I keep going back and forth on how I feel about audiobooks.
On one hand they are extraordinarily convenient. I can listen while I clean my room, cook, eat, shave, and so many other things. That’s time that I otherwise would spend not thinking or listening to music.
On the other hand, that is time I would spend not thinking or listening to music. Quiet space in the day is good and lately I doubt I’m comprehending the audiobook very well when I’m multitasking. It feels like outside of entertainment reasons there’s no point to listen to a book while I do other things.
The best listening experience has been when I lay on the floor on my back, which is good for my back, and I listen for an hour or so. Two birds, one stone, since I’d be bored without the book in that scenario.
Physical Books Are Better
Lately I am thinking that physical books are the best way to read. Better than audio or eBook or anything.
A physical book has no distractions. It doesn’t flash lights at you or make sounds. There are no pop-up ads, updates, or download codes. You can take it with you and you can write on it. You can flip through it quickly to skim for interesting words and pictures.
Audiobooks on the other hand are nearly impossible to navigate quickly. If you don’t know what area of the book you need to go to, you can only use the table of contents to help.
There’s something good and satisfying about having a physical object that you can carry around and manipulate. I also love the ability to read a book and get away from technology, where the audiobook/ebook does not allow it.
Honestly it’s shitty to “read” for 4 hours and then feel computer fatigue afterwards, books should be restorative. My eyes feel great after reading a physical book.
In this regard some eBook readers are better than phones and computers since they have pure e-ink displays.
This is all just my opinion, I don’t think any of it is objective truth. What is your preference? Audiobook, ebook, or paper book?
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I enjoy both, though honestly tend to listen to more audio books. I can have them playing while doing things around the house, cleaning and cooking, which is great. Though I also do like to sit down and read for a while, I tend not to do that as much as usually when I sit down, its to work on my computer or on my music.
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I don't listen to many audiobooks just because they are expensive. Maybe if Audable someday accepts crypto I will start buying some. But I do enjoy podcasts while driving, so they might be similar.
I too prefer physical books, but the convenience of ebooks is tough to beat. But I can only read ebooks on my Kindle. If I try to read them on my iPhone, my eyes start hurting before too long.
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Maybe if Audable someday accepts crypto
Honestly, within a few years I bet you can. And you have a good point about podcasts. Some of them are really indistinguishable from books, like Hardcore History.
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Having 2 x 2.5 hour drives every week I go for the audiobook. I have gone through dozens of them in several years of listening.
This is only because there's so much multi-tasking you can do while driving, and its simply available to me and a change from music.
My 14yr old daughter is in the other catagory. She loves phsyical books and wont use her Nook anymore.
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TRUE! Driving is the best time for audiobooks. I honestly forgot all about that because I dont have a car
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I love books , I haven't really tried audio books :( Sounds cool though but I feel the same , the physical books are better . Your vocabulary will increase much more while reading books rather than listening to it I feel.
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That's probably true. It would be easy to ignore words you dont know if they're being told to you as audio...
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As others have said audiobooks are nice for when you have other stuff going on that doesn't allow for actual reading. As far as ebook vs. paper, I still prefer paper, though I've gotta admit ebooks have a lot of advantages. Easier to carry around and store, easier to read in a lot of ways (no trying to fight to hold pages open one-handed). You don't have to worry about battery life with a paper book though.
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True that! It's also so much easier to take notes on a real book, at least in my experience.
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If you are flying, or doing a long drive an audio book can be great. My brother-in-law had a job that forced him to crisscross the state constantly. He bought so many audio books and it kept him sane -- he even bought a college lecture series for various subjects and learned a lot.
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Personally, audiobooks are. Simply because I don't have time to sit down and read as many books as I'm able to consume through audiobooks. And I can kill two birds with one stone by listening to a book while I work around the house. It's a win-win! :D
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