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Audiobook Soapbox

Audiobooks are one of my favorite ways to make reading fit into a full life. Here, I share a few tips, mindset shifts, and troubleshooting ideas for anyone who wants to enjoy audiobooks more.

Why Audiobooks?

I often get questions like: How do you read so many books? How do you fit reading in at all as a parent? How do you remember anything when you move on to the next book so quickly?

 

For me, the answer to a lot of those questions is audiobooks.

 

I know what some people are thinking: “I can’t do audio, I get too distracted,” or “the voice is too fast,” too slow, or just plain annoying. I get it. Audiobooks do not work for everyone. But I also think a lot of people give up on them before trying a few simple adjustments that might make all the difference.

 

So if you have written off audiobooks, I invite you to give them another shot. A few tweaks might be all it takes to turn them into one of your favorite ways to read.

Objection:
It is too fast

Try good earbuds.

 

I have found that in-ear earbuds make a huge difference. I use Powerbeats Pro, but anything with an easy-to-reach pause button can help. Whether the distraction is road noise, your kids, or the general chaos of everyday life, having the sound directly in your ear makes it much easier to stay focused.

Objection:
It’s too slow

Speed it up.

 

In my humble opinion, 1x speed is often painfully slow and much harder to focus on. Even bumping the speed up to 1.25x can make a book feel much more natural and conversational. As you get more comfortable, you may find yourself listening at 1.5x, 1.75x, or even faster.

 

This is very book- and narrator-specific. Barack Obama’s “A Promised Land” can handle 2x or even 2.25x. Ibram X. Kendi’s “How to Be an Antiracist,” on the other hand, is more lyrical and better suited to a slower pace.

Objection:
I can’t focus

Choose the right moments.
 

As a parent of 8- and 10-year-olds, I completely understand what it feels like to be constantly interrupted. There may be very few moments in your day when nobody needs a snack, a referee, or an answer to a wildly unexpected question about the apocalypse.
 

But a surprising number of everyday moments are actually perfect for audiobooks: folding laundry, doing dishes, cooking dinner, grocery shopping, driving, standing in line, cleaning, crafting, puzzling, or even sitting through your kids’ sports games.
 

Those small, ordinary moments start to feel a lot more fun when they become book time. In our house, my partner and I genuinely compete over who gets to grocery shop or do the dishes, because we both know that means audiobook time.

Pro tip: interruptions will still happen. But with a good set of earbuds, you can pause quickly and hit the 15-second rewind button when needed.
 

Objection:
I don’t like
the voice

Preview the narrator first.
 

Most audiobook apps, including Libby and Audible, let you preview the narrator before you commit. That can save a lot of frustration.
 

Not every narrator will work for you, but many are incredible. A few favorites include Julia Whelan, Michael Kramer, Zachary Webber, Fiona Hardingham, and Steve West.


And once you find a narrator you love, you can often click their name in Libby and browse other books they have recorded.


If you are new to audiobooks, memoir is a great place to start. Listening to Michelle Obama or Trevor Noah tell their own stories feels much more like being in conversation with them than simply reading the text on a page. Audiobooks can be especially wonderful when the author or narrator has a distinctive voice or accent. Some stories just come alive differently when heard out loud.

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Objection:
I don’t like
when one
narrator does
all the voices

There are several options.

If you do not enjoy hearing one narrator attempt every character voice, you have choices.


Dual narration
Each narrator reads the chapters told from their character’s point of view. So if the chapter belongs to one character, that narrator reads the whole chapter, including dialogue.


Duet narration
This takes it a step further. Each narrator speaks only their own character’s lines, even during conversations, which creates a more dynamic listening experience.


Full cast audio
Multiple voice actors each play specific characters, which can make the book feel vivid and immersive. “Daisy Jones & The Six” is a great example of how powerful this can be. The accents in Lucy Foley’s The Guest List are perfection.


GraphicAudio
This style adds a full cast, sound effects, and background music for a more cinematic experience, often described as “a movie in your mind.” If you use Hoopla, you can often find GraphicAudio titles there, though they may count as two borrows if the production is split into multiple parts.

Objection:
I won’t retain
the book

Try discussing it with other people.
 

Some people worry that listening means they will miss details or remember less. But honestly, the same thing happens when you read a few pages before bed and start nodding off. None of us absorbs every single word perfectly.
 

What matters is not dismissing audiobooks as somehow less than reading. Listening is still reading in a meaningful sense, and for many people it is a powerful and accessible way to experience books.
 

What helps me most with retention is talking about what I read. Book clubs are especially helpful for this. Discussing a book with other people helps the ideas stick, especially for nonfiction, where I want to connect the book’s concepts to my real life and work.

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Articles

  • Plenty of articles talk about when you're reading, the process of understanding what you read is the same one as the process you use when you're listening.”  

  • In a Time Magazine article, a 2016 study comparing ebooks and audiobooks found that researchers said, “We found no significant differences in comprehension between reading, listening, or reading and listening simultaneously.” In that same Time article, they share, “Listeners…can derive a lot of information from a speaker’s inflections or intonations. Sarcasm is much more easily communicated via audio than printed text. And people who hear Shakespeare spoken out loud tend to glean a lot of meaning from the actor’s delivery...”

  • For fun, check out this video comic by Chris Hallbeck that shares one of the unexpected benefits of audiobooks vs. reading.

​

Objection:
I don’t know
where to start

Let other people help you choose.

 

Sometimes the hardest part is simply choosing your next book. If you do not have a built-in “book doula,” it can feel overwhelming.

 

A few good places to start:

 

 

One of my favorite ways to choose a book is to read something a friend has already read so we can talk about it afterward. It turns reading into a mini book club, and that always makes the experience more fun.

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