Press "Enter" to skip to content

Audio Books and Reading

We love to read, but there’s never enough time to read all the books on our lists. Listening to audiobooks offers an alternative, especially since I (Scott) drive an hour each direction to the university at which I teach and I work out for 30 minutes at least once a day. Two and a half hours is a lot of time during which I can listen to books, podcasts, or music.

Listening is not reading, however, so I limit the audiobooks to works I’ve already read or works I’d consider buying.

What’s the difference? Attention to the words.

Driving, my attention cannot (and should not) be on the audio. I listen, but about as closely as I do to the news-talk station that has local weather and traffic updates. I hear the audiobooks, but I am not listening with the same attention to detail I have when reading words on a page.

Exercising, I give the audio slightly more attention, yet it still falls short of my complete and undivided attention.

Reading a book, the printed type on paper, I start to tune out the world around me. Susan does this to an even greater degree. A page seems to invite undivided attention.

With the audiobooks, I find myself restarting sections and “rewinding” after paying attention to driving. It’s not the same as rereading a chapter, either. I do the same with better podcasts, clicking the “30 seconds back” icon several times during the hour. The more demanding the material, the more times I rewind and restart.

I use our library’s audiobook service, Libby. It’s a great service and offers a good selection of recent books. I listen to a lot of history and general non-fiction. I’ve purchased one of the books and some others might be worth owning.

People who listen to a book are readers, in general. I listen to what I might buy, and so do many of my friends.

Unlike music or video, I cannot imagine digital downloads and streaming destroying the market for paper books. Audiobooks are even less likely to dent book sales. The audio versions are “also” copies, like the paperbacks we “also” buy to complement hardcover editions.

Audiobooks aren’t for everyone. They are for readers.

Listening lets me fill yet more hours with books. Sure, I would rather sit in my chair at home a read. Audiobooks make my commute better; I learn while driving.