Audio Books

CAT STATS

I am reading Diggers Hatters and Whores by Steven Eldred-Grigg

I am listening to Kings of Leon

I'm watching Big Bang Theory

Making me smile Memories of my step-daughter's wedding 2 weeks ago.

While I love my life, love the busy-ness of family, job, friends, writing etc., the one major drawback I have is there is never enough time for all reading I’d like to do – what is the meaning of life, after all, if not to read?

Then one day, I had a flash of inspiration of how to utilize the long drive to work: audio books. Bingo! It was love at first tape.

My first book was so good, however, I soon found I couldn’t restrict it to car hours alone – I was spending way too much time either driving around the block or sitting in car parks listening for the ends of chapters. Instead I was forced to dust off my old walkman and suddenly going on long walks became a treat, not a punishment for one too many chocolates the night before. Housework too was transformed and I found myself doing extras like cleaning the oven window in order to finish the side.

The greatest discovery however, was a cure to insomnia. Having suffered for years and having tried everything from TV at 2am, to reading in the weirdest contortions so the light wouldn’t disturb my husband, I found talking books the instant solution. Now when I wake at 2am, I think, “Oh great!” as I reach for my CD player, my walkman or mp3. Usually the story stops the brain from switching into over-analysis of the day’s events and very often I drift quickly back to sleep. On the nights that I don’t, I just get more book time. Win win.

Audio books have made me view writers differently. Maeve Binchy’s novels are superb because she has an excellent ear for dialogue (and I’m always a sucker for an Irish accent). The No. 1 Lady Detective series is even better with the melodic patterning of the Botswana accent. It’s also given me a new appreciation of layout. Sometimes I have to get the printed book out of the library after listening to it because I have a craving to see how the story was laid out upon the page. A writer’s choice of chapters, sections, even paragraphs is idiosyncratic and can be almost as powerful as the words themselves.

Best of all, at my local library, the collection is small. This means I have to browse out of my comfort zone. I cannot turn to favourite authors, rely on preferred genres. I have discovered absolute pearls quite by chance. Currently I’m listening to Skeletons at the Feast by Chris Bohjalian. I’d never heard of him before but I’ve already ordered two more of his novels.

If anyone out there has any thoughts about talking books or has discovered other ways to make more time for reading, I’d love to hear about them.