SOMETIMES IT SOUNDS BETTER THAN IT LOOKS
(or why cleaning and doing laundry is less painful these days)

Back in the last century, I took my lab on four mile walks daily, rain or shine, through Amish countryside. I became infamous for that girl who walked her dog with her nose in a book. My dog was so well trained that when the occasional car drove by, I’d call my dog to get her attention, and point to the corn or alfalfa or whatever fields, and she’d immediately head that way, out of harm’s way. I’d wave at the people in the car without ever taking my eyes off the pages of the book, and keep right on walking. The Amish buggies were a little more of a problem, as she always wanted to make friends with the horses. But anyway…

Days have changed. I now have another lab who doesn’t listen nearly as well (read: spoiled brat), so must be walked on a leash as she thinks cars are play things she needs to lunge after, the Amish country road is now developed into a busy neighborhood, and I’m lazier.

Walking the dog and reading no longer mix. Or do they?


In what seems like a wild change in topics, but will soon jell, I have to say that as much as my significant other tried, desperately, to get me into Harry Potter books, I just couldn’t do it. I’ve never really been into fantasy, wizardry, other-worldly, so I never made it past page two or three of the first Harry Potter. Then he did something really sneaky…on a long drive to Philadelphia one morning, he slid a CD into the car’s player and said, “Just hush and listen.” It was the first Harry Potter book, narrated by the almighty Jim Dale. I hushed and listened, since there was pretty much nothing else to do. And I was hooked beyond any kind of hooking that has ever gone on in a pirate movie.

By the time we returned home, I wanted to sit in the car and keep listening. Ross, figuring this was a bad idea, came up with a better plan. He bought me a portable CD player with earphones. I went through every Harry Potter book written to date while walking brat dog.

But the CD player was a pain if I needed my hands free, so I was back wanting to sit in the garage and listen. Instead, Ross bought me an iPod Nano, bought me a subscription to Audible, and told me to leave the car and the garage alone.

That’s my VERY long-winded way of saying that I’m now an audio book fiend. I can “read” while doing practically anything else (save writing). If I’m listening to a wonderful book, suddenly doing the laundry is fun. Cleaning bathroom toilets aren’t such a chore. I vacuum with a smile on my face. Audio books, in essence, have made me a better housekeeper, dog-walker, and all-around happier person. I can “read” just about anytime I want to .
I’ve discovered authors I might never have read, otherwise. Parker Blue is my new favorite in young adult, Karen Rose’s romantic mysteries litter my Nano library (had never read a thing by her until Audible enticed me into trying a book), and I’ve listened to every Susan Elizabeth Phillips book at least twice. I’ve found new books because of the readers themselves. Susan Elizabeth Phillip’s audio book, Call Me Irresistible, had me searching for anything Shannon Connelly has ever narrated, because I loved her voice that much. That’s how I became a fan of Karen Hawkins’ books.

And, of course, every Harry Potter (audio books much better than the movies, in my opinion).

I would estimate that at least 90% of my “reading” now takes place by listening. Love my Kindle, love paperbacks, but it’s just not the same as listening to a narrator bring a book to life. Which is why I now own two Nanos, just in case one would, heaven forbid, conk on me.


And which is why I love Bell Bridge Books. Little did any of us know, when we signed on the bottom line, that Bell Bridge was moving into audio at a pace, I’m guessing, that’s leaving some of those big publishers in the dust.

And now my ornery, princess of a lab is the one wanting to just go home, while I’m telling her, just one more chapter.

 

Trish Jensen