And You Thought You Didn’t Have Time to Read
Reading is an entertaining pastime. The task can sometimes be carving out time to do it, or if you find yourself in a reading rut, finding new way(s) to enjoy it. Ideally, I want to put on comfy clothes, curl up with my blanket and coffee (iced or hot, depending on my mood) and read from cover to cover. However, being a busy mom, my ideal reading time is like a fairy tale.
Audiobooks are a game changer! Smartphones and other smart devices create handsfree two-fer opportunities. Audiobooks are a great way to simultaneously "read" while driving, doing miscellaneous chores and even working.
Audiobooks allow the reader/listener to take in the material via a different sensory experience. My recent favorite genre is autobiographies and memoirs read by the author. Titles such as Elaine Welteroth’s More Than Enough, Trevor Noah’s Born A Crime and Glennon Doyle’s Untamed are vulnerable tellings of each author’s life experiences from which you will likely have meaningful takeaways after “reading.”
One book that has truly elevated the audiobook game is Will by Will Smith. I know that some people still are not feeling him due to his behavior at the Academy Awards at the beginning of this year, but from the time you hit play, this publication keeps you engaged with laughter, tears and MUSIC. It is unputdownable! When you use audiobooks you don’t have to physically pick it up. Pop your earbuds in and listen to the author, a human being, share their story.
There are also a variety of apps, like Libro.fm, that readers can download to support independent bookstores of the reader’s choice. Now you’re buying audiobooks AND helping independent bookstores while supporting authors too. That’s a clean sweep! If you prefer to use preexisting apps on your phone like Apple Books or Google Books, open the app and start listening.
Bonus: These apps also have timers on them so you can set the timer and knock out a one or two items on your to-do list while listening to a chapter or two, or finish the entire book. Either works!
Play it again: Some books become classics, and like movies, each time you re-visit them, you “see” something new or different each time, like I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou, for example. What will be your first or next listen/read?
Brittany is a book lover with a continuously lengthening To Be Read (TBR) List.She lives in an Atlanta suburb with her husband and two daughters
