I’ve only done an audiobook once and did really enjoy it. I would consider it reading. I often find them daunting when I see ‘15 hours’ on the content. I think if I had a long commute or was cleaning around the house it would make sense. My husband recently started listening to audiobooks while at the gym. Mostly non-fiction biographies. I convinced him to try ‘Remarkably Bright Creatures’ , which I’ve already read, and now we’re having our own mini book club!
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Absolutely. I learned a long time ago that people learn differently. Some are visual learners and some are auditory learners. Many years ago, when I was quite unhappy in my job, I would rehash my entire day from the moment I got into my car after work, until I arrived home. It was causing a great deal of anxiety. My doctor suggested that I load an audiobook for my ride home, and everything changed. You really need to focus when listening. I enjoy just as many audiobooks as I do reading. Any my library system has many.
What a great question! There is no doubt my experience in listening to an audiobook is completely different than a book in the hand. I have a hard time actually reading the paper/ebook version of non-fiction. I am able to hold the material better if I hear it, as a story, by a good narrator. Sometimes the audio is so much better because of the unusual names and accents and tone is conveyed much better by a good actor/narrator than I could ever do in the act of reading a book on paper. The very long ones, like the Covenant of Water or Familiaris would have been impossible for me to read on paper. I ride my bike with open earphones or drive an hour or more and really enjoy the “storytelling” nature of a good audiobook. Sometimes I re-read it on paper when I need the information to refer back to, like in the marvelous book non-fiction book You Are Not Broken by Kelly Casperson. I have read that both ways. The Wolf Hall trilogy also, I tried the paperback and could not keep the many characters straight, but that was not difficult with to excellent narration in the audiobook. Thanks you for the insightful questions, I love hearing other people’s experiences.
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Another absolutely. If you can process by listening only, I say you read it. I need the words, but that’s me.
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I do! My husband doesn’t really read fiction/non-fiction, just news, but now started to listen to audiobooks while at the gym. I convinced him to listen to ‘Remarkably Bright Creatures’ and we had our own mini book club. I now recommend books to him I think he might like. Not everyone can sit with a book, but an audiobook is a great option to get the same experience, with sound effects.
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Most definitely! Whether I sit down and read the printed word or listen to the audio recording of a book, I consider it read when I complete it. I like the mobility of audiobooks and enjoy listening to them when driving or on my daily walk. Some books seem to lend themselves better to audio than to print and vice versa. The first book I ever listened to was Angela’s Ashes by Frank McCourt and it was incredible! The author read it and being Irish and narrating his book about growing up poor in Ireland was so moving. Another book that came alive for me in audio was Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe. I tried reading it in hard copy several times and couldn’t get into it, but immediately took to it being read to me. I’ve found that children’s classics really lend themselves to audio. Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls literally broke me. For me, being able to read printed books and listening to audiobooks is double the pleasure.
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Great question! And definitely a topic that I’m sure has very very opinionated answers is going both ways. I definitely count audiobooks as books that I have read throughout the year so if I sent out a goal to say I want to read 50 books this year and 10 of them are audiobooks. I absolutely believe that they count. I do look at audiobooks more as podcasts and I can’t read fiction books in the form of an audiobook. See though I just use the word read so yes I think that in a sense it is a form of reading at least for my brain, I visualize the words in the scene when listening to a podcast just as I would when reading a book so I do think it’s simply stimulates similar parts if not the same part of your brain when it reads that. That being said, I think it also stimulates completely different parts of the brain and neither of those things are bad I think sometimes people don’t have time to sit down and read every single day, and they should not be discredited for that or be made to feel any less than a reader because they don’t have a physical copy of a book in front of them. But I love listening to non-fiction books as audiobooks because like I said, I take them as most like listening to a podcast and it really helps me accomplished tasks.
I too am a strong visual lead but over time I have trained myself to listen to audiobooks. I readily admit that they don’t land in the same way as a book read with my eyes and occasionally my attention wanders but happens with paper books also. I’ve definitely gotten better and it adds immensely to the books I can consume because I walk for an hour + every morning. I just choose books that aren’t as important to me or I use audio for rereads which works very well if I need a refresher for book club or an author event.
I absolutely think it is counted as reading.
Ann,
I apologize for not answering you earlier but I had an unexpected trip last week and returned yesterday.
YES I have thought of using audiobooks but just have been too lazy to order one. I’m online with Kindle and Nook so it’s available for me. Your question has encouraged me to try….. Thanks I may order one for my next read.
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