🎧 There have been so many discussion posts about audiobooks lately that I thought I could do a small post with the benefits of audiobooks and the types of tasks that can be habit stacked with an audiobook.

🎧 Language

An area not often discussed where audiobooks are an immense help is for anyone learning a new language. An audiobook can be used to listen to a story in a new language and you can slow down the speed to hear how words are pronounced as well as what the flow of the language is.

🎧 Critical Listening

Audiobooks are a great tool for critical listening. We constantly discuss critical thinking skills and how reading helps with that but with an audiobook our critical listening skills are being tested. Can you concentrate on the spoken word? What is the narrator or author saying to you? If you had to explain what you just listened to, to someone else, how would you do it in a different way than how it was just read out loud to you? Can you describe back a scene that just happened? Audiobooks help with vocabulary because they are reading but you get a bonus of listening, too!

Stress levels

Audiobooks are mood boosters. They can help to replace negative thinking. Listening to a story out loud can help you relax and quiet your own thoughts while you focus on a story. They can help with anxiety by having you concentrate on something else when your mind is too active to sit and read.

Habit stacking/ multitasking

Audiobooks can help you with multitasking and keeping up with new habits. Do you have trouble putting your phone down? Want to build a new habit where you use it less? Put on an audiobook and try your new habit alongside of it. When you stack multiple habits together you're more likely to do them and create a routine with them that way. You can do laundry, go on a walk, chores around your home, crochet, knit, the list is endless with what you can stack with listening.

Need help multitasking? We all know we can't do too many things at once but if you have a job that requires you to multitask, listening to an audiobook while you do something at home can help build up that confidence and skill for you. You can listen to a book and be immersed while you cook or do your data entry job. You just have to practice that muscle. Like anything else, the more you do it the better you get at it.

Do you remember the first time someone read to you? At home, at school? With family members? Our introduction to stories almost always starts with someone reading to us- that is the power of audiobooks. The first time we can think back to listening to a story being read to us and being captivated is closely related to the first time a book we read on our own transported us to a different world.

It's why audiobooks aren't cheating. How can the first way we were introduced to them when we didn't have the skill of reading be cheating? It's just a different road to get to the same destination. Carpooling if you will! 😉 There are so many more amazing benefits but I thought I could share a few less talked about ones for anyone wanting to get into audiobooks for the first time or having trouble getting into them. Hopefully this is the final push you needed.

Is there a way audiobooks have helped you? Do you have any stories about the first story you remember read to you? A way an audiobook helped your language skills?

My youngest is dyslexic and he hated reading and literacy in school until we got him into audiobooks. He's now reading on his own, even choosing chapter books, but he still enjoys audiobooks. The relief I felt when I knew he had a way to boost his confidence can't properly be described in writing by me. I searched all over the internet to find ways to help children with dyslexia and the resources were very limited but audiobooks kept popping up up everywhere I looked. He inspired even me to give them a go. 🎧

Scrolling through my tbr and debating if I start this read tomorrow. I really want a book that has spice 👀 wondering if this could fulfill my needs STAT

I'm really glad Hao brought up AI 'hallucinations' and I do wish more people knew about it. IMO it's one of the biggest problems with AI right now which is when AI basically makes up information and presents it as fact. It can so confidently spit out names, dates, citations, or entire explanations that just aren’t true, and unless you already know the subject, it’s hard to catch those mistakes. It's super dangerous, especially if people are relying on it for things like news, medical info, or research. It also has a major confirmation bias problem. It makes me really concerned about the future of it and the amount of people who just believe it. It happens a lot with the google AI overview answers and it's so easy for someone who is maybe not savvy to not realize what's happening.

BTW for anyone who doesn't know, when you google you can add '-AI' to the end of your google search and it will remove the AI overview!

I wait at least a day usually. 🙃 I need to let things settle in my brain.
Also, because I mainly read at night, I'm old (turned 39 recently lol), and only write reviews on my laptop.

Soooo, what’s everyone’s reading preference when they travel or go on vacation? Physical book, kindle/e-reader, or audiobook?

Personally, I’m a kindle girlie when I’m on vacation. As much as I love a physical book, sometimes they’re too bulky to pack, or I just don’t want to mess up my book lol

Since social media is being tracked and checked by the gov, I've been feeling extremely alone and like I can't interact with activists and people who are doing good in this world, as I'm scared that association with these people and promoting them to my following will get me or my family in trouble. We are scared that going through our social media at the time we apply for renewals of travel documents (which they said they will supposedly do) they will find a reason to block our renewals and separate us.

Pagebound feels like a safe heaven. I feel like I can freely interact with people, follow activists and discuss activism. My comments and interactions are safe, since you have to have an account to view posts on Pagebound. I just want to say that this has provided me with such needed outlet where I don't have to be scared. And I feel at peace knowing AI isn't scanning what I post, I feel at peace knowing bots and trolls aren't able to easily get into this space.... I just feel at peace here.

Thank you to Jennifer and Lucy for this space. I know it's technically just a book platform... but in the world where books are getting banned, where different people have a different ability to read based on their looks and family origins... reading is political. Hosting a reading platform like this is activism. And it's important.

For so many people it isn't easy to just go out and meet with like-minded people. We may live in a dangerous area. We may be disabled or battling chronic illness. We may be at risk in other ways.... So we meet in places like this.

For some of us this is our underground meeting room, our gay bar, our protest environment, our third space to recharge and be reminded of the good in this world.

I'm usually very quiet on here and I mostly find comfort in reading books by myself and then seeing what other people have to say on them, but I really felt like this was important for me to share.

I am so thankful to the founders, and to you all. Just know, I really care about your posts. I care to read your unfiltered or jumbled thoughts. Actually, they sometimes make my day. I love seeing spelling mistakes because it's another proof things were written by humans, humans who speak different languages and are just trying to conmect. I want to see your favorite quotes, and I want to see that you're salty about this thing or another when it comes to a book... This all matters to me, it matters to this platform. Don't think what you have to say isn't important. I'm not trying to sound "inspirational" or cheesy, I'm really just speaking from the heart.

Back to my books I go. Love you all 💚

So I did this last week and I might have tested out my cocktail for later tonight early…. Tell me a fun fact (about you, about a movie, about a bug, about a place, idc) and I’ll follow! Time to learn something new and meet some new friends, boundlings!🙂‍↕️✨

Alright everyone… you know the drill! What’s a complaint you have this week? (No matter how big, small, crazy, simple, silly, dramatic, etc). GET IT ALL OUT THERE🙂‍↕️

Alright everyone… you know the drill! What’s a complaint you have this week? (No matter how big, small, crazy, simple, silly, dramatic, etc). GET IT ALL OUT THERE🙂‍↕️