I received an advanced ready copy of the Audiobook version of Sound Affects and was excited to check it out. The Author was also the narrator.
I was excited to get the audiobook because I figured there would be tons of sound examples that would be played as the author talked about how sounds affects people, animals and our planet. Strangely that was not the case. He would speak of sounds and then reference the website to go to, to hear the sound which was very disappointing. There were a few times that a snippet was played but most of the time you are sent to the accompanying website. For me that is a big miss as some of the best musical books I've listened to had all the sounds shared with us to bring you into the book and have the feeling that they provide.

There was clearly a ton of research done for this book and that shows in all that is shared.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the arc.

After having listened to all Julian Treasure's TED talks with great pleasure and wanting more, I was extremely happy to get my hands on this upcoming audiobook by the author.

The book explores the world of sound and all it's significance to us humans. While some of the more technical aspects proved difficult to to follow, like decibels and hertz and the difference between, I know this was on me, not on the author, who has a wonderfully narrative and informative style.

If, like me, the topic of sound interests you or you're left wanting more after watching the TED talks, don't hesitate to get this one.

Thank you Julian Treasure and Netgalley for this ALC.

3 stars

This audiobook describes, in great length, the mechanisms/affects/effects of our Earthly soundscape and how it affects both humans and other living beings. If this is something that interests you, you will learn everything you have ever wanted to know and more by reading this book.

I was personally confused as to why short clips of many of the sounds described were not incorporated into the audiobook. I realize that they were loaded onto a website for those reading the physical book, though think that they should absolutely have been embedded into both the audiobook, and as clickable links in an e-book. Listening to the author reading without the breaks these clips could have given was quite boring in sections, even despite my interest in the subject.

Further, as someone who is neurodivergent, I really did not appreciate the author making conjectures as to the origins of neuro-diversity (ie. ADHD). This field is being studied well by all kinds of wonderful experts, with the use of many forms of technology. Adding misinformation to this field is unwelcome, and also makes me question claims made by the author within fields that I am less familiar with.

I do think that much of the book is well-researched and sources are well-credited. I believe that what sounds we surround ourselves with make a difference to our moods and mental health. But I also think that this audiobook could have been made better.

This book explores the often-overlooked power of sound, examining its impact on our lives and well-being. It guides readers to appreciate and consciously manage the soundscape around them.

This easy-to-read book is full of fascinating information. It focuses not just on the science of sound, but also on how society has historically ignored the effects of sound on life forms—and what we can do to make soundscapes more friendly. I enjoyed the audiobook narration.

Thanks, NetGalley, for the ARC I received. This is my honest and voluntary review.

I can't remember the last time a science book so perfectly (harmoniously?) balanced science and philosophy and aesthetics and spirituality as "Sound Affects" does. Like the best poetry, it filled me with delight for all of the ordinary, extraordinary things I experience each day. I have been tuned into what I hear. Not to be too hyperbolic about it, but this book has changed my life. I live in a beautiful place, about a mile from the sea, in an aural zone that mixes the songs of field birds and sea birds, and where I can hear sea lions bellowing out on the rocks when the wind is right, and the cries of red-tail hawks along with seagulls, and screech owls, and children playing, and people talking, and crows crowing...and now my ears are opened. Simply paying attention to what I'm hearing as I go on my daily walks has taken me out of my head, and away from my thoughts, and into a place of wonder.

There are so many other sides of this extraordinary book. My sense of wonder for the miracle of harmonics, its relationship with whole-number ratios, has been ignited. My knowledge of noise pollution, and my sense of loss over what human activity has done/is doing to our natural world have been vastly expanded. The understanding I've been given that vibration/sound is the first, primal, evolutionarily necessary sense, far more fundamental than sight, will change the way I think about things forever.

A word about the audiobook: It's fantastic. The author/narrator is perfect for the message. It's a book about sound and for that reason the audio experience seemed to suit its subject perfectly. There is also a web site with further audio examples, providing layers of understanding that words on a page can't express.

I feel I should add a comment for what seems like an obvious question for anyone reading this review: What about deaf people? Is this book implying deaf people are less-than?--and it isn't that way at all. The author's premise is that the range of sounds that even the sharpest-eared among us can hear is woefully small. He reminds us that the fundamental characteristic of what we call "sound" is vibration, which extends far beyond what human ears can perceive.That stars make sounds. Yeast cells make sounds. That our own bodies hear in ever so many ways, not just through our ears, but by perceiving vibrations throughout our bodies.

I'm thinking about the title now. Sound Affects. "Affects" as a verb. Sound affects us.

I enthusiastically recommend this book.

Sound Affects, written and narrated by Julian Treasure, was an interesting book about how the nuances of noises can impact our lives. It’s a thought-provoking book that makes you want to stop and single out noises around you and think about how they affect you.
This book was well written and the audiobook was great. The narration was very well done and the audiobook included other sounds that correlated with what was being talked about. The author’s voice was perfect for this type of book. He spoke clearly and had a great accent that was easy on the ears and to understand. You can tell that he knows a lot about sound and how to make it appealing. From what was described in the audiobook, I think there are a lot of graphs and pictures that would’ve been interesting to see. I would recommend consuming this audiobook in tandem with the physical book.

I deducted a star because, although much of the information was intriguing, at times it became too descriptive, which led to boredom. I fluctuated from complete boredom to fascination many times throughout the book.

Thank you, NetGalley and Hachette Audio / Grand Central Publishing for allowing me to read this book. I am writing this review based on my own opinion.

I really appreciated the acknowledgement of those who are deaf and hard of hearing, I've read a lot of books on sound (it's a special interest of mine) and this is the first time I have come across one with such an acknowledgement. For the most part the book came off as respectful to neurodivergent folks as well, though there was an implication that the loud/fastness of present children's shows causes ADHD, which I could have done without. I'm not a fan of how loud and fast children's entertainment has gotten either, but... No. That's not how that works. It may be that a lack of calm is winding kids up, but that doesn't give them ADHD.

That aside, I did give the book 5 stars, because I loved the vast majority of it. The author is a smidgen spiritual, and I'm not into spirituality, but I actually did like his suggestions about ways to appreciate quiet in regard to the chapter at the end of each. Since I listened to the audiobook, a lot of the sounds from the website were there, which I really appreciated. I wished they were all there, though I realize that probably would have made the book incredibly long, and it's better to have a chance to enjoy the sounds in the reader's own time, without the author's voice over it. That seems to be the point of the book, after all. Just enjoying the sounds. (There are also videos and links.)

This was such a strange little book, lovingly narrated by the author.

Sound is all around us, even in its absence. Treasure takes us on a journey through soundscapes as old as time and as distant as the universe. Sound is physical and social, critical and banal. We take sound for granted.

I really loved the inclusion of actual sounds in the audiobook edition. In fact, I wish there'd been more! I also enjoyed comparisons from modern times to the past, which really brought to bear how subversive technological changes in everyday life have affected not only our experiences with sound but all that sound relates to. One that struck me was how music once had to be experienced live, in a time before recordings, and how this shaped social experiences and made certain musical events truly once-in-a-lifetime moments, given the medium's ephemeral nature.

If I had one negative thing to say, it would be how peripatetic and random this book is. It's really all over the place. But I guess that's topical given how emblematic ubiquity is of most sounds.

Another challenge with the audiobook version is that the references are all in text or online. At least we get the full experience of the soundscape as the author intended, though.