Helen wrote: "ABSOLUTELY!! We 'read' when we are driving long distances. My aunt is legally blind and that is the only way she can read now. For others, small children who listen to books on tape before they g..."
Helen, I keep thinking of my sister's local library in Roseville, MN, where I volunteered along with her on my last vacation there. They had such a collection of audio books I was jealous. As I was shelving them, I kept seeing titles I wanted to listen to, but my vacation time there was so short...I, too, like the idea of listening on long trips. Perhaps the next time I drive up to Northern CA, I will look for something here I can take along to pass the 8 hour drive.

ABSOLUTELY!! We 'read' when we are driving long distances. My aunt is legally blind and that is the only way she can read now. For others, small children who listen to books on tape before they go to sleep is no different from me reading right before I turn off the light.

Listening to books is incredibly hard. At this point, I find that I can only truly listen to books that I have already read once before. The reason for this is that the specific details don't seem to have as much impact for me when I am listening. I have a feeling that a big part of this is because I am listening while doing something else. When I actually read a book, it is the only thing that I am doing and my attention is not able to wander.

In terms of counting them for this challenge, I say go for it. I am currently listening to The Book Thief as my book club is reading it this month and a)I read it a few years ago and b)my copy is currently on loan in another state. It takes time and a desire to hear the whole story to listen to a book. I actually have less patience to listen to a book that is dull than to read it.

The loss of Storytelling had a side effect:

The best thing about the popularity of Audiobooks is that it's bringing back the actual skill of listening. When I first started to listen to books, it took a while to train myself to actively listen to the story and not be thinking about a million other things while it played in the background, like I do with music.

I coach a debate team, where listening is a critical skill and I encourage them to listen to short stories or books or anything - just to keep building that active listening skill.

Amanda wrote: "An interesting question seen as not so long ago, the vast majority of people's experience of books or stories in general was via audio. Its only recently that the common man can enjoy such a high ..." It is indeed interesting, and I thank you for reminding us of the tradition of 'storytelling'. Reading can be done individually, no-one ever need know what you read, or in fact, IF you read...but storytelling takes at least two, one to tell and one to hear, and so a sense of community is there (even with just two). Hmmm, something I hadn't really ever thought of til you brought it up. So again, Thanks.

An interesting question seen as not so long ago, the vast majority of people's experience of books or stories in general was via audio. Its only recently that the common man can enjoy such a high level of literacy and vast availability of such a range of reading materials as we do today and if you are lucky enough to live near a good library, its also a practically cost-free hobby. The oldest books known to mankind, such as Beowulf, The Buddhist Scriptures, The Illiad or even the Bible were all passed from one generation to the next via an oral tradition, sitting about fires on cold winter nights, or standing about listening to an interesting man on a podium in the local marketplace. If anything, listening to the audio of the works or writers such as Shakespeare or Douglas Adams is the more valid experience compared to reading the written texts and I celebrate rather than dispair at the modern revival of audio story-telling.

Melissa, I think someone else asked that question and was told that you can count books any way you want to...to which I would agree...it's YOUR list, not anyone else's and it's not a race. My take on this haven of book-lovers is that it is a place to bring your impressions, discussions, inquisitiveness and knowledge to share with others, not necessarily to compete, or at least seriously compete (a little good-natured competition is stimulating and fun) but for each of us to expand...knowledge, character, empathy etc. And to learn about the rest of the world. I agree about the hours wasted during driving, and on trips most people play music, but once on a road trip the driver put in six cassettes of the first Harry Potter book and I was entranced...the trip went by really fast. I love driving and road trips, but listening instead was a real treat.

I like recorded books too. I sometimes have long commutes for work and listening to audio books helps me make good use of hours that would otherwise just be wasted. I don't see why you wouldn't count a book listened to as a book 'read'. It just wasn't *your* voice reading it. Listening to others also helps you to hear how words sound put together. I've also learned the pronunciation of foreign phrases by having listened to them.

The only 'drawback' for me is that it's not easy to skip ahead if the book gets boring (smile), or you can't easily go back to re-read something that might now make sense a little further in the book.

I love the way Recorded Books ends each Book:

"And thank you for being a Recorded Books READER."


I would guess most avid readers are visual learners, but audio books give auditory learners a great way to keep up with literature too. I would rather use my eyes to read, but I listen to books too, in order to keep up on my listening skills.

I say yes. They're still the same words, plots, characters, beginnings, endings, everything. The only thing different is the medium.

Why ever not? If I were blind or had sight issues, would my use of audiobooks not count? What about when my husband and I will enjoy a book by reading it to each other. Its not like we're children having to prove our literacy.

I personally enjoy books in every format out there. For myself it is the experience, comprehending what the author is saying, expanding my imagination.

I had this debate with a colleague at work. She said to me "I read Balzac" and knowing her penchant for audio books I said, "READ Balzac? Or listened to Balzac on tape?" And she said, "I listened to it on tape. Doesn't that count?"

We went around in circles... I think you can see where I stand on the issue... What say you?