One time, maybe 15 years ago, I had to download a new release from Audible. It might even have been the author reading it. I was aching-all-over to read this book. Snowstorm, nearest copy some 400 km away: so, downloaded it. 9/10 do not recommend. I've been an avid reader for decades; I hated listening to it! (Flinx Transcendent by Alan Dean Foster, for the interested. I got a pb copy a few months later)

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Why you didn't liked it? That's interesting since you were hyped and all.

I zone out too much to listen to audio books, but I think some people do it just fine. I wonder if it's very different from listening to a podcast (which I also can't do).

Now I don't care if people call it reading or whatever, and plenty of people read books and retain zero information from it once they are done. Then again I am a bit confused by how insistent the audio books peeps are about calling it "reading" when, by definition, it isn't, like I once feel down a rabbit hole on tiktok of videos on the topic and some of these peeps will go to war to defend that. Perhaps because a lot of people look down on listening to audio books as not as good as reading books.

Different strokes for different folks, and at the end of the day it changes nothing for me if people call it "reading".

AIs are getting pretty good, but still nowhere near natural enough to narrate a book.

I thought the person reading it read way too slowly! (🐌 go faster!) Plus, when you're reading yourself, you make up certain ways to pronounce words in your head. The person reading was pronouncing the uncommon words differently than I did. One good thing, I learned how to pronounce "ennui"; I was pronouncing it "En-you-eye" it's pronounced "on-wee". 🤷🏻‍♀️

>p certain ways to pronounce words in your head. The person reading was pronouncing the u

Is just way more intimate to read and you fill the blank spaces with your own imagination. Just, more in control.

Audiobooks don't work for me. I find them annoying and I can't get into it. Reading books is one of my greatest pleasures though.

I do like podcasts though - my brain is weird.