What I'm Loving: Traditional Books and Audiobooks

As you know by now, I love to read. It's how I unwind, learn new information and research a topic. In 2022, I listened to a personal record of 12 audiobooks! (I do love the Libby app!) I also read more nonfiction than I can recall from any previous year.

With a significant increase in my preference for audiobooks and nonfiction, I dove a little deeper into my Goodreads list, and realized I prefer to listen to nonfiction books rather than fiction books. Moreover, a few days a week, I commute to work and tend to listen to audiobooks or podcasts. These factors explain my discovery. (As a side note, I love to read traditional nonfiction books. I have several on my 2022 list, but when it comes to audiobooks, I lean heavily to nonfiction.)

Why do I prefer to listen to nonfiction over fiction? Upon further reflection, I've concluded that it's largely due to the narration. Nonfiction books are often read by the author. This adds to the listening experience. I feel a deeper connection to the content and prose. It's feels conversational and engaging.

When listening to fiction books, I'm sometimes distracted by the voice or tone of fictional audiobook characters. It's not uncommon for me to begin listening to fiction book and quickly determine the narrator's voice doesn't fit with what I feel like the character might sound like had I read the book in a traditional format. I'll sometimes switch to the traditional book. There are several exceptions to this, and on a few occasions narrators have made the listening experience better than the traditional reading experience. For example, I loved listening to The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid, and most recently, Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus.

Either way, I love that I have the option to read books in either format! I'm very excited to immerse myself in books this summer!

Happy Reading!

Some of the links in this post are affiliate links and if you go through them to make a purchase we will earn a commission. Keep in mind that we link these companies and products because of their quality and not because of the commission we may receive.