Week 11 Prompt

Ebooks and audiobooks are a part of our landscape. 

What does the change in medium mean for appeal factors? Many people prefer alternative formats for a number of reasons. Audio books might appeal to readers who spend much of their time commuting, running errands, or doing choirs.  The convenience of a talking books allows for multitasking and to endure routine tasks.  Ebooks are convenient when traveling or to work around health issues, such as physical limitations.  An e-reader can store hundreds of books within a lightweight device.  E-readers are a great alternative for people needing the option for text or lighting adjustments for vision issues or the ease of turning a page and operating a device for anyone with limited hand motion.  Sounds and graphics could be adjusted to the readers' personal comfort.

If you can't hold a book and feel the physical weight of it in your hands, how does that affect your knowledge of the genre? I am not sure if the physical feel of a book influences my knowledge of a genre.  I do prefer physical books for the comfort of hearing the rustling of the pages and the smell of the printed pages but an ebook is acceptable when a physical book is not readily available.  Once I delve into a story, I ignore my surroundings.

How about readers being able to change the font, line spacing, and color of text - how does that affect pacing and tone? Larger print and line spacing seems to slow down the pace of the story.  Our eyes instinctively takes in more words and sentence structure than we normally perceive.  This provides a sense of where we are going and our route to get there.  Larger print and line spacing tend to limit the eye's ability to gather a complete picture of the dimensions and texts of a book.  The human eye is most comfortable and conditioned to view black text on a white background.  Color text and backgrounds distract from the reading experience.  But in the end, it is all about personal preference.

How about audiobooks? There are some books that I am not interested in sitting down to read, but I would be willing to listen to the book in audio format.  I tend to listen to books from unfamiliar authors to get a feel for their writing style.  I also prefer to listen to books that deal with dry subjects such as history or science.

Track length, narrator choice, is there music?  It is nice to see the track length when listening to an audiobook to judge the remaining time in a particular chapter or section.  The speed of the narrator could be adjusted to hurry or slow down the story, depending on the reader's preference.  When I listen to a book, it is great to know the length ahead of time so I could juggle my tasks or listening time accordingly.  Usually I am not too picky with the narrator, but if the author is narrating the story then I it is a bonus.  Authors know the dynamics and nuances of the character and storyline better than anyone and they add certain dimensions to a story than other readers. 

It is great to listen to a book when music is added to compliment the tone of the story.  I listened to a book last year about music and sounds that would have been lost if I read the book.  Music and subtle sounds can add to a story when words are not enough.