3 ms·

$0.02: the way to read more books is with a really good pair of earbuds. The Libby app (with Audible to fill in the blanks) makes it incredibly easy to train u

$0.02: the way to read more books is with a really good pair of earbuds. The Libby app (with Audible to fill in the blanks) makes it incredibly easy to train up your listening speed dramatically, making it possible to finish several books per week for free, while doing your morning rituals, commuting, washing the dishes. The thing you have to absorb is that reading more does not come at the cost of doing other things, unless those other things are podcasts or recorded music. You just have to be somewhat assertive about realizing that if you shave for 3-4 minutes, that's 1% of a novel at 2.5x speed. All of those interstitial moments in your day add up, fast.

davkan 3mo ago
Personally I am incapable of maintaining concentration on an audiobook while doing even mundane chores. I can only listen to audiobooks on longer drives or road run/bike rides. So I stick with podcasts around the house where attention lapsing for a minute less likely to cause you to lose the whole thread.
- peteforde 3mo ago
  It is a skill that you can develop.
- picklesman 3mo ago
  I'm the same way for fiction, but there's a certain class of non-fiction audiobooks (memoirs, (auto)biography, essays, etc) that works very well for me even when doing light chores. It's made me much more selective about what podcasts I listen to, since I've realized just how information-poor most of them are. I do still enjoy a good interview, or even just the para-social pleasure of "hanging out" with hosts I like, but I'm now doing so consciously and not by default.
AaronAPU 3mo ago
I think audio books are to reading as e-bikes are to biking. Yes, in some sense they are the same. But in some important ways they aren’t. I have probably upset two groups of people and sorry for that. I don’t want to yuck your yum, I just think the differentiation between these categories matters.
- peteforde 3mo ago
  I'll defer to John Green, here. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=80SCl6n0TEo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=80SCl6n0TEo
  - flavionm 3mo ago
    That's a very shallow understanding of reading, especially coming from an author. No, reading is not just about getting the idea from the author. It's an experience in and of itself, and the lack of something makes the experience just as much as the presence of something. It's almost like saying a comic and an animation are the same thing, or that an animation is better, since it has more possibilities. There's this tendency to treat things as if they're the same, otherwise one is inferior. But that's just not the case. Two things can be both different and valuable in their own way.

davkan 3mo ago

Personally I am incapable of maintaining concentration on an audiobook while doing even mundane chores. I can only listen to audiobooks on longer drives or road run/bike rides. So I stick with podcasts around the house where attention lapsing for a minute less likely to cause you to lose the whole thread.

peteforde 3mo ago
It is a skill that you can develop.
picklesman 3mo ago
I'm the same way for fiction, but there's a certain class of non-fiction audiobooks (memoirs, (auto)biography, essays, etc) that works very well for me even when doing light chores. It's made me much more selective about what podcasts I listen to, since I've realized just how information-poor most of them are. I do still enjoy a good interview, or even just the para-social pleasure of "hanging out" with hosts I like, but I'm now doing so consciously and not by default.

AaronAPU 3mo ago

I think audio books are to reading as e-bikes are to biking. Yes, in some sense they are the same. But in some important ways they aren’t. I have probably upset two groups of people and sorry for that. I don’t want to yuck your yum, I just think the differentiation between these categories matters.

peteforde 3mo ago
I'll defer to John Green, here. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=80SCl6n0TEo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=80SCl6n0TEo
- flavionm 3mo ago
  That's a very shallow understanding of reading, especially coming from an author. No, reading is not just about getting the idea from the author. It's an experience in and of itself, and the lack of something makes the experience just as much as the presence of something. It's almost like saying a comic and an animation are the same thing, or that an animation is better, since it has more possibilities. There's this tendency to treat things as if they're the same, otherwise one is inferior. But that's just not the case. Two things can be both different and valuable in their own way.