Best of Both Worlds – Audiobooks that support independent booksellers

I have blogged in praise of audible books before.

Like many, we started listening with books on tape or later cds on family road trips in the car. James Herriot’s “All creatures great and small.” The Classical Kids Collection/ Mr.Beethoven lives upstairs, Vivaldi’s Ring of Mystery, etc., and of course, the Harry Potter series.

I joined Audible in the good old days when it was available through iTunes. Then, you could buy an annual subscription and download all your titles at one time and be set for the whole year. It was great. You could listen to samples, make wish lists, the whole nine yards. I was in love with being able to “read” and multitask. I listened to books while I sat on sidelines and waited in pickup lines. I listened while did laundry and dishes. I could listen and knit or work on jigsaw puzzles and needlepoint. I also highly recommend audible books to pass the time for hospital waiting rooms, stays and treatments. Mostly, I listen to memoirs, read by the author and humor. The latter can be problematic in public spaces if I find myself laughing out loud. Oh, well.

My Audible honeymoon ended when, predictably, it was acquired by Amazon. At first I thought I would like having my Audible library under the Amazon umbrella, but I was wrong. Audible a la Amazon, switched to a monthly subscription. Only one title a month can be downloaded, even if you buy a 12 month subscription. Where is the fun in that? I am sure they have their reasons. Even more annoyingly, my Audible titles started popping up in my Kindle library. I tried to keep an open mind. I thought this might be handy while traveling. I could plug my headphones in and listen to a book with my kindle instead of relying on my phone, thus saving phone battery, until I realized there is no headphone jack on the Kindle. Sigh

Once I cut the cord and got Bluetooth earbuds, I decided to give the whole Kindle/Audible/Amazon trifecta, the benefit of the doubt and try again, only to discover, of course, that my kindle was not Bluetooth enabled. Whatever.

With Hoopla and Libby, from my local library, I can download audible books for free- my favorite 4 letter word- Yay! The selection can be limited, but I find some gems among their titles, I might not have discovered otherwise, so always worth a look.

Recently, browsing my independent bookseller website searching for virtual author visits- I discovered Libro.fm. Now you can download audible books and support your local bookstore. A dream come true- now more than ever-

You select the bookstore you want to support and then the subscription plan that works for you. You can also buy books a la carte with no subscription. Even better- you can download all your credits at one time- not just once a month

Here is the link: Libro.fm

Now I can “read” and knit and have a drink, all at the same time, while supporting independent bookstores- I don’t think it gets any better than that during a pandemic.

Thanks Libro.fm

LIBRO.FM

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