My Secret to Finishing Two Books a Week

One word- Audiobooks

“Books are a uniquely portable magic”

-Stephen King

I could not agree more with Mr. King. I love books and if you are like me, you want to go through as many as you can in your lifetime.

There is no reason why you can’t go through two books a week. This year I am burning through two books a week.

Want to know how? I read and hear books. Yes, you read that right. I hear audiobooks. They are the same as books but in audio form.

Audiobooks take more time to go through than reading the same book. But they can be listened to while you are doing other stuff. You can’t do that while reading. So you end up finishing more books.

Why listen

If you are a serious reader with serious reading goals, you should be reading audiobooks.

Now I know what you will say, “ Manmeet- Audiobooks are not for me. They feel like cheating.” Well, everything is fair in the love of books and war.

Also, there is no major difference between reading books and hearing them. A 2016 study found no significant difference between reading and listening to comprehension.

If you are listening to comprehend then you audiobooks should be your BFF.

Human history first got transmitted from one generation to another through oral stories. Books are a recent invention. Compared to listening to stories, books are quite new. Like an iPhone is to the first telephone that Bell called from.

We can remember much more by listening. In the Savannah, you would not be able to read a textbook on the hunting grounds of a lion. But your ears were always attuned to listening to the many sounds in nature.

The intonation and the inflexion of the speaker can have a deep effect on your emotions. This makes it easier for you to remember the information.

Not convinced yet? Listen to funny man, Trevor Noah’s biography “Born a Crime” and you will understand what I am trying to say.

You will have tears hearing him recount his unforgettable life experiences. And all in his inimitable voice and style. Something the printed version can’t do.

When to listen

I always listen to books when I am doing something which I can do on auto-pilot mode.

Like running in the morning. Only, don’t wear those big wireless headphones which make you look like an idiot. I also listen while washing dishes and driving.

Okay, thanks to the pandemic listening while driving is on pause right now.

I listen during these times because somehow I can never sit still. Listening unlike reading cannot be a solitary activity. It is best coupled with something that does not require you to focus. Don’t listen while doing your work.

What to listen

Don’t listen to a book like “Thinking Fast, Thinking Slow”. I tried it and failed. Don’t listen to books that are full of facts, diagrams, illustrations.

Dense books don’t work well in an audio format. Very often they ask you to refer to an accompanying pdf. Nobody does that.

The only reason these kinds of books have an audio format is for making more money for the publisher and author. And for accessibility.

Then what kinds of book work well with audio format. Biographies, stories and simple narration based books are well suited for listening.

I recently listened to Dave Goggins “Can’t Hurt Me” and it was amazing. I also read the book later but the audio format was amazing. The book had podcast style conversations with the author. It made the book come alive.

People are getting creative with the audiobook format. I recently heard “ Talking to Strangers” by Malcolm Gladwell. It had sounds of car, background music and taped recordings as part of the audio experience. I am sure its book version cannot beat that. It was an unforgettable experience.

How to listen

There are two good sources of audiobooks that I can recommend.

Audible- The largest collection of audiobooks on planet earth. Amazon’s amazing service and excellent additions happening all the time. Audible has membership plans where you get free credits every month. You can redeem these credits against audiobooks of your choice. You can also buy books at a discounted price if you have a membership plan. You own the books you buy from Audible.

Audiobooks are usually costlier than e-books, paperbacks and hardcover. That is because it takes a lot of time and effort to record, edit and narrate audio.

Scribd- That is why I also recommend taking Scribd subscription. Scribd also has a membership plan but it is an “All you can eat” buffet plan. It is also cheaper than an Audible subscription.

You can hear as many books as you want to. Their collection of books though is one-third of Audible collection. Also, you can borrow audiobooks but once you remove the subscription you cannot keep them.

You can subscribe to either or both. I subscribe to both. Because I am rich. I wish. Books are my only indulgence though, so I don’t mind spending on them.

Another important point. I listen to books at 1.5X the normal pace. That is because at their normal pace they can feel slow. I have been able to increase it to 1.7X for some books.

It depends on the narrator’s natural speed and voice. Some voices become squeakier when you increase the speed.

I would recommend sticking to a pace that you find comfortable.

I hope my article will convince you to take the first steps to listen to audiobooks. You can pick all the recommendations I have made in this article. Hope you have a great first listen.