Do you consider listening to audio books to be 'reading', or not?

Just curious, because I was in the Books and Authors section on here, and someone said she could never get past three chapters of a book. Someone else suggested listening to audio books, since it's 'reading without really reading'. What do you think?Do you consider listening to audio books to be 'reading', or not?
It's not reading, it's listening. But to activate your imagination and pick up the messages of the book is the main purpose of both. So there's really just a little difference
I don't consider it "reading" because reading requires... well, letters to be read but it IS a good way to get learn the book. It's being read to, instead of reading, but no less valid.Do you consider listening to audio books to be 'reading', or not?
I don't think listening to audio books is reading, it's a different activity but that doesn't mean it's not good.Do you consider listening to audio books to be 'reading', or not?
if I was blind, I certainly would consider it reading
Evo Terra of podiobooks.com says listen to or in print it is read.

I usually say consume but consume is clunky and when later books are just electronically zapped into our heads will that be reading?
It's an interesting question. In part, it depends on the context of the question: are you asking if a person has in some way absorbed the content of a book? In that way, yes. But I find that I recall things I've read more clearly than things I've heard. There's a different relationship with the material because the content is processed in different ways. An audio reader usually colors the material in some way, interprets it with inflection, accent or emphasis and so may subtly change my reaction to it.



I'm certainly not anti-audio book. My mother was an avid reader but lost her vision. She was deeply depressed because she had read almost every day of her life for 80 years. Audio books were her salvation and gave her enormous pleasure and gratification. However, when she'd talk about a book, she'd correct herself: "I didn't read it, I listened to it." I have enjoyed listening to some and if someone asked, "Have you read such and such?" I would say yes, even if I had listened to it. But inside, I know the difference. I have a different relationship to a book that I have read than I do to one to which I have listened. I have interpreted the words on the page myself and not had them interpreted for me. Sometimes this makes a real difference.



Take the sentence "Is that for me?" You know it can be read many different ways, depending on context and to some extent the reader. You can read it as casual inquiry, without inflection. You can read it with changes in emphasis: "Is THAT for me?" or "Is that for ME?" With a reader, that decision is made for you. When you read it yourself, you have to decide what the inflection and the intent of the query is. (Is the speaker surprised? Offended? Delighted? Merely seeking information?)



There's a different relationship with reading the words on a page and some of that relates to the "reading without reading." Listening is a somewhat more passive pursuit than reading, although the listener is not totally passive. Reading is more active, more work. It's a skill that must be kept up. (Elementary school teachers will tell you that they can tell as soon as school starts back if the children have read over the summer. Many have to be re-taught for the first few days or weeks.)



I agree that listening to a book might be a way to get someone interested in a book. It takes less effort, you have someone else to carry you along and sometimes sheer inertia (i.e., not cutting off the playing device) will take you farther into a book than you would get by reading it yourself, especially if the author's style is unfamiliar or somewhat demanding.



But if I found I cared about the book, I would want to read it.
Since I am physically able to read, I probably wouldn't do an audio book just because I love reading. But if I was blind and was unable to read, I would certainly be into audio books. That's just my opinion. Either way you are getting the story. Whatever makes people happy.