Digital audiobook related news and information
There’s no end to the list of older books, beloved by generations of readers. You’ll see them listed – Charlotte’s Web and Anne of Green Gables, Peter Pan and A Wrinkle in Time.
Since there are so many, why don’t I simply recommend my own favorite children’s book of all time, Kenneth Grahame’s “The Wind in the Willows”.
Long-ish at seven hours – that’s a vacation car trip across country – this tale of Ratty and Mole, and the outrageous Mr. Toad will make the time go by quickly.
Books written for the middle school years (and a little beyond) are classed as YA (for Young Adult). This is a category that has grown in recent years with the understanding that there was a gap between reading books about plucky twelve year olds and the mainstream of books for adults. Here is a ‘top ten’ selection that will give you plenty of ideas.
In particular let’s look at Marcus Zusak’s “The Book Thief”. Set during World War II in Germany, the novel is the story of Liesel Meminger, a foster girl living outside of Munich. She shares stolen books with her neighbors during bombing raids as well as with the Jewish man hidden in her basement before he is marched to Dachau. It’s long – eight CDs – but critically lauded.
This age group is – nominally – nine to twelve, but in practice, bright younger children can enjoy Middle Grade books, as can adults.
Many excellent MG books aren’t available as audiobooks, alas. So, you’ll have to invent your own funny voices and flying machine noise in Howard Whitehouse’s hilarious “Mad Misadventures” series, set in Victorian England:
Our recommendation for an audiobook is Neil Gaiman’s wonderfully creepy, yet touching Graveyard Book, about a living boy raised by the ghostly residents of a cemetery. There’s a lot to this story about bravery and loyalty – it’s not just a horror tale!
The pre-school and early elementary school years are usually associated with picture books – usually 32 pages long, less than a thousand words (far less, for the youngest kids) and full of colorful pictures. How does that connect with a listening experience?
Well – it’s different!
One classic beloved by young children is the story of Paddington Bear. Not too long for little kids – 2hrs and 39 minutes – it’s a classic, read by the wonderful Stephen Fry.
In ‘Bridget Jones’ Diary’ the hapless heroine devotes far, far too much time and energy to self-help books. The topic of love – finding it, nurturing it, keeping it and what to do when it has gone – is a keystone of the self-help shelves of any bookshop. The queen of relationship advice is, of course, Oprah Winfrey, so it’s to Oprah’s own site we go for a thoughtful but accessible piece on “Overcoming Barriers to Intimacy in Romantic relationships”.
http://www.oprah.com/relationships/Overcoming-Barriers-to-Intimacy-in-Romantic-Relationships
How many of us have reached the dazzling heights of success we imagined we’d enjoy when we were starting out? Not many – even if that’s because we had unreasonable expectations and and unreachable dreams. We’ve had jobs we hated, or had no future. We got passed over for promotions. We applied for better jobs – and were disappointed when that rejection letter arrived.
If you already have a job, and are (reasonably) happy with the company or organization you work for, it’s a great idea to show your employers how terrific you are – they may not have noticed! In “How to Impress Your Boss” IT guy Ben Brumm gives some terrific advice.
http://www.selfgrowth.com/articles/how-to-impress-your-boss
Figure out your boss’s own goals, be positive and a leader, help the team – and, most of all, “Do great work.”
Let’s face it, none of us is perfect, and the time we are most aware of that fact is often when we look into a mirror. In a world where beautiful people are apparently everywhere (even if it’s on television of magazine covers rather in our day-to-day life) it’s easy to be self-critical.
Fitness is a key issue for many people. Whether it’s for better health or a better appearance, we understand that exercise is crucial. And if we already knew how to start an effective exercise regime, we’d be doing it already, right? Since we don’t we look for pointers to get started. Some are short, sensible articles like this one – 3 Things Every Exercise Program Should Have
http://www.healthdiscovery.net/articles/3things_every_exercise.htm
But articles on websites and monthly magazines tend to be brief . Many people want more detail. The Audiobooks Now site offers many choices here – the popular Denise Austin offers a specific 21 day program here:
https://www.audiobooksnow.com/#!p=details&id=129395
The Audiobook format is, of course, ideal for fitness-oriented topics since you can work out while listening rather than simply reading a traditional book.
Closely related to exercise is diet and nutrition. You can’t get fitter if you live on chocolate cake and candy. There are a million articles on aspects of nutrition – take this one, for example, on good and bad fats:
http://www.everydayhealth.com/diet-nutrition/good-fats-and-bad-fats.aspx
Like most effective self-help articles, it doesn’t dwell on the chemistry of food science, but comes with specific tips that the reader can use right away. That’s a key element in providing information – it has to be immediately practical.
At the same time, merely eating better won’t tone your body or help your heartrate. And owning the books won’t do anything, if all you do is own books!
The modern world is a testing, stressful place that demands much of us, and often gives too little back. Many of us look for spiritual growth, for serenity and a hedge against the howling world outside. An article entitled ‘10 Tips on How to Maintain Good Spiritual Health’
http://www.wikihow.com/Maintain-Good-Spiritual-Health
features a variety of useful suggestions, from meditation and deep breathing through prayer and being part of a spiritual community (attending church, synagogue or whatever fits your own needs) to simple things like singing along with your favourite song and doing something for someone else every day.
— and be yourself, and improve yourself, and organize yourself, and sell yourself! A key element in the world of self-help books is that you can – and should – be (as the old sales pitch for the US Army had it) Be All You Can Be. So there are a myriad of books showing how we, the readers, can start on that path to self-improvement.
A huge number of self-help books are about being organized.
Another huge amount of self-help books are about being inspired – often by the example of famously successful people (who may or may not have anything in common with your own situation).
Others involve being a great salesman. Indeed, there are so many books about being great at selling, that a few people have had successful careers simply telling others how to be great salesmen!
First of all, which self help-books actually help?
http://www.raptitude.com/2013/02/five-self-help-books-that-actually-helped/
The first book listed is Richard Carlson’s “Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff (and It’s All Small Stuff”), a classic of its genre.
Now let’s look at a naysayer – someone who, having bought many, many self-help books, questions their value:
http://www.motivationalwellbeing.com/self-help-books-are-useless.html
So, even though some self-help books primarily help the publisher’s bottom line, others can be very useful to the reader – but only if the reader puts that advice into effective use.
Mysteries, a genre like no other – they spark our imagination and keep us guessing, on the edges of our seats until the ride is over. Join the discussion this cycle about mysteries of all shapes, sizes, and forms:
