Not so long ago I had a coffee chat with my colleague (Vitor Gurgel) about books. He mentioned that he prefers audiobooks to paper books. I was surprised because I always thought that paper books are better. I decided to give audiobooks a try and see if I like them.
Table of contents
Open Table of contents
Why Books
My grandmother programmed me from my childhood to read books. She had a big library at home, and she always encouraged me to read books.
I stayed at her place every day after school, and spent many nights too and countless school holidays/vacations.
I remember that I read a lot of books during my childhood. I read books from different genres, and I mostly enjoyed adventure (looking at you Jack London) and science fiction books.
I remember traveling with my grandmother to multiple bookstores, book fairs, and libraries, and we always returned with a few new books.
I will be honest with you, I didn’t like reading books at first. I was more into playing video games, and playing outside with my friends. But my grandmother was persistent, and she always found a way to make me read books.
I’m a slow reader, I don’t rush to finish a book. I like to take my time and enjoy the book. I reread some books multiple times, and I always find something new.
I read many books, many ahead of my age, and this is actually a problem. I have fun chats with my wife about books, time to time, she mentions some books, and I say, “I read it, but I don’t remember all the details.” She doubts it, and we start chatting about a book, once I get a bit more details, I start remembering the book, and then she believes me.
My grandmother recently gifted me a notebook where she recorded all the books I’ve read while staying at her place. My wife was surprised to see the list, and I was surprised to see how many books I’ve read too :)
My thoughts on Paper Books
Let me capture my thoughts on paper books first. I have been reading paper books for a long time. I like the feeling of holding a book in my hands, turning pages, and seeing the progress I make.
Why I like paper books
- I can highlight important parts — it helps me with learn new words, easy to find highlighted part later
- I can write notes in the margins and make drawings - to be frank, I mostly draw doodles on the margins
- I can easily go back and forth - it maybe my thing, but I do a lot of backs and forth while reading
- I can see/feel the progress - getting things done, feeling the progress; all this helps to release dopamine
Why I don’t like paper books
- They are heavy - like any physical object, they have weight, I can’t carry books around
- Easy to lose - I have lost a few books in the past, and I have books which I found and brought with me from my travels too :)
- You need to have a good light source
- Smell - I use my local library, and some books have an “unique” smell
Okay, let’s move to the audiobooks now.
My experience with Audiobooks
Occasionally I listen to audiobooks when traveling with my kids in the car, but I never followed a narrative, ‘cause it was for my kids, and I was driving.
I listen to many podcasts, and I like them. I listen to podcasts while driving, while working out, doing groceries, and while doing chores around the house.
I built a good range of podcasts I can listen to, learn and enjoy (it’s challenging to find a right “voice”). I listen to podcasts about technology, software development, personal development, history, astronomy, and many more.
Recently I bought The Toyota Way paper book. I started reading it before this experiment, and I thought it would be a good book to try audiobook.
I enabled my subscription to Audible, and I started listening to the audiobook version of The Toyota Way.
I listened to overall 2.5 hours of the audiobook, and I have mixed feelings about it.
Why I like audiobooks
- I can listen to audiobooks while doing chores, driving, working out, etc.—I can’t read a paper book while doing chores, but I can listen to an audiobook
- I can have infinite number of audiobooks always available with me - I don’t need to carry paper books around, no extra weight in backpack
- I can listen at different speeds - I listened to a book at 1.5x speed for a while
Why I don’t like audiobooks
- I can’t highlight important parts - I can’t easily find important parts later
- I can’t write notes in the margins - I can’t make drawings (obviously)
- I can’t easily go back and forth - while listening this book, I had multiple times when I wanted to go back and listen to a part again, but it’s not easy to do
- You need to have either a good internet connection or download the book - either Audible doesn’t pre-cache parts of a book or something didn’t work for me, but I had a few times when the book stopped playing, and I had to wait for it to download the next part
- You need to have access to references in the book - This book has multiple figures, charts, pictures, and “Reader” was referencing them, but I couldn’t see them. I used my paper version to see them, but it was a bit annoying to switch between paper and audio versions
- Price (vague point) - If books are long to listen, you will end up paying for multiple months of Audible subscription, which can result in a bigger cost of the book
Conclusion
I will continue listening to The Toyota Way audiobook, but I will also read the paper version. I will see which one I like more after finishing the book.
I can see where audiobooks can be beneficial, but I can’t see myself switching to audiobooks completely. I like paper books more, and I will continue reading them.
I may start listening to audiobooks more, but I will be selective about the books I listen to (less professional, more for soul).
I can see also audiobook as a tool or way to get a quick understanding of some content I don’t want to invest full time by reading a book.
I may end in a hybrid mode, where I will read paper books most of the time and listen to audiobooks occasionally when I can’t read a book.
What about e-book?.. |_|>