Audiobooks etc

[Bluegoat]

I'm looking for ideas for the best audiobooks, and maybe other stuff on CD/DVD, for middle school kids, especially in things like history, art, and so on.

 

I'm looking particularly for my dd12 who is starting in grade 7.  She isn't going to have time for a lot of extra work, but I'm not happy with the way a lot of those subjects are covered - especially social studies.  This is a girl who adored history when learning at home.  Last year her school ss program was about "culture", this year it is about "empowerment."

 

So I'd like to give her something fun that will give her some really good content.

 

Any conventional books that are very readable would be fine too - but I am not looking for something that will be too much struggle, as she has a lot on her plate in other ways.

Edited August 24, 2017 by Bluegoat

[ScoutTN]

Well, my 7th grade Dd still likes the SOTW audiobooks. Jim Weiss has other history related ones. We recently listened to his Masters of the Rennaisance and enjoyed it.

 

Perhaps more compelling would be audiobooks for well written historical novels like Johnny Tremain, The Door in the Wall, and The Bronze Bow. Lots of booklists on these boards for any history you choose. Good ones in the SOTW AG too.

[theelfqueen]

My kids really enjoyed the Great Tales from English History and some Bill Bryson.

 

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

[Pegs]

Have you browsed the Great Courses? They're pretty good value if you get them from audible.

[Bluegoat]

Have you browsed the Great Courses? They're pretty good value if you get them from audible.

 

How does audible work?  I'm not very tech, and it always seems like something I would have to figure out how to do.  I don't know of anyone who uses it, so I don't really even know what they are selling people.

[nansk]

How does audible work?  I'm not very tech, and it always seems like something I would have to figure out how to do.  I don't know of anyone who uses it, so I don't really even know what they are selling people.

How Audible works.

 

Audible is an affordable source for The Great Courses. For conventional books, check if your local library has OverDrive or another audiobook source.

[Bluegoat]

How Audible works.

 

Audible is an affordable source for The Great Courses. For conventional books, check if your local library has OverDrive or another audiobook source.

 

Ok, so, I guess I need to be able to listen to an audiobook on a device?  Do people take these into their cars?

[theelfqueen]

I listen in my car using my phone and playing over the stereo -- does your car stereo connect to bluetooth on your phone? or have a USB port to plug your phone in?

 

[Bluegoat]

I listen in my car using my phone and playing over the stereo -- does your car stereo connect to bluetooth on your phone? or have a USB port to plug your phone in?

 

Well, I don't have a phone.  Or any sort of mp3 player.  My car is older too, it only has a CD player.

 

I guess that is what I am wondering - would Audible be worthwhile if I didn't buy a lot of new tech stuff?

[theelfqueen]

You could download and burn to CDs

 

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

[Spryte]

Ok, so, I guess I need to be able to listen to an audiobook on a device?  Do people take these into their cars?

 

We take our device in the car, but our car has a cord so we can plug the device into the speakers.  

 

IME, Audible is best used on devices that play back that sort of thing - phones, iPods, mp3 players.  If you have a kindle with a speaker, you can use that, and our very favorite way to listen is via the Amazon Echo or Tap.  You could also use an Amazon Dot, though you'd need a separate speaker.

 

Alternatively, you could burn CD/DVDs, of course.

 

We do a lot of audiobooks, so our listening style has evolved and changed over the years.  We now, at home, mostly listen on an Amazon Tap - DS listens before bed every night, and carries it around the house to listen while doing other things.  He prefers that over something with headphones. And the voice control makes it easy to use.

 

If you end up with Audible, I'll be happy to share our favorites.  We have been members since early on, so our library is on the large side.  DS is 13 now, and starting about 11, he prefers non-fiction, so we listen to a lot of science and history Great Courses.  The Joy Hakim Story of US series is also on audible, and very well read.  That is a favorite here, too.  DS tends to listen at night till he falls asleep (as well as during the day) and then go back and relisten till he catches it all.  He has practically memorized some of our audiobooks.  What If?  by Randal Monroe is a fun one, and our most recent is We Have No Idea - though that one occasionally has unexpected, silly sound effects, so it's not a good night time listen.  

[Bluegoat]

Thanks all!  I will think about Audible - it will largely be a matter of whether I want to buy the stuff to download onto, or take the time to burn CDs.

[Mrs Twain]

I check out audio CDs from my library. They have a fairly good collection.

[ondreeuh]

One cheap option for a device that can use Audible is a cheap smartphone. I used a Microsoft Lumia phone and installed the Audible app. The phone just uses wifi to download the purchases. You can find the phones dirt cheap on Amazon. The speakers weren't great, but we used an aux cable to hook it into an external speaker or the car stereo.

[Bluegoat]

I check out audio CDs from my library. They have a fairly good collection.

 

This what I'll likely do.  I might purchase if it's something really wonderful.

 

I mostly wondered if people had any favourite titles I could look for for a 12 year old who likes history.

[Spryte]

This what I'll likely do.  I might purchase if it's something really wonderful.

 

I mostly wondered if people had any favourite titles I could look for for a 12 year old who likes history.

 

Favorites re: history here are the entire History of the US series - all are on audible, and we bought them one at a time, with a credit.  Definitely credit-worthy.  DS listens to those over and over.

 

SOTW, of course.  :)

 

And we have several Great Courses on history topics.  Mostly, those are winners.  

 

For the younger years, we have a lot of the "Who Was..." books on audio.  Those are quick, and easily accessible.  

 

DS also loves Sapiens, but you will need to preview that to see if it fits your family, I don't know your take on things like evolution, etc, but it is a good one if that's not an issue for you.  

 

We also like all the Neil de Grasse Tyson Great Courses on audible, A Short History of Nearly Everything, We Have No Idea, and a ton of science titles.

[Pen]

I have been using Audible on a relatively inexpensive Alcatel phone with Tracfone service and a memory card in it so it can store quite a lot of books, Great Courses etc.  . I rarely use the phone for anything but Audible.  I am actually sort of against EMF / RF of cell phones, but have it for emergencies.   DS has listened to Audible on a cell phone too, with the connection turned to off.  I like that it is very easy to download Audible onto the cell phone, and then very transportable. And often the readers are better than for NLS or Learning Ally.

 

DS listened to several history related Great Courses. He also liked some books by ...  can't recall name of author ... a  right wing talk show host, I think, one of the titles is Dreamers and Deceivers, and included, for example, a selection on who Charles Ponzi was, so as to be able to understand what a Ponzi scheme is.  I'd say it was something that a 12yo could understand, whereas a lot of the Great Courses may be too dry for a 12YO. Though ds liked one on espionage they had very much, and it led to reading other book like The Scarlet Pimpernel.

 

We also get CD's from library, but don't like having to be near the CD player to hear them.  DS can get Library2Go and Hoopla which are free with our library membership on his better (and much more expensive) cell phone, but I can't get them well on mine. They download to the internal memory rather than to the memory card, so fill it up with one book, and also have had problems even just loading one book from the free library audio book systems, whereas Audible has worked really well almost 100% of the time I've had it.