Many introverts are book lovers and for good reason. Books usher us into the presence of experts. They transport us to exotic climes. And great ones change our lives.
Unfortunately, finding time to read is often difficult. Work, chores, family, friends, crises, and all kinds of distractions compete for our time and attention. No wonder a lot of people don’t read even one book each year.
If we want to keep learning from and enjoying books, we’ve got to think strategically We’ve got to kill two birds with one stone. In short, we’ve got to think audiobooks.
Read on to learn four strategies you can use to enjoy more books than ever without sacrificing priorities, time, or money.
Reading… There’s an app for that?!
Ever heard of OverDrive? It’s an app a lot of libraries are taking advantage of. The app allows you to listen to any digital audiobooks in your library’s collection.
It’s easy to install and use. After you download the free OverDrive app, open it up, and find your library. Then, log in with your library card number, search for titles, and check them out. The books will download to your device over wifi.
There’s no school like the old school.
A lot of libraries are still working their way into the digital age. While they may have an admirable selection of digital audiobooks, they’ll like have a much larger collection of audiobooks on CDs.
Don’t let this keep you from listening to the books you want to listen to. You don’t have to stay couped up inside to listen to a good book. Pop those audiobook CDs into your car’s CD player!
Wait? Your car doesn’t have one?!
If your car is newer – or older – you’re not out of luck. All you need is an inexpensive portable CD player. (I snagged this Insignia model for less than $30.)
Once you’ve bought the portable CD player, you’ll just need one other piece of gear which will vary depending on whether your car is new or old.
Newer Cars
If you’ve got a newer car and sound system, you’ll need to grab a male USB to headphone jack cord. The headphone jack end of the cord will connect to your CD player, and the USB end will plug into your car’s USB port.
Older Cars
If you’ve got an older car equipped with a cassette player, you’ll need a cassette adapter. One end of the adapter, which looks like a cassette tape, will fit into your car’s cassette player. The other end will connect to your CD player.
Hey, Siri. Read to me.
Did you know your iPhone can read books to you – for free?! Email, PDFs, eBooks – you name it. It reads them all.
And Siri does an impressive job pronouncing most words. She makes a few laughable mispronunciations. But it’s nothing that’ll ruin your listening experience.
To have Siri read text on your iPhone…
- Open the Settings app.
- Tap General.
- Select Accessibility.
- Tap Speech.
- Slide the Speak Screen toggle to on.
Now, open any kind of text, swipe down with two fingers, and your phone will start to play. You’ll see a menu pop up on your screen with controls that will allow you adjust Siri’s reading rate. For a quick visual tutorial, see the video below.
Trial away!
If you haven’t signed up for any audiobook service trials, you need to. Sites like audible.com will give you a free eBook whenever you sign up for a 30-day trial.
Just mark your calendar, and remind yourself to cancel before the trial ends, assuming you won’t want to pay for a membership.
One of my favorite finds this year is ChristianAudio.com. When I signed up for their trial offer, I was able to download two free books. And that’s not all. Christianaudio.com gives you a free book each month, whether you’re a paying member or not.
Don’t let a lack of time keep you from learning, growing, and enjoying a great book!
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