Books or Audiobooks or Kindle-Reading?

[vickyday]

I mentioned audiobooks in another thread. What is your preferred method of reading?
Mine is audiobooks! I can do 2 things at once listening to audiobooks.......like dishes, laundry, walking, etc.
I get headaches trying to read lots on the computer (Kindle). And, I don't get anything else done if I'm doing reading with my eyes instead of with my ears, so book-reading is out, too!
With audiobooks I don't feel quite so guilty as I do just sitting and reading, LOL!

 

[tanteva]

I prefer paper books. Helps me focus on my reading. If I do audio books I forget to listen. LOL That's life with ADHD for ya! I sometimes forget to read when I'm reading too, but it's easier to find my way to where I was when I lost track in a proper book. Have tried ready eBooks, but I don't like it. I want paper ... I want to be able to smell my books.

But I do listen to books too at times (or pods) but then I have to play some kind of nonsense game (like matching 3 things in the same color while listening) to stay focused. I'm guessing it's that my eyes are busy watching something I don't have to bother about, then I can really hear what they are saying.

Wish I had know that at uni ... I would have gotten so much more from the lectures if I had done something like that instead of trying to take notes.

 

[BrightEyes]

Due to my hearing - audio books are out. Tried the tables, Kindal, etc but they were too hard on my eyes. I much prefer paper books as it is easy to keep track of where I am with them. I must have 40+ bookmarks and use them to keep my place. And if I get distracted - I can easily flip back a few pages and get back into the story.

 

[Cherylndesigns]

I listen to audio books occasionally, but I prefer reading and I read on my Kindle. Too many books in my other life - WAY too many!

 

[vickyday]

I listen to audio books occasionally, but I prefer reading and I read on my Kindle. Too many books in my other life - WAY too many!

Before my husband died, I frequented the thrift stores and collected all the books I could find on the authors I read. Now I have tons of books sitting around and prefer to do audiobooks! But, I haven't been able to get rid of the books yet. I have taken most of the Christian authors to our church library for the other ladies to read at will.

 

[melscrap]

I do a mix of both. I love the convenience of reading in bed on my tablet, but nothing beats a physical book.

 

[scribler]

I do both Audible and Kindle. For fiction, i mostly read on my Kindle. I don't enjoy audio fiction books unless they are really well performed. The Ender series is great on Audible as was The Help but those are about the only fiction I've done as audio books.

For non-fiction, I usually go with audiobooks. I'm a political junkie and i mostly listen to those books. I prefer books read by the author although that has backfired occasionally. Listening to Biden read about the kids of his son while driving was a mistake.

The big problem i have with audiobooks is that they are in competition with my love of podcasts.

 

[felis]

I'm good old paper books baby!

Although Kindle is great alternative for english books, these on my mine language are with limited choice and overpriced.

I tried my best to get used to audio books, but just hate them! It's too fast so to give you space to analyze and make interpretation on what you read/hear. I can't hit pause fast enough, so to not cost me scroll back, so I also loose view point and get frustrated. My own thoughts are louder than the reader voice and I can't keep attention for so long. This is why YouTube videos have pretty people talking to you, they attract you to watch and listen at the same time, which keeps you concentrated. Same with the movies.
I know friend of mine that swears in power of listening podcast until he cleaning his house, but hey that's the only time I have to left alone with my own feelings and plans, so I'm not ready to sacrifice it.

 

[faerywings]

I use all options. Before the pandemic, I preferred physical books over ebooks. With the libraries being closed, I started to download a lot from Hoopla. Now that I have been reading books on a tablet for a year and a half, I was able to figure out what settings (brightness, font, swiping and I am much more used to it. My mom got me a hardcover for my birthday and it was harder to hold and more difficult to read with my contacts in. I wear multi-focal lenses so it is a trade-off between distance and reading - a plus for tablets is that I can adjust the font size depending on what eye correction I have on.

I do like audiobooks and while I read the first 3 or 4 of the Outlander books, the audiobooks were much easier to handle than the ~700 pages of the later ones. Not to mention Davina Porter is the *bomb* when it comes to narration. When I was driving to the hospital 3 days a week (40 minutes each way) I would listen to them. I quickly realized that it was a bad idea- either I wasn't paying attention to the book 100% had to rewind often or I wasn't paying 100% attention to the road. I think I was more caught up in the books than the traffic so I needed to stop.

 

[vickyday]

Yes, I know what you mean @faerywings . I have to listen to my Bible readings first thing in the morning while not doing anything else so I can focus! I don't get too upset, however, if I "miss" something of the books I'm listening to while doing a chore.....if my mind wanders!

 

[timounette]

I only read real books. But I 'll try audiobooks during the holidays... I'll tell you later about it.

 

[Nickel]

I read ebooks on my phone and standard books. I become restless when i have to listen to a book. I really don't understand how you can listen to audio books cq podcast while doing something else. I can only do one thing at a time and I prefer using my eyes (but only letters because with films the same unrest story..)

 

[marijke]

I don't have audiobooks ... I think I'd miss half if I listen to an audiobook...I don't like using headphones either