When I tell someone I just read this really great book — “Well, the audiobook version — I usually get a side-eye glance that’s the silent equivalent of saying, “You didn’t reeeaaad a book. That’s cheating.” I guess it is, in the traditional sense of reading, but have you ever tried to listen to someone tell a really long story only to realize 10 minutes in you completely zoned out and missed half of it? Listening to an audiobook takes a lot of mental focus.
I never considered audiobooks until last year, when I was training for the Chicago Marathon and was bored out of my mind with running. Running long distances is as mental as it is physical. I’ve struggled through three-milers simply because my head wasn’t in it. But here I was, 4 miles into a 16-miler, and I was done. There was no music in the world that could get me out of that funk.
Around the same time, I was struggling with the fact that I was traveling like crazy and never seemed to have time to relax and do nothing. I recall saying, “I just want to sit down and, I don’t know, read a book.” But between work, travel (for work), and training for a marathon, I couldn’t find the time to do it.
Then I realized, hey, if I’m going to run for three hours, why not listen to a book? It may not provide the energetic vibe of music, but I don’t need to run fast; I just need to get the miles in at a comfortable pace. And I get to “read” a book. Two birds, one stone.
Since I started listening to audiobooks while running last year, I’ve finished six books — a total of 52 hours, 17 minutes of listening time — and I just started a seventh yesterday. It likely would have taken me a lot longer to get through those six books had I been reading, versus listening, to them since I’m easily distracted from any leisurely activity, so I love that I’m able to get the uninterrupted listening time.
So, my point is, give audiobooks a chance. Especially if you’re someone that struggles to find time to sit down and read. (But if you’re like our Fishie Sam and can read a book in one sitting, check out her summer reading list filled with print books.)
- Currently listening to: What I Talk about When I Talk about Running: A Memoir (4 hours, 23 minutes)
- Just finished: Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen (11 hours, 6 minutes)
- Before that: Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail (13 hours, 2 minutes)
- Earlier this year: Girl, Stop Apologizing(8 hours, 10 minutes)
- During the Chicago Marathon: Me Talk Pretty One Day (5 hours, 51 minutes)
- Training for the Chicago Marathon: Year of Yes: How to Dance It Out, Stand in the Sun and Be Your Own Person (7 hours, 4 minutes) and Girl, Wash Your Face (7 hours, 4 minutes)
