Does Listening to Audiobooks Count as Reading?

Yesterday, asked my friend what she was reading, and she told me about a book she’d just finished. Then she said, “I didn’t really read it, though. I listened to it.”

I kept thinking about that little word really. I asked her about books because I wanted to hear what she was enjoying. The fact that she’d listened to it was useful to know, especially if she liked the narrator. I wondered how many other people catch themselves saying the same thing.

What do you want to know when you ask about a book?

When I ask someone what they’re reading, I’m usually hoping they’ll tell me about a book I haven’t heard of yet. I want to know if the beginning was slow-moving, if the characters were original, and how fast they moved through the story. And if it’s a mystery, please tell me whether you figured it out before the detective did. Just keep the name of the killer to yourself.

And I would ask those same questions if you listened to the book. In fact, I’d probably have one more. Did you like the narrator? That can help me decide which version I want to try. A friend who says, “You have to hear the way she reads this one character,” has given me a reason to look for the audio version.

There’s also something funny about how casually we say, “It was just an audiobook.” You can spend hours with a story, get irritated with a character who keeps making the same bad decision, and immediately look up the next book in the series.

A good narrator can make you suspicious of just about anybody

As a cozy mystery author with audiobooks for 3 of the 4 books in the series, I like thinking about how a line sounds when somebody reads it aloud. Take a sentence like, “Of course I was home all night.” On the page, you might read it as a straightforward answer and move on. Now imagine hearing someone take a little too long to say all night. How sure are you about that alibi now?

Of course, a narrator could read that same line with so much annoyance that you’d think the character was tired of being asked. Both readings can make sense. That’s part of what I enjoy about the format. A pause, a change in tone, or the way someone says another character’s name can make you pay attention to a line you might’ve passed right over.

It works the other way around, too. You might prefer to read a mystery in print because you want to flip back and check exactly what somebody said in chapter three. Believe me, I understand wanting to check the evidence. You might even start a book in one format and finish it in another because you want to find out what happens before you get home.

Sometimes listening is how a book fits into your day

I like different kinds of stories depending on where I am and what I’m doing. A love story or a drama sounds good to me on a long car ride, and I’m more likely to want a mystery when I’m waiting at the airport. If I’m going to be sitting at the gate for a while anyway, I’d rather spend some of that time trying to figure out who did it.

Maybe you’ve got a long commute, or you like to listen while you cook, like me. Maybe by the time the house is quiet enough to sit down with a book, your eyes are tired and you’d rather close them and listen for a while. And for some readers, listening is the most comfortable way to get through a book in the first place. I’d hate for anybody to feel like they have to explain that before they can join a conversation about a story they enjoyed.

One of the nice things about having a choice is that you can decide book by book. You can listen to a mystery and still want a paperback for the beach. You can love a narrator’s performance so much that you look up what else they’ve narrated. And you can recommend the same book to two friends knowing one will look for it at the library and the other will listen on the way to work.

So, does listening to audiobooks count as reading?

It counts on my list! If you ask me for an audiobook recommendation, I’ll tell you I listened to it because that might help you choose a version you’ll enjoy. And if you tell me you just finished a good book, my next question is probably going to be, “Do you think I’d like it?”

So let me ask you. Have you ever liked an audiobook so much that you looked up what else the narrator had read? If you’re in the mood for a cozy mystery, you can find the Anna Romano audiobooks on my series page. Start with Cats, Cannolis and a Curious Kidnapping and see if you can figure out what’s going on before Anna does.

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