Is Audible Worth It?

I have been against audiobooks for a while. I have never been one to be able to sit and listen to a book. In elementary and middle school listening to teachers and tapes, and out of all the books I heard, the only one I can somewhat tell you about is James and the Giant Peach. I can even remember the story is a boy who started living in a peach and bugs. I think I have that right. Last year I tried audiobooks on Spotify, but that did not go well for me. You can check out that experience here. Now, I am trying Audible, and this is how I feel about it.

If you don’t know how Audible works, here’s how. You pay $14.95 after the first month (The first month is free), and you can stream books from your phone. It does require you to buy the books, but you do get a free credit each month, which essentially means you are paying $14.95 for a book, but they mark to say it’s free. It’s kind of a good deal. After you pick your book, you can start listening. If you don’t like the book, you can always return it (I haven’t seen a cut off time for that) and get your credit back.

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Pros

I really love the selection of books! I think there are only a few books I have found to not be on there, but no big deal. There is a pretty wide range of speed to listen to. If following along in a book, I can read about 400 pages pretty quickly with speed decently high. One thing I really like is that it tracks your reading and gives you insights on your habits. I usually hate narrators, but there are some on here that I actually like. When there are multiple people for different characters, it has really helped me get into the books easier and more. I probably would have a bigger DNF list if it weren’t for Audible. There’s also a sleep timer, which is great to keep track of how long I have been reading for If I only have a little about of time to read, and I don’t have to keep track of how much longer I have. I enjoy having so many classics, and just good goods are included with the service. I love reading classics, and having it included and not having to wait for credits is perfect for me! Included in the service are Audible exclusive books, which is awesome!

Negatives

The price is a little high for me. I mean, $14.95 is a little high for just listening to a book. This is a personal thing, but I can’t listen to books without following along. I can just sit a focus. Sadly, this means I will not be taking advantage of the Audible exclusives. I feel like the app is only good for listening and shopping. If you want to do anything with your account, it would be easier on the website. It doesn’t use a whole lot of battery, but I do feel like I need my charger close by just in case. Luckily I can get through a book pretty fast, so my phone doesn’t die as quickly. The thing that does really bother me is the fact you can’t connect it to GoodReads. I don’t know why it bothers me so much, but it does. I don’t have too many negatives about the site or app; it’s mostly just the set up of the app I don’t like. I feel like there are just too many things that lead you to the website through the app.

Final Thoughts

All in all, I do use this a lot, and it has changed how I read! If there is an audiobook for it, I listen to it and follow along in the book. It can get through a 400 page book in a couple of hours if I don’t take any breaks. I’m not going to add the Audible URL because in this post, there is a little hint at how to get the most or of your credits, and I’m sure they know what people like me do, but just in case I don’t want to stay it out directly. Maybe it’s common knowledge, and I just don’t know because I am new to Audible. I would recommend using this simply because it really does help you read faster.