Books on Tape

Books on Tape

I have listened to several books on tape during the last few months. Here are some thoughts and reviews in the order I listened to the books:

1. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone – I could not finish the book when it came out years ago. (Please, have mercy, don’t stone me.) I simply can’t/don’t/won’t read fantasy. However, I fell head-over-heels, madly-in-love with Hogwarts and the whole lot of characters on tape. The professional reader is magical himself.

2. Blink by Malcolm Gladwell and read by the author. Part of this book is on our local IB highschoolers reading list. A book about what I know as our sixth sense. Malcolm refers to this as a book about how we think about thinking. An overall positive experience to listen to this book on tape. I have a hard time staying awake to read non-fiction. On the downside I had to order a hard copy of the book anyway to look up some of the information he referred to.

3. Mad Dash by Patricia Gaffney. A perfect book on tape for me to listen to. A book I felt I “should” read to keep up w/ the patrons, but one I would normally have no interest in.

4. Power of Three by Laura Lippmann. Another book I felt I “should” read. Laura often places her setting in the Baltimore area. A good mystery, a bit gruesome for me, and a bit too close to home since I have three teenagers. But I will listen to another of her books eventually.

5. Prodigal Summer by Barbara Kingsolver. Her writing is balm for my soul. A character is looking out a window she has looked out of for a life time. Barbara writes, “she saw first with her memory and then with her eyes.” And later, “her mouth hung open, as if the words were caught between her mind and the world around her.” I was driving to work early yesterday morning when I “heard” this. The sky was magnificent. I had to quickly turn off the tape so I could absorb the words. If I had been actually reading this book, there were many times I could have paused, just to let the words soak in, and re-read paragraphs just for the pleasure of it. Barbara herself read this book on tape. At first I didn’t think I would enjoy so much of her voice. She is not a professional reader, I guess. But the beauty of this book won me over and I couldn’t stop listening to it.

Conclusions:

The reader makes all the difference.
A good use of commuting time.
A good opportunity to broaden my horizons.
Save the jewels, like Kingsolver, for print versions.