Maybe things will now improve, and my pathetic score of reading books on Kindle will improve with it. Yes, I am still one of those prehistoric animals with voracious reading habits. But my comfort level with digital (Kindle- Playbook or KoBo) and audio listening platforms (Audible) is limited or uncomfortable. I proudly claim that I can, at max, read 2-3 A4 pages of a contract or a proposal on screen, and beyond that, I must download to read. What has been your experience? I would love to know.
I am still a book reader who prefers the charm and joy of flipping through the pages of an engaging book while enjoying a cup of my favourite drink- tea. The added advantage is bright sunshine, sitting on the balcony or a terrace and immersing myself in the books recommended by friends or referred by the authors of the books I may have read. Two people I trust entirely on their book recommendations are Suman Srivastava and Sabu Paul.
Trapped in subscription.
On the other side, I have a membership of Audible and Unlimited Kindle, which I must have signed sometime under the impression that it would further help my book reading or help me use time better. Nothing like that happened. Instead, I went through the painful ( yet required) process of monthly recurring payment setup on a credit card!
At times, I wanted to cancel the membership, but then a simple maths told me that listening to or reading at least six books on them would pay for the membership. The economics of membership made sense. I added listening and reading 6 books to my checklist three months back. I desperately want to reach that figure before the end of the year and get back to my year-end article on recommendations for books to read. Something that I used to do regularly till 2018.
Unfortunately, I have disappointed myself. The aura of self-discipline I had built around me was broken. I am still working on books to read on Kindle, though I have managed to listen to a few on Audible. The audible score is much better than Kindle, primarily because of the time I have travelled alone.
Audible Experience.
I enjoyed listening to ‘The Mystery of Hanuman Neem Karoli Baba’ by Sripad Jagannathan Dasa, ‘Ghost of the Silent Hills’ by Anita Krishnan, ‘Night Train at Deoli’ by Ruskin Bond, ‘Jannat aur anya Kahaniyan’ by Kushwant Singh, ‘Ravan’ (sounded so good on Audible) and ‘war of Lanka’ by Amish Tripathi, ‘The Girl in room 105’ by Chetan Bhagat ( yes I did listen to it), ‘Mafia Queens of Mumbai’ by Jane Borges and S Hussain Zaidi (Recommended) and ‘An Indian Spy in Pakistan’ by Mohanlal Bhaskar. Stories were so easy on the ear. And as I look back and try listing, I find a decent score of books on Audible.
On the other hand, books like ‘The Buddha Said’ by Osho and a few others, ‘Life’s Amazing Secrets’ by Gaur Gopal Das, and ‘The subtle art of not giving a F*ck’ by Mark Manson were thought-provoking, and Audible did add to the impact.
Audible also introduced me to a wonderful author Maurice Leblanc- I read ‘An Extraordinary Adventure of Arsene Lupin’.
A brilliant book I never knew about was ‘Erotic Stories for Punjabi Widows’ by Balli Kaur Jaswal; it sounds corny- but if you are on Audible- listen to it.
There were very few disasters in choice, far fewer than in the physical books I picked. Because audio takes that additional effort, and the choices get filtered if they do. However, I did listen to my disaster ‘Bad Mommas’
I found audible better to listen to audio dramas and series like ‘Nut Jobs’, ‘Days that changed the World’, ‘Meri Priya Kahaniyan’ by Amrita Pritam’, ‘My Dad the Spy’, ‘Hijacked Histories’, ‘Kissa Khwabo ka‘ ‘Dil Local’, ‘Diary’, ‘Kaali Awaazein’, ‘True North Heist’, ‘Comedy Club’, ‘Alien: out of the shadow’, ‘The Butterfly effect’. They were well-produced and a pleasure to listen to. And I still claim I am not a podcast listener.
‘Atomic Habits’ by James Clear was downloaded but read in physical form. After that, I started following him on social media and signed up for his very useful Thursday Thoughts. ‘The Power of Subconscious Mind’ by Joseph Murphy was a delight. I am on ‘Don’t Believe Everything You Think’ by Joseph Nguyen- which is challenging to listen to. And some 13 books bought on Audible Credit and downloaded wait their turn.
Frankly, that makes me think. Some books are better heard than read, and some should never be heard but read. What do you think?
Speed Control- does not work with me.
Sometime back, I was introduced to speed control on audible. I tried listening at 1.5x, but truthfully, anything beyond 1.2X was a waste and negatively impacted the experience. It also marred the efforts that the voice-over artist and the team have put in while recording the book with all the strategically chosen pauses, tonality and, at times, special effects. Books on Audible must be heard at the speed they have been recorded, and that means that I was in for a long period of listening. whereas, I would have completed reading it in 3-4 hours.
Kindle somehow suffered. Whenever I accessed it on a laptop or mobile, there were enough distractions to ensure I was not fully immersed in the experience.
Past Kindle Experience.
In the past, I read a few books on Kindle. These were primarily books by my friends and people I know on social media. Books like ‘Seven Interludes’ by G. Podington (a class act on twisted tales). ‘MHADEI’ by Lynn de Souza. ‘A Scifi Sixpack’ and ‘A Scifi Fourtaler’ by Dilip Thosar’ (Interested in science fiction- try it out). ‘Maa Narmada Parikarma’ by Srinivas Shastri. A lovely book- I enjoyed reading- ‘Here Today Here Tomorrow’ by friends in my Insighter group ( a definite read based on future situations post-COVID). ‘Dog Tails’ by Radha Thomas ( recommend pet lover to read). Books, I was in a hurry to read these books.
Then there were books I may have never ordered to read but read on Kindle- like ‘A Chapter out of My Life’ by Salil Agarwal, somewhat similar to my books, ‘Life Reloaded’ and ‘Reflections’ which are true life stories that impacted the authors on their thinking and approach to Life!.
Then, there are books I have downloaded. Books like ‘The Surpassing Power of Liberating Structures’ and ‘Trust, Belief, Influence and Rapport’ feature in my download libraries on Kindle. There is a long list of books on Audible waiting to be opened. In Audible, I earn ONE credit every month. Maybe that and their emails make me download a book so that credits don’t go to waste.
Things Set To Change!
Things may change a bit. On my 60th birthday, my son and daughter gifted me the Kindle White device. They are unaware of my choice and difficulty with digital on-screen reading. That was based on their understanding of my reading habit. They were just trying to help me in the way the digital native could. Now that I have been gifted a Kindle, I better reflect their choice in my reading. So, Kindle, here I come. Next year, it could be Kindle, Kindle, Kindle all the way.
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