Another word for 'audience'

Question

How else can you refer to an audience, beside as audience, when you mean people who are reading a book?

I have thought of:

audience

readership

readers/reader

etc

To clarify: I want words that refer to the audience of a text - doesn't have to be a book per se. So, in this sentence it would be "The simile makes the _ feel happy" where _ is replaced with audience, readers, us, etc..

Answer 1

With regard to books, the traditional way is to refer to "the reader" (singular). This means the typical reader. Sometimes this phrasing is even used within a book (especially in a Preface) to avoid saying you. "the reader should note that...." Likewise "the author" is sometimes used to avoid saying I or we.

Answer 2

An audience can be people watching a performance. The noun audience can describe all the people watching a performance, or the part of the general public interested in a specific type of information or entertainment.

• people who are reading a book can be called an audience or simply readers.

Also, readership is when the audience is reached by written communications (books or magazines or newspapers etc.)

Answer 3

You can think of lector which is a word you are looking for.

Meaning: Lector is a person who reads aloud. The word I am suggesting is specific to book audience which is you are looking for (not exactly).

For others who are asking for dictionary I had referred, I had searched on google for specific need. But for your shack of knowledge:

Oxford dictionary :

A reader, especially someone who reads lessons in a church service.