How do you get on with audiobooks? Are you into them? Do they work for you? And most importantly, do you count them as a book?
I was never much of an audiobook guy ā but I guess podcasts won me over. The fact that Iād walk around town with my headphones in (or on ā depending on which model I used on the day) listening to a voice or voices meant that, one day, I could (quite easily) make the change.
The person that helped with that change was Jon Ronson. Iām such a fan of his work and thanks to knowing his documentaries and radio-shows I was already attuned to his voice. His voice is very important. I hear his voice when I read his work. He has a āvoiceā for the page as writers do ā but when Iām reading his words thatās his actual voice in my head, or my memory of it at least. I hear it. I hear it ā thanks to things like his brilliant head-to-head battle with Malcolm Gladwell. Spoiler Alert: Ronson wins!
So, when I couldnāt get hold of Ronsonās then-new book, So Youāve Been Publicly Shamed (I needed it the day it was released you understand!) I turned to the audiobook. That was my first proper attempt at being an audiobook appreciator. It worked out well, and the roughly eight hours of book-read flew by in a couple of long sessions.
Since then Iāve been back a few times ā to Audible, to the library for old-fashioned books-on-tape (well, CD!) and to various digital formats and via all sorts of platforms. Some generous sneaks upload whole audiobooks to YouTube. You can find some on Spotify. Thereās a podcast that uploads old classics as audiobooks.
To begin with, my rule was the book needed to be read by the person that wrote it ā I had to have their voice in my ears. That changed when I found Sean Penn reading Bob Dylanās memoir. Dylan himself would have been amazing ā his radio show (Theme Time Radio Hour) is one of the finest things heās ever done, but he didnāt ever read a version of his memoir. Sean Penn did. And that was cool to hear.
For the most part, I still prefer the actual author to be the reader. And Iām not big on having a cast of readers performing characters ā but thatās because Iām really a non-fiction person when it comes to audiobooks.
But I have started to step out (with my headphones on). I have started a few books from various genres with various readers ā or memoirs read by a voice-actor rather than the person that wrote the original text.
And itās been okay. Sometimes itās been fantastic.
Iāve even started adding them to my Goodreads page. Listening to a book all the way through isnāt cheating. Itās just a different experience. It counts though. It is processing the words and taking in the story and it is ā in a way, its own way ā reading.
Thatās my feeling. But I know some people feel like audiobooks are a cheat; feel like reading requires the turning of a page. We read in so many different ways now ā and often on screens. So I donāt think you get to list every website you visit as a book, but in the same way that reading comics is still reading, I think listening to audiobooks is also still reading.
You might disagree. And Iād love to hear your thoughts on this.
In lockdown I even experimented with co-reading/listening. I was working on a radio feature about Tori Amos and the timing was such that her memoir(Resistance: A Songwriterās Story of Hope, Change and Courage) had just been released. So it was not only essential research it was part of the motivation for the talk. I wanted to process the book as quickly as possible and the audio version made the most sense. Plus it was a handy motivator for lockdown walks. (I recorded the most steps ever on my Fitbit in one day, nearly 40,000, due to my near addiction to hearing Tori Amos tell her story). But I also read the book. I would come home and āre-readā by revisiting a chapter on my Kindle. Iām glad I read this book twice-at-the-same-time. It made sense to me anyway. The book features whole lyrics, there as chapter starters or punctuators ā and I just canāt imagine another reading getting the line-readings as perfect as Tori. In a way it was like a series of little poetry readings in the middle of a memoir. (Good book too ā by the way. Recommended. My review of it is in the link back up there).
A friend told me, a while back, that audiobooks donāt count. But I disagree. Anything counts. And besides, itās not a competition. I donāt read for sport. I read for knowledge. For relaxation. For research. I read to learn and take on different styles, different points of view, different ways of looking at the world. Audiobooks allow you to āreadā when you might otherwise not be able to. I recently took a five-hour drive and completed a book in that time, courtesy of the car-stereo. Just me at the wheel and the book unfolding as the car negotiated the hills. It was a great use of time ā and the voice felt like a friend.
And what about if the audiobook is the only format. James Taylorās mini memoir(Break Shot ā My First 21 Years) is currently only available as an audiobook exclusive. It is only 90 minutes and features songs and incidental music by James ā and of course itās Taylor reading. It tells you his life up until his first real brush with fame. At 21 he is signed to Apple and hanging with The Beatles. It is one of the best books Iāve ever heard. Another lockdown vibe for me was to head down to the basketball court and shoot hoops listening to this. I played it through four times over a few weeks. Hypnotic. A storytelling thrill-ride. The best book on or about Taylor Iāve read. And I technically didnāt read it.
Jon Ronson seems to have moved almost exclusively into making limited podcast seriesā (see here and here) now ā basically mini audiobooks. They are riveting. I want transcripts of them. I wish they were books too ā but I revisit them as podcasts because that is how they exist. That is the medium. To me his recent podcasts are as good ā and as important ā as his earliest and best books.
So whatās your āreadā on audiobooks? They work for you? Or can you not get on with them at all?
And any recommendations for favourites ā list them below. Is there a particular book you felt worked best because of the reader that translated it to audio? Ā
I re-read books, a lot. A favourite book is like a favourite piece of music. I can read it again and get something new out of it. I have not tried audiobooks. Probably because when I am reading I am also usually listening to music. I'm not averse to the idea, I just haven't. With having more trouble with y eyes that I used to, it becomes a good option. The reading voice, yeah, that would have to be right though, that would have to match the narrator in my head.