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. 

I'm obviously not gonna get rid of the ones I only have the physical copy of, but anything else, I'm probably gonna get rid of. 

My first course of action will be to offer them to my relatives, and if they don't want them, I'm just gonna bring them to the bus stop library. For others to enjoy. 

But the question is, what is better? Physical books, e-books, or audiobooks? At this point, I'm leaning mostly towards audiobooks. But e-books are a close second. As for physical books, those are great for the titles that don't come in other versions. In my case, that is mostly true for my originally Czech books (and those are mostly fairytales). 

And why do I love audiobooks so much? Mostly because I can listen to them while doing something else. It lets me multitask. I can play a video game, and while doing so, I can listen to this book, which I absolutely need to know what happens next. Or, I can listen to an audiobook while drawing, which is a favorite hobby of mine. Sure, there are limitations on audiobooks, as not every book has a spoken version. And in that case, I try to look for an e-book version. Mostly because I'm from the Czech Republic and it's easier that way, as a lot of the books I read don't even have a Czech version and therefore are not available as a hard copy unless I order them from abroad. And in that case, an e-book is just cheaper and faster and does the job just as well. Also, I can have it on my phone, and I can read it on the go. For example, when I'm traveling on the bus or even when I'm waiting for someone or something. And, the most important thing, I don't have to lug around a huge book that weighs a ton. 

So yeah, while hard copies of books are nice and the feel of paper is also nice, I find it more convenient to just have e-book and audiobook versions instead. They are a lot easier to carry around and also, a lot of the time, cheaper. The only thing that sometimes annoys me (not enough to be a true negative) is when I know that a book has an audiobook version, but that thing is just not available in my country. I feel like when it's digital content, it should always be available worldwide. Same with all the things on the internet. It's the fucking internet! Don't restrict it based on a fucking country! People can't pick where they are born! So yeah, that's the only thing I grumble about.

Now, I would like to hear what you guys think. If you prefer paper copies or digital ones. Or if you are a hardcore audiobook fan and maybe don't use anything else? Share your thoughts in the comments, and I'll see you there, bye!

~AnnElfwind

Written on the 5th of July, 2022

P.S. I'm alive. And decided to post this thing I wrote four years ago. Heh.