Happy Tuesday, y’all! This week, Jana over at That Artsy Reader Girl handed the reins to Cathy at What Cathy Read Next. And what topic did Cathy come up with for this week? Cathy is asking us to share ten things we love about a book of our choice. Instead, I decided to share the reasons why I love listening to audiobooks!
Let me start by saying that until 2020, I rarely listened to audiobooks. Since then, I’ve come to love them. Seriously, since 2020, I have listened to almost 200 audiobooks! Who wants to see the reasons I love listening to audiobooks?
Easily Portable
Want to go for a walk or a road trip? You can download an audiobook to your phone and take it with you. Whether on a cross-country flight or a trip across town to get groceries, you can take your book with you—or even a leisurely stroll around the block!
Able to Multitask
Doing chores around the house, cooking dinner, or partaking in another favorite hobby, like drawing? Listening to an audiobook is a great way to spend time.
Often More Affordable Than a Physical Book
On a budget? Check out the audiobooks your local library has available. Through the Libby app, you can access over 14,000 books for free. These books range from a few minutes to well over 20 hours. That sounds like a great deal to me! The library also adds more books every week.
Easy to Sink Into a Story
If the story is a fun, cozy read, it’s easy to sink into it! There are often times that I will put everything on hold to listen to the story.
Able to Learn How to Say Difficult or Uncommon Words
As a reader, I have often stumbled over unfamiliar words. But listening to the book instead makes it easier to know how to pronounce those same words. This is handy when listening to books set in places like Nigeria, France, or Scotland.
Get Local Flair
Along with being able to learn how to say uncommon words, audiobooks help you get a touch of the local flair. Many audiobook narrators speak with an accent of the characters in the book. This helps give the book a flair that reading a physical or ebook doesn’t.
Able to Read Privately
Audiobooks mean that no one else knows what you’re reading! Whether it’s a steamy romance or even a middle-grade book, I can read in private!
Easy to Share the Story with Others
Audiobooks make it easier to share a story with others. On a couple of occasions, I shared an audiobook with my husband on road trips. He enjoyed it so much that he has asked if we could do it again on the next road trip.
Some of My Favorite Audiobooks
First Grave on the Right by Darynda Jones
The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce
One to Watch by Kate Stayman-London
The Once and Future Witches by Alix E. Harrow
Dear Mrs. Bird by AJ Pearce
The Reading List by Sara Nisha Adams
Those are the reasons I love audiobooks. Do you love audiobooks? What are some of your favorite audiobooks?
Are you looking for some more books to read? Check out my other bookish lists, book reviews, and monthly reading wrap-ups.
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I’ve really come to love audiobooks, too!
I wish I could multi task while “reading” (aka audiobooking) but something seems to suffer if I try. Mostly, I “miss” a lot of the story! I’ve listened to a Dickens novel (YEARS ago) on audio and liked it and as an adult, I listened to three to five audiobooks. While they’ve been good, so far, I still just like my physical books… even if reading that way is far more time consuming. 😉 Thanks so much for visiting my website today!
i really wish i liked audiobooks, based on those reasons you mentioned!
I love this post, because it’s exactly how I feel about audiobooks as well. I didn’t used to be able to listen to them – I’d get distracted and miss things and have to keep rewinding. But then I discovered that if I sped them up, I actually missed less because my mind couldn’t wander off as easily. I’ve never looked back. I started listening to them probably in about 2019, so around the same time as you did. I had a toddler at the time, and I’m a SAHM, so a lot of my day is cleaning or cooking or tidying. Audiobooks became my companions during those boring tasks, and my life became much, much happier because of them. Now almost all of my reading is in the form of audiobooks. I find that some details like names don’t stick with me as long as when I see them on the page, but the information/story goes in just as well. I feel like learning to listen to audiobooks is like learning any new skill – it takes effort, but when you’ve got it, you’ve got it. I adored The Reading List, such a great listen! I just started a book called The Lonely Hearts Book Club which feels like it might have a similar vibe. Thanks for the post – it’s great to see my love of audiobooks from another reader!
I’ve never listened to an audio book! My husband enjoys them though. I like the point about learning how to say difficult words!
Here is our Top Ten Tuesday. Thank you!
I also love the audios and share many of your points, My work is remote, so it’s easy to listen audios when I work on the computer
I agree, I love listening to audiobooks as well! Though I have found that I don’t like listening to steamy romances… 😉
Yes to all of these! 😀 I used to not be much of an audiobook reader but I’ve been reading more and more audio in the last few years and now I love listening to the story.
Thanks for stopping by my blog.
Great post! I am a fairly recent convert to audiobooks too and make good use of the Libby and Borrowbox apps. Recent favourites include The Road Trip by Beth O’Leary, Frank and Red by Matt Coyne, Weyward by Emilia Hart and Come Again by Robert Webb.
I love Libby! It’s one of the few apps I have on my phone and tablet.
Pam
Great topic! I love audiobooks too!
My husband and I love to buddy read audio books! Our favs include Project Hail Mary, Boys in the Boat, Let There Be Light, Remembering, Gilead, Killers of the Flower Moon, and so many more
Last summer on a road trip, my husband and I listened to Fan Fiction by Brent Spiner (who also narrated it). It was such fun.
Pam
I agree with all of these! I also loved Harold Fry and Mrs. Bird.
Ooh nice! I’m not an audiobook reader myself. I feel like in the long run if I listen to them I wouldn’t be listening to the story. As it is with TV or music, it’s usually just background noise while I do other things. With reading I like to be immersed with the story and listening wouldn’t work for me. I so admire the people who can though! That would be a lifesaver for the multitasking part of it! Lol. Luckily, I have mastered the reading and walking part fairly well! Lol.
Thanks for visiting my TTT!
I’m slowly finding my way with audiobooks! I mostly prefer non fiction or classics to listen to but I do have to be careful and not ‘zone out’ a bit and miss the story! It’s too hard to go back and find my place.
I’ve found it takes practice. The one thing I can’t do while listening to an audiobook is read something too in-depth, like an article or a blog post.
Pam
I’m like Rissi, I wish I could listen to audiobooks and multitask, but I can’t. The last audiobooks I listened to was the Harry Potter series. Great spin on the topic.
I have been an audiobook listener for a while for all the reasons you listed above. My husband actually started “reading” again because of audiobooks. Thanks for sharing.
ooh! I absolutely loved Harold Frye. Who did the narration? I read the book & watched the movie.
The narrator was Jim Broadbent.
Pam
I’m not an audiobook reader myself bc I unfortunately can’t multitask well 😂, but I love how you mentioned that listening to audiobooks is a great way to expand your vocabulary! I often find myself having to look up how to pronounce words on my ebook.
Multitasking is one of my favorite things about audiobooks. I feel like I am getting so much done! Thank you for sharing these recs!
These are great reasons! I also started reading audiobooks around the same time as you and multitask while doing chores or other mindless things. But reading audiobooks is so convenient, and I can agree with all ten of your points. I love this spin on the prompt.
Great list, Pam! I’m still not a huge audiobook listener because I feel it takes more concentration for me to listen to a book than to physically read a book but I hope to get more into them! Especially because I have tons on Audible that I have saved up and I love spending my monthly credits on audios I’ve heard great things about! 😂
I like the slight change in the topic