5 Cozy Tips on Starting to Listen to Audiobooks

I am an equal opportunity reader. I love to read physical books and ebooks, but the type of reading I do the most is audiobooks! (Don’t even start with me on the “listening to audiobooks isn’t reading” argument.) I am a busy girl, and as much as I would love to read for hours every day, it’s just not realistic most of the time. So, in order to still consume books and work my way through my EXTENSIVE TBR*, I listen to audiobooks!

I know that a lot of people have tried audiobooks before and just didn’t vibe with them. So if that’s you, or if you have been considering trying out audiobooks, but don’t know where to start… This is for you!

I truly love the cozy vibe that audiobooks can bring to different tasks or chores in my life. I listen while I drive, work, and clean my house. It is so nice to still get to “read” while I girl-boss my way through my to-do list. 

Here are 5 cozy tips to get you started on your love of audiobooks!

Find free audiobooks! 

There are a few ways to get free audiobooks. The safest, legal-est, and most recommended (by me) way to get them is through your local library! Libby is the app that my library uses, but if you’re not sure what your library offers check their website or reach out to them! A year or two into using audiobooks, I also discovered that my library has partner libraries that I can access on Libby as well, which significantly expanded the number of books I had access to. So, don’t be like me, ask your library if they have partner libraries too from the get-go!

Pay attention to the narrator. 

The right narrator can make or break an audiobook listening experience. I have absolutely DNF’d (bookish speak for “did not finish”) an audiobook simply because I did not vibe with the narrator. If they’re someone you just listened to and didn’t like, maybe don’t try to listen to them again. Conversely, if you finish a book and think “Gods above, that narrator made me feel like I was dancing at Starfall in Velaris the whole time..” (ACOTAR reference, in case you didn’t know) then you should definitely look them up and listen to more of their work!

Adjust the speed! 

Playing around with the speed can help with listening to an audiobook and staying engaged. If you find yourself zoning out, it could be because you’re not listening to the book fast enough. If you find yourself missing parts and feeling confused, maybe you need to slow it down!

Don’t force yourself to listen to a book if you’re hating it. 

This might seem obvious, but I have definitely fallen victim to this in the past. Forcing yourself to keep listening to a book that is simply not doing it for you is not going to benefit you in the long run. All you’re going to do is send yourself into a reading slump** and nobody wants that. DNF the book, girl. It will be ok. 

Tandem listen and read! 

I don’t do this very often, but whenever I do, I really enjoy it! When I’m reading a book that I’m really enjoying, but can’t sit down and read the physical copy, I will listen to the audiobook version. Then, when I am able to sit down and cozy up, I will pick up where I left off on the audiobook, in the physical copy! Sometimes you can even follow along while listening to the book, which might help you get used to listening to audiobooks if you’re a newbie. 

I hope that these tips help you!

Yours in coziness, 

Brea

*A TBR is a “to be read” pile. It is a list/compilation of the books that you would like to read.You will often see folks in the bookish community joking about how they will simply never be able to read all of the books on their TBR.

**A reading slump is bookish speak for that overwhelming feeling of ick you get at the thought of picking up a book and trying to read it. This usually happens after you have read a very good book and are sad that you live in the human realm with the boring mortals.. OR can happen when you make yourself read a terrible book and have unintentionally convinced your brain that all books = bad.