Audiobooks discussion

I just discovered that my library offers Hoopla. So I'm now happily browsing their selection and I've noticed a few titles that are available to borrow that have a wait list on OverDrive. Plus a bunch of other titles that I can't get on OD in ebook format.

Has anyone used Hoopla for audiobooks? My library gives me 21 days for audiobooks and ebooks. I don't know anything about renewals though.

I love it! It doesn't let you renew books but you can re-check them out and it remembers your spot!

I LOVE Hoopla! I have a monthly limit of books/movies/music I can check out each month, but there are so many great audiobooks that I would normally buy, but don't have to because my library offers Hoopla.

My monthly limit is 10 items, but I think that's plenty since I have other places I can borrow from.

Between Overdrive (2 accounts) and Hoopla, I will definitely be saving a lot of money on books in my future.

I've got to finish my current audiobook, but I think I may get my next one from Hoopla to try it out.

Hoopla has definitely come a long way! I too have a monthly limit (10) that I never hit but I think it would be easy to hit now since I've explored their music selection and really like the variety which some I can't find inside the library or there's a long wait.

I've been flagging (adding to favorites) movies and music that I couldn't find at the library so I can easily check out when I have the downtime to watch and listen.

Brooklyn wrote: "My monthly limit is 10 items, but I think that's plenty since I have other places I can borrow from.

Between Overdrive (2 accounts) and Hoopla, I will definitely be saving a lot of money on books ..."

10 items? Wow. I only get 6. :-( .... (Not that I ever get through all 6, but ... just saying!) lol

The thing I dislike about HOOPLA is that it doesn't let you see how many chapters there are in the book you get.

Well rats my libraries don't seem to have this.

Mara wrote: "The thing I dislike about HOOPLA is that it doesn't let you see how many chapters there are in the book you get."

Yeah. I hate that too. And you can't tell where each chapter begins and ends.

I haven't used Hoopla very much. When I did, it was for episodes of Twilight Zone Radio. The monthly limits for the 4 libraries I use most are 20, 12, 12, and 8.

Libraries are definitely feeling a budget crunch. One of my libraries recently changed its Hoopla limit from 20 to 12 checkouts.

We have a great library in Phoenix, monthly Hoopla limit is 25. But I forget about it and almost never use it.

I just signed up for Hoopla. Only one of the libraries I belong to is listed there. Their selection of audiobooks seems to be better than the ebook selection, but I really need to catch up with listening to the audiobooks I already have! I think I'll use Hoopla for music and movies for now and when I catch up with my audios, I'll try them out.

Thanks for mentioning Hoopla, it's always good to have lots of options!

I hope Audible is not following this thread because it feels like I'm cheating on them. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE Hoopla. They have so many audiobooks that are on my wishlist that I'm thinking I will likely significantly reduce my spending with them after 10+ years of being a platinum subscriber.

My tastes are eclectic and Overdrive never had any of the audiobooks I wanted, so I had to use Audible. Hoopla however, is a serious, cost-effective, and easy-to-use alternative that I highly recommend.

Grumpus, I love HOOPLA. They have all the books in one series. OVERDRIVE is okay, but it's not as prolific as OneClick Digital, HOOPLA, or 3M CloudAudiobook downloads.

Because I use my Sansa Clip as my preferred listening device (vs my mobile), I rely almost exclusively on Overdrive.

Would I be able to download any audiobooks from Hoopla and then move them to my trusty Clip? I'm pretty sure I can't do this with OneClick (unless something has changed).

I'll second Janet in her praise of the Phx library - love it.

Between the two libraries I belong to as a non-resident I have access to 3M Cloud audiobooks, Hoopla & OneClick Digital I have much more accessible to books to books I want to listen. Overdrive is okay, and I appreciate it, and it has come a long way, but it doesn't come come close to what Hoopla and 3M Cloud download offer.

binter wrote: "Because I use my Sansa Clip as my preferred listening device (vs my mobile), I rely almost exclusively on Overdrive.

Would I be able to download any audiobooks from Hoopla and then move them to m..."

No, you have to use their dedicated app. I'm not very fond of using the Hoopla app for audio books, and prefer borrowing from Overdrive when I can. Then I can listen with my preferd app/device. The selection at Hoopla is great though, so I still use it.

I also like Hoopla for comics. And don't have any problems with the app for those.

Aelliana wrote: "binter wrote: "Because I use my Sansa Clip as my preferred listening device (vs my mobile), I rely almost exclusively on Overdrive.

Would I be able to download any audiobooks from Hoopla and then..."

You can download to a mobile device but not allowed to transfer it or to download to a computer. My complaint about this is that it won't download to my phone's SD card (I guess because it is removable?) and its internal memory is too small. So I can only stream (which is no good for traveling outside unless you are have a great data plan!).

I don't have this problem with my iPod but I would like to not have to carry two devices with me!

Thanks for all the feedback on these alternative to Overdrive. I've downloaded a few more offered by my library - which has more than I had realized - and will be checking them out. Much appreciated!

Our Hoopla offers 10 titles per month. I also really like it for a different alternative and the ability to get newer books that may have a huge waiting list on Overdrive.

I'm just wondering if any of you have had any loading problems with the books, though ? I've used it a few times so far, and have downloaded the books in case I want to listen to them away from home .. They say they load, but it seems they just stop playing and get clogged up for lack of a better term . I can't get them to restart, play from any bookmarks, or do anything at all . I was just wondering if anyone else has had this happen with them ?

I can eventually get them to play on another device or try them later and they work again, so not sure what the problem would be .

I haven't had any trouble with Hoopla. But I've only listened to 2 audiobooks so far.

Julie wrote: "Our Hoopla offers 10 titles per month. I also really like it for a different alternative and the ability to get newer books that may have a huge waiting list on Overdrive.

I'm just wondering if a..."

I am limited to 5 items per month and like Brooklyn, am on my second book. It was interesting this morning that when I got in the car for my commute to work, I got an error message that said it could not connect to Hoopla servers. I don't know if that was on my end or theirs but it came back on after 10 minutes. It did however, restart me at the beginning. Good thing I paid attention to the time marker before all this happened so the inconvenience was minimal.

My experience with the Hoopla App was pretty good except it sometimes didn't want to restart the book after I stopped listening; I could usually get it working again by clicking on the My Hoopla icon, and selecting the book again - then I'd usually have to click on my bookmark. I did make a habit of bookmarking frequently.

Julie wrote: "I'm just wondering if any of you have had any loading problems with the books, though ? I've used it a few times so far, and have downloaded the books in case I want to listen to them away from home .. They say they load, but it seems they just stop playing and get clogged up for lack of a better term . I can't get them to restart, play from any bookmarks, or do anything at all . I was just wondering if anyone else has had this happen with them ?..."

Sometimes you need to reconnect to wifi (even though it is downloaded) -- I think that it is a feature to prevent you from keeping a book past its due date. Anyway, I have found if I go to the Home screen with the wifi on, click on the book to "Resume", it starts up again fine. I can then turn the wifi off again and head out.

Thanks , Leslie
I'll have to give that a try.

I love HOOPLA over OD---NO WAITING FOR BOOKS and you don't have to wait for 2nd book in series. Much better selection of books.

The only I dislike is no CHAPTER designation. Not everyone is going to listen to the book in one sitting.

Julie wrote: "Thanks , Leslie
I'll have to give that a try."

Mara wrote: "I love HOOPLA over OD---NO WAITING FOR BOOKS and you don't have to wait for 2nd book in series. Much better selection of books.

The only I dislike is no CHAPTER designation. Not everyone is going ..."

Mara wrote: "I love HOOPLA over OD---NO WAITING FOR BOOKS and you don't have to wait for 2nd book in series. Much better selection of books.

The only I dislike is no CHAPTER designation. Not everyone is going ..."

Leslie wrote: "Julie wrote: "I'm just wondering if any of you have had any loading problems with the books, though ? I've used it a few times so far, and have downloaded the books in case I want to listen to them..."

I recently began using Hoopla, and was experiencing the same problem. I discovered that Hoopla is slower than usual restarting a book. If I click on "resume play" and then wait patiently (15-30 seconds) the book will come up, and will start to play where I left off after another pause. Strange little thing that can drive you crazy if you don't tumble to it.

Thanks , Kathleen
It sounds as though that little glitch thing is pretty common, so at least I know it's not my iPod going wonky on me or not working well with Hoopla. I've only recently started using Hoopla, so maybe it will only be an occasional thing.

I'm sure this is a stupid question--but my library system uses Overdrive. How can I use Hoopla?

Ashley wrote: "I'm sure this is a stupid question--but my library system uses Overdrive. How can I use Hoopla?"

Your library has to provide that service. Some only use Overdrive. Some provide both.

I love HOOPLA. You don't have to wait FOREVER to download the book you want.

It would be nice if OD would do that.

The only drawback to HOOPLA is that it doesn't offer CHAPTERS designations. Or tell a listener how many chapters the book is.

My monthly limit is 30 items currently. Generous limit makes it so I don't have to worry too much about wasting it on an audio CD.

It's got a lot of audiobooks the other library programs don't have, like the video game focused ones (Console Wars: Sega, Nintendo, and the Battle that Defined a Generation, The Ultimate History of Video Games: From Pong to Pokemon - The Story Behind the Craze That Touched Our Lives and Changed the World, Super Mario: How Nintendo Conquered America). Anime and Manga selection is pretty meh, but that's better than nonexistent with the other apps. Still missing Girl on the Train for some reason, while the others have that, and no Gillian Flynn stuff in English audio.

There's a Hoopla community on Goodreads, though not too many members there.

Kathleen wrote: "I recently began using Hoopla, and was experiencing the same problem. I discovered that Hoopla is slower than usual restarting a book. If I click on "resume play" and then wait patiently (15-30 sec..."

My advice, use the bar to move the "time" back and forth. Don't even have to move it to a different time, just remember your time stamp and try to get it back there once you've moved it. It should play. I don't really get the pausing thing, but thankfully most everything else works pretty smoothly.

Terrence wrote: " I don't really get the pausing thing, but thankfully most everything else works pretty smoothly......"

I use the pause button a lot... but then I'm an old broad who takes lots of medications which cause my body to have to relieve itself quite often... but, I also listen from my computer, so any time someone comes to the door, or I go start lunch/dinner I pause it and then come back and keep gong. So, yes, I do like the pause button, and it does occasionally get stuck. When it does, I just go back to the main hoopla screen and press play again, and it starts where I stopped. <><

Msjodi777 wrote: "Terrence wrote: " I don't really get the pausing thing, but thankfully most everything else works pretty smoothly......"

I use the pause button a lot... but then I'm an old broad who takes lots of..."

Oh no, I meant the freezing / pausing glitch issues. I pause and rewind a ton too.

I just received a Hoopla update and they fixed the issue regarding the resetting of the speed. I wrote them months ago about it and felt like they disregarded my comments by telling me to reinstall it after I told them I did so. Here is what they said is new with the latest update:

We fixed the variable speed playback bug that was resetting your speed on every pause. While it was kind of fun to cycle back through each time, we figured we should fix that.

Kind of fun? Did others find it kind of fun? Hoopla was something I whole-heartedly recommended in the past before this issue. I have yet to test it to see if the fix actually works but their attitude toward me in bringing it to their attention and this, IMO snide remark about fixing it, makes me no longer a promoter of Hoopla.

I'm using Hoopla on my laptop, and every time I pause it, it starts back at the beginning. After the first time, I learned that the bookmark feature is a very good thing.

I'm glad to hear that they've fixed the variable speed bug. It wasn't "kind of fun". It was "kind of annoying". Now if only they would improve their search function.

Janice wrote: "I'm glad to hear that they've fixed the variable speed bug. It wasn't "kind of fun". It was "kind of annoying". Now if only they would improve their search function."

^^ THIS!!! Their search function is the worst!

Did they really just delete all of their audiobooks from the site? I had a ton of books on my wish list that I don't have on my Audible wish list and couldn't begin to remember all of them. Why didn't they say they were about to get rid of audiobooks?

Angie wrote: "Did they really just delete all of their audiobooks from the site? I had a ton of books on my wish list that I don't have on my Audible wish list and couldn't begin to remember all of them. Why did..."

I'm not a member of Hoopla but I can still browse audiobooks there. Maybe there's an issue with your library.

My Hoopla “favorites” are all still there.

I’ve heard another member say they couldn’t check out audiobooks but I haven’t had any trouble. So it could be a library thing maybe.

All books are gone from the site when I get on there. When I click on Browse, the only options are Movies, Music, Comics, Television. I can search for authors that I know were in my favorites and it says, "No titles could be found". Do any of you have Hoopla through the Houston Public Library? I guess they might not be offering audiobooks anymore, but you would think the hoopla site would be the same for everybody. It doesn't make sense.

No ebooks either?

Angie wrote: "All books are gone from the site when I get on there. When I click on Browse, the only options are Movies, Music, Comics, Television. I can search for authors that I know were in my favorites and i..."
Hoopla is definitely not the same for everyone. We have movies and TV but have never had audiobooks. *cries* Although our library is pretty darned good, so I haven't really missed it.

Oh, I guess Houston just decided to do away with all books (audio and ebooks). I just wish they had told me ahead of time so I could keep track of all the books I wanted to listen to.

The library system I use (KCLS) has hoopla and it's never offered audiobooks. Only movies, music, comics and TV shows. I was confused by people in other groups mentioning checking out audiobooks through hoopla because I had assumed the selection would be the same, but I guess it's not.

Good to know!