How Audible was amazing while raising a baby

I'm Saori Ando, living with a 2-month-old boy who cries a lot. (As of 2025.12.12)
My recent desires are: I want to go to karaoke, watch a movie, write on note, and...

...I just really, really want to read a novel!!!!!!

However, even though my husband helps look after him, the baby cries in short bursts, and it takes time to get him to sleep because he fights off sleepiness with all his might. Also, since breastfeeding isn't stable yet, I'm nursing about every hour and a half.
Besides, they say you shouldn't use your eyes too much after giving birth. My mother says, "Don't even read the newspaper after giving birth!" Apparently, it's something that's been said for a long time. My mother said her grandmother told her the same thing. That said, although I limited my smartphone use to under an hour a day for the first month postpartum, I've been finding myself touching my phone more often since then. ...Because I don't have the slow, luxurious time to immerse myself in the world of a novel...! That's the loop I'm in.

And then, I found it.
Isn't there Audible...!!!!

▼30-day freecampaign, they always have one!
If you're lucky, there's also a3 months for 99 yen per monthcampaign too. Check if you're eligible!

Honestly, I looked down on Audible

Even though I discovered (?) that Audible exists, I'm still a print addict.A book is a book, so you have to read it with your eyes, right? It's overwhelmingly faster to read with your eyes.I thought.

But, I'm desperate!!
Anyway, I just want tofeel the essence of a novel!!

The appeal of Audible while parenting

When I actually tried using it, it was, well! Amazing! It's so good, I wonder why I haven't been using it until now. What's so good about it is...

① Both hands are free!

When you read a book, you definitely use both hands. Whether you're holding the book or turning the pages. So, when you're reading a book, you can only read the book. Well, that's also the biggest merit of reading a book, but...While parenting, this 'both hands are free' thing is the biggest merit. It's the best.

② Your arms don't get tired even if you read while lying down

A common reading experience:'No matter what position you read in, your arms get tired' doesn't happen.Especially when you want to read on your futon, whether you read on your back or on your stomach, your arms and shoulders get tired, right? That doesn't happen. Obviously.The story soaks into your tired body through your ears.

③ You can read even with your eyes closed

No, well, obviously. But that's actually quite good.'Don't use your eyes after giving birth!'You can read a book without going against this old saying. This saying is actually quite reasonable, becauseyour eyes use a lot of blood, so the blood available for breast milk decreases. Also, using your eyes makes your shoulders stiff, right? The blood that becomes breast milk passes through your shoulders and enters your chest, soif your shoulders are stiff, your breast milk flow gets worse. Postpartum moms who are breastfeeding should try not to use their eyes as much as possible. But in modern life, that's basically impossible. So, Audible, where you can read (listen to) a book even with your eyes closed, is really great. Naturally, your eyes don't get tired.Goodbye eye strain. Not having easy, exaggerated visual stimuli is alsovery good because it feels like your brain is resting.

④ You can surprisingly immerse yourself in the world

It might be rude to say 'surprisingly'. But really, the narration by professional voice actors is amazing.Once you press the play button, you're already in the world of the novel. You can slip into it without any discomfort.
The male narration for Katsuhiro Go's 'Bakudan' (Bomb) by Yuki Hoshi was just too amazing... How many roles can one person play? From creepy voices to old men's voices, to young, handsome-sounding voices... It was incredibly addictive.

▼ It costs 3500 yen?! It's 0 yen for Audible members!

The feeling of the world of the novel being created in my brain without following the textwas more pleasant than I imagined.

Genres that are compatible with visual-oriented & print addicts

One of the reasons I had previously thought, "Audible is not for me..." is that I am visually oriented (best at processing information seen with the eyes) and also a word addict. You know, the type who stares at the ingredient list on a juice box forever. Or the type who keeps looking at Twitter endlessly... So, I discovered a genre that even I can enjoy with Audible without any stress—in fact, it's a perfect match! And that is...

Mystery/Detective novels!!!

The first one I happened to read was Katsuhiro Saiko's "Bomb", which is currently a hot topic due to its film adaptation. This was a huge hit! It was a perfect match for Audible.

Because, you see, "you can't see what happens next"!

If you are visually oriented and a word addict (the type who is used to following text and ends up reading ahead because you're curious about what happens next), you'll understand. You end up seeing the "next development" written on the next line or page. That doesn't happen here! You can enjoy it while staying curious about what happens next!
That's why I felt that rather than fantasy novels, novels set in the real world, and specifically detective or mystery novels, novels where the "answer" is written later on are a great match.

Audible covers a truly wide range of genres, from novels to self-help books and business books. I've only read novels so far, but mysteries are overwhelmingly the best match. I plan to try other genres in the future.

How I use Audible

Playback speed

Audible defaults to 1.0x speed, and you can choose from six speeds: 0.7x, 1.2x, 1.5x, 1.7x, and 2.0x. My recommendation is 1.2x speed. It's a speed that fulfills both "I want to read through it quickly" and "I want to savor the professional narration". If it's a self-help book, 1.5x speed might be fine too.

While soothing my child

The biggest appeal of Audible is "listening while doing something else." It was great for me to listen while soothing my baby at night alone, or while breastfeeding. It feels less guilty than watching TV or looking at my smartphone, and if you listen with earphones, it's also less of a burden on the baby. On nights when my husband was away on a business trip (even though I'm on maternity leave), I had to hold my baby, who is heavier than a 5kg bag of rice, to soothe them for a long time. My baby has a strong will that they will absolutely cry if I put them in a crib or a bouncer, so being able to listen to novels on Audible during that time
meant I didn't have to feel that soothing time was painful. It's very good for mental health, and a mother's good mental state is good for the baby, too.

During breastfeeding time

Breastfeeding takes about 20 to 30 minutes one way or another... During that time, being able to experience the bliss of breastfeeding while looking at my cute baby's face and the bliss of immersing myself in the world of a novel at the same time was also very good for my mental state.

While doing housework

Also, while washing dishes or hanging laundry. Before I gave birth, I used to do housework while listening to music and singing along, but you can't sing when the baby is sleeping, right? In such a situation, with Audible, there's no need to sing and you can enjoy it quietly with earphones. If you set your earphones to external sound pass-through mode, you won't miss the baby's crying. It's great.

Disadvantages

The price is high! That's it. The premium plan with unlimited listening is 1,500 yen per month. It's a bit expensive for a full-time housewife. (The standard plan, which lets you listen to one book a month, is 880 yen. Out of the question!) I applied for the 3-month campaign for 99 yen per month, so I'm trying it out for three months for now.
I think there is basically always a 30-day free campaign running, so please use it when you feel like you can take it easy for the next month or when you need some mental support. Don't forget to cancel after the campaign!

Works I'm aiming to listen to during the free period

This is just an aside, but I'll list about five works I want to listen to during the free period. I want to write reviews properly after I listen to them.

It's a luxurious problem to have, wanting to "read novels" while raising an infant~~
But it's a good thing that my desires haven't dried up~~

◎Please check out my other articles too!

◎I have published a collection of short stories!
A total of 30 stories. These are fictional yet somewhat realistic tales where my growing love for my husband each day seeps into the writing.
You can read them for free with Kindle Unlimited, so please check them out. A paperback version is also available.