One of my “looser” new year’s resolution was to read a book a month. I say it was loose because, who has time to read a book a month? Enter: the audio book. I’ve finished four books in three weeks, and I’m loving it. There’s something reassuring about knowing how long it will take you to finish a book, down to the second. In the event I lose interest while listening, I know the the audiobook will end in exactly one-hour-twenty-three-minutes-and-fourty-seconds. Perfect – I can hang on for that long. With normal books, I can become quickly disinterested – see Figure 1 below.
Fig. 1: Before audiobooks vs. After audiobooks (source: culturalcat.com + funnyshare.org)
I recommend using Audible.com, which connects to your Amazon account. The iPhone app has some room for improvement, but the audiobooks are generally cheaper than on iTunes. In addition, Audible offers two free books for signing up.
With that, I’ll leave you with my remaining audiobook tips: Don’t buy an audiobook until you’re ready to listen to it. Listen to a book while driving or instead of watching tv. And lastly, don’t force yourself to listen – that’s one quick way to lose a good habit.
