Bookish Diversions: Do Audiobooks Count?

Bookish Diversions: Do Audiobooks Count?
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The answer to this question will be unique to every person and every book. I read quite a few books for the entertainment value they provide - I like getting lost in a good novel occasionally without having to reflect too seriously on each passage. Audiobooks provide a convenient means of enabling me to enjoy the book, especially if driving, commuting, or performing some other task. However, if I am reading a nonfiction book, I want the book in front of me so I can double back to certain passages, check references and footnotes, write in the margins, skip to chapters and pages. I want more control over the reading experience. The audiobook forces me to trade all of that for an experience it provides.

I think for some people, audiobooks can end up like podcasts. People will sometimes listen to podcasts with intelligent people in the hopes that they learn something from the podcast. Maybe by listening to interviews with a famous mathematician or startup founder, one can learn some crucial aspect of becoming a successful mathematician or founder. However, the main value one gets out of podcasts is entertainment. Because you typically engage passively with a podcast, you are less likely to retain some useful bit of information that you hope to get.

FWIW, recently I've started listening to audiobooks of nonfiction books while also reading along with the physical copy. Sometimes I pause the audiobook to jot notes down in the margins. I listen at about 3x speed so this helps me go a LOT faster than I could read myself and I also get the benefit of being able to write as I go, which imo makes a much bigger difference in retention than anything else (plus I can look back at my notes later). For fiction I just listen, usually while doing jigsaw puzzles at the same time.

I like to let the audiobook flow through me on long runs like a guided meditation on a topic. The end effect is like having the book’s lessons embedded deep in your subconscious. There’s a special magic in engaging with a single topic over several focused hours that I’m too distracted to reproduce with a physical book.

If I need details or quotes from the book, or if I want to use it as a lookup reference, I like to then get the physical book. Now my audio read serves as a fast lookup table that helps me find the details.