Paperbacks, Ebooks, Audiobooks, and Reading Devices

[kidben]

Hi there! I would like to read a few books during my thru hike. I'm just wondering about what form of book I should take. I know some people are tired at the end of the day and don't end up reading at all on their trip but it still seems nice to have the option. I think a book or ebook reader may be the only item I take in addition to the bare minimum gear(not ultralight or anything).

Paperbacks: Simple but a weigh a bit and are bulky.

Ebooks: You can have an ebook on a Smartphone, a Kindle, or a Nook. Smart phones are not a good option because they have very limited battery life. The kindle and the Nook's battery life both last over a month. There is a waterproof case available for the Kindle that looks very nice but would probably be unnecessary and a waste of money (Atlas case $69.99)

Audiobooks: The advantage to audiobooks is that you can store them on your smart phone and you only need the addition of headphones. The battery life of audio is much better than the battery life for an ebook I think. The iPhone 5 has approx. 40 hours of audio usage per charge. So if you wanted to listen to 10 hours of an audiobook between visits to a town that would use approx. 25% of your battery life. One con of audiobooks is that they cost 2-3x more than an ebook I think.

I don't currently own a kindle or a nook but I think the small ones range from about $69.99 to $119.00.

Another advantage of an ebook or an audiobook is that you can have a large variety to choose from instead of just having your one paperback.

Please share your opinions! Thanks!

[BrianLe]

Battery life of smartphone: lots of opportunities to recharge along the way. I don't tend to read on the trail, but in transit or hanging out in a trail town I do sometimes. Do you really expect to read a lot while you're thru-hiking? I find that I have much more of a social life hiking on the AT than I do in "normal" life. I feel like I'm more of a character in a novel rather than someone reading about one.

Audiobooks I do listen to occasionally however, while walking. I wouldn't use the smartphone for that, however; I like having a small mp3 player that runs off of a single AAA battery so that the device has it's own dedicated power supply. I use the smartphone for a variety of other things on the trail and don't like to compete. For podcasts, however, a smartphone is easier; eBooks I can load onto my mp3 player ahead of time, but relatively small podcasts are in my experience a bit of a pain to pre-load in any quantity (maybe there are better ways to do this that I haven't discovered).

[Rocket Jones]

+1 on the AAA-powered mp3, loaded up with audiobooks and podcasts. Check out Podiobooks for a pretty good selection of freebies.

[colorado_rob]

I'm a voracious reader on hikes, probably average at least 1.5 hours every evening. I find that as long as my phone is on "airplane mode" (all connectivity turned off) and my kindle app is set to white type on a black background, I get 4-5 days of this reading, plus occasional phone calls and modest connected use (emails, etc) on one battery. If you have dark type on white background, that eats batteries much faster as it uses more juice to keep the screen "white".

I carry two extra batteries, so have plenty of juice between town stops where I recharge it all. Sure, a dedicated Kindle would last easily 2 weeks of reading, but I don't want to carry the weight of another device. It's nice to have it all with the phone w/ kindle app.

I do want to check out audio books though, for during actual hiking. I had thought that would eat batteries, but you say not so much, so cool! the only thing is that audio books are kind of expensive compared to e-books.

[Coffee]

I've had good experiences with "disposable" paperbacks. I cut off pages as I read them and either burn them (where safe and legal) or dispose of read pages when I come across a trash can. Put a new paperback in a resupply box and repeat the process.

[perdidochas]

Hi there! I would like to read a few books during my thru hike. I'm just wondering about what form of book I should take. I know some people are tired at the end of the day and don't end up reading at all on their trip but it still seems nice to have the option. I think a book or ebook reader may be the only item I take in addition to the bare minimum gear(not ultralight or anything).

Paperbacks: Simple but a weigh a bit and are bulky.

Ebooks: You can have an ebook on a Smartphone, a Kindle, or a Nook. Smart phones are not a good option because they have very limited battery life. The kindle and the Nook's battery life both last over a month. There is a waterproof case available for the Kindle that looks very nice but would probably be unnecessary and a waste of money (Atlas case $69.99)

Audiobooks: The advantage to audiobooks is that you can store them on your smart phone and you only need the addition of headphones. The battery life of audio is much better than the battery life for an ebook I think. The iPhone 5 has approx. 40 hours of audio usage per charge. So if you wanted to listen to 10 hours of an audiobook between visits to a town that would use approx. 25% of your battery life. One con of audiobooks is that they cost 2-3x more than an ebook I think.

I don't currently own a kindle or a nook but I think the small ones range from about $69.99 to $119.00.

Another advantage of an ebook or an audiobook is that you can have a large variety to choose from instead of just having your one paperback.

Please share your opinions! Thanks!

From what I've read, the dedicated ereader Kindles (not the Kindle Fires) have a really long battery life. The Paperwhite, if wifi is turned off and light is turned on, has about a 28 hr battery life. Disadvantage is you can't listen while you hike.

If I were serious about audiobooks and hiking, I'd probably carry a small MP3 player. I had one that used a single AAA battery, and it had battery life of probably 40 hrs, and weighed only a couple of ounces. Much lighter than the ebook readers.

If you don't mind listening to old stuff (i.e. books that are in the public domain), you can get audiobooks for free from https://librivox.org/

[Hikes in Rain]

Also, stay tuned to Whiteblaze for announcements of temporarily-free ebooks from Amazon (usually). Act fast when you see them, because you never know when the price will go up.

[Old Hiker]

I was looking at a dedicated tablet type reader, but with my phone, I can read downloaded books and not have the extra weight. I took 2 extra batteries + charger on my 2012 attempt, but only used 1 battery when the phone died. Airplane mode as mentioned above kept the battery alive a long time. I could charge each battery in the phone whenever I hit town.

Next time: 1 battery only, no extra battery charger.

Caveat: I only used my phone once or twice a day to text home, did reading when taking a break or eating or a few minutes before sleeping, then off completely. It may change, as I'm going to ATT instead of Verizon, as ATT had MUCH better coverage up to the VA line.

[Starchild]

Used the iPhone extensively for audiobooks. Worked great battery wise. Small but manageable drain. .

[da fungo]

If I were mking your decision, this is what I would get:A refurbished Kindle Keyboard with 3G. Available through amazon.com for about $60; maybe less on craigslist, ebay, etc. The 3G capability means you can buy books through Amazon; it also allows you to send and receive limited email, for free, where there is adequate cellular coverage. In addition, this model of Kindle can play audiobooks, and for books with the feature enabled, they provide text to speech capability.Another source of inexpensive audio material is to borrow books on audio CDs from the library - whoops, I meant buy them cheaply at a yard sale - and rip them to mp3 files.

[kidben]

Oh thank you everyone for these great ideas. I think I will experiment with ebooks and audiobooks on my iPhone 5 for the beginning of trip. If battery life is a problem I'll consider a dedicated ebook reader or an external battery pack. I'm so excited. Thanks for all the good advice!!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Hikes in Rain]

The Kindle app for iPhone is pretty darned good, especially for free. The only real problem I have with it is the small screen on the phone; I read fast enough I can pretty much read the whole page at a glance, so I'm constantly having to turn the page. Why not download it and try a few free classic books to try it out?

[mainebob]

I hiked 1600 miles of the A.T. with my daughter Sassafras (13 years old) last year. She would read in the morning when we had breakfast, at breaks and at night. We started with her reading on my phone, but even on airplane mode the battery did not last between town (it is the back light that drains the battery). My wife sent her the basic kindle (it was about $60 and weight 6oz and has no back light) in Hot Springs. It was great, it was light, the battery would last a month even with her reading so much. At night she would use her headlamp to read if it needed. I believe for the cost/weight and battery life you can't go wrong with this option. I know she will be bringing it with her this summer when we finish the trail. Kaboose

[jdc5294]

Just another data point, I used my iPhone 4S with audiobooks extensively, and as long as I kept it on airplane mode I had no problem with it lasting 5-7 days. More often then not I'd get into town before the 20% warning came up. Airplane mode, and turn it all the way off at night (use a cheap walmart watch for an alarm instead). Also if you're paranoid look into a battery case like a phonesuit, most of them double your battery life. A downside is the iBooks app (the iPhone ebook reader) totally destroys battery life. I have no idea why. A battery case would probably negate this and make it doable.

[forrest!]

Love my kindle - it really only uses battery for the light and it lasts a long time.

But the best feature is buying a new book wirelessly. I leave the wifi turned off until I finish the current book, then turn it on long enough to get a new book. Downloads in seconds. Works anywhere there is 3G. Then turn the wireless off while you read. Repeat until the hike is over.

And no matter how many books I have on the kindle, it always weighs the same!

[colorado_rob]

If you don't mind listening to old stuff (i.e. books that are in the public domain), you can get audiobooks for free from https://librivox.org/

Thanks for that link! I just downloaded a bunch of classics and will give the audio thing a try. thanks again!

[Meriadoc]

It all depends on your style. I like to pick up paperbacks from used book stores and library sales. Then I pass the book along to another hiker when I have finished reading it.

[Bluegrass]

When I last tried a through hike in 2005, I carried paperback books. It was annoying because I was reading quite a bit and trying to keep them supplied was always a problem. The weight was also not too nice.
When I get back on the trail I am going to be carrying an iPhone for MP3 use during the day, and connectivity in towns. I will also be carrying a non-Paperwhite Kindle (the $69 one). I read on the Kindle now and think it makes a lot of sense for the trail. A quart-sized Ziploc should water-proof it, and it is significantly lighter than a paperback book. Having hundreds of books ready to go is nice.
Audiobooks make sense, but I can never get into them the same way I can the printed word. I could use the Kindle app on the iPhone, but the Kindle is *so* much nicer to read on. I am willing to take the weight penalty.
I figure I will be reading 1-2 hours a day for 4-5 months. That many hours means I am willing to sacrifice weight in exchange for comfort.

[Sno66nj]

Just in case you are looking for some reading material

http://www.nationalgeographic.com/ad...ks_80-100.html

[Demeter]

For audiobooks, I highly recommend audible.com. I am a voracious reader, but with my work and workout schedule, I would never get to read a "real" book. I have an audible membership; for half of what an audiobook would cost via itunes, I get one download per month. I make the most of it by downloading huge books of 25 hours or more. Plus, they often offer sales of $4.99 books. I think you can download one book for free...

I just finished a couple of 40+ hour books. The Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon is about 300+ hours of listening!

I listen via my ipod because the battery lasts so much longer than my phone, but read books on my phone via the nook app.