Tuesday, March 24, 2015

Tuesday Talks | Is Listening to Audiobooks reading?

Hello, book loving friends! I haven't been active on my blog a ton this month due to a reading challenge I've been doing, but I'm here to give you another round of Tuesday Talks! You can find out more about the group and the creators Janie and Janelle by visiting the goodreads group here. Come discuss fun bookish things with us!

Does Listening to Audiobooks Count as Reading?
Personally I'm not much of an audiobook person. I definitely think it counts as reading, it's just a different form. I can't take that much auditory stimulus (seriously, I can read for hours from a book but listening for more than maybe one or two kills my head). 

One of the beautiful things about audiobooks is that you can listen and get the fun and intellectual stimulus you're seeking from a book while you're driving or running or any number of other activities. Driving tends to be the only time that I listen to audio and even then only rarely. I can definitely see the perks and I know people who listen to dozens of audiobooks while traveling, so I think that it's great we have that option. 

I know some people may not consider listening to a book reading, but to me it's the same thing. We might get different things from reading ourselves and having the story read to us, but overall the experience is the same. We listen because we love the stories, the writing, the beauty of the written word. And when a book is brilliant in audio form that pretty much means it's just brilliant. 

What are your thoughts, do you think listening to an audiobook is reading? Do you listen to audiobooks? What format do you prefer for your books? Let's discuss this in the comments!

4 comments:

  1. I love audiobooks! They are great for me because I have a full time job and cant read as much as Id like... I listen to them in the car a lot or while Im doing things around the house or walking the dogs. <3 Bee @ Bee Reads Books

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    1. That's what I love about audiobooks. I don't get much out of them, unfortunately, but I love that people have them to listen to and are able to enjoy a good book even when they might not be able to sit down and read it from a book. Thanks for commenting!

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  2. I definitely agree! While my attention span doesn't necessarily accomodate an audiobook, my favorite part is when some audiobooks include sound effects to further the story. Or when the story is in first person and told by someone whose voice matches the character. I read Allegiant by audiobook and Tobias and Tris's voice really helped me separate the character, which I heard a lot of people had trouble doing while reading the physical book. Great post!

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    1. Some audiobooks can be done so well. And I'm glad the Allegiant audiobook helped differentiate the two. It was a bit weird switching between them for me while reading, because their voices were so similar. Thanks for reading!

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