How I read books
The book "reading" means has evolved. When I started, it was primarily by ripping CDs and running scripts to speed up the audio. Now the primary way is by checking out audiobooks from the library on the Libby app. Most of these are listened to at 3x speed. Every now and then there is one that will be played down to 2x or so. These are most often "full cast dramatizations" or narrators that are faster or harder to understand.
There are a few audiobooks from other sources. There are occasional free Audible books (including a few classics and some from Amazon music.) These support speed up of up to 3.5x, so I listen to them a little faster.
For other audiobooks, I typically use the "PlayBook" app. (Not to be confused with the Google Play Book" app. This app supports playing up to 4x speed. I typically use somewhere between 3 and 4. Other audiobooks will typically come from Librivox or CD. These are usually ripped via iTunes on an old computer and then transferred to phone.
For eBooks, they typically come from the Library via the Libby app. For most, I "read" with Kindle. I use an old Fire Phone to have the books read via text to speech. This generally works, though it does occasionally hang when there is an image at the end of the page. For some ebooks that are not available on Kindle, I'll load the Epub into the PocketBook app. The Pocketbook app text to speech works pretty well, though it occasionally has bugs with repeating content. These will include some library books not available in Kindle as well as Project Gutenberg and other typically public domain sources.
I rarely read an ebook. The rare exception is typically graphic novels that I cannot get on paper. There are some "ebooks" that are only available online. I will avoid these. I'd prefer to hunt down the paper book. There are also a few old books that are only available via scanned books in the Good Play Books app. (Play Books also has a text to speech for digital books, but this is awful.)
For paper books, these are usually books that cannot be found easily in digital. I also prefer physical books for graphic novels and picture books. I prefer physical books for very verbosely written books. (It is easier to speed-read/skim through wordy books.) Some of these books come from my personal collection. Other will come from libraries. There are three large library systems within a 10 mile bike ride from my house. This allows for a lot of physical book holds. Interlibrary loan is used for books that cannot be found locally.
Book statistics
Great Books (1)
TrustGood Books (25)
Song for a WhaleCounting by 7s
Who Gets in and Why: A Year Inside College Admissions
Exit
Of Boys and Men: Why the Modern Male Is Struggling, Why It Matters, and What to Do About It
Can't and Won't: Stories
Trust
Suburban Nation: The Rise of Sprawl and the Decline of the American Dream
Essays One
The Wondering Jew: Israel and the Search for Jewish Identity
Go as a River
Fluke: Chance, Chaos, and Why Everything We Do Matters
How Iceland Changed the World: The Big History of a Small Island
Interior Chinatown: A Novel
How Life Works: A User’s Guide to the New Biology
Bad Therapy: Why the Kids Aren't Growing Up
Drift
A for Andromeda
First Lie Wins: A Novel
Adapt: Why Success Always Starts with Failure
The Universe in Your Hand: A Journey Through Space, Time, and Beyond
How to Know a Person: The Art of Seeing Others Deeply and Being Deeply Seen
The Once And Future World: Nature As It Was, As It Is, As It Could Be
Yellowface: A Novel
Invention and Innovation: A Brief History of Hype and Failure
Good Audiobooks (2)
Chuck Klosterman X: The Audio Companion to a Highly Specific and Defiantly Incomplete History of the Early 21st CenturyTracy Flick Can't Win
By month read
January: 25February: 38
March: 34
April: 29
May: 59
June: 19
July: 21
August: 33
September: 35
October: 52
November: 75
December: 63
Books by year written
1160: 11260: 1
1387: 1
1676: 1
1759: 1
1775: 1
1781: 1
1794: 1
1796: 1
1798: 1
1799: 1
1800: 1
1801: 2
1802: 1
1803: 2
1804: 1
1805: 2
1807: 1
1810: 1
1818: 1
1835: 1
1840: 1
1843: 1
1846: 1
1847: 1
1850: 1
1853: 1
1859: 1
1861: 1
1875: 1
1888: 1
1889: 1
1890: 1
1901: 1
1902: 1
1903: 1
1904: 1
1906: 1
1907: 1
1908: 1
1909: 1
1910: 1
1911: 2
1913: 1
1916: 1
1917: 1
1920: 2
1922: 1
1923: 1
1926: 2
1929: 1
1930: 2
1932: 1
1934: 1
1935: 2
1936: 2
1937: 1
1939: 1
1942: 2
1943: 1
1944: 1
1945: 1
1951: 1
1952: 1
1953: 2
1954: 1
1955: 1
1957: 1
1958: 2
1959: 4
1961: 1
1962: 2
1963: 2
1965: 4
1967: 3
1968: 3
1969: 1
1970: 1
1973: 1
1974: 1
1975: 4
1976: 1
1977: 1
1978: 2
1979: 1
1980: 1
1981: 3
1983: 1
1985: 2
1986: 3
1988: 2
1989: 2
1992: 1
1993: 1
1994: 2
1995: 3
1996: 3
1997: 5
1998: 3
1999: 2
2000: 3
2001: 2
2002: 4
2003: 4
2004: 5
2005: 6
2006: 9
2007: 7
2008: 12
2009: 12
2010: 12
2011: 10
2012: 15
2013: 13
2014: 14
2015: 17
2016: 17
2017: 16
2018: 21
2019: 32
2020: 35
2021: 30
2022: 39
2023: 34
2024: 23
2025: 1
Stats on years written
mean: 1989median: 2013
mode: 2022
Most popular tags (other than year and book)
ebooks: 81paper books: 76
history: 66
science: 40
childrens books: 37
politics: 32
business: 28
social science: 28
psychology: 27
economics: 26
good books: 25
autobiography: 21
science fiction: 21
7stars: 19
biography: 18
translated literature: 17
young adult fiction: 17
food: 17
8stars: 16
6stars: 14
Audiobooks: 302
Books: 482 (includes audiobooks also available in book form)
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