The joy of audiobooks

I hate really long books. I’m terrified by the amount of time I’ll need to commit to reading until the very end. That’s where audiobooks are a great boon. I can listen while I’m cooking or undertaking other tasks, I can speed up the narration so that the story can be consumed more quickly than normal speech. I can enjoy the book even with my eyes closed, when I’m too tired to read. They’re great when I wake up in the middle of the night and don’t want to disturb my husband by putting on the light and trying to find my place in the paperback that’s at the top of my reading pile. For me, audiobooks don’t replace digital books or paperbacks, they complement them. I heard a joke recently about audiobooks where a character suggested audiobooks couldn’t be classed as reading – it’s just listening. What’s so great about paperbacks, came the reply – it’s just looking. 

I’ve started listening to non-fiction audiobooks including Breath by James Nestor (the essential message is to shut your mouth and breathe through your nose), and writing advice contained in Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert and Bird by Bird by Anne Lamont. Both titles were recommended by members of this group and well worth reading. My last novel, The Secret Life of Carolyn Russell, was made into an audiobook. I’ve only ever listened to the sample on Amazon as I don’t want to invest any more time in a story I already know by heart. But I was pleased Dreamscape appointed Penelope Rawlins to narrate. She seemed an ideal person to conjure the voices of a menopausal journalist and a sixteen-year-old girl found in this dual timeline mystery. 

If you had the choice, which actor would you select to narrate one of your stories or novels?