We've all been there: if it's not the right fit, even the shortest listen can feel like it's taking eons to get through. But what does it take to get through a really long listen?
I asked my fellow editors to share their longest-ever listens, and their responses were as varied as the individuals behind them. For some, 12 hours was a long listen, while others soared past 50 hours. Some felt the hours melt away as they were swept up into an epic saga, while others felt their stamina really being tested. But one thing was universal—we've all found long (to us) listens that we've loved and never wanted to end.
Here are the longest audiobooks we've ever listened to. What are yours?
Editor Kat, The Stand, 47 hrs 47 mins:
How to be pithy about something so epic? The Stand was the novel that made me love Stephen King, after years of being merely terrified by him, when I read it at 13. (It was, even in paperback, an absolute unit: a badge of adulthood I toted proudly all summer; longer than any other book I would read as an actual adult.) As I listened to the audio version this winter, I found myself helplessly sucked in yet again as King vividly depicts how the gnarly superflu Captain Trips spreads and shuts down society within weeks. Sure, it’s long, but here length is a luxury. King gives his band of survivors time to grow as characters, and to dawdle on harrowing scenes and unforgettable stray details: those who die, amid the chaos of superflu, of other causes; the banal artifacts, like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles comics, that survive. Grover Gardner’s performance is a luxury too, switching from straightforward to folksy, murderous, romantic, or gleefully gross—this being King, after all. Having spent more than 47 hours with his voice (by the way, I listened at x1 speed 💪), I can think of no one better to take the reins of this towering saga. M-O-O-N, that spells I forever stan The Stand.
Editor Sam, The Goldfinch, 32 hrs 24 mins:
Technically speaking, I think Stephen King's It is my actual longest listen ever. (I take my annual listening goal VERY seriously, as you can see. I’m also a blast at parties.) But The Goldfinch is by far my most memorable. I had just started my new gig as an Audible editor, and although I was already deep into listening by that point, the thought of anything over 12 hours still made me sweat. But my colleagues highly recommended this one, so I cautiously decided to give it a try. The last thing I expected was to feel like a 32-hour listen went by too fast, but that’s exactly what happened. That December, I listened on my way to work, at work (shh…), while gift shopping, and in those precious few moments I could find a little solitude and quiet that holiday season. I think that’s when it really clicked that there was nothing to fear about a longer runtime. If the story and the narrator are strong enough—and David Pittu, you are still my favorite—I’ll find as many reasons to listen as I can, making even the longest listen feel far too short.
Editor Aaron, Steve Jobs, 25 hrs 18 mins:
I'm not really a long-listen kinda guy. I wouldn't say I have a short attention span, but if I've been listening to a title for a long time, I often realize that I stopped paying attention at some point and need to rewind a solid 40 minutes back. So I was a little hesitant to start a listen that had more hours to it than an entire day, but there's something so magical about this biography that I finished it over the course of just a few days. I can't tell whether it's the narration, the pacing, or just how fascinating Steve Jobs's life was—maybe it’s all three—but even if you’re like me and bristle at the idea of taking a chance on anything longer than eight hours, I think Walter Isaacson's Steve Jobs might help you realize that you’ve got a lot more listening stamina than you think.
Editor Melissa, Oathbringer, 55 hrs 5 mins:
I'm a simple lady: when I see a new Sanderson, I one-click that title into my library, baby. But I'll admit that I didn't always used to feel this way about Brandon Sanderson. I fell in love with his books in high school, but years later, when I tried to pick up the first two installments of his Stormlight Archive series, they were daunting bricks to look at. I bought them in print and tried to start them multiple times before I stalled out. They felt like too much work, and I started to think I didn't love his books as much as I used to. But then. Then, my friends, I decided to give it one final go in audio, and that was when the magic kicked in. Kate Reading and Michael Kramer made the story melt away with their narration. Listening to something complicated and pronunciation-heavy makes all the difference because it takes the work off you, and you can become absorbed in the plot much faster without having to worry about keeping all the details in your head. I listened to all three books in a straight shot, so all-told it was 148 hours and 47 minutes of listening, but wow, it did not feel that long at all. Listening to this series made me realize that as long as the story is good, it's never too long. Next up: Rhythm of War, which is coming out in November!
Editor Emily, A Little Life, 32 hrs 51 mins:
It may be called A Little Life, but it’s a loooonnnnggggg listen, and not only is this the longest title I’ve listened to, it’s also the saddest. But don’t let this intimidate you; I would willingly sob and blubber my way through this all over again for the beautiful experience of listening to Yanigahara’s breathtaking portrait of friendship, love, trauma, and tragedy. The story of a group of friends from college, this is a four-lane bildungsroman. Each of the young men have their own demons and dreams, but it’s Jude, whose life story draws you in and breaks your heart over and over again. You’ll miss them all when you come to the end, but you won’t be alone. If you listen carefully you’ll hear narrator Oliver Wyman—whose brave and stoic performance is truly one for the ages—trying to hold back tears.
Editor Alanna, The Lord of the Rings, 55 hrs 28 mins:
I’ve always loved The Lord of the Rings, but that fondness snowballed into full-fledged fixation when I started dating my Tolkien-obsessed boyfriend five years back. Since then, the fantasy epic has become part of my daily life, from the replicas of Andúril and Hadhafang that adorn our living room wall to contentious discussions about our favorite characters (his: Aragorn, mine: Samwise). One thing isn’t up for debate, though: this listen is well-worth the long-haul. And while the story is segmented into three installments, The Lord of the Rings is not technically a trilogy: Tolkien advocated for the entire work to be published as a singular novel, only to be overruled by his publisher. As a Middle Earth-purist, I had to listen to the story as intended, clocking over two days of listening. Luckily, Tolkien's incomparable world-building and Rob Inglis's impeccable narration made the journey worth every minute. A tip for stamina? Don’t skip second breakfast.
Editor Rachel, Moby-Dick, 24 hrs 49 mins:
In thinking about my longest listen, I realized how much of a weirdo I am when it comes to my listening habits. Sometimes I lose steam in the middle of a long read or listen, and I love switching between the two formats to break it up and push me forward. (This doesn't have to be a luxury—I use an Audible credit to download the audio, and borrow the book from my local library.) This is how I've gotten through so many of my favorite big books: The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt, 1Q84 by Haruki Murakami, and Elena Ferrante's Neapolitan Novels. But another way I love doing long listens is to take something I read long ago and re-experience it as spoken word. A few years ago I did this with my favorite book of all time, Moby-Dick. With the contours of the story already mapped out in my mind, new details jumped out to surprise and delight me. Ishmael was funnier than I remembered! Starbuck more dramatic! Queequeg more charming! Ahab more eeeeevil! The entire experience gave me tingles. Rather than taking it down in one big gulp, I listened to a few chapters here and there between other listens, which was just right.
Editor Sean, Dark Age, 33 hrs 58 mins:
The latest in the Red Rising series speeds along despite the 33-hour runtime. While the scope is sprawling, the story isn’t; it remains tightly wound, and there’s just something spectacular about the main character, Darrow. Heroic but flawed, brave but impatient, altruistic but alienated, he serves as the focal point of the narrative with other characters orbiting him in varying distances like moons to a planet. Occasionally, the secondary characters and their excellent narrators steal the shine from Darrow in deeply resonant ways (I’m looking at you, Ephraim), but as the story moves further away from Darrow’s perspective, it also expands in terms of the impact—returning to him to align all the stars just before they might spiral out into the vacuum of space. Which, by the way, is exactly where the book’s Big Bad comes from—and he’s a monster fit to face a living legend like Darrow. I’m hoping for another 30+ hours with this cast of characters whenever the next title in the series graces our libraries. In the meantime, if you haven’t given Red Rising a try, you’re missing out on one of the most important sci-fi series ever—and with just over 114 hours of existing listening awaiting you, there’s no better time to dig in while we all wait for book 6.
Editor Courtney, Radical Acceptance, 12 hrs 15 mins:
To colleagues who know me as a "serial unfinisher," it should come as no surprise that my longest listen is a fraction of most of theirs. It’s not that I have a short attention span (though that may be true), but more likely that I have a fear of endings—one of many things I’m learning to work through thanks to Radical Acceptance. In accessible, relatable, and revelatory language, Dr. Tara Brach (an accredited therapist and meditation instructor) makes a supremely logical case for accepting yourself despite any perceived feelings of inadequacy—even a chronic inability to finish anything in your Audible library. As a result, I've learned not to "give up" on a listen after straying from it. I've accepted that I need a vast buffet of listens in my library for me to dip in and out of depending on my mood, energy level, and circumstances. And is that really so radical?
