This past weekend Sheila (Book Journey) wrote a fantastic post on her love of audiobooks and some great recommendations. But this isn't the first time Sheila has mentioned audiobooks, if you look on her sidebars you'll see what she's listening to in her car, in her kitchen, and on her ipod! I've always loved how Sheila is always moving and reading at the same time.
It was probably when I first started talking to Sheila some two years ago that I started thinking more and more about audiobooks. While I never actually tried to listen to one until just recently, I did find myself thinking about them more than I ever had before. During all of those mundane tasks and chores that I loathe I found myself thinking "Wow, I wish I could multitask" or "I'd so rather be reading a book." Conversations similar to that continued in my head for, as I said, years.
It wasn't until this past spring when I was traveling from SD to ND to visit D and was in the car for 14 hours that I decided "enough was enough" and that I just couldn't waste all that time driving and accomplishing nothing — you know, besides getting from point A to point B in one piece. So I started listening to "Eragon " — a book that I've meaning to read for years. I only listened during the long car trips and even then (I'll admit) I may have switched back to the radio or ipod for a few odd hours at a time. It took me months to finish it and many renewals from the library — but I finished.
By the time I was nearly finished it was the 4th of July weekend and I was headed to Northern Minnesota to visit my parents. D had to work so it was just me and the dog. I knew I'd finish "Eragon" before I was 40 miles away so I stopped by my library and picked up "Wintergirls " — another great "read" that I finished during that one trip.
And then I was done. No more big trips. No more need for audiobooks.
And then all of those thoughts returned: "I'm so bored folding this laundry," "I hate doing dishes," and then the worst: "I wish this darn dog would walk himself." No, really. (This will seem like a random tangent but I swear it relates) So I have this overweight Golden Retriever — Pippin. Throughout my college years Pip obviously stayed with my parents. Now that I am officially an adult with a house and a job and a husband, Pip has come to live with us. D and I are on a mission to "healthy up" his lifestyle with loads of walks, no table scraps, and a strict diet. (I swear this has a point) Pip and I go on about four or five walks a day around our neighborhood with each walk being a half of a mile and fifteen minutes in length. About the time that that last comment erupted into my brain I realized that I was wasting fifteen minutes of my day at least four times a day — an entire hour!
Now "wasting" may be a bit harsh as each of those minutes is being spent with the most lovable overweight dog ever — but still. At about that time I was talked into buying an iPhone. Now (without continuing this tangent longer than necessary) I have an iTouch that I adore and I don't really plan on moving my music over. So with my new "empty" iPhone in tow, we went to the library and I swear got six audiobooks including "All Together Dead," "The Giver," "The Maze Runner," "Speak," "Entwined" and a few others I can't exactly remember at this point. Now, along with Pip, I'm excited for these walks (apart from picking up poop). They no longer feel super tedious and I feel like I'm being productive while actually being productive. I recently finished "The Giver" and "Entwined" on these daily walks with the dog.
I also started listening to audiobooks on my way to and from work (summer school). I found that in one day's running (to work, from work, to the library, to the bank, to the post office, to the grocery store etc) I can almost finish an entire disc! Simply while running errands — isn't that crazy! I thought it would be hard to pick up and put down so many times, but it went really smooth and flawless. I finished "All Together Dead" this way and loved how even the most mundane and boring task (like going to pick up dog food at 10pm because we forgot earlier) is now no longer a waste of time. Now that summer school is out I'm not driving as much anymore this poses a bit of a problem because I do end up forgetting the story line a bit. As a result I've had to take out the audiobook and put it on my iPhone so instead of listening to two audios at a time (walking and driving) I'm really only listening to one (walking and sometimes driving).
Now I listen to books while I do dishes, cook, scrub the floor, clean the bathroom, etc etc.
Since June 1st I've "read" nine books and five of them have been audiobooks and three of those audios have been in the last two weeks! Audiobooks have definitely pulled me out of this summer reading slump I've been in. As a result of Sheila's post I've added even MORE audiobooks to my library loan list and I don't see that stopping for a while. If you're a fan of not wasting time in your busy lifestyle, I highly recommend attempting to listen to an audiobook. Of my limited experience, I'd recommend "Wintergirls" by Laurie Halse Anderson to anyone interested in delving into the world of audio for the first time but I'm sure by the end of the summer I'll have even more audiobooks to recommend.
For the more experience audiobook club, any recommendations?
I told you the whole "dog walking" story had a point.:)