Hi readers, As with the Mets, or the curative value of oak branch sauna treatments, or the superiority of electric toothbrushes, it's taken me a long time to see the virtues of audiobooks. I am embarrassingly late to them, but I had my reasons: namely a mind that tends to go off-leash. I was moved to try again by this recent guide to the work of Ursula K. Le Guin, courtesy of my colleague Shreya Chattopadhyay. I started with "The Lathe of Heaven," and I'm getting into it bit by bit. (August seems like a risky month to listen to a novel featuring what might be "the most screwed up therapist-patient relationship of all time," given that virtually all of New York's psychoanalysts are out of town.) You might be way ahead of me, though — an audiobook devotee for years, or at least someone who counts on them for company during a commute or a road trip. If so, I have good news. We've started a weekly column featuring reviews of great audiobooks, including selections both older and new. Here's our first installment, and you can watch for our next review on Friday. My colleagues and I would love to hear more about the types of audiobooks you'd like to see discussed — please feel free to drop me a line at books@nytimes.com if you have any thoughts on the subject. As green as I am in this arena, I'll leave you with a recommendation of my own: I have not read the Tao Te Ching, but it's hard to imagine a better experience than listening to the audiobook version narrated by Le Guin herself. The very persistent pan flutist in the background sends it into another dimension. See you next week. Joumana Khatib In other news
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Tuesday, August 22, 2023
Books Briefing: What makes for a great audiobook?
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