The Audio Books Blog

Linking Ho

2006-05-24T16:05:00.000-04:00

In more than one sense of the word. I've been playing around over on Squidoo for a while--that's Seth Godin's most recent attempt at "LOOKATMEI'MACRAZYMARKETERLOOKLOOKLOOK." I fell for it, and added a couple of lenses that have to do with my area of expertise (audio books, obviously!). My "lens" on downloading audio books even has useful information! But the traffic's been dismal, and few of the people who have visited have taken the time to rate them--which is rather key to the whole concept.

New Blog!

2006-02-24T11:05:00.000-05:00

This was largely a testing ground for the corporate blog I was planning to launch at work. It worked! Now there's a new space for me (and a few co-workers) to talk about audio books, new media and marketing. Not too shabby, if I do say so myself.

I'm still not smoking

2006-01-25T15:38:00.000-05:00

Unfortunately all other resolutions have fallen flatter than the earth (in Thomas Friedman's estimation).

So I think I'm going to rewrite history for myself and call quitting smoking a New Year's resolution, because then I can at least claim a 33% success rate.

New Year, New Resolutions, Right?

2006-01-09T15:49:00.000-05:00

This year's reality has come crashing down at last, now that my party-bleared eyes have finally cleared. And with that reality have come a resolution or two. Highly uncharacteristic, for those of you who know me at all in real life. *But* that same group are also aware of how stubborn I can be, and therefore will maybe have a little bit of faith in me.

Resolution #1: Figure out where my money is going, then try to redirect some of it towards some kind of savings. It is ridiculous that I've been at my day job for almost a year and am still living from paycheck to paycheck. Whenever I manage to put a little aside, a new cost pops up, either a recurring cost that I was avoiding before, or an unexpected one time expense.
The new rule for me is to expect the unexpected when it comes to expenses. I'm thinking maybe Suze Orman books can help somewhat-- back in the good old days when I lived in a cheaper apartment and therefore could justify having cable TV, I actually really liked her show... I think it was on MSNBC? Anyway, it always made me feel better that there were so many people who were even more clueless than me.

Suze Orman audio books on CD.

Resolution #2: Some kind of physical exercise on some kind of regular basis. The twin foes of quitting smoking and dating a guy who considers going out to nice restaurants an excellent basis for a relationship (and I am definitely not complaining, nor do I disagree with him), have conspired to push me into the next weight bracket up. It's not an entirely bad thing, but it seems logical to take some steps in order to avoid it becoming a bad thing.

Holidaze...Bah.

2005-12-19T11:06:00.000-05:00

Excuse the cheesy post title, but it's been that kind of couple of weeks.

I'm usually one of those really obnoxious people that has all their shopping done by mid-September, with maybe 50-70% of my shopping done during the Boxing Day sale season.

For those non-Canadian readers unfamiliar with our Northern Vernacular, Boxing Day is December 26th-- theoretically a day of rest and recuperation, but actually the day that we've all been training for all Christmas shopping season... it's like the Festivus Maximus of holiday shopping.

Okay. Enough whingeing. Back on point, a very specific point, actually, which for this particular independent media outlet is audio books. Tying our two somewhat divergent topics together, here are the official Ninja Kitten picks for what audio books to give to whom, assuming that you are like me and have no freaking clue what to get for your nearest and dearest. Bah. If you really have some dough to blow, or if someone's been very, very nice this year, you could also buy them an MP3 player, then preload it with a couple of downloaded audio books, and you're done.

For your Mom: As I've mentioned before, my moms listens as she quilts. Maybe your mom cross-stitches. Maybe she decoupages. Maybe she fixes carburetors. Listening to a great story like Colleen McCullough's Morgan's Run while she drives to work or indulges in whatever it is she does to avoid strangling your dad (maybe I'm projecting here, but you know what I mean) will keep her happy and less likely to care that you're still single.

For your Dad: Middle-aged guys seem to be universally fascinated with great men-- and most seem to have a renaissance of their childhood astronaut fascination. Or perhaps it's just that they are less good at self-editing. Try a biography like John Glenn's audio book for him to listen to while he putters. He'll get a faraway look in his eye, and you can buy him a telescope for his next birthday. Or some nice Superman pj's. Definitely one of the two.

For your Brother: Maybe switch it up a little and get him a DVD or something. Or get him the Daily Show audio book.

For you Sister: You can't go wrong with Jane Austen, especially Pride and Prejudice. You just can't. Period. When her and her friends are all gushing over the movie, she can throw in some haughty remark about its faithfulness to the novel in a supersnotty tone. This will make her very, very happy. Plus, you can borrow it when she's done!

Fashion Sense for Those Who are Not Meant to Be Seen in Public

2005-11-25T14:51:00.000-05:00

Have you ever wondered what an audio book narrator looks like?

I only do when they are maybe not doing such a terrific job at the actual narration. So, to be specific, I generally only wonder what bad audio book narrators look like. Sorry, Nick Landrum (he's read a bunch of books by a bunch of authors) it never occurred to me that you might, like, have fashion sense.
Thank you, Gawker Media, for telling me more than I ever needed to know about how to dress like a person who's profession requires physical anonymity... how to dress like an audio book narrator.
Okay, it's not a how-to exactly. It seems more concerned with prevention than instruction, to be honest-- I'd recommend skimming most of it, but snap back into focus for the bits about Fruit Boots. Fruit Boots?

The Hazards of Listening in Public

2005-11-21T10:21:00.000-05:00

I got my mom into audio books by signing her up for a CD rental club-- and picking a bunch of books for her queue. She's been a bit spoiled by having my sister work at a bookstore and constantly ply her with new books, all pre-picked out and perfectly designed to suit my mom's taste.
To get her into audio books, I had to do the same thing... unfortunately I don't know my mom's tastes quite so well and kind of had to guess based on what she could remember of titles she'd liked recently (and she does not have a good memory).
Eeek... I slapped a Nora Roberts book on tape on there, since they seem pretty popular and had a high recommendation rating.
A few days later, my sister called me, and I could practically hear her blushing. She'd gone to visit Mom unannounced and found her busily quilting in the dining room, while a steamy love scene played on the CD player.
Patches and straight pins flew wildly through the air as Mom dove for the "Stop" button and sis slammed into reverse. After the awkwardness subsided, when they next had a moment alone, my mother leaned over and clarified, in a hushed tone, "What you heard wasn't actually happening, it was just what one of the characters was thinking."
I went for lunch with my mom last week, and she told me she hadn't been too keen on the Nora Roberts, and she'd prefer to stick to Colleen McCullough audio books instead.

Listening while I work... out.

2005-11-15T11:10:00.000-05:00

A friend of mine who happens to be a personal trainer insists that doing anything distracting (including reading or listening to an audio book) during a workout is a big time nono. But if it's extending your workout or getting you exercising in the first place, doesn't that balance things out?
Theoretically, sure, a person should be devoting 100% of their attention to maintaining form and getting the best out of a workout, but in reality, that's just not possible. No matter how great they get to looking, I will never find my abs entirely engrossing.
Listening to an faithful old book on tape like Ender's Game, on the other hand, leaves me entertained enough to keep at it, without requiring any real concentration on my part.
Books like that, that I've heard or read so many times that I can practically recite them along with the narrator, seem to barely exceed white noise in terms of "distractability."

Terry Pratchett's Discworld Books on CD

2005-11-14T10:49:00.000-05:00

I think Terry Pratchett is funnier in a book on tape than in print.

His puns and plays with language are actually more biting, and more pointed, when spoken by the proper narrator than when one sometimes has to puzzle them out on the page.

I actually rather wish pTerry would give up on print books and focus exclusively on audio books. His humor is better suited to that medium... much like The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy began as a radio play on the BBC, I think audio is peculiarly well-suited to that very specific brand of wacky British SciFi/Fantasy/Comedy.

James Patterson's Honeymoon

2005-11-01T09:55:00.000-05:00

A sizzling new thriller—hotter than THE BEACH HOUSE and scarier than KISS THE GIRLS.

FBI agent John O’Hara is on a hunt to find a coldblooded killer. A number of rich men have come to mysterious ends, and when a young writer dies of an alleged heart attack, John turns a probing eye to the only witness—the writer’s lovely and secretive widow. Nora Sinclair, a beautiful interior decorator, has the life most people can only dream about. She lives in a luxurious Manhattan apartment, has only the most sophisticated friends, and is desired by some of the most successful men in the country. She expects the best that life can offer—and will settle for nothing less. She has worked hard to achieve this life, and she will do anything to keep it.

If you want to get all the James Patterson audio books, check out an online audio books source.

Interesting ideas (to be taken with a grain of salt)

2005-10-31T10:03:00.000-05:00

Why did crime in New York drop so suddenly in the mid-90s? How does an unknown novelist end up a bestselling author? Why is teenage smoking out of control, when everyone knows smoking kills? What makes TV shows like Sesame Street so good at teaching kids how to read? Why did Paul Revere succeed with his famous warning? In this brilliant and groundbreaking book, New Yorker writer Malcolm Gladwell looks at why major changes in our society so often happen suddenly and unexpectedly. Ideas, behavior, messages, and products, he argues, often spread like outbreaks of infectious disease. Just as a single sick person can start an epidemic of the flu, so too can a few fare-beaters and graffiti artists fuel a subway crime wave, or a satisfied customer fill the empty tables of a new restaurant. These are social epidemics, and the moment when they take off, when they reach their critical mass, is the Tipping Point.

In The Tipping Point, Gladwell introduces us to the particular personality types who are natural pollinators of new ideas and trends, the people who create the phenomenon of word of mouth. He analyzes fashion trends, smoking, children's television, direct mail and the early days of the American Revolution for clues about making ideas infectious, and visits a religious commune, a successful high-tech company, and one of the world's greatest salesmen to show how to start and sustain social epidemics. The Tipping Point is an intellectual adventure story written with an infectious enthusiasm for the power and joy of new ideas. Most of all, it is a road map to change, with a profoundly hopeful message--that one imaginative person applying a well-placed lever can move the world.

Now compare that to Freakonomics, wherein one of the most interesting sections disproves the lead story from The Tipping Point-- basically Leavitt and Dubner lay waste to the Broken Windows theory.

Soft science is just that-- malleable... pliable... it can be manipulated into many different forms, to suit many purposes. And both these books rest on soft sciences.

2005-10-28T10:38:00.000-04:00

Journeys to the end of the world, fantastic creatures, and epic battles between good and evil -- what more could any reader ask for? The lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, written in 1949 by Clive Staples Lewis, had all this and more. But Lewis did not stop there. Six more books followed, and together they became known as The Chronicles of Narnia.

For the past fifty years, The Chronicles of Narnia have transcended the fantasy genre to become part of the canon of classic literature. Each of the seven books is a masterpiece, drawing the reader into a land where magic meets reality, and the result is a fictional world whose scope has fascinated generations. Now, some of the most noted actors of our times have come together to read these extraordinary works.

This timeless boxed set includes all seven unabridged recordings: The Magician's nephew; The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe; The Horse and His Boy; Prince Caspian; The Voyage of the Dawn Treader; The Silver Chair; and The Last Battle. Deceptively simple and direct, The Chronicles of Narnia continue to captivate fans with adventures, characters, and truths that speak to readers of all ages, even fifty years after they were first published.

West In the Night

2005-10-27T19:47:00.000-04:00

I know it's maybe a little cliched to like the 7 Habits audio book, but I do. And I'm not afraid to admit it. Stephen Covey has a point. As I was listening to the CD's, I recognized things that I already do (but not consciously or consistently), and also recognized certain behaviours that I've seen in others, and maybe scratched my head at a bit.

In The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, Stephen R. Covey presents a holistic, integrated, principle-centered approach for solving personal and professional problems. With penetrating insights and pointed anecdotes, Covey reveals a step-by-step pathway for living with fairness, integrity, honesty, and human dignity -- principles that give us the security to adapt to change and the wisdom and power to take advantage of the opportunities that change creates.