Last Updated on October 3, 2024 by Editorial Team
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Reading is as crucial for adults as for the younger ones! A crisp page of a novel is a favorite of many adults out there who just can’t seem to have a better end to their day without a book! However, with the emerging new technologies, reading books has now changed to listening to books.
Having a read-along audiobook simply means reading a book while having its audio playback running simultaneously. These books are becoming a favorite for many adults for all the right reasons!
Therefore, by this post, you may get a gripping idea of how these are assistive. Further, we also mentioned ten books for you to start with.
Audiobooks: A great companion for adults!
We live in a world where we have books of all kinds – books for visual learners, math fiction, and even books with specialized training techniques like the Orton-Gillingham. But, with the world going digital, reading books too has a new way. The popularity of audiobooks has grown manifolds; this might be owing to its accessibility and the changing preferences of current readers. Below are some reasons why audiobooks are beneficial for adults:
1. Enhances listening skills and vocabulary
Readers can have a better understanding of words by listening to them. As a result, learning new terminology gets easier and more convenient. Listening to audiobooks thereby may improve listening skills along with the appropriate pronunciation of words.
2. Time management
When you listen to your books, you can better manage your time. This is because listening often takes less time than reading. Further, With the touch of a button, you may read at any time of day and in any location. Audiobooks are often a part of multitasking by ensuring listeners ensure other jobs while traversing through the volume. Multitasking encourages us to get more done in a day, so readers can benefit from listening to an audiobook while traveling to work, taking a lunch break, or doing housework.
3. Entertaining
Audiobooks frequently feature music, voice acting, and emotions, all of which add to the excitement and engagement of a book. Moreover, an audiobook can be a great option for a person who loves reading a book for entertainment and recreation purpose but doesn’t have the time to do so.
4. Improves mental health
Audiobooks may transport you away from your regular routine and can help you relax and de-stress. It’s critical to have an outlet and a means to occupy your mind through difficult times.
Looking at the various boons of audiobooks for adults, kids, and even individuals with learning disabilities, the horizons are broadening, and there are more and more books that are central for individuals with some the other learning compromise like dyslexia.
However, when talking about adults, these books also come in handy for the people who have a tight schedule but do not want to miss out on their daily dose of reading. Hence, they can listen to these while driving, working out, and even working!
Read-along Audiobooks for adults: Our picks
Here we have listed some of the most popular audiobooks that will entertain you and take you to their own world.
1. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J.K. Rowling, read by Jim Dale
The author has built an admirable, wizarding universe that will make you feel all warm and fuzzy inside. The wizards in the book are sure to impress the adults, as the book is all about them!
The story revolves around a little child named Harry Potter and his experiences at Hogwarts, a wizarding school, when he is discovered to be a wizard by Hagrid, the groundskeeper at Hogwarts.
In Hogwarts, we meet the other two members of the trio, Hermione and Ron. Rowling takes us through Harry’s difficulties as an orphan, a newly-minted wizard, and a celebrity for escaping a curse by the world’s deadliest wizard; it’ll keep you hooked.
2. The Pioneers by David McCullough
Settling down with this book, you may listen marveling at the brave family that bravely crossed the mountains into Ohio and found Marietta out of the wilderness. The descriptions of woods, the Ohio River, Indians, wild creatures, and the heroic men and women who worked tirelessly from 1787 to 1863 to transform the new state of Ohio into a free state, complete with schools, universities, innovations, and industry, will keep you on the edge till the end.
Thanks to the author’s study, the new government and major leaders like Washington, Jefferson, Adams, and others were depicted in unexpected ways. You will experience a wide range of emotions, including awe, sadness, joy, and surprise.
3. Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton, read by Scott Brick
Michael Crichton’s science fiction novel Jurassic Park was published in 1990 and is broken into seven parts. The collapse of an amusement park featuring genetically restored dinosaurs is used to demonstrate the mathematical concept of chaos theory and its real-world ramifications in this cautionary tale about genetic engineering.
This novel is the ideal mix of realism and fantasy. Michael Crichton deserves praise for this notion, which is both sound and logical. This book tells the narrative from all of the characters’ points of view and does an excellent job doing it. Because there are two strong female protagonists and the novel is set on an island near Costa Rica, there is equality of all kinds.
Crichton’s work is certainly a terrific read, with scenes of heart-pounding action, fear, and suspense, as well as compelling characters and deep themes of chaos theory and mankind’s hubris.
4. The Authenticity Project: A Novel
The Authenticity Project is a fun novel that deals sensitively and humorously with serious problems including betrayal, and loneliness. The central idea of the work is that what you see in people is not always what they are.
It’s quite different from normal stuff making it a unique choice, but it’s quite rewarding. The author did an excellent job fleshing out the characters, bringing them to life for the reader while still being consistent. The topic is unusual, but it is also entirely plausible.
Each character has a unique tale to tell and real self to convey, which they do through a notepad. Every time a tale is recounted, the notebook is left for someone else to find, and because humans are inherently nice, each new person feels obligated to assist the previous person. As a consequence, a chain of good actions connects them and transforms their life.
5. Maybe You Should Talk to Someone
It’s an engrossing and intimate book, elegantly put together. Relevant and amusing, making you laugh out loud or chuckle frequently and making you experience all kinds of emotions as you cheer for everyone in the book. The author also focuses on a few illnesses and frequent therapeutic words, describing them briefly as well as hypotheses proposed by other researchers.
She examines human nature through the prism of psychotherapy, taking an innovative two-pronged method to demonstrate how therapy works in practice. First, Gottlieb introduces us to four of her patients, showing us around their rooms and demonstrating what happens during their sessions. But Gottlieb is in treatment herself, as a result of a recent separation, and we get to see the patient’s point of view via her.
6. I can’t make this up
Kevin’s candour about his life is admirable, and his advice on how to succeed should be heard by everybody. He recognizes the dangers and the values of failure, as do all people who experience success.
Many of us underestimate the importance of essential family members, but Mr. Hart does not. He accepted that he was a product of his upbringing and, more crucially, that he bears responsibility for his own acts as a child.
Overall, this is a fantastic novel that teaches many valuable lessons about hard work, persistence, and sacrifice. The blend of personal experiences interspersed with nuggets of knowledge makes this book both fascinating and inspirational.
7. To Kill a Mockingbird
Revolving around the society and perception of racism, this book revolves around a black resident of a town, Tom Robinson. The story starts with some people falsely accusing him of misbehaving with a white girl, Mayella Ewell. He faces multiple troubles because of this. Once, he faces a mob of white people.
Scout and Atticus are a couple of important characters. Atticus defends Tom by claiming that Ewell was attacked by her father Bob Ewell, who was recently dead. While this is the case, a few children playing outside also show this racist behavior, which Atticus readily reprimands.
Woven around the wrong belief of a few people about the color of skin, this book touches on a lot of questionable facts. These enlighten the readers, not only proving engagement but also teaches how to deal with people around. This book written by Harper Lee also comes in audio format making it a good read-along option to add to your shelf.
8. Me Talk Pretty One Day
This book is divided into two sections. The first is a collection of articles about various aspects of the author’s life, such as his time as a performance artist, his time as a personal assistant to a lunatic, and his experience at a dinner party.
The second section chronicles his time in France with his companion and his attempts to learn the language. He enrolls in a class with numerous other international students and is ecstatic when he is chastised by the teacher and understands her outrage. He can’t seem to get his mind around genders in French, so he buys extras of everything to avoid the ‘un / une’ snafu.
He finds opportunities to poke fun at the world, poke fun at himself, and mix numerous situations into unforgettable knee-slapping humour, from learning to play the guitar to going to the movies.
9. The Dutch House: A Novel
“The Dutch House” is a narrative of a “modern family,” since this was a time when families were becoming increasingly divided and step-parents and step-siblings were becoming more common. This story has an epic sense to it, but it’s also a personal depiction of siblings who have found solace in one another after being abandoned by the grownups who were supposed to care for them.
Danny and Maeve Conroy’s obsession with the legendary family house they lived in as youngsters and how their lives unfolded over the years is the focus of The Dutch House. Danny tells the story in a non-linear way.
The home has varied meanings for different individuals, and it’s a recurring theme in the novel, always present for readers to react to.
10. Where the Crawdads Sing
The author’s magnificent descriptive lyrical writing more than matches her unequaled knowledge and grasp of ‘nature’ and the natural world.
The Author’s perceptions about society, its goods, and the evil side make this narration inclined toward an emotional trip. We can learn a lot about our natural environment and our interaction with it from this book.
The narrative of Kya Clark, a.k.a. The Marsh girl is told in this novel, which jumps back and forth in time. She lives in the Marsh, on the outskirts of town, and the residents look down their noses at her; she is criticized, humiliated, and bullied. There are, however, individuals who show her warmth, companionship, and love.
Conclusion
Along with paperback versions, audiobooks are often a noteworthy add-on. For adults seeking comfort or a sense of connection with the world around them, audiobooks may be a wonderful resource. Getting lost in a good book may provide a welcome diversion from pain, boredom, loneliness, and a variety of other challenges that today’s adults encounter. With that note, check out the above picks of varying genres and see which of these can be a befitting choice this evening.
An engineer, Maths expert, Online Tutor and animal rights activist. In more than 5+ years of my online teaching experience, I closely worked with many students struggling with dyscalculia and dyslexia. With the years passing, I learned that not much effort being put into the awareness of this learning disorder. Students with dyscalculia often misunderstood for having just a simple math fear. This is still an underresearched and understudied subject. I am also the founder of Smartynote -‘The notepad app for dyslexia’,