Audiobooks: How are you supposed to listen to them?

[ReadyAndWilling]

hey guys, i've got some really great audiobooks now, but i'm not sure of the best way to listen to them. how do you listen to them to be really soak in all the material?

at the moment i'm listening to one while reading the forum and i don't feel like i'm able to concentrate on the sentences because it's like i'm trying to do two things at once. i used to like listening to them when i'm in the CBD on the train or walking, but then i can't focus on what's going on around me.

how can i sit down at my PC and still be able to take it all in? am i supposed to just stare at the wall?

thanks, i really like the idea of audiobooks to give my eyes a break.

 

[F. King Daniel]

Sensory deprevation tank or GTFO.

 

[Christopher]

You could try exercising while you listen. Or doing some basic chores that you don't have to devote a lot of thought to. Or just lie back and close your eyes.

 

[Therin of Andor]

at the moment i'm listening to one while reading the forum

Nah, you really can't listen to words while reading different ones.

In the 90s, I often played ST audios when making customized ST action figures, or some repetitive chore, like ironing, painting a room, wrapping Christmas gifts, decorating the tree, folding clothes or packing boxes.

I used get to ride in a friend's car on a long annual trip, so if I was very good I'd be allowed to play my latest audio acquisition in the car.

The three Captain Sulu audios used, for its day, an experimental "3D sound": kind of quadrophonic effect using only two speakers, and are best listened to through headphones for the full effect. (The CDs are more effective that the tapes for that effect, too.)

 

[elaithin]

During my commute to and from work is when I do.

 

[21Spike65]

Yeah, I found it easiest to listen to audio books in the car. If you happen to be a passenger, I think it works even better since you don't have to focus on driving. If not...just don't crash the car when the book hits its climax.

 

[tmclough]

Playing certain video games can help, provided the games are the type that don't require too much thought.

 

[ReadyAndWilling]

Playing certain video games can help, provided the games are the type that don't require too much thought.

yea, this seems ok as well, but i sometimes lose track of what's being said in the audiobook. i dunno, i think closing the eyes is the best way to go because it gives the eyes a chance to rest.

 

[Smitty]

Audiobooks in general I listen to while driving to and from work, keeps the road rage down ;-)

But I do not do Star Trek audiobooks because they are all abridged. If it was not for that, I would be all over them!

 

[bbailey861]

Driving is good, on a treadmill or elliptical machine at the gym listening on an iPod is also time well spent.

 

[Therin of Andor]

But I do not do Star Trek audiobooks because they are all abridged. If it was not for that, I would be all over them!

Original to audio

"Transformations: A Captain Sulu Adventure" by Dave Stern, performed by George Takei, Dana Ivey and Daniel Gerroll, 1994, 70 min.

"Cacophony: A Captain Sulu Adventure" by J.J. Molloy, performed by George Takei, Simon Jones, Maryann Plunkett, Lynne Thigpen and Lee Wilkof, 1994, 70 min.

"Envoy: A Captain Sulu Adventure" by L.A. Graf, performed by George Takei, Essene R., Jenifer Lewis, Nan Martin, Howard McGillan and Meredith Monk, 1995, 70 min.

Simon & Schuster's first/only unabridged novelization was: "Star Trek" by Alan Dean Foster, read by Zachary Quinto, 2009, approx. 480 min.

There are also some (by comparison, very expensive) unabridged titles, but not from Simon & Schuster Audioworks:

"Star Trek Nemesis" by J.M. Dillard, read by Grover Gardner, Sound Library/BBC Audiobooks America, 2002, 347 min. (Different to the S&S Audioworks' version read by Boyd Gaines, 2002, 180 min. Abridged by George Truett.)

"Vulcan's Soul, Book 1: Exodus" by Josepha Sherman and Susan Shwartz, read by Richard Poe, Recorded Books, 2004, 510 min.

"Vulcan's Soul, Book 2: Exiles" by Josepha Sherman and Susan Shwartz, read by Richard Poe, Recorded Books, 2006, 630 min.

"Vulcan's Soul, Book 3: Epiphany" by Josepha Sherman and Susan Shwartz, read by Richard Poe, Recorded Books, 2007, 694 min.

http://therinofandor.blogspot.com.au/2007/05/i-hear-star-trek.html

 

[Destructor]

Walking or driving are basically the only two places I can concentrate on an audioBook.

 

[Julio Angel Ortiz]

I love listening to audios at night in bed.

 

[Starbreaker]

1. Driving
2. Driving
3. Driving

 

[Smellincoffee]

A friend of mine listens to audiobooks while she's doing her daily walk. I listen to them when settling in for the evening, usually in bed. I sometimes fall asleep, but resume from the last point I remember the next night. (I'm old fashioned and use CDs...I assume my friend uses mp3s.)

 

[Yevetha]

Watch the books memory- beta page while listening to it.

 

[Kelso]

My fiance and I usually listen to audiobooks while driving somewhere. We also frequently play them while sitting out on the back patio with drinks or while eating dinner (depending on how into the book we are).

 

[ReadyAndWilling]

Watch the books memory- beta page while listening to it.

what's that?

 

[Yevetha]

http://memory-beta.wikia.com/wiki/DTI:_Watching_the_Clock

Wikipedia for Star Trek.

 

[Christopher]

http://memory-beta.wikia.com/wiki/DTI:_Watching_the_Clock

An awful lot of spoilers there.