Audiobooks take me back

     I live in a small town and don't have much of a commute, but I do take lengthier trips once or twice a week. If I'm not in the mood to argue with public radio (yes, I'm an avid NPR listener, no, I do not agree with everything they air), I put in a CD and listen.  I don't have a particular genre I prefer hearing rather than reading.  Listening is a different experience, and it works for a wide variety of literature. 
     I recently listened to Paris: A Love Story by Kati Marton. Ms. Marton is a familiar name to many of us.  She was a foreign correspondent through much of my adulthood, and was married to two quite prominent and influential men, journalist Peter Jennings and diplomat Richard Holbrooke. She loved them both, and she also loved Paris.
     I don't speak French. Two of my children do, though I can barely hear the nuances in that romance language. They tease me whenever I try to say something as mundane as crepe. I'm far more comfortable with the harder sounds of its synonym blintz.
     But back to the book. French and Hungarian flowed off the narrator's tongue. Though I would be hard pressed to mimic the narration, I became entranced in the story and the authentic language with which it was told.
     I remember hearing a radio program several years ago. Yes, it was on NPR. A college professor spoke about his life. He taught himself English by reading -- without having heard much spoken English at all. As a result, he knew he mispronounced some words, but since he was the professor, his students were loathe to correct him.  When he was learning English, audiobooks were few and far between, generally available only via libraries for the blind. Today, they are available in most every library, downloadable at no charge via many of those same libraries, and available for purchase from retail outlets.
     And they are an experience worth having. It takes me back to reading to my children. It takes me back to my mother reading to me.  And, when I'm listening to an audiobook, laughing out loud somehow seems imminently more acceptable than doing so while reading quietly. After all, I'm not breaking any silence.
     As a librarian, I think about access to information.  Access an audiobook.  It's a refreshing way to connect to the pages of a book.  

Remembering Dad . . . a little cliche

     It's Father's Day, so I'm remembering my dad.  He hasn't walked the Earth for many years, but he's with me every day, every moment. yes, I am who I am because of my parents.  And I am honored to walk in their footsteps.
     So here I am, a librarian, crediting my dad with who I am today, and I don't have a clear picture of my dad ever reading a book other than a prayerbook, which he read, if you will excuse me, religiously, every day. His other reading material was the newspaper, which he read from cover to cover. And those memories are vivid!  Every evening he'd sit in the den and read the paper.  At that time, even our small town paper (a daily in a community of about 34,000) was significant, multiple sections with many pages each. Certainly not The New York Times, but a far cry from the 12 pages that make up the local paper today.
     I'm guessing Dad was dyslexic in an age long before learning disabilities were ever identified. I don't think reading was easy for him. But it was important to him!  And while I don't remember seeing him reading novels, I know there were westerns at his bedside, and since they changed occasionally, I imagine he read them and replaced them with other titles.
     Manitowoc Public Library's mission includes a statement about promoting a culture of reading.  As librarians, we work at promoting a reading culture to the community.  But as a parent, if your children see you read -- anything at all -- you can give that gift to your children. 
     So thank you Dad, for reading the newspaper every day. And thank you Mom, for the novels you devoured in every spare moment. Reading has always been my pleasure and I have managed to turn that into a career (not, mind you, that librarians spend their days reading on the job, but that when we read for pleasure, we can use those titles for readers advisory).
     Now, in Dad's honor, I think I'll go read a book!

the unfinished book

     Listening to Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me! on National Public Radio this weekend I heard that I no longer need to feel guilty about the books I haven't finished -- not the ones I've started to write and never penned a complete chapter, but the books I haven't finished reading. They're on my night stand, and they rise to the top every once in awhile, generally when I pick up the books after I've knocked over the entire stack.
     Sometimes I let unfinished books languish for reasonably good reasons. I own the book, but I borrowed the other one I'm reading from the library and must return it in a few days. Or, book club is next week and I really must finish the selection. Or I just have to find out what happens in the book I'm listening to in the car and I read faster than the narrator speaks. 
     But sometimes the book I'm reading just doesn't grab my attention. I don't connect with the characters, or the writing is choppy, or the editing is lousy and there are typos in the text! If it's a library book, I happily return it and go on my merry way. But if I own it, the guilt settles in. It's there. I should read it.
     But why? Recent estimates indicate that more than 300,000 books are published by traditional presses each year.  Some sources estimate that if you add self published books, reprints of titles in the public domain, and other publications, you can add a zero to the above total.  Obviously, there's something for everyone -- and not everything is for me.  (Audible sigh.)
     So with many thanks to Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me! for pointing out the obvious, I will tell you what I've read in the past couple of weeks (leaving out at least one title I returned to the library before I finished it):
    The Lawgiver by Herman Wouk: A wonderful mix of fact and fiction. Wouk's character is real. What about the others? Is there really a movie about Moses in the works?
     Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan: Fast paced fun mix of history and technology. What secrets are hidden in the pages of the book you're reading?
     The Next Best Thing by Jennifer Weiner: Chick lit with a happy ending. Listened to the audiobook. Great narrator.
     A Fountain Filled with Blood by Julia Spencer-Fleming. Second in a series. Getting bogged down in some of the descriptions, but I like the characters enough that I'm happy to keep reading.