Reading Beyond Books: What Counts As Reading?

Let’s Talk Bookish is a weekly meme created by Rukky @ Eternity Books and co-hosted by Aria @Book Nook Bits and Dini @ DiniPandaReads! In this discussion meme, participants get to talk about certain topics, share opinions, and spread the love by visiting each other’s posts! Learn more about LTB, past topics and future topics HERE.

Reading Beyond Books

This week’s Let’s Talk Bookish is Reading Beyond Books. As a librarian, I was excited to see this topic pop up, because it’s something that’s near and dear to my heart! When we think of reading, most people think of books . . . but what does it actually mean to read? According to Webster’s dictionary, to read is to have the ability to look at and comprehend the meaning of written or printed matter. That’s pretty ambiguous, and you might notice how books aren’t mentioned anywhere in it! Yet, I see so much gatekeeping around the idea of reading.

I got into book blogging all those years ago precisely because I loved reading, and I wanted to talk to others who shared that passion. Not to gatekeep or pass judgment on whether what they’re doing really “counts,” but to participate in something I love (and possibly even spread it, if I’m extremely lucky).

What “Counts” As Reading?

If I had a nickel for every time I was asked this question . . . well, I could probably afford the fancy (expensive) master’s degree I had to get to become a Librarian. People are oddly concerned about whether or not things count as reading once you move away from the traditional book. In my line of work, that comes up a lot around library reading programs.

I’ll try to keep my answer as brief as possible . . . if you are reading, then it COUNTS, whatever it is.

It seems absolutely crazy to me that we, as a society, are gatekeeping the act of reading! As if people will only benefit if they read books, and everything else is somehow lesser than. Readers get the same benefits from reading, whether it’s fanfiction or novels. Both stimulate cognitive processes, expand the vocabulary, promote critical thinking and processing skills, teach empathy and social skills, and reduce stress. Plus, both are fun. This, of course, extends to other forms of reading, too, including magazines, poetry, short fiction, etc. Heck, in this day and age, there are things that aren’t always considered like CreepyPasta and even social media like Reddit. I can’t get my daughter to touch a book now that she’s a teenager, but she enjoys reading these text-based horror stories she found (and I’m not-so-secretly thrilled that she’s reading anything at this point).

What About Graphic Novels and Audiobooks?

In the library world, the push for graphic novels (and manga) has been huge. Our middle grade and YA readers absolutely devour them! Inevitably, we have parents who complain that this isn’t “really” reading. I think you can guess my stance on this, as well. (If not, see the definition above!)

In fact, graphic novels are incredibly useful tools for engaging struggling and reluctant readers. If a child won’t pick up a traditional novel but loves graphic novels, why would anyone discourage that interest? Graphic novels can also be less daunting for readers who are struggling, because the amount of words on the page feels more manageable, even though studies have shown that the level of complexity of graphic novels isn’t less than full-text books at the same level.

Graphic novels also encourage graphic literacy, which is an often overlooked skill. Graphic literacy is the ability to understand, interpret, and use information presented in various graphical formats. Later in life (or even in a school setting), this may look like interpreting charts, graphs, diagrams, and tables, or being able to successfully interpret posters, ads, etc. This involves interpreting, understanding, and evaluating visual stimulus, which is obviously a pretty crucial skill to have.

As far as audiobooks go, I’ve done posts in the past about why audiobooks are important. What graphic novels are to visual literacy, audiobooks are the same for auditory literacy. In addition to the benefits reading already provides, audiobooks also help with verbal fluency, language acquisition, and the overall ability to pick up auditory clues.

Graphic novels and audiobooks can also be a matter of accessibility. Both may be easier for those with reading disabilities such as dyslexia to be able to read. They’re also a game-changer for people with aphantasia, who may not enjoy reading as much due to their inability to form mental images. That’s not even to mention, of course, readers with visual impairments that may prefer audiobooks.

If Not Books . . . What Else Do I Read?

Obviously, I read a lot of books—novels, novellas, audiobooks, graphic novels, manga, light novels. I like to experiment, so I read a little bit of everything. But books aren’t the end-all, be-all. If you’re looking for something else to read (or something else to encourage your littles to read), here are some of my favorite non-book reads:

• Magazines – My love for magazines started young, when I was absolutely obsessed with highlights and Zoobooks. My magazine reading these days is less exciting. It mostly consists of library-related magazines like Booklist and American Libraries, and the occasional National Geographic.
  
• Poetry – Technically, there are absolutely poetry books, but that doesn’t always have to be the case. I enjoy discovering poets randomly online. Two that I particularly enjoy following are Brian Bilston, with his brilliant (and often punny) play on words, and Len Pennie, whose spoken poetry is utterly brilliant.
  
• Recipes – This is something I’m a fan of encouraging my daughter to read because . . . phew, that child’s ability to follow instructions is . . . something. So I like to look up random recipes that we can make together. To be honest, her contributions to our random recipe list usually comes from TikTok . . . but I am old and tired, and there’s only so much I can do on that front!
  
• Fanfiction – I’ll be perfectly honest . . . I don’t read fanfiction nearly as much as I used to. I still encourage it, though, because our tweens and teens generally love fanfiction, even if we can’t convince them to read something else. My teen sister always used to say she hated reading, but I’d catch her reading hundreds of pages of fanfiction. (I did not correct her, because I understand how teen rebellion works, thank you very much.)
  
• Reddit posts – I could expand this to social media in general, but if I’m honest, I really only read Reddit, for better or worse. I obviously follow professional subreddits (Facebook groups, too), where I can read more about professional subjects, but I also enjoy the traditional r/AmITheAsshole and r/AmIOverreacting drama posts. I also like being able to discover interesting new subreddits and tidbits I don’t expect! A subreddit I recently discovered that I enjoy is r/humansarespaceorcs.
  
• YouTube Narrators – This is a weird little world that exists somewhere between podcasts and audiobooks. I love listening to true crime and mysteries from storytellers like MrBallen (though he also has a podcast, I first discovered him on YouTube) or CreepyPasta type stories from channels like Lighthouse Horror or Lets Read.
  
• Blogs – This one feels obvious . . . y’know, because you’re here. Mostly what I read are book blogs, but I also branch out from time to time.

There are obviously other things that could be mentioned here that aren’t what I would call my favorites. For example, I read the local newspaper so I stay up-to-date with happenings in my small town. I also read more than my fair share of research articles and studies, and while I often find them interesting, I wouldn’t say they’re particularly exciting.

I also use closed captioning whenever I can, due to some hearing loss from when I was younger. It really comes in handy when learning or brushing up on other languages, too!

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