Throwback Thursday: My 2013 New Year’s Audiobook Resolutions

new year 2016 Way, way back in 2012, which is like a decade in Audiobook Technology, I created my first Audiobook Resolutions. Let’s see how I did!

2013: 1. More DNF. Actually what I mean is, I resolve to stop listening to audiobooks I’m not enjoying, instead of spending 10-20 hours of valuable audio time on a boring book or mediocre narrator.

2016: I think I’ve lived up to this – in fact, I might not even be as adventurous as I was 3 years ago about trying unknown authors and narrators, so I have less to DNF. This is not necessarily a good thing!

2013: 2. More re-listens! Really great audiobooks deserve second and third chances! And the enjoyment of the perfect blend of wonderful story and incredible narration is something I need more of. I think I’ll start the New Year with the Chicago Stars…

2016: YES! I am doing this, and in fact this summer completed another Chicago Stars marathon. In 2014, I did (another) relisten to the first Outlander book in preparation for the TV series; in the past month, I revisited a few of my favorite Linda Howard titles – After the Night and Mr Perfect among them.

2013: 3. Better organization! There was a time in my audiobook life that I kept much, much better track of my books, using Bookpedia religiously to rate and organize. I’m a solid 24 months behind in that effort, not just with audiobooks but all books. I’m going to set a goal of entering every book I listen to from this point forward.

2016: Oops. Never mind. Move along, nothing to see here.

2013: 4. More free audiobooks! I’ve neglected my library listening, which is pure laziness on my part. The library has a ton of great books just waiting to be downloaded, especially when I’m out of credits and looking to save $. So I’m going to go over their catalog with a fine tooth comb!

2016: Yes, I actually did some of this in 2015 – the catalog offerings do change over time. The biggest drawback is the waitlist, because they only offer 1 or 2 copies out at a time. It is a great way to tackle unknown authors and narrators, without spending any money, though. If you don’t like it, DNF without regret!

2013: 5. More cardio! Of course, what is cardio but another excuse to listen to audiobooks? Maybe audiobooks will help me lose the [mumble] pounds I’m working on, while walking the treadmill in the Fat Burn Zone.

2016: Honestly? I am working out more BUT I’m not listening to audiobooks while doing it. I’ve had a big problem with earbuds/headphones over time, and find it easier to use my phone to read email/Facebook than have a bad listening experience at the gym – like tangling cords or dropping cordless earbuds! For me, even an engrossing listen doesn’t make the time on the treadmill go by faster, unfortunately!!

Now for my updated 2016 resolutions:

1. add more reviews of “classics” to our inventory! And by classics, I don’t necessarily mean just Jane Austen and Georgette Heyer – we only have 3 reviews of Chicago Stars series books! And if that’s not a romance audiobook classic series, then what is?

2. I want to revisit that organization thing – I have software devoted to keeping track of my book reading (the aforementioned Bookpedia) that would just take me a minute or 2 per book. There have been several times I’ve wondered when I first read something (or whether I even did read it), if I read it in print and/or audio, what my original rating was… But if I don’t enter the data, it ain’t doing me no good.

3. Hire a housekeeper. OK, that’s not exactly an audiobook resolution, but I have been dreaming of having someone else get my house clean and organized, so I thought I’d throw it out there. LOL!

What’s on your 2016 Audiobook Resolutions list?

Melinda

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8 thoughts on “Throwback Thursday: My 2013 New Year’s Audiobook Resolutions

  1. I’m such a party pooper, but I never make resolutions. I know I’ll never keep them! And actually, in terms of audiobooks, I’m fairly happy with the way my listening has worked out over the last year or so, although more re-listens is a tempting idea. Mind you, if I did that, my review numbers might drop and my editor might not be happy about that! :P

  2. Yes! 2016 is the I organize … everything! I am going to look at Bookpedia – maybe it is my answer. I have in past years just kept an Excel spreadsheet of books but did not do that this year and I do miss being able to check a title, see what grade I gave it, etc.

    My re-listens are always high – sometimes I just drop into a story I know well for a few hours just for a taste while I wait for something new to come along or a library hold to be released.

    Keep the reviews coming, my sister and I read your site and discuss every Sunday and follow-up on most of your recommendations!

  3. I’m not a resolutions person, either. Too much disappointment when I fail. :)

    But I wanted to mention that I organize my audiobooks using Calibre and I’m very happy with the results.

    1. I’ve never tried using Calibre for audiobooks – I’ll have to look into that. I tend to use Goodreads to keep track of everything – now I’ve figured out how to write separate reviews for books and audiobooks of the same title!

  4. Thanks for the mention of Bookpedia. I have been wanting a bookshelf that isn’t public (such as Goodreads). This year I have run without a reading/listening record for the first time in twelve years and I’m greatly missing the ability to look back on my grades or check to see if I did, in fact, already read that book!

    Bookpedia’s description states, “Entering the information for each book is fast and easy since the program retrieves all the information from the Internet for you.” Do you know if it will import lists such as you have on Goodreads and Safari as well as your purchased Kindle items, etc?

    1. You can import from CSV files, and you can create a CSV file from Goodreads. Note that Goodreads doesn’t select from its own shelves – you can only download the entire library. The trickiest part is matching fields in the import – Bookpedia auto-matches, but can only import one-to-one, so you do have to go through it. I did a test import of 3 books, which came in just fine. However, I didn’t catch that Goodreads had 3 “author” fields, which were all set to import; Bookpedia only picked up the last one, which in my case is narrator in the “other author” field.

      So yes with caveats from Goodreads. If you decide to try it, I recommend doing several test imports before doing the full import.

      There are so many more programs available – Booxter, Delicious Library, Collectorz. But hey, garbage in (or nothing in) garbage/nothing out! LOL!

  5. I guess we are all in that same “better organization” boat. I don’t hold out much hope for myself but I can admire others from afar :-)

  6. I LOVE the Chicago Stars! But I’ve never listened to them…only read them. Now it’s on the list :-)

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