That friend who swore audiobooks aren't 'real reading'

My buddy Mark told me for a year that listening to audiobooks doesn't count as reading a book. He said I was cheating myself out of the full experience. So I finally caved and read a 400 page history book the old fashioned way. Took me 3 weeks and I retained maybe 60% of it. Meanwhile I listened to the same book on audio during my commute and caught every detail. Has anyone else had someone try to gatekeep how you consume books and then eat their words?

2 comments

2 Comments

faitha4023d ago

Only retained 60% of it." Holy cow, I can't believe you actually did that whole experiment on yourself. That is such a huge time commitment just to prove a point to someone (though I totally respect the dedication). Mark sounds like the kind of person who also thinks paper maps are superior to GPS, you know? For me, audiobooks are the only way I get through my to-read list because my eyes get so tired after staring at screens all day for work. It's hilarious that the exact same book actually stuck better when you listened to it, like your brain just decided to prove Mark wrong for you.

stellablack23d ago

Wait so @faitha40 did you do a full 50/50 split on purpose or just end up with whatever book happened to be available in both formats? Because that kind of deliberate testing is EXACTLY what would drive Mark crazy.