I listen to audio books sometimes while I’m driving. I’ve never actually listened to a book that I’ve already read, but I’ve tended to find that I don’t tend to like the audio books I pick out as much as I like the written books I pick out.
I’m beginning to suspect that what’s going on is similar to the book-is-always-better-than-the-movie mentality: that hearing the book read aloud by someone else takes away some of the imaginative aspect of the book. In other words, if I don’t like the author’s tone of voice, or the words they emphasize in a sentence, or the speed at which they read, or something like that, it detracts from how much I like the book.
Another thing I’ve found is that if an author drones on too long on a particular subject, it’s easy to skim a section until the reading gets interesting again, which you can’t do very well with an audio book.
Just wondering what everyone else’s experiences are with audio books in comparison to regular books that you read with your eyes.