Treat Yourself on Mother’s Day: Audio Books are Perfect for Busy Mums

Don’t you just love the leadup to Mother’s Day, where the ad campaigns for mothers receiving breakfast in bed start rolling out? Are your chances of getting breakfast in bed right up there with Chris Hemsworth dropping by with coffee? Rather than wait for miracles, start treating yourself. One way you can do that now is audiobooks. Book-loving mums never have enough time to read all the books on their list, but audiobooks are one way to address that.

Audio is the fastest growing category in publishing. Over 2.5 million adult Australians are using audio books to multi task, and that number is expanding rapidly. In children, we know that listening to audio books increases reading accuracy by 52%, improves comprehension by 76% and a combination of listening and reading increases recall 40% over print alone. For dyslexic children, audiobooks are a brilliant way for them to read at an age appropriate level, and also improve processing issues.

For busy mums, audio books are a wonderful opportunity to enjoy the latest releases while you’re on the go: driving, exercising, while you’re cooking, hiding in the bath with wine.

Here are some of our top picks for Mother’s Day. All are Bolinda titles, and each book is available in CD or MP3. For those of you who can’t afford to buy the titles, Bolinda has created the fabulous BorrowBox, a library app where patrons of any library who has signed on to BorrowBox can download eAudiobooks and eBooks for free.

This Mother’s Day, don’t wait for others to treat you. Treat yourself, and listen to a great read.

The Invitation by Belinda Alexandra (Read by Caroline Lee)

In Gilded Age New York, money buys everything. What is your price? From the bestselling author of Tuscan Rose comes a mesmerising tale of two sisters and the dangers and seductions of excess.

A Life of her Own by Fiona McCallum (Read by Jennifer Vuletic)

Alice Hamilton loved being a mature-age student, but now she’s finished her university degree she needs to find herself a career. When she’s offered a role in a major real estate agency, she jumps at the opportunity. But Alice quickly realises all is not as it seems… From Australia’s master storyteller comes an inspiring story about standing up for yourself, making difficult choices and chasing your dreams.

Nine Perfect Strangers by Liane Moriarty (Read by Caroline Lee)

The eagerly-anticipated new novel from the worldwide #1 bestselling author behind Emmy- and Golden Globe-winning HBO series Big Little Lies. Could ten days at a health resort really change you forever? Nine perfect strangers are about to find out … Watching over them is the resort’s director, a woman on a mission to reinvigorate these tired bodies and minds. But to what lengths will she go to achieve her goal? These nine perfect strangers have no idea what’s about to hit them.

Arcadia by Di Morrissey (Read by Vuletic)

In the 1930s, in an isolated and beautiful corner of southern Tasmania, a new young wife, Stella, arrives at her husband’s secluded property – Arcadia. Two generations later, Stella’s granddaughter, Sally, and her best friend, Jessica, stumble over Stella’s secret life in the forest. Di Morrissey has written a breathtaking Tasmanian tale of ancient forests; of art and science; of love and, above all, of friendship.

The Clockmaker’s Daughter by Kate Morton

The mesmerising sixth novel from the bestselling author of The House at Riverton and The Lake House. Told by multiple voices across time, The Clockmaker’s Daughter is a story of murder, mystery and thievery, of art, love and loss. And flowing through its pages like a river, is the voice of a woman who stands outside time, whose name has been forgotten by history, but who has watched it all unfold: Birdie Bell, the clockmaker’s daughter.