Are Audiobooks Any Good?

[ChristmasFnatic]

Thinking of listening to them esp when driving or doing chores. I love reading but sometimes I just dont have enough time.

But anyone tried? What are the pros and cons in your experience?

[theory816]

Fook no.

Just fkn lol @ audiobookcels.

[Kewbrah]

Didn't think I'd like them. But I never have time to read since becoming a parent etc and almost never got through a book. So I tried Audible and because I'm always doing things where I can be listening (driving, gym, chores) I absolutely FLY through books and everyone thinks I am the most well read guy they know.

[ChristmasFnatic]

Didn't think I'd like them. But I never have time to read since becoming a parent etc and almost never got through a book. So I tried Audible and because I'm always doing things where I can be listening (driving, gym, chores) I absolutely FLY through books and everyone thinks I am the most well read guy they know.

Does the narrator make a difference? Or does not matter?

[Kewbrah]

Does the narrator make a difference? Or does not matter?

Yeah some are better than others. I've rarely found it makes a bad book good or a good book bad though.

[THE-BEEF]

I listen to them all the time while doing stuff. Had audible for a while but now just use YouTube as it has tons of audiobooks.

[NinGood]

Audio books really save time, I agree.

[TappingTheZen]

I'd say they aren't a substitue for actual reading, but they are still good.

Pros
- You 'create time', i.e you can listen to audiobooks when you're doing stuff like walking, driving etc (i.e times when you couldn't read) - this is the main benefit for me. It's not 'replacing reading', it's supplementing it during times it would be impossible for me to read.

Cons
- Not an 'active process' the same way reading is, so you may take in less information if you're easily distracted.

And yes, narrator makes a huge difference. I tend to pick lighter stuff for audibooks (like fiction, pop history or something).

[Duckliver]

I generally switch between audiobooks and podcasts.

I drive kids 40 mins to school or back like every day and it’s a good way to make them listen to stuff.

Greek myths, Russian myths, Norse myths, even did wheel of time first couple books one year that my kid was following.


I might of also made them listen to industrial society and its future and rape of the mind while having extensive talks about how society brain washes people.

[xxAchillesxx]

Does the narrator make a difference? Or does not matter?

1000% matters.

I listen to audiobooks all the time. I drive a lot for work, so whenever I'm in the car I listen to them. You can download them on Audible, but check the Libby app first. You attach your local library card to the app and "rent" audiobooks for download. They don't have every book ever, but they do have a ton and I always check there first since it's free. For Audible alone, I think last time I checked I have a few thousand hours worth of listening lifetime (a standard length book is usually around 9-14 hours).

But yea, a good narrator makes or breaks the book imo. I've had some books I had to turn off and return because I absolutely couldn't stand the narrator. Some narrators aren't necessarily "bad", but just don't seem right for the part. Then there are narrators I've searched out and listened to books just solely based on the fact that they're the narrator. Could read the phone book for all I care.

My favorites are definitely George Guidall (Mitch Rapp series, Walt Longmire series), Scott Brick, Dick Hill (Reacher), Ron McLarty, and probably Holter Graham. A really good narrator just has the proper inflections and story telling ability to really bring the book to life, as cliche as it sounds. But I've stopped listening to the Brad Thor novels and only read them now, because I just cannot get over how chitty Armand Schultz is for the role. He might be a decent narrator, but he makes Scot Harvath sound like a whiny bitch. But yea, I've found some hidden gems just solely searching out other works by the narrators I like.

[ChristmasFnatic]

Thanks guys!!! Repped!

[Arsenal01]

I love them, theyre harder to retain the info in comparison to reading but you can fly through them and listen to multiple times for really interesting books retaining more info each time.

[CuttyUnderleaf]

Yes, I think they’re great, well just for entertainment.

[Kraken]

I often use audiobooks for my economic studies. It’s a tremendous amount of information that I can consume when I can’t sit and read. I speed it up to about 1.2x or a little more for efficiency. I also use audiobooks to fall asleep to. I play books that I have already read so I don’t feel like I missed anything when I fall asleep.

Reading is important though. It sharpens your reading comprehension, attention, and your mind in general. So I still make time to read books. In fact, I have hard copies of my economic books that I use as refreshers and references. I go back and read chapters that I want to better understand or refresh my memory on the details.

[KilaByte]

I listen to them almost every day at work.

Does the narrator make a difference? Or does not matter?

Huge, some can be animated and use differen't voices/ accents for different characters, then I had one where a well received and recommended book was read by some miscer in a monotone voice like he was reading an obituary, literally the only reason I shut it off and deleted it.

[resoog]

Cons
- Not an 'active process' the same way reading is, so you may take in less information if you're easily distracted.

Yeah, with my ADHD this is what happens

[theraskal]

same people who say they don't have time to read a book or exercise are the same kind of people who complained of "boredom" during Covid LOCKDOWN

these people will also complain about the weather of every season and also their jobs

[FoulSmell]

Good for in the car. Only did 2 or 3 that way though.

[xbit7]

there great if the voice actor is good but one fo the cons is having a male voice actor playing a female role or vice versa.

[Kraken]

there great if the voice actor is good but one fo the cons is having a male voice actor playing a female role or vice versa.

Males have always been historically better at reading books. They do female voices well, and are much more animated in their reading. There is a lot of psychology on the subject, ranging from the impact to the techniques and differences between men and women. On the contrary, women tend to be horrid at male voices.

Some of the better readers do the female parts BETTER than women do.

So I would disagree, both anecdotally and through evidence based research.

[Archheretic]

Audiobooks can be great, the narration matters a lot.

What kind of books are you into?

[Manc33]

Really long audiobooks can be really chit quality like 32k audio. I can't listen to that, or 64k, it has to be at least 96k. IDGAF about religion or reading the bible but I was going to listen to the audiobook... until I found the only ones that exist are such low quality audio, I can't even listen to it.

[coast2coastam]

I generally switch between audiobooks and podcasts.

This

I listen while I drive or do chores around the house.

My mom's addicted to audiobooks, she listens all day. She used to read a lot before she switched over.

[Kraken]

Really long audiobooks can be really chit quality like 32k audio. I can't listen to that, or 64k, it has to be at least 96k. IDGAF about religion or reading the bible but I was going to listen to the audiobook... until I found the only ones that exist are such low quality audio, I can't even listen to it.

Some of them are old, having been recorded on tape cassette and vinyl. The significance of that was to preserve the original audio. Others are newer.

The other reason they aren't high quality it because of the data storage required. It saves your hard drive space and requires less processing.

I think it's very cool to hear some of the original authors and story tellers reading the book.