Category Archives: Reading

January 31, 2011 · 4:15 pm

Have you ever bought an audiobook?

Economic Times in India recently reported that Audiobooks are gaining popularity in the Indian markets.

For their ability to reach out to people who cannot read and for those who want to multitask in modern day busy lifestyle, audiobooks in India are slowly getting popular, though the industry is still in its infancy.

Audiobooks have been popular among children but now famous books and novels are being converted into this format for adults too.

Three years ago, I wrote a blog post about audio books. I mentioned that I didn’t think that audiobooks were doing well in Asian markets, now it looks like it is changing. I also wrote about the reasons I love audiobooks.

I love books – in any format. I bought the iPad to try save space on my bookshelves. I got addicted and started buying several titles on Amazon Kindle and via iBooks.

Recently, when I was listening to a podcast , I got a promotional code to get a free audiobook of my choice from Audible.com. Out of curiousity (how could I resist a FREE book?), I tried!

Do you know that Audible.com is a subsidiary of Amazon? I found out that you can listen to audiobooks from Audible.com on different devices, including iPod/ iPad, Android smartphones etc. According to the website, it currently has more than 85,000 titles.

I received my free audiobook and was very happy. The customer service at Audible.com was very quick to respond to questions and was very helpful when I ran into some billing issues later on.

A useful and interesting site -  NextAdvisor.com also came to my attention recently. It allows you to check out audiobook reviews, compares audiobooks subscription plans etc.

My fellow book lovers would often argue that electronic books will never replace the hard copies and I doubt many of them have tried an audiobook. I just loved the fact that I can consume books in different formats at different time. I usually listen to audiobooks when I am running. I do drag my iPad out to read during commute and sometimes, I laze by the pool or on my couch with a nice paperback novel.

However, I noticed that not many of my friends (those who actually read and love books) are into audiobooks. I asked the Rambling Librarian why and he said “short attention lifespan for spoken words …”

So, question – Have you bought an audiobook and why do you think they are not doing as well as other format of books? Price? Reading behavior?

For those of you who want to try one out, here’s a 30-day trial on Amazon/ Audible.com,  iTunes has a good selection and check out Simply Audiobooks too.

For my Singaporean friends, the National Library has a a good selection of audiobook titles too.

Happy Reading!

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June 30, 2008 · 4:41 pm

I Love Audio Books

Most of my friends know that I am a huge bookworm. Both Jon and I are regulars at Kinokuniya bookstore in Singapore and Amazon is our favourite online store. When Kindle was launched, I really wanted to get it but I held back. My handbag is currently filled with all kinds of little gadgets (I tend to carry two ipods and several mobile phones). I don’t think I’ll be able to carry one more device.

So, the last couple of months, I have started buying audio books. It all started with me being really busy with work and traveling a lot. Reading a book on the plane gives me headache. I can’t really read when I am in a cab too. I used to read 2-3 hours per night but lately, I am so tired after work, the moment my head hits the bed, I go into dreamland. Audio books became the “solution!” I convert all the tracks to MP3 and save them onto my iPods. Easy! No need to drag a pile of books with me when I travel or go for holiday and no need to bring additional “reading gadget.” I can now pack 10 “books” or more with me everyday and listen to them while I am commuting or when I wait for hours at airports.

In my last post on Social Media books, a lot of those books are also available in audio cds. I did a quick check on Wikinomics and The Cluetrain Manifesto and they have the audio version!

What I also like about audio books is, it reminds me of childhood – when Mum and Dad used to read to us (my younger brother and I) before bed time. And then, they tend to stop half way into the story and insisted that we should be sleeping. I love having people read to me. Oh! I have an audio version of the NKJV Bible too. Being a church-goer and a fan of a female preacher, Joyce Meyer, I have been stocking up her audio books recently, as well as C.S Lewis’s.

Maybe I am wrong, but I don’t think audio books are really popular in Asia, specifically in Singapore (where I am based now). I can hardly find any audio books at the retail stores. The only few i found are from BORDERS and they are really expensive. The good thing is, iTunes has a really good selection and there is always the wonderful Amazon.

I am not saying I am giving up books (in print) or magazines (that are not available in cds), I am glad that I am enjoying the alternative to reading books!

Interesting read:-

Last year, New York Times reported on a budding author who recorded a short audiobook for her unfinished print. The audiobook climbed to the top of iTunes’ best-selling books after she appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show.

I think all new books from now on should have the unabridged audio version!

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June 29, 2008 · 3:38 pm

Bookshelf: Social and New Media

I was just looking at some of the searches that landed in one of the top posts in this blog – Social Networking Book Sites. I wrote that post quite a long while back and it constantly came up as top. Some of the common searches that ended at my blog includes “social media books, new media and social networking”


That post is not exactly about books on social networking but more of online cataloging sites (such as Shelfari and the Library Thing) that allow users to catalog their books, connecting with other book lovers and share reviews/book lists.

I did a quick Google search on the keywords “social networking books” and true enough, that blog post came up third in the first page of results. I have received a couple of emails from a few folks who surfed in and asked if i could recommend any books on social networking/ social media. I replied two of them and then I got really busy and didn’t manage to get to the rest. So, I thought, I might as well list down a couple of books that I personally thought are pretty cool. Walter Lim recommended a few too (via Facebook).

Naked Conversations: How Blogs are Changing the way businesses Talk with Customers - by Robert Scoble

Wikinomics: How Mass Collaboration Changes Everything – by Don Tapscott & Anthony D. Williams

The New Influencers: A Marketer’s guide to the new social media – by Paul Gillin

Now is Gone: a primer on new media for executives and entrepreneurs - by Geoff Livingston and Brian Solis

Groundswell: Winning in a World Transformed by Social Technologies - by Charlene Li & Josh Bernoff

Join the Conversation: How to engage marketing -weary consumers … – by Joseph Jaffe

Connected Marketing: The Viral, Buzz and Word of Mouth Revolution - by Justin Kirby & Paul Marsde

I am sure there are alot of other good books out there. I am currently reading Seth Godin’s Meatball Sundae that Walter gave quite a good review on.

The book that I am trying to get my hands on now is – Presentation Zen - by Garr Reynolds.

Book Description
FOREWORD BY GUY KAWASAKI — Presentation designer and internationally acclaimed communications expert Garr Reynolds, creator of the most popular Web site on presentation design and delivery on the net — presentationzen.com — shares his experience in a provocative mix of illumination, inspiration, education, and guidance that will change the way you think about making presentations with PowerPoint or Keynote. Presentation Zen challenges the conventional wisdom of making “slide presentations” in today’s world and encourages you to think differently and more creatively about the preparation, design, and delivery of your presentations. Garr shares lessons and perspectives that draw upon practical advice from the fields of communication and business. Combining solid principles of design with the tenets of Zen simplicity, this book will help you along the path to simpler, more effective presentations.

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December 4, 2007 · 12:58 pm

Interesting reads about PR

My recent favourite picks/ reads about Public Relations:-

100 PR blog links
Brendan Cooper who was formally a “ghost blogger” has recently changed his blog link and told us his name (but not the company he works in). Brendan puts together a nice list of PR blogs. I have randomly read a few and I am still browsing through the rest. There are some really good PR blogs out there.

How to manage your clients
Spun off from my last post about ridiculous clients, Walter wrote a useful post (from a client’s point of view) on how PR agencies should manage their clients.

Community Managers VS PR Managers
I have been reading about what community managers are doing for their products/ companies. I am interested to find the differences/ similarities between the community managers and the PR/ communications managers, especially now that PR people are expected to be savvy with the communities and the new media etc. Jeremiah Owyang wrote an informative post about The Four Tenets of the Community manager. He also led me to one of his older post for reference.

The new marketplace
Jon just ordered a new book (Now is gone) for me from Amazon. Written by Geoff Livingston & Brian Solis, the book aims to help businesses embrace Social Media intelligently. Check out Geoff’s latest post about The Public Relations Long Tail.

Like Geoff, I am not convinced that social media will replace traditional media completely. As I mentioned in some of my earlier posts, I believe that the two should be working hand in hand, complementing each other in an integrated environment to meet the communications/ marketing objectives.

Finally, an irrelevant and rather funny sign board Jon and I saw outside our hotel (near a construction site) few days ago when we were in Bali.

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November 28, 2007 · 6:32 pm

Final chapter of the library@orchard

This is my last post about the library@orchard. Tomorrow, the library will be officially closed after the Moving On party. Unfortunately, I will not be in Singapore to attend the event. Hopefully, the other citizen bloggers will take some memorable pictures of the last hours of the library.

Here are some images that Jon and I took last couple of weeks:-

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It is definitely a really cool, boutique-styled library that I will miss.

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I was checking out the talented group – The Novelties that had a gig at the library@orchard two weeks ago. They are a group of friends, currently studying at the Singapore Management University (SMU). Cheryl, the cute lead singer could do a real good rendition of Cranberries and she commented that it is very sad that the library@orchard will be gone. The group was pleasantly surprised at the crowd that gathered to cheer them on during the performance at the library.

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I had to include this interesting picture of this group of girls who gathered at the library not to study or read but they sat at a little corner, enjoying the performance and folding little paper cranes. I was intrigued!

When asked what the girls think about the closing of the library, they were all teary … (ok, I am joking). They all thought, “it was unfortunate that such a nice library has to go very soon.”

“It has a great set-up, especially a special center stage for nice and free performances. This library also stocked up great selection of books and has nice librarians!” they added.

Another person I spoke with was a French gentleman who requested not to mention his name or include his photo. He stays near Orchard Road and is a big fan of the library. He has the following comments, “This is a really stylishly designed and 95% of the time, I can find the books I came to look for. It is definitely sad that it’ll be gone. Where & when is the new library opening?”

The library will re-open in 2010 in two re-incarnations – as library@*scape, a youth community space and as library@orchard at a redeveloped site along Orchard Road, according to the official press release.

So, there! I guess, this is Bye bye library@orchard.

Jon and my “final words” — “It is a shame to see you go. We wish we had known you better…”

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