Cleaning has never been more fun

One of my favorite products in this world is audiobooks. I can read much faster than I can listen so I will always prefer reading over listening, but audiobooks definitely have a place in my life. This delightful medium has made long drives very pleasant. I have also been known to take the long way home or sit in the driveway for a long time so that I can listen more. I especially love that I am having fun and getting errands done at the same time. I have always thought that audiobooks would make my chores more fun as well.

For the most part, I have only listened to the Harry Potter series and Jane Austen, both of which are okay if little ears eavesdrop. The local library has a very good selection, however, I do find that over 50% of the copies I have borrowed have been damaged and that is incredibly annoying. Plus, I only allow myself to borrow one audiobook at a time because of my propensity to turn in everything past its due date (I have paid libraries much more than I would like to admit). Finally, I would buy my own but they are incredibly expensive and unless it is Harry Potter, it only gets listened to once.

I had resigned myself to listening to cds only in the car and not as frequently as I would like, until my recent visit to my local library's website changed all of that. On the website I learned that I can 'borrow' audiobooks online. They have a huge assortment, maybe not all the ones I would love to read, but plenty to keep me busy. Some of the books you can burn to a cd but mostly you either listen to the recordings on your computer or an mp3 player (iPods do not work with this service). Well I couldn't resist the idea that I could be mopping and listening to a great book, so I went and bought an inexpensive mp3 player. I downloaded my first book, Cold Sassy Tree by Olive Ann Burns, which I am reading for my first book club (more on that another day). I finished it today and it worked wonderfully. Surprisingly my house is much cleaner than usual. I don't allow myself to sit down and listen, I have to be working and I didn't mind that one bit. The best part is that there are no late fines! I should do this while working out too, maybe a longer workout won't be so bad afterall?

The next books on my to listen are:
Archer's Quest by Linda Sue Park (one of my favorite ya fiction authors)
Sherlock Holmes Theatre
Persuasion by Jane Austen
Lost Colony (Artemis Fowl series) by Eoin Colfer

I have lots more to add to the list.

I do wish that I had a bought a more advanced mp3 player (more memory and the ability to do bookmarks) but this one will do fine for a long time. I can give this to Brianna when it is time to upgrade.

Interested in doing this yourself? Check your own local library's website, most have this option available. Pretty soon your house will be cleaner than usual too!