There was a time when I got email from readers who wondered whether they were truly reading if they were immersing themselves in a story with their ears instead of their eyes — as if audiobooks were somehow a lesser literary experience than stepping into a character’s life on the page.

I often puzzled over this because many of us are introduced to the power of narrative through oral storytelling. When I was in first or second grade, my grandpa Miller used to make up elaborate adventure stories that starred my brother and me.

And I can still recall the anticipation of listening as a grade-school teacher read a chapter of "Caddie Woodlawn"  to us each week.

So, banish the idea that listening to a book isn’t real reading and if you’re new to audiobooks, consider the deep pleasure of listening to the author’s voice as she unfurls her life story in a memoir.

Here are three of my recent favorites:

Roxane Gay’s memoir, "Hunger," is exceptional, contradictory, painful and graceful, and to listen to it in Gay’s strong and unflinching voice is riveting. “When you’re overweight,” she tells us, “your body becomes a matter of public record in many respects.”

It’s hard to beat David Sedaris for a superb audiobook experience. His essays about his family, life with his husband, Hugh, and his career are uproarious and poignant and his unusual voice is one of the most recognized voices in public radio. Start with his newer book, "Calypso."

I’d read a Washington Post review last spring of Sharon Stone’s memoir, "The Beauty of Living Twice," and decided then that I wanted to hear the actress’ story unfold in her own voice. Still, I’d underestimated how devastating it would be to hear Stone describe a brain bleed that put her in the ICU and led to years of recovery; how she and her sister survived repeated sexual abuse by her grandfather; and how she has endured and thrived in Hollywood.

— Kerri Miller | MPR News