I’ve always read a book with a pen in hand. I highlight; I take notes. Kindle allowed me to search, annotate, and see popular highlights. But of late, I have found myself tuning into audiobooks. And found it to be a new form of reading.

I was listening to Emma Cline’s Booker Prize longlisted novel Switzy when The New York Times ran an article, “How an Audiobook Gets Made”, using Switzy as the example. Cline, the article reveals, had no interest in reading the audiobook herself, choosing instead to rely on a professional voice artiste and producer. “I think about it like having your book translated into languages you will never be able to read,” she said, adding, “There are choices made in translation where the control you have as an author no longer exists. In the same way, an audiobook feels like another interpretation of the work. I don’t feel precious about their choices…”

To all those who tut-tut at audiobooks, stop being so precious.…