let’s talk bookish| audio addict

Hello again, dear friends! I hope all is well for you, and if it’s not then I hope brighter days head your way soon! I’m sorry my posts have been a tad sparse lately, I’ve been dealing with an ongoing medical emergency involving my cat. Anyhoo, today I’m participating in another Let’s Talk Bookish, and this week we’re discussing one of my favorite things: audiobooks!

I adore this week’s topic as I almost exclusively read books in audiobook format! This is partially due to my disabilities (I have chronic photosensitive migraines, ADHD, and chronic fatigue, all of which make reading physical books and e-books very difficult), but I also love the art form of oral storytelling and have listened to audiobooks (and had stories told to me orally by family and friends) since birth. Oral storytelling is one of the most ancient arts and predates written storytelling by millennia, so I always find the discourse implying that audiobooks are “the lesser form of reading” very strange (not to mention incredibly ableist as well).

I am fortunate in that between using Hoopla and Libby as a member of five different library systems and being a subscriber of Spotify Premium, I have access to most every traditionally published audiobook. My biggest tip for people looking to access audiobooks without breaking the bank is to look into your libraries’ collections on Libby and to also see if your library has a subscription to Hoopla. Libby is an app where library systems can pool their individual curated collections of audiobooks and e-books. You can add multiple cards from different library systems on the app and can fluidly switch between library systems to borrow books. Contrastingly, Hoopla has the same collection for all libraries subscribed to the service, but the collection is also pretty large and is regularly updated with new releases. Hoopla has a wide collection of audiobooks in various genres, and it also has e-books, digital graphic novels and comic bind-ups, TV series, movies, and music albums.

Another factor to consider (aside from what you have access to) when choosing an audiobook can be narrator. This is where things can get fun, as I think it’s really neat to discover different narrators’ varying styles and to hear how that affects and influences listeners’ feelings during the story! In all honesty, because I pretty much exclusively read audiobooks, I’m very used to listening through any kind of narration, even when it grates on my nerves, and enjoying the story anyway, but I do still have a favorite narration style and several favorite narrators I’ve come across.

When it comes to the type of voice and narration style I enjoy, I’ve found that I like a very lyrical and almost ephemeral yet grounded tone, sound, and style. I think narrators who really embody this style are Fiona Hardingham, Steve West, Imani Jade Powers, Soneela Nankani, and Elizabeth Evans. My all-time favorite narrator, though, hands down has to be January La Voie, who is the outstanding narrator of Libba Bray’s Diviners series. La Voie goes above and beyond when narrating the series, including singing snippets of song well, modifying her voice to sound like a 1920s era reporter’s trans-Atlantic accent, and having distinct voices for all characters! She’s amazing, but I also haven’t come across many other audiobooks narrated by her, which is a shame. A newer audiobook narrator I’ve discovered and enjoyed is Laila Kharouba, who narrates my current read, You Started It by Jackie Khalilieh. It might seem like contemporary books might be less dependent on narration, since most of them have characters with American or British accents, but in this audiobook Kharouba has really made a difference. The reason is that the story involves Arab Canadian characters, and I can tell Kharouba at least speaks some Arabic based on how she narrates Arab accents and says some of the Arabic words. Her narration helped You Started It to feel even more authentic, which is a great example of how narration can affect how readers understand a story when listening to an audiobook!

Do you like audiobooks? If so, do you have any favorite audiobook narrators? Where do you typically get your audiobooks from?

Learn more the author of this post:

Lila @ Hardcover Haven

Lila is a 30 year old anthropology student and lover of literature who's been book blogging for an eternity. Her hobbies include reading, singing, writing, arts and crafts, and snuggling her two cats, Snoopy and Clementine.