So in the past few years there's really been a rise in the popularity of audiobooks with the arrival of services like audible. Many people have found themselves preferring it to actual reading for the accessibility it allows for. This in mind I thought this would be an interesting thread to make.

I've personally always preferred reading. I like to fully focus on a book in stead of listening to an audio book while doing something else. It's not that I've never tried audio books but I easily find myself getting distracted and thus don't really become as invested into the story as I would from reading. As a result I always read books. Which has the added bonus of helping refresh and expand my vocabulary in that language.

Which method do you prefer? Are you more of the traditional reader or have you been won over by the rise of audio books? Perhaps you're one of those crazy people who like both? Share your thoughts with me in this thread

It depends on what kind of book we're talking about. If it's novel or any fictional stuff, I highly prefer books(or ebooks) over audiobooks due to the following reasons:

1. I prefer to hear my own voice inside my head, if you know what I mean.
2. I read a lot faster than the speaker's speed in audiobooks.
3. You're forced to hear everything on audiobooks, even the non-sense, filler and not-so-important paragraphs. You can't skim.
4. Sometimes (err... most of the time rather), the supposed-to-be awesome parts of the books are delivered very lamely by audiobook speakers. It's more of a personal taste than a fault though.

For documentaries (or documentary book compilations) though, it's more of a 50/50 for me. I actually quite enjoy listening to documentaries.

I only read audio books when needed which isn't really all the time. I prefer reading that having audio books. I would mostly do my best to read so then it gives some sense of peace, and has me thinking about the story plot. When it comes to reading its not easy for me. So I have to read the types of books that are easy for me to understand plus ones that I would really enjoy reading as well. I don't normally try to branch out the genre of books I normally read. Because there will be a whole lot of complicated ones for me and, I would get confused with those books let alone to understand them.

Honestly, I prefer reading. Surprising, since I prefer technology over old-school style most of the time. Most of the audiobooks I have listened to have really weird voices. Like, REALLY weird. In 7th Grade, we read and listened to "The Outsiders" I think is what it was called. And the character's voices...just...ugh.

I don't really see the use of audiobooks. First of all, it's nearly impossible to find solitary places in town to carefully listen to anything, even less something you need to hear carefully at the risk of losing track of the plot.

We also have each person's reading speed. I read very fast, so I doubt any speaker goes even at 50% of my pace when talking. For some people this is a huge drawback, as you take twice or more time to finish a book hearing it rather than reading it.

And well, if the characters are just represented by letters and grammatical symbols, it's easier for me to get into them. The magic of books comes from imagining the scene, and we all know that the voice plays a big role when thinking how a person looks or acts like, so we could end up creating the wrong idea of a character.

Well, Juliet pretty much covered most of what I was going to say down to the letter, so I'll just add what I was going to say that she didn't already cover for me.

Another reason I prefer reading for anything that's fiction is the fact it's easier to create the world and characters inside your head that way. When you're reading it yourself, and at your own pace, you can imagine the world of the book so much more clearly than when someone else is reading it to you. Plus I like to give the character's their own unique voices inside my head, and audio books just can't do that. Heck, some of the ones I've seen just read every voice in mono tone, which is something that drives me crazy, especially for a really upbeat character, or one of the opposite gender of the audio book reader. 

Another aspect of it is I remember things one hundred times better if I read something over just hearing it. For most people, reading something helps imprint the information into their brain much more efficiently than simply hearing it, myself included. 

Also, I've always had an issue hearing things clearly, so it's much easier for me to read than it is to hear, and still understand every piece of information being presented. My hearing itself is fine for the most part, it's just my brain is terrible at actually deciphering which words were used when I hear any form of speech in general. If a person doesn't speak slow, or mumbles / slurs their words in just the slightest of ways, it can lead to me having an extremely difficult time clearly understanding what's being said. At best, I might be able to make out 3 / 4 of what's being said, and it's like that even when someone does speak perfectly to begin with. I don't know why or what causes it, I just don't make words out clearly for some reason when they are spoken.

I personally prefer reading, but audio books are great too! I mean, I do a lot of drawing and painting and while I am doing that my mind is almost completely blank, So I find that time to be the perfect opportunity to read and really think about what I'm reading which is great for religious studies! However, the only problem I have run into is the fact that, A) My parents won't let me own any books on my religion, And B) It's hard to read and paint at the same time. So I think audio books are great! Also, I have a friend that makes audio books and I feel bad not supporting him.

What I like to do is read while using audio books. I'm pretty sure every one who uses audio books do that. But it helps me imagine what's happening in my book that I'm reading. Its a nice tool at our disposal so why not use it too, especially if it helps. I mean I get the claims people make. For example audio books doesn't make you a stronger reader. But I mean theirs a lot of things they teach us in schools that we wont use later on in life. Like some geometry equations. When your building a bridge, now a days computers will do all the measurement's for us. A lot of things they teach us are, in a sense, out dated. I don't know, I'm just rambling at this point. 

I greatly prefer reading a book instead of listening to it. I can have a difficult time focusing on a book when I'm reading it, but if I'm listening to a book I'll get more bored and distracted, which will make me forget that the book is even being read to me and I miss some of the plot

I admit never having tried audiobooks, but my guess is I would not be found of them. I tend to skim a book when I read it, and even if I read line by line I do it much quicker than what a normal talker would be able to follow.

Sorry, Zlinqx. ^^0 I guess I'm one of those "crazy people" that like both traditional and audio books… and *gasp!* ebooks as well! For starters, I read at least 200% faster than I can listen, so it's better for me to just read the materials on paper or via a computer screen of sorts. Also, I turn books into films in my head as I read, so audio books don't always work for me if the voices don't match the scenes well enough. However, listening to an audio book can sometimes be nice when running or exercising, but it has to be a book where I won't mind missing a few random sentences (so usually, I'll just be listening to novels and stories). Overall, I guess I would prefer to read a traditional book or an ebook rather than listen to an audio book because sometimes, the noises from my surroundings can end up blocking out key segments of the audio books. XD

I prefer reading the book rather than hearing it. I like to be able to have the physical book with all of its words and pages in front of me. I've only listened to audio books once or twice ( a long time ago), but it doesn't compare to the stimulation of holding a book in your hands. I like buying and reading physical books more because as someone with a vivid imagination, It is easier for me to visualize what is taking place in the book if I'm actually holding it in my hands. Although research suggests that reading and listening are very closely related cognitive processes, I am able to enjoy the book more if I am reading the physical copy. I find lectures to be incredibly dull (in most cases), and although I can't say I would be thoroughly disinterested in listening to an audio book, I doubt I would get the same satisfaction out of it that I would from reading the real thing. Nonetheless, it is still an excellent, readily-accessible tool.

I prefer reading over an audio book any day. I'm afraid I'd just fall asleep reading an audio book as with reading, I'd have to look at the book meaning I wouldn't fall asleep quite as easily.