The Return of an Old Friend

wm_store_audioAs summer holidays officially begin, I find myself returning to one of my most favourite routines.  It starts with successfully recalling my public library username and password, followed by an online search with the following filters ~ “available”, MP3 version, known authors (Baldacci, Patterson, Brown to name a few)  and ends with the successful completion of all steps involved with downloading a selected audio book to my iPhone.

Ball cap holding back my ponytail, sunglasses poised, running shoes tightened, earbuds securely in place and I’m ready to hit the trails and press the play button.  The narrator’s voice, like that of an old friend, begins and within minutes I’m transported from the trails to the setting of the novel, as if no time has passed from the last time we were together.  And although my eyes are peeled on the trail, avoiding any potential pitfalls, my imagination is alive with visions of fishing charters, Monasteries, war-torn countries, exotic islands, state capitals and every other setting that my favourite authors select for their opening scene.  I find myself getting lost in the creative vocabulary and twists and turns woven into the phrases ~ hoping to recall some of them to use in my own writing.

These days my reading diet is relatively well rounded in terms of what I’m digesting and my intake methods.   My day usually begins with my social media snacking ~ Twitter and Facebook articles which I send to my organized lists, retweet or share.  My non-fiction “appetizers” include recipe books, magazines, newspaper articles ~ paper copies which I can skim and scan and quickly make my way through. For my professional reading (entrée) it’s good old-fashioned paper copies, with new spines ready to be cracked, which I find myself wanting to re-read, highlight and fill the margins with connections ~ these take much longer to digest.

So, in continuing with the reading diet theme, I would have to classify my audio books as dessert. The plot lines are predictable; usually including a good guy, a bad guy, an investigation, a love interest, a plot twist and a relatively happy ending.  And just like dessert is one of those guilty pleasures when it comes to my daily intake of food, my audiobooks bring great pleasure to my summer hikes.

The value of listening to Audio books has certainly garnered mixed reviews.

Your Brain On Audio Books: Distracted, Forgetful, And Bored

http://www.fastcodesign.com/3026224/evidence/your-brain-on-audio-books-distracted-forgetful-and-bored

The Benefits of Audiobooks

http://www.soundlearning.org.uk/benefits-of-audiobooks.aspx

Knowing how much I enjoy this summer pleasure, I have to wonder why it stops when September rolls around.  Maybe this is the year that I continue to treat myself to audiobooks well into the school year.

Do you listen to audiobooks?

Come write with me….