect solution to some of these issues is to try to borrow a hard copy or e-edition of the book at the same time I’m borrowing the audiobook, but that’s not always possible. Library wait times for different editions don’t generally sync up. I’ve learned that for non-fiction books, where visual materials are more often included, it makes sense to wait and try to borrow both print and audio at the same time. For fiction, I find it makes less of a difference in terms of enjoying the content, although there’s still the issue of missing out on the notes and other extras.
So, why don’t audiobooks include these items?
I’ve found a few discussions on Reddit and elsewhere that include some reasons that may apply. Many of these come down to cost: Production costs and process are dependent on the length of the book. Anything beyond the actual book content adds expense and work.
It’s also mentioned in several posts that listeners in general don’t want the extras — but I wonder how true that is (I WANT THEM), and how that’s determined.
I’ve also seen comments that it may be an author’s choice. Again, I wonder whether this is always the case, or if different publishers/platforms have a definite approach for all audiobooks that they produce.
As a big fan of audiobooks (yes, I’m totally hooked and wouldn’t make it through daily drives without them), I can safely say that I’ll continue listening to audiobooks no matter what. But — the experience would be greatly improved (in my humble opinion) if audiobook productions included at least some of the extras, or made them available as free downloads.
What do you think? Is there anything you have in mind that could improve your audiobook experiences?
Bookshelf Fantasies 