It was no surprise that I had to change my reading habits after my son was born. What was something of a surprise – to me, anyway – was how quickly I opened up to audiobooks. I never really enjoyed them before. I’m horrible at multitasking, and audiobooks never worked for me unless I was giving them all my attention… which would defeat the purpose. But I preferred reading, and I never had much time where listening was more convenient than reading anyway, so it didn’t really matter.
I still prefer reading, but the time thing… well, that’s no longer the case.
During the last Bout of Books, I decide to include an audiobook – Seriously… I’m Kidding, by Ellen DeGeneres. What I found was that humorous nonfiction is great audiobook material, especially when narrated by a celebrity I already know and enjoy.
I followed it up with two books I thought might be similar – Amy Poehler’s Yes Please and Tina Fey’s Bossypants. All three had moments that made me laugh out loud. But my favorite was Ellen’s book, and it took me a while to realize why. It wasn’t a memoir; it was a collection of essays. You could say the other two were as well, but those women included a lot more autobiographical content than Ellen did (maybe because this is her third book).
It’s sort of unfortunate that I listened to them in this order. Starting strong gave me an enthusiasm for this new world of audiobooks that’s only diminished with each one. Maybe it’s the novelty wearing off, or maybe I’m trying to do too much and getting distracted.
Or maybe it’s just that I’ve legitimately liked each book a little bit less than the last.
I’ll still plan to use audiobooks going forward. I think they’ll be a great way to get some re-reads in, and I still think I’d like to listen to more nonfiction. I just have to be ready for some books to be not as enjoyable as others, just like any other kind of reading… or anything else, for that matter.
Are you an audiobook reader?
Cheap Thrills 
See, I much preferred Mindy Kaling’s and Aisha Tyler’s books to Amy and Tina’s. Amy and Tiny get a LOT of media attention and they’re brilliant ladies – but Mindy and Aisha’s books were more fun. I read Mindy’s book and then re-read it via audio, and it was great. And I bet Aisha’s would be good on audio, but I read it in print.
Basically, humor/nonfiction audiobooks are my fave though :) I’ve also enjoyed Aziz Ansari’s book on audio, and the Freakonomics books are pretty great on audio too.
Those two are on my list as well, although my library doesn’t have them on Overdrive, only in CD format. Which, I’m glad they have them at all, but digital is just so much easier.
The thing about listening to audiobooks is that the voice and performance of the narrator begins to make a difference, too. I feel like all three of these (if read by the author) would have good performances, but YMMV. For the most part I’ve liked the narrators in the audiobooks I’ve listened to so far, but I’m a little afraid that I could come upon one that affects my liking of the book because of it.
I understand that. These were all read by the author, and were great in that sense. Where I’d be more worried about the narrator being an issue is in novels, doing character voices and such. Even in my limited experience, I’ve already come across that.
Audiobooks are my lifeline with my new commute! I loved the audio of Poehler’s ‘Yes Please!’ I’ve read Bossypants but not listened to the audio — sounds like I need to check out Ellen! :)
It was really good. Made for a great introduction to audio memoirs (though, like I said, it wasn’t really a memoir).
I love listening to audiobooks! I’m so glad you are getting into them too – they are very convenient. Listening to comedian memoirs is a good way to start – I do tend to prefer listening to fun light books. If there’s a lot of heavy detail or world-building, or characters, I need my full attention on it.
I’ve only listened to Bossypants of the three (and loved it!), but I’ve heard good things about the other books, I hope to check them out sometime!
Yeah, anything with a plot I feel like I’d get lost, unless I already know the story. That’s part of why I resisted them for so long, I didn’t want to keep feeling like I had to rewind and catch what I missed… but only listening to re-reads solves that problem. Even with the nonfiction, I know I missed parts here and there while my attention was elsewhere, but it’s not as big a deal (in my mind, anyway) as with novels.
I’ve gotten into audiobooks in the last couple of years, but I mostly use them for re-reads. I listen when I’m in the car and when I’m exercising, and that’s just perfect for me. Especially when I’m out walking, the audiobooks keep me going (one more chapter! can’t stop now!). I do have a hard time focusing sometimes, which is why I tend to avoid books that are new to me. This year, I’ve been revisiting all of Jane Austen’s books via audio, and it’s been (plus, the narrator is so fantastic that in some ways, it’s an even better experience than words on a page).
I have a massive list of audio re-reads on my Overdrive account. I don’t know if they’ll all pan out (that narrator issue) but I don’t think I’ll be running out of listening material for a while.
I just got into audiobooks since I started blogging. One of my friend introduced me to SYNC and after listening to a few I realized it was a much better use of my commute time than 20 minutes of radio commercials. This year I’ve taken advantage of audiobooks to re-read some of my favorite books like Outlander. I’m listening to Seraphina right now because I want to read Shadow Scale!
Terri M., the Director
Second Run Reviews
I haven’t had a commute in years. If I did, I probably would have embraced them before now.
Humorous nonfiction was what converted me! Sh*t My Dad Says was my first — it’s pretty irreverent, but I thought it was pretty darn funny. I do also enjoy “regular” nonfiction on audio and prefer it over print for those types of books. And re-reads are great on audio — especially for series catch-up if I want to get back up to speed before reading a new installment. Yea, so I basically agree with everything you said here :)
I loved Seriously…I’m Kidding too and want to check out Ellen’s other books when I get a chance. I also liked one by Betty White and I think she has a couple of other ones as well.
Oh! And I loved Caitlin Moran’s How to Be A Woman — I’m positive it is not everyone’s cup of tea, but I have rarely laughed so often or so hard while listening to an audio (ditto for Sh*t My Dad Says that I mentioned earlier)
Oh, I bet Betty White would be great!