Opinion | Discovering my love for audiobooks

Over the past six months, audiobooks have helped me pursue my love of reading, even with my busy schedule. Photo collage by ANGELINA HICKS, editor-in-chief

Angelina Hicks, editor-in-chief

I had always looked down on audiobooks.

I used to think it was lazy. I didn’t understand why people couldn’t just read with their eyes. I didn’t get it — what was so hard about reading an actual, physical book?

I’ve never actually shamed anyone for preferring audiobooks, but inside I knew I judged people for it. 

Since I learned to read, I’ve had my nose in a book, and I’ve never really taken it out. I have a million memories of my parents bringing me to Barnes & Noble and leaving with my arms full of books. Once, my dad forced me to choose the longest book in the kid’s section because I was flying through books too fast.

I ended up loving it and still read it in a day.

I was the kid who read during recess and lunch, before school, after school… you get the point. I never got car sick so I read in the car every day while my parents drove. When I finally got my license, the worst part was I couldn’t read in the car anymore.

Reading was (and still is) one of my favorite things to do. 

It just came so naturally to me. I’ve always said that everyone is a book lover, they just haven’t found the right book for them.

Since reading came so easily, I never understood why people preferred audiobooks. I love the feeling of holding a new hardcover book in my hands. The books lining my shelves are literally my most prized possessions. I could wander through Barnes & Noble for hours. 

There’s no other feeling like staying up late to finish a book when I genuinely just can’t stop reading — turning the actual pages and forcing my eyes not to jump to the next page as I gobble up the story.

People used to say it was a phase. I’d, of course, grow up and abandon reading altogether. I’m happy to say that’s not true. I’m 21, and reading is definitely a lifelong habit of mine that I won’t be giving up.

But like so many other readers, time slips away. Between school and work and my own writing, the time for reading slowly disappears, until you realize you haven’t picked up a book all year.

I first tried an audiobook for a novel I needed to read for a class. I just could not force myself to read it, so I figured someone could read it for me.

I apologize for the amount of money my parents spent on books for me growing up. Photo courtesy of Angelina Hicks

I bought the audiobook, put it on 2x speed and let that sucker play.

It was okay. I wasn’t super into the book, so I was really just trying any method to finish it for my class. What surprised me was the speed at which I was able to actually read the entire book.

If I read that book with my eyes, it would have taken me so much longer. But since it was audio, I could listen in the car, while I was cooking dinner, while I was doing laundry, while I was walking across campus — all at any speed I wanted the audio to play.

That literally changed the game for me.

I tried a couple more audiobooks after that, this time just for fun, and I was completely blown away. I was able to read so much faster and so much more often by listening to the book.

I drive from Orange County to San Diego County multiple times each month, and nothing makes the drive better than two hours of whatever book I’ve doven into.

Having someone read to me has also sparked sweet memories from middle school when my teacher would turn off all the lights and read a book to us. Having a book read to me brings me right back to that childhood setting.

I listen to audiobooks while eating in the caf, cleaning my apartment, driving and so much more. When there’s nothing else to do, I lay on the couch and follow along with the narrative, increasing the speed a bit to get through it faster.

I also have come to recognize the accessibility that audiobooks bring. 

Here’s me on my way to 6th grade camp — special emphasis on not only the book in my hands but also the book next to me in the car. Photo courtesy of Angelina Hicks

Audiobooks are a basic accommodation for people with blindness or low vision and tend to be more readily available than books in Braille. Audiobooks can also be a tool for people without access to physical copies of books and can help people with learning disabilities.

Although I’ve still only begun my audiobook journey, I have a few highlights and recommendations. One of the first audiobooks I purchased was “I’m Glad by Mom Died” by Jennette McCurdy, which is narrated by McCurdy herself.

It feels so intimate to hear the words exactly how they were written, especially in such an inspiring and raw nature of the memoir.

I also absolutely loved the audiobook for “Daisy Jones & the Six” by Taylor Jenkins Reid. It was recorded with a full cast of narrators, meaning every different character was voiced by a different person. There are over 20 unique voices narrating the story, and it completely drew me in.

It’s been years since I read this much. Each year I make a reading goal. In 2021, I made the goal to read 25 books, and just barely made the cut. I had to force myself to read five books in the last two weeks of 2021 to make my goal. I finished the last book at a New Year’s Eve party.

In 2022 I was less ambitious. My goal was to read 12 books (one a month), which I accomplished fairly easily. 

Now in 2023, my goal is to read 30. I don’t think I’ll have a hard time considering I’ve already read nine in January and February alone.

The downside of this is that not only am I still buying physical books to add to my shelves, but I’m also spending money to buy audiobooks as well. 

While my wallet is crying, I’m so grateful that I’m still able to find the time and energy for the activity I’ve loved since I was a child. I have audiobooks to thank.