Briggitte Suastegui wanted to return to the source material behind a film adaptation of The Odyssey, but reading The Iliad was difficult. An audiobook suggestion referenced the oral tradition of epic poems, yet she still lost her place while listening alone. She then tried immersive reading by following a physical copy while listening to the audiobook at the same time, which helped her finish and stay engrossed. Educators report using the same approach to support students with dyslexia and ADHD. Online communities increasingly adopt it, with TikTok searches rising sharply. Readers compare it to watching subtitles, and some report better retention, faster reading, and longer periods of focused attention.
"“He was like, 'Well, you know the oral tradition of epic poems, right?'” Suastegui remembered. “'Originally these things were shared down and passed down orally.'” But Suastegui, 29, said she often lost her place while listening. So she took it a step further: She tried reading a physical copy of The Iliad and listening to the audiobook version at the same time. “And that got me through the book,” she said. “I was super engrossed in it.”"
"Several educators told NPR they use the strategy in their classrooms to support students with dyslexia and ADHD. But simultaneous listening and reading is picking up steam among online book communities. Searches for “immersive reading” on TikTok increased nearly 10 times between January and May of 2026, compared to the four months prior and are up 13 times year over year, according to the company. Many TikTok users compare immersive reading to watching a movie with subtitles on."
"Some recommend titles that lend themselves particularly well to listening while reading, including popular BookTok picks like Andy Weir's Project Hail Mary or horror novels like Stephen King's It. With both eyes and ears engaged, some readers say it's easier to enter the world of the book. Some say they retain more. Others say they can read faster. “I did find that I was definitely zoned in more for longer periods of time,” Suastegui said. “Because I couldn't really use my phone for anything else, I couldn't really stop.”"
Read at www.npr.org
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