~mattyblog

Audio Bookin'

The routine of my life is - at its best - scattered. It’s difficult to find uninterrupted time to read a book. This is a self inflicted problem to some extent: I don’t make it a priority to read before bed like I am sure adult readers my age likely do. Lately I am prioritizing watching old Star Trek episodes (currently Deep Space Nine) as a way to unwind from the day instead of reading. I’m pretty worn out at night and find it remarkably less work to sit down and watch TV than it is to pick up a book. I’m sure this is a wildly shared feeling among adults of a certain age. We’re worn down and busy.

I miss reading though! I used to read on the L during my work commute, but I haven’t had a consistent commute since COVID when they sent us all home. Reading on the train was a nice way to decompress. I regained time for myself by not having to commute but I spend that time on care tasks around the house and managing the dog all day. I’m still worn down and busy!

I started experimenting with audiobooks as a way to get reading done while I’m doing other things. I can put on noise cancelling headphones and listen to a book while I vacuum the house, clean the bathroom, do my dishes, do laundry, and cook. I can take a book with me while I take the dog out several times a day instead of walking him around the block while the 30 minutes that activity takes evaporates into thin air. Having an audio book going while doing mundane chores has the added benefit of making them much more tolerable.

Audiobooks do have a few downsides, sure. It can be easy to get distracted while you’re listening and miss narration and find yourself lost when you regain your focus. I can do some things while I’m listening to a book but I can’t do everything. Audiobooks can also be tough to enjoy if you don’t like how the narrator is doing things. I’ve rented audiobooks from the library and immediately returned them because I knew I’d have a hard time with the narration. That’s alright. The point of the audio books is to make reading easier for myself.

There are people who don’t count audiobooks as reading - but I don’t believe that is an argument worth entertaining. I feel that an audiobook has me equally engaged as I am when I read a physical book. End of story.

I have an overgrown forest of physical book stacks that I’m hoping to return to soon. For the moment however, audiobooks are the force that is getting me interested in reading again. While I work on reestablishing my life’s routine, listening to a book is just fine.

Some audiobooks that I’ve especially enjoyed listening to are: