Week 11 Prompt
I love ebooks and audiobooks! As far as appeals go, I think you have to add the narrator into the mix of appeals. As mentioned in the blog post, a narrator can make or break a book. I've listened to books such as How High We Go In The Dark which has a myriad of voice actors that really make it a fantastic collection of interwoven vignettes. On the other hand, I've checked out audiobooks that have an author that I just know I won't be able to handle for eight or more hours.
Not being able to hold a book in my hands won't affect my knowledge of the genre, but I have found through my own experience and the experiences of my friends that some books require a physical copy of the book. Two books that I think of right away are Horrorstör and Final Girl Support Club by Grady Hendrix. Both of these books require the ability to see the images that are included in the book. I read the physical version of Horrorstör while my friend listened to the audiobook version and we had vastly different reactions.
I think that people being able to change the font and size of the text is great for readers that need that on ebooks. I think it makes books more accessible. For most books, it is probably okay that readers are able to change so much about the formatting (I have not had many issues with it in any case). We have quite a few of our patrons come in and ask us to help them get set up with Libby so that they are able to read on their devices. The ability to change the speed of audiobooks most definitely changes the pace of the book, but I have found that one acclimates to it after a while. I typically listen to my books set to x1.5 while my coworker listens to audiobooks at a staggering x2.1.
According to Novelist, some appeals that are affected by audiobooks include audio characteristics (such as character accents or full cast), voice characterization (such as distinctly voiced or emotionally connected), and voice characteristics (such as animated or seamless). I have found as I have begun reading audiobooks I have found that these aligned and make sense as they are audio-specific.
Danyelle,
ReplyDeleteIt's nice to see a positive perspective on eBooks. I am not a fan only due to the fact that trying to read and focus with a tablet, has affected my eyes over the years. I also help patrons with setting up Libby and Hoopla on their devices, it's always to see that patrons are willing to try a new platform. Audiobooks are something I've used frequently to help with time, and while it may be the same printed story, it takes a great narrator to capture what the author has written. I liked how you spoke about vocal characterization, and that's really hard to do when you have no one responding back to you. As an actress its easy, but with reading a character's words it's much more difficult. The narrators have a tough job of reading this entire book, and trying to maintain what the character does through vocals is challenging.
Great Insight,
Bre
Thanks! I wasn't a big fan of ebooks until I got a Kindle which is much more gentle on the eyes when compared to something like an iPad!
DeleteHi Dany! I really liked that you raised the point of accessibility. It's an important positive of ebooks and audiobooks that I think often gets left out of the conversation. I also liked your discussion on the narrator. I completely agree that the narrator can make or break an audiobook. I have definitely stopped listening to audiobooks purely because I did not like the narrator's voice. On the other hand, there are some audiobooks that I will listen to purely because one of my favorite narrators is reading it. For example, if I see a book is narrated by January LaVoy, I automatically become more interested in listening to it. Do you have any narrators like that?
DeleteI don't have a specific narrator that I look for, but any book that is narrated by the author pretty much gets added to my TBR immediately!
DeleteFull points!
ReplyDelete