Skeptical about audiobooks counting as reading until my commute proved me wrong

I used to roll my eyes at people who said audiobooks counted as reading. Thought it was cheating because you weren't actually looking at words on a page. Then I started a 45 minute each way drive to a new job last fall. Tried "Project Hail Mary" on a whim after a friend begged me. Got so hooked I finished it in 4 days during my drives. Now I've done 12 audiobooks since October and my print book count dropped to zero. Anyone else change their mind about this debate after a real life situation forced them to try it?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_xena27d ago

Read a study that said audio and print comprehension ends up about the same for most people.

emery_black27d ago

Respectfully, I see it a bit different. Audio is fine for what it is, but it feels like a completely different experience (more passive, sort of like listening to a podcast) versus actively reading print where my brain has to do the heavy lifting. For me, the act of decoding words on a page is part of what makes reading stick in my memory, and without that, the story just slides out of my head the next day. Not saying it's cheating, just saying it's not really the same thing at all.

casey68227d ago

Wait, it slides out of your head the next day?? That's wild to me lol. I have the exact opposite experience honestly. When I listen to a book, I'm usually doing something else like driving or cleaning, and the story actually sticks better because my brain has nothing else to focus on but the audio. Maybe it's just how our brains are wired differently or whatever. Like for me, reading print makes my eyes glaze over after 10 pages and I forget what I just read. Audio lets me actually absorb the whole thing without stopping.