A Time to Read

Not that I've been sacrificing time in the crafts department (far from it!) but I've been finding some time to read this year, and it's been fab. I haven't had time to read like this since...uh, kids.

And how, you ask. How, with kids, and crafts, and minor annoyances like laundry, cooking, and cleaning, do I have time to read?

Audiobooks.

Ok, ok, I know that these are far from a new fangled thing. I remember when our library first started getting them, and they were cassettes. But for years (um, probably decades) I've thought that I wouldn't enjoy audiobooks...I love putting my own voice, my own thoughts into each word, I love the smell of the paper, the anticipation that comes with each page turn. But then life happened, and I just haven't had time to read, much less get out and actually get my hands on books.

Last year I finally broke down and tried an audiobook...at the time I was starting up running and music, while nice, bored me. I needed something I could think about a bit more. About that time, I discovered our local library had audiobooks for download on the website.

No leaving the house. No leaving my CHAIR.

While I still appreciate the beauty of reading on my own, audiobooks have opened up a whole new world to me, one I haven't been this enamoured with since I was 11.

So far this year I've listened to "The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society." I LOVED it. I made any excuse to hook up my ipod, and since I got several sets of ipod speakers for Christmas, I can listen in any room of the house. The best is in my craft room, where I can spin or weave on my new loom and listen at the same time. Pure awesomeness.

Now I'm onto "Ape House" by Sara Gruen. I loved "Water for Elephants" and the author is coming to my alma mater to speak in April, so I wanted to read some of her other work before I go. I'm really enjoying "Ape House", and best of all, have no idea how it will end, the mark of a great story, in my humble opinion.

I am still reading a little in ink and paper...right now I'm working on "Girl with a Pearl Earring," a book I bought a year ago and never made it though. I'm reading a little in the evenings when I have time.

In short, my audiobooks, my ipod, and I are a happy trio right now.