Today Is...International Read to Me Day

Jane Austen said: 'The person who has not taken pleasure in a book must be intolerably stupid' and boy are we surrounded by many people who have obviously never taken pleasure in a book apart from ones that comes with crayons but not to despair because where once being read to was the domain of Parents with small children at bed-time, Audio Books have really become a thing so anyone can be read to whenever they like.
I have only once listened to an audio book, i seem to recall it was narrated by James Marsters who played Spike in Buffy, and although it was pleasant enough, it just didn't seem right that i wasn't reading the words for myself.
Obviously i am in a dwindling minority as sales of audiobooks, or reading with your ears as i have charmingly heard it referred to, continue to rise while printed book sales fall away so it could be the days are numbered for those of us who like the look and feel of a real, physical book in our hands.
My problem seemed to be with audiobooks is that when i read a book, i imagine to voice of the speaker in my head, their accent, tone and inflection so as nice as listening to James Marsters is, the interpretation of all these things is his and not mine and with his American accent, listening to him read something by Dickens or Shakespeare would send me into a spin.
The UK’s leading audiobook retailer, Audible, sold more than 3bn hours of downloads last year so audiobooks are certainly becoming a thing but my second problem with them is that unlike music, you can't multitask while listening to a story being read to you.
It can't be the preference of time pressed book lovers if you have to concentrate on the words being read because you are not really gaining anything if you have to still stop and listen than if you had to stop, sit down and read a book.
As Dickens wrote in A Christmas Carol 'I'll have to be loyal to the old ways and die out with them if needs must' mostly out of loyalty for the traditions of the physical act of reading a book and also because an m4a file will never be as pleasing to see as a dog-earred, well thumbed copy of a beloved classic on your bookshelf.
A Reading Agency says that 30% of men have not read a book since school with 'not really wanting to' as the main justification so Audio Books are perfect for them especially if they can begin exporting audio files with all new equipment and you never know, they may then pay attention to THE BLOODY INSTRUCTIONS ON THINGS!!