World Listening Day 2023 - Bestselling BIPOC Audiobooks!

July 18th is World Listening Day! Here are some important reminders about audiobooks:

1. Reading via audiobooks IS reading and not listening. Audiobooks do not equate to passive reception of a story. You are still actively reading and engaged in a narrative or information. Audiobooks are not LESS valid.
2. You CAN rest while reading an audiobook. Many of us mention a task along with reading our audiobook. But we don’t multitask while we read physical books.
3. Audiobooks are multi-sensory experiences! There’s a reason audiobooks are often pricier than their paper-bound counterparts. Many are FULL PRODUCTIONS with multiple narrators, music and sound effects, perfectly executed accents and more!
4. Audiobooks increase accessibility. There are many reasons that folks read via audiobooks, including physical, mental/processing, visual, or intellectual disabilities, learning differences or preferences, lack of time, or simply because they enjoy audiobooks.

At the end of the day …. MIND THE BUSINESS THAT PAYS YOU! Let folks read however they want to. What’s important is that we’re reading at all and what we’re choosing to read to impact our hearts and minds.

There are countless audiobook options on Libro.fm, including picks from our Monthly Diverse Books playlist. Here are some bestsellers you should check out. Samples on Libro.fm to make sure narrators are perfect fit!

Yellowface (#5) | R. F. Kuang | Narrated by: Helen Laser | Length: 8 hrs 39 mins

How High We Go in the Dark (#32) | Sequoia Nagamatsu | Narrated by: FULL CAST! | Length: 9 hours 20 minutes

*The Vanishing Half (#33) | Brit Bennett | Narrated by: Shayna Small | Length: 11 hours 33 minutes

The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches (#34) | Sangu Mandanna | Narrated by: Samara MacLaren | Length: 9 hours 59 minutes

*Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants (#37) | Robin Wall Kimmerer | Narrated by: Robin Wall Kimmerer | Length: 16 hours 44 minutes

*= both author and narrator are BIPOC

** I had to do QUITE a bit of scrolling to find BIPOC audiobooks on Bestsellers page… so let’s put in that work, y’all!

Take advantage of World Listening Day and check these and many more recommendations out on libro.fm. Sign up for Libro.fm membership, purchase audiobooks a la carte, or stock up on audiobook credits to support Tuma’s Books!