What constitutes a book?

[Celeste de Kai]

Here's something I was wondering about. Since the beginning of the year I began keeping a list of every book that I read, and it's been working out rather nicely so far. Keeping a list allows me to keep track of my reading habits, see how many books I read at a given time and I never forget having read a book!

However, there is one thing that's bothering me - how exactly do I decide on what is book? So far every book that I've put on the list has been a book in the traditional sense - words on paper, even though most of the time the 'paper' was my screen. However, what about audio books?

Should I still record myself as having "read" audio books even though I've actually listened to them? Do they count as books at all, even if the information they present is exactly the same as that of their dead wood counterparts, the only difference being the method of presentation? But if we count an audio book as being a real book, then how long should it be to be considered an audioBOOK and not some sort of audio-pamhlet or audio-magazine? so far most of the audio-books I've found were in the range of 30 hours and up, corresponding to about 350 pages, but some of them were ten and even five hours long. Do they still count as being "books"?

Next what about visual novels? For those of you in the west, a visual novel is a type of Japanese game that is basically a novel...with pictures, sound and dialogue choices. And don't let the 'game' part think that it's something trivial - some of the best selling ones (Fate/Stay for example) are claimed to have been longer than the three books of LoTR combined. But... are they books?

What do you think?

[spirit4711]

The only thing that matters is what you want to record for yourself - traditional book, ebook, audiobook, comics, whatever.

Some people record what movies / DVDs they have seen. Others what music they've heard. Whatever you want to record for yourself.

[Lamusa]

A very revolutionary way to think about what constitutes a book is to do a search on book arts. Also, check out the Center for Book Culture website in NYC. Independent of any mainstream pressure, Book artists have redefined what books are in ways that make sense to them. People make mini-mini books, one page books, 900 page books, 8 page books filled with art and literature, books on wheels, you name it. Just over a year ago, I got into making books and it was one of the most powerful projects I have undertaken. Why? Because I did my own layout, I put whatever I wanted to on a page. I sought no one's approval but my own. If I had thought about it I would have put a voice recorder in it and turned it into an audio book. Trust your mind. Ask yourself the question, what do you define as a book?
I mean think about it. People are books. Nature is a book. Books to me are containers of worlds I can get lost in for hours or days. They are a source of information. Situations are books waiting to be read. You define what a book is to you. Some people may not agree with you but that's okay.

[sidsavara]

Personally I would count audio books, and regular books. Visual novels I'm not sure about =)

If it's audio, I would note if it's abridged or not, but I don't see a problem with counting it. I try to read personally, because I prefer that to listening to it (less opportunity for my mind to wander, and easier for me to start and stop - not sure why)

[spirit4711]

@Celeste: your life just became more complicated: theunbook.com » What is an unbook?

[FazK]

I also keep lists of book i've read and movie's i've watched i find it's a nice way looking back over the pat few months. As for your question i wouldn't count audio books and comics / graphic novels as books. I feel that you need to actually have done a significant amount of reading for something to count as a "book"

[ssandra]

If you are recording it anyway, why not add another column to say which version you "read", such as audio, normal book, etc.

This way you can also keep track of what you read most, which you have "read" in both forms etc.