Do Americans say they’ve read a book when they’ve listen to the audio book?

27 comments

1. Granted the sampling size is pretty small here but everyone I’ve ever talked to who listens to audiobooks makes it pretty clear they listened to the book.

2. Some people do. I don’t think there’s a consistent rule.

3. Some do, some don’t. It’s actually a little bit of a touchy subject among some people.

4. Some people might, the vast majority probably wouldn’t.

   It’s wild how much time Europeans devote to gossiping about us.

5. I do. I don’t have the time of patience anymore to sit and read many physical books but I do enjoy listening to audiobooks and certainly claim to have read them – I doubt anybody wants to hear me qualify it as an audiobook of it comes up in conversation.

6. Some do, some don’t. ‘Reading’ in the context of a book is often the term for ‘consuming the content of the book in some manner’

7. “A friend of mine claims that Americans saying “I read a book” could be using the word ‘read’ and ‘listened to’ interchangeably.”

   Do a lot of Europeans really discuss the most minute aspects of American behavior like this?

8. People disagree about this.

   For comparison, the *Boston Globe* used to have writers who’d insist that what we’re doing right now is not reading, is something fundamentally different than reading (“looking at words on a screen”), and shouldn’t be called reading. It was just a weird hill they insisted on dying on for a while, I don’t think anyone does it now.

   Personally, it would come down to how much the person retained of the book afterwards, especially if it was nonfiction. I personally listened to *Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell*, when I thought the book itself was hard going. Couldn’t pass a test about it, now, of course, but it was a fun listen.

9. Some people do. Personally, I differentiate and will say I listened to the audiobook if that’s what I did.

10. I read print books, and I listen to audiobooks. Either way, I am consuming the content of a published book. So really, it depends on context. If I say I spent x amount of time reading, the emphasis is on the verb, and you can assume I was reading with my eyes. If you ask me if I’ve read something specific, the question is really about the content, and I’m going to answer based on whether I’ve completed the book regardless of format.

    So, listening to Ursula K. Le Guin’s *The Tombs of Atuan* today while washing the dishes, I didn’t spend the late morning reading–but I have now read *The Tombs of Atuan*.

11. I’m not sure what the issue/difference is? Regardless of whether you held the book and read it via paper or a kindle or if you listened to it, you still dedicated your time to the work of the author?

12. I’ll use the two interchangeably because the vast majority of the time when someone asks “did you read <<insert random book>>?”, what they really care about is if I consumed the content or not.

13. Some people do, i would probably specify that I listened to the audio book

14. To me the difference between reading the book and listening to it is less important than whether or not the book is unabridged or abridged. In general, an abridged version is just parts of the novel vs the whole work as the author intended. My preference is reading (vs listening), but any exposure to books in any format is better than none.

15. I do.

    What does it matter by which medium the message got from the author to me? Assuming you pay attention, you can just as easily have a conversation with someone about the book regardless of which way you consume the media.

    I just fail to see any meaningful difference.

    Further, some people can’t read — either due to education or due to disability.

16. Yes. It can be a hassle to specify not only that you read a particular book, but also go into detail on the format.

    “Hey did you read ‘Leviathan Falls?”
    “No, I listened to the audiobook.”

    Not only is saying “yes” just easier, there are very limited contexts where reading vs listening matters to the conversation.

17. Not me, I say I listened to an audiobook

18. I don’t think there’s a definite answer to this; purely anecdotally, I make the distinction between listening and reading.

19. I do. I’m an audiobook person and would definitely use read in a conversation since the format isn’t the point, the content is

20. I tend to listen to books rather than read them, and when discussing them with other people I’ll usually say “Have you read _____?” It’s just easier than asking “Have you read *or* listened to ______?” because the term “read” makes it clear that I’m referring to a book and not a Podcast or other primarily audio-based medium.

21. I have read audiobooks.

    Read them as they were transcribed by my phone. I’m almost totally deaf.

22. I grew up with someone who was legally blind and she would say “read” even though she listened to the books on tape. She has a degenerative condition, as kids she had a large blind spot in the middle of her vision. She could use her periphery vision to read very large text. But that limited visibility was expected to degrade over time.

23. Why on earth wouldn’t you? The same words have entered your brain either way – who cares if it’s through your eyes or your ears? Totally with these supposed “Americans” on this.

24. I don’t get how this is an American thing, OP.

25. This is a super pedantic thing. Technically reading is not the same thing as listening. But both involve stimulating the same areas of the brain and enjoying and engaging with the text. Oral reading was how most people engaged with written media up until fairly recently in human history. Many great authors like Stephen King are major champions of the audiobook. Physical reading is not inherently superior in some way

26. It’s the same thing lol

27. Who cares?