Getting the Most out of Audible
After Christmas break when all school seems tedious, I struggled to find stability in our read aloud time. Unfortunately, I was also taken down by severe allergies, and could barely speak for three weeks without coughing. Audible saved the day. We started listening to audio books in place of my reading, and it expanded to our time in the car, and any other time anyone had a spare minute. We have also loved the opportunity to become better listeners as we read with our ears.
Here are some tips for getting the most out of Audible:
- Subscribe and save - if you join Audible as a monthly member, you get one credit a month to get any title for free...regardless of the price. A membership also lowers the regular price of the rest of the books. Just make sure the title you choose to spend your credit on costs more than the credit itself!
- Own the kindle edition also and save - if you have the kindle edition of a book, it can lower the price of the audio book. Some classics are free on the kindle, and then their audio book files are lowered down to $.99. Always check first before you buy the audio file.
- Unabridged matters - occasionally a lovely classic also has an abridged version of the book. Make sure to get the version you are looking for!
- Listen to the preview - in my haste I have purchased a version of an audio book thinking there was only one choice. Many times, there are several options. Listen to the preview to see which narrator you like best before purchasing.
- Hook it up in the car - if you've downloaded your audio books to your phone, you can listen in the car with ease. Our car is older, so we don't have the ability to plug in directly. Thankfully, there are several options out there for connecting through the cassette player or DC power connector.
Here are some of our favorite listens this year:
The Princess Test by Gail Carson Levine
Princess Sonora and the Long Sleep by Gail Carson Levine
The Green Ember by S.D. Smith
The Trumpet of the Swan by E.B. White
An Old Fashioned Girl by Louisa May Alcott
100 Cupboards by N.D. Wilson
Dandelion Fire by N.D. Wilson
The Chestnut King by N.D. Wilson
Betsy Strauss is an unexpected homeschooler, mother of three, who is in a relationship with a sweet man for life. She loves reading books, drinking coffee, and learning anything with her kids.
Betsy, I would like to find out what you know about Kindle Unlimited. I just saw it online and it looks like you can get books and audio books for $10/month. Have you looked at it and how does it compare with Audible?
In your opinion, is it as good a deal or better than Audible?
The difference is in what you own. With kindle unlimited, you are borrowing. If you cancel your subscription, you won’t retain ownership of any of the materials. Audible is more like a “book of the month” club. If you ever cancel your membership, you still own the audio books. It depends on how you devour books. If you go through a lot of books, kindle unlimited would be a great deal, and then you could buy the ones you really loved. I like the audible plan because I’m just collecting audio books I want to have for a long time. They’re both a good deal!