4 ms·

I highly recommend audio books. I tallied it up and last year I read 58 books averaging 1.8 hours of reading a day. It's great!

lsc 9y ago
I don't think audiobooks are really the same; Maybe I just need to figure out how to make it read faster, but so far it's just slower and less immersive. Audio is a thing, like I really enjoy history podcasts when I'm doing other things that require attention, but it's different from reading 'cause I'm not immersed in the world of Mike Duncan or Nate DiMeo - I mean, I really enjoy listening to them but it's like watching a movie on a screen; reading a book is like watching a movie on a occulus rift (only, you know, good) I mean, one of them is there in the room with you; the other becomes the room, absorbs all attention.
- colechristensen 9y ago
  The Audible client has a speed factor built in to it's client. The problems you describe easily go away at about 1.3x for me, and I can listen considerably faster if I'm not interested in 100% retention (some books are worth skimming, others worth reading, and a select few are worth studying) As an aside I highly recommend reading "How to Read a Book". I don't recommend studying every detail, there is a lot in there I don't think is particularly valuable, but some of it really shifted how I thought about and approached reading.
- baxtr 9y ago
  I think it’s definitely not the same. I often buy kindle books with the audible bundle included. The I listen to the books while I’m commuting. I often go back though and actually the chapters without the audio. I am always surprised how much new things I find even though I “read” the chapter already.
- ikurei 9y ago
  You can speed it up, and I've done that for some books, but I agree it's not the same. Specially for books from which you want to extract actual concrete knowledge, there is nothing like paper. However, for the right books, audiobooks can be even better in my experience; books where you want some "wisdom" and feelings more than concrete stuff, and where a peaceful, somewhat-slow is appropriate. I listened to Lab Girl, an intimate autobiography, read by the author, and it was fantastic. I am now going over a book on buddhism, and because I don't really care about remembering the details of Maharana's life, I love listening instead of reading. With such a book, reading faster doesn't seem to make much sense, I wanna go slow and savior its lessons. In any case, it's been a good complement to my traditional reading; even when it isn't the best way to read a book, it's a fantastic way to make the most of commuting or doing chores.
- crowbahr 9y ago
  I'm reading Sci-fi stories rather than something drier or that needs more digesting, so I understand this point of view. I didn't find it that hard to listen to Dune compared to listening to, say, Peter F. Hamilton's works. For me it all is something that becomes entirely attention consuming. Your mileage may vary!
jasonkester 9y ago
Audiobooks don't feel like reading to me. It's more like watching television. As in, "I watched 120 hours of Netflix last year!", and thus not something that gives the same satisfaction. A good book is something you want to take slowly and really read. Digging in and unpacking the meaning from interesting turns of phrase. I just don't get that from listening. I need to see the words. Maybe for history, textbooks, or mindless pageturners it could be useful. But for a capital-B Book, no, that doesn't do it for me.
- fsloth 9y ago
  I think this is your personal preference. Perhaps you've suffered poor recordings? I've found a good book, when read by a proficient voice to a well produced recording - is still a good book. Early literature was all based on rote learning and spoken tongue. We still have some of those works left from preliterate times. Socrates, Homer, etc. Although, 'pre-literate' literature does sound a bit self contradicting.
  - lsc 9y ago
    so I'm a couple comments up; I do think that audiobooks can be better for some things... but even when the recording is so good you might be able to call it better than the book, it's just... a really different experience from reading a book. As to early literature, I just got done reading Emily Wilson's new translation of the Odyssey. she goes into that a little in the introduction, about the difference between something you recite and something you read, and about how the odyssey is sort of in-between those two things; clearly it wasn't just homer taking dictation, but it also clearly does contain some artifacts unique to an oral storytelling tradition.
everybodyknows 9y ago
Highest quality, free, short fiction recordings I've found: https://www.newyorker.com/podcast/the-authors-voice https://www.newyorker.com/podcast/the-authors-voice

lsc 9y ago

I don't think audiobooks are really the same; Maybe I just need to figure out how to make it read faster, but so far it's just slower and less immersive. Audio is a thing, like I really enjoy history podcasts when I'm doing other things that require attention, but it's different from reading 'cause I'm not immersed in the world of Mike Duncan or Nate DiMeo - I mean, I really enjoy listening to them but it's like watching a movie on a screen; reading a book is like watching a movie on a occulus rift (only, you know, good) I mean, one of them is there in the room with you; the other becomes the room, absorbs all attention.

colechristensen 9y ago
The Audible client has a speed factor built in to it's client. The problems you describe easily go away at about 1.3x for me, and I can listen considerably faster if I'm not interested in 100% retention (some books are worth skimming, others worth reading, and a select few are worth studying) As an aside I highly recommend reading "How to Read a Book". I don't recommend studying every detail, there is a lot in there I don't think is particularly valuable, but some of it really shifted how I thought about and approached reading.
baxtr 9y ago
I think it’s definitely not the same. I often buy kindle books with the audible bundle included. The I listen to the books while I’m commuting. I often go back though and actually the chapters without the audio. I am always surprised how much new things I find even though I “read” the chapter already.
ikurei 9y ago
You can speed it up, and I've done that for some books, but I agree it's not the same. Specially for books from which you want to extract actual concrete knowledge, there is nothing like paper. However, for the right books, audiobooks can be even better in my experience; books where you want some "wisdom" and feelings more than concrete stuff, and where a peaceful, somewhat-slow is appropriate. I listened to Lab Girl, an intimate autobiography, read by the author, and it was fantastic. I am now going over a book on buddhism, and because I don't really care about remembering the details of Maharana's life, I love listening instead of reading. With such a book, reading faster doesn't seem to make much sense, I wanna go slow and savior its lessons. In any case, it's been a good complement to my traditional reading; even when it isn't the best way to read a book, it's a fantastic way to make the most of commuting or doing chores.
crowbahr 9y ago
I'm reading Sci-fi stories rather than something drier or that needs more digesting, so I understand this point of view. I didn't find it that hard to listen to Dune compared to listening to, say, Peter F. Hamilton's works. For me it all is something that becomes entirely attention consuming. Your mileage may vary!

jasonkester 9y ago

Audiobooks don't feel like reading to me. It's more like watching television. As in, "I watched 120 hours of Netflix last year!", and thus not something that gives the same satisfaction. A good book is something you want to take slowly and really read. Digging in and unpacking the meaning from interesting turns of phrase. I just don't get that from listening. I need to see the words. Maybe for history, textbooks, or mindless pageturners it could be useful. But for a capital-B Book, no, that doesn't do it for me.

fsloth 9y ago
I think this is your personal preference. Perhaps you've suffered poor recordings? I've found a good book, when read by a proficient voice to a well produced recording - is still a good book. Early literature was all based on rote learning and spoken tongue. We still have some of those works left from preliterate times. Socrates, Homer, etc. Although, 'pre-literate' literature does sound a bit self contradicting.
- lsc 9y ago
  so I'm a couple comments up; I do think that audiobooks can be better for some things... but even when the recording is so good you might be able to call it better than the book, it's just... a really different experience from reading a book. As to early literature, I just got done reading Emily Wilson's new translation of the Odyssey. she goes into that a little in the introduction, about the difference between something you recite and something you read, and about how the odyssey is sort of in-between those two things; clearly it wasn't just homer taking dictation, but it also clearly does contain some artifacts unique to an oral storytelling tradition.

everybodyknows 9y ago

Highest quality, free, short fiction recordings I've found: https://www.newyorker.com/podcast/the-authors-voice https://www.newyorker.com/podcast/the-authors-voice