Why I Love Audiobooks in My 60s — I Learned to Read With My Ears
When I was young, I had a very specific picture of what growing older would look like.
I imagined myself sitting in a rocking chair by a sunny window, a soft afternoon breeze moving the curtains, reading glasses on my nose, and a good book open in my hands.
It was such a peaceful picture.
I really wanted to grow old that way.
Well… now I'm in my 60s.
And I have to smile a little at my childhood imagination.
Apparently, reading glasses don't solve everything. 😊
When Your Heart Still Loves Books, but Your Eyes Don't Cooperate
My eyesight has changed over the years.
Small print has become harder to read, and reading for a long time makes my eyes tired much more quickly than it once did.
Our daily lives have changed, too.
When I was growing up, we didn't spend hours every day looking at smartphones and digital screens. Today, screens are everywhere. Even though I use reading glasses with blue-light filtering, I notice that my eyes become tired much more easily.
I've asked friends around my age about this, too. Some tell me they hardly read newspapers anymore.
And that made me realize something.
I hadn't lost my love of reading. My eyes simply weren't enjoying it as much as my mind was.
That's when audiobooks in my 60s became an important part of my life.
At first, they seemed like a practical solution.
But they eventually became something much more personal.
My Love of Stories Started With My Mother
My mother was born in 1930, and she loved books.
She passed away before she reached 60, but some of my strongest childhood memories of her are connected to reading.
She could read Japanese, and when I was little, she would read Japanese novels in their original language and then tell me the stories.
I didn't realize at the time how deeply those moments would stay with me.
My maternal grandmother lived in an old Japanese-era house in Jangchung-dong, Seoul.
Whenever I visited her home, something about that old house, my childhood, and the Japanese stories my mother told me became intertwined in my memory.
Even today, Japanese novels carry a certain nostalgia for me.
Perhaps that's why, decades later, when I began searching for audiobooks, I naturally found myself drawn to Japanese stories—especially mysteries.
Then I Discovered Won Ana's Book Reading TV
One of the places where my audiobook journey really began was WonAna’s Book Reading TV, a Korean audiobook YouTube channel.
The channel introduced me to books I might otherwise never have finished—or even discovered.
And one of those books surprised me.
It wasn't a Japanese mystery at all.
It was The Pilgrim's Progress.
I Finally Finished a Book I Had Always Wanted to Finish
The Pilgrim's Progress was one of those books I had always wanted to read from beginning to end.
I had started it before.
More than once.
But somehow, somewhere along the way, I would put it down.
Then I found an audio reading of it.
I listened for about five hours.
And for the first time, I finished the entire book.
That experience changed the way I thought about audiobooks.
They weren't simply an easier substitute for printed books.
They could take me somewhere a printed book sometimes couldn't anymore—all the way to the end of a story I genuinely wanted to finish.
Sometimes the desire to read a book is still there. We simply need a different way to reach the last page.
That was when I began to understand what audiobooks could really mean for me.
And Then Came the Japanese Mysteries…
Through the same channel, I began listening to Japanese mystery fiction, including works by writers such as Higashino Keigo and Matsumoto Seicho.
Maybe it was the mysteries themselves.
Maybe it was the childhood memories of my mother.
Maybe it was that strange sense of nostalgia I still associate with Japanese stories.
Probably all three.
Whatever the reason…
I became completely hooked. 😊
What began as a way to enjoy books without tiring my eyes turned into a genuine love of Japanese mystery fiction.
I also discovered how rich Japan's mystery-fiction tradition is and how devoted its readers are to the genre.
There was always another mystery waiting for me.
And audiobooks fit naturally into my life.
I could listen while walking, exercising, doing things around the house, or simply closing my eyes and resting.
Books had found their way back into my everyday life.
After a Year of Listening, I Started Leaving Comments
After listening to the channel for about a year, I began leaving comments.
At first, it was simply my way of saying thank you.
Someone had taken the time to introduce these stories, and I wanted to leave thoughtful comments about the books—what stayed with me, what surprised me, and sometimes what the story made me think about afterward.
Apparently, someone was actually reading my comments. 😂
One of my comments was selected, and I received a real printed book, Joritdae Begae as a gift.
The irony still makes me laugh.
My tired eyes led me from printed books to audiobooks—and listening to audiobooks eventually won me a printed book.
But the story didn't end there.
Audiobooks Somehow Led to My First Fan Meeting
During a later trip to Korea, something happened that I certainly hadn't imagined when I first put on my earphones.
I had the opportunity to meet the announcer behind WonAna's Book Reading TV, along with Professor Park In-gon, who also introduces books on the channel.
My first fan meeting.
In my 60s. Because of audiobooks. 😊
Something I had started doing quietly and alone had somehow connected me with real people.
I love that.
And recently, it happened again.
Another one of my comments was selected.
This time, two books arrived as gifts.
So apparently…
the more audiobooks I listen to, the more printed books appear on my bookshelf. 😂
So apparently…
the more audiobooks I listen to, the more printed books appear on my bookshelf. 😂
How Audiobooks in My 60s Changed the Way I Read
Sometimes people wonder whether listening to an audiobook really counts as reading.
I've stopped worrying about that.
For me, reading was never simply about moving my eyes across printed words.
It's entering another person's story.
Thinking about it.
Feeling something.
Wondering what happens next.
And sometimes continuing to think about the characters and their choices long after the story has ended.
Audiobooks gave that back to me when traditional reading became more difficult.
But they gave me something I hadn't expected, too.
They brought back memories of my mother.
And the more I think about it, the more I realize that perhaps listening to books isn't really new to me at all.
Maybe I Was Listening to Books Long Before Audiobooks
When I was a little girl, my mother read Japanese novels and then told me their stories.
I listened.
I imagined the characters.
I wondered what would happen next.
And I fell in love with stories.
Now, decades later, I put on my earphones and once again listen as someone tells me a story.
And very often, it's a Japanese story.
There is something almost circular about that.
Maybe I didn't discover an entirely new way of reading in my 60s.
Maybe I simply found my way back to the way stories first came into my life.
My Rocking-Chair Dream Hasn't Disappeared
I still love the picture I carried with me from childhood.
The sunny window.
The soft afternoon breeze.
The curtain moving gently.
The rocking chair.
And an older woman completely lost in a wonderful book.
Only now, I would change one small detail.
The book doesn't necessarily have to be in her hands.
Maybe she's sitting there with her eyes closed.
Maybe there are earphones in her ears.
And maybe she is still completely lost in a wonderful book.
Perhaps that's not so different from the life I dreamed about after all.
I didn't stop reading because I got older.
I simply learned to read with my ears.
GOKBEAUTY Closing Note
Growing older has changed many little things in my life—including how I read. But I've learned that sometimes we don't have to give up the things we love. We simply find a new way to enjoy them.
Comments