Books: The Classic and Best

Bonnie-Marie Allmendinger, Staff Reporter

Recently, audiobooks have become increasingly popular alternative to paperbacks, but are they really better? The answer is no, paper back books are, and always will be, the superior form of reading. It is statistically proven that when reading a physical book you retain more information, while listening to audiobooks your brain tends to space out and has more trouble comprehending the events of the book. Speaking of not comprehending information while reading, it is much easier to go back and re-read something in your physical book than it is to rewind your audiobook. While audiobooks certainly have their perks, like making multitasking much easier, it is harder to picture the plot of your book. When reading a hand-held book, you are experiencing the text first hand and engaging your imagination more. Audiobooks rely on a narrator to correctly tell the story, and sometimes the narrators just aren’t good, thus ruining your experience of what could have been a perfectly good book. Most of the time audiobooks end up being more expensive than purchasing hand-held books, and often times don’t have a very vast selection of titles. Therefore, if the reader wants a personal experience that will engage their imagination and ability to retain information without blowing the bank, physical books remain the better choice.