Listening vs Reading a Book

[MLE (Emily Cotton)]

I think it has to do with learning styles, with brain conditioning added on top of that. My daughter is an audible learner. She remembers what she hears. My youngest son is a kinethetic learner--for him to retain something, he has to move his body in association with learning it. Some are visual learners--they work best from seeing videos, charts, graphs, or live lectures. Me, I'm primarily text-based. The older I get, the harder it is for me to focus on movies and TV unless there is a stream of text running along the bottom of the screen.
I do listen to audiobooks, but the only way I can focus on them is if I'm using up the rest of my attention doing some rote task: walking, driving, dishes, etc. Then I take it isn. But if I'm just sitting listening, it goes in one ear and out the other.

[Ludmilla]

I had trouble with audiobooks when I first tried them several years ago and didn't bother with them again until last year. This time around, I started by listening to books I had already read. That really helped me get acclimated to listening and learning what type of books and narrators work well on audio for me. My morning commute is always bad. I average around 2.5 hrs per day during my workweek, and I also like to listen when I'm doing housework on the weekends. Some books work better than others for listening (such as thrillers and plot-driven stories). The narrator definitely makes a difference, too. Books with a huge cast of characters, unfamiliar places and names can be difficult to follow, though. For those, I usually have to read the text.

[Vanessa]

I can listen to favourite books, ie books which I've read and really enjoyed. I don't think I could listen to anything that was too involved. My mind would wander!

[Bookworm548]

Ludmila, I'm a real traditionalist in the meaning of only reading proper books i. e paper. I hate e-books and absolutely can't stand audio books. Obviously, they have their purpose and if my sight disappeared I'd be very grateful for them but I truly don't understand why people who can see and read use them. Grrrr!!

[MLE (Emily Cotton)]

Ludmila, I'm a real traditionalist in the meaning of only reading proper books i. e paper. I hate e-books and absolutely can't stand audio books. Obviously, they have their purpose and if my sight disappeared I'd be very grateful for them but I truly don't understand why people who can see and read use them. Grrrr!!

It's very hard to read while driving. My husband can share books with me because he has a 2-3 hour commute daily, and he can listen to the book while I read it. Sometimes I listen too, if I'm driving or hiking--the kindle/audible link works seamlessly, and there's usually a discount if you buy both as a package.

Regarding ebooks, my sight is not very good, and I have a tendonitis problem in my wrist. I now almost never read anything EXCEPT ebooks, because Usually the print is too small and I have to find a way to prop the book so it won't inflame my wrist.

Plus I don't have any more shelf space for physical books. I'm maxed out--and that's just with the keepers. A lifetime of reading will do that to you.

I suspect that as people age (which happens to everybody) they get less fussy about how they get their story fix.

[Bookworm548]

Ludmila, I'm a real traditionalist in the meaning of only reading proper books i. e paper. I hate e-books and absolutely can't stand audio books. Obviously, they have their purpose and if my sight disappeared I'd be very grateful for them but I truly don't understand why people who can see and read use them. Grrrr!!

It's very hard to read while driving. My husband can share books with me because he has a 2-3 hour commute daily, and he can listen to the book while I read it. Sometimes I listen too, if I'm driving or hiking--the kindle/audible link works seamlessly, and there's usually a discount if you buy both as a package.

Regarding ebooks, my sight is not very good, and I have a tendonitis problem in my wrist. I now almost never read anything EXCEPT ebooks, because Usually the print is too small and I have to find a way to prop the book so it won't inflame my wrist.

Plus I don't have any more shelf space for physical books. I'm maxed out--and that's just with the keepers. A lifetime of reading will do that to you.

I suspect that as people age (which happens to everybody) they get less fussy about how they get their story fix.

Ludmila hun, I totally agree with you and that was just my opinion x I never actually thought about all of those reasons lolx

[Nefret]

I haven't really gotten into audio books. The only ones I've listen to were Dresden Files.

[Madeleine]

I can't get into audio books at all, especially if I have to keep referring back to something that happened earlier, or look at a family tree.