For the past two months, I’ve been making my way through Ken Follett’s A Column of Fire on audiobook. I’m loving it. The story is great, the characters are dynamic, and it’s a good end to the trilogy.
However, it’s reeeeeeeally long. The hardcover is 916 pages. The audiobook is 24 disks. I’m on disk 22. So close!
The problem becomes that the audiobook case is huge. This has caused many problems for me since I started it. No one can sit in my passenger seat and not notice it. Normally, audiobooks fit between my passenger seat and center console but this one is in a double-wide box. It gets tossed in the back with a passenger. My husband held it on a recent shopping trip and got so used to holding it that it started carrying it into the store before he realized he still had it.
It makes it difficult to change disks, too. I can’t lay the box in my lap beneath the steering wheel because there’s not enough space between my legs and the steering wheel. It’s best to be at a stop light to change it and I’ve re-listened to track 1 a few times to get to a good place to disk change.
Lastly, I’ve had to renew this audiobook the maximum number of times. If I don’t finish by 2-November, I’m looking at late fees (or the hassle of calling the library and asking for another extension). Even with my drive to class giving me more car time, this is still taking up a lot of my life. My normal read-through rate is much lower while I’m trying to get through this book.
But I love it. I enjoy long stories and falling in love with characters that are going to stick around for a while. There are a few more massive books I want to read and enjoying them on audio is a great way to keep myself calm in traffic and save my wrists the strain of holding the book up.
So I’ll admit, I like big audiobooks. I’ll keep enjoying them for years to come. Though I think they’ll eventually become big files and will all be on my iPhone. Which means I need to archive my pictures a bit sooner. I’m not sure I’ll like that so much.
Until next time, write on.
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Taking On a World of Words 
I am not an audio book person, but I am impressed with your long-term listening skills.
I am excited to see ‘Treasure Island’ on your Goodreads list. I don’t like Robert Louis Stevensons other books so much, but I love Treasure Island. I read it several times when I was a kid. I recently re-read it and loved it just as much. 🙂
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I’m embarrassed to say I haven’t read it before. I don’t believe I’ve read any Stevenson before and this seemed like a good place to start. Happy reading!
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Would you consider Audible? Only virtual space taken up by those 🙂 love audiobooks!
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I usually have an eaudiobook on my phone in addition to a CD version in my car. Many of my audiobooks in my library ‘s collection are only available on CD so I always have one of each so I can enjoy more. I’d love to be digital only! It will happen in time. Happy reading!
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You should ask your library if they have Overdrive/Libby. It’s an app, and you can listen to audiobooks on it. It has saved my life in the car. The best part is…NO FINES! You can also adjust listening speed and get through big books a bit faster.
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I have Overdrive on my phone. The issue I have is there are titles available on CD that are not available digitally and vise versa. I work it both ends to get through everything haha.
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I know that struggle! I have more than one audiobook app and still check a couple CDs out.
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Wow – awesome commitment!
I’ve just finished, what I consider to be, a long audio book on Audible, A Treachery of Spies, which is nearly 19 hours. It was very good but I have to say, I think I’d have enjoyed it more if I’d read a physical copy 🙂
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Anything over 15 is long! Why do you think you would have liked the physical more?
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I kept forgetting where I was and things about the characters because my mind would wander, which is a bit problematic when it’s a crime thriller with a dual timeline 😬
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Yeah, that would make it hard! Glad you made it through. Happy reading!
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