Listening Light

My book purchases vary from intentional to serendipitous: sometimes I go looking for a specific title, but just as often I fall for an intriguing title--or an enticing cover. My audiobook selections are more accidental. I work my way through the library shelves and then I search the shelves of off-price stores for books on CD. As expensive as they are at retail, I'm more likely to pay the price for a regular book. As a result, when I finish listening to one book, I have fewer choices for what to plug in for my drive than I do when I need a bedside book.

Lately, I've found myself listening to some darker fare. I just finished DeLillo's Falling Man, revisiting 9/11, and now I'm partway into Norman Mailer's last novel Castle in the Forest, which traces Hitler's (allegedly incestuous) ancestry--very interesting, but not prompting many laugh-out-loud experiences.

When I confess my audio addiction, lots of people tell me they just can't concentrate enough to listen in the car. I admit that sometimes I have to hit reverse myself, but I find listening much less distracting than a cell phone conversation, and I'm sure it demands less attention than texting!

For now, I have 13 more CDs to go, then one more recorded book waiting in the wings. With a weekend road trip in my immediate future, I hope to be ready to hit the library shelves again soon, hoping they've added some new acquisitions.

Listening Light