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Sounds like you may be more visually inclined. I have a very high auditory inclination. So audiobooks work great for me.

Perhaps short stories or essays might be better audiobook genres for you where they have self contained bite sized cutes you can consume in whole in individual sittings and not have the need to follow a long literary thread.

Not all books work on audiobook for me. I read A Brief History of Time on paper in college. I reread it as an audiobook and even though I'd already read it, I got nothing from it. The book is just too dense for me to read as an audiobook. If I get distracted for a little bit, it's a big deal.

Lighter books are great. I listen to them while driving, working out, or doing chores around the house. It would also matter what kind of driving. I'd not listen to one in busy traffic.

Audiobooks put me to sleep! Every single time. Funny enough i like scary story podcasts with the sound effects and all. But audiobooks i just can’t do. I want to like them bc i they seem like a quick way to digest material but just not for me🤷🏾‍♀️

I couldn’t handle audio books until I realized I could adjust the speed to be much faster. It’s hard for me to pay attention when stories move slowly. It feels boring. By making the narration faster, it immediately became more engaging and almost conversational. I started at 1.5 speed, but now I mostly listen at 2x speed!

Well, if you compare it to the greatest novels of all time, no it doesn't hold up. I just read it because a co-worker had a copy. I liked the journey of the archivist woman, and the themes of isolation and discovery. I could have done without the woman shitting with the bear every morning. I was prepared for the bear sex, I wasn't prepared for this horny ass woman trying to fuck this bear when the bear didn't really want anything to do with her. But you shouldn't be comparing it to Kafka or Beckett, you should be comparing it to other Canadian literature. It's more like an Alice Munro or early Margaret Atwood, just with more bear sex. There's all that stuff about being a woman in a man's world, and being viewed as an object of sexual desire by everyone (her boss, Homer), and her desire for the bear seems sort of related to that.

I'll listen to music if the book mentions it, but otherwise would find it distracting. Can't imagine throwing on random classical music that may not even match the period, it'd be like having two different emotional tones going on at once.

My dad described Bach's St. John's Passion as 'nice, Churchy music'. I tried to listen to it, it's just full of a sense of religious awe/terror, despite being a militant atheist, ended up an emotional wreck. Not all music is that emotional to potentially clash with a book (or not, maybe) as much, but a piece like that, I can't understand how it could even not bother someone.

I am also into opera so the line between books and music as narrative doesn't really exist as much, maybe. There's quite a lot of opera adaptations of books/plays, too! (Sometimes the opera version has become the more known, like Carmen, La Bohème, though those two also made a lot of changes to the source material)

I agree with Laura9624. A good narrator can make all the difference. My eyesight is not as good as it used to be and having been an avid reader my entire life audiobooks have been a godsend. I've given up on listening books I've loved for years due to crappy narrators . Don't give up yet!

I read this in High School and it was my answer to "What is your favourite hook?" for a long time.

Yes. I like to look back and see what I read during the year- titles, authors, and number of pages!

I am not an auditory learner, so it took me a bit to get into audiobooks.

Foremost, you have to find when is best for you—I listen to them on my commute to work and while doing chores that don’t require thinking, like laundry, dishes, gardening, etc. I cannot just sit/lay and listen to an audiobook—my mind wanders. (But, I know lots of folks who cannot listen to books while driving).

Secondly, you can speed up and slow down books. (This has also helped me to like more audiobooks, so sometimes the pacing is brutal, and I can change it). I am also able to listen to books faster now than when I started—I feel like I had to train my brain!

If it’s something you want to do, you absolutely can with practice! Don’t give up!!

You may want to try a newer audio production by a very experienced and skilled narrator. As someone who has listened to over 1000 audiobooks, I can tell you that narrator/recording quality is just as variable as writing quality. When listening to an audiobook, not only does the writing (story, prose, etc...) have to hold your interest, but the narrator has to also pull their weight. Project Hail Mary is a recent release that has widespread appeal with a very experienced and talented narrator.

Also, you need to perhaps manage your expectations with respect to "remembering the contents of a book." That's not how memory works. You can't expect a single exposure (video, audio, or print text) to translate into defacto-knowledge that you can call upon days, weeks, or months later. Memorizable facts require spaced repetition, but even then, there's a decay in memory after repeated exposure to the information ceases.

As far as listening while you drive vs. listening while you work out, cognitive science doesn't support the active processing of auditory inputs while you are engaged in exercise. You might be expecting too much of yourself. Driving, on the other hand, particularly highway cruising and highway road tripping (not actively navigating or dense urban traffic), is a fairly automatic "background" activity cognitively speaking, so it makes sense that focusing on audiobooks is less arduous under these circumstances.

So, to summarize: there are a lot of factors that go into audiobook enjoyment. If you are still interested, I hope these talking points are helpful.

I can’t listen to audiobooks. My mind wanders and, just like you, I have no idea what I was listening to!!

I can listen to podcasts, though.

Same thing would happen to me. I can’t even sit through a lecture.

>. I usually listen to audiobooks while driving or working out like most people do

concentrate on books or activities.

there's a balance.

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there is only one brain absorbing words.. so it can't be too busy doing other things (like counting reps) if the book is too dense.

The Girl in a Swing was like this for me, couldn't stop thinking about it for weeks.

I’m ashamed to say I’ve been meaning to read this for years now!

Thank you for the reminder - I should get to it promptly!

I have grown to love audiobooks. I've learned you must have a good narrator. I just listened to narrator on that and its a no for me. Think of it as someone reading you a story. That's not something most of us remember. O think my first ones were Born a Crime and The Bookwoman of Troublesome Creek. Both pretty easy to listen to but not being used to it. I did use Go Back function more.

Also. Only listen doing mundane things. Washing dishes, laundry etc. Exercise or walks. Raking leaves.

You might love it. Listen to the samples.

I can listen to audio books but I have to be in the right mind and doing certain tasks to absorb them. For example, I can listen when I'm driving to or from a familiar place or cleaning but not if I need my focus on whatever task I'm doing.

I don’t.

Life’s too short to suffer through things that don’t resonate.

I picked up on the hint that Holden was gay cause it seemed familiar to me... The guy who punch me to prove he wasn't gay also noticed Holden was gay. Hummmm... Me think she doth protest too much.

My English teacher later discussed the book with me and how Holden sexuality is often brought up at the college level.

Everytime i read Blood Meridian. I am reading How High We Go in the Dark right now and am reading only one chapter at a time to make the emotion last. I did this with Cloud Atlas and others. I know after 2-3 chapters if this will be a thing.

How on earth can you forget a book about bear sex? Lol

Yes.