I’ve always been a big reader. As soon as I finish one book, I dive into another. I just love the act of reading. However, the pandemic has really jacked up my attention span. I’m still reading books, but more slowly. In an effort to continue to stimulate my brain, as well as multitask, I have started listening to books on tape, or audiobooks as the youngsters call them.
Audio books do present their own sort of challenges. It often annoys my family that I always have on headphones. There is also the problem of attention span. I sometimes lose focus and have to rewind, but I find if I’m doing something else whilst listening, I’m good. This has led me to constantly have voices in my head. I listen while doing most everything—knitting, cleaning, working, exercising. You name it!
The most crucial factor in an audiobook is the narrator. I once got 15 minutes into a book by one of my favorite authors and stopped because I did not like the person’s voice. I have also listened to books that I’ve already read just because I love the narrator (I’m looking at you, Michelle Obama).
This brings me to my favorite type of audiobook: biographies. If I’m a fan of the person, I almost always read and like their biography. However, I have discovered in my audiobook binging, books read by the author are next level! It is so interesting to hear a person actually tell their story. I listen to a lot of musician bios and Dave Grohl’s tops the list of the most epic. Brandi Carlile is a close runner-up. In other bio news, I thoroughly enjoyed Megan Rapinoe’s bio, Vanderbilt (read by Anderson Cooper) and anything by Carrie Fisher.
Ann Patchett is one of my favorite authors. I’ve read several of her books and mentioned to a friend that I was getting ready to start Dutch House. Her eyes lit up and she asked, “Are you reading or listening?” I told her I had bought the book and she sighed, “I think you want to listen to this one. Do you know who narrates?” I did not. “Tom Hanks!” she squealed joyously. Dammit. I did listen. I want to go on record as saying, I know Tom Hanks has had limited success as an actor and might have even won an award or two, but he needs to give up that shit and ONLY read audiobooks. He is freaking amazing! I went on to listen to Tom Hanks’ book of short stories and it was very enjoyable. Ann Patchett also reads her books of short stories and non-fiction. She is a delight.
I’m a bit of a cheap ass when it comes to audiobooks. I check them out through my library. This often means long wait times. I generally don’t mind. The real problem is, you only get two weeks to listen to the book. For an average book with a run time of about 10 hours, this is totally doable. However, I recently decided to listen to one of my favorite books, Lonesome Dove, and the runtime on that bad boy was something like 34 hours! I lived, breathed and slept in the wild west for two weeks. It was a lot of pressure. It was also brilliant.
As you would expect, the Harry Potter books also have a long run time. Don’t let that deter you! These books are fantastic. Talk about a great narrator! I hope Jim Dale won some sort of Oscar for narrating. I have read the Harry Potter books and seen the movies multiple times, but I have to say, the audiobooks were my favorite experience. I’m actually thinking about starting them again. There is no such thing as too much Harry Potter.
I know a lot of folks are judgy about reading versus listening to books. I enjoy both for different reasons. The real thing to realize here is books are a gift. Enjoy a book in your favorite way or whatever your mood dictates. I am generally reading one book and listening to another at the same time. In short, there is no wrong way to enjoy a book.
Angela Traver
What is this blog about? Well, it's a general blog, but it is also a very specific blog. If you get that reference, you get a gold star! I have been a public relations professional and writer of press releases for more than 20 years—primarily in the booze biz. I decided to do some writing for fun and embrace the humor that gets me through most days. Hopefully it will make you chuckle—or at least smile. I’m a certified crazy magnet, and more than a little nutty myself, so buckle up. Also, I have two vices—profanity and red wine/whiskey. You’ve been warned. It should also be noted, that I’m a HUGE Bob & Sheri fan. I’ve been a listener for more than 20 years. This opportunity is a dream come true and it may have made me cry. That being said, I cry at everything. If you are into booze, dogs, food and/or knitting, hit me up on Instagram, Facebook or Twitter (although I’m terrible at Twitter and it scares me) @kyspiritsgal. You can also find all my previous blog posts at www.kyspiritsgal.com.
