Why I Love Audiobooks

If you’ve been around here long enough (and even if you haven’t !) you may know by now that I love books and I mean all formats including audiobooks, which, I think, sometimes get overlooked.

There many benefits to an audiobook and today I am going to be discussing my top 6 reasons for loving a good audiobook.

An audiobook enables you to read multiple books at once

Allow me to unleash my inner ‘nerd’ here but one of the reasons I go to an audiobook is because it enables me to read more than one book at a time. How does it do that you may ask? Well, if you think about it like this, I can read a physical or ebook but I can also have an audiobook on the go too. There are some people out there that can read multiple books at once and know exactly where they are at each point, in each book and what story is what, I am not one of them. If I am committing to a book, I will read that one through until I start the next one. However, if I listen to an audiobook in between physically reading another book, I find it much easier to retain the information of both those books. It’s sort of like I can separate the two, like: “that’s the information of the physical book, whereas this is the information coming from the audiobook”. It may just be down to personal preference but that’s how I feel about it.

They allow you to multitask/save time

Life can get busy and I don’t always have as much time to dedicate to reading as I would like. With an audiobook, I can listen at any time. Like on the commute, exercising or even doing a spot of cleaning (which actually makes the task more enjoyable, would you believe!) and that way, I am getting to enjoy a book and still be productive. It’s a win/win.

Easy on the eye(s)

If you’re anything like me when it comes to book, I’ll read in the dark, sometimes by a book light, I stare at the reading apps on my phone or my Kindle with varying levels of brightness depending on how I adjust it. Long story short, that’s light, no light or staring at screens. Not ideal for the eyes, is it?! So, what’s a better way of continuing to read without straining your eyes? An audiobook, of course!!

Accessibility

I can’t mention audiobooks without talking about accessibility, this is the reason audio books/transcription exist in the first place. Audiobooks are helpful to people who are visually impaired, but also for those who may not be physically able to hold a book and people living with learning difficulties. There are many reasons audiobooks are more accessible and inclusive for a majority of people.

Audiobooks have the same benefits of reading

Don’t let anyone tell you that opting for an audiobook over a physical book is cheating, it’s not. It’s now been scientifically proven that listening to an audiobook has the same cognitive effects on the brain that reading has. So, listen until your heart’s content, because you are still opening yourself up to new worlds and continuous learning.

They fill an (audio) void

It probably comes as no surprise that I am also a podcast listener, but there are times when I binge listen the podcast shows I am subscribed to pretty early on the week and I am left without an episode to listen to. As I like to have something on in the background – music just distracts me a little too much – when working on a task (or maybe even just to chill out) audiobooks fill the void of a podcast for me. If it comes to it, I sometimes gravitate towards an audiobook over a podcast episode if I want more length in what I am listening to.

Q: Do you listen to audiobooks and do they make reading more enjoyable for you? Let me know in the comments below!

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