Audio vs. Physical Books: Reading into Storytelling Traditions
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How we read is a topic that tends to come up in conversations that I have as much as — if not more than — ideas related to the content of books. After all, there are now three major avenues to read most novels, and it can be interesting to consider how those formats change individual experiences of the work.
I have experience reading in all three formats — audio, physical and electronic — but mostly tend towards the former two. As such I won’t touch much on e-books and similar formats today, though I’ve heard great things about dedicated e-reader devices.
Today I’ll give my thoughts on the pros and cons of both audio and physical book formats, with some examples from the novels and authors I’ve consumed.
A Focused Reading
The feel and smell of opening a physical book can be hard to beat. A cozy spot and an enthralling novel have seen me pass hours, days and weeks away — especially when sick or otherwise stuck at home, but even on a random Saturday if the book is gripping enough. If one were to believe BookTok, Bookstagram, Tumblr and the cute reader aesthetics that have permeated social media, this is how a lot of very cool people spend nearly every waking moment! But that’s all varying degrees of tangential.
