“but listening to an audiobook of the same exact book is assur?”
I think Rav Aryeh Kaplan illustrated the great error in how melacha is defined as he opened one of his seforim on shabbos as follows. “A couple lives on the 17th floor (I dont remember the floow number but it is irrelevant) of a high rise building. When they come home after shul it is considered a “melacha” if they push the call button for the elevator, yet it is not considered work for them to walk up all 17 flights”.
Is the question in this thread a melacha? Is is a zilzul shabbos in some way? If you derive pleasure from this activity do you get credit for oneg shabbos? Im not thoroughly familiar with all of hilchos shabbos and the nosei keilim to say definitively one way or another. I do follow the smell test though. This doesnt smell right to me.