the joy of audio books

My MIL also used Talking Books when she developed AMD - she got books and also magazines and the local weekly newspaper.

I used to borrow tapes from the library years ago and my sons both had story tapes. I've not used them for a long time - I downloaded the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo on my iPad to listen to on a long haul flight but I kept falling asleep so never did hear it.

Jessity Does your library have an audio book collection? Most do here but I don't know about UK.

Jessity i only have an Amazon fire Tablet. nothing fancy really but works absolutely fine with the audio speaker i also have.
Fountain Pen what a good idea.I am currently waiting for a book to be freed up and as you say if it is possible to download and return straight away that makes the service even better.

My husband uses audio books because of sight loss from macular degeneration. The RNIB has Talking Books which are free for those with sight loss. He also uses a similar site called Calibre which charges a one-off subscription of £35.

Audio books have been a blessing since he lost his sight, he listens through headphones and both RNIB and Calibre send out the books on memory sticks. I’ve thought about Audible because it might offer recently-published books but am not sure what device we could use to download and listen via headphones. What do other Audible users use?

It's a pity that audio book players aren't built into devices that monitor your sleep! I gave up with mine as I kept falling asleep while listening at night. I don't know how many times I started listening to chapter 10 of a 'thriller'. In the end I gave up and bought the book for my Kindle. At least I knew which had been the last page I read before nodding off and I finally found out 'who done it'!

I appreciate that audio books are brilliant devices for the visually impaired. I don't mean to be flippant, but technology has the capability to detect when someone falls asleep and could be even better if combined with an audio book playing only while the listener is awake!

I've loved audio books for quite a long time. I use audible and also our local library. I always listen when I go to bed and although I put the timer on for 60 minutes I usually fall asleep first which means I spend ten minutes the next evening trying to find the last bit I heard!

I have managed to "listen" to quite a few books which I never managed to "read". I could never get interested in a few of Dickens, such as Bleak House, but the audible version was much easier for some reason.

I have had an Audible subscription for many years and, more recently, have supplemented my listening with books from Borrowbox. Like you, I love to read but ageing eyes makes listening a good alternative. Also, I like to listen on the go when out walking, gardening etc.

My only gripe with Borrowbox is that licensing restrictions mean there's often a long wait for many of the books I'd like to listen to. I believe libraries may only be allowed to loan out a restricted number of copies at a time. I think I have found a workaround though. When a book becomes available, I download it, copy it to my iTunes library then return it immediately, freeing it up for someone else to borrow. The book stays in my library to listen to at my leisure.

Also, I've noticed that the audio versions of the latest fiction releases are being broadcast as Book of the Week or Book at Bedtime very soon after the release of the paper version has been published so worth keeping an ear on the Radio 4 schedules.