Last year, my Kindle stopped working after close to 15 years of service. I tried replacing the battery and some other tricks, but it was dead. Ever since, I have been wondering if I should buy a new Kindle or a small tablet and use the Kindle App for reading. This consideration is still ongoing nearly a year later, but that is a topic for another post.

I have been listening to audiobooks ever since my Kindle’s demise as an easy way of consuming content while I decide what device to buy for my reading. Listening to audiobooks has been quite nice while running or just walking around on my own. Specifically with the running, it makes it so much more bearable by distracting me from the thoughts about how many kilometres I have left.

Listening to audiobooks is a great way to consume books while doing something else. If you have a busy life and cannot regularly dedicate time specifically for reading, listening to audiobooks while doing something else is the next best thing. You can do it while driving, while commuting on the train, walking or working out. Most of the time it feels great and is very satisfying knowing that you are not wasting your time.

Recently, I got interested in a recommendation from a close friend of mine about the books of Erich Fromm. He was a psychologist, psychoanalyst, sociologist and philosopher who lived in the twentieth century. I decided it would be great to download a couple of his books and listen to them while I was running or walking. I ended up downloading Escape From Freedom and The Art of Being.
I started Escape From Freedom and set off on a run. I ended up running 5K that day, but about a third of the way in, I realised that I don’t remember a single word from what I just heard. At the time I was wondering, is it the narration that is not up to par or is it the content that requires my full attention?

Before listening to Fromm’s books, I had listened to books like The Phycology of Money by Morgan Housel, Building a Second Brain by Tiago Forte and Atomic Habits by James Clear among others in the same general field of self-help and self-improvement and never had this problem. I was able to consume the content while running and never felt like “What did I just listen to?”.

I thought about this and I think that there are books that simply cannot be listened to while you are doing something else. Fromm’s writing is one such example. It requires your undivided attention while consuming it. You have to be fully immersed in it and think about it really in depth. This, by definition, is not why most people turn to audiobooks as opposed to readable books. Most people listen to audiobooks because they do not have the time to read and listening allows them to consume the book while doing something else which automatically means that your attention is split between at least two things. You simply cannot give your full attention to Fromm’s audiobook while driving at the same time or while running and thinking about pathing and avoiding other pavement or road users. The only situation where I can see listening to one of Fromm’s books as a viable option while doing something else is if your entire philosophy behind listening to audiobooks is to use them as background white noise.
White noise could help to better concentrate on the main activity you are performing. I know a person who uses death metal music for the same purpose, so I can definitely see how some people could achieve the same effect and have the same use case when listening to audiobooks.

Listening to audiobooks can be boiled down to two use cases it seems. Actively consuming information while doing something else, and background white noise. Depending on your use case there are different types of books that are suitable.
How would you choose the books to listen to based on your use case?
Why, in my case, books like Building a Second Brain or Atomic Habits worked but not Escape From Freedom?
Both make you think. One about your own self, the other about humanity in general but also yourself as part of it.
Is it perhaps because I know myself very well and I do not need to dedicate that much mental capacity to understanding what the self-help books say and how this would apply to me while, on the flip side, with Fromm’s book discussing humanity in general, I have to also consider all other people in addition to myself and how what he says applies to everyone?
Perhaps.

Are audiobooks a worthy replacement for readable books then?
I would say that with how most people consume audiobooks while doing something else, probably not.
However, if you make the time to sit down and listen to an audiobook the same way you would read a book without doing anything else, then maybe. Or maybe not. Different parts of the brain are involved in reading and listening so perhaps both reading and listening are needed complementing each other?
I guess that is also a topic for another post.