Monday, October 19, 2009

Audio books - A Walker's Best Friend



After years of running, I have made peace with the fact that my knees are shot and am resigned to walking as my exercise of choice. This idea used to cause me emotional grief, until I discovered audio books. Walking has since become almost a guilty pleasure.

If you are an audio book listener, you know what I mean. There are days, when I am engrossed in a story, that I don't want to stop walking. I'll walk in 94 degree heat, I'll walk in the rain. Not only that, but I now even look forward to cleaning my house, going on a road trip (with kids!), or weeding in my yard. Listening to audio books is the ultimate adventure in multi-tasking!

Even though I've only been listening to audio books for about three years, I've run through a few as I always have the iPod on my hip. Here is my list of audios that have rocked my world...each one has been a thrilling experience:

All Harry Potters! (I doubt you need a review of these...)

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo - Stieg Larsson (review coming out next Tuesday)

The Glass Castle - Jeanette Walls

Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon

Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet - Jamie Ford

The Little Stranger - Sarah Waters

The Wordy Shipmates - Sarah Vowell

To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee

Brideshead Revisted - Evelyn Waugh

Everyone is Beautiful - Katherine Center

The Thirteenth Tale - Diane Setterfield

The School of Essential Ingredients - Erica Bauermeister

Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society - Annie Barrows/Mary Ann Shaffer

Tell No One - Harlan Coban

Testimony - Anita Shreve

The White Tiger - Aravind Adiga

The Likeness - Tana French

The Poisonwood Bible - Barbara Kingsolver

Child 44 - Tom Rob Smith


From my pre-blogging days:

World Without End - Ken Follett
Atomic Lobster - Jim Dorsey
The Water's Lovely - Ruth Rendell

Bad Luck and Trouble - Lee Child

The Hard Way - Lee Child

Nothing to Lose - Lee Child

The Tin Roof Blowdown - James Lee Burke

The Chicago Way - Michael Harvey

Friend of the Devil - Peter Robinson

All the Flowers Are Dying - Lawrence Block

Hope to Die - Lawrence Block

Sum of our Days - Isabel Allende

Lush Life - Richard Price
Careless in Red - Elizabeth George

Love the One You're With - Emily Giffin


OK, I might have gotten carried away. You can tell where my obsessions lie! Anyway, if you are bored with walking, this might be the way to go! Good luck!






You've GOTTA Read This!

5 comments:

Shore Debris said...

Great Pointers! I got a new knee last year and had to stop running also and hated walking (seemed to be not "as good" excercise to me), but I also have discovered the audiobooks... I can walk for hours with a good book :)

Momma Hunt said...

I might have to get on board with this especially since we can now get free downloads at the library for most books!

CJ said...

How do you get books onto an MP3 player?? I don't have an iPod (only one in the USA I think). I know the library has CDs and Tapes for audio books but...

Anonymous said...

I'd like to know where you get all your audiobooks? I'd love to get them on my ipod on my iphone but I don't want to pay a ton of money for them. Where are the free ones? Anyone know?

Anonymous said...

I just recently got my first audio book and decided to listen while on my treadmill. I get tired of watching tv or listening to music so this is a welcome change!!