#StoryTime Relax.. I'll be brief, nothing over a few pages, hardly a thread. 😉
It's probably just #ADHD swings, but 2023 has been the year of the #audiobook for me. I can't read. I know how, but I can't make it happen. School might have been different, if I could have read all those books?
I was in the Navy, when the term ADHD was invented. And before I left, they had labeled me thus. Most of my technical background was books. But they weren't story books. Specs, Details, Operation & bits
Also, as part of my own learning methods, which include visualizing beforehand, I had learned to memorize by rewriting. I take notes, non-stop, every detail, that is worth remembering. I'll never see the notes again, but by writing them, I remember.
In the 1970s, before the term, ADHD was used, we had books, or learning, on Cassette Tape (bulky MP3s), and by 1980, I was using the library to sign out books on tape. Most were self-help, & business/management related
Even if there were novels on Cassette Tape, I was still in the Navy, and there's no listening with headphones at sea (safety) so there's no audiobooks. Read, or starve.
So, my first Audiobook Novel wasn't until 2011, when I took Tana French's "In The Wood" with me, on a drive to Florida. I was anxious waiting at a hotel, to get back to my book, on the road. Great book BTW, she (Tana French) became my fave series of audiobooks after that.
I got my first Smartphone in 2013, and started using a Smartphone in 2023. Still not good at it, but I've purchased Apps for Audiobooks and Music. I've taken some photos. It's not a PC, but I tolerated it.. because BLUETOOTH! That's really the game changer. I can't be close to a PC, or play through my power speakers, it's got to be headphones, and it can't be tethered.
There were a few misc books, but this really begins in 2023, this year!
And not until Feb!
During Feb, Black History Month, to refresh or educate my knowledge, I decided only to listen to black history and black authors. I remember 8 books, but there were probably 11, some spilled over to March.
Libravox has a great collection of Black History books. I couldn't get enough.
By May, I couldn't work outside, without my headphones, and a good book. We were opening this place, the summer home, and I had truckloads of gravel and rock to move, by wheelbarrow
As many are aware, our summer was rain with 7 days of sunshine All weekdays. I had a plastic bag over my headphones (I was still soaked but the BT Headphones were fine) and had ordered a better pair, as my first ones had started to crack.
I don't know about you, but this is my best learning time too. Not many distractions in repetitive shoveling and moving earth. I added notches to my belt with every book I finished.
@TCMuffin my brain is always active. That's why I can't sleep properly. I worry about everything too, a curse from my upbringing, and I can design a house in my head at 3am, but I can't sleep because of it. I use environmental sounds, brown noise and even just TV hiss to sleep but there's no hiss channels anymore, it's 24/7 without a test pattern
And by June, I had moved books on and off my phone so often, that I had trouble remembering the titles I had finished, although, my Smartbook Player, remembers each book I finished, or where I left off. Even a sleep timer
Things I had little interest in before, were much more captivating on Audiobook. Lectures, Ted Talks, Astrophysics, History.. I had no interest in the TV series, The Handmaiden's Tale, but when I found Margaret's AB, I finished it 10 hrs later.
And now, I feel somewhat fanatical about Audiobooks, I'm like a young kid in interest, and a slightly worn out sponge absorbing all this new-to-me material.
I've convinced my buddy, reset an older phone and BT headphones, and got him started on Audiobooks.
The wasted time, walking, driving, cleaning, or whatever, hands free, someone is reading me a book. And some are excellent readers.
I love their switch of languages, pronunciation, intonation and inflection.
I've mentioned some of these books before, even Immanuel Kant, dry as those 39 hours were, was again referred to in other books of philosophy, so it was a good tie-in to know about.
I've done inventory, it seems I favor knowledge books, rather than stories. Astrophysics, science, human behavior, history, or thinking books involving philosophy, and psychology. About every 3-4 learning books, I throw in a novel. I've nearly finished my current book, now paused.
I said this was going to be brief? Have you learned nothing from my rants? 😂 This is ME BEING BRIEF, so, IRL, try not to make eye contact, it would cost you thirty minutes if you ask me directions.
I don't know what things aid you with your learning disorders, but for me and my attention span, Audiobooks are gold. I've done all my required reading from high school on.
@Rasta interesting; I've only tried one audiobook, and while I did enjoy it, I found that it didn't hold my attention enough. I'd be listening and then realize that I wasn't really paying attention after all, it seemed as though my brain treated it more like background music than the story it was supposed to be. I kept having to rewind a bit to get stuff I missed and get back into the groove, but that just wouldn't last. 🫨
@jrbutts I've had that happen too, mostly I lose a few unimportant bits, but my app has sleep timer and inattentive timer, if I don't move, it stops.. for example. Also, I can't type and listen
@Rasta I love a good audiobook or podcast. I have a good grasp of history in general, and listening to pop-history podcasts about interesting people and events has never stopped being captivating. I do my listening while I sew indoors. There’s too much real life I need to listen to when I’m outside in the garden!
@donkeyherder even if you miss some, you are learning. And if I could sit still and read, I'd consider reading to be lost time. But audiobooks are multitasking
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