Are audiobooks worse?
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- Опубликовано: 8 июн 2024
- I am going to be biased on this topic because of how I love audio books a whole lot, but also, I think it's ludicrous to place value judgements on things because they are marginally different.
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Also as someone with a disability who finds audiobooks easier is also important to point out the way audiobooks have opened up reading for people who cannot normally read the traditional way.
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Audiobooks have been around for decades, whilst I agree how useful they are. What has changed, however, is how easy it is to access them now; you previously had to go to the library to check out an audiobook on CD or cassette tape.
Funny because for me it's the opposite - I have an auditory processing disorder
I cannot tell you how many people have thanked me for being an audiobook narrator for exactly this reason - and I love that I can help bring books to people!
@@ivytarablair thank you for your audiobook services
Poetically, I'm reading this via subtitles because I forgot my headphones.
But I definitely think reading requires more focus and conscious effort than listening, although admittedly it's entirely possible to scan a page and process exactly none of it, so maybe they both demand some degree of input.
I'm glad I'm not the only one who reads videos sometimes
Subtitles help hearing people too! Everyone benefits from accessibility
For me, different things on different days. Long commute? Audiobook. Rainy day at home? Book book.
rainy days and physical books are SO GOOD TOGETHER
It's good to have options.
Yes! This! :)
It's not important if I am traveling long or medium distance (15-30 minutes for one way), I use audiobooks even in my car but only read at home via printed books or e-books. But I usually read the more important ones at home and usually use audiobooks for self-help texts or long but somewhat interesting books like travel memoirs, encyclopaedias, etc.
Yup!
YES LIFE'S LIBRARY WILL HAVE AUDIO BOOKS I CAN CLEAN MY ROOM AND FILL MY SOUL WITH BOOKS AT THE SAME TIME
Audiobooks remind me of the days when my mom would read us books aloud on long car rides - it's how I "read" the first few Harry Potter books! Such fond memories of how she made the stories come alive.
That's wonderful!
I have dyslexia and audiobooks help me so much to read so that I can understand them. I need audiobooks for school. To me reading is something hard and audiobooks are much more enjoyable. I do read normal books but I can't read very many when I do that because I read so slowly. With audiobooks I read 12 to 15 books a year in traditional books it's usually only 6. I think it depends on the person and one thing that helps one person can be annoying to another. Do what you feel is best and don't judge others if they make a different choice.
I also have dyslexia and traditional reading/writing is/was so hard for me never read anything I wasn't forced to. I got way better at reading with audio books(whith a visual copy in front of me.) I know read(listen) to more than 20 books a year with way better retention and no migraines. Audio books are not just my favorite way to read but also a large part of my I can.
Me too, Audiobooks help me enjoy books...I do love to read it just takes soooooo much energy to do so.
Yes!! I am dyslexic too and as a child I hated reading physical books because it was so hard for me. Audiobooks were a life saver
I can relate so much, I have pretty severe dyslexia and have accommodations in college to use audiobooks instead of textbooks. Without audiobooks I would never get a chance to hear so many stories because for me reading is very hard and time consuming.
Audiobooks saved me in university!
Not for nothing I read ("read") way more books now that audiobooks are such a Thing.
How the hell are you not upvoted to hell?
You can’t read audio books
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@@floridianwolf1029 my exact thought
@@michaelleggat9212 respectfully disagree, but it's a subjective matter and your definition of reading and mine are equally valid.
So, I got into theater so I could eventually work with voice acting. But, where I'm from, that market is impossibly hard to get in to if you are not connected with someone well known or if you are not willing to literally pay to work.
So I ended up in audiobook recording. It's so far from what I saw myself doing 10 years ago but I fell into a comfortable if not-very-rewarding rhythm.
It's silly, but I felt VERY validated after seeing this video. Thanks for making me see my job in a different, more positive light. Monday will be a very good day at the studio.
+!
Yay for validation!
I love audiobooks because I can do other things while I listen. I can cook, clean, and drive. It's wonderful. I retain better when I'm read to because when I read long passages from a page I tend to zone out and not understand what I'm reading.
I have found that it matters to me what type of book it is.
I have found that I have a hard time listening to modern literature (Like fantasy and such)
But I have a hard time reading older literature like Dracula, Animal Farm, 1984 and the like.
So I read new books and listen to old books ^^ (At 1,3x speed xD )
I'd love to find a study that talks about the combination of 'kids/people who retain information best when they are moving while they hear it' and 'listening vs. reading retention,' - cause I bet anything that audiobooks + movement = far better learning for those folks :)
I have the exact same problem Jerry N. describes.
I also sometimes zone out when listening to an audiobook, but I just hit the "go back 15 seconds" button once or twice and that's it.
When it happens to me while reading paper, I also tend to lose the paragraph I was in, and I waste a lot of time trying to search for it.
@@ivytarablair that's funny, when I was younger I'd learn info for exams by pacing around and reading at the same time. I couldn't sit still l while trying to ingest info. I also walked in time and would rhyme of the info in time with the walking, like timing for a song
@@matty9460 Yup! They've done a lot of studies (though I haven't seen this RE audiobooks specifically) regarding retention and left/right movements (like walking, crawling etc) and it absolutely improves retention in a lot of people! And then we have conventional schools not allowing kids to even get up, let alone learn in a way that their brains can process grrr. (and then labeling them failures of course - extra grrr!) Yay for your discovery of this in your own youth !
i just finished the harry potter series read by stephen fry and i think the experience was equal to the first time i read the books as a kid/teen. bloody brill.
@@MichaelvoxTFIF no...just no.
Maybe the story is different when it comes to non-fictional books
Love my man, Jeeves! #stephenfrye
stressed by the amount of tabs hank has open
Me too....
@@vlogbrothers lmao
i nearly had a fit
Would it be less stressful if they were in a Tree format? Like Tree-Style Tabs?
I love trees
It's only 44 tabs... that's not a huge amount. At the moment, I have 270 windows open, many of which have multiple tabs. Granted, that's a bad habit... but still. Hank is a long way from the deep end of this pool.
I love audiobooks so much! I had really severe dyslexia and for the longest time I thought I just hated books and I didn’t realize until later on that I hated the struggle of reading. I started listening to audiobooks and read along with the physical book to help me get a better pace with me reading. Now I’m a more confident reader/speller and I still listen to audiobooks all the time. I love hearing the story read aloud and the flavours the narrator gives the characters! ❤️
Yeah same here. I have dyslexia and to me reading traditionally growing up felt like a punishment more then anything else. I'm really glad there is a market for Audio books because txt to speech is often not ideal lol.
I am a Reading teacher and I 100% approve of, advocate, and adore audiobooks! Why? We read to discover how to live; we don't live to discover how to read. So everyone soak up the stories-however you may find your way to them.
I enjoy audiobooks, especially when they have a full cast version, it's easier for my brain to switch between characters. I like both audio and physical books. THERE IS NO BAD WAY TO READ
Yeah I love audio dramas! Like one of my favorite “books” is the Focus on the Family audio drama of the Chronicles of Narnia. It has a full cast, sound effects, music, the works! I wonder if that counts?
Audiobooks have saved me. I have loved reading my entire life and it was such a huge part of my life. Then I went blind. While being blind really sucks, the worst part was no longer being able to read. Basically, audiobooks have brought the love of reading back into my life and I love them.
It’s different, that’s all. I personally zone out when I’m listening to audiobooks and podcasts. With podcasts I don’t mind that, but for the price of an audiobook, I don’t feel like it will be worth it.
Also, as you said, in audiobooks, the tone of the book is “forced” on me by the narrator. That can be amazing or lacking for the experience.
That being said, as a voice actor, I’d loooooooove to do audiobooks! Just putting it out there...
Solange Santos I completely agree about the zoning out thing!!! I feel like I have to focus so much in order to listen to an audiobook, I can’t do other things at the same time. Maybe someday I’ll figure it out, who knoes
One of the very best books I've ever listened to as far as voice acting is the how to train your dragon series. Just thought you ought to know for some reason. I've listened to hundreds of books and its awesome. So talented.
Solange Santos I too zone out if there is no visual
If you don’t want to pay for audiobooks and live in the US, I recommend the app Overdrive and a library card. Download library books and audiobooks (and some libraries have movies) directly into your device... for free.
If you have any interest in them but don’t want to feel guilty about not finishing it or zoning out.
Same here. I zone out and lose focus. I have to have the book in my hands and read it normally.
I like audiobooks a lot but, as my girlfriend can attest to, I read almost unnaturally fast and i get impatient listening to audiobooks. So I prefer physical books... well, ebooks now.
Some audiobook reading platforms will let you increase the playback speed. I use both Kindle and Audible on my phone, and my default setting is 1.5x speed. Helps a lot with the impatience!
Audible has a 3x faster playback option too. So enjoy it dude.
Personally I go from 1.2 to 2x speed depending on the narrator, or if it’s my second read through I might go faster and if it before bed I set it slower
The Audible app allows you to change the speed without changing the pitch as does my app of choice Listen audiobook reader on android, I listen to all audiobooks a 1.4 speed, the normal speed seems ponderous now.
Yeah, same issue - and I hate the way sped-up audio sounds. I like audiobooks for background noise when my hands are occupied, but if I'm just reading it's tooooo slooooooowwwwww.
That said, if other people enjoy and prefer audiobooks for general reading purposes (sped up or otherwise) that's wonderful.
Audiobooks are wonderful, and they turn previously menial things into pleasant excuses to lose myself in a story. My house is nice and clean and my dogs are well walked as a result
Kenneth Starr Agreed. Boring housework goes by so much faster. 😎
I need to get myself some audiobooks, then. My house is a mess.
Okay, but audiobooks for blind people, like ummmm hello... it's freaking brilliant, everyone deserves to read and enjoy books. Everyone. (But I also love physical books and always will but everyone deserves to read). I think reading/listening is one of best gifts any human could possibly have. And everyone no matter who they are, whether they are poor or rich (props to libraries) can see or are blind, should be able to read and enjoy books. Period.
Kayla Silvera YES! thank you for mentioning the blind community! audiobooks is the main reason i am able to be in AP literature class. without them, getting a large print or braille format for some of the books we’ve read would have been nearly impossible or just plain inconvenient. audio has leveled the playing field between me and my peers.
I can't listen to audiobooks; I don't retain any of the information. I have to read it, or read along.
I Makeup Stuff yep same here. I zone out and miss HUGE sections of story.
Reading along with an audiobook can be a lot of fun and also help you retain a lot more.
To me, reading along is mostly just frustrating. Talking is SO SLOW compared to reading or thinking. Reading along with an audio book feels like I'm wading through mud or something.
It's interesting to me because that is part of why teachers in school didn't want me using audio textbooks but I cannot retain anything from physical books because the act of reading requires too much from me. (I am dyslexic)
Same
Also audiobooks are great employment opportunities for aspiring voice actors, like myself. Voice acting is such a niche market, and I'm glad there's another option to help open the door.
i LOVE audiobooks! I have favorite narrators, I remember where I was listening to some of them...People are missing out on the experience of being read to. It's awesome!
Yes! I'll get a book I never heard of because of a narrator I love. Plus, I'm a sucker for audiobooks with music or full casts!
Kobna Holdbrook-Smith is AAMAZING! He reads Ben Aaronovitch's Rivers of London series.
Stephen Fry doing Harry Potter is one of the best things ever.
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Stephen Fry doing Sherlock Holmes is also pretty great.
Stephen Fry doing Stephen Fry is one of the best things in general. You go Stephen. We love you
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I think the Jim Dale version is way better 😬
Audiobooks have completely changed my life! I've been an avid nonfiction listener for more than seven years and it's opened up so many avenues of discovery and learning that simply wouldn't be possible with the work and family responsibilities that I have. I wouldn't be the person that I am without audiobooks. It matters less to me whether I'm a "real" reader or not, and it matters more that I can access all that booky goodness.
Close your tabs, Hank. Those are too many
Omg, yea
The real problem starts when you have multiple browser windows that look like that.
@@harry.tallbelt6707 Nope nope nope nope nope I couldn't handle that!!
dont gatekeep tabs!
@@harry.tallbelt6707 my computer freeze when I do that
Stupid old computer
I read a physical book while listening to the audio
You win
Big brain time
I have my dyslexic daughter do this. It's helped her in so many ways
I did that for my Shakespeare class in my undergrad. Found a dramatic reading on Spotify of the plays I needed to read and listened while reading and it was an awesome and much more engaging way of getting into Shakespeare especially when I wasn't familiar with some of his more obscure plays.
This works well for me and this the best way to 100% understand books written in English as I'm not a native English speaker
Being told a story is the oldest thing. Gave me goosebumps, Hank. I hadn't thought of that before. I love it and I love audiobooks.
Good thoughts. Yes, it’s a different communication medium so different from paper books - but I like how you relate it with the oral traditions on communication history - before people read they listened to and told stories to people.
I don't really do audiobooks, as I need subtitles most of the time when I watch TV or RUclips so I can't process just the audio without seeing the text or the person reading it.
Novia Toria Same: I need visuals
on the subject of audiobooks:
1. I got An Absolutely Remarkable Thing in audiobook form (really good narrator), and I finished it in 2 days because it was THAT GOOD.
2. The idea of audiobooks being "stories told to you" is interesting, and i know it's impossible / extremely difficult for this change to happen, but I listened to "36 Questions Musical Podcast", and it was the first time that audio made me actually feel like i wasn't "listening to people tell me a story", but rather "actually hearing people, the characters, feel alive" - with music, and sound effects, and atmosphere.
3. I kinda felt the same way about AART (but without the music / sound effects / atmosphere) after listening to it for hours. The voice actor is forever now April May - and it's beautiful.
Woah, funny timing. Just yesterday I was saying how I’ve suddenly begun to love audiobooks. I’ve finished 3 just this month and I never finish that many physical books that quickly. I have had a struggle in my mind on whether it counts the same. It helps hearing you, one of the nerds I admire, say it does. So thank you for this video!
I am actually thankful for audiobooks because of my gradually deteriorating vision, and also because now I've realised that it's also good for people who cannot read a language but can understand it. They just provide more accessibility.
For me, audiobooks were a gateway drug to fiction podcasts.
And now I'm addicted.
Please tell me more about these fiction podcasts of which you speak.
@@OneTraveller
Welcome to Night Vale was my first.
Then, came Archive 81 and Point Mystic.
@@fiverthefabulist I love Welcome To Night Vale! I didn't know about Archive 81 and Point Mystic, though. Thanks!
@@fiverthefabulist This also reminded me that I'd listened to a few episodes of THE TRUTH before, and liked them. It's been awhile, just like it has for Night Vale, so I'll go check them out again.
As someone who doesn't have a lot of time to sit and read a book (as sad as it is) audiobooks are a great way to still be able to experience a story, I LOVE them.
Skyler Garrett Everyone has time for something they love. You don’t HAVE to read books, but if you love reading you’ll just do it. You and I probably don’t “have time” to watch RUclips videos and post comments, but here we are. People don’t “have time” to get into meaningful, time consuming relationships, but they seek them out regardless. We have time for anything we truly want to make time for. My friend is a medical college professor and director of spinal surgery at a busy hospital and he’s a family man. He rarely takes a vacation. Still reads like crazy. And no, I don’t think he’s a “fast” reader. He just fills those “on our phone”/watching TV minutes with reading.
Yeah, it’s nice to be able to get lost in a book while driving (I’m a trucker, so that takes up most of my waking hours). I hear it’s not recommended to read a book while driving. Recently, I’ve listened to a Confederacy of Dunces, by John Kennedy Toole, a book I recommend to everyone, including strangers on the internet. Plus the reader does a fantastic job.
2:20 I wish I could read well. I can read and write but it's always slightly difficult. Effortful. Reading aloud is terrifying. And it 51 years old, I don't see that changing soon
I haven’t watched a vlogbrothers video for such a long time, and it’s so nice to see you two again:) The human experience is amazing!
I love audiobooks often I will go out to dinner and play a really good audiobook it's like I'm going on a date with the characters ❤️
This debate reminds me of the debate that happened when writing became more common. Plato opined that written word would ruin the human memory by removing the need to remember stories and information that you had heard. I don't know what's better, but I love listening and reading too much to give up either.
I'd never read this! I love it!!! (and, of course, every generation of old folks declaims 'When *I* was a youth, we had respect for our elders!' bwaaa!)
Hank, this was very well articulated. I too have thought about this topic with similar ideas to yours. It was nice to hear these ideas engaged with by another person.
Hank. I LOVE THIS VIDEO. I started listening to audiobooks in a big way when I started a job where my days were spent doing somewhat mindless computer tasks, so I turned to Pride and Prejudice to keep the boredom away. In the past four years since then I've read/listened to dozens of audiobooks, and while I still like to read a book with my eyes when I want to REALLY pay attention, some of my best reading experiences have been with audiobooks. My favourite so far is "Frogkisser!" by Garth Nix. There's only one reader but she's so talented that you'd think there was an actor for each of the voices she does so perfectly.
Not every song is a story. Sometimes they’re just a feeling.
At a point in my life, I couldn’t read well enough to read Harry Potter on my own. This meant that the two ways I experienced it were from my mom reading them to me, and Jim Dale reading them to me.
Every car ride we listened to the CDs. We would listen to them almost on repeat, starting over at the beginning of the series when we finished a book. We listened over and over again until the next book came out.
Listening so often that when I saw the first movie on opening day with my family, I walked out of the theater saying to my mom “I think I’ve seen that before...” My four year old brain didn’t understand that I just had the audio books had just made me imagine it incredibly vividly.
I still listen to the same Harry Potter audio books, and others, to this day. No one convince me that they aren’t as real or important as reading a book on your own.
Sorry this is very long but I feel very strongly haha. Also there are probably mistakes all over it.
I enjoyed reading it. Sounds like you have an awesome geek mom.
OneTraveller the BEST geek mom!
I played the Harry Potter audiobooks for my babies when I was pregnant each time. My 2nd was born a few weeks before the last book came out. Jim Dale’s voice calmed him better than anyone's but mine (sometimes better than even mine). At 12, he still listens to the HP audiobooks almost every day and they help him if he is having insomnia and he recently started writing fanfic. 🥰
thank you for the push for audiobooks, Hank!
I've always loved reading because I loved stories. But I'm also a very very slow reader thanks to dyslexia. With this and the business of adult life I had stopped entirely consuming books at all for years and I really really missed it. Picking up audiobooks has been a significant quality of life improvement for me! I'm so happy I can finally enjoy these things again.
When life's library was introduced, I was disappointed that there wasn't an audiobook option because i knew that without it there was no way i'd be able to participate in such a cool thing! But now I can and I'm very excited! So, thank you again :)
I love audiobooks! And thankfully you raved about The Expanse series on Dear Hank and John so I got to experience the wonderful story! And then you raved about the audiobooks, and it’s become my favorite way to experience that series!
The preroll ad for Audible on this was truly *chef's kiss *
Hank: "Is every song a story?"
Lil Pump: "Gucci gang, Gucci gang, Gucci gang, Gucci gang..."
"me and my grandma take xanax together" is a short story but still a story
Omg love audio books. It started with Jim Dale, and the Harry Potter series and snowballed.
Damn. I'm early.
I've only listened to Jim Dale's HP a little bit, but he was amazing in that. Definitely recommend his version over the other one.
Jim Dale is the bee's gd knees.
Those are the ones that started my audiobook habit as well.
I probably would not have started reading Harry Potter if not for the audiobooks. I got caught up just as HBP was released. That was the first one where I read the book before listening to the audiobook. I then read the whole series to my son at bedtime over the course of a year.
Side note: libraries. If you like to have both versions (audio and physical) or don't need to own the book- go to your local library!! They have audio, e, and physical books! And if your local one doesn't have it they can order it for you from another branch! They also have lots of places to hunker down to read/listen to your book, do homework, do a craft, and most have clubs that you can drop by! (Book clubs, yarn clubs, geneology, center piece making, how to use different software, etc)
And many also have passes to local museums and things that you can borrow for no charge! You're already paying for these services out of your taxes! Use them!!!
(I know many people-myself included- like to own all their books, but not every bookstore carries what a library does and you can read it to see if you like it before spending the money for it or finish your school reading list so you don't get stuck buying whatever weird thing your teacher decided to make you read) Libraries!
As someone who's job is editing audio books I could send you a few recommendations from my fathers audio book company of Jimcin Recordings. They have been making them since reel to reel and cassette tapes, so they know what they are doing and can be found easily on Audible.com. Glad to have you promote the audio book industry as it is growing quickly, but also it's getting overwhelmed by those who thing "I can read a book and record it" which can be... let's just say, not great. My own RUclips channel started due to the fact that we recorded an audio book called "Whiskey Women: The Untold Story of How Women Saved Bourbon, Scotch, and Irish Whiskey". I am so happy to hear about your audio book options, I was part of the Life's Library, however much like you I have some difficulty reading books and only got through one of them before stalling out on the second one.
I've got many saved credits now since we are affiliated with Audible so I look forward to the future recommendations of Life's Library once more... hopefully I can keep up this time. :P
THANK YOU FOR BEING AN EDITOR - A THANKLESS JOB IF EVER THERE WAS ONE :D ahhhh, my narrator-soul sighs, 'what a fantastic book that would have been to record!' :D (an oft-heard refrain at our house, since every other book I read I go, 'Oh man, i would have loved to record that, alas audio exists already!' ) I'd hit you up via email but there isn't a contact on your 'find us on audible!' website :) I'd love to contact you RE narrator-ly things! If you're interested my email is ivytarablair gmail (and website with my published books & sound clips: ivytarablair dot com) AUDIO EDITORS - PEOPLE HAVE NO IDEA HOW MUCH WORK YOU DO TO MAKE BOOKS SOUND AWESOME :)
My friend: Are you familiar with this book? It really speaks to me.
Me: Oh, is it an audiobook?
@PP-chan the innocent anime girl lol. Love this, even though technically it's the shinigami
I'm so excited you're doing Life's Library with audiobooks!!
I quit Life's Library at the beginning of the year, because I wasn't reading the books. Not because I didn't want to. Just some new medications I needed causing funny side-effects, like the inability to concentrate well when reading.
Audiobooks swooped in though and saved the day. It'll be wonderful to be a part of the DFTBA book club again. Thank you!
I drive 8-10 hours a day and I can get through 2-4 books a week this way. I actually find that when I listen to the books second time, I'm reminded strongly of where I was when I first listened to the book. So when I hear a particular sci-fi book again, I'll be reminded of, say, the coast of Maine where I was this summer. In that way, my retention is higher than just the book. The audiobook actually reminds me of my travels.
I'd never heard of Life's Library, but I'll look into it now. Thanks, Hank!
Hank: "Is every song a story?"
ManaMana: "Doo-doooo-dee-do-doo"
Not to be that person, but (definitionally speaking) songs have lyrics, and I think you'd just consider mana mana vocalizing on nonsense syllables, tbh...
I mean, I feel like there's a difference in being proud of being well-read and holding the size of one's library over other people's heads.
Thanks for Pushing the audiobook option. I have signed up for that subscription! Looking forward to it
Hank, you help me appreciate the joy of life.. to savor the adventure of it all, the adventure of every day. And I cannot thank you enough for that. Thank you so much, Hank.
One thing I have noticed about audio content is that if I am playing a video game at the same time as I am listening I will remember both the game and the book/podcast much better. I think it has to do with the whole loci mind palace thing.
I love audiobooks and I love regular books :) However, I do like to read a new book (particularly one that is heavy on world building) in print first. I want to experience the text solely through my own interpretation at first, rather than through a narrator.
The amount of tabs Hank had open when screen recording near the end
HEALP!
my heart rate
I like to read along whenever possible. I feel this helps me concentrate on what I'm reading as AD/HD hinders some of my executive functioning. Right before getting diagnosed I had the most difficult time reading so one of my friends gave me a piece of advice: read something you've already read. So I found the Harry Potter audio books and re-read the whole series along to the sound clips. It got me back on track. Now that I'm in grad school, I need to do a lot of reading but my brain isn't always ready to sink in for a dense academic text. Taylor and Francis have journal articles that can be read aloud and I now use podcasts as a jumping off point so I can prepare my brain to start reading. ❤️ It's good to be a bookworm again but it's interesting to see the changes and coping mechanisms I find along the way.
I see no video link Hank! You said and pointed to a spot on screen where there was NOTHING. I've been deceived.
"All forms of exceptionality are exclusionary"
👍👍
I just bought two audiobooks, then opened up An Absolutely Remarkable Thing (my physical copy) to start re-reading it, and seven pages in got a notification for this video.
Then I got an ad for Audible's Heads Will Roll, which I have already listened to, because I love Kate McKinnon.
Anyway thanks for your wonderful book, I'm very excited to reread it right now even though I have four papers to write.
Thx for all the stories since this, Hank;)
As a sign in my local library states:
Audiobooks are not cheating!
Audiobooks take me 5x as long to get through as when I read it myself so it counts.
I used to dislike audiobooks, because I could never engage with them the same way as I could with written words. I sometimes have auditory processing issues that make it hard for me to keep up with audio the same way. But I started listening to a lot of podcasts (including all of yours and John’s) and it helped to retrain my ears, I guess. Then I listened to an audiobook at the behest of a friend. The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue by Mackenzi Lee, performed by Christian Coulson. The narrator was so perfectly embodied, so easy to deeply feel, that it completely changed my opinion of audiobooks. Now I tend to read more via audio than print. Some of that is because I can multitask while listening, but honestly I’ve come to really love audiobooks on their own merits.
I haven’t actually read a book in completion for fun since the Ronda Rousey biography but thanks to audio books I’m immersing myself in Westeros again and can finally talk with my soon to be English teacher best friend about his favorite book, Catcher in the Rye.
I feel a much more emotional connection to books when they are being read to me. When I pick up a book I want the information in my brain. This means that I end up reading too fast to pick up all the details of a story because I am too impatient to just read it all. Audiobooks help me with that a lot.
I love been read too, so audiobooks are the best for me.
I find that it depends on how if I want to be active or somewhat passive in the story. When I read a book myself I have to do all the work in creating an image of the world around me bu when I’m listening to an audiobook it’s as if it’s a group project of creating the world. I love both.
The good thing about audio books is that you can listen to them while doing other things - which also is the bad thing about them, because it's kind of hard to stay focused and not miss a bunch of lines
Listen hank i have a message for you, some weeks ago i watched your old video about Egypt you did a great job but i wasn't happy when you called a person who ruled for 1 year a dictator especially because he was recently dead when i watched yes i know it's an old video but i hope that you will make a new video to explain really what happened and who is the real dictator. 😊😊
Thank you for this. I have a visual processing issue and have been listening to audiobooks for 11 years. I often feel less than for not actually reading even though I also love reading physical books. Every once in a while some validation is nice
Okay, but the i listened to my first audioboom recently. It was "Looking For Alaska". Jhon did the voices and oh my god hearing it from him reading it as the caracters on he created was amazing and it was such a great experince.
I am also dyslexic and I had to use audio books in college to get through the massive reading-lists for an English Literature degree and in high school I just read books voraciously even with reading slower and compensating for my dyslexia. I personally find listening to audio books equal to reading books for both retention and analysis but I would re-listen to any book I really liked at least twice. And I can multi task while listening to an audio book, thereby getting to read a book that I otherwise would simply not have the time to ever read. However it is much harder to have an audio book signed by the author and there is something exquisitely sensual about the smell and feel of a real book in your hands; so there is that. I have hard copies of my favorite books and many of them are signed by the author. I and also I listened to _your_ (Hank's) book on audio and I loved it.
The most relatable video I've watched from you. I'm going to take that test too, I've become so much slower at reading within 2/3 years it's a little scary... But I've found great places to listen, they have dramatized audio books and I LOVE those.
I really appreciate this discourse about being a slow reader and how that's not any less valuable or less engaged. ♥️♥️
Coming back to this video since the start of the pandemic. I've really gotten back into reading over the past 3 years and audio books really help me being an auditory learner. This also helps me reading along with my physical copies :)
As someone who works for a library for the blind and physically handicapped, I would like to point out that talking books are usually the only practical option for our patrons who lose their vision later in life and still want to read. Braille books are great, but not only is it difficult to learn braille, it can be extremely expensive to produce a braille book. Digital braille readers aren't cheap either. Talking books are also a great resource for people who have reading disabilities as well. If you know someone that could use a service like this, please look up your state's LBPH/Talking Book Library. The service is absolutely free and under used.
I love audiobooks. I'm visually impared and have ADHD so consequently struggled to learn to read as a kid. My stepdad persuaded my mum to get me books on tape so I could at least develop an enjoyment of literature and I am so grateful that he did. I was a very "well read" kid as a result. I read my first full physical book at 16 (Prisoner of Azkeban) but I still prefer audiobooks. I used to save up and by Discworld books on tape for £40... and now we have Audible. I know Amazon is evil but Audible is still fucking magic. Makes me a bit emotional how I have such easy access to audiobooks now.
If you're into saving your wallet, and you live in the USA with a library card, try your local public library's audiobook collection, or the Prospector interlibrary loan system if you can't find the audiobook you want!
There is also using the Overdrive app, Hoopla, RBDigital, etc with your aforementioned library card number AND, if you're feeling fancy, if you have relatives or close friends who live in other states, you can use their card numbers on those digital platforms and get access to more if you can't find the audiobooks you're looking for within your library system!
I love audio books as well, mostly because, while nothing can replace that feeling of being in a comfy chair with a good book in hand, I have read many series I would never have gotten too by physical books through audiobook while driving, working and working out. I actually just started the last book of the Malazan Book of the Fallen on the way to work this morning, via audiobook as physically this series is just so daunting, it never would have happened otherwise, despite owning it physically as well.
I joined :) so excited to get started!
1:32 it's marginally different :) So true... How many audio books listeners have said at one point: "that isn't how they (our protagonist) would have said that" :) we hear it and correct it to our perception in our brain and move one. At least I do :)
I both read and listened to How Green Was My Valley. John, you have to hear Patrick Tull narrate that book. Really, you do.
I’ve always been a naturally curious person, but I’ve also absolutely hated books (at least that’s what I thought). I have a partial reading disability.
My first year of college and discovered podcasts and found them to be the best thing in the world. And a couple years ago, I thought I’d give audiobooks a try.
The first 23 years of my life, I’d read one book from start to finish (because I had to). This year, I’ve “read” 22 and that doesn’t even include the rereads because I usually do them at least twice.
Safe to say, audiobooks are probably one of the beneficial things I’ve ever discovered.
I love you man! Before I knew audiobooks, it took me three months to read a book--if I reached the end of it. I am dyslexic and I have an eye condition. Reading a paper book is exhausting, frustrating, painful even. When I discovered audiobooks, 10 years ago, my first read was the Iliad and the Odyssey. And I have not stopped reading ever since. On average I read a book a week. But I never say HOW I read my books when I discuss the content. Could be Mark Twain, Jane Austen, Neil Gaiman, Huxley, Orwell, Darwin... you name it. Some people still believe that I am still not reading. Not REALLY.
We didn’t have a tv when we were growing up so my dad read to us; even into our teens. The stories by Lloyd Alexander and Joan Aiken are a huge part of my memories. And now there are still some series that I prefer the audio version of because the narration is fabulous and it feels so special to listen them.
Just a note about Libro.fm, though. It’s terrific, but not all books are available to customers outside the USA.
And remember that your public library probably has more than one way for patrons to borrow audiobooks. 😊
Goood morning youuuu!
These three minutes are gooold for me
Love you Hank ♥️
Though I haven't been diagnosed, I'm fairly certain I'm dyslexic. When I was younger, I really loved reading; I was good at it and it was easy. As I got older, reading became much more difficult and I began to hate it. I went from reading dozens of books a year in my free time to none. This past summer, my best friend bought me a few books for my birthday: The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, and Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut, and gave me a bookmark she'd sewn by hand. I'm a very sentimental person, and having someone go through the effort of selecting and purchasing these books for me that they thought I'd like, as well as taking the time to make me a bookmark meant a lot to me, and I was determined to get through them. I had heard of audiobooks before, and decided to see if there were versions of each book available on RUclips and lucky for me, there were. I didn't want to just sit and listen, because I get distracted very easily and probably wouldn't appreciate the story, so I read along to the audio, which I set to 2x speed. I got through both books within the span of three days; thanks to audiobooks I'd read more in three days than I had in the last three years. Over the course of the summer, I added to my collection of Vonnegut books, and found audiobook versions of all of them, which made my friend very happy. I'm in my last year of high school now, and got put into AP Literature (which was just a really bad idea on my school's part), and audiobooks are really helping me get through it. Thanks to Luzzie, Kurt Vonnegut, and the fine people who upload full audio versions to RUclips, I've found my love for reading again. I don't think I realized how much I missed it.
Audio books have really helped me this semester in college!! I have a below average reading speed as well and now I’m able to listen to books while cooking/eating/walking which saves so much time. I love that they’re getting more attention nowadays bc they’re so important 💙
I found an audio-book feature on Netflix that I try out whenever it's available. The quality of the descriptions can be hit or miss but I highly recommend trying out "Audio-description" under the "Audio" options for the Dragon Prince. It has one of the best narrations I've listened to so far. I always listen to the full episodes using audio descriptions only before I go to bed, then I re-watch the episode later.
As someone who grew up with severe dyslexia I enjoy audiobooks! For a long time as a kid this was the only way I was getting to know all these amazing stories that traditionally are only told in book form. Because it took so much mental processing power to actually read them (like sounding out the words) the context would get lost in the process and I wouldn’t retain information. So with all that said thank you for sharing this thought, and thank for help support audiobooks!
Audio book reading is a performance art in its own right.
Some of my favourites:
- Stephen Fry - the Harry Potter series
- Stephen Briggs - Terry Pratchett's Disc World novels
- David Rintoul - Ian Fleming's James Bond novels
- Suzi Doherty - John Marsden's Tomorrow When The War Began series
Stories are awesome. I love listening to stories. I had a long conversation with a Haida elder about why telling stories is important. I have dozens of photos of Haida people I only share when I can tell the story.
I love when I can do both at the same time. One example of this is Coraline by Niel Gaiman, I had both the book and audio CD(possibly tapes) from the library. I read along with Niel himself, and every so often there would be discrepancies either in word order, or word choice, crisps for chips or chips for fries.
I love listening to stories, but I've rarely found an audio book that I could stand to listen to. If the story was written for, say, radio, then I will enjoy listening to it, but if it's someone reading a novel aloud, I can't stand it. Some of it has to do with the narrator's choices, but most of it has to do with the speed. The discrepancy between my reading speed and the narrator's speaking speed affects how I perceive the pace of the story, and that pace seems to drag when the story is read aloud. Speeding up the audio doesn't work for me, because the rate at which they read aloud is about the rate at which I can process auditory information. My husband is the opposite. He's a fast audio processor and can listen to recordings at 3x the normal speed, but he's a much slower reader. (I just took an online reading speed test and I read 424 words per minute; apparently spoken recordings are about 160 words per minute, so that explains the issue I have with the pacing of audio books. It takes almost 3x as long to listen to one as it takes me to read it myself.)
I travel all the time for work and Audio books are a lifesaver for me. I loved Hanks book on Audible. Kristen Sieh and Hank made the book come alive and it was amazing!! My wife and I listen to hundreds of books a year that we would not experience without this option. Don't get me wrong, we also love curling up with a good book but for many of us there isn't nearly enough time to read all of the books we would like to experience. PS, many audio books are quasi productions with incredible voice talents and even music and sound effects that harken back to old school radio shows. It doesn't have to be an either/or between audio books and written books. People who love audio books would rarely say they then hate printed books. It is more that we all love the written word, regardless how we experience it.
About the speed of your reading: I read about as fast as you do, and apparently that's very slow for an average college student (which I'm not anymore, but I remember that I didn't read any faster when I was in university, unless it was for an exam)
It brought back to mind the day that I finished reading _Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince_ , which took around five hours. At the end of the endeavour I remember feeling empty and dizzy, as if having breezed through the whole book had just filled my head with fluff without giving me the opportunity to really digest the story.
It felt so much like a wasted Harry Potter, that I decided then and there that I would read slower, take my time to really chew the words and be sure I didn't miss anything, at least when it came to books I was reading for pleasure.
I've never come to regret that decision.
I used to knock audiobooks when I was young (now I am super old). I find they are different for me because I don't retain audiobooks nearly as well. I learn and recall in part based ion the visual stimulation of reading. I also get through books faster than I can in audiobook form. I remember even better when I highlight and take notes as I go. What I assumed, wrongly, was that everyone was like me and so therefore everyone was better off reading. When I realized that was a mistaken assumption, I had to let go of my position as an anti-audiobook/pro-dead-tree-book snob (slowly, as it was harder to let go than it should have been).