Reasons Audio Books Are an Awesome Addition to Your Literary Choices July 28, 2015Featured, My LifeOff

Even for the traditional bibliophile, it is hard to deny the many merits of audio books. This reading option can be a wonderful addition to your literary choices, and e-reading devices and applications like the Nook app for audio books, makes it easier than ever to utilize this handy tool for reading. You may have already recognized the audio books are good for long road trips, or for those who have trouble reading print, but the value of this tool has many facets; below are some of the great reason why you should consider downloading the Nook app for audio books to your PC or mobile device and expand your reading options.

Space and Mobility
If you are an avid reader or simply a student who regularly lugs around a bag full of books, then you know that traditional books are heavy. It takes about three 3-by-6 foot five shelf bookcases to hold a collection of 500 books – that’s a lot of wall space! For an avid reader, such a high number is easy to accumulate. On top of finding space to store all of those books, they also need to be dusted from time to time and if you move, they have to be packed up and toted around. Then there’s the issue of mobility. When you travel by plane or train, you are limited to how much carry-on luggage space you have, so you can probably only bring one book and maybe a magazine.
Standard audio books are, themselves, much lighter and take up less storage space than traditional books-just like DVD’s take up less space than VHS tapes. But, if you want to optimum amount of storage space and mobility, consider using an app for audio books. You can easily download hundreds of your favorite audio books to your Nook eReader or other favorite mobile device, like a smart phone, iPad or even a laptop. Since you bring your mobile devices with you when you travel and as you go through your daily activities, adding a few books won’t add any extra weight.

Time for Reading
Do you make excuses not to read: like telling yourself that you just don’t have the time? Well, the combination of Nook technology and audio books makes it easy to find time to read. The average audio book disc has about 70 minutes of listening time and covers approximately 40 pages of text, so you listen to about 35 pages an hour when listening to an audio book, according to LibaryThing.com. If the average reader can read 1 page a minute of print, that translates to about 60 pages an hour—but most people can’t keep up that pace for too long as their eyes get tired. Your ears, however, do not get tired of listening. Also, some audio books allow you to adjust the rate of the reading speed so you can increase how many pages you cover in an hour. In addition, even if you do digest fewer pages when listening to an audio book, the odds are that you can find more occasions in which you are able to listen to a book rather than looking at a print copy—for example, when you are driving to and from work each day—meaning you will be able to read more books over time.

Accessibility
There are many people who have trouble reading print books. For example, print is completely inaccessible to the blind and difficult for many legally blind people to navigate. Reading print books is also difficult for people who struggle with dyslexia, notes Yale University. Audio books can help make books more accessible for people with disabilities.

Great for Kids
Audio books are excellent for kids, explains Scholastic.com. If you’re a parent who does nightly bedtime stories, you know kids love listening to books being read-especially if the reader does each character in a different voice-the stories really come to life when they are read aloud, which helps kids getting excited about reading. Audio books are fun and make it easier for young minds to navigate more difficult reading materials. They can also help students who are having trouble reading print, learn materials for school without a stigma about their lack of reading skills. And, Scholastic suggests, if you combine listening to an audio books with looking at a print copy, it can help a child navigate reading phonetically and create associations between how words look and how they sound; making audio books a helpful learning tool. Many of the Nook audio books that are available for kids even include brightly colored images and interactive games to improve reading comprehension. 

Audio books will never fully replace printed books, but they do have many excellent attributes that make them a worthwhile addition to your reading tools. Audio books can open up more time for reading as they are easier to store and carry-especially when using an app for audio books, like the one from Nook. Audio books are also more accessible to disabled readers who may have a hard time reading print texts, allowing them access to more books overall. Audio books are also an excellent educational tool for children as they are fun and engaging and can help spark a child’s interest in reading.

Photo by Kazoka | Shutterstock

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