There, I said it.
If people have vision problems (blindness or otherwise), this is a great way to “read” (or perhaps “absorb”) books. Scientifically, it’s been proven that it activates the same parts of the brain as sitting down to read a book. Personally, I enjoy audiobooks and appreciate their difference to reading a physical books. This comes up mostly when I read memoirs. If available, hearing the author read the book about their life feels one of a kind, as though you’re having a personal one-on-one sit with them. A great example of this was when I listened to/read Matthew Perry’s book just after he passed away. It made it more special, more intimate. And I count that book as “read” that year.
I’d love to know more about people’s own thoughts on this, though. Do you or do you not think audiobooks count as “books read”? Why and why not? I look forward to the discussion!
by ekalmusLA
4 Comments
You came out strong with that title but then immediately flip it around by putting read in quotes and even amend the world with ‘absorb’.
Audiobooks, ebooks, physical books, braille books…they’re all books and you read each one. Full stop.
Edit: and frankly I hate this as a discussion. There’s nothing to discuss, it is reading. People will be like “oh would you say it’s not reading to a blind person?” And as a blind person I can confirm that people too pedantic to see audiobooks as reading do indeed say that and way worse stuff when this topic is brought up
I find this debate perplexing. “Count” in what sense? Who is counting? I think the whole discussion reflects some weird things about online reading culture, such as the obsession with reading goals and keeping score about how many books people have read.
I mean you’re getting the same story often at a slower pace so I can’t say I disregard it as reading. It’s just a different way to experience a book.
They absolutely do.
I don’t count them as part of my personal “books read” list if I’m challenging myself to read X books in Y time, but that’s because I use those sorts of challenges to get myself to sit down and focus as a wellbeing / self care sort of thing. I tend to listen to audiobooks when I’m busy doing something, or I end up playing nonsense games on my phone while I’m listening.