In defense of reading with my eyes

Let’s clear the air right away: I don’t hate audiobooks.

I do not subscribe to the idea that listening to a narrator “doesn’t count” as reading. (Hi hello yes, I’m just happy people consume writing in whatever way feels best to them!)

I know audiobooks have benefits traditional print and ebooks lack. It’s easier to have good posture when you don’t have to hold physical pages up to your face. You can experience a story alongside someone in the same room without having to read aloud yourself. Audiobooks are key accessibility resources. They almost always have shorter waitlists than Kindle-compatible downloads at my libraries.

But I just can’t get into them the same way.