Where I Listen to Audiobooks

I’ve been thinking about writing about audiobooks for a bit. Now I’m in a slump, and they’re helping me get through it. I thought now might be the ideal time. But there are so many audiobooks sites out there and so many places to buy them. I didn’t want to be claiming to write a general recommendations list, as I know I’d be missing a lot.

So instead, I’m going to tell you about where I get my audiobooks from and why I like them. This isn’t going to be a massively long post. Most of my audiobooks come from three different places, with a fourth being one I keep saying I should use. And then don’t, for reasons I will outline below. But it’s a great, possibly free, resource that I had to suggest too.

The Library

So, I know this isn’t always possible to access an e-library for your library. Some libraries might not have a system; others might not have much of a selection or whatever else. But with Covid, more libraries started to sort out their e-libraries, so there may well be more opportunities for you to get books now.

On both BorrowBox and Libby, there are opportunities to get audiobooks and a decent player to play the books on. You can bookmark, change speed and select the different chapters if you want. So they work the same as other basic audiobook players, but that’s all you really need. You will be limited by what titles your library has. But it’s possible to register at a few different libraries without needing to visit them. They may just be in the next counties over, and you may only be able to use the card for the e-library. But it will give you more options.

I have a wishlist of so many audiobooks I need to actually borrow and listen to on Libby. Just…phew. But I will admit, that’s across three library services. Ooops.

Audible

This might not be a popular option as Audible is owned by Amazon. But it doesn’t cost too much a month, and that price will give you a credit to buy a single book a month. Or two credits if you’re willing to pay a little more. Being signed up to Audible will also get you access to any sales they put on, which can include half-price off all audiobooks or buy one get one free. These sales aren’t always great. And audiobooks without the credits are expensive. Even half price they can sometimes be over £10. It’s a lot of money, way more than you’d be spending on an e-book and sometimes more than a physical book.

But Audible has a massive selection, and you own the book. If within a few days you decide the book isn’t for you? You can return it pretty easily for a refund. So this means you can curate an audiobook library of books that you’ll actually want to listen to over and over.

There are also some Audible originals. I’ve listened to a Star Wars one I loved, as well as an Assassins Creed one. Both are full cast, and were written for Audible, so I’m glad I had the opportunity to buy them.

Scribd

This is a service that you might have heard of. You pay £9.99 a month, and you can peruse through their selection of audiobooks and listen to them. This is more like a library service as you’re technically borrowing the books. But unlike the library, you never have to wait for someone else to finish listening to the book.

The only problem with Scribd is unlike with their e-books, you’re limited with the number of audiobooks you can usually listen to per month. This is usually two or three audiobooks. You may be able to get four if you want to listen to less popular audiobooks. Usually, after the first or second audiobook, you’ll see some of your audiobooks disappear until you pay for the next month. I’m not sure why they limit the audiobooks, but it can mean that you have to do a little bit of planning on what audiobook you’re starting with.

If you are interested in checking out Scribd and aren’t sure if it’s for you? You can use this link to get a Scribd free trial. Using my link will give you 60 free days rather than 30. And will give me 30 free days too. You do have to put payment details in when you sign up. But nothing will be taken until after your free trial. And if you cancel before then? Nothing will be taken at all.

If you’re just getting into audiobooks, Scribd might be a great idea to check out. I love Scribd because it gives me so many more options for audiobooks. I can listen to books I’m not sure how much I’ll like, without worrying about spending a lot on them. And there are a lot more options on here compared to my library.

Spotify

So, if you didn’t know, Spotify offers audiobooks!

If you’re not paying for Spotify, then you will get these books completely free. But you may wind up with adverts interrupting the middle of your audiobooks. Which is kind of annoying, but at least they’re free. If you’re already paying for Spotify Premium, then this is a way of listening to audiobooks without paying for anything extra.

There isn’t a massive selection on Spotify, but there are some fairly popular books. I’ve seen a few books I’ve loved and a few I want to read on there. I keep telling myself I should listen to them on Spotify but…

These chapters and this audiobook will count in your Spotify Wrapped. So your favourite album could wind up being an audiobook. That might not bug you, but it does me. Audiobooks simply count as song tracks, so though that can make chapters easy to access if you decide to switch to listen to something else…it can also be a pain.

I don’t really like using Spotify for audiobooks. But before I found out about Scribd, this was a great way for me to try out audiobooks.

Let me know where you guys listen to audiobooks!