A while ago I was at the library, wandering around, when I discovered these little playaway books on preloaded mp3 players. First of all, I am one of the few people out there who do not have an ipod or an mp3 player or even a smart phone. I found these little devices that have one book recorded on it, and that you can borrow for three weeks at a time (longer if you are a chronic renewer like me). I listen to them at work, at the gym, and while knitting. So far I’ve listened to Marley & Me, Songs of the Hunchback Whale, Blue Diary, and Water for Elephants. I started The Time Traveler’s Wife but it bored me. I couldn’t stand the speaker for Beach Road. I’m currently listening to The Wednesday Wars, which is directed at children, but is written (spoken) well and is a perfect cutesy book to have at work. My next one will be The Joy Luck Club.
I’ve read most of these before with my absolute favorite being Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen. The narration is split between the 90 or 93-year-old Jacob Jankowski and his 23-year-old memory. He described both his life at a nursing home, his aging body and loneliness at a point when his children are too old to take care of him. Across the street, the circus is setting up and a fellow resident begins to claim that he used to carry water for elephants. Jacob becomes angry at this, saying Mr. McGuinty is a lyer. A nurse, Rosemary, takes pity on him and begins to treat him like a human being instead of another body.
We listen to him tell about being 23, days away from taking his final exams in Veterinarian School at Cornell University when his parents are killed in a car accident. This occurs during the Great Depression. Jacob finds out that the bank is foreclosing on his parents’ home and goes to take the finals. He walks out of the room without answering a single question. Fate takes him to the railroad tracks where he jumps into a car only to find out that he’s on a circus train.
The rest is an adventure. Jacob discovers circus life and the meaning of love for both the beautiful Marlena and the surprising elephant Rosie. This is an absolute must read- or listen. There is even a movie in the works, which is planned to come out in 2011.
Songs of the Humpback Whale was also a fantastic experience. Listening to it was even better because there are five narrators in five voices. I believe that this brings it to life far more than actually reading it could- and Jodi Picoult is a great writer. This is a journey of self discovery by five very different people who are connected by life and events that are beyond their control. A mother, father, daughter, uncle and lover all reflect on the actions that take them to a quaint apple orchard in Massachusetts. While listening, you salivate at the description of the crunching apples, shiver when the cool northeastern winds blow, and feel the characters as if they are standing next to you.
Happy Listening!
Knitwerks 