Audio Book Resources

Last week I went to the ARRT program on audio books and reported about it here.

Although the presenters talked about some resources, they did not mention a few that I find useful and want to share with you.

First, there is Audiobooker from the Booklist Online family of blogs. Mary Burkey, a teacher, librarian, and audiobook addict, uses this blog to write about listening, learning, and the joy of headsets." This blog covers all things audiobooks from how they are recorded to which narrators are the most beloved, to where to find free audiobooks and everything in between. I get the RSS feed for this and all of the adult service Booklist Online blogs.

I also find the for profit service Audible.com to be very useful when helping patrons, much like Amazon is my go-to resource for all book related questions. Without a subscription, Audible provides similar titles, links to other books by the same narrator, and categories to search. And like Amazon, they have customer reviews, so you can see how an actual "reader" felt about a particular title.

Those who listen to audio books know that the reader can be just as important as the words s/he is reading. With the exploding popularity of audio books, we cannot ignore the narrators. Author blogs have exploded in the last few years and now, audiobook narrators are beginning to join the party. Among the first is Scott Brick. Check out his blog here.

Brick is famous for being the type of narrator people either love or hate. His blog may incite similar feelings. I personally like Brick and enjoy his snarky sense of humor. Case in point, you can click on a link which allows Brick to narrate his blog for you.

Do you have a favorite narrator or audio resource? Let me know.