Heard my neighbor say 'audiobooks aren't real reading' and I snapped

My neighbor Cheryl said this during our block party last weekend, and I nearly choked on my punch. She was all proud that she reads 50 books a year but only counts print. I listen to about 30 audiobooks a year while doing dishes and driving to work in Denver traffic, and my comprehension is just as good. Has anyone else dealt with this snobbery in your book club, or am I the only one who thinks she's missing the point?

3 comments

3 Comments

kim8191mo ago

Tbh I just told my book club that listening still takes focus and that shut them up pretty fast.

thomas.parker1mo ago

Oh man, I feel this one in my soul. I'm the guy who listens to audiobooks while shoveling the driveway in the winter, and my wife caught me laughing out loud at a funny part and asked if I was "really reading." I told her my brain has to work just as hard tracking characters and plot twists, it's just that my hands are busy. Honestly, half the time I have to rewind because I spaced out, same as when I'm flipping pages and realize I read three paragraphs without absorbing a word. Your neighbor Cheryl sounds like she needs a bigger hobby, maybe one that doesn't involve keeping score of how other people enjoy stories.

terry_carter1514d ago

@kim819 nailed it, that's the exact move I used on my neighbor who pulled this same gatekeeping nonsense. Told her my audiobook comprehension test scores were better than her print ones and dared her to compare. She backed off real quick. Maybe print a quick study from a university library about how the brain processes stories the same way regardless of format and hand it to Cheryl with a wink.