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Culture > Entertainment

Ear vs Eye: Pros and Cons of Audiobooks vs Traditional Reading

Abigail Taber
The opinions expressed in this article are the writer’s own and do not reflect the views of Her Campus.
This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at SBU chapter.

Lately, I’ve been flying through books. One of the thing that has been making it easier for me to do so is listening to audiobooks.

I just started listening to audiobooks a couple months ago, but I’ve been a reader my entire life. My favorite past time was curling up in bed or at a local bookstore and diving into my newest romance book, but this can be hard when your life gets busy.

The last year has been crazy for me. I finished up high school, graduated and then started working full time during the summer. This turned into a different kind of busy when I started college here at St. Bonaventure.

I was spending so much time reading my assigned books and readings for my classes that I found I couldn’t make myself read for pleasure in my spare time.

This caused me to go into a three month reading slump. I didn’t read a full book again until winter break, but that’s when things changed.

My best friend, Grace, heard me complaining about my lack of motivation to read and suggested that I try “audiobook-ing” my next read.

I have since listened about 20 audiobooks in the last two months. That’s 20 different books that I can check off my TBR (To Be Read) list.

Now, audiobooks are not for everyone. I may fly through them but I know people that just can’t get into them. I would never say that audiobooks are better than physical reading because that is not the case, but I do believe that audiobooks are enjoyable and good for many reasons.

Here I will give you my list of pros and cons of audiobooks and you decide for yourself whether audiobooks are the way to go for you.

PRO: More convient

I love reading… but it’s so inconvenient. I used to lug a book around all day in school just for the chance that I have a couple minutes free to sneak in a page. This was annoying and made it hard to finish a book. Also when you’re reading a book you have to be somewhat still and that may not be the best for your routine. However, with audiobooks you can pop in your headphones and listen to a chapter while walking to class. Or while hitting the weights at the gym. Or when you’re doing your laundry. Or when cleaning your room. Or even while driving. It is so easy to just hit play and sink into that world of storytelling when it can be read to you.

CON: No physical book

This one is still a bummer to me. Obviously, with audiobooks, you don’t have to buy the physical copy of the book to have, and for Barnes and Noble girls like me this is devastating. I have piles of books at home that I bought at B&N and they all look so pretty. Nothing truly compares to the feeling of buying a new book and you just don’t get that feeling with an audiobook. This also applies to the feeling of flipping the physical pages as well. It’s just not there for audiobooks.

PRO: They can save you money

This goes with the last con. While buying books is wonderful, it’s expensive. Nowadays, a new book costs anywhere from $15 to an expensive $40 hardcover. This makes reading a very expensive hobby sometimes. Audiobooks are a little better. While new audiobooks do run about the same cost from places like Audible, you can get affordable or even free audiobooks all across the internet. Most classic books are on YouTube for free and just a little digging online can find you what you want for cheap. My favorite thing to do is get them from my local library. All you have to do is have a library card and log into an app called Libby and you can search and borrow from the library’s entire collection of audiobooks.

CON: Voices in your head

Now when I read, i always hear the voices in my head. This is where audiobooks can be a bit of a letdown in some ways. The narrator may be too animated, not animated enough or just not the right voice for the character. I struggle with this sometimes. It can really make or break the book. My advice: try to find a different version with someone else narrating (most classic books have dozens of versions).

PRO: Engaged in a new way

It’s kindergarten all over again. Circle up and turn your listening ears on. Listening to a story can open your mind up to vivid imagery and help you understand the content in new ways. I know what when I listened to a certain member read by the author, I understood and felt so much more than I would have if I had just read the book normally. It’s just a different experience.

Abigail Taber is a second-year writer for the St. Bonaventure chapter of Her Campus. She enjoys writing about culture, entertainment, and the happenings in her college life. Abigail is excited to shadow the editing team this year and to be a part of such a cool organization that centers around the work and interests of women. Beyond Her Campus, Abigail is the poetry editor for the literary magazine on campus, The Laurel, a member of College Democrats, and SBU for Equality. Abigail has had her creative writing published in both her high school's and university's literary magazines. She is currently a sophomore at St. Bonaventure University, double majoring in English as well as Literary Publishing and Editing. In her free time, Abigail, or Abbey to her friends, enjoys reading, listening to music, and looking at art for her next tattoo. She is a music trivia master and a known enjoyer of any, and all, romance books. She hopes to pursue a career in publishing books in a big city. Growing up in a small suburb of Buffalo, New York, Abbey hopes to embody the city-of-good-neighbors attitude.