There is quite a bit of turbulent discourse on Xitter and Bluesky about what counts as "reading", particularly as it relates to audiobooks. There is a very loud minority of readers who think audiobooks don't count as "true reading", and they're toe-to-toe against a strong wave of audiobook-philes who say they do, in fact, count as "true reading".
It's often the same rhetoric. Respect for the author, time investment, accessibility, ADHD… there's a reason that audiobooks work so well as a Discourse that does the rounds of the internet every few months. There are so many angles of attack!
I cannot settle the debate on a philosophical level. But today on Fire Steel Sea Sky I wrote some thoughts on audiobooks featuring some juicy Twitter screenshots, some self-important Homer references, and a conclusion that I think everyone on r/books will agree with, at least a little bit.
What are your thoughts?
by PhiliDips