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I just love audio books. I listen to them while walking the dog, working out or doing chores around the house.

sorenjan 7y ago
I've tried it a few times, but I have a few problems with them: I can't skip boring parts, like long descriptions or other annoying parts. I zone out from time to time when doing other things, and I have to skip back and try to find where I lost track. Sometimes I have to go back and reread numbers, names, and other important info, but that's much harder with audio.
- Ozzie_osman 7y ago
  Just posted about this as a top-level. But might be worth trying Spokn. In general I usually have 10-15 mins in free time increments. Audio books don't work for me for that reason. Narrated articles do.
- jrumbut 7y ago
  Boring parts are the reason I do audio books (which in my mind I still call books on tape). I listen primarily to massive ancient works like The Illiad, Parallel Lives, and Herodotus' Histories that are impenetrable to me in text because they have enormous sections devoted to lists of ancient names or inaccurate dimensions of Egypt that I can just zone out to during a drive. Of course you can skip those parts in text but if you half listen to them you get to say you heard the whole thing and you begin to appreciate the role they played in the work and the influence they had on later authors and politicians.
- chiefalchemist 7y ago
  I have the same issues. My conclusion is to listen to things that were intended to be heard (e.g., speeches, plays, etc.). That said, I've read / heard that if you want to increase listening comprehension, speed up the play back. The novelty + speed forces the brain to focus more and listen closer. Moi? For listening, I listen to music. I still read paper books because I already spend too much time gazing into a screen (writing code).
- maaaats 7y ago
  There are often abridged versions of audiobooks, where they skip stuff like that and shorten the book considerably. Maybe worth a try.
bytematic 7y ago
I do the same but with podcasts, silence bothers me now, like wasted time.

I've tried it a few times, but I have a few problems with them: I can't skip boring parts, like long descriptions or other annoying parts. I zone out from time to time when doing other things, and I have to skip back and try to find where I lost track. Sometimes I have to go back and reread numbers, names, and other important info, but that's much harder with audio.

Ozzie_osman 7y ago
Just posted about this as a top-level. But might be worth trying Spokn. In general I usually have 10-15 mins in free time increments. Audio books don't work for me for that reason. Narrated articles do.
jrumbut 7y ago
Boring parts are the reason I do audio books (which in my mind I still call books on tape). I listen primarily to massive ancient works like The Illiad, Parallel Lives, and Herodotus' Histories that are impenetrable to me in text because they have enormous sections devoted to lists of ancient names or inaccurate dimensions of Egypt that I can just zone out to during a drive. Of course you can skip those parts in text but if you half listen to them you get to say you heard the whole thing and you begin to appreciate the role they played in the work and the influence they had on later authors and politicians.
chiefalchemist 7y ago
I have the same issues. My conclusion is to listen to things that were intended to be heard (e.g., speeches, plays, etc.). That said, I've read / heard that if you want to increase listening comprehension, speed up the play back. The novelty + speed forces the brain to focus more and listen closer. Moi? For listening, I listen to music. I still read paper books because I already spend too much time gazing into a screen (writing code).
maaaats 7y ago
There are often abridged versions of audiobooks, where they skip stuff like that and shorten the book considerably. Maybe worth a try.

bytematic 7y ago

I do the same but with podcasts, silence bothers me now, like wasted time.