Audio Books

I have an issue with books. They are a form of entertainment that I truly cannot ever share my attention with anything else. I become oblivious of all my surroundings when I read a book. I truly delve into it. My imagination runs wild and after each reading I am always left with untold stories in my head that the author might have thought of but never wrote down. All in all, I am in love with books and their power over me. But becasue of that, I tend to cancel plans or ignore situations that need my immediate attention just so I can read one more chapter. This is why after highschool I have only been able to read one book per year. Work, friends, other forms of entertainment, and personal ambitions fight for my attention now.

Audio books on the other hand are a godsend to me. Orson Scott Card (author of "Ender's Game") once said that audiobooks are the best representation of his works. I agree with this, but maybe not in the same way that Mr. Card sees it. For me audio books gives me the option to enjoy books while also doing another activity. It is easily carried around by an mp3 media player.

These days audio books serve as a form of concentration and not just as entertainment. I listen to them mostly now while I paint textures at work. This keeps my mind focused. I become almsot oblivious to my enviroment and I jsut let my hand flow freely as I work. I love my job, but having an audiobook to listen to makes my job even more entertaining. I look forward to always start working becasue of it. There's a touch more added excitement when I lay down a paint stroke. But this is as far as I can go with audio books. Unfortuantly if I do anyhting besides artwork while I listen, my multi-tasking mind shatters.

To me Audio books are better than reading; in the sense of being able to do multiple tasks. Because of audio books I have been able to enjoy 18 books in the past 6 months. This isnt including the re-listening of books that I also did. So I hope the production of them never cease.