Week 11 Prompt Response – E-books and Audiobooks

I love to read books in all formats.  I love snuggling up with a good book and a cup of tea on a cold day or sitting on the beach with a book.  I also love listening to audiobooks; I try to never be without one in the car and currently get most of my “reading” done on my 45 minute commute to work.  I also enjoy eBooks and find them indispensable when traveling or sitting in a waiting room somewhere.  Ebooks and audiobooks provide new challenges in readers’ advisory.  Working the circulation desk, I push all formats! 

When a patron requests a particular book and all our print copies are out, but the audiobook is in, I always mention it.  If they are not interested, I don’t push them to get that particular book, but tell them how much I love audiobooks, and encourage the patron to give them a try at some point.  I always start with my drive and how having an audiobook in the car makes me look forward to my commute instead of dreading it, then mention listening while folding laundry or doing dishes. 

Audiobooks provide specific RA challenges. They, like their print versions include Sarick’s elements of appeal, but also include others specific to the audio format such as narration and sound effects.  Pacing and characterization in particular are affected by the narrator. When I listen to an audiobook, the narrator makes a huge difference.  One of the things I loved most about The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd was the fact that the narrator’s voice sounded like a young girl.  I love Susan Erikson’s voicing of the characters in J.D. Robb’s In Death series, and James Marsters’ voicing of Harry Dresden in Jim Butcher’s Dresden Files series (although I’ve only listened to two of them so far.)  I really like Robert B. Parker’s Spenser books and have listened to many by several different narrators.  My favorite Spenser narrator by far is Joe Mantegna who voices all the characters fabulously.  I have tried a couple of Spenser novels narrated by different people and, while I still appreciate the story, I never enjoy them quite as much.


I enjoy reading eBooks, but they do read differently than paper copies.  I rely on the amount of pages in my left hand growing while the number in my right hand shrinks to judge the possibilities left for the characters and have felt the pressure to “absolutely finish the book tonight even if it’s 2:00 a.m.” (Dunnebeck, 2011) This affects me much more  with a physical book than the page indicators in an eBook.  While I do not believe that eBooks will completely replace print books, they are definitely here to stay and will continue to grow in popularity.   Portability and storage are major reasons for this.  

I do not have a device that is specifically an e-reader, but can read all kinds of eBooks on my iPad.  One of the things I most enjoy about eBooks is the ability to check them out from anywhere.  When I had to make a flying trip to Chicago because both of my parents were in the hospital, I grabbed some clothes and jumped in the car without thinking about bringing a book.  I spent quite a bit of time in a hospital room just being with my Dad who was not conscious.  Because I had my iPad with me, I went to my library website, checked out a book, and read it without ever having to leave his hospital room.  Wow!  It really helped me pass the time.

I have recently subscribed to BookBub, an awesome service that alerts you to discounted and free eBooks.  I have been building my eBook collection; whenever I get my daily email from BookBub, I use Amazon one-click purchase to send any of the choices that sound interesting to my iPad – especially the free ones!  That way, the next time I’m looking for something to read, I have a selection ready, and I just might discover authors I might not have checked out otherwise. 

References

Dunnebeck, K. (2011). E-books and Readers' Advisory. Reference and User Service's Quarterly, 325-328.

Mediatore, K. (2003). Reading with Your Ears: Readers Advisory and Audiobooks. Reference & User Services Quarterly, 318-323.

Venjamuri, D. (2012, December 11). The Wrong War Over eBooks: Publishers Vs. Libraries. Retrieved from http://www.forbes.com/sites/davidvinjamuri/2012/12/11/the-wrong-war-over-ebooks-publishers-vs-libraries/