I tried many times with audiobooks, even with books I’ve read, I couldn’t pay attention, usually 40 went by and I was “what did I just hear”.

The only kind of audiobook I like it’s called 讲古，it’s basically a man or a woman telling a book, instead of reading it word by word, he or she would make it sound like a story your grandma is telling, in great details and never miss anything. Growing up I owned some cassette tapes, listened to them again and again.

Got to know why you hate her books. Not for you or dislike something about her writing?

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Aye, that second part is often overlooked, especially generationally. When I was in highschool (back when dinosaurs roamed the earth), no one talked about trauma, or depression, or mental health. Literally no one. Today, every parent I know is friends with someone whose child "took a year off and went to school in Utah" and we all know what they're saying.

And even those parents ... so few recall Holden being in a residential program, journalling as part of his treatment, his depression from untreated trauma over his beloved brother's death, his sexual assault experience... Egads we were taught badly.

Its a completely different skill from reading. I have struggled with full length books, but do fine with short stories and podcasts, probably because they are less intricate and short fiction has fewer characters to keep track of.

The only audiobooks I ever listen too are always thrillers. And I listen to them while I’m doing a dull task like dishes/laundry, so I can easily zone out and listen to them. Try doing a chore or project while listening and see if that works

I couldn't listen to audiobooks until I could.

That being said the audiobook I listen to have to be simple or I will just be hopelessly lost. I usually opt to listen to YA novels.

I also have to be in the right mindset--like I can't listen to them to or from work, or at the gym-- but I can focus pretty well when I'm in the shower, out for a walk, or doing chores.

I have learned over the years, that I choose the audiobook based on the person(s) reading it. A first rate audiobook has first rate readers who are professional actors. When you have several readers each playing a part it’s like being at a play. Don’t try to listen to too many chapters at once. I usually listen during my daily walks. Try it that way. Slowly.

I can't audiobook or podcast. Processing spoken language takes my full mental capacity and even at it's peak I can always read several times quicker. Without my full and undivided attention I may as well be listening to white noise.

I attribute this partially to books and (non voice acted) video games being the primary media I consumed as a kid. I never really watched TV/listened to radio. I also think it is some mild kind of neurodivergence.

Similarly, I find music with lyrics in English either distracting or annoying. I happily listen to music with lyrics in other languages though.

Hold the phone, there was a sex scene?!? Between whom? Reba and Dolarhyde??? [scrabbling through my books] Red Dragon is here somewhere....

Personally I can't listen while driving or working out unless I'm already very invested in the story. Especially driving since I'm so focused on the road and what the other cars are doing. My husband listens to books while cooking, and I can't do that either.

Like another comment said, try doing mundane things. I can walk around the neighborhood while listening. Sometimes I fold laundry or do very very boring chores. I can't multitask with my thinking and have just embraced it.

Also - I don't know if this is your problem, but I will mention it in case it helps - I get bored to tears listening to things at 1x speed. I bump up the speed on audiobooks to 2x and that help keep the story moving fast enough that I stay focused.

Yes. I've been keeping track for about 20 years. I also keep track of movies I watch.

For me it’s all about the narrator. Most of the books I DNF are audiobooks.

I’ve listened to some outstanding non-fiction audiobooks. Endurance comes to mind. That read more like a novel, honestly. Absolutely riveting.

I generally drive or am working out while I listen. There are some times where my brain wanders or I get distracted by idiot drivers so it is harder to go back and re-listen to what I missed. I have recently been listening to books I’ve already read. That helps if I miss portions since I’m already familiar with the story.

My reading is 80% audiobooks and has been for years. I still have trouble with some. I have a few thoughts about it and tips that help me.

1. I have to speed them up or I get lost in my own thoughts.
2. Bad voices can ruin perfectly good books, if you don’t like the voice acting it’s going to be hard to have a good experience.
3. It’s a skill, just like print reading. I have gotten better at it over time. A brain can reshape to become better at processing audio information, but it’s work at first.
4. Nonfiction is harder in audio I usually read it in print unless it’s narrative nonfiction.
5. I try to start books when I’m doing something very boring, like dishes. I sometimes have to restart a few times, but that also happens to me with print. Once I get going I’m usually able to do slightly more difficult tasks and still focus.
6. Books that jump perspectives frequently without any audible indication are not a great place to start.

I wouldn’t be able to read nearly as many books if it weren’t for audiobooks so I do think it is worth pursuing if you want to read more books but have limited time you can spend looking at print.

It's currently canceled with only three seasons. It's surprisingly gory for a network show though some of the dialogue is just hammy as all get out but then so is the source material. I'd watch it if I could rewatch it again for the first time.

Happy cake day!

Dark horse apparently but I think Italic has been a delight to use as a Goodreads substitute

Blood Meridian is really powerful, it is hard for me to reread sometimes with the violence, but line for line I think McCarthy is probably the best American writer for prose.

I have never heard of How High We Go but I am going to reserve it on Libby.

Did you read the Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet? Very similar feeling, I had to read it slow because the feelings it gave me were so enticing and rich.

The writer has a lot of books about this theme, I hate her books (I admit she's a good writer but my teacher was a fanatic lol) and the one that hit me the most after this one (the first of her books I read, like all chilean people at school) was "Of love and shadows", it has a movie too (with Jennifer Conelly looking super pretty). The end is brutal and realistic, but it may be considered good tho

I have a similar issue, except I start to space out when I'm reading physical books. For me listening to someone's voice really helps with getting through a book. Typically when I listen to audiobooks I'm not doing anything strenuous, I'm usually just relaxed on the couch.

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Born A Crime was superb! I love Trevor Noah!

There are some narrators whose voices or style you just don't click with. I was very lucky, early on (cassettes fed into the car radio, be sad for me) to come across Patrick Stewart reading A Christmas Carol, completely mesmerizing; and Ron Moody reading Oliver Twist. Moody played Fagin on Broadway, and performed all the voices in his full-length narration. Stunningly awesome. Of course, I approached these with lowered expectations, Dickens, you know, a yawn, dutifully making up for what I failed to read in school... And THEN, these audiobooks and subsequent ones were so good that I'd had to pull over (NYC traffic) when I couldn't concentrate on the road. Feel free to try and discard different narrators; maybe even start with a story you like and know. Look at your interface, Hoopla and Libby allow you to slow the reading speed; I had to do that for Picture of Dorian Gray.

He does show up in the movie with almost a 1:1 adaption! He's played by Philip Seymour Hoffman in the movie and is a recurring character in the Hannibal television series played by Lara Jean Chorostecki.

I love Kristin Lavransdatter so much.

I like to write reviews for my future self on Goodreads. I've gone back years later to see what I thought about something, like when it's made into a movie. The only other person who reads them is my sister (and I read hers)