Books vs Audio books

What do you prefer? There are many people who are adamant about using audio books, and others who are adamant about reading physical books. At the end of the day, both have the same outcome, which is, that a story is being told, but which one gives you the best experience?

Let’s focus on reading physical books first. The great thing about reading books on paper is that you get to use your imagination to create the voices for each character. For example, you might imagine a wealthy character as having a very clear and crisp dialect, with perhaps an eccentric sound, while as you might imagine a farmer as having a stereotypically southern accent, such as Devonshire. Either way, you get to decide what you believe each character to sound like. In this way, it could be argued that the imagination is more active when reading a book, rather than listening to an Audiobook.

With reading, you also get the novelty of physically taking out a book and turning the pages and reading the words on the page, which can be very therapeutic on a warm day in the Summer or in a comfy chair in your own home. It may also be easier to keep track of where you have read up to as some people may find listening to audio less engaging and become distracted. Books are portable and can be taken anywhere, whilst an audiobook will require a digital device making it less affordable and less practical as a charger must always be on hand as well as a plug socket or portable power bank.

In regards to educational textbooks, the answer is very flexible. Everyone learns in different ways. Visual learners may benefit more from textbooks with lots of descriptive text and pictures and diagrams, while as auditory learners may benefit from hearing the words being spoken, whilst doing other things. No matter how a student learns, revision is important and teachers must be aware of this fact; everyone learns differently to one another. There are many ways of learning and teaching a section of a module.

With that being said, not everyone has the ability to read books. There are members of society who are visually impaired, members of society with learning difficulties and mental health conditions affecting the ability to concentrate on the words. As well as this, unfortunately, not everyone has access to a good education and some do not ever learn how to read, and so audiobooks provide a more inclusive way for people to experience stories. They paint a picture of the characters and their voices and physique and this can help a lot of people to imagine the story better.

Furthermore, with audiobooks, the listener is able to multi-task and get things done at the same time. You can listen while you’re at the gym, walking the dog, doing housework, gardening, or standing in line at the grocery store. It can help to make mundane tasks such as certain chores more enjoyable. Audiobooks also allow a reader to enjoy listening to stories late at night, when it’s dark, which is something that isn’t as easily achievable with a physical books as you often have to squint to make out what the pages say.

Here is a list of found benefits of listening to audio books:

• Increasing reading accuracy by 52%
• Increasing reading speed, expanding vocabulary and improving fluency
• Teaching pronunciation
• Improving comprehension by 76%; and
• Increasing test scores by 21% when engaged in multi-modal learning.

And here are some findings regarding reading books:

• Improves brain connectivity.
• Increases your vocabulary and comprehension.
• Empowers you to empathize with other people.
• Aids in sleep readiness.
• Reduces stress.
• Lowers blood pressure and heart rate.
• Fights depression symptoms.
• Prevents cognitive decline as you age.

So really, there are pros, backed up by psychological studies, to both reading books and listening to audiobooks. All in all, it doesn’t necessarily matter how someone reads, as long as the story or text that they’re reading or listening to is interesting or enjoyable to them. There is the argument, of course, that technology like this may remove the novelty of writing and publishing physical books with front covers that may help to draw attention to them, but there are also amazing benefits such as allowing all members of society to enjoy a book despite disabilities.

So what do you think? Do you prefer reading books, or listening to audiobooks? Tell us why in the comments!

If you enjoyed this blog, be sure to check out Ricky’s social media for updates on the weekly blog as well as an insight into some of his brilliant work as an author and poet. Ricky has written a number of books, of all different genres and styles, based on true events in his life/real life happenings. Feel free to have a scroll and interact with the discussion boards.

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Can you judge a book by its cover?

We all know the saying… “Never judge a book by its cover”, but how much does this idea hold true?

One might argue, well yes, this is particularly true, a book might have a wonderful story inside, despite having a very plain cover. A good example of this would have to be the original: “A Christmas Carol”, by Charles Dickens. This book is now considered widely famous and is often studied at GCSE Level or in Secondary Education in the United Kingdom. Despite its rather plain casing, this book is exciting, keeps the reader hooked as the story progresses and has clear moral values that can be taken from it, with even small children reading adaptations in Primary School. At the present day, there are also many animated and live-action film renditions of this story, which goes to show just how loved Dickens’ writing is all these years on.

However, in modern times, the mindset of people as a whole has changed drastically, likely due to commercialism and advertising becoming all the more “flashy” and “vibrant”. Psychology, today, says that we, as humans, judge another person, subconsciously in the space of 30 seconds. So what does that say about our tendency to judge in general. If we consider some of the most popular books circling around at the moment, and notice their front covers, they all seem to have one thing in common, colour, vibrancy even. For example, “It Ends With Us” by Colleen Hoover, as shown below.

Even books such as “Harry Potter”, another widely famous and somewhat recent in comparison with Charles Dickens, have covers that grasp the attention of the shopper, and paint a picture of the story that will be told upon reading.

However, with that being said, J.K. Rowling herself expressed that, she struggled initially to get her book known. This seems contradictory to the colourful and gripping cover the cloaks the first rendition of this series that would go on to become a best seller and pave the pathway go making one of the best cinematic franchises of all time.

Like many first-time authors, Rowling struggled to get her first book, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone published. (The name was changed to Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone in the United States.) The book was left untouched by over a dozen publishers. After a considerable amount of time, a British publisher, Bloomsbury, agreed to helping her publish her book. Bloomsbury found potential in the book as the chairman of the publishing house gave the first chapter to his, at the time, 8-year-old daughter, Alice, to read. After reading for a while, she excitedly demanded the rest of the book. After more critics began reading this peculiar book, Rowling’s work gained popularity rapidly and it soon became a bestseller after years of struggling to become noticed. Since, her first rendition of the Harry Potter and The Philosopher’s Stone has fetched £69,000 at an auction!

So it just goes to show that sometimes the best work, is not reflective of the cover that encapsulates it, whether it be vibrant and exciting, or simple and colourless.

However, according to evolutionary psychology, ‘judging a book by its cover’ is, in fact, an in-built human trait which dates back thousands of years and is a natural instinct based on survival. Studies have shown that during the first year of our lives, our natural instinct draws us to people we see as a friendly face. In this way, it can be hard not to be draw to more positive, vibrant looking books, and jumping to the conclusion that the story must also be this way. Though, naturally, this is what one would assume.

Overall, it’s really down the how you interpret the cover. Some may say that the cover gives a very good insight into what the story is about, and the genre and type of book that you’re going to read, but this does not account for lousy writing or an uninteresting story despite the genre being typically this way. What do you think? Should we judge a book by its cover ?

Thanks for reading!

If you’re an avid reader and you love all things literature, be sure to give us a like and a follow on Ricky’s other social media platforms, in which content is regularly posted regarding reading, poetry, quotes, interpretation and a good insight into his wide range of work and novels, of all genres and styles.

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With blogs posted weekly here on WordPress: RickyDaleAuthour, on various topics of interest!

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5 ways we can improve our social media platforms!

Social media. We all have it. At least the majority of us do. It helps to connect with others, keep in contact with long distance friends and help us get ourselves known !

It is a known fact, however, that social media can be detrimental to our mental health, so here are some ways in which we can fix this !

1. Educational purposes – Can we use social media to our advantage? Rather than using social media as a way to focus on what others are doing and compare ourselves to them, we can alter our feeds and our algorithm, to fit a more educational narrative. More often that not, whether we realise it, we are comparing ourselves to others’ perhaps highly edited photos, with men and women feeling a need to live up to these stereotypes, in a subconscious self sabotage, when, in reality, social media, most of the time, just does not represent reality. Instead, we can follow hashtags that bring us positive reinforcement and education, on a hobby or interest. For example, you can seek out hastags such as #gardening, if you have a passion in gardening, or #bookrecommendations if you’re an avid reader. Make your social media space a healthier place today, by making these simple changes. It can really go a long way in feeling more comfortable online, and changing the narrative that social media has to be solely selfies and holiday photos.

2. Protect your privacy – Unfortunately, in this day and age, there are many people out there who are simply out to take advantage of other people’s kindness. Often, scammers will message you saying that they need X amount of money for X reason, which also invalidates those who are actually struggling. As well as the, often there are scams revolving around bitcoin and investment, which have bad intent. Most of these scammers have the intent to steal your bank details and therefore your money, and so it is crucial to be wary of messages that just don’t seem right… Also, if you’re not comfortable with strangers having access to your account and photos, make sure to turn your settings to private. This way, you can manage who does and doesn’t have access to your account, photos and other information about yourself, especially where you live. This is especially important for parents with young children, as too often, uniform brands can be searched up on the internet, and this can be especially dangerous for children being picked up from school. At the end of the day, as long as you’re safe and sensible about what kind of information you post, and who is able to see it, you should be just fine !

3. Be your most authentic self – It’s very tempting to want to edit photos, of yourself, enhance your sunset photo, change the lighting, but, in reality, life isn’t perfect, and we can take a big step into changing that. It would make such a huge difference, and a big help, to post natural, authentic photos, whatever the photo may be, because this way, we can appreciate the beauty of just that, reality. Your photo of the sunset is perfect just the way it is, your candid photo that you were worried about posting is perfect just the way it is ! You have captured two perfect moments here, and you don’t need to change anything about them for them to remain perfect! Less is more!

4. Writing posts – I’ve noticed recently, that captions on social media have become quite short. To each their own, but sometimes this can mean that we are simply scrolling and liking posts that don’t have so much meaning behind them. Some of the most authentic and inspiring influencers I have come across, for example, Melanie Murphy, Jessica Brennan and Robert Irwin, create posts with lengthier captions, something that you would have to stop scrolling and pause to read, usually with some kind of inspiring message or educational information. For example, Melanie Murphy has covered important topics such as mental health, diet, the reality of motherhood, and encourages posting raw, authentic photos, to help improve the way we view ourselves and others on the platform, with her recent post being “8 things that made me happy this week” – which promotes positivity and gratitude. It would be great if more of us could start doing this, and this would also help extend our attention span. Platforms such as TikTok which post short clips have been proven to, although provide us a template spike in serotonin (the “happy” neurotransmitter), also diminish our attention span, leading to us needing shorter and shorter videos to keep our attention up, which may not be good for us in the long run, so, providing more educational, meaningful and purposeful captions, can help combat this, and help us to start gaining new interests and hobbies again !

5. Interact with your audience – Let’s be more social again! Start up conversations, discussions, things you’re passionate about. Ask other people about their passions and why they are so engaged in these passions. You will make more connections and gain confident in speaking to others, especially if you all share a similar interest. It can also help lead you to pages that you find helpful such as writing tips pages, gardening tips, home design, etc. You’re also helping to support small pages that deserve more attention and recognition, you’re giving and receiving kindness to/from others, which, again, helps to promote a more positive social media space. Let’s support each other and grow together!

So there you have it, 5 ways to improve your social media space ! I hope this has helped you to make little changes in your life that might help you to have a healthier outlook. Small changes can really go a long way in improving our life, overall. Little tweaks on different elements of our life all add up, especially when you’re feeling a little lost of negative about yourself. Remember to stay safe and happy scrolling !

Did you enjoy this blog?

If you want to read more blogs like these, feel free to go and follow Ricky’s other social media platforms, where you can get updates on the next blog, which is usually posted weekly on various topics ! Of you’re also an avid reader and have a love of stories from all genres, Ricky has a range of books that you might be interested in, including themes of thriller, romance, friendship and family, and crime! Check out his social media platforms for more information, listed below !

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Have a great day and thanks for reading !

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The History of Halloween

In light of the spooky season coming to a close, I thought I’d write a little piece about the history of Halloween.

Halloween’s origins date back to the ancient Celtic times, during which they celebrated a festival named “Samhain”. 2,000 years ago was around the time that the Celts lived and they resided mostly in the area that is now Ireland, the United Kingdom and Northern France. Their “New Year” was celebrated on October 1st.

This day was symbolic of the ending of summer and the harvest and the start of the dark, cold winter, a time of year that was often associated with death. The Celts believed that on the night before the new year, the veil between the worlds of the living and the dead became blurred. On the night of October 31st, the Samhain was celebrated, and this is when it was believed that the ghosts of the dead had returned to earth.

As well as causing trouble and destructing crops, the Celts believed that the presence of the otherworldly spirits made it easier for the Druids, (Celtic priests), to make predictions about the future. The Celts were incredibly reliant on the natural world, so, these prophecies were a crucial source of comfort during the long, dark winter.

To commemorate this event, Druids built grandeous sacred bonfires, in which the people gathered to burn crops and sacrifice animals to the Celtic deities. During this celebration, the Celts wore costumes, usually consisting of animal skins, and attempted to tell each other’s fortunes.

At the end of the celebration, they, once again, lit their hearth fires, which had been extinguished earlier that evening, from the sacred bonfire to help protect them during the coming winter.

Halloween, as we know it now, is an abbreviation of “All Hallows’ Eve” a holiday observed on October 31, the evening before All Saints’ (or All Hallows’) Day. The celebration, today, marks the day before the Western Christian feast of All Saints and initiates the season of Allhallowtide, which lasts three days and ends with All Soul’s Day. In much of Europe and most of America observance of Halloween is largely non-religious, and simply a holiday to dress up as traditionally “scary” characters, like these:

So there you have it ! A history of Halloween ! If you’re looking for something particularly spooky to read this Halloween, why not check out Ricky Dale’s “I Knew The Bride When She Used To Rock N Roll!” – The true story of paranormal experiences that occurred in Ricky’s old home !

Do you celebrate Halloween? If so; what did you do this year! We’d love to hear it!

Comment below !

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