NaNoWriMo lumbers along for me. I had an out of town trip scheduled this past weekend, so I fell behind in my word count. This was expected, so not upsetting. I have Friday off from work in observance of Veterans' Day, and I may join some other NaNoers in the crazy challenge to try and get 11,111 words done on 11/11/11.
Can I do it? I'm scared to find out!
My real excitement for the weekend came from our drive. It's a long, boring 8-9 hour drive when we go back home to visit friends and family, and occasionally we listen to audiobooks. In general, I'm not a fan of the format because I can't pay that close of attention when people are speaking to me and I can't see them or take notes. I'm an extremely visual person, so things don't sink in when I have to just sit and listen. My mind wanders and I don't retain the story well.
My husband, however, is a fan. He has the opposite problem where books are concerned. He has a hard time sitting and reading a book because he can't engage with the material. Then he gets bored and nods off to sleep, or reads the same sentence fifteen times without actually gaining anything from it.
Yesterday we were both bored with our music selections and I offered up the audiobook option. After perusing through a bunch of choices, The Hunger Games popped up. I didn't think the hubs would go for it, but when I mentioned it he surprised me by saying he'd like to give it a try. My enthusiasm for the series and the upcoming movie is rubbing off on him, but he admitted he would never sit and read it despite the fact that he believes it's awesome.
We ended up not getting to listen to it because I needed a WiFi signal to download the large file and by the time we stopped for gas and found WiFi there were only a few hours left to drive. I still consider it a victory that I have him intrigued enough that he's willing to listen, so we may end up borrowing or buying it to listen to over the holidays. I think I would enjoy an audiobook of something I've already read because then I won't feel as pressured to pay such close attention.
Do you like audiobooks? Have you ever been so excited about a book that you got a person interested in it that would not normally have liked it?
10 comments:
You can do it!!! I will be there to cheer you on. :)
I struggle to listen, I zone out too much. However my boyfriend is dyslexic so he much prefers audiobooks. However, we've never listened to them together. I can't even do podcasts!
And you can totally do it! Scary amount, I semi-considered it for a moment but then I decided to write 3k, wear a poppy, do the minute's silence and blog some. *nods*
*waves pom poms*
Gah! I hate that WiFi requirement. I've had to stop at a Starbucks to get my audiobooks. Good thing those babies are everywhere... well almost everywhere. LOL
I have a new addiction to audiobooks like no bodies business! The are awfully convenient.
I'm not sure that I have any influence over anyone other than my sister. If I love something, I'll make her read it and to humor me, she does. The result is always a good one. :)
Oh, I KNOW I influenced my best friend to fall in love with audiobooks!! She listens to them at work all. the. time. (I do too) And actually, I influenced her to reading actual books, too! She even bought a Kindle!
The Hunger Games audio series is really, really good! Hope you get another chance to give it a try soon. :)
Sometimes I try to get my friends (none who are avid readers) to get into books but it hardly works. I can talk about it with them and we get excited together but it's not like they'd actually read the books. Audio books is something I definitely have to try one day. Maybe I should listen to the Hunger Games!
I can't do audiobooks. Maybe I haven't given them enough chance, I don't know, but I like going at my own reading pace and audiobooks just don't work out for me because of that. Perhaps I'll give them another try in the future and I do think they'd work better for books I've already read.
Yay for the husband being willing to give THG a chance though! :D
I'm the same way with audiobooks. Especially when I'm doing something else like driving or folding laundry. But I really only want to listen to audiobooks when I'm doing something else, so, yeah, I fail at audiobooks.
Go you for talking up The Hunger Games enough to get him interested! Will he take part in the read-along you're hosting? (or is that pushing it? :P )
You know, I've never given one a try but I saw an ad for The Windup Girl, which I may actually do as an audiobook, because the book is reeeally long. Good luck with nano, I'll cheer from the sidelines. Too busy preparing my YA thriller for its release!!!
Keep writing Logan! I'm with ya there. Hey, have you received an arc of Dearly, Departed? It's Steampunk, Victorian Era, Futuristic, Zombiefied craziness. I think it'd be up your ally, though....
I love audiobooks! I don't take road trips enough, but I probably drive enough to work and back that it would be worthwhile (mental note).
How did the 11/11/11 thing go?
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