MANY THANKS for point #1 about judgy attitudes toward audiobooks being ageist and ableist. 🙌🏼 At the height of dealing with OCD, reading books in hand felt miserably frustrating. Scanning the same sentence/holding the book to try and get it “just right” zapped the joy right out of reading for me, so audiobooks were a real life enhancer.
Also, listening to memoirs as audiobooks is such a treat! Oftentimes they’ll be narrated by the memoirist and it’s fun to hear their story in their voice.
I mainly listen to biographies and memoirs on audiobook. I love when the author is the reader, it feels so personal and intimate. I haven’t branched out of this category yet, but your tips are inspiring me to give fiction a try!
I’m a HUGE fan of a audiobooks. I used to only listen to music when I did my daily walk, and while walking on the treadmill at the gym, but I find listening to a good audiobook is a nice alternative. I never felt like I could just carve out the time in my day to sit down a read a book, so listening to books while I go about my day, either while exercising or cleaning my kitchen is a great option. I love listening to music as well, but I enjoy that when I don’t need to focus so much.
I am a big fan of audiobooks. I love the original books as well but audiobooks are great for commutes or walks or lot of times when books aren't accessible or ideal. Great points here.
I currently have no less than 15 of Dolores Cannon’s books in my audible library, 14 of which I’ve already “read” at least once. If you’ve ever seen any of her books, especially the Convoluted Universe volumes, then you’ll know that they’re hefty books with quite small writing - and now I have them to refer back to any time I like without taking up any space in my house 😎
It’s not all about Dolores though, I have quite a varied selection and although I used to feel like I was “cheating” but I got over that quite a while ago and like you, I’m a fan of listening as I do other stuff 👍
I think initially I felt guilty because I’ve been reading since I was at nursery school so I’m clearly more than able. The issue was time though - and I always loved being read to at bedtime so I think I started to get over myself a bit once I thought about it that way ☺️
Big fan of Libby and while I'm on long car trips for work or walking through the neighborhood or cleaning the shower, an audio book brings an immersive experience. In fact, I notice the writing more on audio than in print. Listening to every single word and phrase when sometimes I scan a written line on the page, informs me of the great work so many authors are doing these days. Thanks for the validation that I'm still an avid reader even when I consume books on audio.
Wonderful attitude to things and I love your third suggestion - something I’d not heard of before. Thank you as well to Sarah Fay who restocked this so the world can see it!
I’ve “read” audiobooks for years and I still think I get the same from it as a physical book. Can I tell you what happened? Did I absorb its narratives and morals? Absolutely. So I read it. 😂
I never really listened to audiobooks until I began to voice act and narrate them. Now that's my favorite way to read, even on Substack. I love your perspective as a consumer, and good insights. The right voice is super-helpful!
I used to feel the same way about audiobooks until I also started to listen to books/genres I was interested in. Now I love them because I can do other things while I listen. My favorite is when I am crocheting and going on long trips!
I love audiobooks, which I listen to on my long drives to and from work. This feels like such a luxury - being read to! Sometimes I end up buying the audio *and* then the physical or Kindle version, just so that I can savour a book I particularly love in different ways or use it for my teaching. I also couldn't agree more about the narration. Voices can make or break an audiobook for me.
I feel as though I spend an inordinate amount of time engaged in housecleaning, cleaning, driving kids around and other domestic duties, despite my house rarely looking neat or clean (maybe I'm just really bad at it), and discovering audiobooks that I could listen to while I did this stuff took me into a secret, wonderful world while I did it. I'm a musician and have found listening to music related audiobooks especially inspiring, I loved Margo Price's Maybe We'll Make It, @marygauthier's Saved By A Song and @jefftweedy's How To Write One Song, all read by the author. If it's not too spammy, I'd love to share the link to the audiobook I narrated, which was a fascinating experience! https://www.audible.com.au/pd/Lovers-Dreamers-Fighters-Audiobook
I love audiobooks for 'some' books. I get a bit distracted listening as opposed to reading, so I need to make sure it's an easy story, otherwise I miss sections of "important writing". If I really want to immerse in the writing and style of the author, then I can't listen by audiobook, but if I know that isn't as important (for me) then it's ok to have the audiobook. I do find with some days I'm rewinding and re-listening.
It does mean I can do my hand-work (I'm a stitcher / sewer / crafter for my business and hobby, as well as writing), and do the dishes, hang the washing, etc. I don't listen as I'm out walking (I'm lucky to live in the country where there are birds to enjoy).
But, I'm really fussy about the narrator. It's hard for me to listen to a male voice, and some accents are too much / wrong (for me) as well. So, I know I miss out on some books I'd like to enjoy because of this, but I know it would be too much for me to get past that voice and enjoy the story.
I love that there's an option for reading and listening, and that more people can enjoy and experience stories with audio options.
My teenage children actually watch movies (on their phone screen), while doing other things such as cooking or getting ready to go out. That's way too much stimuli for me, and I do wonder about the way our world is changing by having so much coming into our brains at once.
I have joined team audiobook in the last few months, but can only do it with certain books (mainly memoir, my favorite). It makes me look forward to my commute. I still prefer paper though. I love being able to dog ear the pages, highlight, makes notes, etc. Generally tear that baby up. My favorite is taking a book to the beach or pool and it gets damp and crinkly. I cannot explain nor defend.
MANY THANKS for point #1 about judgy attitudes toward audiobooks being ageist and ableist. 🙌🏼 At the height of dealing with OCD, reading books in hand felt miserably frustrating. Scanning the same sentence/holding the book to try and get it “just right” zapped the joy right out of reading for me, so audiobooks were a real life enhancer.
Also, listening to memoirs as audiobooks is such a treat! Oftentimes they’ll be narrated by the memoirist and it’s fun to hear their story in their voice.
I mainly listen to biographies and memoirs on audiobook. I love when the author is the reader, it feels so personal and intimate. I haven’t branched out of this category yet, but your tips are inspiring me to give fiction a try!
I’m a HUGE fan of a audiobooks. I used to only listen to music when I did my daily walk, and while walking on the treadmill at the gym, but I find listening to a good audiobook is a nice alternative. I never felt like I could just carve out the time in my day to sit down a read a book, so listening to books while I go about my day, either while exercising or cleaning my kitchen is a great option. I love listening to music as well, but I enjoy that when I don’t need to focus so much.
You’ve convinced me! I’ve been meaning to actually get Spotify premium. Here I go 🏃🏼♀️
I am a big fan of audiobooks. I love the original books as well but audiobooks are great for commutes or walks or lot of times when books aren't accessible or ideal. Great points here.
I currently have no less than 15 of Dolores Cannon’s books in my audible library, 14 of which I’ve already “read” at least once. If you’ve ever seen any of her books, especially the Convoluted Universe volumes, then you’ll know that they’re hefty books with quite small writing - and now I have them to refer back to any time I like without taking up any space in my house 😎
It’s not all about Dolores though, I have quite a varied selection and although I used to feel like I was “cheating” but I got over that quite a while ago and like you, I’m a fan of listening as I do other stuff 👍
I’m a super fan of audiobooks! It’s definitely not cheating and how lovely to have a bedtime story read to you again?
I think initially I felt guilty because I’ve been reading since I was at nursery school so I’m clearly more than able. The issue was time though - and I always loved being read to at bedtime so I think I started to get over myself a bit once I thought about it that way ☺️
Big fan of Libby and while I'm on long car trips for work or walking through the neighborhood or cleaning the shower, an audio book brings an immersive experience. In fact, I notice the writing more on audio than in print. Listening to every single word and phrase when sometimes I scan a written line on the page, informs me of the great work so many authors are doing these days. Thanks for the validation that I'm still an avid reader even when I consume books on audio.
Wonderful attitude to things and I love your third suggestion - something I’d not heard of before. Thank you as well to Sarah Fay who restocked this so the world can see it!
I’ve “read” audiobooks for years and I still think I get the same from it as a physical book. Can I tell you what happened? Did I absorb its narratives and morals? Absolutely. So I read it. 😂
I never really listened to audiobooks until I began to voice act and narrate them. Now that's my favorite way to read, even on Substack. I love your perspective as a consumer, and good insights. The right voice is super-helpful!
I used to feel the same way about audiobooks until I also started to listen to books/genres I was interested in. Now I love them because I can do other things while I listen. My favorite is when I am crocheting and going on long trips!
I love audiobooks, which I listen to on my long drives to and from work. This feels like such a luxury - being read to! Sometimes I end up buying the audio *and* then the physical or Kindle version, just so that I can savour a book I particularly love in different ways or use it for my teaching. I also couldn't agree more about the narration. Voices can make or break an audiobook for me.
I feel as though I spend an inordinate amount of time engaged in housecleaning, cleaning, driving kids around and other domestic duties, despite my house rarely looking neat or clean (maybe I'm just really bad at it), and discovering audiobooks that I could listen to while I did this stuff took me into a secret, wonderful world while I did it. I'm a musician and have found listening to music related audiobooks especially inspiring, I loved Margo Price's Maybe We'll Make It, @marygauthier's Saved By A Song and @jefftweedy's How To Write One Song, all read by the author. If it's not too spammy, I'd love to share the link to the audiobook I narrated, which was a fascinating experience! https://www.audible.com.au/pd/Lovers-Dreamers-Fighters-Audiobook
I love audiobooks for 'some' books. I get a bit distracted listening as opposed to reading, so I need to make sure it's an easy story, otherwise I miss sections of "important writing". If I really want to immerse in the writing and style of the author, then I can't listen by audiobook, but if I know that isn't as important (for me) then it's ok to have the audiobook. I do find with some days I'm rewinding and re-listening.
It does mean I can do my hand-work (I'm a stitcher / sewer / crafter for my business and hobby, as well as writing), and do the dishes, hang the washing, etc. I don't listen as I'm out walking (I'm lucky to live in the country where there are birds to enjoy).
But, I'm really fussy about the narrator. It's hard for me to listen to a male voice, and some accents are too much / wrong (for me) as well. So, I know I miss out on some books I'd like to enjoy because of this, but I know it would be too much for me to get past that voice and enjoy the story.
I love that there's an option for reading and listening, and that more people can enjoy and experience stories with audio options.
My teenage children actually watch movies (on their phone screen), while doing other things such as cooking or getting ready to go out. That's way too much stimuli for me, and I do wonder about the way our world is changing by having so much coming into our brains at once.
I have joined team audiobook in the last few months, but can only do it with certain books (mainly memoir, my favorite). It makes me look forward to my commute. I still prefer paper though. I love being able to dog ear the pages, highlight, makes notes, etc. Generally tear that baby up. My favorite is taking a book to the beach or pool and it gets damp and crinkly. I cannot explain nor defend.