Audiobooks have found a resurgence in my pandemic days. I find time to listen to them while I’m on my almost daily walks and, surprisingly, as I’m drifting off to sleep. Did you know that your smart speaker can read to you? It’s been the best discovery ever! I hook my iPhone up to my Echo 2, and then play from my chosen audiobook through Libby, which I use to borrow audiobooks from the library. Libby has a sleep timer, which I’ll utilize, as does Alexa, simply ask her to set a sleep timer for however long you choose. It’s such a throwback move, and also a very calming way to go to sleep!

Here are some of the truly inspirational audiobooks I’ve consumed during quarantine.

When: The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing

Daniel H. Pink is the author and the narrator. He does an absolutely awesome job of describing the ins and outs of human nature that have influence over a surprising number of things in our lives! I learned things about myself and how I work, morning person whose peak time is followed by a trough and another slight peak before a drop off. (This also supports my nap habit.) I also learned things like the optimal time to be sentenced by a judge, should that fact ever come in handy some day. I’ll definitely re-read or listen to this book, but it was awesome for the first read.

Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis

J.D. Vance is the author and the narrator. What a very remarkable life he has lived. I loved the way he was able to weave in the historical, cultural and socio economic factors that have influenced his life. I also truly appreciated his familial struggles with addiction and the space he reserves in the book to discuss the childhood traumas and resiliency factors are invisible strings in people’s lives. It’s truly remarkable, and soon to be made into a movie or television show, I believe.

Talking to Strangers: What We Should Know About the People We Don’t Know

First off, I have no idea how Malcolm Gladwell can continue to pump out these ground-breaking books that cause people to re-evaluate the way they live their lives. But I suppose that’s a matter for another day. Among the things I learned the first go-around with this book are that actually meeting someone and looking in their eyes to decide a truth is likely not the best way to get to the truth and, along the same lines, that a computer program is better at predicting which criminals will be repeat offenders than judges. I will most definitely revisit this book, because the sheer amount of information is too much to absorb on the first go-around.

How do you feel about audiobooks? Or perhaps you now find yourself without an avenue for listening, as commutes are cut down or nonexistent?

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