Yowza! This week’s Booking Through Thursday question is a bit of doozy:

What is reading, anyway? Novels, comics, graphic novels, manga, e-books, audiobooks — which of these is reading these days? Are they all reading? Only some of them? What are your personal qualifications for something to be “reading” — why? If something isn’t reading, why not? Does it matter? Does it impact your desire to sample a source if you find out a premise you liked the sound of is in a format you don’t consider to be reading? Share your personal definition of reading, and how you came to have that stance.

Let’s take this in bite size chunks. Novels, comics, graphic novels, manga, e-books – all of these qualify as “reading” to me. Audio books? No, that’s not reading, that’s listening. While it is a book on disc/cassette it is no longer something that you process with your eyes but with your ears. As such, audio books are no more reading than a seminar on disc or a brand new Nightwish album. That is not to say that audio books do not hold value or anything, it’s just no longer qualifies as reading in my eyes.

Manga, comics, graphic novels – I know people have a hard time considering these things reading material, but to me they are. They tell a story through a combination of words and illustrations that convey thoughts, meaning, and feeling.

Now does hearing that a story I was interested in reading is only available in one medium deter me from reading it? For the most part, no. The exception to this is audio books however. I have tried, honestly I have, to like them. I can see the appeal in them and thought about getting some of my most favorite books in audio format, but I just can’t stand them. It’s like being back in college, stuck in a lecture class where the professor does nothing but lecture for hours on end. I know some of the readers try to inflictions in their voices, but they just fail. I can last about twenty minutes before my mind wavers and I either start spacing out, nodding off, or I just want to smash the thing. Audio books are a no-go for me.

In regards to my definition of reading, well it’s vague and not something I’ve ever really bothered to put into words until today. To me reading is the action whereby we take in information by sight (or touch for the blind) and mentally process it. Reading materials can be as complex as a text on fiberglass columns or as laid back and relaxing as a Cat in the Hat book. One thing that connects them, however, is substance. They have a purpose; to tell a tale, to instruct, and it is carried out in a manner that will grasp the reader and hold them.