Paper, E, Then Audio: #MFRWAuthor Blog Challenge, Week 30
This week’s MFRW Blog Challenge topic is “Paper, eBook, or Audio”.
Paper Please
I’d much rather read a story myself than have someone read one to me. And I do prefer paper.
And yes, I currently have shelf after shelf filled with books, and then some! One of the books sitting on my coffee table is the Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up. I’ll get there someday!
For now, paper books work better with my reading style. I like to read a story to the first turning point, then flip to the end of the book and see what the author has done. Sometimes, I go to the middle of the book and see what kind of turning point the author has come up with.
eBooks
That’s all so much harder to do with eBooks! I have to remember a number, instead of just sticking my finger or bookmark in the book to hold my place. Or, I suppose I can flag my stopping point with one of those Kindle electronic flags. But a paper bookmark just seems faster and easier.
Still, I read lots of eBooks and I collect just as many on my Kindle as paper books on my shelves. I particularly like eBooks when I read a series book I love and want the author’s next book RIGHT THAT MOMENT. Click, click, click, and no waiting.
Audio
I think audio could work for me on long car trips if I had a husband who shared my taste in fiction. We do listen to nonfiction books sometimes, but the few times we tried fiction, one or the other of us got bored.
Other issues with audiobooks:
Male actors reading a female character’s dialogue in falsetto. DOES NOT WORK. Throws me right out of the story. Conversely, females reading male characters’ dialogue is a bit better if they don’t exaggerate too much.
Audiobooks just tell the story too slowly. I can read it a lot faster than I can hear it. I gave up on my last audiobook and downloaded the original book to finish reading on my Kindle.
What’s your preference?
This is blog hop, so hop along with my fellow MFRW Authors and see what they have to say on this topic.
Images: Wikimedia Commons
You make some good points, although I never flip to the end of a book unless I’m ready to give up on it but mildly interested in the end. I’m strictly a linear reader and writer. If I know the end, I no longer care enough to read the middle. Weird, I’m sure! Enjoyed your post.
I guess I’m too impatient to be linear! It’s why enjoy movies more the second time through–I know what’s going to happen!
Ha, I will read the end of the book too sometimes. I just have to see if it ends like I want. Very true it’s much easier to do this in a paperback than on a reading device.
Yes! And if it’s a mystery, I like to know the villain ahead of time.
I admit to reading the ending first if I’m part way through a book and really worried about one of the characters. I try not to, but sometimes I NEED to know if the person comes out of it all right (that doesn’t always happen!).
It’s especially good if the author surprises me (in a good way).
Very true! Thanks for stopping by, Robin!
You’re right that it’s easier to flip around in a print book, go back to check something already read or skim through the slow parts. I still like my e-books best. As for audio, I can relate to what you said about a male narrator doing female voices. I much prefer a female narrator, unless the book is non-fiction, then it really doesn’t matter.
I once started an audiobook, a suspense thriller, where the heroine was a Yugoslavian scientist. The narrator was male, and he did all her dialogue in a heavily accented falsetto. I was laughing so hard I was howling at those parts. Threw me right out of the story.
Yep, flipping around in an e-book is murder. Another thing I hate is forgetting the name of the book I’m reading, or sometimes the author. The answers are much easier to find in a paper book.
Very true, Ed.
When I used to read print books, I had to see every page outside of the story–bio, other books, etc. Only once or twice did I ever read the end before finishing the book. An eBook is my choice for today. You’re correct about jumping around in it, especially if on a Kindle when other ads pop up after the end of a story, which blocks the backmatte unless you navigate to it yourself.
interesting note about audio books and narrators. Never thought about the slowness but I can it now.