Audio Books
It’s been a long love affair–an on-again, off-again sort of thing. Each time I rediscover this old passion of mine, I go overboard for a while, immersing myself completely. Maybe too completely. Before long, I become distracted, preoccupied with the next time we’re together again.
Just me and my latest audio book.
Please excuse the melodramatics. It’s a side effect of the company I’ve been keeping while commuting these past couple of weeks. Some of the books I listen to tend to rub off on me. Before this last one (”Little Earthquakes” by Jennifer Weiner), it was “I Don’t Know How She Does It” by Allison Pearson, performed by a British reader with a quite lovely voice. The more I listened, the more difficult it became not to try to copy her accent. It’s a book with a bonus.
I’ve always loved reading–loved few things more than curling up with a book for hours on end. I used to have several books going at the same time (one in the kitchen that I’d read with breakfast, one on my nightstand, another in the bathroom, one in my car in case I got stuck somewhere dull). But ever since my daughter was born, I’ve found it difficult to get time to read. It can take ages now to finish a book, and so much time often passes between when I put a book down and when I pick it up again that I forget what’s going on.
That isn’t a problem with audio books. I’m always in my car. Sometimes it feels like I live in my car. I start and end work days with a 25-minute (if I’m lucky) commute, although when I’m involved in a book, I consider myself lucky when traffic is slow.
The National Endowment for the Arts reported that although fewer Americans are reading than a decade ago, nearly a third more are listening to audio books, which account for about 3 percent of books sold. In the past, people who listened to books rather than read them were stigmatized, as if they were lazy or not really reading. That’s still the case, to some degree, but advances in technology, however, now make it possible to store three or four books on a tiny iPod. Suddenly, we who listen to audio books are seen as techno savvy.
Much as I adore this “lazy” way of enjoying a book, there are still several downsides. For instance, a bad narrator can ruin a book you might otherwise love. I bought my daughter one of my childhood favorites, “A Wrinkle In Time.” The book was read by the author, but her accent and speech impediment was so distracting that it sometimes made entire passages hard to understand.
I also miss being able to flip back to reread a particularly well-written passage. When I read something especially good, I often try to figure out just what made that part work. That isn’t so easy to do when you can’t look at the words.
At the same time, though, when I’m reading an actual book, I often skim over parts I deem too descriptive. Doing that, I now realize, can really lessen the feel of a book. I’ve also noticed that I seem to absorb more of a book I’ve listened to far longer than one I’ve read the old fashioned way. It stays with me longer, feels more real. But only if done by a competent reader. It all hinges on that.
My all-time favorite writer, David Sedaris, reads most of his own work. His sense of timing is perfect. No one else could do it the way that he does. But I recently abandoned a good story because the reader made nearly every sentence sound as though it ended with a question mark, and my father-in-law just gave away a CD set he’d been wanting after discovering the reader’s voice was just too grating to bear.
I will always prefer to have a book in my hands, to be able to dog-ear pages, highlight passages, jot notes in the margins. But until my life slows enough that I can do that again, I’ll continue happily haunting the aisles in the library’s Audio Visual department, looking for love . . . on a CD.
MINI REVIEWS OF RECENT AUDIO BOOKS I’VE LISTENED TO
DEAR ZOE by Philip Beard (2004) — This was a FANTASTIC book. One of my favorite reads in a long, long time. The premise for the book struck me as strange — letters written by a 15-year-old girl to her 4-year-old sister Zoe, who was killed on 9-11 by a hit and run driver. The realistic way the story covered grief and the aftermath of something that tragic were handled so impressively that I was compelled to look up interviews with the author online to see if he’d actually lost a child himself. (He didn’t.) Equally impressive is that a 40-ish man could write in the voice of a 15-year-old girl as convincingly as he did. This was Beard’s first novel. His next, “Lost in the Garden,” will be on sale May 4, 2006.
ON THE ROAD by Jack Kerouac (1955) — Although I can’t say I completely enjoyed this book–it seemed repetitive in parts–listening to it left me feeling as though I was actually on a trip myself. Never before has a book triggered such wanderlust in me, and to be honest, it also triggered a bit of regret that I’ve never experienced that kind of reckless freedom.
DAVID SEDARIS BOX SET (2002) — I actually bought this for myself, and for someone who has difficulty parting with money, that says much right there. I already own all the Sedaris books, but wanted the CDs too since he and his sister, Amy, perform the stories. It was money well spent. This man is just the most incredible writer. He can tell a serious story about his mom having lung cancer or his childhood battle with obsessive-compulsive disorder, and he tells it in such a way that you’re cracking up while feeling like you’re experiencing the pain or the problem at the same time. How the heck does he do that? He’s the writer version of a singer with perfect pitch.
DAY OF THE DEAD by J.A. Jance (2004) — This is HORRIBLE. The reader is bad, the story is bad, the writing is bad. I hate that I wasted an hour or so trying to get into it. Major stinker.
TWISTED by Jeffrey Deaver (2004) — Short stories just don’t get much better than this. I checked this one out because I liked Deaver’s book, THE BONE COLLECTOR, and I was not disappointed. This is an excellent collection of shorts. Deaver does not waste a word. Every sentence moves the story forward or serves a purpose. The man is a clean, clean writer. A few of the stories in this collection are just okay, but there are others, like the WEEKENDER, that totally blew me away. There are some writers I just read (or listen to) and others that I want to study to figure out how they do it. Deaver (and Sedaris and Beard) are writers of the studying caliber.
I just checked out THE BREAKDOWN LANE by Jacquelyn Mitchard and so far, so good. I’m always looking for recommendations, too. Anyone? (Is anyone even out there?)
March 17th, 2006 at 8:02 pm
Oh my gosh! I am so glad to read that you listen to books. I work for the U.S.P.S. and we can listen to stuff on headsets. I always have a book to listen to. It makes the time go by so much faster!
I also agree with you about the readers voice and accent. If I can not get into the book in the first half an hour or so, I will not finish it. Some of the readers are born to read to you. My all-time favorite readers is Lori Petty. She does most of the Stephanie Plum novels by Janet Evanovich.
Thanks for the recommendations for more books. I will look for all of them to listen to at work!
March 17th, 2006 at 8:13 pm
As far as recommendations for you go, I have to say I love:
Nicolas Sparks - “The Rescue”
James Patterson - The Womens Murder Club series -
“1st to Die”
“2nd Chance”
“3rd Degree”
“4th of July”
“5th Horseman”
Karen Kingsbury - “Oceans Apart”
Those are just a few. If you need anymore just ask. I have a whole list since I have been listening to books for almost 3 years!
Enjoy!!!!!
March 17th, 2006 at 8:39 pm
I have only two recommendations (because my brain doesn’t function late at night) The first is “Watchers” by Dean Koontz simply because the story revolves around an intelligent dog and a couple he brings together. The second is “Good In Bed” by Jennifer Weiner (reminds me of “Little Earthquakes”). I think you’d enjoy them! Thanks for the reviews… gives me something new to look for
March 18th, 2006 at 11:16 am
Thanks for the recommendations! I’ve started a list. Sounds like we have similar taste. I wish I could listen to books at work, too, but I can’t even listen to music. You’re lucky.
Where do you get your audio books? Do you subscribe to one of those services?
I haven’t read (or listened to) a Dean Koontz book for a while, but “Watchers,” with its dog element, sounds like something I’d really like.
March 18th, 2006 at 12:19 pm
I get all of my books from the library. So far I haven’t ran out of stuff to listen to, so I have not looked anywhere else. What services are you talking about? I may have to check into something like that.
I reserved Dear Zoe. It sounds like a tear jerker. I really enjoy those kind of books.
If you have any more recommendations, I would greatly appreciate it!
March 18th, 2006 at 3:35 pm
In “Watchers”, the couple think of an unusual way to communicate with the dog. It makes me wonder if my two furry kids could tell me what they’re thinking, I’d bet the farm (if I had one) that they would have some of the same smart comments
March 19th, 2006 at 8:43 am
There are some audio book services that operate kind of like NetFlix, where you get several rentals a month for a set fee. I figure I’ll go through everything at the library first.
I’m interested in your opinion on Dear Zoe. It’s really not as much of a tearjerker as you’d think. Wish I belonged to a book club so I could get a discussion going on it.
I’m going to go reserve Watchers now. That sounds cool. Does it have a good ending?
March 19th, 2006 at 10:09 am
Yeah it would be nice to be able to discuss books in a group. I have a couple that I have recently listened to that I would like to discuss with others!
I have thought of another book that you should listen to (if you have not already). It is called “Chill Factor” by Sandra Brown. I just finished it this past week, and it is wonderful!
When I finish Dear Zoe, I will let you know my opinion!
March 19th, 2006 at 10:54 am
I’ve read at least one Sandra Brown book before–think it was called “Long Time Coming” or something like that. I hadn’t heard of this one. I used to go through SO many books before I had Celeste. Now I mostly read kid books, although (thank goodness) she’s now at the age where the books are more fun to read. She’s reading some by Henry Winkler right now that are pretty good.
March 20th, 2006 at 6:29 am
Umm… Little Earthquakes was written by Jennifer Weiner. Probably not that important.
March 20th, 2006 at 6:30 am
This post has been removed by the author.
March 20th, 2006 at 6:46 am
Hehehe… I work for one of those Netflix-for-audiobooks companies (which is how I found this blog/post/discussion).
I totally agree about David Sedaris… he really is just too incredible. Augusten Burroughs is another really entertaining memoirist.
Recently I’ve been on a real Douglas Adams kick, and The Long, Dark Teatime of the Soul, read by the author, was excellent.
March 20th, 2006 at 7:32 am
Primalscreamx - Thanks for the catch on the Jennifer Cruise/Jennifer Weiner thing. I’ve corrected it in the story. I had audio books by both authors on my desk to return and got them transposed.
Ninjakitten - Thanks for the suggestions. Which company do you work for?
March 20th, 2006 at 11:56 am
While I’m not a “listener”, I do read quite a bit and I agree with Missy’s recomendation of “Watchers”. It is a great story; highly improbable, but, as written by Koontz, totally believable. I spent a couple of very late nights reading because I couldn’t put it down. HOWEVER…please do not make the mistake that I made and rent the movie versions. There were two (both made in the 1980’s, I think,) the second being closer to the story lines of the actual book, but both were truly terrible. I happened to run across them at the video store and just had to rent them. Please, stick with the book or audio version and let the “video” exist in you mind.
March 20th, 2006 at 1:22 pm
Thanks for the warning about the video versions. I probably would’ve been tempted if I’d seen them.
March 20th, 2006 at 1:43 pm
“Watchers” has a good ending! And I know if I keep talking about it, I’ll end up spilling it!
Even though I remember most of the story, I’ll break it out once a year to read again. (dorky, huh?) I can’t wait to hear what you think of it.
I completely agree with maicomike -renting the video of a book you really enjoyed is usually a disappointment. I read Stephen King’s “The Stand” and was excited that a tv movie was being made about it… then I saw the movie. Maybe it wouldn’t have been so bad if I hadn’t read the book beforehand. The characters were already pictured in my mind and not for one second did Molly Ringwald seem to fit any of them. That’s just my opinion
March 20th, 2006 at 4:45 pm
Some rules for audio listening that I have gathered over the past five years listening to audio books at work:
Try to stay away from abridgments, most of the time they leave out a great deal of the book.
While I don’t enjoy reading Danielle Steele, ( sorry all you fans, but she is way to predictable for my tastes) her audio books are easy to listen to and the reader, most generally a man, always has a nice reading voice. My pick of hers would be, “Mirror Image”
Anything on the “old” Oprah book list.
Anything by Ann Rule. She is a non fiction writer of true murder mysteries.
James Patterson, Nicholas Sparks are good choices.
Sandra Brown is an easy listen if you like a lot of romance.
Here lately I have been going to the juvenile section and checking those out. A recent favorite is
“Belle Prater’s Boy” by Ruth White.
At work we always check our “books” out at the library. You can also use the online library catalog if you know exactly what you want and they will hold it for you and even ship it to which ever library you would like to pick it up from.
Cracker Barrel has an audio book rental program, although I am not sure of the fee.
If I can think of anything else I’ll post it.
March 20th, 2006 at 5:33 pm
Missy is right…the movie versions of most books are a let-down at best. Some other older Koontz books you may be interested in are “Whispers” and “Lightning”. Both are excellent books. “Whispers” has a dynamite ending, and, for the record, at one point in “Lightning” I was beginning to think that Mr.Koontz had resorted to plagarism. The story involves time-travel and is reminiscent of the first installment of a very popular movie trilogy. But, alas, my fears were soon put to rest. This plot is so much better. Happy Reading!
March 20th, 2006 at 8:51 pm
Another great book is a new one by Kristin Hannah called “Magic Hour”. If you listen to it you have to let me know what you think!
March 21st, 2006 at 8:41 am
missy — I know what you mean about The Stand. That was one of the worst book adaptations I’ve ever seen, other than The Running Man (Stephen King short story).
The Stand is the book I take out and read again every few years. I bet I’ve read it 5 or 6 times. I’ve done that with Lonesome Dove and Gone With The Wind, too.
March 23rd, 2006 at 12:39 pm
Karin, I have to say this is yet another reason why I read your column & blog… the things you write make it seem as if I’m talking to a long time friend
March 23rd, 2006 at 3:30 pm
Thanks, Missy. I appreciate that. Up until the pup and audio book discussions, I was wondering if anyone was coming here. I wish this was set up more like a message board where we could start strings and gab. (Although I’d never get any work done if it was.)
March 24th, 2006 at 4:21 pm
Ooooh! A message board would be great! After finding your blog, I finally signed up to post on here and even commented on some of the older topics (too little too late for a discussion like this one). Wish I had signed on sooner. If you ever have a message board, I doubt any of us would get anything other than posting done
March 25th, 2006 at 12:11 pm
Missy — I’ll talk to our internet guys and see if there’s any way they can rig something like that. I think it would be fun.
March 31st, 2006 at 9:10 pm
Well I just finished Dear Zoe. I really love this book. You were right about it not being as big of a tearjerker as I thought. I still cried throughout it, but I also laughed too. It was well written (at least I think so).