I've been reading since I was a little kid and at the best of times, do get over a respectable amount of books a year.
Audio books always had a certain appeal. I could get away with listening to something on my commute to work, although I rely quite a bit on my ears when cycling, so I'm not sure that's entirely safe. I could listen to something while playing strategy games or something similar to an MMO, where there is no immediate plot to follow. I could probably have some book playing instead of music when I cook.
The problem is, I've tried a few and really couldn't get into them. I know it wasn't to do with the content, as I've absolutely loved reading the physical copies once I got a hold of them. I don't think I liked the voice. I'm pretty sure I didn't like how the same guy was playing both male and female parts. It was hard to tell when the narrator's commentary switched to character's speech or between characters.
Overall, the task seemed to be too mentally taxing to enjoy. I know I've listened through a couple of radio series, like The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and thoroughly enjoyed those, however.
Have I been encountering poor examples of audio books? Does it take a certain mindset to work with them? Are some genres better suited for audio than others? Could I be too old to get used to this sort of media crossover? Is there a certain threshold you need to cross before you get used to this way of "reading"? Are there any other important questions I failed to consider?
I also think I have an issue with letting my thoughts go off on a tangent while reading to such an extent, that I can go through a few pages before I realize that I've been thinking about something else and have no idea what I just "read". Audio books have the same issue, where I would have to rewind and go through the same section several times, but they're not really unique in this perspective.
Off topic: I discovered that Steven Hawking's books are not, in fact, narrated by Steven Hawking. I was disappointed.
More than a few audio books I've listened to use more than one voice actor (like say a male for male parts and a female for female parts). So they're not all like that. A lot of the better voice actors also change their voice for each character as well, so you can better tell them apart. So, I don't know. I guess the trick is to just find the good ones?
I don't really find it that distracting if the voice actor just uses the same voice the entire time though. He's reading a book after all, so when a character other than the narrator is speaking, it always notes it. So I don't find it too different from reading it myself.
For some audio books just don't fit, I'm one of those people. Granted I do find it difficult sometimes to get through reading a physical book. It's not that I'm ADD/ADHD or anything like that, I just seem to get bored, or I find the material difficult to enjoy. I like to watch videos/TV shows while I play casual games, those shows are never anything with a set plot line.
My advice, stick to reading the physical thing, it's better for your brain, and it's more impressive to show a collection of books than a hard drive containing some large audio files.
memoir's and biographies and such lend themselves to audio books... the only audio books i can listen to and even then, the narrator much have a nice voice.
novels, with their dialogue and such, or non-fiction books where there are concepts to reflect on and passages to go over again do not led themselves to audio books.
I listen to audiobooks on my farly long commute to work (+/- 1h each way).
I couldn't really get into them before I found books with a really good voice actor, someone that really brings something more to the book.
I think the Blood Song audiobook is an amazing listen to get you started. Listen to the sample, I'm hoping you'll like the voice actor as much as I did.
I listen to probably as many as I read now. I have to do a bunch of really laborious tasks like soldering and sorting components, slapping on a audiobook really helps keep my sanity!
If you don't like narrators doing all the voices, may try audio books with a dramatized cast.
audiobooks are way too slow for me, i read about 5 times faster than most narrators. don't mind radio plays though, the nightwatch radio play is one of the best discworld adaptations in any media.