I'm Hooked

I have been reluctant to try audio books (books read on cassette, CD, or Playaway) because I was afraid they would be too distracting, especially in the car when I'm driving. Then I realized that I listen to old-time radio in the car and have no problems with distraction. Using money from our State Grant for School Libraries last year, I purchased nearly half the Rebecca Caudill nominees for 2011 in audio book format. As time is getting short to complete my reading of all 20 nominees, I needed to do something to speed up my list. I started with the audio book version of The Alchemyst by Michael Scott. This audio book, read/performed by Denis P. O'Hare, is a fantastic listening experience. Mr. O'Hare manages to create individual voices for each character. And there are a lot of characters. The voices are distinct enough to recognize which character is speaking before they are identified. Now I'm hooked on audio books! They make my drive home much more enjoyable. And should I need to concentrate on traffic, I can always press the skip back button to repeat a section. I was worried that I would not retain enough of the story to effectively booktalk later so I tried taking the Accelerated Reader quiz and I scored 100%! Even now I find myself remembering the story as vividly as if I held the book in my hands and read it. All of the Caudill 2011 books will be ready for checkout over the month of November including the audio book versions. For those of you who can't wait, the IMC already has a blossoming audio book collection ready for checkout. Take a look at the rack on top of the Reference shelves by the windows and begin listening to some great stories.