Blogocentric Formulations

Audiobooks. Greatest. Invention. Ever.

First, let me just say that I love music. I have an extensive collection of CDs and iTunes downloads in just about every genre available... it's a remarkable medium. So in many ways, it pains me to say this... but music is a waste of time. At least in regard to my commute. I spend an average of 60-90 minutes each way on my commute, five days a week. That's *shudder* four and a half hours of my life every week spent behind the wheel of a car, just getting myself from home to work and back again. So that's what, an average of about 12 hours a week I spend in the car?

Let's face it, music is great, but song after song after song doesn't leave me feeling like I've made the best use of my time. Morning radio shows are even less helpful, except for the news ones like NPR... but even then I can only listen to idiots espouse their political, religious and academic opinions for so long before I feel like my brain is rotting.

Enter audiobooks. Earlier this year, I picked one up from the Barnes & Noble bargain racks for $5.98 and thought I'd give it a go. I was amazed, not only at how much faster the commute seemed to go when I was wrapped up in a narrative, but how much more accomplished I felt afterward. I didn't spend those long hours of my commute singing along with a song or listening to talk radio... I spent it "reading" a book! At the end of the week, I actually felt like I had done something productive with all that time I spent in the car.

More importantly, I'm reading again. My job subjects me to the same phenomena that is so popular among students... I do so much reading for my job that I have little energy to read for leisure too. On an average day, I read anywhere from one to three full screenplays, a half dozen talent or operational agreements, and budgets and schedules galore. So when I get home, cracking open a book and looking at more words usually isn't my first choice of activity. But I also found myself sorely missing a good story. Not a screenplay or a legal contract... but a story that I could lose myself in and let my imagination run wild.

Normally, I'm lucky to finish two or three novels a year, read on vacations, planes, or whenever I have free time. Thanks to audiobooks, this year I just finished my eighteenth novel today and am getting ready to make my next selection. As an added bonus, the city library that I drive by on my commute has an extensive audiobook section, which I can check out for $1 per week. It takes me a week to finish a book (two if it's Frank Herbert or Robert Ludlum ). So I'm making productive use of my commute time, getting to actually "read" for enjoyment again, AND supporting my local library.

Not a bad deal, eh?

If anybody else has a lengthy commute, I highly recommend audiobooks, especially if you can check them out from your local library. Heck, I might even try nonfiction one of these days and attempt to learn something. But for now, I'm just enjoying getting caught up on all the books I've been meaning to read for years, and all the authors I've heard about and seen on shelves, but never had a chance to read. I've got some new favorites, and can safely cross others off my list.

Happy Friday, everyone!