Starting out with Audiobooks
I am a late bloomer when it comes to audiobooks. Despite growing up listening to taped stories at bedtime (does anyone else remember the slightly terrifying Sparky’s Magic Piano) I struggled to listen to novels in audio format because my attention would wander, I couldn’t hold onto the narrative thread and would invariably give up. However, over the course of the last couple of years, audiobooks have become one of the most enjoyable ways for me to engage with books, but it was definitely a process. So I thought I’d share some audiobook hints and tips that might help to make your listening life easier:
First of all, be kind to yourself. Pick something that you know you really want to read, so that you’re invested from the outset
Make it a shorter book. Becoming by Michelle Obama was brilliant, but at 19 hours and 3 minutes it required a significant investment of time and concentration. Pick something that’s 7 hours or less to enable you to get through it
Non-fiction was easier to begin with than fiction for me, especially if it was read by the author themselves. Memoirs worked well and a favourite was Jeanette Winterson’s Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal? Read by Jeanette, passages from the book still stick in my brain, particularly the part where she compares her adoptive mother’s favourite hymn, “God has Blotted Them Out” and her own “Cheer Up Ye Saints of God” which probably tells you all you need to know about their vastly different attitudes to life
From non-fiction, I gravitated towards YA fiction which again tended to be shorter. I struck gold with the works of Elizabeth Acevedo. With the Fire on High and Clap when you Land were both immediate and engaging and again read by the author
If you’re unsure about the story or don’t know a lot about it, look at who narrates the book and listen to any available sample. Sir Ian McKellen narrates the Chronicles of Ancient Darkness series by Michelle Paver and quite frankly, given that I could listen to him read the phonebook, it’s a pretty safe bet that I’ll love the books too
Look for a full cast ensemble audiobook. With a range of actors and voices, the story really does come to life and will more easily hold your attention. Philip Pullman’s The Golden Compass was outstanding
As a hopelessly goal-orientated, active relaxer, one of the joys of audiobooks for me is that they allow me to feel as if I’m doing two things at once. Reading whilst exercising or getting the chores done? I’m absolutely there for that sense of achieving a double-whammy! Let me know if you find any of these tips helpful or have any to add!