Posted on 24/02/2023 in Dorothy Says
Listen Up!
5-minute read
Hello you.
How are you? Sorry to have missed you last week. And I did miss you, if that doesn’t sound too sentimental.
I missed last week’s newsletter because I had to go to hospital for a procedure (I’m totally fine, please don’t worry) and newsletter-writing time got away from me.
Going to the hospital in these times (COVID times, basically) I was only allowed to bring the bare minimum with me, which meant, for me, no physical books.
For someone who spends her life in books, you’d think I’d have flipped out, wouldn’t you? Well, I didn’t because it was fine. Yes, honestly, because I could just dive back into the book I was reading via the Audible app on my phone.
No physical book allowed, no problem. Well there was one, because I forgot my headphones but you know what I mean!!
Anyways, imagine my surprise when I opened up TikTok the other day to find, according to lots of people, I wasn’t really reading when I was listening to an audiobook. I was actually committing some kind of sin because I wasn’t using my eyes to consume my latest read.
Can you imagine! That’s what is being put out there now: listening to an audiobook is some kind of deviant act.
Wow, I thought, wow.
I’ve been listening to stories since I was tiny. Put aside the audiobook for a moment, when I was little, my older brother used to read to me as did my parents. When I was older, I used to love going to book events so I could hear the author read from their books. And even now, my husband gets me to read to him whenever I can because he loves it so.
I love being read to, just like I love listening to audiobooks.
And do you know what? Research from across the globe shows that reading to children helps improve literacy skills, increases vocabulary, and builds a strong connection between the reader and the child. Some of the best books I consumed as a child got into my brain and imagination via someone speaking them to me.
I’ll admit, despite loving being read to, I was a late audiobook adopter. Simply because I thought once I started down the audiobook route, I wouldn’t pick up a book again. Well, it turned out to be the opposite to that – when I’ve got an audiobook on the go, I’ll have the eBook and paper book to hand, too, and will move between them all. This was how I pleasantly read all those books on my list for the Women’s Prize – I very easily utilised the different formats to immerse myself in the novels.
And, this may be TMI, but when I’m doing my cleaning of a Sunday morning, I stick an audiobook on with my rubber gloves. When I’m doing one of my epic cooking sessions, I stick on an audiobook while I’m chopping, stirring, simmering and not following the recipe. When I’m waiting to go be operated on, I stick on an audiobook (well I would, if I hadn’t forgotten me headphones).
I can’t see how this can be seen as disrespecting the act of reading; I think I’m actually honouring it by doing what our ancestors did – learning through listening.
I was about to launch into a big long list of reasons why audiobooks are great and why we shouldn’t dunk on those who use them and then I remembered there really is only one reason: it’s not my business how anyone else legally consumes books.
That they can continue to buy and enjoy books is enough for me.
Reading words is good. Listening to words is good. Touching words is good.
Basically, it’s all good. And if you’re a true book lover, you’ll know that. : )
Three audiobooks I enjoyed listening to recently are:
- A Million Aunties by Alecia McKenzie
- The Lies You Told by Harriet Tyce
- The Khan by Saima Mir
Do you audio? If you do, what have you enjoyed? If you don’t, might you give it a try? Do let me know.
Talk to you soon, lovelies.
Dorothy x
(Please excuse typos, I’m only human.)
PS Don’t forget: you can pre-order a signed copy of My Other Husband here and unsigned copies here and here to make sure it arrives in your life as soon as possible after it’s released.
