I love to read.
But when I say I love to read, I mean love to READ. Like an actual book. It took me awhile to acclimate to the idea of an e-reader even, and I typically love new technology. I just like books. I like the feel of books, the smell of books (weird, I know) and having a bookshelf full of books.
(A cute or funny picture found on pinterest was supposed to go here. But alas, pinterest has failed me, and the site is not working correctly right now. So please use your imagination and picture a funny picture here)
Last Christmas, hubby got me an e-reader. I do really like it. Its MUCH easier to read on the elliptical machine with one. And that in and of itself is a good reason for me. I H.A.T.E trying to fit the book in the stupid little book things that don’t even stick out far enough for all the pages. Plus? It ruins my pages. And then I usually have to hold the book with one hand so it doesn’t fall out. I don’t quite hate it as much as the hamster wheel (i.e. treadmill) because not only am I not going anywhere, but I can’t read on it, because I start to get all queasy.
But I digress.
Usually while running I listen to music. I love that, too, but only for so long. I have a really long run scheduled for tomorrow, and am on my own this time. WTF am I gonna do to keep myself entertained?
A coworker suggested an audiobook. Well, why didn’t I think of that?
I have to admit, I’m skeptical. The father of my ex listened to Harry Potter in his car which I consistently razzed at him for. (perhaps because he was a 50 something year old man listening to Harry Potter) I just couldn’t get over the British dude attempting to use different voices. Thanks, but no thanks.
Unfortunately I have no choice here. I’m pretty sure attempting to read while running, while funny looking, would be both vomit and injury inducing. So a few days ago I got on itunes to browse. Huh. There are quite a few audiobooks out there. And unfortunately again, they are also more expensive than regular books. And I don’t even get to put it on my bookshelf when I’m done. And apparently sometimes two versions of the same book that are different prices? And I’m using alot of and’s in this paragraph.
Apparently there is “abridged” and “unabridged”. Unabridged is essentially reading the entire book from cover to cover ( I wonder if this includes the table of contents if there is one?), every single word. Which is exactly how I expected a book to be read. Duh. Abridged is a condensed version. I find this one hard to imagine. I picture it like reading a book, getting to page 52, and finding pages 52-70 are missing. Then reading to page 84 and finding that 84-100 are missing. Like, wouldn’t you be missing some essential information? And if its not essential, why is it in there?
Clearly I’m going with the unabridged version.
So a few minutes ago I painfully forked over nearly $20 for the experience of listening to a book. But, if it keeps me entertained tomorrow, will be totally worth it.
To be continued.
Journey To the Finish Line 
December 9, 2011 at 6:44 pm
Five years of graduate school have basically ruined reading for fun for me so I have converted entirely to audiobooks. I listen to them while cleaning my apartment, at the gym, on the bus, etc. They are pretty much the only way I can get any non-school ‘reading’ done. In my opinion, the format works best when it is the author of a memoir reading the book, e.g. Sarah Silverman’s The Bedwetter or Tina Fey’s Bossypants. For fiction, the Hunger Games trilogy audiobooks are quite good – the voice work is surprisingly well done. (All that said, I have the issues you have with abridged audiobooks – what is the point?).
December 10, 2011 at 4:09 pm
I already read Hunger Games otherwise I would have tried that one. I ended up choosing a Fiction book. It was ok. The voicing is a bit strange – one person trying to voice several characters, but otherwise was ok. I’ll stick to it for running, but will probably just continue to read books 🙂
December 9, 2011 at 10:21 pm
I tend to like non-fiction for audio. I listened to Audacity of Hope while running around Massachuusseettss, and really enjoyed it.
(I knew I would spell that wrong, so I went BIG.)
I tend to like Amazon over iTunes, though. You get MP3 files that way, and you don’t have iTunes telling you which computers you can play it on.
December 10, 2011 at 6:06 am
Can’t wait for your update on the audiobook experience 😉 When I was a kid, we used to listen to “audiobooks” during crafting classes in school. But those were more like radio plays with different voices and all. I can’t do audiobooks at all. I totally “space out” when trying to listen to one and can’t concentrate on it at all. I guess that’s ok for Circle+Bloom sessions, but definitely not for entire books 😉
I haven’t tried an e-reader yet, although I have experimented with a Kindle app for my mobile – for those short moments on the bus to work. I have yet to find an e-reader to meet my expectations, e.g. as far as the speed of turning pages is concerned. There’s just nothing like a book of the good, old-fashioned type (even though I would definitely appreciate the weight reduction when traveling with an e-reader as opposed to 2 or 3 books).
December 10, 2011 at 4:07 pm
I honestly like the e-reader alot more than I thought I would. The audiobook wasn’t so bad (I did post on it) but I’m weirded out by one author trying to change voices for characters….it just sounds funny. I’ll probably use it again, but likely only for long runs.
December 10, 2011 at 3:23 pm
I just checked out YOUR blog and am going to follow. I, too, am an avid reader, but can’t do it in the gym! I was also interested in your e-reader comments – I lug my books everywhere and am not sure I could transition because I love the feel of books also. Great blog!
December 10, 2011 at 4:06 pm
I love the e-reader for gym visits, and traveling. I love the feel of real books, but there is something about the e-reader that is cool, too. I’d highly recommend it if you tend to carry books around constantly. Thanks for visiting!!