Listen & learn: 30 audiobooks that can teach you something new

The benefits of reading are undeniable: It helps your focus, improves vocabulary and memory, reduces stress—not to mention, it’s just plain fun. Behind all of this is another plus: You might actually learn something!

They say learning lasts a lifetime, and it’s true! We’re all old dogs learning new tricks, and there are lots of nonfiction books available from our libraries to help us keep learning long after our school days end. Fiction books can also be valuable teachers, opening us up to new perspectives, teaching us about empathy and expanding our imaginations.

Even with the busiest of schedules, we can still manage to squeeze in some reading to take advantage of some of these benefits with the unbelievable convenience of audiobooks. These master multitaskers let us drive, exercise, clean, cook, garden, craft, sit and even drift off to sleep all while listening and learning with a good book.

So, what can you learn? Well, just about anything! If you’re looking to acquire a new skill like cooking or crocheting, want to learn more about a particular topic or even get some life advice, it’s all here.

Learn how to do something new with these titles:

Learn how to cook

• Cooked by Michael Pollan

Learn how to code

• Computer Science Beginner’s Crash Course by Ian Batantu

Learn how to meditate

• Meditation for Fidgety Skeptics by Dan Harris

Learn how to speak another language

• Collins Dictionaries by Collins Dictionaries

Learn how to potty train your kid

• Oh Crap! Potty Training by Jamie Glowacki

Learn how to write a book

• Save the Cat! Writes a Novel by Jessica Brody

Learn how to run a business

• Purple Cow by Seth Godin

Learn how to make money

• Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill

Learn how to crochet

• Crochet by Nancy Ross

Learn how to give birth

• Ina May's Guide to Childbirth by Ina May Gaskin

Learn how to improve your life with these titles:

Learn how to accept yourself

• Radical Acceptance by Tara Brach

Learn how to live with less

• The Year of Less by Cait Flanders

Learn how to deal with toxic people

• The Highly Sensitive Person’s Guide to Dealing with Toxic People by Shahida Arabi

Learn how to make your marriage work

• The Seven Principles for Making Marriage Work by John M. Gottman

Learn how to laugh

• NPR Laughter Therapy: A Comedy Collection for the Chronically Serious by NPR

Learn how to do absolutely nothing at all

• How to Do Nothing by Jenny Odell

Learn how to be a better listener

• Active Listening Techniques: 30 Practical Tools to Hone Your Communication Skills by Nixaly Leonardo

Learn about healing trauma

• Waking the Tiger by Peter A. Levine

Learn how to get more done

• The 12 Week Year by Michael Lennington

Learn how to stop overthinking

• Soundtracks by Jon Acuff

Learn how to make better decisions

• Nudge by Richard H. Thaler

Learn how to be financially independent

• Girls that Invest by Simran Kaur

Learn about history and the things and people around us with titles like:

Learn about death

• Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers by Mary Roach

Learn about the history of working women

• The Radium Girls by Kate Moore

Learn about nature

• The Genius of Birds by Jennifer Ackerman

Learn about public libraries

• Overdue by Amanda Oliver

Learn about smart design

• The Design of Everyday Things by Donald A. Norman

Learn about the original inhabitants of the U.S.

• An Indigenous Peoples' History of the United States by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz

Learn about ancient Rome

• SPQR by Mary Beard

Learn about the history of music

• Music is History by Questlove

Find these audiobooks and many more from your library on the Libby app, because there’s always something new to learn.