Reading, Psychology, and Superiority Complexes

While I was reading the New York Times book review last weekend, this article prompted me to think about our judgments on reading. People frequently ask for my professional opinion on reading "paper" versus reading "digital." Without going into too much detail, it's hard to separate out my personal preferences from any professional expertise in the area.

I'd like people to read in the manner that will keep them reading, whatever is comfortable.
This article steps back further and questions reading "paper" versus "listening." I started listening to audio books with the sixth Harry Potter, an excellent work read by the talented Jim Dale. This was on a trip driving from Baltimore to Seattle, so there was ample time to listen to a 24 hour recording. I don't read too many audio books, but I do read some on several long car trips each year. (Personally, here's what I'm looking for. 1. Something I can listen to in a relatively concentrated period of time 2. Something driven by plot 3. Something with an engaging reader or readers---adults, don't try to sound like teens!)

In reading this particular article, I was drawn to the idea that there's judgement implicit in questioning how others read.

The truth, it seems, is that the way we read, and our reasons for loving or
disliking audiobooks, are deeply personal. They are expressions of self, so tied
to what we are. If you belittle the way that I read, you're belittling me.

While we've studied learning styles in other environments, it seems as though similar studies should be completed on adult leisure reading. None other than multiple intelligences expert Dr. Howard Gardner says that "he hadn't heard of any research in the area."

Gardner's wife, psychology professor Barbara Winner, is a fan of audio books while Gardner is not.

Winner said she listens to books while exercising, grocery shopping or waiting in long lines at the airport. And what kinds of books? “Great literature, classics that I would not have the time or patience to read if they were in print.” She has happily worked the treadmill to “Bleak House” and “Daniel Deronda,” “Crime and Punishment” and “War and Peace.” “I want to just sink into a fictional world,”
Gardner, for his part, sounded a lot more like Jeanne (the author's wife). “I like to provide my own soundtracks in life,” he said, adding that he loves listening to classical music, and not as a means of escape. “I’m not trying to get away from anything,” he said.
As a practical matter, Gardner went on, he wants to read at his own pace, and to be able to flip back
to earlier passages — no easy feat on an iPod. “To me, reading is something I do with my eyes,” he said.

Fascinating thoughts from the man who pioneered the notion that we learn in different ways.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/27/books/review/wired-for-sound.html?pagewanted=all

What's your preferred method of reading?