I recently had to take a flight with very little notice, which, before I took off, didn't seem like that big of a deal. But then I realized that the way the trip worked out, I didn't really need to bring anything. I had my backpack, which basically goes with me everywhere anyway, but the only thing I needed to put in it were some books I was delivering to people. Otherwise, all I needed was my phone.

Makes for easy packing, but what about the flight itself?

Well, that was easy: I'll just play Holedown. Sure, the flight's just under two hours, but that game can definitely eat up that amount of time. So I decided to put together a music playlist for the flight and I'd listen to it while I played. Easy.

But then I decided I might want to read, too. Because it's been awhile since I picked up a book, even a digital one, and I knew of at least one book I've been wanting to read for quite some time. I couldn't very well multitask thatmuch, where I'd be able to read a book and play Holedown at the same time. Oh, how I wish I could, though.

Or maybe I could! Because audiobooks exist, and that would allow me to digest the book at the same time as I was playing the game. I'd have to give up on listening to music, but if it meant I could play this ridiculously fun game (if you haven't tried it yet, give it a shot!) and enjoy the book at the same time why wouldn't I go for it?

I lasted about half a chapter before I stopped the audiobook on the flight and immediately turned music back on. Not because the plane was distracting or anything like that, but it quickly became apparent to me that I'm not a fan of audiobooks. And I think it might be because of what I assume is probably a big positive feature to most other people.

The narrator was really into it, coming up with different voices (that weren't really all that different from one another) for the characters. In this case it was two young kids, and listening to a middle-aged man try to sound hip only came off as exactly that. When I'm reading I can imagine a character's voice, but when it's being read out loud that's all I hear -- the person reading it.

Maybe it would be different if there were multiple people reading the book, each taking up a different character and one specific for the narration. I've heard those types of audiobooks are out there, so maybe they could win me over. But the single narrator is the standard, right? I just don't think I can get into it.

The benefits of an audiobook are pretty hard to miss, though. Yes, I can play a game and listen to a book at the same time, but that extends to driving, too. A friend of mine swears by audiobooks because he travels a lot, too, but it's mostly driving. And another friend of mine listens to audiobooks while they are at home working. Both of them have tried multiple times to convince me audiobooks are fantastic, but I don't think they are for me.

I'm interested to know where you stand with audiobooks. Do you prefer them for most of your reading in general? Or do you only listen to an audiobook when the situation calls for it? Or, like me, do you think you'll stick with reading the book the old-fashioned way? Even if it still is on your phone. Let me know!