Read With MLC: Listen to an Award-Winning Audiobook

Welcome to November, and the eleventh month of the 2024 Read with MLC reading challenge! This month's prompt is to listen to an award-winning audiobook.

People listen to audiobooks for a lot of very different yet valid reasons. Some people can't see to read the words on the page, like those with blindness or visual impairments. Others, like those with dyslexia, have trouble processing the printed word. Still others, like people with arthritis or broken limbs, can't hold a book to read. Seriously, Marcel Proust's Remembrance of Things Past, the world's longest novel, clocks in at thousands and thousands of pages. (Incidentally, if you fall into one of these categories, you're eligible for MLC's Talking Book Services. You can learn more here.) Some people don't have time to sit and read a book, while others enjoy the experience of having someone read to them. Other people like to rest their eyes after a day staring at screens, and others find that the audiobook experience can be downright more enjoyable than a book that's slow or unwieldy. Truth be told, a lot of MLC staff love to listen to books! While not all of our suggestions below are "official" audiobook award winners, they are, in our hearts, exceptional audios.

Hear Ye, Here Ye! Audiobook Picks from Elisabeth Scott

Elisabeth Scott

Reference and Social Media Librarian

I am a later-in-life convert to audiobooks. When I was a kid, we used to stop at the library and pick up books on tape for road trips. As soon as my parents pushed the cassette into the tape deck, I would pull out whatever paperback I was reading and block out the drone of the story coming from the front of the car. (I'm really good at ignoring whatever else is going on around me when I'm reading.) I've never liked headphones or ear buds; they bug my ears. Most of all, I like to read at my pace. I don't want to depend on someone else to read a book for me. But.

I went on a road trip with family several months back and everything changed. We had recently added hoopla as one of the services offered by MLC. I figured 'no harm, no foul' and we had our first audio picked out and playing before we crossed into Madison County. I was hooked.

The Huntress by Kate Quinn

This is the book that launched my new found love of audiobooks! A few of us on the road trip had read the print version of Kate Quinn's The Alice Network when it came out a few years before, so we figured another of her lady spy novels would be perfect for our journey. Boy, were we right. The narration switches back and forth between three main protagonists, spinning this story of female pilots and photographers forward at high velocity. I was afraid that I would get confused moving between the different points of view in an audiobook, but the narrator, Saskia Maarleveld, made the transitions effortless. It was such a success that, as soon as we got home, I searched through hoopla's catalog to find more books to add to my queue.

The Birchbark House by Louise Erdrich

Louise Erdrich's middle grade series had been on my TBR for years, ever since I heard it recommended as a Native perspective of life occurring at the same time and place as Laura Ingalls Wilder's Little House books. The first book in the series follows seven-year-old Omakayas as she learns how to tan hides, collect medicinal flora, and bead moccasins. I quickly replaced my morning radio routine with snippets of audiobook, where I learned about the Ojibwe. I loved the emphasis on community, nature, and the connection between the two. The narrator, Nicolle Littrell, had a soothing voice that didn't disturb my immersion into this world so different from my own. Omakayas was in my thoughts for many weeks afterwards, especially since I segued immediately into The Game of Silence.

All Systems Red by Martha Wells

This series came to my attention a few months ago when it was announced that Martha Wells was declining her Nebula nomination because "the Murderbot Diaries series has already received incredible praise from her industry peers and wanted to open the floor to highlight other works within the community." Well. That piqued my interest! I dove feet first into the story of a sarcastic, world-weary artificial construct. The entire series is available on hoopla audio, so I found myself fitting in more and more listening time. The narrator, Kevin R. Free, was great at making the voice of each character unique, important in a series with so many players. I found myself laughing out loud in my office as I ate lunch and getting teary-eyed as I did the dishes. Murderbot, you're the best.

I didn't realize that reading audiobooks would mean that I would read more, not less. I still carry around a print book to read when I can't listen to books. (Right now it's Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI by David Grann.) Sometimes I'll read it at night to fall asleep, or in the morning when I'm just waking up. Reading audiobooks, though, has opened a new door into enjoying literature that I didn't think was possible for me. It's a little more leisurely, I've learned how to actually pronounce a few words (as opposed to how I think they should be pronounced), and it allows me to build the story in my head in a different way than print books. You should give them a try!

To learn more about hoopla through the Mississippi Library Commission, give us a call at 1-800-647-7542. Many of our Mississippi public libraries also offer hoopla and other audio services like Libby, so be sure to ask the next time you visit.

Last but not least, keep your ears peeled for our podcast drop June 1. It will feature even more of MLC staff's experiences with audiobooks!

Hear Ye, Here Ye! Audiobook Picks from Mary Rodgers

Mary Rodgers Beal

Talking Book Services Director

Over the past few years, I’ve discovered how much I prefer audiobooks over standard print books. Not only are audiobooks beneficial for people who are blind or print disabled, they’re convenient for busy people. Listening to audiobooks still counts as reading; in fact, sometimes it’s better. Here are some examples of audiobooks I believe are better than the print version.

 

Daisy Jones and the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid

This book is about a fictional (although I could believe it was real) band who goes through the ups and downs of fame. It’s told in an interview format which really helps the reader to get immersed in the story. Daisy Jones and the Six is narrated by multiple actors and I feel like this brings a level of storytelling that you just wouldn’t get while reading a standard print book. Each narrator brings the characters to life by making the character their own. Hearing the narrators reading their parts still allows a reader to imagine what the character looks like and how the actions are played. I loved this book in audio and tell everyone who wants a book recommendation that they have to read this as an audiobook, not a print book.

Memorial Drive: A Daughter’s Memoir by Natasha Trethewey

I’ll be honest and put out there that I’m already a big Natasha Trethewey fan. I had to read her poetry for a class in college and I was hooked. This Mississippi native is very talented. Her memoir about growing up and losing her mother at a young age is remarkable. I love a memoir that is narrated by the author and this one does not disappoint.

Uncommon Type by Tom Hanks

This book is also narrated by the author. Even though these are short stories and not a memoir, I’m still a fan because that way it’s even more of an immersive experience into what the author wanted to portray in their book. And who doesn’t enjoy Tom Hanks? He brings his imagination into his writing as well as his narration.

Here at MLC, hoopla or Talking Book Service’s BARD (Braille and Audio Reading Download) program are great resources to find the audiobook that is right for your interests! If you know of anyone who is eligible for Talking Book Services, contact us at 1-800-446-0892 or talkingbooks@mlc.lib.ms.us. If you have an MLC library card, you are eligible to sign up for hoopla. Give us a call at 1-877-594-5733 if you need help logging in. Many of our Mississippi public libraries also offer hoopla and other audio services like Libby, so check them out!

Be Joyful and Read How You Like

Shellie Zeigler

Library Consultant

There is a debate going on about how we read that seems to be a competition of sorts. You have your purists that swear by the standard paper print book. Then you have e-book readers, who swear by the convenience of having 20+ books in their hand at any time. In come audiobooks, which happen to be the fastest growing market in the publishing industry. However, that’s only for digital audio: readers love the convenience of downloading their audiobooks onto their phones and other devices. I say: isn’t there room for all of us? Aren’t we all readers?

All of us love the power of the written word. All of us would rather be reading a well-written novel than watching some bad television (Note: there is some really good television out there that I would not want to miss). Why do we have to squash fellow book lovers who prefer to read in a different format?

I personally am a reader that transcends the lines—I’ll read print, audio, or e-books…it depends on the type of book and it very much depends on my mood. I’m willing to bet there are many readers out there just like me. A good thriller on audio is a perfect pairing, but a slow burning literary novel might be best in print or e-book—for me. Reading is a very personal, solitary activity.

June is National Audiobook Month. I have noticed that some readers feel the need to make a distinction when discussing a book as to whether they read a print copy or listened to the audio version. Did your brain not receive the same information? Why is there a “lesser than” stigma attached to audio readers? I see articles online and questions posed on social media with the underlying question, does the book count if I listened to it? You comprehended the story. If your brain is processing the plot, the characters, the dilemma etc., how does an audiobook not count? Just because you processed the information with your ears and not your eyes does not mean that the book doesn’t count. It does not mean that your soul doesn’t rage just as much at the social injustice depicted in To Kill A Mockingbird as the person who read the print version. I feel that saying an audiobook “doesn’t count” is just as much a slight against the book being discussed as the person listening to the book.

So please enjoy the books that you love in any format that is most convenient for you. And let’s stop judging others for their reading choices.

Happy reading, my friends!