I still read a lot of print but in the last few years, suspiciously after getting a smart phone, I’ve started listening to podcasts, dramatizations and audio books. The odd thing to me is that what I like to listen to is in many ways completely different than what I like to read.
For instance, I like to “read” romances. If I’m reading a romance e-book on my phone I will sometimes turn on the audio but still catch myself reading ahead of the audio, which is just downright annoying. And I just can’t listen to love scenes. Just no. Love scenes aside, I tend to think it’s more a speed thing than an print vs audio thing. What I mean is that most of the romances I read are fairly short. Not necessarily one setting reads but not much more than that. So listening to audio actually slows me down.
On the other hand, I’ve found I like to “listen” to mysteries and fantasy both in narrated audio books and dramatizations. Here I think it’s the combo of the longer stories with dramatic readings/acting that hook me into stories I might not actually sit down to read otherwise.
Case in point with a little background first. My son is a die-hard Robert Jordan Wheel of Time fan. He has several hardbacks from the series signed by Jordan. So, he’s been very excited that they’re working on a Wheel of Time live action TV series and brings it up to me a lot. With the major hint that he expects me to watch it with him. I try not to bang my head on the wall while he’s still around. Honest.
Since he’s also nagged me repeatedly over the years to finish that series (I only got to about book 5 of 14) I’ve been thinking it would be a good time to catch up before the TV series airs. Except I look at those books, big books, very big books, and my brain just sort of shuts down. Of course my son has all of them on his Audible account and since I’m already (re)reading the Harry Potter books off his account, I’ve taken the hint and am going to try to listen to both The Wheel of Time series and Lord of the Rings books, which I haven’t even started on, on Audible. I may be finished sometime next decade… well, I figure at the very least I’ll get some of the WOT I’ve already read listened to by the time the series comes on TV.
Of course that may actually depend on how good the dramatization is which is usually pretty good on these books at least. I started The Hobbit the other day and am loving it.
So maybe it is the size of the books combined with the dramatization factor and not the content, at least for me. What do you like to listen to as opposed to read?
Another good question, are there even any romances that have been dramatized for audio?