Overheard my book club arguing about whether audiobooks count as reading

I was at a coffee shop last week and two women from a local book club were going at it - one said audiobooks don't count because you're not really processing the words, the other said she 'reads' 3 books a week that way on her commute. It got me thinking about my own club's debate on this. We're picking our next book and I'm wondering - do audiobooks deserve the same spot on the discussion table as physical copies, or is there something different about hearing vs reading? Has your club ever split on this?

2 comments

2 Comments

faithj1023d ago

My book club split right down the middle on this last year when someone brought up listening to "The Night Circus" on tape. Half of us were die hard physical book people and the other half were all about their audible subscriptions. I get both sides I guess, but honestly I think it's ableist to say listening doesn't count. My mom has dyslexia and audiobooks are the only way she can keep up with our club picks. Plus have you ever heard someone narrate a thriller with different voices for each character? That adds something you just don't get from reading text.

hayden72023d ago

Wait, isn't that the same book I listened to on tape? Yeah, you totally changed my mind on this.