Skip to main content

A Conversation with Mary Lou Wachsmith

Sounding Off on Audio: Interviews with Listeners About Their Love of Audiobooks

A Conversation with Mary Lou Wachsmith

Mary Lou Wachsmith is a lawyer-turned-tutor, whose love of books is in her DNA --- a trait so deep it’s inherited by her sons. She only recently started listening to audiobooks, but she has been a voracious listener since she got hooked a year ago. Self-described as not a great multitasker, Mary Lou doesn’t like to listen while she’s distracted by anything else. Here, she talks about how her love of listening to books was fostered early by radio programs and the children’s story hour at the library, and why a good narrator is absolutely integral to the success of an audiobook.

Question: How long have you been listening to audiobooks?

Mary Lou Wachsmith: About a year.

Q: What made you start listening?

MLW: I got hooked on audiobooks through a high school girlfriend with whom I have reconnected through Facebook. (It is so fun to find my high school and college friends on Facebook, since I am on the left coast and they are all on the east coast.) There are several of us who discuss the latest books through postings on Facebook, and one of them reads exclusively through Audible. I thought I’d give it a try based on her positive experience.

Q: When and where do you listen?

MLW: I mostly listen during times on the treadmill and at night before sleep. I am not a great multitasker, so I don’t listen while doing anything that will take my attention away from the book. In the past, when commuting to work, I would listen to audiobooks in the car. The books definitely took a lot of the pain out of the commute. Now I work at home, so no more listening during commuting.

Q: What kinds of books do you like to listen to best?

MLW: I want to say good ones (right?), which for me involves fiction with great storytelling and interesting characters. My experience with nonfiction and audiobooks is not yet vast, but I have enjoyed Bill Bryson’s ONE SUMMER, although it was difficult to catch all of the author/performer’s words. That surprised me because I listened to his A WALK IN THE WOODS years ago in a books-on-tape version, and his delivery was outstanding and had me in stitches.

Q: What do you use to listen to audiobooks?

MLW: I use my iPhone pretty much exclusively.

Q: Are the books that you listen to different from the kinds of print and eBooks you read?

MLW: No, not at all. The only real difference is that if I don’t connect to the performer/narrator, I might prefer to read the book in print or eBook.

Q: Where do you buy/borrow audiobooks from?

MLW: So far I have exclusively used Audible, and I love its features. First of all, if I get into the book and don’t like it, the company has an exchange policy. Additionally, there is a “whispersync” option with many of the books, which allows the reader to switch back and forth between eBooks and Audible. There is an extra charge for that, but it is below the market cost of a regular eBook. Also, Audible has a monthly membership fee of $15, and this allows for the choice of one audiobook per month. This membership cost is way below market value of a regular audiobook from Audible, particularly the new books and bestsellers, so it is a really good deal. I have not tried any other audiobook companies as yet.

Q: Do you share your audiobooks with anyone?

MLW: No.

Q: Do you listen with anyone else, or is it a solo experience?

MLW: Solo.

Q: What percentage of your reading is done via audiobooks?

MLW: About 20%. And I do read a lot. Probably two or three books a week.

Q: What are some of the most memorable books you have listened to and why?

MLW: Well, there are a few books that have set the audiobook bar very high for me. I got hooked initially through John Grisham’s SYCAMORE ROW, narrated by Michael Beck. The story is great --- really one of Grisham’s finest --- but Beck’s performance of the audio version is what drew me in. I am a sucker for a good tale, and I am finding that being “read to” is just the best experience ever. I also got completely hooked by Scott Turow’s INNOCENT, narrated by a couple of different people. BUT I was not so thrilled with another audiobook of one of my favorite authors, James Lee Burke. I’m not sure if it was the story, or the narration by Will Patton, but I did not like LIGHT OF THE WORLD. It was too much like a soap opera in all the bad ways. And one of the main characters was pretty unbelievable. But I digress…

I fell in love with Sissy Spacek’s performance of TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD. And another little treasure I stumbled upon was THE AWAKENING by Kate Chopin, which Kim Basinger performed brilliantly. Oh yes, I should also say I am a longtime Stephen King fan; I like to say we have grown old together. So I thoroughly enjoyed MR. MERCEDES on Audible too, narrated by Will Patton.

I really think for an audiobook to be great, it is all about the narrator --- that is, if the underlying book is good, with engrossing plot and interesting characters. But, if the narrator is not good, then it doesn’t matter how great the plot is, or how interesting the characters are; the audio version will usually not work. I found this out recently with a book by one of my favorite authors, Dana Stabenow. To me, the audio version of her book FIRE AND ICE was dreadful, but the eBook was very engrossing. 

However, at the risk of contradicting myself, I did finish W IS FOR WASTED by Sue Grafton, even though I wasn’t in love with the narrator, because I was completely into the story, and love Kinsey Milhone. I guess the difference was that I didn’t really think the narration was poorly done. I just didn’t think that the narrator’s voice (Judy Kaye) matched what I thought Kinsey should sound like. But putting that aside, the narration itself was well done, whereas I disliked the technique of the narrator of the Stabenow book because I thought she overacted quite a bit, to the point that it was really distracting and very annoying.

Q: What is the last audiobook you listened to? Tell us about it.

MLW: I listened to two early books by authors who I really like: THE POET by Michael Connelly and TOUCH & GO by Lisa Gardner. They were adequate books, but overly long I thought. The narration was very well done: Buck Schirner of the Connelly book, and Elisabeth Rogers of the Gardner book.

I am currently reading OUTLANDER by Diana Gabaldon and narrated by Davina Porter. I decided it was time to get with some of the series books that are all the rage. I know OUTLANDER was written in the early ’90s, but I wanted to start at the beginning and work my way through. So far so good on the performance. Also, I just ordered THE MAP THIEF by Michael Blanding and narrated by Sean Runette, and I’m really looking forward to that.

I’ve got several others in my queue: a couple by Martha Grimes, Peter Benchley’s JAWS (read it years ago, looking forward to listening), TELL NO LIES by Gregg Hurwitz, NATCHEZ BURNING by Greg Iles and Mark Twain’s HELPFUL HINTS, among others. I put my Audible membership on hold for three months so I could catch up, and it starts up again on December 1st.

Q: Is there anything about the format of audiobooks that you don't like or would like to change or improve?

MLW: Well, there’s not much about them that I don’t like. It is just so easy to download and enjoy. To me, it is a fascinating technology. What’s not to love?

The medium of audiobooks just resonates with me. I grew up in NYC in the ’50s, in the days when radio programs --- although on the wane --- were still available and popular. I think those early radio mysteries with all the sound effects of doors slamming and guns going off are what started my love of mysteries today. Also, I remember my early days at the 79th Street library in New York City, when my mother would take me to the children’s story hour. I loved that so much. The children’s library was upstairs from the main library, and I can still see the wide wooden stairs leading to that special place in my mind’s eye. I was spellbound by the stories we were read. 

So, I guess I’m a natural audience when it comes to audiobooks.

Thank you so much for the opportunity to comment on my audiobook experiences. I treasure the written word, and love being able to participate in all things books!