Every year I try to read more than the year before. Last year, I hit my high at 52 books for the year, which called for a bit of a reading marathon towards the end of December. This year, just to see if I can, I set my goal at 100 books.
I have to admit, doubling a goal I had trouble meeting last year is a bit intimidating to me, but I am determined to meet it.
The question is how?
The answer is… audiobooks!
I used to listen to audiobooks all the time when I had a longer commute. Now that I work literally 10 minutes from my house, I got away from books and started listening to shorter podcasts. (Click here for my favorites) I still love my podcasts, but I am finding that I am rekindling my love affair with audiobooks as well.
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Here are 5 reasons I am loving listening to audiobooks:
#1 – I can listen to books on the go.
It’s sometimes hard to fit in reading time when things get too busy. Working all week, I need time for chores and errands on the weekends. Audiobooks are perfect for this! I can get pages in while I drive to the grocery store, fold laundry or cook dinner. And it makes my chores go faster, too! So, win-win!
#2 – I can get to books on my TBR faster.
There are so many books on my TBR; I have reconciled myself to the fact that I will never get through it. But, now that I am listening to audiobooks, I am finding I can get through more books in a month, and I am choosing books that I have been wanting to read. For example, right now I am listening to I’ll Be Gone in the Dark by Michelle McNamara. This has been on my TBR since it was published, but I’ve never gotten to it. Audiobooks allow me to “read” a few books at a time so I can get more pages in!
BTW: I HIGHLY recommend I’ll Be Gone in the Dark if you like true crime. It’s a fascinating look into the Golden State Killer case!
#3 – You can change the reading rate.
This did not occur to me until just recently. Audiobooks can be be played at various speeds. My app plays at .25 intervals from .75X speed to 3.0X. I have found that 1.5X is perfect for me. It’s fast enough so that it keeps my attention, but not so fast that I can’t keep up.
Before I found out about this, I was having trouble with the longer audiobooks. I listened to Karin Slaughter’s The Good Daughter, and while I enjoyed it, 17 hours was a bit much. I think the quicker speed would have made it seem less monotonous in parts.
#4 – The narrators are fabulous.
I listened to LaVar Burton of Reading Rainbow fame narrate The Good Neighbor: The Life and Work of Fred Rogers – what’s more perfect than that? The narrators bring the stories to life. My first audiobook of the year, Then She Was Gone, was narrated by Helen Duff, whose Irish accent made you feel a part of the story.
Anne Bogel, from the Modern Mrs. Darcy blog, posted about A-list actors recently coming out with audiobooks. Here is her list of 13 audiobooks read by their authors.
#5 – You can listen to audiobooks for free!
There are lots of ways to get your audiobook fix in without spending lots of cash. Right now, Amazon is offering 2 free downloads with a trial membership of Audible. Audible is great because you don’t have to wait around for the newest title to come in at the library. You can get the hottest titles downloaded to your device immediately!
But if that doesn’t appeal to you, your library offers tons of great audiobooks for free! I use the Hoopla app. All you have to do is enter in your library card number and voila! A great selection of audiobooks is right there for you to choose from. I am able to keep my titles for about two weeks, and then, the book will just be gone from the app – no need to worry about returning anything, which is nice. The downside to that is if you are not finished with the book, you have to check the title out again. I was almost done with 17 hours of The Good Daughter, when the book was returned. Luckily, it was available for me to check out again so I was able to finish.
Those are 5 reasons I love listening to audiobooks. Are you an audiobook listener? Which are your favorite titles?
That’s all for today. Until next time, happy reading!
I wholeheartedly agree 🙂 Just bummed out that I can’t get Hoopla. I hear so many great things about it and you can even get bestselling traditionally published books there. Not like the other free audiobook services that usually don’t have many good choices.
Oh, that’s a bummer! I thought all libraries would host that app. It really is a great way to listen to audiobooks. I’ve enjoyed listening to them so much this year!