You may have noticed the ads for Audible; I have recently become an affiliate for Audible and I am very excited about this. I am excited for several reasons. For one thing I hope it will help pay the expenses for this blog—hosting fees, domain registration, etc. But even more than that I can testify from personal experience that it is a valuable resource. You can go to my Audio Book Page here (you will find links to Audible, some compatible devices, and some recommended books with more coming).
I have been a member of audible since about 2001 and I love listening to various books. I listen to some fiction, books on self help and recovery, books on leadership, and the Bible. Several years ago I changed jobs with the Community Mental Health Center I worked for as a therapist and I had to drive an hour and 10 minutes, one way, to get to work and back home. I began listening to audio books on the trips and it became a wonderful part of my day rather than wasted time. We only have so much time each day and I was using almost ten percent of my time driving back and forth to work. After I started listening to audio books I discovered that I picked up on things differently than when reading the same thing.
For example, I have read through the Bible several times using a Bible divided into daily readings. I felt I knew the Bible pretty well, not a Bible scholar but a pretty good understanding of it. (By the way, reading through the whole Bible really opened my eyes and gave me a deeper understanding of God since I had a better understanding of the context of God’s relationship with man.) I have listened to the whole Bible two times now and I am amazed at how much I have picked up on through listening as opposed to reading. Some things began to stick out in my mind and I began to learn new things about God and my relationship with Him. I frequently had to stop listening for a few minutes so I could think through some of the insights I was getting by listening. The first time I listened through the whole Bible it took about 4 months (only listening back and forth to work). The second time through it took about 6 months. It took a little longer since I found myself stopping the MP3 player to think and pray about things I had heard.
My experience with audio books has been great. This is a big part of why I am excited to share this resource with you—I personally know the value. I encourage you to give it a try. There are many ways to listen to audio books—CDs and MP3s (Audible and others). I prefer Audible for several reasons including convenience of having several audio books on one small MP3 player as opposed to carrying several CDs. Also, with CDs you lose you place pretty easily if you have to stop listening in the middle of the CD. With Audible your place is bookmarked and you pick up right where you left off. My experience with Audible has been very positive. One word of caution make sure your MP3 player is compatible before you join.
The one I currently use is the Sansa Clip Plus (4gb) by Sandisk—small and inexpensive and works like a charm. I have included a link to this on Amazon and the 8gb version. I paid $49.00 for my 4gb version. They are expandable with a micro SD card. There are many other players that are compatible. Go to Audible’s Device Center to see what players are compatible (you may already own one that is compatible). There are links to the devices listed here and several other popular devices that are compatible with Audible on my Audio Book Page.
I have included links to the same player I use and links to Audible and some recommended books for your convenience.
Blessings
Tim