Audio Book Club Loves World Book Day
Join Juliette and Alex from RSBC as they celebrate World Book Day with the Audio Book Club! In this cosy episode, young book lovers share what reading means to them, how audio books bring stories to life, and what makes a narrator truly unforgettable. Whether you’re a lifelong reader or just discovering the joy of audio books, this episode is your perfect literary escape.
Remember, if you’re visually impaired, age 25 or under, you can join Audio Book Club, it is online so it doesn’t matter where you are in the country!
Just like Paris, Freddie and the others come and join the Audio Book Club!
Don’t forget to let us know your thoughts by getting in touch at youth.forum@rsbc.org.uk.
Listen to the episode
Transcript
Juliette Parfitt 0:07
Hi and welcome to the Rsbc unseen Podcast. I’m Juliet, and I work at Rsbc, and today I’m here with our audio book club for a special World Book Day podcast. I’ve also got my colleague Alex, with me. Hi, Alex.
Alex Man 0:22
Hey Juliet, hi everyone. Happy World Book Day.
Juliette Parfitt 0:25
Yeah, Happy World Book Day. So Alex, tell us a little bit about the audio book club. For anyone who doesn’t know what your about
Alex Man 0:30
so ABC, audio book club happens twice every week, Monday and Thursdays, and we all choose a book together and we listen to it over zoom. So it’s all virtual on all online. So it doesn’t matter where you are in the country, you’re more than welcome to join where we read absolutely everything, from the railway children to something like Kid normal, which is what we’re reading right now, the second book, in fact. So it’s open to everyone over the age of 8 to 25 and yeah, you’re more than welcome to join and just relax. It’s a safe space for you to enjoy some audiobooks.
Cheers Alex! so with us today, we have got Paris.
Paris 1:17
Hello!
Alex Man 1:18
hi, tell us your name, your age and what character from a book you’d want to be, if you could be anyone.
Paris 1:23
Oh, hello. My name is Paris. I’m 21 and a character from from a book that I would like to be is called the Pting from Doctor Who because I think it’s very cheeky and a troublemaker.
Juliette Parfitt 1:37
Oh, and doesn’t it eat everything as well. the pting
Paris 1:40
yes, it does. It eats everything. I don’t really think of it as a villain. I just think of it as a little rascal.
Juliette Parfitt 1:47
I’d like to be able to eat everything as well. Thanks, Paris, and I’m gonna throw it to Georgia.
Georgia 1:55
I’m Georgia, and I’m 16 years old, and the character that I would like to be is Elizabeth Bennet, who’s from Pride and Prejudice. Because of that, she gets to marry Mr. Darcy, and he makes her feel very happy, and he gives her lovely life, and he doesn’t care about that. He isn’t as important as he is because of how much that he loves her.
Juliette Parfitt 2:13
That’s nice, and she’s very um witty as well, isn’t she? Elizabeth Bennett
Georgia 2:17
Yeah
Juliette Parfitt 2:17
I like her a lot.
Georgia 2:18
Me too.
Juliette Parfitt 2:19
Thank you Georgia, and we’ve got Freddie.
Freddie 2:23
Um, hello. I’m Freddie, and I’m 10 years old. And if I I’d be character. If I was a book character, I’d be one called Jai from The Mystwick School of Musicraft. She plays violin, and violin is cool.
Juliette Parfitt 2:40
Violin is cool. It’s a good instrument. Thanks, Freddie. And then we’ve got Zach.
Zach 2:46
Hello my name’s Zach, and I’m 11.
Speaker 1 2:49
And
Juliette Parfitt 2:49
And what character from a book could you be? If you could be any character
Zach 2:53
if I could be any character, I would be red skull.
Juliette Parfitt 2:57
What books that from?
Zach 2:58
Well, he’s from the Marvel book.
Juliette Parfitt 3:00
Oh, very cool. Has he got a superpower?
Zach 3:03
Because he can walk the fabric of reality.
Juliette Parfitt 3:07
Whoa, that sounds pretty fun.
Alex Man 3:09
You don’t get any super than that.
Juliette Parfitt 3:11
That’s, yeah, it’s like, the most powerful you can be. Thanks Zach! Alex, what character would you be?
Alex Man 3:18
Oh, that’s, uh, interesting question. Uh, for me, I think Alex Ryder. So one thing, I don’t need to change my name much past my surname, so it’s easy to remember. And he’s just a really cool spy, teenage spy. And yeah, that’s nothing like me at all. He goes on lots of adventures, and he knows martial arts and all these cool things. So, yeah. Alex Ryder, definitely. What about you? Juliet,
Juliette Parfitt 3:43
Oh, wow. I’ve been struggling to think of someone I’m gonna go for in a bit of a left field sort of choice, I’m gonna say I think I’d want to be Puck from A Midsummer Night’s Dream by Shakespeare, because he’s mischievous and he just gets to kind of spend the time in the play prancing around and being sassy, and I enjoy that. So yeah, think I’d be puck.
Cool beans! So today we’re going to be chatting a little bit about reading and some of the books that we like, and just how it feels to curl up with a good book and listen to some audio books together. So I’m going to kick it off by asking you all, what’s your favourite thing about reading Georgia? Do you want to start us off?
Georgia 4:28
Yeah, my favourite thing about reading is that it creates scenes in my head which make me feel really happy and like them transported into the book, and it helps me to find out about things that I might be interested in, like, the 18th century.
Juliette Parfitt 4:41
Oh, it’s like, it could transport you in time as well.
Georgia 4:45
Yeah
Juliette Parfitt 4:47
that’s fun.
Alex Man 4:47
Its like learning about history, but without the boring parts.
Georgia 4:52
Yes,
Alex Man 4:54
I used to like history
Georgia 4:55
it was, it was how I discovered that I like 18th century music.
Juliette Parfitt 4:59
Oh amazing. And Zach, what about you?
Zach 5:03
Well, what i like about reading is basically, is basically I’m in, is I’m sitting down, but I’m also, but I’m also in the place that I’m reading about.
Ah, so it’s like you could be in two places at once. Thanks. Zach. Uhm, Paris.
Paris 5:23
what I like about reading is that reading takes me into the story and it transports me into another world.
Juliette Parfitt 5:33
It’s nice, isn’t it? Like gives you a break from everyday life?
Paris 5:37
Yes, it does
Alex Man 5:38
a lot of escapism, which is good.
Juliette Parfitt 5:40
Yeah, yeah. Freddie, what about you?
Freddie 5:43
My favourite thing about reading, not reading, but like audiobooks, is
when I couldn’t get to sleep at night. I listened to an audio book so you can have, pretty much just getting someone to read for you. So you can, like, hear them read to you, and you don’t have to do it, and, like, look at all the different pages because it’s quite tiring.
Alex Man 6:06
I suppose they do
Freddie 6:08
Or, like, when you get, like, really invested into a story,
Juliette Parfitt 6:11
yes
Alex Man 6:11
then you can’t, you can’t sleep if you get too invested.
Freddie 6:15
I know.
Juliette Parfitt 6:16
That is true
Alex Man 6:17
I’m not sure if you guys grew up with your parents reading to you, too, you know, bedtime stories and all that stuff. But when you’re like 31 like myself, my mom doesn’t want to read bedtime stories to me.
Juliette Parfitt 6:28
So my mom would definitely still read bedtime stories
Alex Man 6:31
Oh you’re lucky
Juliette Parfitt 6:32
if i asked
She definitely would if I asked her,
Alex Man 6:34
it’s like, I’ll come over, I’ll read your bedtime story, then I go home. You don’t even live with your mom
Juliette Parfitt 6:38
[Laughs] Um,
Yeah, it’s good. I feel like audio books in particular are nice because it’s proper relaxing in it
Cool beans. Um, great. So I guess, yeah, when we are all transported off into our different worlds, how does it make you feel when you kind of curl up with a good book? What? What kind of feelings do you get? I’m going to go to Paris. Or anyone who’s got any thoughts can just dive in on this one.
Paris 7:03
It makes me feel relaxed, calm, cosy and comfortable.
Juliette Parfitt 7:09
That’s nice. A lot of that was alliterative, and I enjoyed that.
Paris 7:12
Oh, thank you, yes. I used it without realising
Juliette Parfitt 7:16
you’re a poet.
Paris 7:17
Thank you
Juliette Parfitt 7:18
Georgia. You got anything you want to add?
Georgia 7:21
it makes me feel safe. Particularly when it’s an audio, but like going to sleep listening to an audiobook because I like the sound of hearing voices
Juliette Parfitt 7:29
Mhm, it’s like a verbal hug.
Georgia 7:32
Yeah.
Alex Man 7:33
Ooh, good description
Juliette Parfitt 7:35
Lovely, cool and um, so have you guys got any favourite genres of books. Zach, have you got a favourite genre of book? or favourite type?
Zach 7:36
I kind of like mythology books.
Juliette Parfitt 7:48
Oh, very nice. What kind of mythology Do you like?
Zach 7:51
Oh, Norse mythology.
Juliette Parfitt 7:54
Oh, nice. So, like, that’s like Thor and Loki, isn’t it?
Zach 7:59
Yeah,
Juliette Parfitt 8:00
nice.
Zach 8:04
Gods open, which is immensely long and wraps itself around the entire planet.
Juliette Parfitt 8:08
Oh, wow, that sounds fun. Well, scary, but fun
Zach 8:12
and lives in the ocean.
Juliette Parfitt 8:14
Whoa, everywhere, and Freddie. What about you? Favourite genre?
Freddie 8:20
I like fantasy
and like adventure stories.
Juliette Parfitt 8:26
What about those do you like?
Freddie 8:27
I don’t know. I just like the way that people come up with, like magical like creatures and stuff. Magic stories about magic are quite good as well, like Harry Potter, those sort of ones.
Alex Man 8:39
Have you played DND before?
Freddie 8:40
Mhm, I think I did once, but I have watched the movie.
Alex Man 8:46
I think you’ll like it. If you like fantasy, just putting it out there.
How about you, Paris, what genres do you like?
Paris 8:53
Oh, so I also like fantasy as well, because of the magical places that the characters are saying,
Juliette Parfitt 9:01
Ah, yeah,
Paris 9:03
yeah, I like that.
Juliette Parfitt 9:04
They go to sort of other worlds that are completely different from from ours. And I it’s fun, isn’t it?
Paris 9:10
They do it is very fun.
Alex Man 9:12
And they’re different weird artifacts. So one of the books we read is the house of chicken legs. And that sounds super ridiculous, but it was a good book, wasn’t it?
Juliette Parfitt 9:20
What was it about?
Alex Man 9:21
Does anyone want to tell Juliet what’s it about?
Freddie 9:24
It’s about a girl, and she, um, lives in a house that has chicken legs, and her grandmother is uh, Baba Yaga. So in some, in some, like, miss, she’s really evil, and she like, steals and eats children. And in in but in this one, she helps the dead go through the gate, which is like to the afterlife, pretty much. And it like the house will get up and run like a few, like 100 miles or something, and then sit down again. And it’s just, it’s a really nice story.
Juliette Parfitt 9:57
Sounds really cool. I might read that. So. Georgia, what about you? You got a favourite genre.
Georgia 10:02
My favourite genre of books is romance books, particularly that are from the 18th and the 19th century, because that they have deep focuses on each character, which helps you to get really attached to the characters. And it gives me a warm feeling inside of you that is like friendship. And this gives you strong opinions about what that you want to happen in the book, and that makes it really fun to read them. I also really enjoy that I learn about lots of words that people don’t really say anymore, and it’s fun to use them when I’m writing my own books.
Alex Man 10:36
That was one of the book titles that you wanted, that you recommended. So in audio book club, we nominate different books and stuff. And you nominated a what was the book called? Again, it was like different ways to say the word. Was it? Love? or happiness?
Georgia 10:49
Roots of Happiness.
Alex Man 10:50
Roots of Happiness. That’s it yeah
Georgia 10:51
old fashioned words and like that. Nobody says anymore. Nobody wanted to read it though.
Juliette Parfitt 10:58
What’s your favourite kind of old fashioned word that you like to use, then,
Georgia 11:02
oh, that’s that’s really hard.
I’m not sure if it’s all that. It’s a, it’s unusual, it’s a French one, and it’s a, it’s a retrouvaille. And it’s the happiness that you feel when you’re reunited with people that you missed when you haven’t seen them for a long time.
Juliette Parfitt 11:23
That’s beautiful. I’m gonna start using that
Alex Man 11:25
What’s the word again?
Georgia 11:26
retrouvaille
Juliette Parfitt 11:29
That’s beautiful.
Georgia 11:30
Really weird to spell it though
Juliette Parfitt 11:32
Does anybody have any and this is always a very difficult question for bookworms. Do people have any favourite books or series?
Zach 11:41
Yeah.
Juliette Parfitt 11:42
Oh, go for it. Zach!
Zach 11:44
The Pirates of the Caribbean books,
Juliette Parfitt 11:46
ah,
Alex, we’re gonna get copyrighted, Stop it! What do you like about those books?
Zach 11:56
Well, it’s basically a massive it’s basically an entire event, and everyone keep and everyone keeps getting into arguments and ending up fighting each other.
Juliette Parfitt 12:12
That sounds fun,cool beans!
Zach 12:14
Or blowing each other up
Juliette Parfitt 12:16
that sounds less fun. I’ll admit. Um, Georgia, what about you?
Georgia 12:22
I don’t have a favourite series, but I’ve got favourite author that is Jane Austin. My favourite book is Pride and Prejudice.
Juliette Parfitt 12:30
Oh, I love Pride and Prejudice. It’s a good book isn’t it
Georgia 12:34
We’ve got to read it. We’ve got to read our audio book club!
Juliette Parfitt 12:37
So what about Pride and Prejudice do you like?
Georgia 12:40
I really like the story of it and how that it’s got really happy ending.
Juliette Parfitt 12:45
It’s nice, isn’t it,
Georgia 12:46
yeah. And even though Elizabeth didn’t like Mr. Darcy, that she realised in the end that she really did like him.
Juliette Parfitt 12:55
It’s yeah, you wait. I feel like, when it came out back in the day, readers might have been surprised at the ending. I feel like, obviously, when we read it, now, not the time we know the ending, but
Georgia 13:05
I predicted it. I predicted that was going to happen.
Juliette Parfitt 13:08
Ah, see, I wouldn’t, I think, I think back in the day, I wouldn’t have guessed because, uh, because she really doesn’t like him at first, so, but yeah, like
Georgia 13:18
I liked him even from the beginning.
Juliette Parfitt 13:20
Oh, did you? I thought he I thought he was haughty
Georgia 13:24
No, I like him.
Juliette Parfitt 13:26
Paris, what about you?
Paris 13:28
Oh, hello.
My favourite book is one called Ethan’s voice by Rachel Carter. It’s about an 11 year old, non verbal boy who is home schooled, and he really likes history. And I feel like I can really connect to him, because at the age of 11, I was also home schooled, and I also used to like history as well. And during the book, he makes friends with a girl called Polly. She has to, unfortunately, move home with her mom, and near to the end, he does speak, which is good.
Juliette Parfitt 14:09
Oh, that’s really nice.
Paris 14:11
It is.
Juliette Parfitt 14:11
It’s good when there’s books that kind of represent different kinds of characters as well, when you kind of see things reflected and that reminds you of yourself as well,
Paris 14:19
yeah, yeah, it does. So that’s why I really connect with Ethan and the book in general. And I did ask the library, Oh, is there a second book called Ethan’s voice two? They said, no, but there were other books by Rachel Carter. Yeah, it was good.
Juliette Parfitt 14:39
Oh, good, Freddie. What about you?
Freddie 14:41
I like the Mystwick School of Music Craft series, that one’s quite good. What else, i like One called a star film, that one’s quite good.
Juliette Parfitt 14:55
What’s that about?
Freddie 14:56
It’s a girl who comes from a family of like magical. Like, witches pretty much and her power is she can find lost things. So like, if someone lost their keys, she could, like, think of it, and then she’d like, get it. But if she like, left something somewhere, and she knows where it is, she can’t, like, get it. And it’s about her adventure.
Juliette Parfitt 15:17
Oh, nice. That sounds really interesting. So since you are a group of people that come together twice a week to listen to audiobooks together, I would love to know from you guys what you think makes a good audiobook narrator, anyone can jump in on this one.
Paris 15:36
When the narrator is very optimistic and full of energy and is up beat, like when Greg James was being the narrator for kid normal,
Juliette Parfitt 15:53
nice
Freddie what about you?
Freddie 15:55
A good narrator has to actually enjoy the story that they’re reading first of all, and they need to, I think a good narrator is when they like make they do different voices for different people. One of my all time favourite readers is Stephen Fry doing the Harry Potter books.
Juliette Parfitt 16:15
He’s got great voice, Hasn’t he?
Freddie 16:17
amazing, yeah
Juliette Parfitt 16:18
yeah. And I think, I think with audiobook narrators, they’ve really got to, like, perform it like it’s a real skill. You’re not just sitting there reading a book. You’re like performing the book. Zach, what about you?
Zach 16:28
Uh, not boring
Juliette Parfitt 16:31
Yeah, it doesn’t want to make you fall asleep straight away. Georgia, have you got any thoughts on what makes a good audiobook narrator?
Georgia 16:40
A good audiobook. Narrator is one who’s acting a story, like singing when their songs better in the book, and making funny voices and silly noises like in kid normal when they’re telling the story about the baby rabbit, and the narrator starts singing the song in a really silly voice.
Juliette Parfitt 16:56
Oh, that sounds fun. I do like books where, if there’s like music or a song where they actually yeah, do the song like you say,
Georgia 17:05
Yeah
Juliette Parfitt 17:06
it really just adds like another layer to it. It makes it like a whole experience, and it helps with like that escapism that we were talking about,
Georgia 17:13
Yeah
Juliette Parfitt 17:14
amazing. So then what do you guys like, especially about listening to audiobooks together, compared to sort of reading by yourselves.
Freddie 17:23
I like doing it as a group, because you can talk about it after and you can, like, share with what you thought about it and like, if you like the narrator, which characters you like. i like that.
Paris 17:38
I like listening to audiobooks together as a group, and we get to talk about it after as well. When you listen to audiobooks by yourself, it’s quite lonely.
Juliette Parfitt 17:51
Georgia, what about you?
Georgia 17:52
I love listening to audiobooks at ABC because that’s really exciting, that we can all talk about the book and that we can find out more about each other with what type of books that we all like to read, and it helps us to find new books that we might not read by ourselves and that we might really like reading. And it also helps us to become even better friends together, as we always have fun and we laugh lots together,
Juliette Parfitt 18:16
sounds lovely. Do you know what? I always I listen to a lot of audio books by myself. And I always really liked it when people ask me what I’m reading, and then they ask me, like, lots of questions about it. So it’s nice that you guys have, like, an inbuilt group to do that.
Alex Man 18:28
Yeah, I learned so much from you guys with the books that you voted for, like, I would never read kid, normal and stuff by myself. And I was like, Oh, I might like it, but no, I don’t think I would listen to myself, but listening to you guys, I was like, Oh yeah, quite enjoy that. Obviously, there are some books I don’t like, but most of them are really good, because you guys got good taste.
Juliette Parfitt 18:51
So to wrap it up, I wonder if we want to all recommend a book for anyone who listens to this podcast to read. So it can be any book I’m gonna to start with Georgia
Georgia 19:03
please, could I do it later? Because I haven’t got one yet
Juliette Parfitt 19:06
Okay, yes I realised I’ve just thrown it out there. I’ll come to you last.
Georgia 19:10
Thanks
Juliette Parfitt 19:11
Paris, Have you got one?
Paris 19:12
Oh, any book.
Juliette Parfitt 19:15
Any book at all. But if someone said to you, God, I really want to read something new. Can you recommend me something? What would you recommend them?
Paris 19:23
Oh, um, I would recommend for them to listen to Ethan’s voice. Maybe they might like it.
Juliette Parfitt 19:31
Very nice, yeah. Zach, What about you? Any recommendations for anyone listening?
Zach 19:35
I would recommend, uh, mythology ebooks
Juliette Parfitt 19:41
nice. Bit different. I think they’d learn some things. Freddie, what about you? Any recommendations?
Freddie 19:48
The ones I’ve already recommended to the mystwick school of musicraft is quite good. There is star fell. It will be under the name Willow moss. That’s very good book.
Juliette Parfitt 20:01
Cool
Freddie 20:01
I mean, we’ve already read audio book club at the house of chicken legs.
Juliette Parfitt 20:05
Sounds like a good one.
Freddie 20:06
And Kid Normal.
Juliette Parfitt 20:08
Nice. Alex. Have you got any?
Alex Man 20:11
I can recommend some really good authors. So Anthony Horwitz, one of my favourite authors. Darren Shan, if you like a little bit of horror, probably not all of you because you like comf- curling up of a comfortable thing book, but something about crime or horror books makes you even more cosy because you’re like, oh, it’s not happening to me, you know. But yeah, check out those authors as one of my favourite ones.
Juliette Parfitt 20:35
Nice. Thanks, everybody.
Georgia 20:37
I thought of a book now!
Juliette Parfitt 20:39
Oh, sorry, yes, please. Oh, I’m so sorry, Georgia, please give us your book recommendation.
Georgia 20:46
I think that I would recommend Roots of Happiness that I’ve been talking about before, because that just makes me feel really happy, and it will give you new appreciation about words and it’s funny too. And the pictures are really accessible and really amazing colours, even if you can’t work out what’s in in pictures, the colours make you feel really good too.
Juliette Parfitt 21:07
Oh, that’s lovely! It’s like a multi sensory experience, and that’s different. I like that. Thank you so much, Georgia.
Georgia 21:14
Thank you
Juliette Parfitt 21:14
Amazing, well, thank you guys for coming along and telling us all about the books that you like and what you love about reading, um, so all there is to say is again, Happy World Book Day and uh, thanks to everyone for listening.
Paris 21:29
Thank you
Alex Man 21:29
and come to audio book club!
Georgia 21:31
and vote for Pride and Prejudice if you come to audio book club
Alex Man 21:35
thank you guys.
21:37
Thank you.