Wednesday, May 20, 2026

Books vs. E-books vs. Audiobooks

I have several bookshelves full of books. Books, I've been collecting since my early teens. I honestly haven't added a single book in at least a year. And even then, it was probably something I found at the free library at a local bus stop, where you can take or swap books and other things, or leave books and other things you no longer want for other people to browse through. 


Why? Because I have a Kindle app on my phone. Had it for at least six or seven years. I had an actual physical Kindle before the app, so the app itself would be for like four years or so. But I've been reading e-books for about seven years. And then I found audiobooks. Those were something I was avoiding like the plague at first, for some reason. A reason I no longer remember. But, I have an office job (most days), and I'm the only one in the room (most days). And well, what am I supposed to do while working? So I listen to audiobooks while I work. If my colleague can listen to the radio, then I can listen to an audiobook. And the problem is that 99% of the books in my bookcase are in Czech. And all of my e-books and audiobooks are in English. So, obviously, I have duplicates. The question is, what should I do with the physical books that I also have as an e- or audiobook? I'm thinking of just offering them to my relatives because I'm honestly starting to think it's pointless to keep them if I have them on my pc and phone to listen to/read anytime.