Do you want to start something new? Give audiobooks a chance. Audiobooks are great because you can listen to them while you are also doing other tasks, like cleaning, cooking, working running, or just organising your cupboard.
And, there are tons of great places to get your ears on them right now
Audible
Audible is the biggest and most well-known audiobook platform out there. The Amazon owned site, which has more than 2,00,000 titles in their library, is popular among audiobook lovers for its easy to use interface, and latest releases. Audiobooks are available in English and multiple regional languages.
Price: After a 30 day free trial, a subscription fee costs Rs 199 per month
BBC Sounds
BBC Sounds offers audiobooks across genres with current and contemporary audiobooks listed alongside the classics. Each chapter of the audiobook is spilt into 15 minutes, perfect as a coffee or tea time break listen. And, if you are a reader who likes to unwind with a book at the end of the night, you can listen to Book at Bedtime series which allows the listener to drift off to sleep while listening to the latest novels.
You can browse through their audiobook selection here https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/category/audiobooks?sort=popular
Price: Free
Google Play Books & Audiobooks
Say “Ok Google, read my book” and you’ll hear the narrators voice as they start reading the book on the app, which can be downloaded on phone, tablet, speaker, or device, no clicking, swiping, or typing necessary. The library offers a collection of free and paid audiobooks for kids, teenagers, and adults. There are no subscription plans as of now.
Price: Pay individually for each audiobook download
Scribd
Scribd offers the duality of reading books, magazines and listening to audiobooks and podcasts on its platform for a monthly fee. The app and its desktop version are both easy to use with a clean and simple interface. A wide range of international titles across multiple genres, the platform offers a selection of monthly picks for its users. The drawback, not all of its audiobooks are available in India to stream.
Price: After a 30 day free trial, a subscription fee costs Rs 299 per month
Spotify
One of the biggest music streaming platforms in the world, Spotify also offers a wide selection of audiobooks, and all for FREE! You can access the titles even if you haven’t subscribed to their Spotify Premium service. The titles range from classics to contemporary books, some of which are read by your favourite film actors.
Because audiobooks don’t have their own tab on Spotify, you will have to rummage through a lot of chatter to find them. While researching this piece I found that if you type in the author’s name, you have a better chance of getting a book you want to listen to. The books are spilt into short chapters of 3-8 minutes each. While the selection is spotty at the moment, we can imagine it will expand in the near future.
Price: Free
Storytel
Swedish brand Storytel launched in India four years and is known primarily for its audiobooks and original short stories. Their vast library offers original stories, Indian classics and latest chart topping novels across genres in English and multiple regional languages. At present the platform offers two plans Select and Unlimited with each offering a monthly or yearly subscription depending on your selection.
Price: After a 3 day trial, a subscription fee is charged depending on the plan you have selected.
