I’ve purchased two dozen audio books and have listened to some of them more than once. I’ve been lucky that the readers’ voices fit the stories.

My most recent book  Dumplin’ by Julie Murphy was a magical discovery.

Willowdean Go Big or Go Home

This was the first audio book I didn’t purchase because I decided I needed to economize. Audio books can cost as much as a good hard cover book and they are available through my library and the OverDrive App.

The library has many  books available but like borrowing a popular book from the library, I’m on-hold lists for books I want to read. This book was an immediate borrow.

In the morning while I applied my makeup, ate my breakfast, and on my drives around the city, Willowdean’s story became part of my day. Because this book was about fifteen hours, that is a long time to spend listening to someone tell a story, and if I was in a place where I wanted to continue finding out what was happening in Willowdean’s life, I’d listen while I was preparing dinner and then again while I got ready for bed.

Audio books are different from print because we are using our sense of hearing and nothing feels more comforting then to have someone tell me a story.

I recommend that you give this way of reading a chance and borrowing a book from the library is a good beginning.

But if you become anxious to have a book where you are way down on the borrow list, for instance, I’m fourteenth on the list for a few books. Each patron is allowed to have the book for two weeks. That is twenty-eight weeks before I can experience The Summer Before the War by Helen Simonson, and nineteen patrons will hear The Nest by Cynthia D’Aprix Sweeney before I do, but I am next on the list for the Giller Prize Shortlist, 13 Way of Looking at a Fat Girl by Mona Awad. You might consider investing.

This is just one screen on my audio library. Yes, an average audio book might be $22.00 but if they are 15 -18 hours long, that is just over a dollar an hour. When looking at it this way, good entertainment for a reasonable price. And then when I listen for the second time it is even less.

One screen on my audio library