How do we “read” an audiobook?
Wednesday, April 28, 2010 | By HSundwall | 1 Comment
Hello everyone. This is Howard Sundwall, on the board of the WCPL. I’ve been invited to co-write this blog and I’m happy to be here.
In addition to several print books I’m reading right now, I’m also listening to an audiobook (downloaded to my iPhone free in MP3 format from the CCLS system). It’s “The History of Warfare” by my favorite military historian, John Keegan. That leads me to a question. You read a book but you listen to an audiobook. Is ‘listen’ the right word? It doesn’t sound strong enough for the engaged, active listening that’s required. We need a new word for attending to audiobooks. Audioreading? I don’t think eReading fits — that’s for reading an electronic book (something else I do on my iPhone!). Lreading? Ear-reading?
There is no need to invent a new word. We listen to music and audiobooks. Webster’s dictionary defines the word listen: 1. to pay attention to sound, 2. to hear something with thoughtful attention. There is a distinction between hearing and listening. We hear music in an elevator. It is there, but most of the time we do not attend to it. Listening implies engagement and thought. That’s exactly what we do when we listen to audio books.