20 Years Later: Dipping An Ear Back Into Audiobooks

No one could have been more shocked than I was. When audiobooks first made their appearance at my hometown library (where I was working at the time) around 20 years ago, I was positive that I'd love them. I checked out several and listened to them while I was driving both on short trips and long. No love -- only a mixed feeling of impatience and weariness. The only exception was Thinner. Not enough to keep me in the audiobook game.

I used to enjoy being read to so much. What happened? After years of pondering, I finally have a theory: It's Mrs. Betty Lemmon's fault. We only knew each other for 3 books during the fall of 1972, but her reading was so sublime that she ruined me for any other reader. If Mrs. Lemmon showed up in Korea right this very minute and said, "Sue, sit down and listen to this story," I'd be right there, leaning forward, my elbows resting on my desk. Mrs. Lemmon was perfection. She was everything a bookworm could possibly want in a reader. I just hope subsequent generations have appreciated her talent. I'd hate to make a trip to mid-Missouri just to kick some elementary school ass.

After my initial foray into audiobooks, I had a strong aversion to that format. I finally began to turn around a while back when Isabella mentioned that she was audiobooking Great Expectations, read by Hugh Laurie. I presume that he uses his original accent, not that it matters. Love 'em all. (Speaking of dear darling Hugh, a teacher who lives upstairs from me has an audiobook of Three Men In A Boat read by Mr. Laurie that's making the rounds.) The tide was turning, and yes, I was stopping by the audiobook sections of bookstores everywhere I went, but still no purchase.

That ended 2 weeks ago. While I was at Bandi & Luni gathering madly for the Canadian Challenge 3, I found an audiobook of Black Boy, Richard Wright's autobiography. I'd just devoured Native Son the week before. Big decision time. Then I saw that Black Boy was read by Brock Peters, who played Tom Robinson in To Kill A Mockingbird. Peters' voice seemed like a perfect fit for Wright's writing. Sold.

I brought home my first audiobook, but now I'm at a loss about how to listen. I don't want to be reading something else or grading papers or messing around on the computer or anything else that might take a portion of my concentration away from the book. I don't drive over here, so no car. I don't sew, crochet or knit, but I feel as if I should be doing something. What about cleaning? Mrs. Lemmon wanted all of us to sit quietly and concentrate, but it doesn't feel right anymore. Too many years of multitasking, I guess.

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Any ideas? I'm listening.