So, I came to bleak realization last month that I'll never read a real book again. Sadly, I just can't ever seem to make time, and unfortunately when I do have time it's very low on the priority list.
It was a really frustrating moment for me to come to that conclusion, as I love to read. I used to go through 2-3 books at a time, mixing both my love for the Fantasy series (Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series still ranks as my all time favorite) and my thirst for technical knowledge.
I kept pondering ways to get around this, certain that if I just managed my time a little better I could squeeze in at least 30 minutes a day to read. Alas, it just wasn't possible.
Then I realized that I spent 1.5 - 2 hours/day in the car commuting, and... whoa, Dallas radio sucks! So, putting 1 and 1 together, I realized I should look back into audio books.
Being the impulse buyer that I am, I ran out to Amazon and bought two audio books. Both were Jim Collins' books, Good to Great and Built to Last.
After having listened to both in my car the past few weeks, I can say... THIS ROCKS! I've never felt so productive. ;) It's been great!
Now, I'm going to subscribe to Audible.com and just download from there and burn CD's as needed. Too cool.
For anyone thinking about audio books, also, I HIGHLY recommend it.
It's too bad highly technical books don't translate to audiobook very well. You'll probably not be able to learn, say, Silverlight from an audiobook. Not a big loss, I suppose.
Here's the real rub. "Yay" for audiobooks, but "boo" for Dallas public transportation! You know if someone was driving for you, you would have a chance to read. I just got back from London, Paris and Rome and even in the worst public transportation situation (Rome) you could easily consume a book on the way to work.
Either that or we need to get moving on those self-driving cars science fiction has been promising us.
I started listening to technical podcasts during my commute for the past year or so. However with a dead iPod now its been kinda tough. Thats a good fix when you can't find the time to plow through a 500 page book.
I did the audiobook for the parts of the last Harry Potter book...however I couldn't take the narrator very seriously. Especially when he "read" for Hermione. I had to constantly pause it and chuckle to myself at his terrible impression of an little girl with an English accent.
I've been a Audible subscriber since January 2001. I'm technically a "Charter" member, and have over 200 audio books in my library and 10 unspent book credits currently. I cannot recommend them highly enough!
Jason, you should be sure to get the Wall Street Journal morning read from them, it covers the front page, an editorial, an article and Walt Mossberg's article. Great way to sneak in some targeted news, and since each article is sectioned in the download it's real easy to push past an article you could care less about.
I loved Audible until my commute stopped. Now I'm still struggling to finish my remaining audiobooks.
I've also got Good to Great to listen to - good to know that it'll be a good one.
I'm also a big WoT fan - Jordan needs to hurry up and finish! If you're looking for another great Fantasy series - I'd definitely give George R.R. Martin's "A Song of Ice and Fire" a chance. Especially if you're looking for another series with no end in sight :).