Breaking the barriers to book reading

“I don’t believe in the kind of magic in my books. But I do believe something very magical can happen when you read a good book.” 
― J.K. Rowling

“Books are a uniquely portable magic.” ―Stephen King

"All I have learned, I learned from books." 
― Abraham Lincoln

There is so much truth in these words from famous people, yet many of us don't read books. If you have cultivated the hobby of book reading in your childhood and continuing to read, lucky you. But so many of us, did not do that. I can read books related to my academics or thrilling novels. But any book of kind in between dozes me off. I tried to cultivate the hobby of reading all sorts of books but never succeeded.

Something magical happened, back in 2016, when I was commuting 78 miles to work twice a week. On my way to work, while driving, i started listening to audio CDs that I got from the local library. Quickly I got addicted to that and pretty much covered all the good titles in my local library. Its not because I listened so much, but due to the limited availability of titles in audio CD format. Then, I made an attempt to read the physical books. Again, a failed attempt. So, I did fall back to my listening and found my lovely companion. The Audible app from Amazon!!

Most of the great known books in recent years can be found in audible format on Audible. I have monthly subscription to Audible and pay around 15$ a month which gives me one credit a month. I can buy any book with one credit or pay separately for that. I started using this app in 2019 and 70 books are done and dusted so far and counting.

There are pros and cons of reading vs listening to books. You can easily guess, I would say listening is better because i am a failed book reader. But I would like to honestly list down the pros and cons I observed.

• Audio titles are more portable than physical books. You might unexpectedly find youself in a big line at a grocery store and you can't run to get a book. Just start listening to audible on your phone.

• Aduio titles doesn't need your precious real estate. One fourth of my kid's room is filled with books and no space for more. You can solve this problem with digital books. In btw, I am yet to introduce my kids to listening books.

• You can do Habit stacking wih book listening. Habit stacking is doing a task that you have to do and a task you want to do at the same time. Like listing while driving. Listining while running. Listening while folding your laundry or doing dishes. Reading is not possible in these circumstances.

• When you have a sudden mood swing and want to switch to a mystery novel from the personolity development book, you can do it with digital version easily than physical version of a book.

• If you did not like the book, you can discard the digital version more easily than physical version.

• Writing notes or underlining is more easy with book reading. This is what I miss with listening. Though there are ways to do this on Audible app, they are not as convinient as underlining on the page of a physical book.

• You can't pose as a nerd with listening but you can with reading. :-)

I suggest to build your wish list in different genres on audible. If you are reading a personality development book and suddenly want to switch to a thriller, all you need is few clicks.

Also i would like to share my favorites among the 70 plus titles I finished in last few years.

Personal development and Autobiographies:

• The Gap and the Gain: The High Achievers' Guide to Happiness, Confidence, and Success (By: Dan Sullivan, Dr. Benjamin Hardy)
• How to Talk So Kids Will Listen & Listen So Kids Will Talk
  (By: Adele Faber, Elaine Mazlish)
• Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World (By: Cal Newport)
• Making Numbers Count (By: Chip Heath & Karla Starr)
• Crucial Conversations (By: Joseph Grenny , Kerry Patterson , Ron McMillan , Al Switzler , Emily Gregory)
• The 10X Mentor (By: Grant Cardone)
• The Steal Like an Artist Audio Trilogy: How to Be Creative, Show Your Work, and Keep Going (By: Austin Kleon)
• The Power of Regret: How Looking Backward Moves Us Forward (By: Daniel H. Pink)
• Tuesdays with Morrie: 20th Anniversary Edition (By: Mitch Albom)
• Never Split the Difference: Negotiating as if Your Life Depended on It (By: Chris Voss )
• Will (By: Will Smith , Mark Manson)
• Extreme Ownership (By: Jocko Willink, Leif Babin )
• Explosive Growth (By: Cliff Lerner)
• Late Bloomers (By: Rich Karlgaard)
• Man's Search for Meaning ( By: Viktor E. Frankl)
• Can't Hurt Me: Master Your Mind and Defy the Odds (By: David Goggins)
• Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones (By: James Clear)
• Unleash the Power Within: Personal Coaching to Transform Your Life! (By: Tony Robbins)
• How to Win Friends & Influence People (By: Dale Carnegie)

Business, Selling and Entrepreneurship

• Zero to One: Notes on Startups, or How to Build the Future
  (By: Peter Thiel, Blake Masters)
• The E-Myth Revisited: Why Most Small Businesses Don't Work and What to Do About It (By: Michael E. Gerber)
• Building a StoryBrand: Clarify Your Message So Customers Will Listen (By: Donald Miller)
• The Automatic Customer: Creating a Subscription Business in Any Industry
  (By: John Warrillow)

Technology related:

• Behind the cloud (By: Marc Benioff, Carlye Adler)
• The Everything Store: Jeff Bezos and the Age of Amazon (By: Brad Stone )
• An Ugly Truth: Inside Facebook’s Battle for Domination (By: Sheera Frenkel , Cecilia Kang)

Politics & History:

• Landslide: The Final Days of the Trump Presidency(By: Michael Wolff )
• Countdown 1945: The Extraordinary Story of the Atomic Bomb and the 116 Days That Changed the World (By: Chris Wallace , Mitch Weiss )
• A Promised Land (By: Barack Obama )

Mystery Novels:

• Escape (By : James Patterson, David Ellis)
• Black Cake: A Novel : (By: Charmaine Wilkerson)
• Malibu Rising: A Novel (By: Taylor Jenkins Reid)
• The Institute (By: Stephen King)
• The Last Thing He Told Me (By: Laura Dave)

Please mention your recommendations on good books in the comments section of this article.

Happy reading/listening !!

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