More on Audiobooks

A little under four years ago, I was not an audio book listener. I'd heard a few books on audio because I was "forced" to in class but I didn't really listen to any on my own. One day, I stumbled upon a new library in my neighborhood and the way they had their YA section set up was having both physical books and audio books combined. I'm used to having audio books on their own shelf far off into a corner, but instead, these were right in my face. So I though, why the heck not? And I gave it a shot. I picked up The Summoning by Kelley Armstrong, and at first I disliked the idea of listening to the book, instead of reading it. It was weird for me. But by the end of the book, I was in love.

From then on, I started checking out audio books more regularly, and I've been listening to them for years now. I love the experience of being able to listen to a book, while I'm driving or doing chores around the house, or working out/running. It's awesome! In fact, this year, I've been so busy with school and life that I have only listened to most of the books I've "read" this year.

Earlier this year though, I almost gave up on them. I don't remember where I saw it but there was a forum of some sort that was discussing audio books. Someone made a comment that listening to audio books wasn't really reading. You weren't actually doing the reading, so it didn't count. I was stumped. Was that person right? Was it really not "reading"? I felt like I'd been cheating on my Goodreads challenge because I was adding all these books that I'd only listened to and didn't actually...well, read.

Then one day, I posted something really short about it here on the blog. It was a Top Ten Tuesday post and I mentioned I didn't want to listen to anymore audio books. And you know what? Rachelia from Bookish Comforts left me a comment that said I shouldn't let someone else's opinion sway my mind if I was doing something I enjoyed. She also went to say that, "I think audiobooks do count as reading - while it's a different experience, you are still devoting hours to listening and immersing yourself in the story." And I thought, damn, she's totally right. So I'm still listening to them like crazy.

So what about you? Do you like listening to audio books? If no, why not? Do you think they count as "reading" a book? Share any of your favorite audio books too! And favorite narrators, if you have any! I love Jesse Eisenberg (White Cat by Holly Black) and Scott Brick (The Astonishing Adventures of Fanboy and Goth Girl by Barry Lyga.) I'm always looking for new suggestions, so share them with me! :)