Over the past few years, I have seen a number of debates and research studies critically evaluating the different mediums in which people consume books in the twenty-first century: Reading on paper versus reading on screens (e.g., iPad or Kindle) versus listening to audiobooks. In the case of reading on screens, at least, everyone agrees that this still constitutes reading—albeit there is plenty of science now to explain why this kind of reading is inferior to reading on paper. But with audiobooks, some now will argue outright that listening to a book is not the same as reading it. Plenty of others will bring up research data to nuance the conversation and explain factors that can affect this sort of reading in a positive or negative direction. Still others insist just as vehemently that “to our brains, it doesn’t matter”—humans relate best to stories, so reading or listening is all the same.
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