Hello! I am back after my two day hiatus after the busyness that was the winter Biannual Bibliothon. While it was loads of fun, it was a little draining but over the weekend I recharged and am ready to blog! Lately I have been listening to a lot of audiobooks, I think I listened to about 4 this past week, and have been loving them, so I decided to share a few audiobook recommendations with you guys and some tips if you are just starting out. I hope you enjoy!
Audiobook Tips for Beginners:
- Choose An Audiobook That You’ve Read the Physical Book Of – When it comes to your first few audiobooks, I find that it is a lot easier to ease into the world of audiobooks when you listen to a book you have already read. When adjusting to audiobooks, it can be difficult to retain all the info you hear while listening to the story, so my advice is to start of listening to a favourite book of yours!
- Free Audiobooks! – If you aren’t sure if you will like audiobooks, try borrowing them from your library. And I don’t mean borrowing the 30+ disk set, but borrowing from their online selection. Lots of libraries have links on their websites to online libraries where if you use your library card, you can electronically borrow books and audiobooks on your phone or computer, and they are free!
- Don’t Waste Audiobook Time – There are so many times throughout the day when you could be listening to an audiobook. So instead of watching mindless YouTube videos while getting ready, press play on an audiobook! You can also listen to them while walking around, driving, doing mindless tasks, etc, etc. Don’t waste perfectly good audiobook time!
Now for my audiobook recommendations!
Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell
Not only do I recommend this physical book, but the ebook is so much fun! I get the exact same feel as I do when I physically read it, and listening to the book come alive just brings so much more to the story. This is one I am actually currently listening to, and it is nice to discover the world of Fangirl in a different medium.
Percy Jackson and the Olympians series by Rick Riordan
I don’t have a specific book recommendation for this one, but really any of this series would be amazing on audio. I have only listened to the fourth in full, and snippets of some of the others but listening to the fourth was a blast, and the person who voiced it did a great job of giving each character a different voice and making the journey so much more fun!
The Selection by Kiera Cass
Listening to The One on audiobook was really good, I felt the tension between the characters and really felt the emotion I felt while reading the physical book, which is obviously what you want from an audiobook. While it did sound a little robotic, I quickly got over that and became so incredibly invested in the story. I can only imagine that the first book, The Selection, would be just as good!
Peter Pan by James M. Barrie
Really, I think that any children’s book would be magical in audiobook format. I listened to this book during the Biannual Bibliothon, and it was fun listening to Wendy, John, Michael and Peter’s adventures in Neverland. Again, it brought the story to life in a way like a movie would, and while I was walking around and listening to this book I would get so invested in the story I would wander around for hours. Also, it is really short (about 5 hours or so) so a perfect first audiobook!
Those are a few audiobook tips and recommendations for any of you considering giving audiobooks a try, or for any of you who just were in need of some more recommendations. I hope you enjoyed this, and make sure you check out my last blog posts: 2018 Biannual Bibliothon Day 7: Write a Book Recommendation + my Day 7 Reading Update!
Thanks 🙂
Other Places You Can Find Me:
Twitter:@zoermathers
Pinterest: @zoermathers
Lady Midnight by Cassandra Clare – I absolutely loved Lady Midnight the first time I read it, but now I am re reading it and it is just as amazing. Lady Midnight is a massive books but reads quickly in my opinion. I forgot how witty the characters were and how fantastic the whole story is, and I am falling in love with it all over again. I love re reading all of Cassie Clare’s books but at the moment this is definitely a favourite of mine to re read!
Obsidian by Jennifer L Armentrout – This book is such a quick, fun read that I can read multiple times but never get bored of it. Obsidian is part of a five book series, but it is hands down my favourite of them all. I think I like it the most because as the story progresses, the books grow darker and I just enjoy how light and fluffy the first one is.
Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell – I have read Fangirl twice now, and the second time was just as good as the first let me tell you. Fangirl is just one of those cute contemporaries with not only relatable characters, but relatable moments. I recommend anyone who hasn’t read it to read it, because you will fall in love with it!
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by JK Rowling – I doubt this is a surprise for any of you because who isn’t going to want to re read a Harry Potter book? I almost put the first book down, but overall I love the fourth one the most. Something about have the triwizard tournament and than the ball just makes me love the story even more.
Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins – Surprise, surprise right? Its not like I have read this book ten thousand times. I just love contemporaries and Anna and the French Kiss is a perfect one, okay? I re read contemporaries the most just because they are so fun, entertaining and super quick reads!
The Heir by Kiera Cass – When I think of books that get on my nerves, this is the first book that comes to mind. If you didn’t know, The Heir is a continuation of the Selection series and in my opinion, is a continuation that was not needed. The first three books in the Selection series were great, but they had to ruin it with this book! The Heir is a sequel that takes place 20ish years after the events of The One, and follows America and Maxon’s daughter Eadlyn who is of age and has to hold a selection to find “the one”. I enjoyed seeing America and Maxon again, but there daughter, Eadlyn is such a hard character to like! She is whiny, inconsiderate and incredibly selfish, and is in no way a relatable character. I honestly felt this book was unnecessary and I am sure there are a lot of people out there who agree!
but overall it did have some very frustrating moments! Lady Midnight follows two shadowhunters named Emma and Julian who live in a world of demons, magic and fighting. Our main characters are the frustrating part and I don’t want to spoil anything for people who haven’t read this book, but if you have you know what I am talking about!
Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell – Again I love Fangirl but our main character is such a stubborn character sometimes that it irritates me. Fangirl follows a girl named Cath who is attending her first year of college with her twin sister, Wren, and while Wren wants to be independent and have fun, Cath is much more shy and reluctant. I do love this book, don’t get me wrong, but sometimes I wanted to scream at Cath to take a risk for once, or just leave her dorm room instead of moping around and letting life pass her!
Prodigy by Marie Lu – I really enjoyed Prodigy but the relationship between our main characters is something I don’t always enjoy. The first book in this trilogy, Legend, follows a teenage criminal named Day and a soldier named June who become an unlikely team as they band together for revenge. I am honestly not a huge fan of June because in my opinion, she is quite a hard person to like and see through her suit of rock hard iron, so I did have some moments were I gritted my teeth during specific scenes.
Ruby Red by Kerstin Gier – This is a book on time traveling and I absolutely love it. It follows our main character Gwen who comes from a family of time travellers but it is believed that the gene has skipped her, that is until she finds herself hundreds of years in the past. Now with her new abilities, she is thrust into the hectic world of time traveling totally unprepared. This book has it all! Romance, time travel, humor and overall is a fantastic read that you will not want to put down.
Divergent by Veronica Roth – Divergent has such a unique concept and the writing just flows so nicely that you are whisked away into this world without even realizing it. In Divergent, we follow Tris Prior who after taking an aptitude test that determines where she belongs in her society, finds herself having to hide who she truly is. While in my opinion the last two books in this dystopian trilogy are not as good, the first one is definitely worth the read!
The Summer I Turned I Pretty by Jenny Han – This is summer contemporary book that is such a fun and easy going read. You are easily locked into this summery beach scene and overall it is just a fun time. The Summer I Turned Pretty is about our main character named Belly who is returning to the beach house she has spent her summers at since she was little. There she reunites with old family friends Conrad and Jeremiah and together they have a summer filled with romance, drama and fun.
Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan – In this book, we follow Percy Jackson a sarcastic and snarky character who after finding out his father is a Greek God, is thrust into a crazy world of monsters and demigods while also being blamed for stealing Zeus’s lightning bolt. Determined to prove he is not the thief, he goes on a journey to find it along with two friends before the summer solstice. This book is filled with awesome adventure and hilarious moments so I really recommend you pick it up if you haven’t. You won’t regret it!
his is my first wrap up of the year and luckily, I managed to complete a good amount of books!
l by Rainbow Rowell – Fangirl is such a light hearted, relatable book that I could read over, and over, and over again. It follows a girl named Cath who is entering her first year of college with her twin sister, Wren. While Cath wants to stick close to Wren’s side, Wren wants to be wild and free, leaving Cath behind in the dust. But when Cath’s new roommate, Raegan and her ex boyfriend take Cath under their wing, she learns to dip outside her comfort zone a bit and things get interesting…Highly recommend this amazing contemporary if you haven’t read it already! 4.5/5 stars
mylifewithbooks 