During the Stay-at-Home order for Covid I thought that I would have all this extra time to read. I envisioned myself as one of those people who would curl up on the couch and read a book during my “down time.” Seven months later, I still do not have down time. When George Floyd died and all of America wanted justice, I knew this was a big issue but I didn’t know what to do to help. I knew one thing, throwing another book onto the pile on my nightstand in hopes to read it someday wasn’t going to work. Some of the books on my nightstand have been there for 2 years! In this case, I needed to learn about racism asap otherwise I wouldn’t understand the civil unrest that was happening all around me. I immediately loaded my Audible library with two books: White Fragility by Robin DiAngelo and How to be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi.

I used to think listening to books, for example, using the Audible app, was “cheating”. I thought that listening to books using the app was the modern day Cliff Notes. But over the last three years, I have been listening to 8+ hour books and realized that it should not be compared to Cliff Notes. Listening to a book is time invested while Cliff Notes exist for the very purpose of saving time. These days I can confidently say that listening to a book and reading a book are one and the same. In fact, I think Audible is just like a parent reading to their child. If there are so many benefits of children listening to parents read to them, then why can’t adults benefit from being read to as well?

If you haven’t had the chance to read it yet, just know that White Fragility was hard to swallow. It was painful to hear and painful to EXIST after learning about racism. There are not many people who can read that book and feel good about themselves afterwards. Because of this, I have to admit, I didn’t rush to listen to How to be an Antiracist. I took a detour instead. I “read” Fast. Feast. Repeat by Gin Stephens. Intermittent fasting sounds petty compared to racism and although those 11+ hours listening to Gin’s book went very quickly, it also gave me space.

After I finished Fast. Feast. Repeat. , I was ready to learn from the book, How to be an Antiracist. I was glad that the author himself, Ibram X. Kendi, narrated his book because I felt all of his words. Although everything he shared was tough to hear, I am glad I “read” the book using Audible. His voice made a big impact on me because I understood his purpose in the way that he intended. Even with all the frustration, anger and hurt that I heard throughout the book, in the end, I did hear hope in his voice. To me, this was especially reassuring because White Fragility, while not intentional, does not give any hope at all.

Once again, I thought I would do some light “reading” while Kendi’s message took time to digest. I listened to Rachel Hollis’ Didn’t See That Coming which is only about 5 hours long. I have a writing crush on Ms. Hollis because her thoughts are written precisely as she conveys them. I find myself empathizing with her in all of her books. I like that she too narrates her own books. Without giving away anything from the book, I found myself bawling near the very end because I was so grateful that a person in her story took the time to write her. The power in that one letter was so immense, that I was overwhelmed with gratitude for human kindness and thoughtfulness and I couldn’t stop crying.

With tears still in my eyes from listening to Hollis’ book, I wanted to listen to another light-hearted book but I accidentally hit the button for the book Untamed which was also in my Audible library. Folks, I had never followed Glennon Doyle before but I have many friends that have followed her since Day 1 over a decade ago. I have been flattered by a few of those friends that said some of my raw posts remind them of Glennon’s posts (now I know that is the ultimate compliment!). But buying her book Untamed was just a whim; like impulse buying when we throw gum onto the conveyor belt as we pay for our groceries. I didn’t know much about her. Anyway…I had meant to hit the button for Jerry Seinfeld’s Audible book entitled, Is This Something? and since Glennon narrates her own books as well, I accidentally heard the first paragraph. That was all it took - I was hooked. 8+ hours later (over the course of many days due to a thousand interruptions), I finished the book and completely understood why she has a huge following. Enlightened by the many pearls of Glennon wisdom, I felt like I had accomplished something. Another good book tucked under my belt. Although I didn’t agree with everything Glennon or Rachel Hollis say in their latest books, the time it took to absorb all their messages was time well spent. Listening to their words, using their voices, while I ran, drove, walked the dog or cooked was such a gift.

There is a part in Glennon’s Untamed, when she writes about getting upset whenever her wife would relax on the couch and I completely relate to it. I will forever be grateful for this passage because I had felt the same way regarding my kids, my mom, my hub, my friends etc. for so long but I never knew why. Glennon figured it out for herself and then shared it with her readers. People like us are conditioned to think we must “earn” our relaxation. For me, relaxing on the couch, reading a book, taking a bubble bath, etc. have to wait until all my work is finished. I had been resentful that my family wasn’t constantly hustling like I was. This awareness is so helpful.

Feeling grateful for that nugget of wisdom reminded me that books are filled with many different ways to help people. Whether the help comes in the form of bringing joy, sadness, purpose, information, insight - books are vital for growth. Books open minds, set new paths, provide a form of escape and fill us with ideas. Whether the books are classified as fiction, autobiographies, non-fiction, poetry, sci-fi etc - all books exist for the purpose of inspiring; every book is helpful to someone.

The point of me sharing the recent contents of my Audible library is this: When I “hear” a good book, I like to send them along to friends and family. Even though I am not buying the Audible book for them, I am sending a thoughtful pinch by sending them a link. They can click on it and either listen for free if they do not already have an account or they could buy it for themselves. A pinch like this sends a message, “We are thinking of you and we are moved by something in this book that we want you to be moved by it too.” I cannot tell you how many times that I have sent the book Fast. Feast. Repeat. to friends and family. With a book like that, I am excited to share it with people who want to take care of their health. On the other hand, I will wait to share my resources for racism because I can’t assume others want or need those books until they ask.

I wrote this post about books as gifts awhile ago. Giving books as thoughtful pinches is nothing new. However, sharing a link to an audio book is a little different. We can make it easy and convenient for someone to find exactly which book we want to share by providing a link. Some people want input or opinions when choosing books. So in sending a link, it is not only a strong endorsement but it’s helpful not to have to sift thru so many books to find one we’ll like. Audio books are also a gift of time. Eleven hours for a book would take me years to finish if I waited for the opportunities to sit still to read. But Audible makes the book portable; which makes it easy to bring wherever we go and listen to whenever it’s convenient. Fifteen minutes here and there add up. Before we know it, we have completed a book. The added bonus for the audio books that are narrated by the author is that the message is delivered exactly the way it was intended. So the next time you are moved by a book, send the link to someone and let them know you’re thinking of them.

Pinches,

Barb