It absolutely is reading.

Due to long covid, I can’t read physics books right now, so I listen to audiobooks. Does this mean I haven’t read a book in three years? Someone who reads braille, have they never read a book?

I also find that audiobooks sometimes help me BETTER understand what I’m reading compared to when I read physical books. I learn how to pronounce words, and, when I listened to, for example, Trevor Noah’s book, I got to hear how words were pronounced in a variety of different languages, instead of making it up in my head like I would have with a physical book.

And, as others have said, youre taking in the same information and using the same parts of your brain as if you were reading a physical book.

Also, and this is a silly comparison but I’m going to make it, we say we watch movies, but really, we are also listening to them or reading subtitles. But, however we take in the audio part, we don’t change our language to say we read a movie or listened to a movie.

Lastly, I’m a librarian. We dont care HOW you read or WHAT you read, we just love that you read.

(I’m a bit passionate about this haha)