But what I meant was I carried my iPod on my person and I’m ready at any time of day or night to plug in and listen to a book. I bet you do that too. That’s the best way to maximize reading into life.

I bought a Kindle thinking I could squeeze in even more reading but so far I haven’t. Besides keeping plenty of magazines in the smallest room of the house I can’t think of anything to squeeze in any more reading time.

Well, I guess I could give up television, but that’s too drastic. Someone once suggested I try plugging one book in one ear and another in the other ear and see if I could listen to two books at once.

Jim

Hi, Jim - I’m Becca. And I carry my iPod everywhere.

Several years ago, I had a minor closed head injury that severely affected my short term memory. I literally could not read: by the time I’d decoded one word, I’d forgotten what the previous word was. Reading has always been a major part of my life, was really very much a part of my self-identity, so this hit me hard on an existential level.

We’d been by a store called Talking Book World before, and so went in, and rented Crocodile on the Sandbank, by Elizabeth Peters - I’d been reading that series when I had the injury. It is brilliantly read by Barbara Rosenblat, and I was hooked by the end of the first chapter - hooked not just on that book, but by the whole concept of audiobooks, and the added dimension that good narration can give to the story.

After about 6 weeks or so, my reading began to come back. I began to read the book along with listening to it, and after about 3 months or so, things were back to normal, although my reading rate and comprehension have never fully recovered. But I’d discovered a whole new world, and kept on with audiobooks.

I got an audible subscription, and the little Muvo that came free with it, but soon outgrew it’s abilities. My darling husband got me an iPod Mini, and friends on the various audiobook email lists I had begun to follow held my hand while I learned to navigate the mysteries of iTunes and the audio world.

I became one of the best customers at the Talking Book World store, and when they had an opening, the manager offered me a part-time job there. I love working with audiobooks, and with listeners, and, again with the help of people on the various lists, became quite knowledgeable not only about books and authors, but narrators and devices.

The other part of this is that I’m bipolar, and listening to audiobooks quickly became a major part of my coping strategies, something my husband realized before I did, even. I listen to books when I can’t sleep - this keeps my mind engaged and away from obsessive rumination, and yet doesn’t require me to have a light lit so my ‘reading’ doesn’t bother my husband and wake him up.

The store where I worked closed a couple of years ago, as TBW closed all their corporate stores to move to an online presence. But the district manager was friends with a privately-owned TBW store, and recommended me when they needed more help.

I’ve been unable to work in my base profession for various reasons, but audiobooks have become a second profession for me now, and have quite literally changed my life.

I agree with Jim about the change from a private reader to becoming a social reader. I love reading about and discussing audiobooks. I still read paper books, but wouldn’t be without my iPod and my audiobooks for the world - I’ve virtually doubled my reading time!