Getting Lost In The Story, With Audiobooks

I’m not a very “trendy” person, especially when it concerns these new-fangled electronic thingies. I don’t own an iPod. I don’t lust for an iPhone. About the time I got interested in using my VCR to play movies, DVDs became popular. In fact, I only began using my computer in earnest a few years ago. I’m just a Neanderthal. That’s not me in the picture. My mustache isn’t that heavy (yet)!

For years, librarian friends have urged me to use “books on tape.” They knew how many hours I spend in a car and thought that might make the road seem less tiresome. The books actually are on CDs these days (but I can’t make myself call them “audiobooks” or “books on CD.”)

I sneered at them.

It seemed like a sacrilege! Books are to be caressed in the hand, as you curl up on the couch to read them. Actually, I caress the book with one hand and a chocolate bar with the other. I didn’t want to listen to some unseen voice read the book in a monotone. I’m a storyteller! I expect a vivid telling of the story.

However, I finally broke down and tried books on tape. We were headed out on a long road trip and although my husband and I enjoy conversation … we wanted diversion. We could have listened to music, but then we would have been fussing about whether to rock out to Queen or listen to Joey DeFrancesco’s organ music. The Queen would have been my choice. My husband has very esoteric musical tastes (but then you can’t have “esoteric” without Eric).

We went to the local library and checked out a Marcia Muller mystery and a collection of the “Jeeves” stories by P.G. Wodehouse. I confess it took me a few minutes to get into the Brit slang of the Jeeves stories (I’m Texan, remember), but once I did I was fully engaged in the tales.

I have to tell you that I seriously loved having those taped books. The actors reading them did a much better job than I expected. Listening to them did seem to make the miles fly. It didn’t keep my ankles from swelling into sausages or keep my butt from hurting.

By the time we were ready to come home, we had listened to them all and were facing two days of solid driving with no diversion. Since we didn’t have a library card in Savannah, we stopped at the first Cracker Barrel Restaurant we saw. Cracker Barrel restaurants along highways in the South are as numerous as Starbucks Coffeehouses in San Francisco. You can’t swing a dead cat without hitting one.

At Cracker Barrel, you can rent books on tape. You have to pay the full price of the book, but when you turn it back in at any Cracker Barrel along your path you are refunded all but about $4. I found a Janet Evanovich novel…I like mysteries, but it was only so-so. The treasure I found was the first part of the Golden Compass series: Northern Lights/The Golden Compass. Jessica the Rock Chick had reviewed it favorably back in December. I decided to try it, after all I had already gotten my own “daemon” some time back.

The daemon you get is supposed to indicate your character and nature. I had to answer questions three times to get the character and nature I wanted for myself!

I haven’t seen the movie, but the books on tape are marvelous! It has a full cast of characters reading it, so it’s almost like seeing the movie — if you have an imagination.

In fact, that tape was so enthralling that we got home and I ran out to our library that very day to check out the rest of the series!

I know I should have been using books on tape for the last few years. Next time, I’ll listen when a librarian gives me a recommendation.

But, I have found one teensy problem with listening to those taped books. You see, I get all caught up in the story. It’s probably more dangerous for me to listen to taped books than it is for me to talk on a cell phone when I drive! And, if I get “lost in the story,” I’m apt to miss a turn on the road and really get lost!

Celeste, Texas? That wasn’t on the itinerary!

Ahem.

Other posts you might enjoy:

1. Duct Tape. Don’t Get Stuck Without It.
2. The Librarian Is Your Friend
3. How Do I Sort These Books?
4. Bibliophile or Bibliomaniac?
5. Finding New Homes For The Books

Tagged as: Artsy Fartsy Stuff, books, review