Action/Adventure Aficionados discussion

There are so many ways for us to get our book fix these days...What is your favorite method? Print books, audiobooks, Nook, Kindle, PC, Smartphone, etc.? Do you buy new, used, from brick and mortar or online, borrow from friends, library, etc.?

Audio books are about 2/3 of my reading now, a little over 200 books each year. I play them on a Sansa MP3 player which is tiny & clips to the front of my shirt. I use ear protectors over the earbuds when mowing or using other noisy machinery, so only have to stop listening if I have to stop to think. That's pretty rare when mowing, weeding, or spraying the lawn & fields or on my daily commute. That's a lot of extra reading time I never had before & the local libraries have a great selection of books that I can download easily from wherever I am.

Print books come in second in preference, but I read about as many print as I do ebooks. Even though I invested in the big Kindle DX with its epaper, not a back lit screen (Old eyes that watch a computer screen all day.) I still don't like it as well. It's a pain to flip back a few pages or to refer to a map or character list at the beginning of a book. I generally use it because some stories are only available in that format.

I have given up print books all together with the invention of the e-readers. I started with a Kindle and never looked back. I now have the kindle app on my smartphone and tablet and love the fact that they all sync with each other so I never lose my place no matter what I am reading. I usually download a lot of freebies and discounted stuff and have found a lot of great authors that way. I also like to check out the ebooks from the library...It is so easy to just go online, check a book out, and have it instantly downloaded onto my device.

I do also love the idea of audiobooks, but my brain wanders too much and I just can't keep focus. I still try one every now and again from the library, but just can't enjoy reading them this way.

I'm strictly old fashioned, which I prefer printed hard covers.

I love my books everyway but for the past year or so it has been 98% audios. I don't know what I would do without them. Yes I do. My children wouldn't eat and laundry wouldn't get washed 😁

I get my fix with paper books, ebooks, audio books. Still love paper the best but ebooks and audios are great as well.

Tracy wrote: "I love my books everyway but for the past year or so it has been 98% audios. I don't know what I would do without them. Yes I do. My children wouldn't eat and laundry wouldn't get washed 😁"

Funny. We occasionally had "starve for yourself" nights when the kids were younger. That meant they had to eat what I made or scrounge for themselves because their mother was reading a really good book. It proved that reading was important.
:)

Jim wrote: "Funny. We occasionally had "starve for yourself" nights when the kids were younger. That meant they had to eat what I made or scrounge for themselves because their mother was reading a really good book. It proved that reading was important.
:)

That's a GREAT story Jim!

I need some help. My MP3 player is dying & I finally got a smart phone (hand me down Galaxy S5), so I thought I'd use it. My daughter swears by MortPlayer, but there doesn't seem to be anyway to speed up the playback. I've gotten used to listening to books at 1.25 speed & really don't want to slow down. Also, it doesn't look as if MortPlayer has been updated for ages & I couldn't get their web site to open.

I'd love any suggestions for a good Android audiobook player. I don't mind paying a one time fee for a good one. Suggestions?

Jim wrote: "I need some help. My MP3 player is dying & I finally got a smart phone (hand me down Galaxy S5), so I thought I'd use it. My daughter swears by MortPlayer, but there doesn't seem to be anyway to sp..."

I've used the Amazon Audible app for my S5 in the past; it lets you change the playback speed but I haven't used it enough to know what all formats it supports.

Thanks, M.D. I was turned on to the Smart Audio Book Player in another group & bought it after trying it for a few minutes. It seems pretty close to perfect. 1.3x speed is about right & the voice stays the same. I decided that the $2 fee to keep it after 30 days was worth paying immediately.

Another plus is that it works well with my Bluetooth headset. MortPlayer worked, but only if it wasn't on the screen, an odd, annoying quirk.

I just don't like E-readers. I have an early Kindle and a Kindle Fire (which I use as a pad but don't care to read on). I still read print books (which I love) and now more than half my "reading" is audio books as I can do other things and listen to them.

Mike (the Paladin) wrote: "I just don't like E-readers. I have an early Kindle and a Kindle Fire (which I use as a pad but don't care to read on). I still read print books (which I love) and now more than half my "reading" i..."

Me, too. Fiction or nonfiction, I'll take a paper or audio book over an ebook. I have trouble retaining ebook information & I don't know why. I read technical stuff (computers) on the screen all day & assimilate it just fine. It's a big part of my job & paper documentation just doesn't cut it any more. Too much changes too fast.

I'm reading Domesticated: Evolution in a Man-Made World on my Kindle DX right now & it's driving me nuts. It's a really good book, but has a lot of interesting references to footnotes & the appendix which I really get frustrated trying to access. It takes too long & I occasionally screw it up somehow & have to spend minutes getting back to my place in the book. Frustrating.

I finally broke down & have a used, library copy of the hardback coming for only $4. Should have done that to start with. Then I can underline, elephant ear, sticky note, & jot notes in the book. There are a lot of technical terms that I'm not familiar with, so being able to quickly go back to Francis' original explanations of them would help a lot. I just find it too clunky to do on any ereader I've tried.

For some reason, I don't have as much trouble with technical details in audiobooks probably because I generally get an ebook & often review it after listening for a while. Hearing the material & then reading it usually sticks it in my head better. I quite often copy relevant bits to a text file for quick reference, too.

I found while I was in college that I'm (apparently) primarily an audio learner. While I learn from reading and studying I found information was more easily retained when I'd listened to a competent lecture and taken notes.

And as noted I like audio books. I'm not sure everyone is wired that way, LOL.

I used to carry my Ereader with me to read from (waiting rooms etc.) but found it almost a chore. I don't know why but like you Ereaders just don't appeal.

I do think everyone's brains are just wired differently. I am a very visual learner and I can't do audiobooks. I've tried quite a few times because the idea is really appealing (listen to a book while I'm doing other things). My mind just wanders and next thing I know I've missed a good 10 minutes of the story. I rewind and it happens again. I do love my ebooks though. I read on my phone and I always have it with me, so don't have to carry anything else.

I had that problem when I first started listening to audiobooks, Lisa. One of the things I found helpful was to listen to books I'd already read some time ago & wanted to read again, but really couldn't justify rereading so soon. (Does that make sense?) Anyway, I already knew the story, really loved the book, so if my mind wandered off for a while, it wasn't a big deal.

I had to learn to listen. I also had to learn to hit various controls quickly, especially the pause button. I worked at it because listening to music or just thinking gets boring. I do a lot of boring, repetitive stuff like mowing the fields & lawn. A lot of hours of just sitting mindlessly seemed like a waste.

I was a commercial refrigeration tech for 25 years so I spent hours in my truck. My wife was in poor health for years and found sometimes she literally couldn't read so I began to get her audio books (back then books on tape). So since we had them out of the library anyway I began to carry a cassette player in my truck and listen to them as I drove.

Now I listen to books any time I have the time to sit for any amount of time and am doing something with my hands. As noted, just the way people are wired I suppose.

Jim wrote: "I had that problem when I first started listening to audiobooks, Lisa. One of the things I found helpful was to listen to books I'd already read some time ago & wanted to read again, but really cou..."

I might have to try that Jim!

I think we can change our wiring to some extent, anyway. I used to listen to books on tape & then CD (mostly from the library) on my commute where both were limited to 1.0x speed. I liked it.

My MP3 player had a 'fast' speed, likely 1.25x, but the voice tone changed to a chipmunk. Still, if a book was dragging, it was an option. I actually got used to it & wound up listening to all books at the fast speed.

Then I got a smart phone, a hand-me down from my son-in-law. I started using it to listen to audio books with Smart Audiobook Player on it that has more options for speed (0.5x to 2.5x) & it doesn't distort the voice. Now I almost always listen to books at 1.5x speed.

I'll occasionally slow down to 1.3x or speed up to 1.7x or even 1.8x, though. 1.5x seems normal - for audiobooks. I don't expect people or the TV to talk that fast, it would seem weird. It seems weird to listen to audiobooks a 1.0x like when I play clips on WinAmp or something on my PC, though.

I find that kind of plasticity incredible & I'm sure it's nothing special on my part. I've discussed this with other audiobook users & most find that bumping up by 0.1x a book at a time until they reach a preferred speed is easy to do.

You can do that with the books downloaded from the library now to if you like that.

All the books I listen to are in MP3 format. I don't support DRM in any way if I can possibly help it & I don't need to. Between my 3 libraries, I have about 10,000 audiobooks in MP3 format to choose from. Only 1 library still has some in WMA format & I don't get those or use Audible. I don't know how many are available for free from Librivox & Archive.org, but I get a lot of them, too. When I have to get a CD, it's usually an MP3 CD now, although CDAs are easy enough to rip to MP3. I've done that for all my old ones.

i still get some CD books and Playaways from the library, I usually use those in the car.

Jim wrote: "I think we can change our wiring to some extent, anyway. I used to listen to books on tape & then CD (mostly from the library) on my commute where both were limited to 1.0x speed. I liked it.

My M..."

I never even thought of changing the speed... That was one of my other problems with audiobooks is that I read fast and trying to follow a slow reader is difficult. (Maybe that is why my mind starts to wander)!

Lisa P wrote: "...That was one of my other problems with audiobooks is that I read fast and trying to follow a slow reader is difficult. (Maybe that is why my mind starts to wander)! "

Buy Smart Audiobook Player. There's a free version, but I don't know if that supports the various speeds. It's only $2 & is a super app for Androids & iPhones.

The amount of mental engagement is one of the things listening to a known book helps with. There is a balance that needs to be achieved & it varies by practice, activity, & material. It's one of the reasons knowing the few buttons is so important, too. My commute is generally boring, but there are times when things get interesting & I'll completely lose the audiobook as I concentrate. Being able to hit pause quickly or back up easily & almost without thought are critical.

I've found that an LG Bluetooth headset works best for me. The ear buds have a short trip on wires, so they don't get tangled up in anything easily yet still fit under my ear protectors so I can hear while mowing. There are only 2 or 3 buttons on each side, so it's easy to remember & find the controls yet they do everything I commonly need so I rarely have to look at my phone. It can stay firmly clipped to my belt & I'm hands-free most of the time.

I already have a bluetooth headset that I use at the gym. I'm going to check out the Smart Audiobook Player. I only have a 5 minute commute to work, but would love to be able to read while doing things around the house. I am also a knitter, so it would be nice to be able to read and knit at the same time. I'll let you know how it goes'

I knit too, but usually restrict it to watching TV in the evenings. Occasionally when a book is really good I'll sit down & do it, but generally I have enough sanding & such out in the shop to keep me busy.

Right now I'm crocheting an afghan for my daughter-in-law. It's kind of a mess since I made it way too long, but it's the same colors as the baby blanket I knitted for the coming grandmonster.

Audiobooks are great for driving and hiking/walking. Passes the time. Also, a quality performance draws out the characters, gives them a voice. It’s a performance art. The scenes and staging remain in my imagination and the best readers perform the emotions and nuance

Kindle on iPad, iPhone, Kindle is all my reading. Only read magazines on paper.

Am I the only one noticing that the sheer number of books now showing up make's it almost impossible to avoid a large amount of dreck as you try to find something along the lines of your favorite type of book?

I went looking for a military science fiction book (luckily I have some waiting on my shelves both physical and Audible) but amont the new books so much is just, blah.

Of maybe I've read so many I'm just getting hard to please, I don't know.

GR is often my filter for books & my reading has never been better. Not only can I pick friends with similar tastes, but even when they haven't read it, someone on GR usually has & there are a number of reviews to help me decide if I'll like it or not. I've rated more than half the books I read this year as 4 or 5 star & I'm not that easy to please. Only a relative handful received 1 or 2 stars as you can see in my stats which are here:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/stat...

Yeah, helps sometimes. I've just finished 2 books that were recommended to me by a friend here and I liked them. On the other hand just fishing doesn't always bring me to books that seem what I'd like to read at the right time. As noted, I guess I'm hard to please.

I'm with Jim...GR is my go to place for finding reading material. I usually peruse my friends bookshelves with similar tastes to mine and read lots of reviews. Not always sure fire, but usually a bit more successful in finding something I like...more so than just randomly reading books that sound good on paper.

True, I just finished doing that and added a few more books. I posted above after scanning the New Books for this month on Audible.

Lisa P wrote: "There are so many ways for us to get our book fix these days...What is your favorite method? Print books, audiobooks, Nook, Kindle, PC, Smartphone, etc.? Do you buy new, used, from brick and mortar..."

I love how people seem to think there's a choice. For me, it is whatever is available and affordable.

Kirsten wrote: "I love how people seem to think there's a choice. For me, it is whatever is available and affordable."

What's limiting your choices? I used to be frustrated by quite a few limitations, but advancing tech has removed many of them. Not all are intuitive, so maybe one of us can help you beat them.

You live in the US & we have an awesome library system. Even if the local library is limited, there are a few that allow out of state cards, although that comes with a fee. Still, $50 per year for access to over 20,000 audiobooks & many more ebooks is reasonable enough that I do it. I belong to 3 libraries within my state as well.

Jim wrote: "Kirsten wrote: "I love how people seem to think there's a choice. For me, it is whatever is available and affordable."

What's limiting your choices? I used to be frustrated by quite a few limitati..."

I love my library card...I get lots of online ebooks that way!

I get a lot of audio books from our library also.