Audiobooks: Yea or Nay

 Hello Everybody,

I wanted to put out a piece about what seems to be a controversial topic in the book universe: Audiobooks. I used to be one that was against audiobooks. I held the belief that listening to audiobooks was not equivalent to reading, in fact, I was even frustrated by this fact that people would rant about how many books they would read, when in actuality it was all audiobooks. I didn't think that they counted. I also never believed that I could listen to an audiobook where someone else made the voice of the characters in your head. 

Well... things change. 

My introduction into audiobooks occurred because my wonderful boyfriend, Nick, bought me a year subscription to Audible for my birthday. He got it for me because I began my PhD in Pure Math this year and I'm commuting 30 minutes to the university and he thought it would be the perfect addition to that commute. He was so right. I started with a book that I could get past the problem with the characters voices. A memoir, of course. My first audiobook was I'd Like to Play Alone, Please by Tom Segura. Tom Segura is one of my favorite stand-up comedians and so this was an obvious choice for my first book. And it was great. It was funny, it was personal, and it was pretty short, so it wasn't this huge commitment. Once I got my first taste of Audible, I was hooked. 

I next decided to go with a book that it seemed like every single girl my age was talking about and raving about, including some of my best friends from undergrad. That book was Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros. This was my first time trying an audiobook that was fiction and something that I would typically read in physical form. I won't say that it was easy getting past the reader's voice fighting against what I would have imagined based on the character, but I realized something that proved to be extremely helpful for my enjoyment of audiobooks. I needed to think about it like a podcast. Once I thought of it like this instead of it being an actual book that I could be reading physically, I got over the character voices problem much quicker and I got to the point where I was really just enjoying it for the story that it was. I will say that sometimes, especially for high fantasy books such as this one, it is typically helpful to have the book in front of you so that you know how all of the names are spelled out and if there is a map in the front of the book, then I always love to look at the map to understand the geography of the region that we're in, but that didn't completely deter me away from enjoying it. And I actually really, really liked this book which I wasn't completely expecting. It wasn't a perfect 5 stars as many of my friends have given it, but it was definitely a 4 or 4.5 and it was just so enjoyable.

Having gotten over this barrier and more into audiobooks, I have found myself loving the routine of them. Being able to listen to these amazing stories on my ride home from the university has been so soothing to my soul, especially in such a crazy time as studying for my PhD. 

I'm not sure I think of listening to audiobooks the same as reading still or not, since it just feels like a different experience for me. But I think moreso, the point is that it is so fun and entertaining and I just love being immersed into these worlds or into the lives of these characters or just hearing good stories, as in the case of Tom Segura's book. I am forever grateful that Nick got me that subscription to Audible.

So, yes, for me, audiobooks have gone from a nay to a yea. If you have had the troubles that I have had then I encourage you to try it as I have and you may change your mind too. 

That's all and thanks for reading,

Delaney <3