Audiobooks or the real thing?

[garykaz]

Both! They are both great ways to enjoy good writing. However, the key to a great audiobook is the reader.

[jillyshub52+]

Oh I will always choose an actual book. Nothing beats the feeling of holding a physical book in your hands. However, I will admit that I am rather fond of Audiobooks in the form of PlayAways. It's like I'm listening to a book on a tiny ipod. As much as I love cds it just just doesn't make sense for me to carry cd players around with me anymore, not since the 90s. (this is when I am unable to convert one of the discs to mp3 format)

[TammyO]

I love them both. I never imagined I'd love audiobooks. However, the kindle or the kindle app has a feature where you can read or listen to the book without losing your place. This is so fantastic! Sometimes I prefer reading and other times I enjoy being read to. It's really a great experience. I absolutely love it. I started using the audio feature after purchasing Gone Girl the novel. I must say the beginning of that book nearly bored me to tears; it was soo slow. I kept starting and stopping because I could not stay focused. Then I decided to listen to it instead and I eventually began enjoying it. It's really the best of both worlds..

[Dando]

They don't replace reading, but I love to have audio books going when I am doing something like driving or cleaning.

[3chicnP]

I only buy audiobooks when I'm reading classics. I can never focus while reading them so I need to purchase them. If it's anything other than classics, I always buy the physical copy.

[Himmelslicht]

I don't even know what an audiobook is like. And I'm not interested. I like to read with my eyes and follow the words next at my own pace. And hear my own voice in my head.
And, of course, I don't see exactly how that's reading. That's closer to listening to music or to someone telling you a story around the fireplace or a bonfire

Plus, I understand all the words if I read, but if I hear them I'm sure one or another will escape my attention or understanding. Sometimes I also get distracted too easily. It's easier to go back with my eyes than with the rewind button.

[Esies98]

I definitively rather having the real book, feel it in my hands and see the how the words are written, thats the only way I feel really connected to the story and the characters

[BookLover1997]

I much prefer the real thing, mostly because of the dialogue. I think if the books I listened to had men reading for male roles and women reading for female roles I'd listen to more books. This may just be because I tend to read mostly romance books though!

[lakenbutler]

New reader chiming in! Personally, I say audiobooks aren't even reading. Reading was never about listening to a controlled voice read to you. I hated that when I was younger. Reading was and is about feeling the pages between your fingers as you flip the page. Just my opinion.

[Strangerthanfiction]

I used to be anti audiobook for quite a long time, but over the last year or so I have discovered that I actually love my audiobooks. I get to have my cake and eat it too so to speak. I used to read books while in the treadmill. Lol (yeah I know) Now I can enjoy "reading" with audiobooks while exercising, doing boring chores and just about anything else. I still read books but the addition of audiobooks has really enhanced my experience.

[pinstar]

Real thing, I just like holding and reading a book. I can barely listen to music while driving so I dont think an audio book there would go over well...

[easy_dc13]

Nothing beats the real thing for me. An audiobook reader can have the greatest voice in the world but there's just something else with being able to hold a book (whichever way you want it), reading at your own pace, and then turning each and every page. So, real book over audiobook.

[Wasif Ahmed]

The real thing definitely..... I sometimes skip a few lines or read a few paragraphs again which can't be done with a audiobook. Plus with a audiobook i am not properly able to create a picture of the book in my brain.

[Scerakor]

Each have their own place in my opinion. I listen to audiobooks when I can't read (Driving, cleaning, biking, etc). I also have a complicated (not really, but I'd like to say it is) selection criteria for what is consumed via audio and what is consumed via "real" reading.

[Dh_]

Definitely the real thing. Nothing beats the feeling of a real book in your hands, but I understand how it could be convenient and less time-consuming to use audiobooks.