By Charlotte Hinger
Santa dumped books by the sleigh load on our family. We all love to read. I like books in any format. I love my hardcovers, of course. But I bless the advent of library ebooks even though sometimes the waitlist is excruciating. I keep downloadable apps smoking.
I also love audiobooks! I trace that back to when I was a girl and people ironed everything. Yes, everything! My favorite day was ironing day after I was old enough to be trusted with that task. Physically, it was tiring and tedious. But I had a virtuous excuse for listening to the radio all day long.
Bliss, pure bliss. I listened to Pepper Young's Family, Stella Dallas, Fibber McGee's closet, Amos and Andy. I confess I had to draw the line at The Shadow, and the Twilight Zone. They were simply too terrifying.
These ironing days instilled my habit of listening. It transferred very easily to audiobooks. The habit of ironing was snuffed out in no time with the invention of dryers and no-iron fabrics. I didn't look back.
But go figure! Talk about ancient conditioning. When I start an audiobook, I immediately start working on something. I don't think my house would ever get cleaned if it weren't for the availability of audiobooks. When I tidy and fold clothes, there's a book playing. Ditto for cleaning bathrooms. Only vacuuming interferes with the sound. I get my audiobooks exclusively from the library through Libby and Hoopla.
Libby provides excellent sample reads and I appreciate that. I don't like some narrators. I never continue with voices I find irritating or difficult to follow. Some readers are too fast, or too affected. Some have a weird intonation.
Listening to audiobooks has improved my writing. I'm aware of middle sections that are too boring and slow down the plot, and dialogue that is nearly intolerable.
Audiobooks make long drives bearable.
Curiously, an excellent audiobook sometimes leads to increased print sales. So happy listening and reading during 2026
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