This is one of my favorite little sanity saver tips. I have mentioned my affection for audio books in the past but since it is summer and some of you might be interested in a mental vacation, I wanted to mention it again.
You can get audio books for free or for pretty reasonable prices. I love these because I can put headphones on and turn the book on and goodbye to everyone and everything else. (I am listening to a tantrum over who gets the pink bowl for snack time as I type.)
Anyway, I can get lost in a book when I am walking the dog, going for a run, cleaning the house, cooking dinner… the list goes on and on.
I usually listen to 3 books a month or so and I can multitask that entire time doing things around the house so it really works out perfectly. There are lots of times that I am so into my book I will actually take a longer walk or find extra little projects to do so I can keep listening.
So if you haven’t tried audio books as a little sanity saver you might check out these resources:
::Your Local Library.
My library has a free program to download books and listen via an app on your phone. I use this on occasion but the books are typically on loan for 7-10 days and you can do it right on the internet. If you have a library card, you might take a look at the web site and see if you spot this program.
I prefer to listen on my iPhone with headphones but most libraries still have audio CDs that you can check out to listen as well.
::Audible.com.
This is actually what I use most often. Audible.com is a service that you need to pay for but I feel like it is worth the money I spend. I like to get new books and I like to just pick exactly what I want rather then sifting through what is available. In April I got the new John Grisham book right on the day of release so it has been a great program for me.
You can register for a free trial of Audible.com and get one book free to see what you think. If you like it, you can register for a program. I currently get 2 credits per month for $23- that is basically 2 books of my choice. You can roll your credits over if you don’t listen that much.
Considering most of the books I select are about 15 hours long, this is really a lot of entertainment for the money.
There is an audible app that is free that you can download to your iPhone or iPad.
::BooksShouldbeFree.net.
This is mostly the classics and these are free to download. This might be a great summer idea for slightly older children. I can see Anne of Green Gables, Pollyanna, Little Women and more… we play audio books during quiet time or sometimes during lunch or when we do projects. This might be nice if you have long car trips planned this summer. I find that my children don’t really like the audiobooks at first but then they tend to settle down and listen after a bit.
One last resource is Amazon.com for audiobooks. Personally I have found Amazon to be more expensive but if this is something you won’t do that often, it might be a good no strings attached resource. (NOTE: Amazon and Audible.com are affiliated so you often see Audible listed.)
You can just select the book you want and see if it is available in audio version. The one additional perk here is that you can usually try a book and see if you will like it. For example my next book is going to be The Chaperone and right now I can listen to the first chapter for free from Amazon.
Leave a Reply