Audiobooks VS Books

I had finished listening to one of the “No. 1 Sellers” on Amazon. One of those that are recommended in every Social Media platform by every influencer that reviews books. I had nothing else to do and the feeling of “whatever” that this story had left on me wasn’t leaving anytime soon. 

My biggest motivation to choose that specific title wasn’t the synopsis, it wasn’t the genre and definitely wasn’t the front page image. It was the over 10k positive reviews on its Amazon page.

I decided to check the number of copies that a book needs to sell to become a Bestseller. The results of my (very simple) research were:

 

“In order to hit #1 on Amazon, you’ll need to sell somewhere between 3,500 and 5,000 copies in 24 hours. Want to hit the top 10? You’ll need to sell roughly 300 for print or 2,000+ copies for combined formats. Those numbers aren’t exactly set in stone, but they’re a pretty close approximation.”

 

And because I didn’t know what to expect, I was neither surprised nor unruffled. When it comes to books, particularly fiction, I consider it’s pretty difficult (If not impossible) to find the one that suits all tastes and appetites. 

I myself have been captivated with books (and movies) in the past that I know wouldn’t catch my attention for more than 10 minutes today. 

Fictional stories are seasonal. They click with us or not depending on the character’s personality and circumstances in relation to our own. It’s mostly about the narrative and the phase we are going through in our lives. 

If you are currently in your search for an audiobook to listen to before going to sleep, I will share some of the last ones I have read/listened to.

 

1- The Grownup – Book

 

 

A short story by Gillian Flynn. 

I bought the physical version of this book because I like to have all of the publications from this author at home. And it didn’t disappoint. It’s a tale about an astute girl involved in the drama of a wealthy family and their troubled child.

This novel is so short that you can easily read it in one evening. It’s original, compelling and it leaves you wanting more. What else can you expect from a book?

10/10

I recommend it to everyone, whether you like reading or not, whether you prefer the physical copy or listening to the audio version.

 

2- Every Last Secret- Audiobook

I got the audiobook version of this one. It was entertaining to listen to, a drama about two crazy, rich and insecure women desperate to get what they want in order to create their dream life. 

I feel this book could make it to a movie. I can imagine Melissa McCarthy as Cat Winthorpe and Megan Fox as the new neighbour. 

The thing with this novel is…I like to pick sides on a story. When a book portrays a dispute between characters I want at least one of them to get what they want.

Not this time. All characters are so incredibly unlikable that I didn’t care if all of them were abducted by Aliens and removed from the Planet forever.

In fact, I dropped this audio after one hour of story and decided to give it a second chance a few weeks later. In my opinion, the second part, especially the ending, makes the story more enjoyable. 

If you love thrillers that take place in the “Desperate Housewives” neighbourhood, you will adore this one. 

 

3- We were liars – Audiobook

I remember everyone was talking about “We were liars” on Social Media. In fact, the Amazon page had something along the lines of “Recommended by Tiktok” (not anymore). After reading the synopsis I decided to go for the audio version. 

I don’t have a strong opinion about this one. It was like a breath of fresh air after dozens of crime novels that I have previously dropped. I think there’s something generational, something that establishes that 95% of non-fiction books must be crime dramas. 

Why is everyone so obsessed with crimes? Don’t we have enough with all the documentaries? If you are a crime lover, you are the luckiest reader of this generation. 

But We Were Liars was a break from that, and I felt more sympathy for the protagonist than I felt for all the characters in the previous title.

The narration of the audiobook was beautiful. The voice of the storyteller is soothing and delicate. The feelings and confusions of the protagonist are innocent and the story had me hooked until the end.

I am not sure how to feel about the ending. But that’s probably on me. I am a hater of endings because I rarely enjoy them or consider them great. It was unexpected, that’s for sure, and listening to this story helped me relax and fall asleep after a long shift for multiple days, and that’s more than the Pukka Sleeping Infusion can do. 

If you like suspense with a massive twist, you will love this one.

 

4- The Daily Laws + The Daily Stoic – Books

 

 

I am pairing these two because of the similarity in the formatting.

Both have a Law/Value per page, making it a total of 365 Laws, so you can have a paragraph of wisdom every day of the year. 

I started reading this book on the first day of January and my plan is to continue reading one Law per day until the last day of 2022.

As mentioned, every page is a short text describing a “Law/Stoic Value” that you should keep in mind to improve your life. The layout makes these books extremely easy to read. It also makes it very easy to make it up if you skip your reading time a couple of days in a row.

The Daily Laws is the last publication of Robert Greene and it summarizes the rules he already depicts in his published best-sellers, including The Laws of Power, The Laws Of Human Nature, Mastery and The Laws of Seduction. 

The Daily Stoic is written by Ryan Holiday, who happens to be Robert Greene’s mentee. As the title implies, the laws in this book are based on stoic values.  

I am loving both. The writing styles are clean and well-turned. I will recommend both in a heartbeat to everyone that is into self-improvement. 

I would also recommend getting the physical copies as it may be convenient if you want to highlight some of the points.

 

5- The 50th Law – Book

 

 

Between Audiobooks and Daily Laws, I have started reading another publication from Robert Greene.

The author decided to make a book based on Curtis James Jackson, the famous rapper known as 50 Cent. To be fair, I have never listened to music from 50 Cent, but I remember his name because a few years ago he survived an attack where he was shot nine times. 

And surviving that is pretty epic, so I’ll take whatever tip he has to give about life.

The entire book is about one Law, which we can point to as the Law of being Brave. This is a book about strategy and being fearless. The author mixes the foundations of braveness with the incredible life of the artist. 

I am liking it so far and, as well as with the previous non-fiction, I would recommend the physical copy to highlight the important stuff you want to re-read in the future.

 

6- The Luckiest Girl Alive – Audiobook

I was positively surprised with this one. 

The story becomes gradually darker and upsetting as you continue listening. At one point, I had to question whether this audio was the best option for a bedtime story.

As you read, the tale changes and the main character becomes something completely different from what it looks like during the first hour. If you are looking for a different fiction story with some dark twists, you should try this one. 

Those are my new reads and listens so far. Let me know if you have checked any of them. Also, feel free to recommend me new fiction books because I am in need of bedtime stories!