Audio books

I learned to love audio books while I was working at the Kingwood Library and driving back and forth more than an hour each way. It introduced me to new authors, and saved me from conservative talk radio. Popping in some cassettes, or even better some CDs, was a simple process that helped me keep my sanity.

I soon found that some audio books, because of the voice of the reader, seemed even better than the written version. My all-time favorite in this regard is the "No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency" series, written by Alexander McCall Smith, and read by Lisette LeCat in a terrific South African accent that makes the Botswana setting seem all the more real. The first six or so of Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum mysteries are also great because of the "New Joizy" accent of the reader C.J. Critt.