a few thoughts on how I read //books & reading\\
the three main ways to read: physical book eBook audiobook
depending on the book, i choose different ways to read.
i prefer physical books but I have read dozens on my kindle (the same kindle I bought around 2013, was perfect when I was deployed in a ship. still holds a charge for a long time, works great). This year I'm (attempting to) replac/ing/e doomscrooling with deep reading. 30 mins/day, non-negotiable. It's worked out great so far.
non-fiction:
physical book preferred, but eBook will do. audiobook- most likely not.
most non-fiction books, i read not listen. if i am already interested enough to read the book then it's important enough to read slowly. I'm a busy dude (not unique there) and sitting down to read takes time. but I want to read to understand, to be bequeathed by some dope knowledge. otherwise, why read? reading slowly, usually with a notebook next to me, i find my mind constantly generates new ideas. if it's my copy and it's something I am studying (for instance, a book about writing "Consider This" by Chuck Palahniuk), I will take notes with a pencil in the margins.
-->note on audiobooks in non-fiction: i used to use audiobooks. but after spending 10 hours of total time listening i found i grasped little to none of the concepts from the book. but for some books, after reading it, I will listen to the audiobook to get a different perspective. I did this with "The Subtle Art of Not Giving a Fuck" by Mark Manson, and it was both a great read and great listen. But if the topic is dense, like Jungian psychology, hell naw to the audiobook. Might as well be listening to Russian (I am not a fluent Russian speaker).
fiction:
physical book preferred, eBook will do, audiobook-depends. If I am in a deep read, for instance I just read the Brothers Karamazov by Dostoevsky, i want the physical copy. I take pencil notes in the margins and in my notebook. any book i consider really good, profound, i treat them this way. but if it's a book that is engaging but not very deep nor philosophical, I use a hybrid method. --> hybrid method: check-out or buy a used copy (eBay used books is my go-to, 95% of the books I own are second-hand), and carry that with me at all times. if it's a large book (for instance, right now I am reading 11/22/63 by Stephen King, 800+ pages), then i will download an eBook copy and add to my kindle app. and lastly I download the audiobook. this allows me to chip away at it from multiple angles. it works great for me. audiobook is only primary for me if i have a long roadtrip and the story reads like a fast-paced show or movie, and the narrator is great or there is a dramatized cast. other than this case, audiobook is almost always the last case.