lou's library

When I first started watching other readers’ book content online, I was surprised to find out there is a debate about whether listening to audiobooks should count as reading or not. Perhaps some people believe that the word ‘listening’ implies you didn’t ‘read’ anything. Technically, that’s certainly the case. But what matters to us about reading? Why do we choose to spend our time like this? For me, and I’m sure for a lot of readers out there, it’s so I can encounter new stories, get lost in them and have fun. All these things can be achieved both while actually reading a physical book and while listening to it. So, for me, it’s always been obvious that audiobooks absolutely count as books you’ve read.

When I was a child, my Dad would read Roald Dahl’s children’s books to my sister and me. I still know these stories today, despite never having picked up the books myself. Still, I got to know the characters, laughed out loud at the funny parts and just had an all-around great time. In that scenario, my Dad was like the narrator of an audiobook, but somehow I don’t see anyone online arguing the books you were read to as a child (or an adult, even) don’t count as reading. Back when my Dad read these books to us, I was already old enough to read myself, so it’s not like this was the only way for me to experience these stories. It was just more fun and a way for us to bond.

Another aspect that annoys me about the entire debate over audiobooks is how it turns reading into a competition. Who cares about audiobooks counting or not counting if you’re not counting your reading? If by the end of the year, the number of books you have read becomes a way of showing off, of beating all your friends, of telling the world how great a reader you are, that number becomes more important than the goal of having fun! If you’ve read dozens of books last year and not one of them was an audiobook, then congrats! It doesn’t make you a better reader than somene who has read the same amount, but only as audiobooks. Some people simply prefer being told a story, or find it easier to slip reading time into their daily lives in this way. I just think that telling other people the way they read is wrong, simply because you don’t like it and think it makes your own reading accomplishments look smaller, isn’t a great look on anyone.

After all, we should be happy if people try to incorporate reading into their lives, in whatever way and shape it works for them. For example, I really enjoy listening to autobiographies as audiobooks (particularly if the author is also the narrator), but listening to novels is something I often struggle with. So for those, I usually prefer to read a physical copy. Listening to audiobooks also allows me to read while I’m on a walk, or cleaning or doing laundry. I’m not saying it’s a great idea to fill every last second of your day with the consumption of information (which reading ultimately is) and I do think you should give yourself moments of quiet and peace, without listening to something while doing the dishes so you can maximise your reading. But sometimes I do love walking around the park with an audiobook in my ear, and to me, that totally counts as reading.

Obviously, everyone can and should count their reading the way they choose to. If you prefer to only count books you didn’t listen to, go ahead. But let’s please just stop telling other people how they should read or what they’re doing doesn’t count. After all, this is supposed to be a hobby and not a competitive sport. So let’s just chill out and have fun reading (in whatever form pleases you).