I love books. They have been giving me joy since I learned to read as a child. I find that having children has cut into my reading time. In a major way. I used to consume books like they were oxygen. I still read books, but now I find that I listen to books more than actually read them. I have checked out every decent fiction audiobook from my local library. About that same time that I ran out of options at the library a friend told me about Audible. I am now addicted to Audible and I am back to consuming books at the same rate I did before I had children. I am able to download and listen to books from my phone. It is amazing!
I am not getting any compensation for this posting. I am writing it to help other book lovers who find that children, communting, and life busyness has kept you from reading as much as you would like.
How Does Audible Work?
Audible is a free app you can download onto your smart phone or tablet. I have it downloaded on both of my devices (IPhone and IPad). Through Amazon you can subscribe to Audible. This is the route I chose. You can always purchase books individually using the app, without a subscription. However, the savings with the subscription are well worth it. Especially if you think you would read (I mean listen) to at least one book a month.
With the Audible subscription you pay $14.99 per month and this gives you 1 credit per month. Books are 1 credit each using Audible via Amazon. Here is a comparison on price versus subscription credit:
With the subscription you get 1 credit per month. Recently I was able to purchase 3 additional credits for $30. That was definitely a good deal!
The great thing about the subscription credit system is that they don’t expire each month. Instead, they roll over to the next month if they aren’t used. That way, if you don’t select a book that month, you can save it and use the credit in a future month.
Right now they have an awesome deal with the audible subscription. They are offering your first month free and two free credits. It’s worth a try if you are interested in listening to books or at least trying it out. They have also thrown in audible originals into the promotion as well! I didn’t get that offer when I signed up, so I am going to find out how I can get this too. ????
I listen to books in the car every day. I also listen while I get ready in the morning and often while I do work around the house. I use a UE Boom wireless speaker paired to my phone when listening at home. I will even listen with one ear bud while out grocery shopping. The selection with Audible is incredible. Most current best sellers are available on Audible, both fiction and non-fiction. I began using Audible to listen to books that others have recommended on such such as parenting, diet, faith, etc. Now I listen to fiction every week along with my nonfiction self improvement picks.
Here is the link to Amazon’s Audible subscription program: https://amzn.to/2EZmCMN
How to Find the Best Books: Goodreads
Do you ever want a good book recommendation and don’t know where to look or ask? Then you probably need to know about Goodreads. This website is my go-to for book recommendations. The best part is that it is free website.
Like I said before I am in a book club. I mentioned Goodreads at a meeting and many of the women didn’t know what I was talking about. Which is exactly why I need to share about this website. It is the best for book recommendations. I help narrow down our selections each month for book club voting purposes. I take the selections that people recommend and type them into Goodreads. I find that the reviews and ratings of books are spot on. I haven’t been disappointed yet by Goodreads and I have been using it for years! I am able to narrow down which books would be the best 3-4 options for our club and then I put it to a club vote and the book club members make the final decision on which book to read. Goodreads takes the guessing out of it. The books I narrow down to are those that have the best ratings and reviews. I have found that Goodreads is more comprehensive on this than Amazon.
Another great feature of Goodreads is that you can connect with your social media friends. I was able to link my Facebook account to Goodreads. This was provided as an option through the Goodreads website. Now I am connected to hundreds of my friends and I can see what they have read, what they recommend, and what they want to read. It is amazing! I was in a book club in Florida and several of the members are on Goodreads so I like to check out their reading lists from time to time because I know we tend to like similar books. Goodreads is social media for book lovers!
What I find most helpful on the Goodreads website is the lists. If you want to know, for example, all the books on Oprah’s book club list or the 2017 New York Times Best Seller list, you can find them on Goodreads. When you go to the website simply click “browse” and then click on “lists”. Once on the lists page you enter the list you are looking for in the search bar on that page. There are literally thousands of lists on this website.
Audible has Goodreads keep me reading the best books even when life is busy with three young kids. I highly recommend both to all moms!
