  listen to the book Various posts and comments (on this and other blogs) by urlLink Dan, urlLink Heather and myself have prompted me to pose a unique question to the general population, particularly those of you who read a lot of books: if you listen to an unabridged audio book, can you tell someone in all honesty that you've "read the book? " Personally, I think you can. You've digested every word that's been printed (again, we're talking unabridged ), it just so happens that you listened to it (word for word) instead of read it.
I, for one, went through a lengthy audiobook obsession in the mid-late nineties. From 1994 to 1995, I lived in Virginia Beach, and commuted by myself by car to my job at a TV station in downtown Norfolk -- about a 45-minute drive each way. I checked out unabridged audiobooks from the local library on a regular basis and it made my commute a hundred times more pleasant, particularly when sitting in traffic. Later, when living and working in Italy (1996-1999), I resumed this habit -- although a good chunk of that time was spent owning a beat-up, primer-red 1982 Alfa Romeo sedan with a beat-up boombox in the passenger seat serving as a tape deck.
But it did the trick. One time I got a little obsessive -- I had an audiobook of "The Hunt For Red October" in my car and the printed book at home. I went back and forth between listening to the tapes in the car and reading the book at home. This may be one of the reasons my marriage didn't work out.
Once again, I implore anyone looking into passing their commuting time by reading audio books to get unabridged versions -- they're a bit harder to find and more expensive, but definitely worth it. Also, since the price of these items tends to be a little on the expensive side (depending on the size of the book and the amount of CDs or tapes required), I would look into checking them out from your local library. 
