Audiobook Options

 

10-18-2024

The second weekend of the play kicks off without me as it is also Parent’s Weekend at UW-Eau Claire. I shall be taking Emma her new winter coat per her request, which means I’ll probably be covering my Eau-Claire Mom gear with my own.

It’s a long drive, but I hope to negotiate with my husband on a good audiobook. Listening to a Joy Ellis mystery on my way home from dropping Emma off in August is what stopped got me home safely: focusing on the investigation distracted me from the empty passenger seat. Being able to select what I listened to went a long way to reconciling me about leaving Emma behind.

In all likelihood I’ll use my phone and my car’s Bluetooth capabilities to listen to an audiobook on Libby. Gone are the days most vehicles allowed for books on CD. That includes mine. I love the Bluetooth option, but sometimes the waits on Libby are discouraging. We’ve been exploring viable options for listening to Playaways without headphones and CDs in a time when even home CD players are disappearing.

The easiest way to use a Playaway in the car is through an auxiliary cord. The one complication with that method is programming newer cards to play from the auxiliary port. Playaways are also compatible with FM Transmitters. They plug into the Playaway. The transmitter and the vehicle’s radio are then tuned to the same otherwise static filled station. Of these two methods, I prefer the auxiliary cord as the FM Transmitter purchased for the library didn’t block out all of the static.

We also searched for a portable CD player. Amazon reminded us, portable CD players were popular after the Walkman and before vehicles had CD players. We have come full circle. Too bad I didn’t keep mine. Today’s models have a few upgrades beginning with the built-in rechargeable battery that saves money if not time. My circa 1990’s model used a cassette adaptor to play through the car stereo. A new model can use the auxiliary port, Bluetooth, or a built in FM transmitter.

Frequent audio book listeners will probably want to own their own devices and cords. However, the library does have an FM Transmitter, a portable CD player, and a portable speaker (for Playaways at home) available to try before you buy or for use on the occasional road trip.