How to read more books • Hacker News Board

Re: How to read more books

#271

Post by zanellato19 » Mon, Jul 13, 2026, 4:11 PM UTC

jppope wrote: post #52

aaronbrethorst wrote: post #22

I have an almost-four year old child and not a lot of downtime. I used to listen to podcasts when I was doing dishes, cleaning the house, walking the dog, etc. I've mostly abandoned podcasts in favor of audiobooks. It didn't feel like they were benefiting me in any meaningful way—almost like they were just empty calories for my ears. I finally made it all the way through The Power Broker recently, which I've wanted t…

Audiobooks are just a different medium. I don't think people should pretend that an audiobook is a book. You process the two in completely different ways. This doesn't imply one is better than the other either. For me I don't like audiobooks because its very slow and spoken stories should have a different cadence, velocity, set of dynamics, and diction than a book should (check out "the moth" to see what I'm talking…

The fact that people say "I've read 30 books last year" when they heard the book is absurd to me. It is a completely (and honestly quite interesting) medium. I've heard and then read a few books and the experiences are completely different. Also, one of mine biggest things for reading is to completely focus on the text, and the audio book is almost the antithesis of this, because most people like them so they can do chores/driving _and_ listen. Two completely different ways of experiencing the text.

Re: How to read more books

#272

Post by basscomm » Mon, Jul 13, 2026, 4:21 PM UTC

latexr wrote: post #230

basscomm wrote: post #225

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Look, it’s fine if audiobooks don’t work for you, and it’s fine to let your readers know why. Listening to an audiobook is not the same as reading a book. The whole point of the article was how to read more books, not how to have someone read books to you.

What a meaningless gatekeeping distinction. Unless your sole goal is to be a poser who wants to be perceived as a literate intellectual who is oh so cultured and well-read, however you consume the book is up to you. Who the heck is thinking “I really want to read more books, but only if it’s in the way this stranger tells me I should, not the way I enjoy”? If you like reading paper books, good. If you like reading el…

There are many reasons why someone might want to improve their reading, and the only solution to that is to practice reading.

Audiobooks are someone else's (i.e. not your) interpretation of a work. Kind of like how you might go watch a play or a movie instead of reading a script. There's nothing wrong with either of those things, but they're not reading.

Re: How to read more books

#273

Post by SnooSux » Mon, Jul 13, 2026, 4:35 PM UTC

telxosis wrote: post #209

petra wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For me, as an avid reader of non-fiction books, for learning, i'm starting to question the value of reading them, compared to a good in-depth discussion with an LLM about a subject, together with reading academic papers and long articles/blog posts.

I understand what you mean but there is a depth of thought that is hard to capture outside a book. The main problem is that so many books are really just essays or papers that get stretched to 300 pages because that is what the publisher wants. A great book I don't think has this problem. I don't see a separation though between books, LLMs, papers and audiobooks. I would add youtube lectures in there too. They are al…

Can you recommend any specific "great" books?

Re: How to read more books

#274

Post by jasonlotito » Mon, Jul 13, 2026, 4:39 PM UTC

kamranjon wrote: post #213

kriro wrote: post #202

I do not agree with his take on audio books. I find having a book with me and reading at all times as suggested a bit impractical, however for audio books it is way more feasible. I have long-ish commutes of 5h every couple of weeks and listening to audio books on the drive is great. I also listen to audiobooks when I vacuum, clean, grocery shop. Always unabridged versions and I research quite a bit what I want to li…

In your examples you are always doing something else while listening to an audio book. This was the authors point. Reading is the activity - and I definitely agree - I still listen to audio books, but for a different purpose, to avoid boredom when exercising, etc but I don’t consider this reading. I really think most people can learn quite a bit, especially in this age of instant gratification, by sitting down and pe…

> but I don't know a single person who engages with them in that solitary way,

We exist. You won't know because it's solitary. You have to ask, and I doubt you've asked people specifically if they "engage with them" in that way.

I also think it depends on what you are reading. I read for enjoyment using audio books. I read to learn using real books. If you equate the two and assume someone using audio books is using them for non-fiction to learn something, I really think you are out of touch.

Re: How to read more books

#275

Post by microflash » Mon, Jul 13, 2026, 4:42 PM UTC

jppope wrote: post #52

aaronbrethorst wrote: post #22

I have an almost-four year old child and not a lot of downtime. I used to listen to podcasts when I was doing dishes, cleaning the house, walking the dog, etc. I've mostly abandoned podcasts in favor of audiobooks. It didn't feel like they were benefiting me in any meaningful way—almost like they were just empty calories for my ears. I finally made it all the way through The Power Broker recently, which I've wanted t…

Audiobooks are just a different medium. I don't think people should pretend that an audiobook is a book. You process the two in completely different ways. This doesn't imply one is better than the other either. For me I don't like audiobooks because its very slow and spoken stories should have a different cadence, velocity, set of dynamics, and diction than a book should (check out "the moth" to see what I'm talking…

> Audiobooks are just a different medium.

When I read I build internal voices of the characters or narrators through the pages as a part of my imagination engaging with the words of the book. With audiobooks this never happens.

Re: How to read more books

#276

Post by keeganpoppen » Mon, Jul 13, 2026, 4:50 PM UTC

picklesman wrote: post #235

I read 189 books last year, mostly due an accidental discovery. I have a lot of trouble reading in noisy places, since I get distracted easily. My habit would be to put on some very minimal / low-information ambient music like Stars of the Lid and it worked well. Then one day I randomly decided to put the audiobook on while reading and it was a revelation. After adjusting the audio rate to match my reading speed (usu…

oh man-- that seems peak, except for the part that my reading level is dynamic between "i wasnt actually paying attention" to "my brain is @ 5x and i am flying through the material"... very interesting idea, though-- kinda like a pace setter at a marathon or bike race or whatever. i endeavor to try this for myself.

Re: How to read more books

#277

Post by kamranjon » Mon, Jul 13, 2026, 5:24 PM UTC

jasonlotito wrote: post #274

kamranjon wrote: post #213

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In your examples you are always doing something else while listening to an audio book. This was the authors point. Reading is the activity - and I definitely agree - I still listen to audio books, but for a different purpose, to avoid boredom when exercising, etc but I don’t consider this reading. I really think most people can learn quite a bit, especially in this age of instant gratification, by sitting down and pe…

> but I don't know a single person who engages with them in that solitary way, We exist. You won't know because it's solitary. You have to ask, and I doubt you've asked people specifically if they "engage with them" in that way. I also think it depends on what you are reading. I read for enjoyment using audio books. I read to learn using real books. If you equate the two and assume someone using audio books is using…

I actually have asked many people, because it's something that's frequently on my mind (I had a bit of a revival with reading and do have some strong opinions about how it's helped me). Are you suggesting that you listen to audio books while sitting silently in a chair at your home? That's great! I just don't think that is true for the majority of people. The benefit by and large, as far as I can gather, for most people, is being able to consume something while doing something else. And like I said, that's fine - and I use it myself when exercising - but I just don't consider it reading - and think of it as a separate type of activity that doesn't require the level of engagement that reading a physical book does.

Re: How to read more books

#278

Post by jborichevskiy » Mon, Jul 13, 2026, 5:24 PM UTC

gertlex wrote: post #270

picklesman wrote: post #247

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Oh for sure. I listen with wireless buds with a huge button (Jabra Elite 4, sadly no longer made) so pausing/unpausing takes almost zero effort. For particularly dense passages I'll just slow down the audio as needed as well. Even for fiction I find myself starting more slowly as I get to know the characters, and then speeding up as I want to.

Regarding the button control, if others are looking for similar, I found that a bluetooth audio control device intended for mounting to motorcycle handlebars (so, water resistant, big buttons) works well while I'm doing dishes to manage audio going to my bluetooth hearing aids.

I'd wondered if something like this existed, wanted it on my last roadtrip. Thanks!

Re: How to read more books

#279

Post by stevenwoo » Mon, Jul 13, 2026, 5:25 PM UTC

firefoxd wrote: post #7

Also, if you are just getting started then read easy books. You know the 100 classics from highschool. And you after you finish a book, you can find some great analysis of those books online. One thing I learned is often when you are excited about those easy books, voracious readers are quick to tell you how much the book sucks. "Read this by an obscure author instead". Ignore that until you have read a whole lot of…

I’m doing something similar though some of these 100 classics are going to be a bit difficult for those with shorter attention spans, Austen and Dickens come to mind as requiring a high level of attention from me to keep track of all the self referential clauses, also with Homer, for those of us out of school for a long time, Stephen Fry’s four book overview of the underlying myths give a necessary background to fully appreciate Homer. I find for many of the classics I have to reference Wikipedia to understand the historical contexts and some of the archaic practices.

Re: How to read more books

#280

Post by wtetzner » Mon, Jul 13, 2026, 5:26 PM UTC

picklesman wrote: post #235

I read 189 books last year, mostly due an accidental discovery. I have a lot of trouble reading in noisy places, since I get distracted easily. My habit would be to put on some very minimal / low-information ambient music like Stars of the Lid and it worked well. Then one day I randomly decided to put the audiobook on while reading and it was a revelation. After adjusting the audio rate to match my reading speed (usu…

This sounded weird to me at first until I realized that this exactly what I do when watching a movie with subtitles.