Audiobooks: Yay, Nay, or Eh?

One of the really awesome things about working in the Library is the access to stuff. This is a bookworm's dream, you guys: I'm surrounded, all day, every day, by books. And movies. And audiobooks. I mean, stories are everywhere! And it is incredibly awesome.

Surrounded by so many stories, in a variety of formats, I'm constantly finding new things that catch my wandering reading eye. While there are some things that are just not (and never will be) "my thing," there have been quite a few books pass through that are intriguing. Different, not necessarily something I'd pick up if I were browsing, but because I'm actually handling them (either checking in/out, or processing as new books), that extra little time catches my attention. As a result, I'm starting to stretch my reading habits. Like adding graphic novels, and authors I've always heard of but never read before. And, perhaps the most revolutionary change: I started listening to audiobooks. Shocking, but true.

I'm not sure why I avoided them so long. Growing up, I loved listening to people read, especially in the evenings, as I filled pages with doodles and sketches. But I could never make the shift to listening to a prerecorded audiobook. Weird, I know. I check out so many books on CD to people though, that one day I impulsively grabbed John Green's An Abundance of Katherines off the shelf.

This was a double-first actually: I'd never listened to an audiobook and I'd never read anything by John Green. If you're going to experiment, make it count, right? It took a little adjusting to the difference in experience from reading the words for myself and listening to them, but on the whole it was a satisfactory endeavor. I enjoyed the story, and I liked using my driving time "productively." So I checked out another one, as soon as I finished Katherines. I last through one disc of Ender's Game before I had to give up on it. I quickly discovered the downfall of audiobooks: you can't skim.

At this point I should probably confess: I have been known to skim while reading. If a story bogs down, or there's a section I just don't "feel," I skim over it. When I was listening to Ender's Game, I felt antsy. Twitchy. I wanted to skim over some places, but I couldn't -- I had to listen to every word. So I bailed, and the next three audiobooks were well-beloved classics: Pride & Prejudice, Sense & Sensibility and Little Women.

Getting to listen to these books, which I've read many times apiece, was a new experience. One that let me interact with the stories in new ways, and I found myself falling in love with the characters and events all over again. I think I found my favorite audiobook choice: familiar stories, whether classics or just previously read. Of course, I'll still experiment -- there are several new young adult audiobooks that keep catching my eye -- but I've discovered that sometimes the "old reliable" is the best choice.

Do you listen to audiobooks? Do you pick authors and/or titles you know, or do you experiment? Are you ever tempted to skim, and annoyed that you can't?