NaNoWriMo lumbers along for me. I had an out of town trip scheduled this past weekend, so I fell behind in my word count. This was expected, so not upsetting. I have Friday off from work in observance of Veterans’ Day, and I may join some other NaNoers in the crazy challenge to try and get 11,111 words done on 11/11/11.
Can I do it? I’m scared to find out!
My real excitement for the weekend came from our drive. It’s a long, boring 8-9 hour drive when we go back home to visit friends and family, and occasionally we listen to audiobooks. In general, I’m not a fan of the format because I can’t pay that close of attention when people are speaking to me and I can’t see them or take notes. I’m an extremely visual person, so things don’t sink in when I have to just sit and listen. My mind wanders and I don’t retain the story well.
My husband, however, is a fan. He has the opposite problem where books are concerned. He has a hard time sitting and reading a book because he can’t engage with the material. Then he gets bored and nods off to sleep, or reads the same sentence fifteen times without actually gaining anything from it.
Yesterday we were both bored with our music selections and I offered up the audiobook option. After perusing through a bunch of choices, The Hunger Games popped up. I didn’t think the hubs would go for it, but when I mentioned it he surprised me by saying he’d like to give it a try. My enthusiasm for the series and the upcoming movie is rubbing off on him, but he admitted he would never sit and read it despite the fact that he believes it’s awesome.
We ended up not getting to listen to it because I needed a WiFi signal to download the large file and by the time we stopped for gas and found WiFi there were only a few hours left to drive. I still consider it a victory that I have him intrigued enough that he’s willing to listen, so we may end up borrowing or buying it to listen to over the holidays. I think I would enjoy an audiobook of something I’ve already read because then I won’t feel as pressured to pay such close attention.
Do you like audiobooks? Have you ever been so excited about a book that you got a person interested in it that would not normally have liked it?
Logan E. Turner 