Learning How to Listen

The best company you could ask for on a long drive might surprise you.

-  ADAM RATHE

Recently I took what was supposed to be a five-hour solo drive to meet friends in Vermont. Thanks to bad weather, it took eight hours, but luckily I wasn’t entirely by myself. I had long avoided audiobooks—many snobbish readers do—but as I crawled along listening to Mel Brooks read his memoir, All About Me!, I was sold. And I’m not alone: Audible, the world’s largest audiobook platform, says membership has grown by 800 percent in the last decade. But where to start? Try these for your roadtrip. Delays might be welcome.