My Newest Hobby/Obsession: Audiobooks!

At the beginning of this year, I decided I wanted to read more.  I have always enjoyed reading but never made time for it.  I told myself I was setting a goal of reading 40 books this year.  Even though it’s somewhat of a hefty goal, with 52 weeks in a year, I thought, I should be able to get it done.  So far, I’ve read 38 books.  Sort of.  There are two reasons I say ‘sort of’.  One, is that I haven’t actually physically “read” all of those books, but listened to the audio versions instead.  The second reason, is that a few of the books I chose, I didn’t like, and couldn’t force myself to finish them.  So I’ve got a few books on my list that I’ve read halfway through, and I figured two halves make a whole, and that’s how I got to 38.  I really don’t like quitting on things; in life, in general, and that includes books.  However, I also don’t like wasting time and being miserable, so when weighing the options, I choose to stop reading/listening to any book that I find unenjoyable.

The reason I chose to listen to books instead of reading them is mostly due to the fact that I have a long commute to and from work, about an hour.  I figured listening to books would help pass the time and also help me meet my goal.  I subscribe to a service called Audible.com for about $15 a month, and I absolutely love it.  I get the books right on my phone and I listen in the car with earbuds, it’s perfect!  There are times I’m in my car all alone laughing, crying, cringing or gripping the steering wheel for dear life while listening to a book!  Sometimes, I get so into a book that I don’t even want to get out of the car, because that means I have to stop listening!  There are books I’ve listened to the whole way through and then started over from the beginning and listened again, because I loved it so much.  In case you are looking for something new to read, the ones I have listened to twice in a row are: Donna Mabry’s ‘Maude’, Amy Schumer’s ‘The Girl With The Lower Back Tattoo’ and Tyler Oakley’s ‘Binge’.  I cried, I laughed, I smiled, I felt, I learned, and I related to something in all three of those books.

Sometimes I am so into a book that I feel like I HAVE to talk about it with someone.  Here’s the thing, unless that someone is also reading that book or is very much into reading like I am, they don’t care.  I remember trying to tell my husband about the above mentioned ‘Maude’ and he was trying so hard to be polite and listen, but then I made the mistake of asking him a question about what I was saying and he had to admit ‘Sorry, you lost me halfway through.’  I was a little disappointed, but I couldn’t really blame him.  I guess if he was trying to reiterate a story from a book that he was really into and I wasn’t, he would have lost me too.

I’ve done this a few times, and I don’t mean to, it just happens! I get so excited about a book that whenever anyone starts talking to me about reading, I go on a tangent about the latest book I’m obsessing over.  Sometimes the other person has read said book and they get into the discussion too, but more often than not, they are a casual reader that picks up a book a few times a year and they are only listening to me to be polite.

I’ve thought about joining a book club, so I can talk about books with others, but I don’t know of any, or really where to start looking for one.  If you know of any local ones, let me know!  Also, full disclosure, the last three books I’ve read/listened to have been busts.  All three came highly recommended with stellar reviews online, but for whatever reason I couldn’t get into Cormac McCarthy’s ‘The Road’, Yann Martel’s ‘The Life of Pi’ or John Kennedy Toole’s ‘A Confederacy of Dunces.’ I made it half-way thru the first two, and three-quarters of the way through the latter, but I was forcing myself to listen, and wasn’t enjoying it, so I stopped and moved on.  I’m always on the lookout for my next favorite book, so if you have any suggestions, I’d love to hear ’em!



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