A quick plug for a delightful summertime listen on Audible: Eragon.
It’s not nearly as cerebral as LOTR, but it’s got more depth than
Harry Potter–great dragon fantasy fun, and good for ages 6+ (Hannah
liked listening with me in the car, but she had trouble following
with the characters/adventures for such a long book). The author
started the book when he was 17, and since he’s only 19 now, I’m
guessing that he has a long and productive fantasy writing career
ahead of him. Name is Christopher Paolini.
The narrator does a better than average job with the voices and
reading–and the best part, for me, is that there will be sequels.
Anita can also tell you about this one–she and Chase have listened
as well.
And just because it’s been a month or so since anyone has reminded
the Mansion about Audible, it’s www.audible.com–you can get two
audiobooks a month for just $19.95, and if you agree to a year’s
subscription, you’ll get a free MP3 player with ear buds and
cassette adapter for your car. I’ve had mine now for over a year
and never had a problem with it (and it’s made it through at least
two 60+ hour books!). I’ve gotten a dc adapter for my car
(batteries get expensive, and I don’t like throwing away used
batteries), as well as an additional memory chip for my player, so
right now I can listen for more than 25 hours without interruption.
Other great listens lately: John Adams biography by Scott McCullom,
Harry Truman’s Biography by the same, Angels and Demons by Dan Brown
(only available abridged, but it’s still about 10 hours), Life of
Pi, Memoirs of a Geisha, and Cold Mountain.
–Annie (go check it out, and tell ‘em atarbox sent you!)
