MUST. WATCH.

Tears of joy.

Much as I don't like the idea of defacing books, this is simply amazing.

More here.

Why I Listen to (Some) Audiobooks, and You Should Too

Gentle reader, you know I love books. Obviously, or this blog would not exist. I don’t just love READING, I love books, the actual physical stacks of ink-filled pages between cardboard or leather covers. I like the weight, the feeling, the smell of books. I’m never happier than when I have a book in my hand and another waiting nearby.

So it may surprise you to learn this post is about audiobooks. They are not, in fact, the enemy. Yes, some people (many people) listen to what used to be called books on tape, now downloadable audio files, in lieu of reading wonderful books, and that is sad. Some of these people have trouble reading at a very high level, don’t have the patience, or think they don’t have the time. (I say think because we all know that if you want to make the time to read, you will.) Of course, I wish they would drop the ear buds and pick up the book instead. But I’m here to tell you there is a time and place for a particular type of audiobook—as I have only recently discovered.

In the old days, when I used to take long walks for exercise, I started renting cassette tapes of John Grisham novels to relieve the boredom of walking around my neighborhood over and over. Even I can’t read a print book very efficiently while walking or exercising. Recently, I remembered how well this ruse worked when I began working out at the gym again, after a long hiatus. Although most days I meet a friend at the gym—in fact, this is the main reason I decided to give gym-going another try—some days she can’t make it and I am on my own, and quickly bored out of my mind. Since I received a tiny, adorable, bright-red iPod Nano last Valentine’s Day, when I burned through all the podcasts of This American Life and RadioLab that were available, I decided to look into audiobooks again.

This is what I discovered: it is a lot more fun listening to celebrities reading their own autobiographies out loud than it is to read them. This is the kick I’m on now. I started with possibly the most entertaining one on the market right now: Tina Fey’s “Bossypants.” I love Tina Fey and think she’s one of the smartest, wittiest people in pop culture, and she reads her book with appropriate verve. It was having a good long chat with your funniest gal pal. When it was over I told my husband, “I just want Tina Fey talking in my ear ALL the time.”

Next, a friend recommended Michael Caine’s book “The Elephant to Hollywood.” Caine’s life story is fascinating—I gasped out loud a couple of times—and hearing it in his own inimitable Cockney voice makes it feel more authentic and real. A delightful bonus from the audiobook that you would definitely not get from reading the print version is that he chuckles quietly at his own funny stories. That is priceless.

Excited by my first successes, I next downloaded Rob Lowe’s “Stories I Only Tell My Friends,” which was even more interesting to me because he is practically my contemporary. His stories about growing up in Ohio and moving to Malibu as a teen, becoming a world-famous movie star and debauched playboy, and his later redemption, are full of name-dropping of the biggest movie stars of our generation. He really can’t help it; it seems like everyone he meets later turns into a major star. These are all the teen idols I grew up adoring, so I was thrilled to hear his behind-the-scenes stories. Best of all, I discovered that Rob Lowe is a pretty good mimic. Who knew? The various voices he imitates include Cary Grant (hilariously), Tom Cruise already manic and in charge at a young age, Christopher Walken, and many more. I’d be walking my dog around the neighborhood and suddenly burst out laughing, to the confusion of my neighbors.

Of the audio-autobiographies I’ve downloaded so far, only one has been kind of a bust. I don’t watch “The Office,” so I only kind of know the young actress and writer Mindy Kaling, but I saw a couple of her funny interviews and downloaded her book, “Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me?” on a whim. She’s funny, certainly, but at just 32 years old she hasn’t really had much of a life to introspect about. That might make me sound like an old fart, but writing one successful play and then being hired to write and act in one sitcom don’t make a rich career. Although she’s very successful, Kaling’s book would be good fodder for those who scorn the members of Generation X or Y or whichever it is for being endlessly self-absorbed. I wasn’t sad when it ended.

At this point I’d like to say that listening to audiobooks has not put a crimp in my print reading. I never listen to them in the house. When I’m walking in the neighborhood or working out at the gym is when I’ll pull out the iPod (and sometimes when I’m grocery shopping). And I don’t think I’ll ever get to the point where I’m listening to classic literature, or anything.

So what’s currently on my iPod? Craig Ferguson’s “American on Purpose: The Improbable Adventures of an Unlikely Patriot.” I’ve watched Ferguson’s Late Late Show and I think he’s smart and hilarious. The interviews I’ve heard or read with him make me think his life story will be both pretty interesting and hilariously retold. I expect my list of audiobooks will grow. After all, there’s no shortage of interesting celebrities out there telling their own stories.

Librarians Are Awesome, Part IV

I want a bed like this.

And a chair like this:

with apologies to Mark Twain

This made me LOL: better book titles.