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If you count up the books you read in a year, do audio books count and do you include YA fiction?

50 replies

bookieboogie · 20/04/2023 20:28

DH says audiobooks don't count, YA counts but story books definitely don't (I am a teacher).

I think audiobooks do count but would accept not counting the YA stuff.

OP posts:
SwedishEdith · 20/04/2023 20:30

I wouldn't count audiobooks.

MandUs · 20/04/2023 20:30

Audiobooks don't count on my list but all other books do.

redspottedmug · 20/04/2023 20:31

I'd count audiobooks. Why does your DH say he wouldn't?

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bookieboogie · 20/04/2023 20:31

I feel that I have to really work to listen to an audio book though! I don't feel like it's a passive exercise.

OP posts:
TheUndoing · 20/04/2023 20:33

Would your DH tell a visually impaired person that audio book don’t count?

MrsTerryPratchett · 20/04/2023 20:34

You don't 'read' audiobooks so they don't count in a reading total. If you counted, "books I've finished" they would.

ExtremelyDetermined · 20/04/2023 20:34

Audiobooks count for me, as I would not subsequently read them in print and therefore they have been read. YA too.

LimeCheesecake · 20/04/2023 20:37

Yes I count audios but mark them as audio on my totals - am aware that I react differently to stories depending on if I’m reading it or being read to, and then the voice of the person reading it.

I also count YA /children’s books if they are the length of an adult book- so at least 200 pages and that’s 200 of normal spaced type, not lots of pictures etc.

Ermengarde · 20/04/2023 20:39

I listen to all books for my book club on audiobook. If anyone asked me if I’d read a certain book I wouldn’t differentiate between audiobook and paper/kindle, I would just say I’ve read it I do love an audiobook.

NannyR · 20/04/2023 20:43

I count both audiobooks and YA fiction. I keep a record of what books I've read just so I can look back at the end of the year at what I've enjoyed, so audiobooks definitely count. I don't count children books that I read to children at work.

redspottedmug · 20/04/2023 20:44

Audio books are great as you can multitask.
Perfect if you can't carve out time to just sit and read.

ExtremelyDetermined · 20/04/2023 20:46

Yes, I get far more books read now I use audio and can listen in the car or when gardening etc.

Isitoknow · 20/04/2023 20:46

I include them all. It comes to nil.

LudicrouslyCapaciousBag · 20/04/2023 20:56

I include both and consider snobbery about either to be a major red flag.

bookieboogie · 20/04/2023 20:57

I can't concentrate on driving and listening! I would probably only add 3-5 books a year onto my list so it wouldn't make a huge difference.

OP posts:
LudicrouslyCapaciousBag · 20/04/2023 20:59

bookieboogie · 20/04/2023 20:31

I feel that I have to really work to listen to an audio book though! I don't feel like it's a passive exercise.

I’m the same with fiction audiobooks and I have to concentrate hard not to zone out. For some reason I am better with audio non-fiction.

Woahtherehoney · 20/04/2023 21:00

Yeah I count everything on my goodreads - I don’t read any YA really but would count it, I count audiobooks, kindle books, everything I read really.

bookieboogie · 20/04/2023 21:01

I'm currently listening to a Blitz book and it's so interesting to me but still hard work. A bit like being in a lecture hall again!

OP posts:
YellowGreenBlue · 20/04/2023 21:03

I agree with you OP. I count audio books in my total. Not YA though as I don't usually read any.

quirkyquerty · 20/04/2023 21:04

I'd include audio books and ya books! If someone asked if I'd read a book and I'd listened to it of course I'd say yes. YA books are still books, there's some absolutely fantastic YA fiction.

How many books have you read this year op?

bookieboogie · 20/04/2023 21:06

20!

OP posts:
SweetPetrichor · 20/04/2023 21:06

I don’t count audiobooks, but I do count YA.

bookieboogie · 20/04/2023 21:11

That's including 2 audiobooks and 1 YA.

OP posts:
Amortentia · 20/04/2023 21:13

LudicrouslyCapaciousBag · 20/04/2023 20:56

I include both and consider snobbery about either to be a major red flag.

Me too. It’s bizarre. Are people really saying that if you listen to an audiobook it doesn’t count, so if I asked you if you’d read a particular book but you had the audio book you’d say you hadn’t read it? It makes no sense. It’s the same content.

I’m dyslexic and prefer audiobooks. I must listen to 70-100 a year, I think I’m better read than most people. So, should I discount the books because they came in an audio format. It comes down to either snobbery or ableism or both. Congratulations on being able to decode words on a page.

capitanaamerica · 20/04/2023 21:30

My mother is blind, so if audiobooks are "out", she'd never "read" anything. And for family members who listen with her - should we go back and read the physical book we listened to, so we get "credit"? I'm not following why "YA" would be excluded, either - they seem to be quite long, involved, and arduous these days.

Maybe it makes sense to exclude childrens' books, but on what criteria? I recently read a 40 page picture book that moved me more and made me think more than anything else I have read this month - if anyone's interested, it was Grandpa's Third Drawer: Unlocking Holocaust Memories by Judy Tal Kopelman.

If your husband has made some persuasive argument about why a particular book/presentation/format shouldn't "count" for something you're counting then by all means consider his arguments. If not, don't.

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