Get your Freak on...

So I am listening to Freakanomics on my shuffle. I have always been a fan of audio books because they open up so many additional opportunities for "reading". Got errands to run? You can read while driving. Got a fussy baby? You can read while walking laps around the couch. Time to work out? You can read while running. I have found the best way to get audio books is to check out Books on CD from the library and then convert them to mp3s. I even found some third party software called Markable that converts CD audio books to the format necessary to play on Apple's ipod (that includes the ability to bookmark). It is well worth the $15.

Jump or don't jump, just stop with the F word

So I recently finished A Long Way Down by Nick Hornsby. I really liked the film High Fidelity. I know we could all get distracted by the fact that I saw the movie without reading the book, but this is one of the rare times I haven't read the book. Besides, it would detract from my point. By now you are probably asking what my point is. My point is the F word. Now I can appreciate a good vulgarity when placed appropriately. I can even understand their judicious use in time of stress or high spirits. I can only hope that Mr. Hornsby assigned some sort of hot key on his word processor to that word to avoid a repetitive stress disorder. I thought military personnel were bad, but this set a new standard. Let's just say you wouldn't want to choose this one if you are looking for an audio book for the family road trip.

The first step is admitting you have a problem...

I realized in high school that I was different than my friends. I didn't know anyone else that would gladly stay up all night because they just couldn't stand to but the book down. While everyone else carried a walkman, I wouldn't leave the house without at least one book in my pocket (I was wearing cargo pants long before Old Navy showed up). Now I am the first to admit to a lack of "sophistication" in what I read. It has only been recently that I have learned how to leave a book unfinished if I thought it wasn't worth reading. My taste runs from Judith Martin to Orson Scott Card and back again.

Of course it isn't just books. As the blog title indicates I will read just about anything I get my hands on: Cereal boxes, bumper stickers, fine print, celebrity magazines. In fact, the only line I haven't crossed is software ULAs.

The purpose of this blog is to track in some sharable format the books I read and my impressions of those books. Most likely this site will be visited only by friends and family. A part of me hopes, however, that others will find this site and list the books they are reading. I can always use a good recommendation to feed my addiction.