To read a book, you can approach it in several ways depending on your preference for physical or digital formats and whether you want to read visually or listen to it being read aloud.
Traditional Reading
- For physical books, simply open the book and read the text visually, turning pages as you go.
- For e-books, use an e-reader or an app on your phone, tablet, or computer to read the text on screen.
Listening to Books (Audiobooks and Text-to-Speech)
If you prefer listening to books or need audio support:
- Use audiobook apps like Audible or Apple Books where professional narrations are available for many titles
- For e-books that don’t have an audiobook version, use text-to-speech (TTS) apps or built-in device features that read the text aloud in a natural voice. Examples include Speechify, Balabolka (Windows), NaturalReader, and built-in accessibility features on iOS (Siri) and Android devices
- On iOS devices, you can enable "Speak Screen" or "Speak Selection" in Accessibility settings to have Siri read any text aloud, including e-books
- On Android, Google Play Books has a "Read Aloud" feature that can read e-books out loud using text-to-speech
- For library e-books, apps like Libby support screen reader modes that allow the book to be read aloud with navigation controls
How to Use Text-to-Speech with Your Books
- For digital books, open the book in an app that supports TTS or copy the text into a TTS app.
- For physical books, you can take photos of pages and use OCR (optical character recognition) apps like Google Docs to convert images to text, then use TTS to read it aloud
- Some TTS apps allow importing various formats including PDFs, ePub, or plain text files for reading aloud
Summary
- Read visually by opening a physical or digital book.
- Listen using audiobooks from apps like Audible or Apple Books.
- Use text-to-speech apps or device accessibility features to have books read aloud, especially useful for e-books without audio versions or for those with visual impairments
This offers multiple flexible ways to "read" a book, catering to different needs and preferences.
