I have a confession. A bookish confession: I love audiobooks. Especially nonfiction audiobooks. And I can’t believe it has taken me this long in my reading journey to discover how amazing they are. I have fallen in love with audiobooks this year, and I just had to express my love. And hopefully convince you to grab your headphones and click “play” on your next great read.
Audible is probably the first thing people think about when they hear audiobooks. Gone are the days of CDs to listen to in the car (even though many libraries still have an extensive CD audiobook catalog). Beginning as resources for the blind, the rise of audiobooks coordinated with the improvement of technology. Instead of just a few hours of audio at a time, listeners now have access to almost any audiobook at the tap of a finger. From free public domain books read by volunteers on LibriVox to Audible, where users can download any book for a fee, there is no lack of long-form audio.
But my journey with audiobooks starts with the library. Many of the public libraries in my area use Libby for their online catalog. Libby is a service you sign into with your account to access the library’s eBooks and audiobooks. The more library cards you have, the more catalogs you have access to. And as the proud owner of six library cards, the options I have on Libby are that of a book lover’s dream.
Libby has thousands of audiobooks. And the process could not be simpler: Just find a book, click “borrow,” and stick my earbuds in. After venturing out and borrowing my first copy earlier this year, I was hooked.
Also, let’s end the debate here, once and for all: listening to an audiobook counts as reading it. One isn’t inherently better or worse than the other.
I feel like audiobooks are still slept on, despite their rise in popularity over the years. First, audiobooks offer the power of customization and plenty of accessibility options. Audiobooks are perfect for those whose eyesight makes it a struggle to read small text. Also, they provide options to speed up or slow down the speed of the audio.
Audiobooks are perfect for driving, cleaning, or relaxing. Hot girl walks are made 100% more enjoyable by listening to a book. Cleaning is made a breeze and it takes away the dullness of laundry. And when you pair an audiobook with the right activity, it sets the mood like nothing else.
To hear a person reading it, especially the author, is an experience that sometimes reading alone can’t offer. To hear the author’s snark, their wit, and the inflection of their voice as they read their words with the pacing and emphasis that it was intended for. Listening to Toni Morrison’s Beloved in audiobook form was a religious experience unlike any other reading experience I have ever had. To hear one of my favorite books of all time, being read by the author the way she intended it to be read, was transformative.
And after listening to a few, I now get an itch to listen to them. Media has become so sensationalized and bite-sized. YouTube videos, Instagram, and TikTok are designed to perpetuate and satiate our shorter and shorter attention spans. But to listen to a full novel, and to follow that storyline and subject matter for nine, ten, fifteen hours? It’s an investment. But a satisfying one.
Audiobooks revive the lost art of listening to stories. In the beginning, all stories were spoken word. From stories told around a circle to now, where we delight in TV shows to grieve and cheer with our favorite characters, we crave the power of auditory storytelling. Audiobooks fulfill our innate desire to listen to another person share their story.
The Library Mouse's Book Nook 