I have a lot of reasons but they aren't about her (at all)

1. My teacher made us read her books excessively through high school. Plus, she talked about her 95% of time.She knew I liked to read so she wanted me to like the same books she liked, basically.
2. While reading her books, the female characters are often shown like, idk, people with high intuition (in a spiritual-ish way) and men oriented to logic stuff. I know, it has a context but it annoys me. One of the books I enjoyed the most was "Maya's notebook" bc one of the women, with these features, was down to earth at the same time, and all the women of the book could represent some of the real chilean women (there was a divorced lady who was the principal of a countryside school, a lady who worked in a lot of things to mantain her family, a woman who left her kid to get a job, a modern nurse). I also liked "Ines of my soul", is one of the best historic novels I read, and super funny. But the rest... idk, maybe it is bc I'm zero espiritual.
3. All people thought that I loved her books bc I like reading. I guess is the equivalent of being an english book lover and having people assuming you love Jane Austen.

The last thing: magic realism isn't my thing at all. Like a lawyer said about her, there are 2 ways of reading her books: enjoying them or looking for defects. I enjoy them but if someone forces me to like them, I'm lost. On the other hand, if someone says again that the "House of the spirits" is the same of "100 years of solitude", I'll jump direct to his/her neck and make him/her cry bc they are literally 2 different things that just share the literature type. Is like saying "War and Peace" and "Vanity fair" are the same thing just bc they share a similar background and theme (aka napoleonic wars + aristocrats life + love stuff)

​

omg looks like I smoke somthing, this is a testament, long af

I also use Goodreads.

I’m not very organized and if I used anything other than an app, I’d lose it probably. Goodreads is easy.

My favourite aspect is that I can set a reading challenge for myself for the year. I started this a few years ago because I felt I was watching too much TV. It reminds me when I’m falling behind which I find motivational. I also like to be able to look back over the years and see which were my favourite, or least favourite books.

It’s the narrator. They can make or break a book.

Also, some authors words sound better out loud. Others sound better read silently.

I can’t visualize audiobooks enough for it to be worth it for me. No reason to force yourself.

Well, it's not a novel and maybe this isn't what you're looking for but: When I was in grade school I bought a little book called Sam the Cat Detective at a book fair. It's classic noir private eye style, except the detective is (obviously) a cat. It's really cute and surprisingly well written and I kept that copy all my adult life, revisiting it now and then.

After my house burned down last April I was overwhelmed with the idea of restarting my library, since I re-read my favorites fairly often. But I didn't know what to purchase first. Eventually I threw away the idea of getting any 'grown-up' books (I'm 40) right away, looked for Sam on thriftbooks and discovered to my delight that there were two sequels! So now I have all three.

I'm gonna say it's the same. Who cares what others say.

[removed]

My guess is that because you have driving habits (or workout habits) that never included audiobooks, you're just practicing what's comfortable & not really paying attention to the words. But if you're naturally more visual than auditory, audiobooks probably aren't for you. You're not the only one btw.

Thanks to audiobooks I was able to get through some books while on my driving job, now since I have more free time I can actually sit down and read. They’re both good in their own way but as long as you fully understand the book the end of it Is what matters. Some people don’t have the attention span so im not mad at them for opting with audiobooks. Beats watching a 1.5 hour movie summary.

Oh my gosh I LOVE Kristin Lavransdatter! I just reread it last year. To answer your question, no I don't feel the same way when reading books - if I liked it enough to reread, then I really really liked it, but I don't usually have a strong emotional reaction. With KL specifically, I was hugely judgmental of her when I first read it when I was 23 (although I very much enjoyed the book). Now that I have my own marriage and child and life, I still felt that I would have made vastly different decisions (I didn't think Simon Darre was that bad of a catch lol, even at 23), but I came to her story with a very sympathetic heart this time around. If I feel lost, it is after reading, unable to move on to anything else for a few weeks because nothing can measure up.

I didn't read it until I was 26, but The Illustrated Mum stuck with me as a heavily tattooed person with bipolar disorder raised by a single mother.

Yes. I seem to lose track of the story.

You’re just using “open minded” to mean “I think I’m smarter than the thousands of experts who have been studying this subject all their life”.

Yesl! We're all different and need to see what we like. I read WW Z on kindle but I heard its much better on audio. Some are much easier to understand with great narration.

Awesome book!! And, for my money, the best screen adaptation is "Manhunter." With William Petersen and Brian Cox, whose Lector can't be touched. Highly stylised and beautiful film.

Such a great story, well told!

I've listened to Flinx Transcendent by Alan Dean Foster. I was excited that it was published. I was looking forward to it. The nearest PB was some 400 km away. (About 250 miles) Local bookstores din't have it. But Audible had it available!! I downloaded it and started to listen.

🤔😖😝 I did listen to the entire thing. I hated every second of it. As soon as possible, I bought the PB version and read it. Because I'd listened to it, I should have known the entire story, but enjoyed the book much better.

Not enjoying audio-books isn't anything wrong with you. Maybe they're just not your "thing". Until I cannot read anymore, I'm going to be reading from paper. I have read online, & kindle app. They don't thrill me, but (even) they're better than audio-books.

Maybe give it one more try, then go back to written? Your choice. Good luck

I accidentally trained my brain to absorb audiobooks. I say accidentally because didn’t intend anything going into it, I was just bored with my options at the time, and drove for work. At first I had no retention whatsoever, but I enjoyed listening while it was on so I kept doing it. About three months into it I noticed I was remembering more, and a few months after that I started to have about the same visualization with audio as I did with reading.

This was over 15 years ago and 95% of my reading is still audio. My reading comprehension wasn’t affected, I just got used to being able to do chores or puzzles while getting in my books. I also got the bonus of being able to understand verbal instructions much better than I used to, and when I went to college I learned more from the lectures and had an easier time taking notes.

Right after they come back from the zoo, Francis makes her a martini and sits on the couch, he watches the Sherman home movie. Reba lays her head on his lap. Yada yada yada, unzips him, does the thing. She comments "wow you're not done." They go to the bedroom! Chapter 35!

100%! I do this every morning and it’s one of the highlights of my day.

My side of the mountain. Always have loved this book.

I have to be doing something. Washing dishes, walking the dog, etc. I can't just sit and listen. Until- I'm hooked and need to finish: that's when I can just sit and listen

Hero Club was the first i just sat and finished , but I miss my TTRPGs bad

True, a good narrator makes all the difference! Being hearing impaired doesn’t help matters. I find that if I don’t like the voice or someone doesn’t pronounce consonants properly I have a hard time. I borrow my audiobooks from the library so if it doesn’t work for me I can send it right back.

An example of an audiobook that worked for me was World War Z. Various actors narrating. It was incredible!

I can't do audiobooks. They're too slow. Like a book that I can read and retain in 2-3 hours is 9h on an audiobook and I never end up retaining any of it.

So, they aren't for me so I don't do them. I understand that they're a godsend for a lot of people, but I'm not one of those people.

[deleted]