Listening to audiobooks is not reading! (Lighthearted)

[Keenbookworm]

That’s it really. Very petty but drives me mad when people say “I’ve read this book” but what they really mean is that they’ve listened to the audiobook. That’s not reading the book is it?! I have to bite my tongue every time not to say that 😂.

Thank you for reading my rant!

YANBU. There’s a lady in our book club who often boasts about how many books she’s managed to read that week despite working. She isn’t sitting down reading them. She’s listening to them as she goes about her business - driving to work etc.
It grinds my gears too OP!

I am also a keen bookworm, @Keenbookworm and I’m on the fence about this.

Generally I have more time/ability to listen to audiobooks than I do read books nowadays. However, if an audiobook is particularly captivating I’ll buy the physical book to carry on reading.

I definitely soak up more by reading than listening, but I find I still get a lot from audiobooks too.

I agree it's not reading. I always say I've listened to a book rather than that I've read it.

Audiobooks are great when power walking cleaning and sorting

I love both. CT scans show that the brain processes a book in the way neurologically whether it is consumed in a dead tree form, or by audiobook. In that respect both can be classed as ‘reading’ in the modern sense of the term. There will be personal preference, but there is no valid reason to say that overall one is a more effective way of consuming a book, than the other.

It’s not ‘reading’, no, but it’s just as valuable and enjoyable as reading imo.

I can see both sides. I mean, technically it isn't reading, but it is just shorthand really for "I've enjoyed that story".
Bit like technically my ds's partner isn't my DiL, but when it isn't relevant to the thing I might be mentioning her for, it is just quick shorthand.

I'm a huge reader. Reading is my favourite thing to do. I also listen to audiobooks and treat them like I would books (asking for recommendations etc). I use audiobooks whilst cleaning and cooking, driving or walking my dog. I have adhd and need that stimulation.

I sometimes forget if I've read or listened to a book as it feels really similar.

And like reading, where you can read the wordd without taking it in because you're thinking of something else, the same happens with audiobooks.

I would have agreed with you untill my DH lost his sight. They have.been a lifeline for him. Even if I do have to live with roman war books 😀

I used to be totally against digital books of any kind - I absolutely adored a traditional paperback book UNTIL I discovered audiobooks - it’s literally the only thing that gets me through the house cleaning! 😂 but I wouldn’t refer to it as reading a book no, I would say I had listened to it

I love audiobooks. It’s pretty much the only way I get to ‘read’ (widowed, job, 2 DC, one with SN and very demanding).

Feel free to judge 😀 though I don’t think I’m claiming to anyone I’ve ‘read’ lots in the past decade.

I can actually read, given the time - in fact my first degree is in English language and literature - but I don’t really have any time at the moment.

I’ve just been invited to join a book group and I’ll only manage to go because audiobooks exist. They make novels so inclusive. And I love a good narrator.

YABU. Also a bookworm and an audible worm. What's the point of reading? Pretty much any answer to that can be experienced in both forms of enjoying books.

The last time someone started a thread about this, it ended up in a big scrap! I listen to audiobooks a lot. Technically it is not reading, as in scanning words with your eyes, but by the end of it you have experienced the same information, so does it really matter? I also read 'real' books!!

Yes! My dad has lost his sight too. He’s now SO well read. It’s wonderful.

Although it's not literally reading, I don't think it's any different or less valuable to reading at all. It's the same story. People absorb words in different ways. I can't listen to audiobooks. I get completely distracted and can't focus. I have a very visual memory/learning style, not auditory at all - I have to be able to see the words to take them in. Other people are the total opposite and find listening to someone else speak very easy.

Although listening to a book requires the ability to understand what's being said, it doesn't expand or enhance literacy skills.

It requires no ability to read.

The audiobooks I mean. They make him happy. The sight loss is a right pain of course.

I would completely disagree with that. Your vocabulary is still extended, your appreciation of stories and phrases sparked in just the same way.

Of course if you’re talking about teaching a child to read, they need to read with their eyes as well to learn that skill. But reading to children also enhances literacy and once someone can read, it’s surely about concentration and comprehension in large part, not just decoding words on a page.

Literacy isn’t just the physical act of reading words on a page.

“Literacy is the ability to read, write, speak and listen in a way that lets us communicate effectively and make sense of the world” (literacytrust.org.uk)

Listening to audiobooks can definitely enhance a lot of the above. Also, it’s enjoyable.

My son is severely dyslexic and has convergence insufficiency (Google it)!

Listening to an audio book is his way of "reading"!

I’m a huge bookworm (bookshelves not wallpaper throughout etc) and in the last couple of years an increasingly huge audiobook fan. I’ve listened to so many more books than I’d have had time to read cos I listen on my commute, when walking around, doing household jobs etc.

And for me, I’m a very fast reader - I skim pages very quickly. So actually, listening to a very good book slows me down and I can get a lot more appreciation of it. Being told stories is a wonderful and ancient thing!

I do agree that it’s slightly wrong to say “I read it” if I in fact listened to it, and I usually say “listened to” but actually it doesn’t make a blind bit of difference. It is in no way lesser. I don’t think I could get annoyed about someone saying “read” if they’d listened to it - and I’m usually really pedantic. I only might get annoyed if they’d listened to an abridged version, as that’s not quite the same. And usually is “lesser” though sometimes for good reason (simplifying for kids etc). And a dramatisation isn’t the same thing at all. Though still might be good.

There's nothing wrong with listening to audiobooks, I enjoy it, but it's not reading. My 3 year old listens to audiobooks, he can't read!
I had a long journey to do yesterday, listened to radio 4 most of the way, I didn't read women's hour or the afternoon play. I don't read the Archers.

I have a couple of books and audiobooks on the go generally. The audiobook isn't reading but I've still enjoyed the book, reflected on plot, language, characterisation and themes. So no different from reading in that respect.

I listen to a bible in the year podcast and I don't find it any easier to concentrate on the meaning whether I read or listen.

What does make the difference between audiobook and reading is that sometimes you can't get past some bits when reading so you either force yourself to read it or (presumably some people can) skip it. Audiobooks get you past that hump and on to where you enjoy it again.

Also reading the bible I really wil skip, e.gthe census in numbers but I don't have to with the audiobook.

I asked my son's teacher when he was in year 6 how I could encourage him to read more. She immediately suggested audiobooks as she stop classes it as reading. Of course technically it's it and obviously something is missing from a phonics perspective but as others have said, there is much to be gained from it.

As far as adults go. We can all largely read so I'm not sure why anyone really cares if another adult has read or listened to a book or is bothered by it being technically read or listened to. I think much of it is lifestyle.

I devoured books for years. Then I became a single parent to 2 DC and there is no way I would have the time or energy to read now. So I switched to audiobooks and now I clean/ tidy/ empty the dishwasher/ go to sleep with audiobooks. It's the only way I can still 'read' and get everything else done.

I know I am actually capable of reading and also enjoy audiobooks so I don't understand people who prefer to read books or who have more time available to read books feeling superior than those who don't, or getting frustrated by people who claim to have read books when they have listened them.

I know a 12 year old who can listen to an audio book and read a (different) book at the same time. I thought she couldn't possibly be taking in or understanding both books but she is - I quizzed her on them. Serious skills!