Audible Review: Two Months and 3 Books Later
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If you love to read but you’re anything like me, I think you’ll agree there is never enough time to read all the books on your wish list.
It seems like I’m always hearing of yet another book that I would love to read, but I just don’t have the time. At least I didn’t.
Enter audio books. They are great for letting me enjoy more books while doing other things like walking dogs and cleaning house.
In this post I’m going to review Amazon’s audio book offering, the Audible membership.
How I Found Out About Audible
I found out about Audible from an Ad. It was advertising a free 30 day trial with a free book. I love to read but as I mentioned, never seem to have enough time to read all the books I want.
This was especially true when I was traveling a lot for work. Audio books seemed like the perfect solution. My territory spanned 5 states some of my drives were 6 hours. Plenty of time to listen to audio books.
You Should Always Evaluate How You Spend Time & Money
Now, I’m constantly evaluating how I spend my time and my money. So with Audible, like any other subscriptions that I have, I turn it off when I’m not getting the most out of paying for that subscription.
This means I tend to jump between subscription services a lot.
Right now I have Netflix, but two months ago I had Max (formerly HBO). Since I’m not traveling as much, I’ve turned off my Audible subscription but likely start again the next time I end up with a lot of travel.
Even though I’m not currently using Audible, I love to use it from time to time, so I thought an Audible review might be helpful to you.
What is Audible?
Audible is an audio book service through Amazon. You pay a monthly fee and get an Audible credit to redeem for any book on Audible.
You also get a 30% discount to buy additional audio books, in case you want another book but are out of credits.
They have a huge selection with pretty much any book you could want.
If you really enjoy audio books over books in other formats, this is a great way to consistently enjoy new content. Especially, since they don’t just have books, they also have channels such as Front Row Comedy, The Washington Post, and Entrepreneur Accelerator.
What Does Audible Cost?
Audible costs $14.95 per month for 1 book credit a month and $22.95 per month for two book credits a month. Alternatively you could pay annually, $149.50 ($12.46/mo) for 12 credits or $229.50 (19.13/mo) for 24 credits.
They also have various introductory offers to get you started.
When I signed up, I got my first book free. Though I’ve also seen offers where the first month is 1/2 off or you could bet two free books.
Right now Audible is offering two FREE books as part of their free trial.
My Audible Review
When I spend so much time on the road, I sometimes want to listen to something other than a podcast or some music. So then I go looking for audio books to enjoy.
Enter Audible. I started with my free book, To Go Set a Watchman, narrated very well by Reese Witherspoon. Wanting to keep my entertainment budget down, a free book sounded like just the ticket.
I enjoyed the book and then decided to see if I felt the cost was justified once I actually paid for a book.
The thing was I wasn’t going to have another book credit until the next month, so I decided to take advantage of the 30% discount. I got the longest book for the best price I could find and was glad to have it to listen to for several car rides.
I then got a break in travel and went back to listening to podcasts and music, but I wasn’t paying attention and forgot to cancel my Audible account. Of course, I was charged for the month and had a credit laying around.
I learned that if you cancel your account, you lose access to any leftover credits, so I finally settled on a book (Tina Fey’s Bossypants) and then canceled.
This is a lesson to pay attention to all those subscription charges you’ve got going on. Right now I’m not traveling as much, so I haven’t re-upped my subscription, but I have no doubt I will eventually.
Audible Review, yay or nay?
What is nice is that Audible lets you keep the books you purchased even after you cancel. However, several of the books I looked at actually costs less than what I paid for the book credit ($14.95), even though they were books I was interested in, I didn’t want to pay more for something I could get for less.
Whether or not Audible will be worth it for you will depend on how expensive the books are that you want and how much you like audio books. As far as access and ease of use, I think Audible is fantastic.
How to Use Audible
- To get started with Audible simply sign up here.
- You will then get a credit to your Audible Account.
- Browse their selection and when you want to get a book, click the link that says “Buy using 1 credit.”
- When you are out of credits, the price will be listed instead.
You can use the Audible App on various devices including Kindle to access and listen to your Audiobooks.
One of the reasons I really liked Audible was how easy it was to access your audiobooks using their app. I didn’t need to worry about downloading the book on my device before I hit the road.
The only downside of the app is that you couldn’t pick the book to use your credit through the app. You had to go to the Amazon/Audible web page to use your book credit.
Listening to Audible Using Your Kindle
You may or may not have realized that your Kindle doesn’t have speakers, but that doesn’t mean you can load and listen to audiobooks on your Kindle. Check out the video below to see how to listen to your Audible books using your Kindle.
Utilizing Audible Whispersync for Voice
Whispersync in Audible let’s you switch between reading and listening to your chosen book on certain devices. Including Kindle apps on iPhone and Android, Fire Tablets, Kindle, and Amazon Echo.
This video shows you how to switch between listening and reading using your Kindle.
Do you use Audible? What is your overall Audible Review? Let me know in the comments!
