Andrew Stewart’s Reviews > Crossroads > Status Update

You're on fire 🔥💜

Well i am alternating between reading it and listening to it. Although that doesn’t usually make things go faster for me. I often end up reading the parts I listened to anyway. There are nearly always things that didn’t register when I was listening. I have to be really absorbed to stay focussed with audiobooks The narrator is key. This is a good one so the rereading is more of a skim.

I use an app which reads books for me, so, it doesn't necessarily be an audiobook. It's great because most of my books are ebooks and I can listen to them while jogging, playing games, doing chores, etc., etc ... (actually, on most occasions when normal people listen to music, I listen to a book). Another good thing is that you can choose the voice, so, unlike audiobooks, if the narrator's voice gets on your nerves, or their tone of reading sounds more like a lullaby which puts you to sleep instead of intriguing you to continue, you can easily change the voice. The funny parts are when the narrator mispronounces the words or reads the word letter by letter when it is written in capital letters.
At first, it was a bit hard for me to focus on both tasks, but now I'm quite a seasoned listener 😜 though when there's a part that needs 101% concentration (😆), I usually listen to that part more than once (sometimes even several times to enjoy it heartily) and some other times (whenever possible) I look at the text while listening to it!

P.S. Internet Archive has this option as well

Oh, that’s interesting. I’ve never tried one of those apps. Text to speak has come a long way. Not long ago it would take a lot of endurance to listen to a full book read in a robotic monotone. AI TTS can be very convincing now. Not seamless like you say it will trip up sometimes but perfection probably isn’t too far off.
You have a better attention span than I do when you can play games or jog and still follow along. Audiobooks are no good for me if I’m on my bicycle or walking. I cant even send an email or do a small task online without hitting pause. I’m the guy that the walk and chew gum joke is aimed at. I listen while I’m working and thryre great or on trains.

Don't underestimate yourself Andy. I guess you just need some more time to get used to it 😉 Though I do not recommend sending a work email while listening to a romance, the result could be misleading 😂

By the way, try it on Internet Archive. My favorite voice is David's. His full name is "en-US Microsoft David" 😜