So I use Goodreads pretty religiously to track what I’ve been reading, but lately I’ve listened to a few audiobooks of books that were in my “to read” list. It feels like cheating by putting them on my read list but it’s not like I’m going to read the physical book now that I’ve listened to it … so I guess I’ll move it over, but I’m wondering if most of you guys would consider it as a book read. For example, if your yearly goal was to read 15 books, would audiobooks count?
Reading and listening are different verbs with different meanings. You read a book. You listen to an audiobook. Pretty simple. Either way, you are consuming the contents of the book, but to say you have read a bunch of audiobooks would be incorrect. I’ve seen this argument pop up a bunch and have never really understood why audiobook listeners get so touchy about it. Almost like they have an inferiority complex about it. Usually with the types of people that really care about keeping a list of all the books they have “read” and take pride in the number of titles per year like it means something or is some sort of contest that gives them bragging rights. You aren’t reading, you’re listening. Nothing wrong with that though, it shouldn’t make you feel bad!
Edit: This is coming from an avid audiobook listener!