Ramblings of a Reader: Audiobooks vs Physical Copies

The post in which I talk about audiobooks, being a new mom and how that makes reading a bit more difficult to do... {also, if you read to the end, you will also get to see a cute baby! Yay for cute babies!}

I'd say about a year ago, if you told me I should listen to an audiobook, I would laugh and ask why. I had all the time in the world {figuratively speaking - I still worked full time and was a wife full time} to sit and read my books. I could stay up until 2AM reading and it wasn't a problem. I'd just make sure I wasn't working the next day {or was working a late shift} and sleep in until 9AM or so. I could read while my husband watched his favorite TV shows. Yes, it took me longer than your average book blogger to read a book, but I was okay with that {I still am okay with that}.

However, now I have added being a full time mom to the top of that list {okay, it's kind of neck-in-neck with being a full time wife *winks*. Kind of need one to have the other in my house!}. It took me about 9 weeks just to finish half of Kiki Hamilton's The Torn Wing {and I still haven't written a review on it because my thoughts were so scattered for that first half}. I have insomnia to begin with, and having a baby basically just made sleep a thing of the past, which make you think I should get more reading done, right? Nope. It's really hard to get my eyes and brain to focus on something for any duration when I'm so bone tired, and the sleep deprivation didn't really get any better until my little guy was a few months old. And by then I was back to working 30-35 hours a week {I was actually back to that a couple days after he celebrated 6 weeks outside the womb}, so reading was something I only ever did on lunch breaks. But, now I'm getting anywhere between 6-8 hours of broken sleep at night, which seems like heaven! However, I'm up doing stuff with my little man every day {being a mom is a freaking awesome full time job!}... Enter the audiobook!

My husband gave me money to get a book I've been dying to read shortly after Little D was born, and I was so thrilled and excited to finally get my hands on it: Insurgent by Veronica Roth! What a sweet husband I have! I was so excited, then shortly saddened to realize I really just did not have any time to sit and read this amazing book that I'd been looking forward to for months. I was so exhausted from taking care of Little D all day, that by the time he went to bed at night I could hardly keep my eyes open, much less read a book {my only time to really relax at that point in time}. So I was talking to my sister-in-law and fellow book nerd {and mom of two adorable girls under 3 years old}, and she said, "Kari, you really should try audiobooks!" I told her it would be kind of nice, but I didn't have the extra cash for a subscription to Audible and to pay the extra for book on top of that. And, can I just say my SIL is a genius? She suggested borrowing them from my local library! Um, wow. I am obviously a new mom as I didn't even think of that and I LOVE my library! I've been going a little crazy with listening to books {don't worry, I've been able to actually sit and read a few too}. I listened to Insurgent {Brilliant book, with a great reader!}, I've also listened to Tiger Lily by Jodi Lynn Anderson, Austenland by Shannon Hale {I actually read and listened to this one: reading when I could, and picking up on audio when I couldn't}, and am currently almost finished with The Maze Runner by James Dashner.

Okay, now for the comparisons...

1} I can read faster than those reading the audiobook, so if I have the time, its faster for me to actually sit and read it.

2} Reading it really does help me get sucked into the world the author has created compared to listening to it. There are no distractions, just me and my book.

3} I can do almost anything while listening to an audiobook. I can play with Little D, drive, cook, clean, write a blog post {okay, that last one ends up coming out weird when I do it}... Just about anything. Which, for a mom {new or not} is awesome. If you don't have kids, you'll understand this someday. If you do have kids, you're probably nodding you head while reading this.

4} In the reading world, I don't think eBooks or audiobooks can really compare to how awesome it is to just sit and hold a book that is the home to some wonderful world, a wonderful story. Nothing can beat the weight of a good hardcover, turning the pages and reading about some fabulous characters.

And, for those of you who put up with and read this entire post, here are the promised pictures!