So You Want to Review Audiobooks…
Today's topic of discussion:
Discuss the essentials of audiobook reviewing. What do you make sure to include? What do you want to see when you read other people’s reviews?
When I first started this blog I didn't put much distinction between a book I read and a book I listened to in my reviews. Since I'm a new blogger I'm definitely learning with every book/audiobook that I review, and with each audiobook I review I seem to add more information. I try to think about what is important to me when I read someone else's review, but also when I choose my next audiobook. Of course, I want to know the book title and author on any book, but with an audiobook you also have a narrator. If you're just an occasional listener this won't matter as much to you, but when you listen to just as many (or more) books as you read you will start to recognize the narrators and you will most definitely have your favorites. Sometimes I will even find myself searching for my next purchase based on the narrator instead of the author, and that shows an amazing narrator. Another thing that is important to me is the length of the book. If the book is short I would prefer to read it. I love long audiobooks! This isn't crucial to my decision, but it is definitely information that I like to have so I think it's important to include. When I write my review I break it into two parts: Story and Narration. When I'm reading a review I want a short synopsis of the book, the reviewer's opinion of the story and thoughts about the narration. How did the narrator handle emotion? Accents? Can he/she switch between characters without trouble? Did the narration flow effortlessly? If there were any issues, things the reviewer didn't like, I want to know about it. So when I review an audiobook this is the information I give. A great book is only as good as the narrator so this is the absolute most important part of any good audiobook review.
I am having so much fun with Audiobook Week! Thank you to everyone that visited and commented on my posts yesterday. I hope you all are enjoying this as much as I am. And best of all, I'm learning so much! Take today's topic for example. It really made me think about what MY reviews were lacking.
Great points! I like to know about the audiobook length too, but I shy away from the very long audiobooks. And I've definitely followed narrators to other audiobooks, whether they were in my preferred genre or not. Thanks for sharing your thoughts on the topic & happy listening!
ReplyDeleteThat's interesting that you prefer the long ones in audio and the short ones in print, I think I'm the opposite, generally. If it is more than 15 hours I'm likely to consider print instead of audio.
ReplyDeleteI love how you admit to finding audios by the narrator sometimes. I'm that way too. If a narrator is good I will seek out their other work.
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