On this blog I often mention the latest books I’m listening to or reading, and I often don’t specify which I’m doing. It’s mostly a matter of convenience. As I’ve mentioned before, if someone says, “Have you read the Wheel of Time?” the simple answer is, “Yes,” not, “No, but I did listen to the unbridged audiobook edition.”

But in truth there is a big difference between listening to and reading books.  First, in my case, I can recall details of books I’ve listened much easier than books I’ve read.  This will of course not be true for everyone.  Often if someone brings up a particular scene from a book I’ve listened to, even if it was many months ago, I will remember the exact intersection I was driving through when I heard that scene play out.

On the other hand, when I see, “Egwene al’Vere” in print it means nothing to me.  I have to pronounce it out loud before I recall that character from the Wheel of Time.

Now whenever I listen to fantasy or anything with a lot of fictitious words I scan the wikipedia article to familiarize myself with them.  I think this does a lot to improve the experience.