2020: The Year I Rediscovered Audiobooks
2020 was a rollercoaster of the year to say the least. One thing that’s helped me to cope during rough times was re-discovering audiobooks and my love for them.
As a child I remember being geeked to go to the library and checking out books on tape. They were always placed on a carousel that spun and each book was carefully placed in a plastic bag along with the tape. I was memorized by the voice acting that brought the stories to life. I would spend hours listening to books on a Walkman until I was through. Then it was back to the library for more.
As I got older I still listened to books on CD, but once I got to high school I had completely phased out of them. They were hard for me to enjoy and I started to turn to solely paper books. Even into adulthood, I was completely turned off by audiobooks. I could never concentrate no matter how hard I tried. I always got distracted and never could connect with the stories.
Eventually I got heavily invested into radio shows and podcasts. The more I binged podcasts, the more I thought I should try audiobooks again. I was listening to short stories, and figured it wouldn’t hurt to try again. I wanted to find another activity to help ease the stress of the pandemic. So I found a couple of audiobooks that I owned and started with those.
The first book I listened to is Monday’s Not Coming by Tiffany D. Jackson. I was hesitant at first, but tried to keep an open mind. Within an hour I was deeply immersed into the voice acting and the storyline. Is this what I had been missing out on all these years?! I was able to work and read for the first time in years. I devoured the book in days and then it was onto the next one. And then the next one.
Rediscovering audiobooks has helped me with my multitasking, but also gives me another way to read in my busy life. I can listen to books as I drive, or when I’m cleaning, or even when I want a break from the stress of the day. I’m so glad I got the chance to rediscover my love for audiobooks and I can’t wait to read even more stories.
Do you have any suggestions for a reader that’s getting back into audiobooks? Leave your picks in the comment section!
I loved Jesmyn Ward’s Salvage the Bones as an audiobook. And I recently listened to Jonathan van Ness’s memoir, which was surprisingly compelling. I thought I would just dabble, but ended up listening to the whole thing. Enjoy your new listening projects!
I did find while I could listen to non-fiction audiobooks, I think I just prefer non-fiction podcasts. I still find myself getting really distracted. I’m going to stick to fiction right now and try it again in the future.
I’m not big on audiobooks. I get easily distracted, so I need to find a way to keep busy/ focused that also won’t take me out of the story. I enjoyed the narration for the serial novel The Vela (Robin Miles was the narrator). I want to give the audiobooks for The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo, Ring Shout by P. Djeli Clark, and David Mogo Godhunter by Suyi Davies Okungbowa. I heard Acevedo narrates her own books and has a wonderful voice. The other 2 use dialect, and I want to hear it.
Thanks for sharing the tip about Acevedo’s audiobooks, I didn’t know she narrated them. I feel the same way about getting distracted with audiobooks. Have you tried fiction podcasts? Or ones with short stories? That’s what helped me a bit. I did find though I love non-fiction podcasts, it’s harder for me to grasp non-fiction audiobooks.