Audiobooks surge as travel favorite, helping fuel debate over what 'counts' as reading

From agelong drives to delayed flights and crowded commutes, much Americans are present reaching for headphones implicit hardcovers, and it has sparked statement implicit whether their audiobooks truly number arsenic reading.

Since 2016, the percent of Americans who perceive to audiobooks regular has risen from 3% to 8% — a 167% summation — according to Edison Research. And 51% of adults accidental they person listened to an audiobook astatine slightest once, according to the Audio Publishers Association’s 2025 user survey.

But traditionalists importune that speechmaking requires eyes connected a page. More than 40% of Americans judge listening to an audiobook is little rigorous and doesn’t genuinely number arsenic reading, a 2025 NPR-Ipsos canvass found.

Others, however, reason the proposition that audiobooks "don’t count" feels dismissive.

More Americans are turning to audiobooks, sparking statement implicit whether listening counts arsenic reading. (iStock)

"Surely 'reading' is astir enjoying the creation of storytelling, and audiobooks let that," said Ali Smith, a Maryland-based canine trainer and avid audiobook listener.

While she wishes she had clip to beryllium and work an existent book, audiobooks amended suit her engaged life. "Telling maine that's not speechmaking arsenic I perceive to stories astir dragons, fairies, knights and gnolls is conscionable not true," Smith told Fox News Digital.

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Some experts agree, portion others reason that the favoritism is not truthful simple.

Experts accidental some people speechmaking and audiobook listening activate cardinal connection comprehension areas of the brain. (iStock)

"The encephalon country we telephone the 'letter box,' which processes print, is not arsenic engaged erstwhile you listen," cognitive neuroscientist Nadine Gaab of Harvard Graduate School of Education successful Massachusetts precocious told the Harvard Gazette. "But it has been shown that erstwhile immoderate radical perceive to words, they visualize them, truthful the missive container gets activated." 

Both listening and speechmaking tin activate the brain’s main connection comprehension systems, agreed Emily Levy, Ed.D., a literacy adept and laminitis of EBL Coaching, which serves New York and New Jersey.

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"When idiosyncratic listens to an audiobook oregon reads print, the comprehension parts of the encephalon amusement akin activation," Levy told Fox News Digital. 

Yet she cautions that calling the 2 experiences identical would beryllium an oversimplification.

Experts accidental audiobooks tin enactment comprehension, but people speechmaking is needed to physique decoding and fluency skills. (Patrick T. Fallon/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Reading people besides engages ocular networks, including areas progressive successful decoding letters and recognizing connection patterns — skills that are particularly important for children learning to read. Audiobooks, connected the different hand, trust connected auditory processing systems.

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"If a kid needs to physique their decoding oregon speechmaking fluency skills, listening to audiobooks won’t bash the trick," Levy said.

That nuance is often mislaid successful online debates, wherever opinions tin beryllium beardown and profoundly personal.

Zack Barnes, an subordinate prof of literacy astatine Austin Peay State University successful Tennessee, considers audiobooks a morganatic signifier of reading.

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"When we are listening to an audiobook, you are inactive trying to extract meaning from the substance that is being work aloud to you," Barnes said. "You are inactive doing a analyzable cognitive task by listening to audiobooks."

Audiobooks are becoming an increadinly fashionable mode to walk the clip connected the go. (iStock)

Barnes added that audiobooks tin service arsenic a gateway, motivating immoderate listeners to prime up a carnal publication and physique existent speechmaking stamina.

Others reason that the discourse matters. Listening portion driving oregon multitasking tin disagreement attention, perchance affecting retention of good details.

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Traveling tin beryllium particularly distracting, said Bob Hutchins, CEO of Human Voice Media and a Ph.D. researcher focused connected however exertion shapes psychology. But helium argues that debates implicit audiobooks thin to miss the bigger picture.

Listening portion driving oregon flying whitethorn disagreement attention, immoderate experts caution. (iStock)

"Instead, we should beryllium examining however each benignant of media impacts cognition during the process of absorbing information," Hutchins, who is based retired of Nashville, told Fox News Digital.

He notes that speechmaking people allows a idiosyncratic to power pace, reread passages and adjacent retrieve wherever accusation appeared connected a page.

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"Audios link america to our past traditions of proceeding a dependable archer a story," Hutchins said. "Printed materials anchor our minds successful analytical thinking."

Research suggests audiobooks whitethorn besides enactment good for storytelling and basal information, portion people tin connection advantages erstwhile grappling with much analyzable material, Psychology Today reported.

Research suggests audiobooks whitethorn beryllium amended suited for storytelling alternatively than analyzable information. (iStock)

Experts hold that the statement should truthful displacement distant from whether audiobooks "count" arsenic speechmaking and toward what listeners privation to summation from the experience.

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For those connected the determination similar Smith — who says audiobooks assistance her support her "sanity" arsenic she paces her location astatine 2 a.m. trying to get her babe to slumber — pressing play remains the applicable choice, and 1 she is not embarrassed about. 

"I’m arrogant of my audiobook listens!" she said.

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