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Bookish Diversions: Do Audiobooks Count?

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Re: Bookish Diversions: Do Audiobooks Count?

#41

Post by zeroonetwothree »

karaterobot wrote: post #21

I think there's a distinction between the activity of reading a book with the activity of listening to a book. That's pretty obvious to me. If I was listening to an audiobook, I would never say "I'm reading right now", any more than if I was reading a book, I would never say "I'm listening to a book right now". Both of those cases seem so incorrect as to be confusing. But if I am going through the list of books I "re…

I say “I am reading X” when listening to it. I find my brain doesn’t have a huge distinction, I’m often “reading” 10+ books at the same time in a mix of audio and print formats so I don’t even remember which is which.

Re: Bookish Diversions: Do Audiobooks Count?

#42

Post by zeroonetwothree »

erredois wrote: post #19
A_D_E_P_T wrote: post #4

Depends on the type of book. Airport thrillers, supermarket romance novels, pulp horror, Agatha Christie mysteries, and so on along such lines -- these don't really require any reader participation. They're the print equivalent of film and TV; they pull you along a narrative, and you're a passenger for the duration. These sorts of books work very well as audiobooks. Anything that requires thought or reflection -- and…

One example that I enjoyed listening was The Count ot Mount Cristo. The story is long, it boring a lot of times, but a good narrator with good French pronunciation makes it more enjoyable. And being able to phase out during the boring parts is a good feature.

I didn’t find any of it boring, I feel it’s actually very well paced and exciting throughout. I really didn’t expect that going in due to the length.

Re: Bookish Diversions: Do Audiobooks Count?

#43

Post by ghaff »

GuB-42 wrote: post #38
tejohnso wrote: post #8

> In terms of dollars, ebooks represent less than 7 percent of the entire U.S. book trade. This is surprising to me given the quality of e-readers out there now. The experience is quite nice, and you don't end up taking up a bunch of space or making a mess with physical books lying around.

Problem with ebooks is that you get product of a lesser value for a similar price. A paper book doesn't need a extra device you have to pay for, will outlast you with proper care, is DRM free and can be lent or resold. There is even a trend of treating physical books as collectors items, so you may even get some return on investment! Also "book trade" doesn't include piracy, which works as the "solution" to the value…

For me, it's travel that's the big win. There's space at home as well (and moving if applicable) but that's mostly manageable if you prune things now and then. If I didn't travel by air I'd probably care a lot less.

Re: Bookish Diversions: Do Audiobooks Count?

#44

Post by importantbrian »

pbrowne011 wrote: post #3

Treating all audiobooks equally is a mistake. Audio books are a transformation function applied to physical books. Asking whether they count as books is asking the wrong question. The more important question is: "what am I trying to get out of reading this book? And will an audiobook help me to do this better?" The answer to this question will be unique to every person and every book. I read quite a few books for the…

This probably depends on the person. I have the same experience as you. I exclusively use audiobooks for fiction. If I'm reading for information I have to read a physical book. My wife is the complete opposite though. She retains the information much better if she hears it. She is dyslexic though so I'm sure that plays a big role.

Re: Bookish Diversions: Do Audiobooks Count?

#45

Post by zeroonetwothree »

queuebert wrote: post #29

Reading a book exercises a part of the brain that listening does not. And that same part of the brain, the quiet focus, is necessary to solve hard problems and reflect on your choices in life.

For me it’s the same experience in my brain either way. This didn’t happen instantly though, I’ve done over 1000 audiobooks at this point and I could “feel” my brain rewiring how it processed them over time.

Re: Bookish Diversions: Do Audiobooks Count?

#46

Post by Engineering-MD »

soneca wrote: post #18

I can’t listen to fiction as audiobooks. I get very easily distracted in my own thoughts and, in most of fiction, if you miss anything you miss everything. While reading, that one line saying which character entered the room is enough context to understand the dialog of the next few pages. On audiobook, it’s very easy, for me, to miss that line. So I am all the time thinking of something else, miss those lines, and r…

It’s why I love to listen to audiobooks I’ve already read. I already know the context (even if subconsciously) and often gain things I missed reading them- I sometimes read too fast and skim over descriptions to see what happens.

Re: Bookish Diversions: Do Audiobooks Count?

#47

Post by drewcoo »

karaterobot wrote: post #21

I think there's a distinction between the activity of reading a book with the activity of listening to a book. That's pretty obvious to me. If I was listening to an audiobook, I would never say "I'm reading right now", any more than if I was reading a book, I would never say "I'm listening to a book right now". Both of those cases seem so incorrect as to be confusing. But if I am going through the list of books I "re…

I'm "auditing a book right now?" That was the original sense.

Re: Bookish Diversions: Do Audiobooks Count?

#48

Post by hagbard_c »

snowfield wrote: post #2

Sidenote: Book publishers seem to refuse to embrace digital. I just love going to my local library to "rent" a digital book on my Kindle only to be told that there's no availabile "copies" Is love to read more on Kindle or other book readers if there was an actual good platform that was embraced by both national and international authors. Same with audio books for that matter. It's even worse than streaming somehow

The platform exists but it is probably not what you want: Library Genesis. Publishers insist on pushing paper-book characteristics like 'wear and tear' to digital copies in libraries so they can only be lent out a given number of times or a certain number of months after which they are 'worn out' and the library needs to buy a new copy. Here are some of the rules set by different publishers [1]:

Penguin Random House: one copy/one user, metered access: titles expire after 24 months, then library must repurchase

Hachette Livre: one copy/one user, metered access: titles expire after 24 months, then library must repurchase

HarperCollins: one copy/one user, metered access: titles expire after 26 checkouts, then library must repurchase

Macmillan: one copy/one user, libraries limited to 1 copy of newest titles for the first 8 weeks after publication, metered access: most titles expire after 24 months or 52 checkouts (whichever comes first), then library must repurchase

Simon & Schuster: one copy/one user, metered access: titles expire after 24 months, then library must repurchase

Ebooks are priced at 2 to 4 times the retail rice when sold to libraries.

A question to those working in publishing: where does the revenue end up? Is this another example of a rent-seeking scheme like Elsevier/Wiley et al. have been up to in scientific publishing or does it work like Spotify where at least part of the revenue goes to the authors?

[1] https://cheshirelibraryblog.com/2019/09/10/why-do-i-have-to-...

Re: Bookish Diversions: Do Audiobooks Count?

#49

Post by MezzoDelCammin »

Seems we're fairly divided here between "audiobooks are for fiction" and "they work great as learning resource".

How about a slight tangent / challenge: Try to give a few examples of "which" audiobooks/podcasts/lectures are in Your own personal Top 3 or so (and maybe why).

My personal kickoff (I'm mostly in the fiction / "I need narrative" camp):

1. "The Poet's Corner" by John Lithgow (narrated by himself). This book probably converted me to even prefer audiobooks over regular paper / ebooks. Lithgow is a wonderful actor and in case of poetry, interpretation matters as much as the text itself. And the selection of different actors he brings in would be hard to beat even if it was done by a major Hollywood studio.

2. Bobiverse by Dennis E. Taylor, narrated by Ray Porter. If You like SF and haven't yet tried anything that's been narrated by Porter, please do yourself a favor and check his name out. I'll wait. The list is worth it.

3. Postwar by Tony Judt, narrated by Ralph Cosham. This one convinced me that what I need in an audiobooks is a narrative, but it does not necessarily need to be fiction. I'm a bity of a history nerd and reading one of the major works of 20th century in an audio form was the final straw that convinced me that audiobooks work great even for some non-fiction cases.

Basically, whenever I see I have a chunk of 30+ minutes of time when I "can" get away with running on autopilot and devoting part of my attention to listening (in my case - whenever I am cycling / running training, commutes, highway driving etc.), I now have the option of reading at the same time.

Re: Bookish Diversions: Do Audiobooks Count?

#50

Post by [deleted] »

MezzoDelCammin wrote: post #49

Seems we're fairly divided here between "audiobooks are for fiction" and "they work great as learning resource". How about a slight tangent / challenge: Try to give a few examples of "which" audiobooks/podcasts/lectures are in Your own personal Top 3 or so (and maybe why). My personal kickoff (I'm mostly in the fiction / "I need narrative" camp): 1. "The Poet's Corner" by John Lithgow (narrated by himself). This book…

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