28 | MAY 7 • 2020 Arts&Life books Oratory Art Audiobooks have increased in popularity the last few years and provide an escape to another setting for those stuck at home. SUZANNE CHESSLER CONTRIBUTING WRITER M issy Selfon began lis- tening to audiobooks while coping with a family member’ s serious illness. She needed a literary distraction available more readily than in traditional book format while she fulfilled everyday responsibilities as a wife, mom and employment counselor. Now retired and following social distancing advice to avoid the coronavirus, Selfon still val- ues audiobooks as distractions. Through her local library, she installed audiobook iPhone apps that provide free borrowing opportunities without leaving home. Free audiobook apps through libraries include cloudLi- brary, Hoopla and OverDrive. Commercial apps, like Audible, also are available. Selfon is among the growing number of listeners, authors, narrators and publishers in the Jewish community giving reasons for their attractions to audio- books. “I not only look out for what the book is about, I also look out for the reader, ” said Selfon of White Lake, active with Congregation Shaarey Zedek and Hadassah. “The right reader can make characters come alive, and it’ s easy to picture them in my mind. ” Selfon recently finished The Wartime Sisters, a novel by Lynda Cohen Loigman, and liked the narrator. When it comes to biographical works, she enjoys listening to writers reciting their own texts, such as with Michelle Obama’ s memoir, Becoming. Sarah Hurwitz, a speechwriter for the former first lady, wrote and narrated her own memoir, Here All Along: Finding Meaning, Spirituality and a Deeper Connection to Life — in Judaism. “Because this book is so inti- mate, I didn’ t want an actor read- ing it, ” Hurwitz said. Altie Karper, editorial director at Schocken Books in New York, welcomes the growing interest in audio as she heads up publishing projects with Jewish themes. Karper explains that books writ- ten by celebrities are more likely to be narrated by the authors as a selling point. “ Audiobooks have become a phenomenon throughout the publishing industry over the last four or five years because of the advent of digital audio files that can be downloaded onto listening devices, ” Karper said. Recent Schocken audiobooks include Aharon Appelfeld novels and Deborah Lipstadt’ s History on Trial, which is about anti-Sem- itism. Newly discovered books by Eli Wiesel, unpublished until now, soon will be audiobooks. A survey by the Audio Publishers Association found that sales of audiobooks reached near- ly $1 billion in 2018. Fifty-five percent of audiobook listeners were under age 45, and 51 per- cent of frequent listeners were between 18 and 44. “What we love about audio- books is that they expand the readership for our books the same way ebooks have been expanding readership, ” said Karper, who listens to audio- books on the train to and from work. What actors and voiceover artists especially love about audiobooks is that they add job opportunities. Eva Kaminsky, recognized for guest performances on popular