Since I started Audible, things I thought were a hassle are no longer a hassle

Haven't you heard this commercial often lately?

Amazon's audiobook service, "Audible".
I wasn't necessarily lured by that phrase, but after signing up for Audible, things I really thought were a hassle are no longer a hassle!!

Doing the dishes, hanging out the laundry, cleaning...
When I tried using my Audible time for those little unpleasant daily chores, I became so engrossed in the content of the books that even after finishing the task at hand, I found myself looking for more work to do🤣

That commercial was true! (lol)

Actually, I had subscribed to Audible once before around 2018. But at that time, I didn't get that hooked, so I canceled it.

So why did I get hooked this time?
It's because...

I changed the genre of books I read!

Before, I mainly listened to business books and self-help books that seemed useful for work.However, partly because the content itself was difficult, and also because I was mainly listening during 10-30 minute gaps in my schedule, I couldn't grasp the overall picture from the fragmented information, and I didn't remember the previous content properly, so it didn't sink in at all.

I realized that following the text visually while listening really helps with understanding.

I restarted Audible this time not because there was anything in particular I wanted to listen to, but just on a whim, since it happened to be eligible for a free first-month campaign.

I signed up aimlessly, and the first one I chose was "Zenryo to Goman" (Goodness and Arrogance). That's because, as I wrote in this post, I've discovered the joy of novels over the past few months!

"Zenryo to Goman" had been a hot topic, so I had been curious about it for a while, but the hardcover version I picked up was too heavy!!
It was 416 pages long!! It was way too thick to carry around.

Since my main reading time was during my train commute, I gave up on reading it early on.

With that background, when I discovered it on Audible, I listened to it right away.
Of course, since it's a major work, the volume didn't change just because it became audio. It was 14 hours and 39 minutes long.

However!

It might have been because it was my day off, but I managed to listen to all 14 and a half hours in just two days!👀
Writing it down again, I'm surprised myself!

I think I had the playback speed set to about 1.25x, so to be precise, I don't think it took 14 hours, but I was still surprised that I was able to finish listening to it in two days.

I think I was just that immersed in the world of Zenryo to Goman (Goodness and Arrogance).

Given my personality, I couldn't absorb business books unless I was looking at the text, but with novels, I was able to fully immerse myself in the world of the story even while multitasking.

This was a major realization for me personally.

By the way, I tried listening to business books after that, but I still couldn't absorb them. Since I listen during spare time, maybe my attention wanders if it's not a story.

Zenryo to Goman (Goodness and Arrogance) was followed by:

"Ningyo ga Nigeta (The Mermaid Escaped)" (Michiko Aoyama), "
Zoku Madogiwa no Totto-chan (Totto-chan: The Little Girl at the Window, Continued)" (Tetsuko Kuroyanagi), and "
Tsubaki Bunguten (Tsubaki Stationery Store)" (Ito Ogawa).

They were all interesting, but personally, I really liked "Zoku Madogiwa no Totto-chan." I was surprised to find it was narrated by Tetsuko Kuroyanagi herself!
It's called digital narration, which is "a reading generated by a computer based on the narrator's own voice."

I also found listening to Ms. Kuroyanagi's own stories about the war years very interesting.

And what I'm listening to now is "Fumo Chitai (Wasteland)" (Toyoko Yamasaki).
You probably already know the reason I chose this (lol), but it's because although I had wanted to read it someday, it's a series and such a massive work that I couldn't easily get started.

There are 5 volumes in total. Each has nearly 18 hours of audio, so the road to finishing it still seems long, but the content is very interesting, and I find myself listening whenever I have spare time or am doing housework 📚👂

The good things about starting Audible

Since starting Audible, my housework time and such have become happier, but that's not all.
It's also the power of novels (books), but listening to stories makes my heart feel richer and gives me a sense of fulfillment.

This might only be something you can experience if you've read (or listened to) the book, but there's a sense of happiness, as if the scope of my own life has expanded a little.

You can purchase books individually on Audible, but a membership is definitely recommended.
If you try to buy them one by one, it costs nearly 2,000 to 3,000 yen, but with a membership, you get unlimited listening to 200,000 titles for 1,500 yen!

It looks like they are running a great campaign right now, so please take a look if you'd like 📚👂✨