Friday, February 29, 2008

For The Love of Audio Books

I've strayed from audio books. There are several reasons. I love to hold the actual book in my hands. If it's new, I love the smell of it when I first open the book. If it's from the library, yeah, not so much. The freshness, the newness, the possibilities......I love to read the written word. I love to read the words and descriptions and form the mental pictures in my mind, sorta of transform my mind to see if I can grasp the world the author is trying to create with the book.
But, as with many things, there's always a drawback. I have a nasty fault. I will admit it here, but please, don't judge too harshly. When I'm reading a book, I will often start the story, and pick up the pace and chug away with it. Then (here's the nasty part), I ALWAYS go and read the ending! Can you believe it? I do go back and finish the story, but.....I have to read that ending! No, there has never been a time when I didn't read this way. I even did this with the last Harry Potter book. Hey, I had to know......

Now with my new job, and lots of time spent in my car, I took a trip to the library and checked out an audio book to try. I've had them before, but haven't really gotten caught up in using them. WOW - I didn't know what I was missing. These past two weeks, I've been listening to "The Kite Runner" by Khaled Hosseini.

I know, I'm a little late to the party, but it was a spectacular read! I was actually worried that the author's accent might distract me, but I found it to be most helpful in setting the story for me, personally. And guess what? I did NOT put the last disc into my car after the first one (the equivalent of my nasty habit of reading the ending first), and WOW, did the book ever hold my attention (not that it wouldn't have anyway, because it's a fabulous novel). I found myself seated in my driveway at night listening to the end of a chapter or disc. Last night, I could take it no longer, and listened to the last 3 discs after the kids went to bed. Tears were running down my cheeks at times. Small smiles escaped my lips at other times. Fear gripped my heart at times. It's all one can hope for from a book. What a wonderful first novel for Hosseini. I hope the movie doesn't spoil it at all.

So, if you've never tried audio books - take a moment to consider them. They are perfect for knitting/crocheting/scrapbooking, or just anytime, really. It's lovely to just knit away, and take in stories of far-away places and people, as the snow just continues to fall, fall, fall.

Happy weekend!

5 comments:

Unknown said...

I loved that book. It's amazing! And what better way to spend your commute!

Kay said...

Good for you "reading" the audio books as you are on the road. Have you read this months selection for book club? We are reading Animal Farm...I guess I better put down The Queen's Fool and try to read the "required" reading!

peaknits said...

Love audio books too when I find myself facing a car ride - loved Marley and Me read by the author! The Kite Runner was awesome, I kind of want to see the movie now - it can't possibly be as good though, right? I have that author's next book on my pile - hope it is half as wonderful!

KnittingMoose said...

I really should give them another try...the only time I listened to one was on a long drive once, but I found I couldn't follow along easily, and so I sort of "wrote them off"...hehe. But you may have inspired me to try them again, especially for knitting!

nejyerf said...

audio books were a godsend when i had long commute made even longer by NJ traffic.

i've "read" so many books that way.

and i too have found it very hard stop listening when i turned into my driveway.

i listened to the davinci code on the ride up to visit my sister in VT and missed my exit off the thruway i was that enthralled.

i really enjoyed the kiterunner. but i'm debating whether not to see the movie.