An audiofile's guide to listening

By Emilyn Linden

I LOVE listening to audiobooks on Libby, the Overdrive app*. I have a long commute, and listening to a book while I’m driving makes it feel so much shorter. I get more reading done now than I have since I was a kid with summers off. And yes, listening to audiobooks is reading.

Here are a few things I’ve learned that enhance the audiobook experience:

1. Try different genres. When I first started listening to audiobooks, I only listened to young adult fiction. Just couldn't get into anything else. Now I'll listen to pretty much any genre.
2. Try different narrators. There are certain narrators I really love and certain narrators I loathe. I'll give up on an audiobook after a few minutes if I realize I'm going to hate the narrator.
3. Adjust the speed. I listen to most audiobooks at 1.75 time (almost double-speed) now, but it took me a while to get to that level. Most narrators read pretty slowly. You can adjust the speed of the narration on Libby.
4. Listen while you're doing something else that doesn’t take a lot of concentration. I love to listen to audiobooks while I'm driving. I also love to listen while I'm knitting, as long as it's not a difficult project. Sometimes I listen while I'm taking a walk or doing the dishes.
5. Check out the award winners. Audies select the best audiobooks every year from a variety of categories. They’re a great place to start your audiobook listening journey.

Suggested books that are particularly good on audio:

• Midnight Riot by Ben Aaronovitch, narrated by Kobna Holdbrook-Smith
• Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi, narrated by Bahni Turpin (I love listening to books set in foreign countries or cultures. The narrator pronounces the names for me; I don't have to try to figure them out.)
• A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman, narrated by George Newbern
• The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley, narrated by Jayne Entwistle
• A Natural History of Dragons by Marie Brennan, narrated by Kate Reading
• Leviathan Wakes by James S.A. Corey, narrated by Jefferson Mays
• Hamilton: The Revolution by Lin-Manuel Miranda and Jeremy McCarter, narrated by Mariska Hargitay and the authors
• An Absolutely Remarkable Thing by Hank Green, narrated by Kristen Sieh and the author
• Montaigne in Barn Boots by Michael Perry, narrated by the author
• A Study in Scarlet Women by Sherry Thomas, narrated by Kate Reading
• Trick Mirror: Reflections on Self-Delusion by Jia Tolentino, narrated by the author
• Good and Mad: The Revolutionary Power of Women’s Anger by Rebecca Traister, narrated by the author
• Educated by Tara Westover, narrated by Julia Whelan

*Need help learning how to download audiobooks? Call the Reference Desk at 920-322-3930 and one of us will walk you through it.

Emilyn Linden is a librarian in the Information Services department.