To me it is, because you are consuming the same information as the person reading the physical or electronic copy.

I’m an avid audiobook listener. As a 9-5’er I don’t have time during working hours to pick up a book and read, but I can press play and listen to an audiobook.

I also listen to audiobooks when I go on walks or road-trips, instead of music or a podcast. I love audiobooks and when I find an audiobook with a top notch narrator or narrators, it makes the book even better.

I’m not ashamed to confess that more than once, after listening an audiobook, I end up buying the actual book, because the narration made so enticing. To me that’s a testament of how the book must be written, because the audio, more often than not, reflects what’s on paper.

There is also “Graphic Audio” audiobooks. These are the dramatized version of a book and are so much fun. However, important to note that most times it is an “abbreviated” version of the book, as the some descriptions are acted vs narrated. Nonetheless, graphic audiobooks are very entertaining, “like a movie in your ears”, I think that’s how it goes.

Audiobooks are a profitable and growing business. According to straitsresearch.com, “the global audiobook market size was valued at USD 8.15 billion in 2024 and is expected to grow from USD 10.31 billion in 2025 to reach USD 67.58 billion by 2033, growing at a CAGR of 26.5% during the forecast period (2025-2033).“

This represents an opportunity for authors, narrators and companies that are in the audiobook business. However, there is a troublesome trend of creating “digitized or synthesized” audiobooks.

Digitized or synthesized is when a book is “read” digitally by an AI voice. While “convenient” for the company, as it might reduce production costs, this hurts authors and consumers a like.

A good narrator can make or break an audiobook. Digitized or synthesized audiobooks hinder the listener’s experience because the “narration” is as flat as it can be.

It also read the breaks between sections.

For example, the book I was listening, some chapters had a dual POV and it was divided by asterisks (***). The Digital narrator, read that as “asterisk, asterisk, asterisk.”

I thought this was HILARIOUS the first time I heard it and even thought it was a fluke, but when it kept happening, that’s when I knew that this type of audiobooks were not my cup of tea. Luckily it was a free book, but I rather pay for a good audiobook.

Now I’m not saying that all books with human narrators are all good. Not at all.

I’ve heard books with real narrators that I had to stop listening (DNF), because the cringe was to the max or I was not “vibing” with the voice they used. Or they had some inflections at the end of sentences that were distracting and took away from the listening experience.

While audiobooks, just like “regular” books, are about preference, audiobooks could carry a lot of weight on how a person perceives a book and/or if they give a chance to a book or not.

For example, I’ve started to read books that were a bit “meh” on paper, but others were raving about it. So I picked up the audiobook and my outlook changed completely. In those cases I practice “immerse reading” for a more enjoyable experience.

Audiobooks are wildly available in various of platforms. Below are some of the places I’ve used and continue to use.

Vendor Name	Model
Audible	Subscription model
Audiobooks.com	Subscription model
Spotify	15 hrs with subscription; option to add more hrs if needed
Chrip	By purchase
YouTube	Free – limited selection
Google Books	By purchase
Local Library	With Library Card
Authors Pages	By purchase
Audiobook Creators (ie: Graphic Audio)	By purchase

Do you like audiobooks? Where do you get your audiobooks from?