My Love Affair with Audible

Okay. I'll admit it: I've been a closet audio book fan for years. I haven't mentioned this because, as a writer of verse novels, I felt as though I should be embarrassed to admit that I love to both immerse myself in novels bound between covers and be flown through a story on the vocal wings of a talented narrator.

Narrator Carol Boyd made revisiting this
classic Josephine Tey mystery a
wonderful new experience.

Now, as summer approaches along with the prospect of hours on airplanes and even more hours driving, I have decided to come clean. Here are just a few of the reasons Audible has become a part of my book life:

• As a writer who spends a great deal of working time reading (and writing) on-paper manuscripts, it is great to have an alternative way to enjoy novels for pleasure.
• As the mother two dyslexics, Audible has given my kids a a simple way to enjoy many titles that might have been tough to muscle through in fine print.
• As a person who spends an unpleasant amount of time in cars--driving to play rehearsals, sports practices and games, author appearances, and endless carpools--my behind-the-wheel hours are infinitely improved by the company of a well-read audio book.

Author Donna Tartt reads this audiobook
epic herself. It's like attending an author
appearance IN YOUR CAR for 22 hours!

Audible has created many opportunities for voice-over actors. Audiophiles can now enjoy an inside look at the writer-performer journey of spoken word art on the Audible Range literary blog. Now Audible is moving into original content territory (a la Netflix) with offerings ranging from meditations to "adulting" to literary classic snippets and TedTalk insights on its free Audible Channels.

I recognize and respect that listening-to and reading a story is not the same. But both have great merits. Both are ways to connect people with story. And both can be positive elements of a book-loving life.

This excellent audio version
of Herbach's young adult novel
is unstoppable in the hands of artful
reader Fred Berman. 

There. I've come clean. While I'll be packing plenty of paperbacks for the beach this summer, I'll also be loading up my iPhone Audible App with stories I might not otherwise have an opportunity to experience. As I see it, it's a win-win for me. Maybe for you, too!