Audiobooks discussion

https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank...

They're certainly a lot easier to read now that I can put them on a tiny device or my phone. The days of fumbling with cassette tapes, getting the correct side in, rewound, & playing are thankfully gone. The kids around here just don't know how we suffered!
;)

I am not in the list because I dont read any book (paper/ epub) at. all. Why should I?

Audiblelovers.com wrote: "I am not in the list because I dont read any book (paper/ epub) at. all. Why should I?"

Not sure if you are joking? For some of us, if it is physically difficult to consume books on paper or screen and audio is a godsend. If that isn't your case, one answer to "why should I?" is that not everything is recorded. There are many more free print books through libraries here in the US than there are free audiobooks.

I love audiobooks like all of us in this group. But I will never give up print books unless my eyesight goes. I read much faster in print, so I can get more books in. Paper books never run out of battery life and can be consumed anywhere in the world. Also, other people find it rude when I have headphones in while they are around, but not while I am reading a print book. I can also read a print book and watch TV at the same time, but I wouldn't be able to listen to a book and watch TV.

That's awesome.

I rarely, rarely read before audiobooks because of a tiny blind spot just annoying enough to cause me to often lose my place. Now I'm consuming 130ish books a year and I've certainly done my part to increase the number of listeners. I know of 6 people I've gotten hooked on audiobooks.

Robin wrote: "Audiblelovers.com wrote: "I am not in the list because I dont read any book (paper/ epub) at. all. Why should I?"

Not sure if you are joking? For some of us, if it is physically difficult to cons..."

I agree with all you wrote completely. In addition, I often also read the ebook of an audiobook at the same time usually with nonfiction & I listen to a fair amount of that. Graphs & pics are helpful plus some text needs further musing. I'll often copy bits to my reviews, too.

Probably 2/3 of my reading is done with audiobooks. They've doubled my annual total number of books & expanded what I read a lot. I can get through books in audio that would put me to sleep in print, but I prefer paper books when just sitting down to read. Still, ebooks are really handy especially for looking up specifics when discussing in groups. IOW, I have preferred formats for 'best of breed' reading for me. YMMV & that's fine, but I really don't like it when people go on about how one format is better than another.

Okay... I read some IT books (non fiction) but more for ℹ️ information and not from page 1 to the last page.
Including reading wikipedia articles, blogs and goodreads.

I listen to audiobooks with 200% in English and 300% in German (my native language) most of the time.
I can focus much better on listening and I am much faster in listening than in reading.

Graphs and pictures are only necessary in some non fiction.

Audiblelovers.com wrote: "Okay... I read some IT books (non fiction) but more for ℹ️ information and not from page 1 to the last page.
Including reading wikipedia articles, blogs and goodreads. ..."

I don't understand your percentages at all. 200%?

I think your audiobooks are a lot different than mine. I read text faster than I listen to it. I'm the IT department for a small company & I find most IT stuff needs a lot of skimming. I focus better on specifics with text. I really hate this new move to explanations via video. They're slow & often contain a lot of info I don't need.

Pictures are certainly not confined to nonfiction. Even a lot of the text books I get free from Gutenberg.org have illustrations, many of them gorgeous. You shouldn't miss out on them. Graphs are typically confined to nonfiction, but not always. A SF book I was listening to the other day had some in it. They weren't critical to the story & described a bit, but it was nice to see them.

Regular audible/ audiobook speed is 1.0x (i.e. 100%) I listen to it twice or even 3 times as fast.

I agree that some non fiction books like IT stuff needs to be read.

Although it's not quite that simple, many people do have preferred learning styles. Audiblelovers.com, you must be an extraordinary auditory learner, as most people wouldn't be able to take in that speed and amount of input by ear (especially in a 2nd language, I'm impressed!) So I can see that in your case, audiobooks don't slow you down as they do for me.

I use audiobooks almost exclusively for fiction because for me, good narration adds to the pleasure. The narrator can convey humor or emotions better than I can in my head when reading print. I don't want to speed those up, I want to savor the experience. For nonfiction, basically for information, for me print works better. I can skim or go back and forth as needed.

My husband is a visual learner. He thought he was just not smart enough in college because in those days, most classes were just a professor standing up and talking, no visuals at all. He did his best to take notes, etc. but it was much harder for him than for me. I can usually remember heard information quite well. He and my daughter find audiobooks tiring after while, but I never do.

I have some ebooks on my tablet but I generally only read them when traveling. They are great for that, but otherwise I forget that I own them, since I never see them on a shelf.

On a different tack, the survey above shows where Audible has market share opportunities, such as with the black and Spanish-speaking audience. I know they have been increasing and promoting their Spanish language books recently, including them in sales, etc.

Unfortunately I am a bad reader. I bought some books not available on audible to read during holidays but didn’t read anything...
I was never fast in reading.
I am glad that audible supports speed listening.
I am listening mainly commuting and running.
Most English novels (bestsellers) use a very simple English and 2x is no problem.
On the other side I had some issues with vocabulary listening to Sweterlitsch, e.g..
Atwood’s The Testament and
King ♔’s The Institute are easy to understand.

Audiblelovers.com wrote: "Regular audible/ audiobook speed is 1.0x (i.e. 100%) I listen to it twice or even 3 times as fast.

I agree that some non fiction books like IT stuff needs to be read."

Ah! Now it makes sense. Wow! That's really fast. I usually listen at 1.5x. That's a really great innovation & the narrator's voice doesn't change. I used to listen to 'fast' (maybe 1.25x) on my MP3 player, but the narrator sounded like a chipmunk. It wasn't even an option on CD & tape, of course.

Robin wrote: "...I have some ebooks on my tablet but I generally only read them when traveling. They are great for that, but otherwise I forget that I own them, since I never see them on a shelf."

Me, too. I usually keep them on the Kindle or in a To-Read directory or I'll forget them. We have bookshelves with paper books all over the house. One wall of my bedroom is nothing but a built-in bookcase, floor to ceiling. (I'm a woodworker, too.) I love waking up & looking at all the colorful spines, remembering the stories contained within. Almost magical.

I'm having a lot of trouble finding time to just sit & read, though. The only guaranteed time is during lunch at work.

Jim wrote: " I really hate this new move to explanations via video. They're slow & often contain a lot of info I don't need."
I totally agree with you on this. I prefer to skim an article and glean from it the info I need. I hate to watch a video with lots of extraneous info that I don't need and that wastes my time to watch.
I love to listen to fiction on audiobooks. I will listen to books while doing other things as I don't have time to just sit down and read a book for enjoyment. Non fiction doesn't work for me for me on audio.

Pamela wrote: "Jim wrote: " I really hate this new move to explanations via video. They're slow & often contain a lot of info I don't need."
I totally agree with you on this. I prefer to skim an article and glean..."

Yes, at my job we had required trainings each year. Over time they moved to online courses with audio/video segments. Thank goodness there was an option to skip all that and just read the text (which contained everything you needed to know, especially since it was the same info each year.)