Reading Challenge: Audiobook Challenge 2017

Earlier this year, I participated in the March Take Control TBR Challenge with Caffeinated Book Reviewer, which was not very successful on my part. It was my first monthly reading challenge on my own as a blogger and not directly related to Goodreads and so I lost momentum. Then, today I came across the fifth annual Audiobook Challenge 2017 that Caffeinated Book Reviewer is co-hosting with Hot Listens. I've already listened to four audiobooks this year, and am on my fifth so I am already at the Newbie level and very close to Weekend Warrior status so I thought, hey why not join? The challenge started earlier this year and runs through December 31 to either find a new love for audios or outdo yourself by listening to more audiobooks this year than in 2016. There are two updates the hosts will be doing - one on June 30 and one on December 15, 2017, which is when I plan on doing a progress update of my own of which books I've listened to so far and which level I've reached for the challenge.

The levels are:

• Newbie (I'll give it a try) 1-5
• Weekend Warrior (I'm getting the hang of this) 5-10
• Stenographer (can listen while multi-tasking) 10-15
• Socially Awkward (Don't talk to me) 15-20
• Binge Listener (Why read when someone can do it for you) 20-30
• My Precious (I had my earbuds surgically implanted) 30+
• Marathoner (Look Ma No Hands) 50+

I listen to the majority of my audiobooks on OverDrive through my library membership because it's free. Some books I listen to on Audible, but since I am also trying to save money I have temporarily put my account on hold until further notice, but not before downloading two books that I will check out at some point this year.

Other paid subscription audio resources include Audiobooks.com, Downpour.com, Tantor.com, and Ambling BookPlayer, and one that Caffeinated Book Reviewer doesn't mention is Libro.fm.

In addition to OverDrive, other free audio resources include LibriVox (public domain books), Audiobook Jukebox and Hoopla. 

While I don't have a set number of audiobooks I plan to listen to, I am tracking them on my Goodreads shelf called 2017-audiobook-challenge. So far I have listened to The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn, Orphan Train by Christina Baker Kline, Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis by J.D. Vance, and I am currently listening to Leaving Time by Jodi Picoult.

Be on the lookout for more reviews and updates to come!