Listening to a Great Read

This past week I had two seven-hour stretches of driving by myself (with my beagle) to and from Northern Michigan. When I’m with my family driving, we talk, play games, listen to music. When I’m on my own, I listen to books and podcasts. And talk to my beagle.

But it took me until just recently to want to read by listening. It was the sheer number of pages for work and fun that encouraged me to always be also “reading” a book by listening. I’m a fast reader, so listening will always be slower for me, and I also like to be able to re-read a sentence, go back to a passage or peek at the structure. But I have grown to love listening to books, too. I listen while gardening, cleaning, and folding laundry. I’ve found I’ll actually slightly look forward to things I don’t like to do if I can get back to a book at the same time.

In fact, I discovered in listening to James Clear in “Atomic Habits” during part of this drive that what I was already doing (pairing laundry folding with listening to a new book) is a way to build “stackable habits.”

Voice is important. My least favorite books I’ve listened to feature men reading women’s parts and me not believing them. I liked hearing Clear’s own authoritative voice in the narration. I then moved on to another non-fiction book, “Challenger: a True History of Heroism and Disaster At the Edge of Space” by Andrew Higginbotham. I have about 7 hours left of 17. It’s reported so well and just fascinating. But for my trip back I wanted something to just take me away from the Chicago construction-filled drive, and as a kid who remembers that television being wheeled in, and out of our classroom in 1986, I know how that story ends. I am loving the parts about Christa McAuliffe’s tenacity and will get back to it.

I found myself journeying back with Alvaro Enrigue’s luscious “You Dreamed of Empires.” Gabriel Porras' accent is gorgeous and his timing adds to the comedy of the tale of 16th century Mexican conquest, set in Tenochtitlan, now Mexico City. Okay, I’ll admit I was confused much of the time. But the food and fashion references, along with historical details enthralled me. And, especially the voice. I now understand the confusion is part of the story – the characters are in a hallucinogenic dreamlike state. It’s probably my most favorite book I’ve listened to, for all those reasons. (A close second to the hours spent with Meryl Streep reading “Tom Lake” by Ann Patchett.)

And it got me home.

Do you listen to books, and which ones did you love, and why?

–   Shannon