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WHY LISTEN TO A BOOK?
1.) Our Subconscious -
According to The Observer, ‘revenue for downloaded audiobooks has risen by 32.7% since last year,’ which clearly shows a sudden thirst for listening.
It seems people want to revert back to that old nostalgic tradition of reading aloud.
Remember those times at school sitting on the carpet listening intently to your teacher reading the latest exciting children’s novel?
It was a time to relax and drift into your own world, without the pressure of having to take everything in.
Doris Julian (age 70), a lady attending a storytelling session, remarked on how hearing the story read aloud “took me right back to being a child and being read to in the library”.
Speech, of course, was the means by which stories were conveyed long before the written word came into play. Hearing a novel told triggers deep unconscious pleasure from when we were very young.
2.) You can multitask when listening toan audiobook
We no longer have the time to relax for a few hours with a book, as that takes up valuable time. People often listen to an audiobook because it saves time and doesn’t put a halt to the daily routine.
Many people have talked about how audiobooks have helped them happily complete mindless tasks, as they can switch onto autopilot and let the story take them somewhere else.
3.) They’re great to listen to on your commute
Now that Smartphones, tablets and MP3 players are the norm, we have a way of instantly accessing audio files.
Audiobooks also give people the chance listen to titles such as ‘The Art of Succeeding at Interviews’, or other motivational audiobooks whilst driving to an interview or an appointment, allowing extra preparation and making good use of the free time in the car.
4.) It increases the number of books you can read from your TBR list!
Audio books increases number of books kids, teens, and adults read. If you listened to two or more audio books a week, you’ll have at least 8 books read in a month. That's more than most people read in a year! Can you imagine?
5.) It can be a better way to read!
Audio books may be a better way to read books because of the reader's voices.
When I listen to audio books I comprehend it more when the narrator changes his or her inflections for the characters and doesn't just read but acts!
A voice can reveal so much more context than merely print. Sarcasm for instance.
Audio books also have the advantage of being read by professional narrators. The best narrators (also called actors) add something new to the book as they read it, making it even more enjoyable.
- Perhaps it’s the way they phrase Shakespeare’s old-English. For the first time you understand what the famous Bard was writing about.
- The Mystery is more mysterious, the thriller more thrilling, and the comedy is funnier because the voice and timing is just right.
6.) Our awareness of words increases -
When you listen to audio books you know how to pronounce every word in them because the reader says them first.
It's fun to compare American readers/books to British readers/books. (e.g. Ha-rass-ment vs Hara-ssment.)
7.) Your vocabulary broadens:
When you listen to audio books it helps with vocabulary. More words listened to in context, more words learned!
8.) Audiobooks are accessible -
You can get them at the library, from Amazon, through Audible.
The growing choices in smart phones and mp3 players that are available to everyone,
the increasing wealth of digital download audiobook titles, and
new intelligent book player software make finding and listening to an audiobook easier today than ever before.
9.) You can "read" in total darkness!
You can listen to audio books at night on your iPhone, tablet, ormp3 player without waking anybody else in the room!
Lights out? No problem! Not like with a print book where you'd have to turn on a lamp.
10.) Cut TV time in half:
Trust me it's worth it! Books become good friends.
ODD THOMAS , CHRIS SNOW, and HARRY DRESDEN have become good, reliable friends to share long drives with. Who ever heard of a TV show becoming a best friend?
AFFORDABLE AUDIOBOOKS!
Only $6.08!
The deadliest enemy is within:
All things change.
Not everything survives.
I can't argue with any of your points! And speaking was the traditional way of passing stories down through the generations.
ReplyDeleteDifficult to respond to this other than to say I agree. Audiobooks are a different way of reading. The experience is just as rewarding as opening a book, yet it's unique.
ReplyDeleteI think fledgling writers often have a disconnect and don't give enough credit to the flow of their prose. They're too concerned with what's on the page. But it's important to remember that readers hear the words in their head. There's a reason writers read their work (or should be reading) their
work aloud. Audio books really bring this point home
VR Barkowski
Alex:
ReplyDeleteI wrote THE BEAR WITH 2 SHADOWS as if a Lakota storyteller was spinning the tale at night by the campfire. :-)
VR:
Listening to an audio IS unique. The old radio programs held the nation spellbound by the power of the spoken word.
I have always held the fact that readers "hear" the words in their heads before me. I tried for a flow to my words that drove the narrative along.
I hope Massachusetts is treating you well. :-)
These are some excellent points! I prefer reading an actual book rather than listening to it on audio, but I can definitely appreciate the benefits and convenience of it.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Julie:
ReplyDeleteEveryone has their own preferences. I do a lot of driving so audiobooks are great for me. :-)
Audiobooks make us focus on the words and how they flow. By confining the senses to hearing, we intensify the experience.
ReplyDeleteI prefer to read print most of the time, but I'd give audiobooks a chance on long drives, for sure. If audio books sales are thriving, that's a good thing.
These are all good points!
ReplyDeletewww.modernworld4.blogspot.com
I agree with all your points. Except the one about multitasking. I can't. I have to LISTEN! When I listened to Hibbs, I had to just stop and focus on the story. I'm an auditory kind of person. With migraines, it's sounds. I pick up on subtle tones. And audio-books are like magic.
ReplyDeleteMy Director at work will sometimes come and read to us in our classrooms. You can hear a pin drop. She will even read to us at staff meetings. The same result. I hope one day to have a library of audio-books!
I hadn't thought about how listing to words is as important as reading them. I'm not sure I'd call it a better way to read, at least not for me, but I can see it's advantages. Good post.
ReplyDeleteGina:
ReplyDeleteI'm happy you got something uselful of my little post. :-)
Words Crafter:
My own mother read to me and four friends who made up the League of Five and sent us down the path of loving words for their sounds and loving stories for the wonder and thrill to them. I pray your migraines ease.
Thanks to Audible and my ceaseless wanderings and a blood courier, I have a small library of audiobooks!
J E;
Often we skip passages in books for our desire to see what happens next -- and in so doing lose whole sentences that add to the story and our appreciation of it.
It's actually a different way to read that teaches and enlarges our grasp of the story. :-)