The thing that is great about books is that they are about everything and they are free! True, you have to go to a library to get them without paying but that is easy. It also makes it handy to look over a collection and find others you don't know about.
But there's more. TV and movies are great when they are good but they often aren't. Besides, you have the ads to deal with. Lately, we have been watching taped re-runs of NCIS, Cheers, and Wings. We have been doing that for about 6 months and are getting a little tired of them. But every book is a script, to be read aloud. Just yesterday, the eleventh novel in our long-running romance with Alexander McCall Smith's series about the traditionally-built lady detective in Botswana, Africa arrived on CD. That means we have 8 and 1/2 hours of listening to Lisette Lecat (le-'cah) read to us. I recently finished listening to "The Bad Samaritans" and am now listening to "Buddhism for Busy People". I have a tape player and a CD player in my car and each time, I run an errand or we take a trip, there is some expert narrator waiting to deliver the words of an author chosen by experts and by popularity for the value of the writing, fiction or non-fiction. Now that we have switched to iPods for things audio, it is even easier to continue with a downloaded audio book on the road or at home.
It pays to note who the narrators are when you find an audio book you like. We have listened to and admired that Lisette Lecat is a name we have both memorized. But I realize while hearing what the Korean economist who teaches at Cambridge University in "The Bad Samaritans" has to say, that some of the clarity and emphasis, some of the retention that seems to comes naturally and easily is actually due to the timing, and expressive voice of the narrator, Jim Bond. Similarly, learning about the trials and decisions that lead David Michie to practice Buddhism to save his life and spirit is more colorful and satisfying because of the skills and qualities of that narrator, Nicholas Bell. On the web sites for Audible.com and RecordedBooks.com, you can find that works any narrator has produced.
This post is later in the day than usual because last night, my wife's personal narrator and his listener simply could not bear to leave less than 10% of "Major Pettigrew's Last Stand" by Helen Simonson to be read aloud later. We had to finish the book then, regardless of the hour. We enjoy reading aloud to each other. We found out about 50 years ago that if we both want to be there at the moment of hearing the joke, the answer, the surprise, reading aloud it a good way to make that happen. So, make a note if you aren't already spending some time doing to so. Listen together or read aloud to each other. It is not just for children. It is too much fun to leave to kiddies.
