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What to Do In the CarMay 20 '01 Write an essay on this topic.
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The Bottom Line Audio books are a great addition to any library.
A friend of mine went up to visit her parents by plane. The trip was only a few hundred miles, less than an hour in the air. When a stormfront came in and closed the airport, I got a panicked call, "Please come get me." It had been a hard visit and if she wasn't back for work in two days, she could lose her job. Being the pushover I am, I jumped in the car and started the drive. It was night time and I was alone. What made this middle of the night trip possible? A six pack of diet coke and several audio books including "Dead Souls" by Gogol, "Why Clocks Run Clockwise," "An Incomplete Education," and some romance thing by Danielle Steele. I love my audio books. I miss them terribly here in Israel. I take public transportation now, but buses tend to be jiggly. Reading on a bus is rarely an option, but listening to an audio book gives me an extra time frame in which to take in the latest books. Listening to an audio version of the Little Mermaid with a friend's child before I left, it felt like listening to tapes of the old radio show "Lets Pretend" (without Cream of Wheat commercials.) This child adores audio books. She is too young to read a book, but can "read" these to herself, even in the dark. It has become a godsend to her parents as she has sleep difficulties. Now, she has learned to comfort herself and quietly pop in a tape. She usually falls asleep before it is over. Don't get me wrong, I love paper books. There is something wonderful and visceral in the actual reading of a book or newspaper. I almost always have at least one or two books in my purse. (Today, I have "Yertle the Turtle" and a biography of Pele.) Unfortunately, they are not always practical. There is a double-edged sword in using audio books, of course. When you listen to an audio book, they often dramatize complete with sound effects. Sometimes the original author reads a work, sometimes several actors. By the same token, you lose the opportunity to put your own spin on things that a printed book offers. Audiobooks are available at most public libraries. Many even have best sellers available. There is also audiobookclub.com which has prices as low as $9.95 a book. (Most are more, but there are some for this price.) One of the nice things for computer users with audiobookclub.com is that they often have sample clips from the book on line. You can skim a bit before you order. Also useful is audiobookcentral.com which allows you the option of either buying or renting books. The problem with this location, however, is that there is no description on the site of each book. It is placed into its genre (of which there are many) and then you have to decide from the title. Audio books are a great addition for those of us who want a little extra time to get into stories, but for one reason or another can't deal with the written word.  |
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