Do you think that you don't have time to read a novel or an amazing non-fiction book? Do you think there are never enough hours in the day for you to read for pleasure? Do you fall asleep as soon as you try to read at bedtime? Consider audiobooks.
Reading is a luxury many busy professionals and parents feel that they don't have time to enjoy. I have found over the last several years that I can "read" so many more books by "listening." Audiobooks are a great time saver. I typically listen to a book on the way to and from the office during my 20 – 25 minute commute. I buy audio CDs from Amazon.com or borrow audiobooks from the library. Recently, I also have been enjoying audiobooks on my iPhone through Audible.com. I download a book to my phone and can listen to the book on both my iPhone or iPad. I listen to the books while exercising, walking and even when I am getting ready for work or packing for a trip. If the book is particularly good, it is difficult to stop listening. My husband has found me spending a few extra minutes sitting in my car in the garage listening to a book after I have arrived home.
Listening to a book can really enhance your "reading" pleasure, particularly when you have an excellent reader or the production uses different voices for different characters. For example, in the book, The Help, the voices were illustrative of the characters in each chapter, such as Skeeter, a young white southern girl, and Aibileen, the middle-aged black maid. The characters seemed to come to life with their voices. The Kite Runner was another book I particularly enjoyed listening to because it was read by the author with his Afghan accent. It made the story even more compelling and exotic. Other fantastic books I have listened to include The Invisible Bridge, about a family from Hungary in the beginning of the Hitler era in Europe, Where'd You Go, Bernadette, a fun book told in a 15-year-old girl's voice, and Pillars of the Earth and World Without End, two novels by Ken Follett read by a man with an English accent. His voice pulls you into England in the middle ages. The Lost Wife and The Orphan Train were other interesting books I recently enjoyed on Audible.com.
I try to move back and forth between serious books such as In the Garden of Beasts, a great listen, to more beach-worthy novels like Gone Girl or The Husband's Secret, both of which made me want to stay in the car until I finished. The best part about listening to books is that even when I am the most busy with a trial or series of depositions and hearings, I can still "read" while I exercise or on the way to work. Sharing your reading experiences with others is a great conversation starter with friends, business associates and even your spouse or significant other. I am thrilled that I have discovered audiobooks so I am not limited to reading only on vacation or an airplane.