2024.03.10 2026.06.18

Monthly review, creative goals, and miscellaneous notes (other)

Why Audible reduced my pile of unread books! My experience of improving reading efficiency with a dual approach of reading and listening.

Pochi

This article may contain product promotions.

good morning!

Before I knew it, my bookshelves were overflowing with unread books... "I want to read them, but I just can't seem to make any progress." I've been living with that same frustration for a long time.

But then one day, I suddenly realized something. "If you use 'listening' in addition to reading, wouldn't that reduce the amount of unread books you have?"

I tried Audible with some skepticism, but it completely changed my reading style. The barrier to starting a book became lower, spare time turned into reading time, and before I knew it, my pile of unread books was disappearing...

This time, I'm going to talk about my“"Reading x Listening" Hybrid ReadingI'll share my experience with Audible. I'd like to try audiobook.jp in the future, so this article will cover both services collectively. "Audio" "Listening to Books" That's what we call it.

This book is a must-read for anyone who wants to enjoy reading more or reduce their pile of unread books.

Here's the Audible link!

Go to the official website

Contents

Why I, someone who dislikes listening, tried Audible
The combination of physical books and audiobooks was the best.
1. Benefits of using Audible in conjunction with other audiobooks
2. Audible's disadvantages and solutions
The effects of Audible as I discovered through actual use

Why I, someone who dislikes listening, tried Audible

The truth is, I'm terrible at "listening" to other people. Even during conversations, I often misunderstand things, or the information just doesn't register... For someone like me,“"Listening to books" is absolutely impossible.I had always believed that.

Even when I saw ads for them, I'd just ignore them, thinking, "I probably won't stick with it, and I won't understand it anyway." In fact, you could say I was deliberately avoiding them.

But then one day, I suddenly realized something.

"Isn't the reason your pile of unread books doesn't shrink because the hurdle to actually starting to read is too high?" "If that's the case, then 'listening while reading' could be a good way to get rid of my pile of unread books, couldn't it?"

Having a pile of unread books means you already have books you want to read. In that case, using audiobooks to help you get started might make reading even smoother.

With that thought in mind, I decided to take the plunge and sign up for Audible's free trial. "Can I really do this, even though I'm not good at listening?" With a mixture of doubt and curiosity, I decided to try listening to books.

The combination of physical books and audiobooks was the best.

Listening to an audiobook while holding a physical book open...

this“The combination of reading and listening is a surprisingly good match.That's it.

By following the text with your eyes while also receiving the story with your ears, This creates a unique reading experience that is both passive and active, easy yet easy to understand.

From here, I will summarize the advantages and disadvantages I experienced while actually using it.

Benefits of using Audible in conjunction with other audiobooks

The convenience of being able to listen from where you left off in the app.

Audiobooks can be played simply by opening the app, which significantly lowers the barrier to reading.

Moreover,Automatically resumes from where it left off last time.Because it does that for you, you never have to wonder, "Where did I leave off?"

It's also convenient that you can quickly rewind 30 seconds if you miss something.

A reading guide that shifts from passive to active to make the beginning of reading smoother.

Doesn't it take some time to get immersed in the story when you first start reading?

In such situations, simply "listening while reading" the first few pages will allow you to... It makes it much easier to immerse yourself in the world of the story.

This method significantly lowered the barrier to starting to read.

My pile of unread books is shrinking rapidly! An efficient reading cycle

The most surprising thing about incorporating audiobooks into my life was,My pile of unread books is shrinking rapidly.thingThat's it.

By reading physical books while simultaneously listening to audiobooks, I've suddenly been able to put to good use books that I'd previously bought but never used.

The reading cycle I practice is very simple.

When you have a book open → Listen at double speed
Use your spare time to listen slowly at 1x speed or slower.

Simply by maintaining this rhythm, my reading volume naturally increased. The "short listening sessions" during spare moments were particularly effective, and it wasn't uncommon for me to finish a book before I even realized it.

What's even better is that most recent books have been converted to audio. Many of my unread books can now be used as "listenable books," The speed at which your pile of unread books decreases will be dramatically faster.That's right.

Of course, there are still some books that haven't been made into audiobooks yet, but stillJust knowing that "there are more books I can read" has significantly lowered the barrier to reading.

Reading becomes even more enjoyable when your favorite voice actor reads aloud.

One of the appeals of audiobooks is,Reading by a voice professionalThat's right. Not only is it easy to understand, but the voice itself is soothing, and it really deepens the worldview of the work.

Reading aloud isn't just about reading in a monotonous way.

Depending on the narrator, they may express the characters' emotions with subtlety or use a slightly unique reading style, which can sometimes make you chuckle.

And what makes me happiest is,You can search by the voice actor's name.This means you can find works narrated by your favorite voice actor and enjoy a new way of reading: "enjoying reading with the voice actor's voice."

Being able to read a book in my favorite voice is the ultimate luxury.

It was a moment that made me love reading even more.

Hybrid reading system that makes it easy to take sticky notes and memos.

One of the weaknesses of listening to books is,"I can't stick sticky notes on it," "It's difficult to take notes."That's the point. That was my biggest hurdle at first too.

But listening while opening a physical book...“Hybrid Reading”Switching to this solved the problem instantly.

I'm listening to the audio while following the text with my eyes, You can quickly check anything that interests you, and you can still fully understand the content even at double speed.

If something catches your attention, you can pause the audio and calmly add sticky notes or write memos. In fact, it can sometimes be a more efficient way to work than reading a physical book alone.

The interesting thing about this hybrid reading method is that the weakness of "listening to books—you can't put sticky notes on them"—turns into a strength when combined with a physical book.

The flexibility to reread at your own pace

A common disadvantage of listening to books is, "I can't read at my own pace," "It's difficult to go back and reread sections."That's the point.

It's true that with a physical book, you can quickly go back to a page you're interested in, but with audio, rewinding can sometimes feel cumbersome.

but,Using both physical books and audiobooks will largely solve this problem.。

If there's anything you're concerned about, Just pause the audio and quickly go back to the previous page.。

Just like with regular reading, you can quickly refer back to any section you want to check.

Rather, because I'm following the content with both my ears and eyes, it's clear which parts I want to reread. Reduces the stress of having to read back.I also felt that this was a benefit.

You can turn your spare time into reading time.

The appeal of audiobooks is,You can start reading the moment you feel like it.The app allows you to start playback immediately, so even short bursts of free time can be transformed into reading time.

for example,

A few minutes while waiting for a friend
The time spent being rocked by the train
When doing housework

These moments of "time passing by without much thought" can, before you know it, give you the strength to finish reading a book.

It's especially well-suited for household chores.And often, I find myself saying, "I was folding the laundry and before I knew it, a whole chapter was over."

Even on busy days, you can make progress with your reading by simply accumulating small pockets of free time. I felt this was a major strength of listening to books.

You can make progress with your reading without having to carry heavy books around.

While paperback books are manageable, hardcover books are truly heavy, aren't they? Putting them in a bag makes your shoulders ache, and the hassle of carrying them around makes reading difficult... I think everyone has had that experience.

But with audiobooks, that problem is solved in an instant. With just a smartphone, you can read anywhere.That's right.

"I forgot to bring a book today..." Even on days like that, you can start reading just by taking out your smartphone and pressing the play button.

The weightless design and the peace of mind of being able to enter the world of books anytime, anywhere—this is one of the reasons why you'll want to keep using audiobooks.

Audible's disadvantages and solutions

The problem of difficulty in listening while doing other things, and how to solve it by adjusting the playback speed.

A common weakness of listening to books is,「It's difficult to listen to while doing other things.」That's the point. I had the same problem at first, but I was actually able to solve it almost entirely by "adjusting the speed."

The method I use is very simple.

When you have a book open → Listen at double speed
When just listening → at 1x speed or slower.

Audiobooks are inherently read aloud slowly, so for short periods, you can easily follow the content even at speeds slower than 1x.

I found that listening for short periods of time was particularly effective, as the content naturally sinks in even when I don't have a book open. As a result, I was able to make much better use of my spare time, and my reading volume increased significantly.

Even if you're not good at listening while doing other things,Simply changing the playback speed significantly increases the amount of time you can listen.This is one of the main reasons why I was able to continue listening to books.

Sometimes the character's voice can sound unnatural.

When listening to audiobooks, occasionally"Wait, is that the voice of this character...?"I sometimes feel a sense of unease about that.

What surprised me the most was Professor Snape from the Harry Potter series. My image of him from the movies was so strong that the moment I heard his voice reading, I was taken aback and thought, "Huh, is that what he's like...?"

Of course, the reading itself is very careful, and the work as a whole is perfect.

That's why the only thing that bothered me a little was the characters' voices, which is a shame.

However,This is a new discovery in itself.But that's also why I want to say, "If you're curious, you should definitely give it a listen!" (laughs)

A poorly organized table of contents makes it difficult to synchronize the book and audio.

One unexpected problem when using both physical books and audiobooks is「It's hard to find where you are in the reading list.」That's the problem.

If you want to listen to an audio recording of the part you're reading, you first need to find the relevant chapter in the table of contents. However, this can be quite difficult if the chapter divisions are not very clear.

I often find myself wondering, "Where does this chapter begin and end...?"

Here are the measures I'm currently taking.

Read through each chapter completely.
“Search by "audio → book" rather than "book → audio".

Reading chapter by chapter significantly reduces the effort required to find the relevant section. Also, checking the chapter markers in the audio before opening the book often makes it easier to find the correct part.

Ideally, it would be most helpful if the page count was displayed, but I imagine that's difficult due to variations in paperback editions and other factors.

Even so, with a little ingenuity, the stress of alignment was significantly reduced.

Do you think the price is high? We recommend trying the free trial to decide.

「I just want to read books, but 1,500 yen a month is a bit expensive...I think many people feel that way. In fact, I felt the same way at first.

That's why, first of all,Try the free trial.I recommend doing that. Audible offers a free trial period of about a month, so you can try out how much you can read during that time to make it easier to decide if it's right for you.

During the free trial,

How many books did you listen to?
Does it fit my lifestyle?
Do you think your reading habit will continue?

Checking these points will make it easier to see the value.

In my case, after actually using it "Hey, this is surprisingly cheap, isn't it?" That's the conclusion I came to.

For example, if you listen to 10 books, that's 150 yen per book. When you think of it as "with audiobook" for just 150 yen more than a physical book, I actually felt it was quite cost-effective.

I had the experience of discovering that something I thought was expensive was actually a great deal after trying it out. I was able to have that kind of experience thanks to the free trial.

The effects of Audible as I discovered through actual use

My experience using Audible was: The advantages far outweigh the disadvantages.That was the situation.

What I've been continuing is,

Spare time → Listen slowly at 1x speed or slower.
When you have a book open → Listen to it all at double speed

It's such a simple way to differentiate between reading and reading. Just doing this helped me reduce my pile of unread books and naturally established a reading rhythm.

As the pile of unread books decreases, you start to feel excited about "what book should I read next?", and the hurdle to buying books actually lowers, which is a welcome change.

I still have a lot of books piled up to read, but I feel that the fact that I've come to think of even those as something I "look forward to reading!" is all thanks to incorporating audiobooks into my reading routine.