Physical Books VS Audiobooks VS E-Books! | 2 To Ramble #58

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Timestamps:
0:00 - Intro
3:12 - Audiobooks
16:10 - Adaptations
18:45 - E-Books
20:40 - Paperback
23:55 - Indie Authors & Sending Books
27:35 - Reading Fatigue
28:30 - One moment...
28:45 - Message

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[ShelfCentered]

Thank you so much for having me on the channel guys. This was an absolute blast and I'm just glad I now have an excuse to make you have me on again!

[alynam]

Thank you Bryce for shining light back onto the Mass Market paperback!! They're a dying breed, and I'm pissed about it. They're easy to carry, they're easy to hold, and they're cheap when brand new. Trade Paperback do NOT need to be $17.00 -- especially for a book under 400 pages.

Okay, there's MY ramble.... back to the podcast 😁

[jimwilcken]

My biggest favorite for E-Books is that I don't have to haul around a giant book (see Stormlight). I love being able to pull my phone out on my lunch break read a chapter and move on.

[curtis]

You guys never discussed the 4th option, which is reading a paperback with the light of an ebook while listening to the audiobook with headphones. It's truly the superior reading experience.

[PistachioGold]

If I like a book and fhe narration is good, 1.7 speed.
If the book is boring, and Injust want to finish it, 2.0 and beyond 😂😂😂

Also Richard not having a clicker for his ereader 😂 bro pls I hope he got it in the past year.

[rjmoore]

Great ep! No worries on the file corruption that stuff happens man . We need Bryce on again!

[benmorgan]

I'm with Austin - trade paperback is king!

[chelseadarouse]

I’m surprised, given Austin’s love of Red Rising, that he’s never listened to the audiobooks because they are FANTASTIC. The narrator, Tim Gerard Reynolds is a perfect Darrow and has great delivery.

[theblackberseker]

The best part of ebooks is being able to search words. If they say something that I don’t remember like a name, I can search that name and look back at when they said that and even search previous books really quickly if I don’t recall what they are talking about

[WraithGamingonYT]

I swear i connected to Richard on emotional level when he was talking about Ebooks in bed! 😂

[erinjackobssss]

I had to listen to audiobooks to stay awake at a teenage job super early in the morning, eventually I had to up the speed more and more to stay awake until 2x was standard for me. Now I’m 10 years on and sit at 2-3x speed depending on the complexity of the prose/book. The higher voice or weird inflection is an issue that went away for me quickly and now I’m just happy at how much more I get to read. It makes monotonous tasks something I look forward to lol

[knotslip]

Hey guys, I'm a new subscriber here and I love your videos....This comment may not sit well with some but it needs to be said. As far as reading a book goes, whether physical or digital, if you are scanning the text with your eyes and reading the text then you are reading. If you are listening to an audiobook or someone else reading it to you, then you are listening to someone else read the book to you...I find that all pretty simple. If you're 10 years old and your Mom or Dad reads you The Hobbit, then they have read the book and you have listened to it. Just like if you ride in a car or on a bus from TN to CA, you have NOT driven that route, you rode with someone that drove it. I know lots of people, booktubers especially, want to claim to have read 50 books in a month and can only accomplish that if they listen to some or most of them - which I am fine with - but I feel you should clarify by saying I read 15 books and I listened to 20 audiobooks. I realize they are more convenient and thats fine but it IS NOT READING it is listening. I prefer trade paperbacks but will read any physical media. I dont care for digital - I stare at a computer screen all day so I dont want to stare at another screen to read my books. I am listening to the audiobook for The Wandering Inn because there is no print. LISTENING to an audiobook is NOT reading, it is listening - the person that did the reading on the recording read the book (to you). Done. 😀

[DavidDecero]

Aw man. That's happened to me before with interview footage. It's the worst. What I learned is that It's always a good idea to have the person on the other end also hit record from their side as a back up. That being said, this was a fun discussion to watch. 👍

[ixpointive]

To Richard's point about picking up books because movies suck I can attest to that. I am a HUGE movie fan, always have been, always will be, but fuck bud fantasy/blockbuster movies today just aren't doing it for me anymore. So through stumbling onto booktube I slowly started picking up more modern fantasy and I'm hooked. Discworld, Cosmere, Bloodsworn saga, Green Bone Saga, like holy shit man, we are in a renaissance of cinematic fantasy books. I'm honestly baffled why hollywood writers and producers keep fucking up the adaptations, considering the narrative work is already done for them - heck even visual work is right there on the page, legit just have to copy that.
I'd love to have lunch with a writer who's adapted fantasy in the last decade and find out what happened: was it them, the studio, the budgets, the investors, the schedules, what went wrong?

[alynam]

Sorry that got cut off on ya's. Good episode nonetheless. Thanks for making a Monday morning enjoyable

[choblastr]

In my opinion and observation
1. Physical book : The most satisfying way to read a book, the smell of a book, the feel of the pages. This kinda depends on your preference but for me the feel of a full sized hardcover isn't surpassed by anything else, esp with a nice leather or fabric cover.

2. E-book : Easiest and honestly probably best way to truly "READ". Not the most aesthetic maybe. Lacks the feel of a book. And also depends on what you're using to read the ebook, as a good ereader is a whole different experience than a phone or even tablet which will both strain your eyes an incredible amount. While an ereader reads like paper.

So why easiest and "best" way to read? Let me explain. An ereader/ebook experience is fully customizable. Are you dyslexic? Use a font that helps dyslexic readers. Do you have a favorite font? Use that with every book! Do you like your font to be bigger, smaller, bolder, whatever? That's all up to you.

More importantly, you don't recognize some obscure word? You never heard of expectorate? Long press the word and get a definition, a wiki, and a google search if you want without having to pick up your phone or whatever and get distracted. You will be surprised how often when you thought you understood what a word was due to context, you were actually completely wrong lol.

Forgot a character? Highlight their name and search through the book (or other books/annotations etc!). Or just annotate / highlight characters, their appearances, write a note about their importance. Never forget characters and get confused no matter how large a cast of your 15 book fantasy series.

Want to read in bed in pitch black darkness, no need for a night light or whatever that might keep you from sleep or your partner. Instead set the ereader screen to 1% and read in total darkness with no eye strain, a red light filter on top .. etc.

3. Audiobook : I'm gonna hurt some feelings with this one lol... I love that audiobooks exist, they are wonderful way to experience a story, if they have a good voice cast etc that's even more incredible. But ... let's be frank, they are story time. You're not reading. You're listening. Those are two completely different things and skills. I don't get why this upsets so many people. It's fine if you prefer audiobooks and only do audiobooks. But you're just not actually reading. You're not getting actual time with the text. You're not expanding your vocabulary. You're missing all the details unless it's a very straightforward and simple story or you have an insanely keep ear. But let's be honest, it's not like most of you sit down for a audiobook like it's a movie. You do stuff while also listening to the book .. which makes it even less likely that you're going to be able to pay attention and get every detail.

Audio books are a great way to experience books in a far less critical and engaged way. But it's not the same as reading, period. And it's not elitist or snobbish to say that.

[BosuDX]

Audiobooks are my main means of listening. I personally find I retain the information better as an audiobook actually. With conventional books I find myself rereading lines more.

[maceparks]

I read the last page of every book I read 🤣 I've never cared much for being spoiler free.

[CurlyHoward]

Ebooks for me. I'm old and I enjoy making the text larger

[KentuckyObjectivist]

Damn. This was such a fun conversation to listen to. Ah well. Shit happens.

Anyway: I love old school Mass-Market Paperbacks. I collect them. But I know that they're mostly valuable to me because of nostalgia. Hardcovers are great for collecting and look good on a shelf. I have to agree that Trade Paperbacks are the superior book, though. The perfect balance of practicality and visual appeal. They aren't always quite as pretty as a hardcover, but they still can be pretty nice on a shelf. And you don't have to treat them with kid gloves like hardcover.