POLL: Have you ever listened to Audio Books?

They're obviously not as popular as printed books, some may say they are books for lazy people... what do you think?

I bought my first not too long ago. It was a selection of greek lives by Plutarch as read by an amazing-sounding British fella. I don't think I'd ever get hooked on audio books, but I liked being able to "read" while at work.

Yeah, I have purchased a few in the past... Karl Marx's "Das Kapital"; "The 7 Habits Of Highly Effective People"; Sylvia Nassar's "A beautiful Mind"; Cervantes' "Don Quijote"; Susan Jeffers' "Feel The Fear And Do It Anyway", etc.

I would agree that they're kind of an easy option... for some people, it takes less effort to LISTEN than it does to READ. But I guess some people also just respond better to auditory stimuli.

Personally, I do enjoy audiobooks, but I miss not being able highlight important sections of the text, and make notes that I can easily refer back to. There's also the problem that many audiobooks are "abridged" so you don't get ALL of the book.

However, its nice to be able to upload an audiobook onto your iPod or MP3 player and listen to it whilst in situations that you wouldn't usually be able to read a book in.

I voted for "they're cool" but honestly it depends on who is narrating. My nana gave me an audio version of "Sula," and I have to say Morrison is as good a story reader as she is a story teller. She understands and connects with the voice of her stories, and makes the book compelling (not that it isn't already). I listened to Twilight audio on Meyer's website, and it was a joke. Meyer couldn't find a believable voice and the pacing was all off, just showing the non-fluid nature of the novel (shouldn't she have read it aloud before publishing it?).

My big qualm with audio books is that my mind is a wandering goldfish. The only time I have to actually listen to an audio book is in the car, and what with concentrating on driving and my mind wandering constantly, I lose track of what is going on in the story about three paragraphs in every time. I need the text to keep me driven.