Trying audiobooks for the first time

When our kids were growing up we spent a lot of time utilizing the Army post library wherever we lived.  When we lived stateside, we often frequented the local public library too.

After the kids left home and I was busy with a full-time job, I drifted away from going to the library.  Of course I still bought books and I have hundreds of books on my kindle, many of them free e-books, that I haven’t read yet.   I have piles of books, paperbacks and hardcovers, many that I haven’t read too.  For quite a while making time to read more has been another one of my goals, so I had been thinking about trying audiobooks, as a way to get through more books.

I suppose like many people, I have become wary of devices and subscribing to digital services, that I doubt I’ll use enough to warrant the cost.  I have an Amazon Prime membership that I truly don’t utilize nearly as much as I could, but I’ve looked at Audible many times… and hesitated.  

Somehow, my sister, telling my son about an app called Hoopla, that offers free e-books and audiobooks, available through many public libraries, motivated me to go to my public library recently.

I can’t remember the last time I had been to my local library. So, I got a new library card, since my old library card has been replaced with a newer card system.  My local library has a nice selection of audiobooks, so I signed out my first audiobook.  In a comment, I mentioned my first audiobook to try was a Brad Thor novel, Code of Conduct.  I enjoy thriller/spy novels (along with many other genres… not just historical romance novels).

 

As I was stitching away and listening to this Thor novel, very quickly the dead bodies were piling up, as the main character, Scot Harvath, dealt with some unfriendly rebels in the Congo.  When I mentioned the dead bodies and vivid descriptions of  “head shots” and weaponry mumbo-jumbo to one of my sons (the one who is a gun-enthusiast), he asked me, “Did they deserve killing?”  And I said, “Well they were violent rebels trying to kill him.”  My son smiled and said, “Then it’s all good.”  Men are weird.

By the second CD of this Thor novel, I decided to check out the Hoopla thing, I signed up on my home PC, but there’s a Hoopla app for other devices too.  All I needed to sign up was my library card.  It was very simple to sign up and use. 

I quickly found a story more suited to working on needlework, A Fall of Marigolds, by Susan Meissner.  I also downloaded the Hoopla app to my tablet, so I can read e-books or listen to audiobooks on that too.

My library also offers RB digital, another free digital service of e-books and audiobooks . If technologically-challenged me could manage the sign-up, downloading the app and using these free digital media services, anyone can.

I’m on the 4th CD (out of 10 CDs total) in the Thor audiobook, which I’ve relegated to listening to as I scroll through Twitter and somehow the blood and guts action in this story goes much better with reading Twitter politics than it does with needlework, lol.

I’ve also started a second audiobook on Hoopla, Becoming Mrs. Lewis: The Improbable Love Story of Joy Davidman and C.S. Lewis, a novel by Patti Callahan and the title adequately describes the plot.

The world of books has certainly changed dramatically from my childhood of being thrilled with hand-me-down books to present day life awash in so many options to access books through my public library and that’s not even touching the many free e-books available online via just a bit of online searching. The ease of using these free digital services at home with my library card amazed me.  By all means, check out your local public library and you might be amazed too.