Pregnancy brain has basically turned my mind into mush. My writing abilities have declined as has my drive to write. It’s been quite frustrating really. I spend all day in a daze, feeling like a bubble-brain who is annoying to be around. With the nausea that comes a long with it, all I have been able to do some days is sit on the couch and play facebook games or watch TV. Bleh. Even reading a book often feels like involves too much concentration.
So this brings me to a point…umm.. what was it? Oh yes. Audiobooks. So I’ve been reading The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman, which I really like so far, but I have had a lot of trouble actually sitting down to read it. My solution to this has been to have my Kindle read it out loud to me. Of course the problem with this is that the voice is annoying and often says weird things (like reading “Mississippi” for Miss)–audiobooks definitely sound better than the computer voice. audiobook narrators are usually excellent actors and do funny voices, and there is often background music to accompany them. However, with an audiobook, rewinding is a pain. I often accidentally restart the book (not a problem with cassette tapes of course) or just zone out for a second only to realize I have no freaking idea what is going on, and not be able to find my place again. Usually I end up just continuing and trying to piece together what I missed from what happens next, but this is a little unsatisfying if I decide not to pause when I leave the room or something.
But with the computer voice, I can have it start reading from wherever I want. Thus, if I want to read a chapter without the voice, I can, or I can easily re-listen to paragraphs if I need to. This is ideal for someone who frequently zones out or who likes to look up words in the (built-in) dictionary or who likes to take notes.
I wish there were a way to link the real person voice to the text of a book. Of course this would involve having the audiobook come with a physical copy. I used to love reading books a long with tapes as a kid, but now I usually don’t have the book at the same time, and even when I do, sometimes the physical book is a different version/translation of the book I’m trying to listen too. It’s annoying hearing the narrator read a sentence that is different from the one I’m reading. And you can’t make them speed up a little either if they’re reading way too slow.
Ah well. Robot voice here I come. I may have to have it read this blog for me because I’m too lazy to look over and edit it.