Listening To Books
Posted by terrepruitt on November 19, 2018
Have you ever listened to an audio book? Ha, as I was typing that I realized they used to be called “Books on Tape.” Anyway, have you ever listened to one? What do you think about “reading” like that? I like it. My husband recently decided to download an app and join the club . . . or whatever, however it works. He has been listening to audio books. He is running and walking a lot so he enjoys listening to books as he gets his run/walk in. We used to listen to books on tape. It is cool now that the book is just in the phone and there is not lugging a bunch of tapes or even CDs around. AND that we can both listen to the book at the same time. I enjoy listening to audio books, but I do need to rewind sometimes when my mind wanders. I was just remembering two stories about when we used to listen to books on tape a long time ago.
One time my husband and I were driving home from a dance competition in Fresno. It was the last day so there was a lot of us leaving the hotel at the same time. We had gotten in the car and stared listening to the book right away. A couple of weeks later we saw a friend of ours that had attended the competition and she asks us how we are doing. We say we are fine and she makes a comment something like, “Oh good, because you guys looked like you were fighting when we left Fresno a couple of weeks ago.” My husband and I didn’t know what she was talking about so we asked her to explain and she said she had seen us and waved trying to get our attention but we both had serious looks on our faces and I was staring out the passenger side window. We had to stop and think, then we realized we had been listening to a book and it was one of those serious scenes and we had both been concentrating on it and going through whatever emotion the story had elicited. It was so funny. She was relieved to hear we had just been listening to a book.
The other story I think is related to the same series. We used to listen to a book series. I was listening to it first. We would check it out from the library and then one of us would listen to it and then the other. This was before we were married – as was the Fresno incident – and I listened to the book on the way to my husband’s (well, boyfriend, at the time) house. When I arrived at his house I was at a point in the book where something important was about to be revealed so I sat in my car to finish listen to that part. Well, it was a sad part. One of the main characters we loved had been killed and the story revealed it by having his lover – the main character – find his face – not his head, just his face! – discovered in a refrigerator or cabinet (I don’t remember which). But I was so sad. I sat in my car trying to collect myself. But I couldn’t sit there all day. So when my husband (boyfriend) opened the door after I knocked he took one look at me and said, “He died, huh?” I was teary-eyed so he knew right away. That wouldn’t have happened if I would have been actually reading a book because I couldn’t have read it on the way over. And with the audio books available on phones, we don’t have to wait for the other one to be finished with the cassette tape or CD. Now-a-days we can listen to a book at the same time in different locations, we don’t even have to be together.
These to stories always make me laugh. And I always share them with people when the subject of audio books comes up.
So, have you ever listened to an audio book? Do you like to listen to books? If you do listen to books, do you ever have to rewind it because you missed a portion of it?
Terre Pruitt's Blog 
fallcorn1936 said
I love Audiobooks. I listen to them as I drive. I recently bought a brand new truck (well a year ago). it has 17000 miles on it and I would bet that at least half is from listening to Audiobooks. I often just drive around and listen but never listen at home for some reason. Go figure…
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terrepruitt said
🙂 That is a nice way to put the miles on!
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Betty Galloway said
I used to listen to audiobooks constantly especially on my commute to and from work. Now that I am doing so much crafting and woodworking I don’t listen to them very often and in fact don’t do very much reading other than how to books. I guess I could listen to audiobooks while I am crafting but I think I just get so focused on what I am doing I stopped paying attention to the books. And I really can’t listen to them while I am woodworking because the noise of the power tools overwhelms the audio even when I am listening through headsets.
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terrepruitt said
I think it is wonderful that you are so focused on your craft that you can’t listen to a book. That is great. It is like your meditation. At least that is how I think of it when I am so focused on something. I am not one that needs to have music on all the time or a book. And I like it when I am listening to it myself because then I can rewind if I have to. 🙂
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Sonja Troncoso said
A few years ago I had downloaded a tremendous amount of books on tape and listen to a lot of the classics on audio. I had to burn them to a CD disc and my car would play and I would pause as needed. Then when I got the volt I went to Stitcher and I found that it wasn’t really compatible and they disbanded with actual CDs if you can believe it, everything is Bluetooth now. I haven’t wanted to subscribe to the paid services. But I’m back recently on Stitcher for all the free podcasts that are of my interest. On NPR they used to have a show called driveway moments and that matches your story perfectly. I do remember sitting in the driveway and finishing the story while listening to the radio LOL. Now on Stitcher I listen to The Moth Radio Hour, TED Talks and snap judgement which are all storytelling type of audio.
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terrepruitt said
You do a lot of driving so I can see you listening to a lot of things!
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