Audiobooks for 14 yr old boys?

[shushpenfold]

Hi, I have a 14 yr old ds who really dislikes reading, mainly due to having a comprehension difficulty. I was advised that he might find it more enjoyable to listen to audiobooks. Audible seems to be good but at £7.99 a month membership and only 1 free book from that, it seems expensive to me. Are the other books in there very good value? Does anyone use an alternative? I've tried looking on Amazon but they seem to have very few audiobooks suitable for my ds (not ready to let him loose on The Killing yet!) Any advice?

[shushpenfold]

bumping

[happygardening]

I subscribe to audible two a month he loves it as do I. There are really no other options.

[Creatureofthenight]

Some library services have audio books that library users can download for free - details usually on the library website. Or they have audiobooks on CD that can be borrowed.

[Hakluyt]

There are some audiobooks available free as podcasts- I think it's only the classics, though- or at least the out of copywrite.

[smee]

Libraries are an okay source, but they don't tend to have that many for that age group. Audible's the best I've found. Some of the books are 11 or 12 hours long or even longer, so I think they're good value. We use them for long journeys.

[Saracen]

Librivox has free downloads of books which are out of copyright. They will allow anyone who wants to volunteer to be a reader, so the quality is variable and you may not like the accents. Still, free is free and if your son may like such authors as Kipling or HG Wells then it's worth a browse.

Try your library service. As Creature says, some have free downloadable audiobooks. My library service also does free loans of CD/tape audiobooks for people whose disabilities or learning difficulties make it hard for them to access paper books.

Keep an eye on BBC iPlayer for Book of the Week etc.

If your son has a favourite book which he might like to revisit, it could be worth you recording it yourself.

Website with reviews of audiobooks: www.audiofilemagazine.com/

www.listening-books.org.uk/ Subsidised audiobook service for people with an illness or disability who find it difficult to read due to visual, physical or learning difficulties such as dyslexia.

audiobookradio.net/ Free radio station dedicated to broadcasting stories, drama, poetry and interviews

www.calibre.org.uk/ "Calibre Audio Library is a national charity providing a subscription-free service of unabridged audio books for adults and children with sight problems, dyslexia or other disabilities, who cannot read print."

[shushpenfold]

Many thanks all for the info - it's very much appreciated. xx

[iseenodust]

Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy is good for that age.
Waterstones sell audio online.

[shushpenfold]

Thanks Iseenodust x

[Takver]

We've had a pretty good selection of audio books on CD from our library - we listen to them on long car journeys so they have to appeal to 12 y/o dd + DH & I. We all liked the Artemis Fowl books, I don't know if they'd appeal to him, Hunger Games is also available, sure there are lots of others. One of dd's bfs is very dyslexic & has loads of audio books via the library, although she's a bit younger (12 again) she doesn't seem to have a problem finding things to listen to.

[unweavedrainbow]

I subscribe to audible 2 books a month and love it. They get all the new releases and some of the more obscure non-fiction too (i'm a philosopher and need weird books). Trust me, with books 10-20 hours long it does take plenty of time to get through them so the value is there. I'm a prolific listener (several hours a day every day) and it's sometimes a struggle to get through all my credits . Audiobooks really are great though. I couldn't recommend them highly enough.

[shushpenfold]

Many thanks xx

[24balloons]

I have a 14 year old who is dyslexic and struggles with reading. I got him one of the older kindles from ebay (kindle touch) as it has a voice to text option (not available on the newer kindles). He downloads any books he wants to the kindle (buy them from amazon) and can listen to them via the text to speech option. It means he can also follow the written text at the same time too. He is really happy with this and has read all if the popular teenage books over and over.

You can also install the kindle app on an iPad if you have one and get the iPad to read out the book. They're not audiobooks & not read with expression but he doesn't mind at all. It is the only way he has been able to enjoy books and has read all the books his friends have so doesn't feel left out.