Audiobooks and jet lag

As I type this on my phone, it’s 1.51am and I’m coming down from jet lag, lying awake in bed with no sleep on the horizon. For some reason, I’ve always been particularly affected by jet lag. I returned home from New York on Monday morning, feeling sick and dazed, the advice of a friend to stay up all day feeling completely impossible. I know from experience that I’ll spend the next few nights awake until about two or three in the morning until my body decides to settle back into UK time.

Before I went to New York, my friend Clare told me that one of her favourite audiobooks was Colin Firth narrating The End of the Affair by Graham Greene. I had read the book at some point in college, over a decade ago, and I have long been resistant to audiobooks. I don’t really know why, because I’m an avid consumer of podcasts, but something about the disconnection from the page made me averse.

I’ve been completely enraptured by this audiobook, and have been evangelical about telling everyone how incredible it is. Colin Firth is a beautifully calm, yet utterly emotive narrator, and the book makes my heart ache in a way it couldn’t have when I was younger. Nothing like life experience to make a book more meaningful.

I’m almost finished and it’s keeping me company as I type while I battle my jet lag. It has kept me company on a plane, in the bath, and it has moved me to tears on several occasions. I’m still not convinced by audiobooks, and I’m unsure if any other one can live up to this one.

It’s only available on Audible, but I used my free trial to access it. If you’re a member, it’s well worth your monthly credit. If you have any other audiobook recommendations, let me know.