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Love to hear your thoughts!

Absolutely! You are still experiencing and retaining the story. I often listen to a story I have already read on page because it "feels" different when read TO ME as opposed to BY ME.

I don't understand why it wouldn't count.

Yes I considered it as reading too but I don't understand also why other readers say it's not. I read an article about this and that really convinced me

I'm with both of you. I totally count it as well. Back before Covid a good audio book was a great way to get through a road trip!

In this group, nobody questions that audiobooks should be counted as reading--for the Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ Reading challenge and for the group's various yearly, quarterly, and monthly challenges.

There's a thread about a similar topic which was started last year. You might still find it relevant: What Do You Consider a Book? And Should I Count it?

Yes I feel, a book in any form should count. As mentioned above, you are still retaining the story , following along, it's not empty words....Personally the last couple of years, my eyes have gotten worse, and I can no longer read a book like I used to. I actually find with Audiobooks I can read more. Since I have them on my phone- anytime I'm out walking I can still enjoy them. Can't really walk up the road with a book in my hand . I do miss the feeling of curling up with a good book, I just enjoy it differently now and still enjoy my past time.

Karin wrote: "Yes I feel, a book in any form should count. As mentioned above, you are still retaining the story , following along, it's not empty words....Personally the last couple of years, my eyes have gotte..."

I had to go get glasses this year. The words were starting to get blurry and I was getting headaches just from reading. I'm totally with you. Especially on not walking up the road with a book in your hand. :-)

I used to read a lot when I was young but when I got older, I can't read as much as I wanted to but then audiobooks is becoming more popular now and I realized that I should give this a try and never regretted it ever since.

Half my challenge are audiobooks as I'm a slow reader! I still listen along and follow the story. I've participated in group reads, buddy reads AND twin reads on audiobooks and I haven't felt it's dampened my experience at all!

I think audio books are fine for people who enjoy them. I tried them, but I am totally unable to get any meaning at all out of listening to them. I've always had a problem with processing spoken language. Not to the point that I'm unable to function in society. I can process regular conversation if it's not too fast. But I have to spend so much energy concentrating on what is said, that sometimes I'm just unable to do it. It's a true learning disability and caused problems for me in school at times. It's like dyslexia, but it's a problem with how my brain processes sound instead of a visual processing problem.
And once -- just once! -- I tried listening to a book while I was driving. It was the most frustrating experience! It was actually dangerous for me and I stopped the book so that I could keep driving.
So, to me listening to a book is fine for people who find it easier or more fun. And, yes, it counts as reading the book. It just doesn't work for me.

Of course they do!! That’s the best way for me to read!! I listen at work and on my drive to and from work. It definitely keeps me relaxed in traffic!!

Kristen wrote: "Of course they do!! That’s the best way for me to read!! I listen at work and on my drive to and from work. It definitely keeps me relaxed in traffic!!"

Have you ever gone on a long trip and then sat in your mother in law / moms driveway to finish up the audio book before going in? Or is that just me :-) Even better has anyone ever been caught doing that?!?

My eyes are also getting worse the older I get. I have a harder time in reading in anything other than natural light so I listen to audiobooks at night as well. They are a God send for that reason.

R.S., I always listen to audiobooks in the car, but especially on long drives! I have been known to sit in my own driveway to get to a good stopping point, let alone some other destination!

I listen when I am driving. When I get to heavy traffice, I turn off the radio. I do count them as books.

As long as its not abridged it counts because you get the same story as if youd read it.

Yes, Yes, and MORE Yes... All the Yeses... It does count as reading... You're still having a story being absorbed into your memory and your brain, whether you're reading with your eyes, or your ears, or both. I just can't understand how and why many people don't think that audiobooks "count" as reading. That's sort of like saying that braille for blind people "isn't reading", when as a matter of fact, it is. A major pet peeve of mine! lol xxx

Karin wrote: "Yes I feel, a book in any form should count. As mentioned above, you are still retaining the story , following along, it's not empty words....Personally the last couple of years, my eyes have gotte..."

I am still not used to this :) For a second I wondered how I could forget posting here until I saw your avatar.

This is already a month old, but I agree that both count. While listening to an audiobook is not the same process as reading a print or Braille book (which involve decoding letters into words, etc), it counts for all the reasons you said.

Also, my dyslexic son is an audio-kinesthetic learner, and while he doesn't scramble letters and can read out loud well (there are different varieties of dyslexia), he absorbs things better on audiobook. All though public high school (after homeschooling prior) I would get all of the English novels out on audiobook so he could do both (but he doesn't read while listening, he would do them separately). I did this for one or two of his college classes as well and we'd listen in the van when I picked him up at the commuter bus or drove him back from the city one or two nights a week.

He is a music performance major and reads music well now that he wears his glasses, but glasses don't fix his dyslexia, it just doesn't spread to note reading.

@Karin - Great points! We're homeschooling our children as well. Been doing it for years not just since this pandemic decided to land on our shores.

People absolutely learn better in different ways. Totally agree there!

I think the difference for me with the different media for books is that the less structure there is in the media the more it is dependent on the reader/listener/watcher. The more you get away from print the more control the storyteller takes from the audience.

When it's words on paper the readers imagination fills in a lot of the gaps. When it's an audio book the narrator defines by his tone some aspects of the book someone reading it may have interpreted differently. However I'm with you all that as long as it's unabridged it's still pretty much the same. Once transformed to a movie, play or TV show the producer and director and actors are basically showing you their interpretation of the story.

I know comparing movies to books wasn't really the point of this thread but they're all just different mediums used to tell a story. I find the more structured and multidimensional the story gets the more control the audience yields to the storyteller.

R.S. wrote: "@Karin - Great points! We're homeschooling our children as well. Been doing it for years not just since this pandemic decided to land on our shores.

People absolutely learn better in different w..."

A book/ movie thread would be interesting. Personally I view them as 2 seprate things the movie is never going to be an exact copy of the book I think of the movie as being "inspired" by the book not the movie is supposed to be the book in movie form so often I can enjoy both. But usually the book is better.
Though in rare cases I liked the movie better
Princess Diaries in the book I didnt like the grandmother definitly YA, The movie is really fun and family catagory, the book I could never get into
Lemonade mouth the book is definitly YA, the movie is more in the family catagory and fun
I did enjoy the Artemis Fowl movie and am loving the books.
Disney Decendants the books added more to the story and went with the movies that was cool.

R.S. wrote: "@Karin - Great points! We're homeschooling our children as well. Been doing it for years not just since this pandemic decided to land on our shores.

People absolutely learn better in different w..."

For me, it depends on the book. Some are greatly improved by a good audiobook reader and I find I can still imagine many things. Others are dragged down by it. Some books really work best for me in print.

I don't think only in words or only in pictures, but when I am reading in print I don't do a lot of physical picturing the way many do (as in I don't get clear pictures, but that doesn't mean I am not disconcerted by casting that doesn't match. The first time I watched The Hunger Games with my kids it was very difficult to see such a handsome, trim looking Haymitch, etc. ), but I find I can picture things and imagine fine with audiobooks, but I can't just sit and listen to them. I need to be driving or doing soemthing or else my mind wanders.

BUT, you are correct with them filling in things. I had a voice for Flavia in the series by Alan Bradley, that I really liked. However, his writing was inconsistent, so I switched to the audio in book 5. I ended up loving them, but the first book was a challenge. Even though Jayne Entwistle did a marvelous job she did add something different to Flavia.

This might be because of the fact that my parents read with expression and voices which was my first experience with book.

I don't count them for my challenge, but I don't have a strong opinion about it. Personally, I tend to absorb and retain less when I don't see the written word. I like audio books primarily for non-fiction stuff or to re-visit books I have already visually read.

I definitely consider audiobooks reading! For me, I love to have them on if I have headphones in or I am in the car, but if they are just over stereo speakers I can't really keep up with what is going on.

Sarah wrote: "I definitely consider audiobooks reading! For me, I love to have them on if I have headphones in or I am in the car, but if they are just over stereo speakers I can't really keep up with what is go..."

They're absolutely the best way in the world to get through a long car trip!

I prefer to me is usually a book or online books to me but I'm not used to audiobooks.

I prefer to me is usually a book or online books to me but I'm not used to audiobooks.

Patricia wrote: "I prefer to me is usually a book or online books to me but I'm not used to audiobooks."

You might want to try one on your next road trip. Makes the time go by fast! If you like Apocalypse / Zombie books I have some free codes you could use to try them out if you wanted to DM me. What I normally do is just go to the local library before a trip and check out a handful of different ones. That way if I don't like whatever I start I'm not stuck with it for the next 12 hours or whatever.

They really do make long car trips go by fast. I find myself sitting in the parking lot at the end of the trip waiting for the chapter to finish before i actually get out of the car :-).

Patricia wrote: "I prefer to me is usually a book or online books to me but I'm not used to audiobooks."

I prefer audiobooks when I am too tired to read and often listen to one before going to sleep at night. This works well except if it is a thriller and then I can;t go to sleep!

When I used to read to my kids, "we" were reading a book together. So, yes! It's a life changer for commutes. I'm also able to tolerate almost any classic or nonfiction by audiobook.

Amanda wrote: "When I used to read to my kids, "we" were reading a book together. So, yes! It's a life changer for commutes. I'm also able to tolerate almost any classic or nonfiction by audiobook."

It makes commutes fly by. I totally agree. Rots the brain a lot less than Shock Jock Talk Radio.

Audio books certainly counts as reading. Audio books were originally developed as a reading tool for sight-impaired individuals who read via Braille. So yes, audio is reading.

I think audiobooks count as reading. For the last couple of years i don't have the time to read books because i leave home so early to go to work and i come home late in the evening and i am so tired most of the time. I was so sad about not being able to read a book because i am a bookworm. But i discovered audiobooks about 2 months ago and now i listen books all the time while i am doing something that doesn't need any attention. I "read" the books i would normally read in 3 months in 1.5 months.

Although audiobooks are a blessing and count as reading, they will never give you the pleasure of taking a book in the rainy weather and reading under the blanket with your coffee.

I've started listening to audiobooks more than I used to, usually when I'm driving. My mind wanders so it's still not my preferred method of experiencing a book but I have found that it's a good way to re-read a book that I've already read. There are some cool "exclusives" on Audible that I've enjoyed too.