Books vs Audiobooks??

Living life with… decisions

Intro.

So this debate is as old as time – or at least as old as audiobooks. That debate being is reading better than audiobooks, or have audiobooks taken centre stage?

This debate is actually more complicated than I first thought but I’ll put it into simple terms first. If you prefer to read as a hobby when you have some free time with a nice cup of tea, such that you make time for books then reading actual books is better for you. However, if you prefer reading to fit into your schedule and aren’t too bothered about having a whole ritual or flicking through literal pages and then audible is best. I’ll go into further details about each later in this post.

My personal experience.

I have loved reading and books since I was very young and had always been adamant not to switch to audiobooks as I believed they ruined the true etiquette of reading. Having actual books in your hands and being able to turn the pages. Bookmarks, with a cup of tea in your favourite reading chair or in a cafe – all the rituals of reading that I believed sacred and were ruined by audiobooks. So for much of my childhood I read actual books – mainly sci-fi. I then entered my A-levels one of them being English literature and by the time I was done with these the joy of reading had been sucked out of me and for the next 3 years (whilst at uni) although I attempted to read again I just couldn’t make it part of my weekly life – in fact it was actually heavily avoided.

After my degree I enjoyed my summer and started a new job in central London. It took me a few months to settle in and then I realised that I missed reading. Whilst I did genuinely want to get back into reading it can take a lot of time and is not too easy to fit into a busy schedule. I therefore attempted something I had been avoiding for years – audibooks. Since I had a 2 hour commute to work I figured it was the best time for this. Even though it could be suggested that I could read an actual book instead of listening to one, carrying a book adds weight to my bag that my shoulders and back can’t handle with a laptop, my lunch, and other daily needs. In addition, at 7am my brain isn’t functioning well enough to read and actually take-in the information and fully enjoy the story. Additionally, with busy trains sometimes being quite loud if having to stand up, reading with an actual book just isn’t suitable. Therefore it seemed audiobooks was offering a solution that I had been too stubborn to admit to until this point.

Attempting audiobooks.

Proceeding by looking at different audiobook options; the top two being audible and the second being kindle. Kindle offers reading books on the kindle app as well as some books being offered audiobooks; whilst audible offered only audiobooks. I trialled both for a month and decided that audible was a better match for me and here’s why.

1. I really didn’t have time or want to make time to read, I preferred audiobooks fitting into my schedule instead of me having to arrange my schedule for books.

2. I chose audible as its variety and amount of audiobooks is substantially bigger than kindle.

So I cancelled my kindle subscription and went ahead with audible.

Beginning with audible.

Once I had chosen audible I began my journey with “The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo” by Taylor Jenkins Reid. This was an amazing read and for more detail follow my blog as I give book reviews every month. Since this switch to audible, I have managed to listen to many books on my commute to and from work. In addition, I joined a book club at work which has helped me find people who share the same love of reading – with an additional love of drinking wine and snacking – and also who have many other book suggestions that I wouldn’t necessarily choose, helping too broaden my horizon. This audible journey has been amazing so far which is quite difficult for me to say as someone who – 4 years ago – would’ve been completely against listening to books.

Conclusion.

If you are still struggling to chose between reading and audiobooks I do suggest you use a trail and give it a go – it could open you up to a whole new world and if you’re anything like me it could make your commute time productive.

I truly hope you’ve enjoyed this post and I do hope you stick around and stay up-to-date with my monthly book reviews and weekly blog posts about every and anything lifestyle related included growth, personal development, travel and life updates/ lessons.

Hope you join me next time and for my other socials check out the links below!

———————————

Audible The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo link: https://amzn.to/3HVLDaZ

Instagram: https://instagram.com/livinglifewith_

Pinterest: https://pin.it/6RvlUg0

LinkedIn: @Amz Kaur

Email: livinglifewith@outlook.com

This post may contain affiliate links, which means that I may receive a commission if you make a purchase using these links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.