One thing I know about myself is that I go through phases. Some days, I have an appetite for music and prefer to use anytime I have to listen to some of my favorite songs. Other-times, it’s podcasts, radio-dramas, books on tape, and so on. Right now, I’m really into listening to books on tapes…especially since Audible just released the Harry Potter series. I’m on book 3 a
nd don’t really see an end in sight. I love the performance that is being done by the artist reading it and it really allows me to escape the mundane, muggle world for a while. I’m pretty picky about the books I listen to. First, they have to be unabridged. If I’m going to spend time ‘reading’, I don’t want someone to decide for me what is and what isn’t important. Secondly, they have to be a good reader (or multiple good readers). If I feel like I’m in a lecture of that teacher in college that just drones on and on, I don’t want any part in it. Finally, The reader really needs to be able to capture the book. This is incredibly subjective and I’ll know it when I find it but once I do I generally will look for these readers above and beyond others. Of all the qualities, I think this one is the most important for me. I’m not limited to science-fiction or even fiction. I’ve enjoyed books on tape from all sorts of subjects and have really enjoyed the many that I have ready. I still read ‘normal’ books and have been doing a fair number of these but I’ve been rereading stuff that I first read in high school and as a young adult. Back then, I was more interested in saying I read the book than what the book was about. Anyone that is interested in trying this out, I would highly recommend Audible. Some of my favorite readers include:
Jim Dale (the Harry Potter series)
Luke Daniels (the Iron Druid series)
Chris Harwick (a Nerdist series)
Marc Thompson (several Star Wars series)
Michael Kramer, Kate Reading (Wheel of Time series)
It shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone that knows me that most of the books I like are science fiction and fantasy…though I have a fair number of history and politics on the list. For those of you that don’t know, Hello, my name is Steve.
Of course, the actual reason for this post is not to get people to start listening to Audible books (though if anyone made the plunge
on my suggestion…coolness!!!). I”m long overdue for a change and haven’t really been able to make the switch. I’ve tried a couple of times and music is fine and I’ll listen to that for a while but I honestly can’t get past a minute or two of politics. I can honestly say this isn’t because I don’t like politics (I like it a lot) but I’m really just sick of it and don’t really see an end in sight. Even if you take Trump out of the whole situation, the only thing that the different factions seem to be doing is pitting one person against another. The days of the great compromises and building a better society as a team seem long gone or something I might listen to on an Audible book about the good ‘ol days of early American history (you know, the 50s, 60s and 70s). Now it seems more like a race than a process to run the government and get my voice heard. Now, granted I am a flaming liberal and do like what I hear from the Sander’s camp. But I’m not a fan of Clinton (any of them) and there is no one left in national politics on the right side that I can really get behind. So, I’ll learn enough to make sure I’m voting locally for the men and women I feel represent me…give the national ticket a glance and see who makes me mad the least and continue listening to Harry Potter and wonder why I couldn’t have found out I was a wizard on my 11th birthday.
-Talk laters…