By Piper Rutherford | Staff Writer
While some book lovers choose to remain in the past, audiobooks are the future of leisurely reading with a multitude of advantages.
Listening to an audiobook counts as reading a physical or “real” book. Audiobook listeners do not deserve the scrutiny from fellow avid readers about consuming a story with their ears, rather than their eyes.
Multi-tasking has become a part of daily life in the 21st century. Those who might not have the time to curl up with a good book can still indulge in the escape from reality through an audio version. As a result, audiobooks have the potential to enrich mundane tasks such as household chores, commutes or exercise.
Secondly, audiobooks relieve the burden of having to transport a physical book to and from destinations and do not take up any space. This means that anytime, anywhere, listeners can press the play button on their current literary obsession without having to worry if they packed it in their backpack.
As for how audiobooks benefit the environment, the paper trail that one book has is obsolete with a digital version. Physical books travel on delivery trucks from a paper manufacturing facility and either arrives at your front door or nearest bookstore.
Although some argue that audiobooks are still harmful to the environment, since they require electricity to charge and have a shorter lifespan, the America Forest and Paper Association found that it takes a whopping 8 trees to produce a meager 10,000 to 20,000 pounds of paper, in which it was further discovered that the U.S. only recycles 53% of this number.
Furthermore, audiobooks not only do less damage to the environment, but also to your wallet.
Take for instance the cost of two popular books right now, Colleen Hoover’s It Ends With Us and Rebecca Yarros’s Fourth Wing.
On Barnes & Noble’s website, a hardcover copy of Hoover’s book costs as much as $29, while paperback costs nearly $17. On the other hand, the eBook version on the website costs only $11 to purchase.
As for Yarros’s book, it’s the same story. While the hard copy costs $32 and the paperback costs $21, the eBook is $19.
For these titles that people invest their time and money in, audiobooks give readers more bang for their buck by narrating them online.
This is done with the help of narrators, who include accents for characters, change their inflection to keep readers engaged, input dramatic pauses to provide suspense and add humor to the pages.
Now, listening to a book can provide readers with a nostalgic experience, reminding them of a time when their parents would read stories at bedtime or during school by their elementary teachers after lunch.
Therefore, the next time you want to read a book, shut the hard copy, close your eyes, open your ears, press play and enjoy!
