I finally gave audio books a try, and they don’t suck!
For a long time, I didn’t consider audio books as real reading. It doesn’t count! You’re listening to the words, not reading them. How can you say you read this book when you just listened to it on x2 speed during your commute this week?
Last weekend, I conquered a three-hour commute by myself. Usually, I’m fine with listening to music when I drive, but after a while, my Spotify playlists became boring. I considered putting on a podcast, but in the back of my mind, I thought I have two more hours of driving…I could totally get some reading done in two hours. At that moment, I decided to give Audible a try…Don’t worry I didn’t set it up while I was driving…I forced my way through the rest of my Spotify playlists.
When I arrived at my destination, I downloaded Audible (not sponsored, but if Audible wants to hit me up, I’ll be waiting.) Thankfully, because my family shares an Amazon Prime account, we get tons of credits for Audible. Therefore, I was able to listen to My Dark Vanessa for free that weekend. I put the book on x2 speed and listened while I got ready in the mornings and evenings. Normally, I listen to podcasts when I get ready each day, but this was a nice change. And I thought to myself I’m reading done while being productive in other ways! That’s like double the productivity! In reality, I’m saving myself time. By doing two things at once—Audio book + chores or showering or skin care etc.—I can get through books faster, rather than making time to sit down and read. Physical reading is more of a scheduled commitment than just throwing on an audio book when there’s a lull in your day.
Another realization hit me that weekend: there are too many goddamn books in this world. And I want to read all of them. Sadly, that’s impossible, unless I become a hermit, live in the mountains and just read all day and all night until I die. And that sounds depressing as fuck. However, I do wish that I had more time to read the books that interest me. My Goodreads goal is usually 30 – 45 books a year, and those are all books that I physically read. I also watch a lot of BookTube because I’m a closeted nerd. (BookTube is just a section of YouTube where readers discuss books and give reviews.) In their monthly wrap-ups, many BookTubers will say they read 15 or 20 books that month, which sounds impossible for anyone with a job, social life, and healthy sleep schedule. But then they reveal that listened to 70% of these were books. I always knew that I could never read 15 books a month—I don’t have the patience to sit down and read for that long—I have a life! But I’ve come to realize that I could consume WAY more books if I just listened to them. I’ll never get to all the books I want, but I can definitely read a lot more with Audio books.
It’s still weird telling people that I read this, or I am reading that when it’s all audio. But who cares? As long as I get another good story out of it.