I Was Wrong About Audiobooks

Photo: Distingué CiDDiQi/ Unsplash

In my 20s, I refused to listen to audiobooks. For starters, to me, it didn’t count as actual reading. I also loved, and still love, paper books. To experience an audiobook felt like a betrayal to this admiration.

On top of all of that, I also thought it’d be incredibly slow, and I wouldn’t be able to skip around the book as I like to. I’d have to listen to it front to back.

Plus, I couldn’t take notes in it. What would I do with all the marginalia? On top of that, even if I wanted to write things down, I’d probably be doing something else — commuting, washing dishes, and so on and so forth.

So, I never tried audiobooks until a couple of months ago. One thing I did realize a couple of years ago was the power in doing the opposite, and how much good luck (“unexpected positive outcomes”) I experienced from trying new things. I also was falling behind on my reading, I had a couple of free audiobook credits, and I decided to just give it a shot.

And here I am, writing it:

I really wished I tried audiobooks sooner.

I bought one audiobook and got two for free, and I’m really enjoying the couple that I’m listening to. Here are some things I didn’t expect:

• I’d already prepared to re-listen to audiobooks, so I’m not too worried or stressed about…