A Great Read to Listen to

I love audio books. I listen to them whenever possible - walking the dogs, working outside, driving, actually, I am listening to a book whenever I can't sit down and read. I must admit, most of the time I find this a good way to catch up on classics that are in the public domain and available at Librivox. What is better than getting a classic story read to you, for free? These volunteer narrators are quite good.

But, I am always surprised when I listen to a professionally produced audio book. Right now I am listening to "The Graveyard Book" by Neil Gaiman and read by the author. This had been on my TBR pile for ages but I just couldn't sit down to it. After hearing the audio version recommended by Michael and Ann, at Books On The Nightstand I have been waiting for it to become available at the Denver Public Library, but I finally decided to splurge and download a copy from Audible.

I have not been disappointed. Everyone knows Gaiman can write a great story but he is also a wonderful storyteller. I have been drawn into the story in a way I don't think I would have been by reading the book.

The publisher says:

Nobody Owens, known to his friends as Bod, is a normal boy. He would be completely normal if he didn't live in a sprawling graveyard, being raised and educated by ghosts, with a solitary guardian who belongs to neither the world of the living nor of the dead.

There are dangers and adventures in the graveyard for a boy. But if Bod leaves the graveyard, then he will come under attack from the man Jack - who has already killed Bod's family.

Beloved master storyteller Neil Gaiman returns with a luminous new novel for the audience that embraced his New York Times best-selling modern classic Coraline. Magical, terrifying, and filled with breathtaking adventures, The Graveyard Book is sure to enthrall readers of all ages.

Music arrangement of "Danse Macabre" copyright 2008 by Béla Fleck and Ben Sollee, Fleck Music (BMI), admin. by Bug Music.

©2008 Neil Gaiman; (P)2008 HarperCollins Publishers

This is a young adult novel that can be enjoyed by kids of all ages. A little scary in places for sensitive readers -- it is Neil Gaiman, after all -- but generally a tale to keep your interest. You can purchase the book for download here.

The Gift of the Magi

I love listening to books. It is like having someone read a story to you and allows your mind to concentrate on the images represented by the words. I am too young to remember the radio shows which provided families with hours of entertainment before the popularity of television, but I can understand what attracted so many to gather around the radio in the evenings. Anyway, today, there are many ways of listening to books. The iphone, ipad, computers, CD players, ipod and a host of other audio devices makes this form of entertainment easy to enjoy. While the bestselling books, when released on CD, are sometimes a little too expensive for my budget, there are hours of enjoyment that can be had for free.

Librivox.org, is the audio equivalent to Gutenburg.org. Both organizations, manned entirely by volunteers, work to give the public access to all works in the public domain. Those who volunteer for Librivox, read works and save them to an audio file which is then uploaded and combined with readings by others until a complete book has been recorded. The books are then made available for download or can be listened on any mobile device.

I am thinking about this now because I was sitting at my desk, listening to a short story as I entered used books into inventory.

O. Henry, the pen name for William Sidney Porter, is known for his short stories. He spent his young adulthood in Austin, Texas.

"The Gift of the Magi" is one of his most famous stories and the premise of the story has been retold and will continue to be a classic tale of love and the true value of gift-giving.

A young woman, Della, wants to buy her beloved husband a gift for Christmas, but has only one dollar and some change to spend. It is Christmas Eve and time has run out. She finally decides to cut and sell her beautiful hair to raise the money to buy her husband, Jim, a watch chain for his treasured gold pocket watch which he had inherited from his father.

I won't tell you the ending. You can listen to Betsie Bush read this classic Christmas story on Librivox here.