America's biggest new reading trend: obsessed with multitasking via audio books
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Re: America's biggest new reading trend: obsessed with multitasking via audio books
#2Huh. I use audiobooks when I'm cooking dinner, cleaning the kitchen, doing chores, but I don't speed read them. If you're looking for suggestions:
- Plugged -- Eoin Colfer
- Screwed -- Eoin Colfer
- Half {a King, the World, a War} -- Joe Abercrombie
- Also everything else written by Joe Abercrombie
- Seveneves -- Neal Stephenson
Sometimes it's not about how good the book is, but about the reader. That's the difference in the audio medium. Plugged and Screwed were books I only picked up because the reader of Half a King read them. They were stellar in audio form, but I don't normally go for those types of books in written form.
This can also up new avenues for how to spend time, outside of the multitasking case. I was staying with a friend a few months ago, and before bed we laid around for an hour listening to an audiobook that I wanted to share. It was like being a family in the olden days sitting around listening to a radio. Really great experience. I can't recommend it enough.
Re: America's biggest new reading trend: obsessed with multitasking via audio books
#3The main thing I don't like about audio is not being able to highlight or reflect on things, even re-reading portions several times to really learn something.
I like being able to cross reference materials and go deeper on things I read, and when I re-read a book, I see notes that I had forgotten about, which is near impossible with audio.
It seems its all about high amounts of shallow exposure to different concepts, good for "knowing what you don't know" but not really learning what you don't know.
Re: America's biggest new reading trend: obsessed with multitasking via audio books
#4In my personal experience, I have always found it that the books I've listened are the first to fade from my memory. Second came books consumed as ebooks and last, old fashioned paper books.
I believe that the act of touching the book, carrying with you everywhere, leaving it on the table, seems to make its content much more memorable for me than reading it as an ebook or listening to it.
I find it that I still remember the details of hundreds of books I have read as a teenager, while I sometimes don't even realize that I've already read a certain book that I've read as an ebook or listened to.
Re: America's biggest new reading trend: obsessed with multitasking via audio books
#5I used to read a lot as a kid, to the point that I wouldn't get much sleep. Finally my grandfather gave me a couple of audiobooks he had on cassette, and that was the beginning of an obsession that continued for decades. I've variously gotten into old time radio, unabridged audio books, copies of audiobooks that were only made for the visually impaired at the LoC...everything. I used Audible for a little while, but I like to actually have a choice of player.
I love to use them for long drives, chores, and when I played more video games I found them to be an essential companion. I have strong associations between certain games and certain books (a scene in some Ludlum novel and Grand Theft Auto III by a dam spring to mind) and it's still a pleasant way to set the mind in neutral.
That said, I tend to want to actually read a book that I care about to any real extent, but I'm also the type who re-reads a lot. I found the unabridged Wheel of Time to be something special out of all the audiobooks I've enjoyed though.
Sorry for babbling, I'm a bit passionate about this, although I get a bit sad when people don't read and just listen to books; although I think it's better than nothing for sure.
Re: America's biggest new reading trend: obsessed with multitasking via audio books
#6This doesn't work for me at all. Example: I'm reading the Vital Question by Nick Lane and I need to stop often just to digest what's written on the page to make sure I fully understand it. I don't even think the book is particularly academic, I'm just below average on a lot of topics. For something that pushes my capacity I can't imagine being a passive reader and getting the most out of it.
I think this works for lighter topics, but I question the point of having something in the background and just hoping to gain value from it through... luck? I'm not sure what else to call the serendipitous moment when you're actively paying attention and the audiobook also happens to be on a section that's insightful.
Re: America's biggest new reading trend: obsessed with multitasking via audio books
#7I can only "listen" to an audio book when I am not multi-tasking.
Otherwise I find myself zone out of the book, and miss a huge chunk of it, then rewind to the point I thought I missed and rewind too much. Realize I have heard it before and let myself zone out again etc.
I realize how inefficient live lectures are and how much I must have missed through my life.
Re: America's biggest new reading trend: obsessed with multitasking via audio books
#8This doesn't work for me at all. Example: I'm reading the Vital Question by Nick Lane and I need to stop often just to digest what's written on the page to make sure I fully understand it. I don't even think the book is particularly academic, I'm just below average on a lot of topics. For something that pushes my capacity I can't imagine being a passive reader and getting the most out of it. I think this works for li…
>I think this works for lighter topics, but I question the point of having something in the background and just hoping to gain value from it through... luck?
I hear you. I've been an Audible subscriber for over 10 years, and I love audio books. But I don't find them much less "work" than reading. It's very easy to zone out, and more difficult than a book to get back on track.
I've resigned myself to keeping the non-fiction light, and going in with the understanding I'll probably have to listen to the book a few times.
Re: America's biggest new reading trend: obsessed with multitasking via audio books
#9In my personal experience, I have always found it that the books I've listened are the first to fade from my memory. Second came books consumed as ebooks and last, old fashioned paper books. I believe that the act of touching the book, carrying with you everywhere, leaving it on the table, seems to make its content much more memorable for me than reading it as an ebook or listening to it. I find it that I still remem…
I've found that listening to the audio book while reading (usually in ebook format) causes things to sink in most, with reading aloud to myself a close second.
A novel or technical book, both methods seem to work. Takes longer though.
Re: America's biggest new reading trend: obsessed with multitasking via audio books
#10In my personal experience, I have always found it that the books I've listened are the first to fade from my memory. Second came books consumed as ebooks and last, old fashioned paper books. I believe that the act of touching the book, carrying with you everywhere, leaving it on the table, seems to make its content much more memorable for me than reading it as an ebook or listening to it. I find it that I still remem…
Definitely agree with this. We have to engage more of our active brain to consume physical media like paper books. eBooks remove a lot of the tactile reality, and audiobooks is a wholly different format.
I've found that simply talking to another person about the ideas/stories that I've read in any media solidifies them in my brain in a more profound way than any other method I know of. It's become my primary way of learning new material - read/listen about it, then explain it to someone else who is interested.