The Magic of Sound
I’m sitting here writing this and listening to the end of The Kind Worth Saving by Peter Swanson. I’ve never been an audiobook fan—finding myself impatient with them as I want to skim over certain parts, though, you can’t really skim an audiobook.
But lately, growing bored with some of my regular podcasts, I decided to give The Return of Ellie Black a try. It was a well done book, with multiple narrators and several different ways to keep my attention. I was hooked. I use the Libby app and have now listened all the way through three books—including a favorite of the year, Everyone on this Train is a Suspect.
And now, I’m thinking of revisiting books I couldn’t quite get through earlier. I’m going to try an Ace Atkins Spenser novel. It’s interesting, I love Atkins and Spenser, but haven’t been able to get all the way through any of his take on the great Boston PI. It is not Atkins’ fault for that. There’s something about the way he absolutely nails Spenser’s (and therefore Robert B. Parker’s) voice that confuses me. I, on one hand, love how much it sounds like Spenser, but on the other, know it isn’t Robert B. Parker.
An uncanny valley.
But maybe audio is the way to go with that. Another layer of separation from the text. I know a lot of people like to say audiobooks don’t count, but they’re wrong. Being read to is a perfectly viable way to consume books.
I am looking forward to giving this one a try.