Why Audiobooks are the best
Listening to audiobooks isn’t cheating, I swear! It's seizing an opportunity. I’m writing a book while homeschooling, maintaining this blog, and keeping up with all my other responsibilities. Sitting and reading books for hours during the day is not a luxury I have. (Though I usually get about a half hour of reading in before bed.) It’s not that I don’t have the time per se. It’s that I have other things to do that keep me from sitting down with a book, including my own inattention, which brings me to the first reason why audiobooks changed my life.
1. Look ma no hands! Because I don’t have to park my butt and hold a book, I can do other things while I “read” like clean the house, do the dishes, drive, walk, or jog. This is the reason I started listening to audiobooks in the first place.
2. Libby appeals to my frugal side. Audiobooks are EXPENSIVE! That’s why I use libby to borrow audiobooks from the library. So instead of allocating my hard-earned money to a few audiobooks, Libby lets me listen to as many as I want! Of course, I can borrow eBooks with Libby or go to the library and get some old-fashioned books. But that doesn’t solve my time problem. I also don’t live close to my local library, and I’m terrible about remembering to return books. Sorry, Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh! Libby solves this problem by returning the audiobooks for me.
3. I read books I otherwise wouldn’t have read. With Libby I get impatient, and the most popular audiobooks, the ones I’m dying to listen, always have a waitlist. So, while I wait for those books, I check out audiobooks that are available now, and I haven’t been disappointed yet. I’m also not afraid to stop listening to an audiobook that doesn’t jive with me on Libby because I didn’t buy it. But I am also more likely to stick with an audiobook I don't love than a regular book because my brain doesn’t process it as the same kind of time commitment.
4. I can read more nonfiction. And as much as I love nonfiction, my only time to sit with a book is right before bed and nonfiction gets me too riled up to sleep. Also, good, well-researched nonfiction can be hard to get through. I find it easier to digest the information when it’s dictated to me.
5. Memoirs read by the author are the best! I am a sucker for any audiobook that is read by the author, but memoirs, in particular, are so much better this way. The author, in essence, gets to tell their own story. My favorite audiobook memoir is “Yes Please!” by Amy Poehler.
Are you already a fan of audiobooks? Are you considering adding some to your TBR list? What are your favorite audiobooks? Let me know your thoughts in the comments!
