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Does listening to an audiobook "count" as reading a book?
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LOL, that's funny, because my family is always teasing me about that, I love listening to audiobooks, and they say it's not reading. I just voted on that poll!
to me I don't really care for audiobooks. I get distracted more so and don't connect well with it. same if I listen to music while reading after awhile its as though its not there anymore.
Mod
I voted maybe.. Either way its the same book and words it just depends on if your actually listening to the words being said and if your actually focusing.
I voted yes. There are some books I managed to listen to when I could not wade through the printed words (Don Quixote and anything Jane Austen). There are books for which the richness of the audiobook experience far exceeds what reading in the quiet of your room can provide (Watership Down, The Handmaid's Tale). They are an invaluable companion during the boring times of housework when my hands are busy but my brain is not.I suggest those of us who voted "yes" do listen at the level suggested by Anna and not as an alternative to music.
Mod
Hah, thanks for that. I agree some books are better in audio than printed words. I tent to listen to books I don't have the patience to read.
Mod
I listened to Tamora Pierce reading some of her books and she was good. Madeline l'Engle? Puleeze! Horrid. Absolutely destroyed the beauty of the first two books in the Winkle in Time series. Jim Dale, who did the Harry Potter series is wonderful. As for Stephen Fry, just because someone is an actor and has a nice voice are not adequate criteria for doing audiobooks.
Who wants to know the science behind reading and listening to audio books!!!!Knowing what's going up there may shift your views (but not in one direction)
Let me explain
You see, when taking in information while listening the left side of the brain's hemisphere is activated. The paris triangularis if we want to get technical.
While reading various areas are activated in the right side of the brain.
What does this mean!
There is more brain activity going on while listening, which means it helps train your brain to process more, making you have a better memory overall.
However
Reading is better at recall, which means you can recall a specific story you read better than one you listened to.
Mod
From a family with a def reading/book/packrat gene in our DNA:) i would say yes it is readingmy sister being blind loves her audio books despite some being read by 'not so good' readers - there is an extra layer which comes into reading this way in that the voice is shading the words not yourself - another's emotional take on the words being given - despite that she and many others would certainly say it is reading a book -
my mother also when she grew to frail to hold or see a book went over to audio - and I use them to contimue my addiction to reading while driving gardening walking
Listening to someone else having to take in the words at a slower pace than I can read (I read very fast indeed) enables me to access a different region of some books say a Dickens or books written as character driven rather than plot - I catch the subtle naunces and descriptive gems \I might miss a pyhsical read
- def yes listening to audios is reading a book but reading with different textures and experience - wonderful invention:)
Mod
I listen to audiobooks a lot. It's great when you're walking or travelling somewhere and can't really get a book out (without walking into something). I grew up in a family with lots of audiobooks and spoken word magazines living with a blind family member so maybe they've always just been part of my life. I do find sometimes I fall asleep when listening at night and have to listen again though. Also sometimes I get annoyed with audiobooks that change narrators (especially if some are better than others) for different sections.
I would say, yes, listening to an audiobook counts as reading a book. I actually don't do the audiobook thing often but I do like that I can multi-task while doing so (cooking, shopping, while I'm in the shower). But it's like a double edged sword because then I also find myself rewinding hell of a lot because my attention is divided.I prefer reading for a number of reasons. I like that reading allows me to get through a novel at a faster pace. Looking at the size of my TBR and it's rate of increase, I still can't read fast enough to get through the list in my lifetime. I tried speeding up an audio and the whole chipmunk-voice-thing threw me off. Additionally, sometimes writers choose to add visual aids and this obviously is something that is lost through audio. Plus, I hate that the narrator sometimes wrecks the experience for me.
Mod
Did you try to speed up the book with the audible software?
Jamtheory, for me audiobooks are quite a revelation. The only other audiobooks, that I've never considered as such were some vinyls that I used to listen to a child of stories. I don't remember seeing any equivalent on the market after '89 (the fall of communism) like cassettes.
Hehe, yes I did. If you can ignore the high pitched voice coming out of your speakers it's a time saver. I gave it a go when I was in the kitchen trying to bake a cake, my sister happened to walk in and was wondering what on earth I was listening to. Aaahh... good old cassettes, remember when you had to wind them back up with a pen if your player screwed up?
Mod
I've tried it with some books and had no such problem (no pitch distort), but as non-native English speaker it is quite difficult to follow.
Some people use "Smart AudioBook player" app because it has a bigger range of speed values. I'm not sure if it is free. I use a different player that allows me to fast-forward (not many such for android).
I remember doing the pencil trick to save battery for the ones you had to rewind.
Audiobooks are good for multi-tasking. You can "read" while you drive or workout. Frankly, by listening to books, it frees me up to think about what is being read while it goes. When I read, I have to stop to think.
Mod
To answer your question, no it is not the same. Audio books are listening and reading a book is reading. You might as well ask is watching a movie reading. Audio books are passive and reading is active and takes more concentration. Both have their place and are fine. This is not a knock against audio books because they have their place.I personally do not like audio books because I end up not following the story because I am usually thinking about something else, which is my knock against them in the first place. I also do not like the readers voice inside my head when I prefer my own.
For those of you that talk about multitasking, remember when you multitask, you do not concentrate as hard on the various activities and that is born out by the studies. For those of you that disagree, answer this simple question, do you want your brain surgeon working on your brain and another patients at the same time? :)
I fall asleep "listening" to books. I think they're great for road trips though!
So what do you think: Does listening to an audiobook "count" as reading a book?
I would say yes and no.
-yes because it takes so much time and every word goes trough your mind
-no because the mental strain is less [for me]
So what do you think?
Here is a poll about it as well.
http://www.goodreads.com/poll/show/85472