Why You Should "Read" a Book (Instead of Listen to One)

I'll be honest, my audio skills aren't that great.

If I want to learn something, I'll need to see it in print to fully consider and understand the subject. This is the exact opposite of some of my siblings who thrive on audio, can quote most of the lyrics of a song when I only catch the chorus, and spout the specifics from a podcast while I am just able to tell you the gist of it.

We simply have a different way of learning.

That being said, I would rather enjoy a book by reading it myself rather than having someone read it aloud or listen via digitally as my brother is fond of. I don't feel I'm being fully immersed when I cannot travel over the story, processing the information, the plot, and the emotions within the book, at my own pace.

Aside from my learning bias, I have some reasons why you should read rather than listen to books as well!

This isn't one of those hills-I-die-on sort of issues (trust me, I have plenty of those), and I'll readily agree that nothing alleviates the tediousness of a chore or commute than by occupying yourself with an entertaining or informational audio book. Killing two birds with one stone is something I'm always for.

However, when you actually read a book

• You learn the spelling of unfamiliar words, broadening your vocabulary. Whereas, you might not have the leisure to pause the audio book in the middle of whatever task you're doing to seek the definition - or even know where to start searching in the dictionary, being unable to study how the word is spelled.

• You see the sentences and subconsciously process the grammar. I can attest to the fact that I've learned much, grammatically-speaking, in my young years by simply reading voraciously.

• You make a physical effort to focus on a single job instead of the ceaseless multitasking we subject our brains to. We can all improve our concentration skills, which segues into the final reason...

• You soak in the quiet and stillness. And no one will argue that we all could use more peace in our lives. A break from our frantic pace is also healthy for our bodies as well as for our mental state.

I know what you are going to say: I'm just too busy! And I completely understand!

Busyness is the enemy of everyone, with most of us mirroring the beheaded chicken variety in our drive to get all those tasks accomplished in a day. So it ain't easy carving out a few minutes to calm yourself to sit down and read. And believe me, most days this pleasing concept falls by the wayside for me as well.

Life gets in the way.

But that doesn't mean because of our increasing frenzy we should give in and compromise by shifting more and more to audio books as the statistics are showing. We shouldn't dismiss actual reading altogether, for I believe there is a potential for harm if we do.

Recent articles show that reading skills are radically low in schools, with students graduating while lacking this basic knowledge! College students, too, are having difficulty comprehending more than a few sentences at a time.

Our culture is being dumbed down in a multitude of ways. And the excessive use of audio books are not helping.

Don't throw out all the audio books, because they do have their place in our modern environment. But let's not also forget the merits of sitting down and quietly reading a book.

Have I missed a point? Share your thoughts about the benefits of physically reading a book!

Or maybe you still don't agree. Go ahead and convince me otherwise!

~Alissa