In Praise of Audiobooks
On a long drive with two little guys in the backseat and seemingly neverending interstate pavement ahead, I turned on Small Steps by Louis Sachar just to see what would happen.
Ten years later, none of us remember where we were going on that trip or anything else about it, but we still talk about Armpit, X-Ray, and Camp Green Lake from "that second Holes book" every now and then.
I wish I could tell you we started an audiobook addiction back when we fell in love with Armpit.
But I can't.
The story has a few more starts and stops than that.
A few weeks after that road trip, a friend lent me Gone Girl on audio to listen to on a solo work trip (definitely not with kids in the car), and I got so into the story that my mind was mush for the meetings I was trying to run but I couldn't stop listening. (The book is 1,000 times better than the movie, by the way.)
That trip taught me that while I probably shouldn't listen to crime books if I wanted my mind to do other things, there were so many books I could love on audio.
So I started dabbling in the audiobook world.
And I listened to a lot of great books between 2012 and 2018 — with and without my kids.
But really, I couldn't understand how Audible worked — specifically, why I would pay a monthly fee for book credits every single month, especially since money was really tight in the little kid years.
Until one day, a friend told me why she joined Audible and everything changed.
She said ⤵
1 — Being a member means you get a book every month without having to think about it.
2 — Paying for 1-2 book credits per month turns out to be half-price if you use your credits on the newest, best, and most expensive books.
3 — Membership gives you discounts on cheaper, older books, and on credit bundles, which makes those books even more discounted.
4 — Listening to audiobooks makes her more likely to read other books, too.
🤯 #mindblown
I joined that night and have been looking forward to my new book credits on the 26th of every month ever since.
Now, I use audiobooks for ⤵
➳ Folding laundry
➳ Washing dishes
➳ Long drives
➳ Prep tasks for cooking big meals
➳ Distraction when my mind is going places I don’t need to go
➳ Company on long walks
➳ Boring work tasks
And now that I know what's up, I agree 100% with all the reasons my friend encouraged me to join Audible.
But I have to admit one more thing —
After enjoying years of membership and listening to over 200 books, I’ve been cheating on Audible & I just ended my membership to join a different audiobook provider.
Here’s why. . .
Because I found a way to put some of those membership dollars in the hands of my local, independent bookstore instead of lining Amazon's pockets through Libro.fm. (Plus, they send way better emails and book recommendations.)
If you're curious, here are a few lists from Libro.fm to get you started ⤵
➳ Top 20 Recommended of All Time
➳ New Releases
➳ Read by the Author
➳ Bestsellers
If you need ideas for picking a good book, here are a few of my personal top picks ⤵
➳ My non-fiction favorite of 2022
➳ My fiction favorite of 2022
➳ Books I wish I'd read as a new mom
➳ Books my boys loved when they were younger
➳ On the Reading Porch Book List
