Do Audiobooks Count as Reading? |
You can quote me. This librarian gives a resounding "YES" to the question: "Do audiobooks count as reading?" You bet they do. And I'm going to explain why. There is nothing to be ashamed of if you enjoy audiobooks. Listening to books is not "inferior" to reading them. I implore you: indulge yourself with the spoken word. Like the printed page, the spoken word has the same power to transmit ideas or to create new, interesting worlds.
I imagine most authors would be flattered to hear that somebody read their book outloud to an audience. I hardly doubt you'd find an author that would insist that his or her book was "meant to read only." That would actually be quite strange. Books are meant to be shared. They can be read alone or read outloud. One method of transmission is not superior to the other; they are just different. In fact, this is one of the unique advantages of books. They can be visual or audio. You can't close your eyes and enjoy a painting. You can't cover your ears and appreciate the opera. But you can do this with books. In fact, just a few generations ago, printed matter was regularly read outloud, because most people were illiterate. An educated man would read the newspaper outloud at the pub so everyone could hear the news. Reading for many centuries was done the way it is done in church: a chapter is read outloud for all to hear. There's nothing wrong with that at all. Scripture has been read aloud for centuries. Great books are beautiful to the ear. I actually recommend that classic works be listened to. They are simply beautiful. Listen to Melville; hear Hawthorne. I love listening to H.G. Wells classics. In fact, you might come to seek out a narrator in the same fashion that you seek out an author. There is a great art to reading a book. My favorite narrator is Edward Herrmann; he has done excellent readings of important biographies, including David McCullough's John Adams and Walter Isaacson's Einstein. The audiobook for Herbert's Dune is done with atmospheric music and multiple voice actors. It's a masterpiece. A good writer, combined with a good narrator, is like a great director working with a great composer. For me, McCullough and Herrmann is like Spielberg and Williams.
Let's get real: life is crazy. In the United States, we find ourselves running around from place to place. Work, activities, meetings, groceries, errands. It's nuts. The "typical" amount of miles Americans put on cars is about 10,000 miles each year. That's 100,000 miles every decade. Americans spend alot of time in the car. The automobile is an arena where audiobooks can, quite simply, change your life. Yes, we can listen to hits from the seventies and eighties in the car. Now, we will also hear those same songs at the store we are going to. And in the restaurant. And on the background on the television. And in our heads because we have heard these same songs for decades, every day. Put in an audiobook. Go ahead. It doesn't have to be something serious. Stephen King. David Baldacci. Janet Evanovich. Something funny, or something spine tingling. Just twenty minutes a day. You can be a "road" scholar. The CDs will swap out faster and faster. With audiobooks, drive time can become a cultured and engaging activity that you suddenly enjoy and look forward to. In time that is otherwise wasted, one can instead run literary laps.
Driving isn't the only activity that can be enriched with audiobooks. If you enjoy puzzles, put on an audiobook in the background. A neighbor of mine listened to troves of books while gardening. Make weeding the driveway more interesting with John Grisham. Do the dishes and clean the kitchen with Ray Bradbury. Did you have a long day? Put on an audiobook and stretch out on the couch. Afterall, your favorite author is better than anything on television. And if you enjoy video games, turn down the television sound and put on an audiobook. You can listen and play at the same time. Yes, your son can listen to Treasure Island and also play Super Mario at the same time. How about that? "Okay, Jack, you can play Nintendo if you put on Treasure Island. Here's the magic of audiobooks: they have the power to turn ordinary tasks into engaging, enriching activities. Yes, they do count. Updated August 2019 Back to the top of the page