Are AudioBooks Reading?
A couple of people I know are starting to listen to audiobooks as a replacement for reading them. When they say I read a book, I ask myself, “Are audiobooks reading?”
Are AudioBooks Reading or Something Else?
First, I don’t enjoy audiobooks myself. I find it’s much too easy for my mind to wander when I’m listening to a book versus reading it. And don’t get me wrong, I’m not opposed to new technology for reading. I pretty much only read ebooks these days. I don’t need to touch or smell a book to enjoy it.
And I also don’t care if someone prefers to listen to an audiobook. There are lots of good reasons for that. Eyesight and foggy chemo brain are two good reasons I’ve heard for people not being able to focus on a book but still want the enjoyment of books in their lives.
But it always seems funny when one of my audiobook friends tell me they “read a book”.
I’ve decided that “reading a book” is now defined taking in the contents of a book in any format. I’m expanding my definition of the term “read.”
Leveling Up – Gay Authors Achieved
Thanks to Fred’s suggestion, I decided to read Edmund White’s book, The Loves of My Life. It was fantastic. I love how open and unabashed his writing is. He dismisses puritanical shaming with his straight-(not-so-straight)forward, descriptions of his love and sex life. In fact, this is one audiobook that I think I could really enjoy reading. It’s not narrated by the author, but I definitely trust that they’d choose a perfect voice to narrate it.
Having re-read The Front Runner and Giovanni’s Room, White’s sexual memoir was incredibly refreshing. I love writing style and found it quasi-poetic and mesmerizing in the best possible way. The content of his writing was also much more enjoyable to read than Warren’s and James’. I’m going to read A Boy’s Own Story next.
Any other suggested LGBTQ must-reads?
Current Knitting
It looks like the current sock design isn’t going to make it through to publication. The four testers (and I) had issues with the heel construction. They either modified, were used to a gusset/heel flap construction or just didn’t like it. I tried testing out the one tester’s modified version and it seem to help some of the issues, but it was impossibly complex to try and write as a pattern and/or put in a chart. I even tried just doing a standard wrap & turn short-row, and I don’t even like that.
I’m going to frog this last heel and do a double-wrapped short-row heel (don’t ask) because I like this yarn combination. But I’m not going to be publishing the result. I really appreciate all the work the testers did and all of their comments and suggestions. Even when a pattern doesn’t work out, I still learn a lot.
The testers did like the helical striping, so if anyone would like the pattern as it currently exists, contact me, in any way you know how and I’ll email you a PDF copy.
I do appreciate audiobooks, but don’t often listen to ones where I am not familiar with the story. If it’s new to me, I want to read with my eyes, not my ears. But one thing I love audiobooks for is for a book (usually sci-fi/fantasy) where I don’t know how to pronounce the names of people or places. Listening to it then helps me with re-reading the print versions. A good reader can make all the difference, too.
Hi there, as a librarian I like your take on audio books. It can be hard for some folks to read print, but the audio opens a whole new world to them and it is great to see some folks get into reading in that way.
As for titles you might like Boy in the Rain by Stephanie Cowell and The House of Doors by Tan Twan Eng. I work on a committee For the American Library Associations Rainbow Round Table that reviews new LGBT+ books that come out each year. If you need more titles let me know.
Joe, I am delighted that you took my suggestion to read Mr. White’s penultimate work and that you enjoyed it. I believe you’ll find A Boy’s Own Story (which made his literary name) very identifiable and moving. I also recommend Jeremy Atherton Lin’s memoirs “Gay Bar, Why We Went Out,” and his new “Deep House, The Gayest Love Story Ever Told.” If you enjoy period mysteries as I do, I suggest “Lavender House,” by Lev AC Rosen and his follow-ups, “The Bell in the Fog,” and “Rough Pages,” parts of a series set in 1950s San Francisco that features a gay detective. Excellent period detail, sexy and romantic, as well as exciting and beautifully written. They ought to be adapted to films!
Please check out Allstora’s Eric’s Very Gay Book Club.
GLBTQ books I have enjoyed (There are more but I can’t recall them):
Since My Last Confession – Scott Pomfret
He/She/They – Schuyler Bailar
I am a huge fan of audiobooks. IF they are well narrated. If they are poorly narrated, they can actually be pretty hard to understand. The point of writing is for the author to share their ideas, so yeah, I think for the sake of brevity one could say they “read” a book if they listened to it.
Took a few screen shots of all the suggestions. One is even a mystery series! Perfect.
I also really struggled with a wandering mind the first couple of times I tried audiobooks. After the first tries I just decided that they weren’t for me, but I kept hearing my knitting friends/community talk about how nice it is to still be able to read while knitting now that audiobooks are so prevalent, and I felt jealous. So, I thought I would try something. I started an audiobook of a title that I had already read a few times, and lo and behold, I paid attention! So, I did it again with another title I had read previously, and still was able to pay attention. After the third time with a familiar book I decided to put my little experiment to the test and, would you believe it, IT WORKED! So, I now happily listen to audiobooks while doing things that I couldn’t do while reading paper books, and I love it!
Listening to audiobooks is wonderful and I definitely engage in it. But it’s not “reading.” It’s a different process in your brain. When I’m mentioning an audiobook, I always say, “I just listened to . . .”
Also, I can’t listen to everything- for some titles I need words on paper.