Listen to the audiobook but still buy a physical copy?

[Allan]

I went through the first few pages of topics under General and didn't see anything like this but my apologies if this has been discussed here before.

I travel weekly for work and consume 2-4 audiobooks a month, depending on how long the monthly pick is. Lately I've been wanting to start buying the physical hard copies as well. I have no intention of reading them I just want to have that library in my office of the things I've read. Anyone else feel this way or do this? Or am I just getting weird as I get older?

[John (Taloni)]

I've got the hoarder instinct myself, I'm just not sure it's a good thing. Libraries are nice, but if you read in any quantity, your living space will soon be overwhelmed with books.

I'm really enjoying the Kindle as it leads to no clutter. The only real downside is that it's hard to pass a book around. You can kind of do it, but that requires everyone else to have an e-book reader.

[Leesa]

I only get the physical copy of ebooks/audiobooks of my favorite authors/genres. Primarily Stephen King and Arthurian books.

[John (Nevets)]

Allan, I'm more with you on this then against, I really do enjoy owning physical copies of media. But with most audiobooks I've just kept with them in my audible account. I know there are a lot of people these days that feel the opposite, and rejoice in the fact that they can get rid of there physical copies.

I do have a couple of audiobooks I had bought used on cassette tape, and have since picked up in audible because of the convince. I probably will do the same with my Star Wars radio plays at some time, even though I had encoded them to MP3 on my own a decade or so ago. Having them all in the audible app would be easier.

[Tassie Dave, S&L Historian]

I love the look of a well stocked bookshelf. Though they can quickly take over the house.

For myself, I buy fiction only as digital. But non fiction, especially if it has many pictures and illustrations, I want the hard copy for my library and the better viewing experience.

I have always felt that there should be an option to buy both physical and digital copies as a package that's significantly cheaper than buying them both separately.

[Leesa]

Tassie Dave, not quite what you are looking for, but there is Kindle Matchbook for some of the hard copies you've previously purchased with the ebooks discounted to $0.99-$2.99 usually.

[Rik]

There have been times I've bought a physical book only to struggle with it so I later borrow the audio book from the library to finish it since those are easier for me to push through (I listen during my 4-5 hrs a day of driving). But to own both. .. . no. I used to be anti e-book because I wanted a physical copy but I've come around now to the awesomeness of not having my books take up so much space . . . . moving twice in a year had a lot to do with it. Same logic would apply to audio books of which I think I only own one and that was because it came free with a TV on DVD season I bought (Vampire Diaries) and wasn't something I would have chosen normally.

[Christopher]

I'm more at the point where if I get a physical book at all, it's usually so I can get it signed

[terpkristin]

I buy multiple copies of the same book in different versions more and more often these days. For some books, I buy 3 versions: one for my shelf, one for my Kindle so I can read anywhere, and one in audio (because that's often my preferred way of reading though I don't often have the time to do that).

That said, my shelf space is limited these days (I really need to buy another shelf, but then I'd need to find a good place to put it...), so physical editions are limited to series I know I want to have full sets of, especially if I can get the books signed.

[ladymurmur]

Christopher wrote: "I'm more at the point where if I get a physical book at all, it's usually so I can get it signed"

I'm at a similar point, Christopher. The only physical books I've purchased for myself in recent years have been so that the author could sign them. And I've become extremely picky about even those. The rest have all been gifts.

[Aaron]

Buy the physical book, get the kindle book for free with it, whispersync to audible. I'm the SFF library for coworkers and friends so having a well stocked library is good and lets me easily loan stuff to people so we can talk about books over lunch.