There is something to be said for the simple pleasure of being told a story. Laying around listening to an audio book, it takes me back to childhood and marvelling at illustrations as an adult read to me. I think of preschool and primary school years, with teachers kindly reading stories to enraptured students and being led on adventures to distant lands and fairy-tale kingdoms. It was a simpler time.

I will admit that I don’t remember Grade 3 story time with the fondest of memories. The book that the class was being taught that year was “Charlotte’s Web, which is a wonderful story by E. B. White and beloved by generations. Unfortunately, I am an arachnophobe so the fact that we had to listen to a story about something I feared, even though she was supposedly lovely and helpful to poor Wilbur, coupled with a classroom full of fake webs and spiders for the year, still gives me the creeps. Apart from that brief yet memorable part of my life, I have always relished story time.

I find it interesting that story telling has gone full circle. From a largely oral tradition including epic poems, myths and legends and proverbs, stories have been available to both entertain and teach. Writing systems were originally used to keep records of economic transactions (so much comes back to the almighty dollar) yet soon evolved into ways to capture stories and preserve them for future generations. From monks painstakingly creating beautiful manuscripts by candlelight, the invention of the printing press then allowed for writing to be widespread and available to the masses. Those who could read would own books and eagerly await the next instalment of Dickens and other writers and home libraries grew. Yet not everyone was literate. Those that couldn’t read for themselves, either from illiteracy or visual impairment could hire a reader. I love hearing old stories of groups, pooling money together to hire someone to sit before them and read whatever they wished, be it the Newspaper or a novel.

With our busy modern society, people tend to say they don’t have the time to read. I can certainly understand.  Between work, life admin, looking after kids, getting some time to exercise, it seems like we scarcely have a moment to ourselves some days. I don’t have kids and find that I have more than enough to easily fill my days. I take my hat off to parents who are juggling schedules for multiple people. In recent years, the easy option for entertainment has become plonking yourself on the couch to watch some Netflix or other TV while doom scrolling through your phone and not really paying attention to either. I will admit that I have certainly been guilty of this. After a long day of work, it can seem that everything else takes just a little bit too much effort and I find it quite comforting to revisit old TV shows like “Friends”, “M*A*S*H” and even “The Nanny” while recovering from a workday.

I do find that my mood takes a sharp nosedive when I am stuck in front of the telly, seeing all the horrors of the world. The world is a scary place, and I do somewhat miss the naivety and blissful ignorance that came with childhood, back in the days when social media and being connected 24/7 certainly wasn’t an option. I am certainly older than Google. I find myself craving the sweet release of opening a book and stepping into a story that someone has crafted for me. Some books seem like they were created especially for me. They strike at the heart of a problem I am facing at the time or perfectly mirror a mood. It can be quite thrilling when this happens, and it gives me goose bumps.

I safeguard time of a morning and evening, and perhaps during a lunch break, to lose myself in a story. It is one of life’s most simple pleasures and a pleasure I am ill inclined to part with. Quite recently, I made the jump to listening to audio books to supplement my reading time. Suddenly, I was able to get in some “reading” time while driving to and from work, doing the dishes, folding the laundry. What possibilities! I will certainly admit that I find being on the treadmill or going for a walk to be far more interesting when I am plugged into a story. I used to watch a TV show while on the treadmill but would find myself zoning out and just wanting to stop. A story will hold my interest, and the treadmill is far more enjoyable.

I first ventured into audio books by listening to the Memoirs of Sam Neill and the late Matthew Perry before switching over to fiction. So many possibilities opened to me. Yes, it can take time to find the perfect narrator for the day. Some accents I also find particularly joyful to listen to (I will always have a soft spot for Irish and Scottish accents). The remarkably talented Stephen Fry both writes and narrates stories and is a favourite of mine. I admit that his telling of “The Odyssey” is next on my list of stories to listen to. He has a wonderful voice for narration and his writing style is witty and delightful, what more can I say.

I quite like my usual habit of reading something new to me and then alternating with re-visiting a classic. Some stories I haven’t read since I was a child, so it is nice to say hello to these old friends and view them through the eyes of an adult.

I have heard some argue that listening to an audiobook does not equate to reading and with this argument I must respectfully disagree. I love the feel of a book in my hands, but I cannot sit there in the dark, reading away, or have my head buried in a book and be enjoying a view at the exact same time. There are also some people who were emotionally scarred as kids by being considered slow readers, who stopped trying to enjoy stories because they felt they couldn’t keep up and that some imposed time limit for enjoying a book exists. I don’t think it really matters the format, what matters is that people are given the opportunity to discover and enjoy stories.

What are your thoughts on audio books?