Listening to Stories

I used to use the library ALL THE TIME for books! It's just so much fun to search that catalog and walk those aisles full of so many books on so many topics!

When we lived in Fort Collins I discovered this quaint little used book store where I'd go buy a handful of books for like $10, take as long as I needed to read them and then return them for credit towards another handful of books! I always commented that it was like the library but without the time limit on checking out books!

Then we moved to Denver and started earning more money and I got used to splurging at Barnes and Noble or Borders or Amazon.com, buying whatever I wanted to read brand new. Actually, I found a used book store that was rather large here in Littleton. They were very well organized, brightly lit, and yet still comfy with a fat gray and white cat waddling around the store. But just as soon as I found the place, they up and moved to Downtown Littleton, apparently over on Mainstreet (the google map says it's in the back of some building that's right in front of The Melting Pot...I've tried hunting it twice and still can't seem to find it!). So I just remained content with the brand new books in the big chain stores again. But unless it's a really damn great book, I usually end up regretting actually spending so much on a book. This is especially true if I go through my long, time-consuming ritual of choosing the right book to buy before heading to the cash registers with it, only to take it home, crack it open and realize what an awful choice I had actually made by the time I got to page 20!

With all that said and done, plus...even though it's super relaxing and cozy to sit in bed and read my books, I always ALWAYS pass out rather quickly and end up dropping the book before saving my place...which causes even more headaches later, what with having to reread a page or two just to figure out where I had passed out!

A dear friend of mine told me about how she listens to everything in audiobook format. That way, she is able to listen to it (read "read the book") when she's doing mundane chores around the house, walking down the street to her son's school, driving in the car, waiting for an appointment...the times available to listen are endless! Somehow, much moreso than reading an actual paper book!

I'm having some trouble adapting to my Kindle lately because it's not paper...not something I can crack open and hold in my hands, on my lap, or smell the welcoming scent of the printed pages. As I learn to transition to the Kindle more, I want to try out audiobooks like my friend does!

Okay, you're probably thinking this is super boring because audiobooks have been around forever and maybe you listen to them all the time and maybe you think I'm way behind the times in this area. Truth be told, for a long time there, I thought listening to a book was just about as blasphemous as watching the movie instead of reading the pages! (Though my heart still aches whenever I mention a really good book to someone and they say, "Oh yeah! I saw (or 'heard of') that movie!" Guess what!? IT WAS A BOOK BEFORE IT WAS A MOVIE!) I bet I got that sort of snobbish belief via my mother who adored the English language in all its forms and functions. Yet, if I recall correctly, a couple of years before she passed away she started borrowing audiobooks on CD herself from the Bookmobile in Denver! HA!

So anyway, I have since changed my mind and want to listen to them because I have a lot of quiet time in the house on a daily basis, in which I don't really want to have the TV on (I detest commercials and if I have the TV on I want to WATCH it, not LISTEN to it). Which brings me to the second (or is it now the third?) section of this lengthy blog post...

I was out and about today (before it got really cold and started snowing) and I stopped by the library which is only 2 miles from our house! I hadn't been there in several months so I found that a lot has changed...and gotten better!

I jumped onto the Library Catalog computer, just like I always do and just searched for one of the books I am interested in reading soon (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo). I saw they had definitely improved their search results and book-tracking system since the last time I used that well over a year ago! Then I came across an audiobook and ebook copy.

I clicked my way deeper into the abyss of finding out just how I can download an audiobook, what sorts of devices it would be compatible with and if I could do it from home.

I learned that they have a free software (I've forgotten the name right now) that must be downloaded to my home computer in order to download audiobooks (in fact, they don't allow them to be downloaded on site at the library anyway!). There was also a long list of compatible devices, on which I found not only my new iPod Classic but also my Droid phone!! (It'd be way too expensive to dload it to my phone cause of the data charges but it's still an awesome concept!)

I was so excited, I dare say I was giddy! For like an hour afterward I had one of those blazing balls of excitement in the pit of my stomach! (Which had to be put on pause while I met the exterminator at the Garnet house to investigate and take care of a nasty wasp nest issue! YUCK!) In fact, two hours later now and I still have that ball of excitement!

I knew downloading audiobooks at the library was possible. I just didn't know how or have any interest in doing so! Until now!

So that's why I got on my computer a half hour ago...to explore my library's audiobook selection, download that free software and get to listening to a book or two, or three........

What am I doing here? Writing time is over for now. Listening time has just begun!!!! :)