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Auspicious-Octopus t1_ja5v3yy wrote

My reading is 80% audiobooks and has been for years. I still have trouble with some. I have a few thoughts about it and tips that help me.

  1. I have to speed them up or I get lost in my own thoughts.
  2. Bad voices can ruin perfectly good books, if you don’t like the voice acting it’s going to be hard to have a good experience.
  3. It’s a skill, just like print reading. I have gotten better at it over time. A brain can reshape to become better at processing audio information, but it’s work at first.
  4. Nonfiction is harder in audio I usually read it in print unless it’s narrative nonfiction.
  5. I try to start books when I’m doing something very boring, like dishes. I sometimes have to restart a few times, but that also happens to me with print. Once I get going I’m usually able to do slightly more difficult tasks and still focus.
  6. Books that jump perspectives frequently without any audible indication are not a great place to start.

I wouldn’t be able to read nearly as many books if it weren’t for audiobooks so I do think it is worth pursuing if you want to read more books but have limited time you can spend looking at print.

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Bugbear259 t1_ja6ge13 wrote

Agree with all of this! Especially: Speeding up was absolutely key for me.

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Booksandbeer55 t1_ja6cqlu wrote

I love what you said about it being a learned skill. I think this is so true. When I first started listening to audiobooks, I was very particular about which I chose. Memoirs worked well for me- or books that are short and not very dense. Agatha Christie for example. Now I can listen to most things on audio but I do pay attention to length still.

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Auspicious-Octopus t1_ja6ehtd wrote

Yes, short and easy, a favorite genre or rereading a book from childhood are all good ideas for starting. If SPQR had been my first audiobook I wouldn’t have made it to a second one.

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FlyingPasta t1_jabrt3n wrote

Agreed re learned skill. I think most people pigeonhole themselves saying so and so doesn’t vibe with them, but it’s likely that their brain is just new to it and needs to habituate

That said, I can’t hang onto an audio narrative to save my life and it would likely take a lot of practice to do so

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Laura9624 t1_ja6q77c wrote

Its a skill, like print reading. True. I often go back and reread a paragraph or page in print. Its the same with audio.

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Feisty_Equipment5626 t1_ja8zryc wrote

I have the Audible app which allows me to take short notes when I stop. Helps me to pick up the thread next time I read.

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Ceesaid t1_ja89bkq wrote

Number 2 is especially accurate! It can also happen with bad pronunciation! If I’m getting into the book, the last thing I want is to be jarred out because of someone saying the word wrong! I’m not talking about fantasy names or terms, those will get a pass from me, but with normal everyday words, that’ll throw me right out of the book and sour the experience! It especially sucks when it’s an absolute favorite book!

Another is when they abridge the book, especially when you know the book well, the abridged version just misses so much context! There’s information that is actually relevant that just gets left out, and I really wish they’d go back and offer an unabridged version for those of us who truly love the book!

Edited to add in the second half of my comment that my ADHD decided to draw a blank on! Sorry!

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