Hello Darlings!
Today I’ll try to determine what’s stopping you from enjoying audiobooks!
I was apprehensive towards audiobooks at first as well and it took me a few tries to start enjoying them. But the good thing is — I paid attention to my pickiness and I can help you figure out why can’t YOU get into audiobooks!
So, without further ado, here we are:
AUDIO ONLY
I have trouble with processing auditory information so I know that for some people focusing on just audio is HARD.
In fact, I will be making another post just about this and what you can do while listening to audiobooks to help you focus. And, honestly, it’s anything from doing chores to playing The Sims. Just keep your hands occupied.
THE VOICE
We all have a preference when it comes to different types of voices. Some people will say they love deep voices, other will gush about cheerful voices.
So it’s natural that the voice actor can either make it or brake it for you.
Go look up audiobook samples and try to listen to 2-5 min of different ones and see for yourself what types of voices you like most!
NOT UP TO SPEED
Experiment with the speed!
You may be reluctant to speeding it up if you can’t focus on the audiobook already but human brain can process words much faster than you think and you may be losing focus because your brain doesn’t feel stimulated enough.
Slowly speed it up and slow it down again to figure out the best speed for you.
CAN’T REMEMBER NAMES
Yeah, I can barely remember all the names when I have the visual but the audiobook?
So there are two options to fixing this problem:
Either go for books you already read/ with a small cast/ with easy names.
Or just get used to identifying characters by a random string of noises…
I haven’t fixed this issue for myself yet so I’m not much help, sorry.
THINGS KEEP DISTRACTING ME
This is a rather personal one to fix as we keep getting distracted differently and for different reasons.
For me what helps is doing something with my hands as I said in point one, lisening on my headphones with the volume high enough to block out other noises, and upping my speed.
Find out what distracts you and experiment.
- What other problems do you have with getting into audiobooks?
- Do you have any other advice?
Local Bee Hunter's Nook 
I’m actually listening to Six of Crows right now, and I liked the book, but am LOVING the audiobook. The fullcast audio is really making me love this so much more than when I read it. And I’m a seriously picky audiobook listener. I struggle to keep focused on it, because I start zoning out.
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Oh, I haven’t listened to that one yet! I am picky as well (sometimes I just hear the narrator and just nope out lol) but I think I have the method now 🙂 The key is to learn what works for you! If you like fullcast audiobooks The Starless Sea had a different actor for each POV and I loved it ❤
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You hit on some of the problems I have with audiobooks. I love, love, love a good narrator! But a bad one really makes me not want to listen at all and give up. The hardest problem I have is with names and just keeping up with the storyline in general. So sometimes I’ll get a hard copy of the same book from the library so I can go back and look things up if I get confused. 🙂
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Yes, if I hate the narrator I just move on and don’t try to torture myself! I have some sensory issues though so I’m super sensitive to unpleasant stimuli. I can follow the storyline as long as I get along with the narration and there are no external issues affecting it (like being tired or unable to focus) but the names? I’ve always been bad at them and I wish I had some advice but it’s just something that slips my mind most easily 😂
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Doing something with my hands is KEY for me. I can’t just sit and listen to a book or I find my attention fading. Oh, and names have never been an issue for me until the latest book I’ve been listening to. It’s a Chinese-based fantasy, and I’ve found that I keep forgetting who’s who. I can remember the MC and the love interest, but the secondary characters keep getting mixed up in my head! But it’s the first time this has happened to me, so I supposed I can’t be too upset.
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Yep! Same for me. I was able to do excel tables and stay focused on audiobook but as soon as I have nothing else to do my attention just leaves the room. I can remember names with a small cast if they’re familiar but as you’ve said — Chinese fantasy or some hard sci-fi and I’m lost. Or a cast bigger than like 6 people. But I’m awful at names in general so I guess the audiobook is only a part of the problem 😂
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It is encouraging to read that someone who has trouble with processing auditory information has had success with audiobooks! Maybe there is still hope for me to listen to them, lol.
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Oh, my auditory processing got so much better after I started listening to audiobooks! I still struggle sometimes and need to adjust the speed and keep my hands occupied but it’s much better than when I just began!
I hope you can find a way to keep yourself engaged in audiobooks as well 🙂
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That’s great to hear! Thanks for the encouragement ^^ Do you have any favourite audiobooks you might recommend?
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Yep! Definitely The Brilliant Death by Amy Rose Capetta, Magnus Chase series by Rick Riordan, Radio Silence by Alice Oseman, and Riven by Roan Parrish! That’s off the top of my head 🙂
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Thank-you! I loved Radio Silence, so maybe rereading it via audiobooks is a place to start…
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I’ve found that 1.5 speed is usually just right for me (but not always), having the sound turned up quite loud! and doing something mindless helps me pay attention. I mostly listen to audiobooks when I’m driving (which people wouldn’t call mindless but it’s like a different kind of thinking, I don’t really know how to explain) And while I food shop. Both of these won’t really be much help to me atm because of the virus so I’m interested to see how I go with audiobooks now I’m going to be at home all the time!
As I get myself used to audiobooks I’ve been mostly listening to non-fiction and memoirs and am now listening to rereads. The voice didn’t really matter so much before but I noticed it really matters for fiction!
This was a great post E.!
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Oh, from what I’ve heard a lot of people listen to audiobooks while driving! I don’t have my license yet so never tried but it seems like a task you do in an ‘automatic’ way once you get the hang of it? I hope you can find some alternate activities to keep you occupied while listening to audiobooks 🙂
Yes, for fiction it’s like I want someone to tell me a story and not just recite the text? And I’m just sensitive to certain noises 😀
Thank you!!
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This was such a helpful post! I think I need to try experimenting with the narration speed more. I’ve tried it once or twice before, but I’m starting to believe that I need to listen at different speeds while doing different tasks. So I want to play around until I crack that code!
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Thank you! Yes, narration speed is surely an important factor. I go between 1.8x and 3x depending on many reasons. Good luck! 🙂
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This is a helpful post, E! Other than these problems, I also am not confident with my listening skills. But you mentioned about going for books I already read and I found that a good point for starters like me 😊
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I was also not confident at first (listening was always my worst English skill…) but with time and some anjustments you’ll get better at it 😉 And rereads really do help!!
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