Reading Audio Readers

Book Consumption in the Streaming Age

Karl Berglund (Uppsala University, Sweden)

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English

Bloomsbury Academic
07 August 2025

Literary studies: from c 1900 -; Sociology: sport & leisure; Media, information & communication industries

Series: Bloomsbury Studies in Digital Cultures

The first computational study of reading to focus on audiobooks, this book uses a unique and substantial set of reader consumption data to show how audiobooks and digital streaming platforms affect our literary culture. Offering an academic perspective on the kind of user data hoard we associate with tech companies, it asks: when it comes to audiobooks, what do people really read, and how and when do they read it?

Tracking hundreds of thousands of readers on the level per user and hour, Reading Audio Readers combines computational methods from cultural analytics with theoretical perspectives from book history, publishing studies, and media studies. In doing so, it provides new insights into reading practices in digital platforms, the effects of the audiobook boom, and the business-models for book publishing and distribution in the age of streamed audio.

By: Karl Berglund (Uppsala University Sweden)
Imprint: Bloomsbury Academic
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 234mm, Width: 156mm, Spine: 25mm
Weight: 454g
ISBN: 9781350358409
ISBN 10: 1350358401
Series: Bloomsbury Studies in Digital Cultures
Pages: 208
Publication Date: 07 August 2025
Audience: Professional and scholarly , Undergraduate
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active

List of figures List of tables Acknowledgements Introduction: Audiobook reading on digital display 1. Understanding book streaming services 2. Bestsellers and beststreamers: Genre reading 3. The re-emergence of the old: Backlist and frontlist reading 4. Voices leading the streams? Narrated reading 5. The reading hours of the day and night: Temporal reading 6. Repeaters, swappers and constant readers: Expanded reading Conclusion: Listen up to the reading data References Index

Karl Berglund is Assistant Professor of Literature at Uppsala University, Sweden.

Reviews for Reading Audio Readers: Book Consumption in the Streaming Age

"""This fascinating book collects Berglund's research on streamed audiobook ""readership"" patterns and influence ... Any library supporting undergraduate or graduate degrees in literature or communications will want to acquire this well-documented and excellently written book."" --CHOICE ""Berglund has managed to gain access to the kind of industry data other researchers only dream about. His study of audiobook listeners and subscription streaming in Sweden explodes some of our most deeply entrenched assumptions about how, when, and what people read."" --James English, John Welsh Centennial Professor of English, University of Pennsylvania, USA ""How can the users of Storytel transform our ideas about reading, books, and bookselling? Anyone who cares about what readers do, and how publishing is changing because of audiobooks should read this compelling and uniquely researched book."" --Danielle Fuller, Professor in English and Film Studies, The University of Alberta, Canada"