Currently listening to Frances Hodgeson Burnett's "The Lost Prince" courtesy of Librivox. The reader's voice sounds so much like my beloved aunt's!  :)>>> I can lie there and pretend it's my beloved Auntie Jeanne reading to me.

True, and a poor reader can ruin a text. I once recieved an audio book as a gift that was read by the writer himself. He had a nasal voice and didn't read his own work well! Made me wonder if his "inspirational" writings were mostly about the money, rather than real feeling.

I download Librivox books because I don't have access to English-language classics. Any English book here is going to cost me upwards of 15 Euros. Which really bites when the cover price is 8 USD, which works out to about 5 Euros.

But when the reader gets it right, they can make a book a wonder.

Oh, and actually reading "The Best American Essays 2004". And I can't say I agree with their selection. Some of them are actually from previous decades, some are so up themselves they're hard to read, and one in particular is just poorly written. Someone should have told the author that starting every sentence with the word "I" (or having it in the sentence) and putting one or two sentences per paragraph is seriously annoying for a 10-page "essay".

I download Librivox books because I don't have access to English-language classics. Any English book here is going to cost me upwards of 15 Euros. Which really bites when the cover price is 8 USD, which works out to about 5 Euros.

But when the reader gets it right, they can make a book a wonder.

Ah. I'm very lucky in that I can check out pretty much any audiobook available for purchase in American via the interlibrary loan program at my university's library for free.

Before I discovered the interlibrary loan program, I was downloading as well. I still have several of the sites I got my downloads from saved to my favorites. Have you seen any of these? I can't necessarily vouch for the books having great readers, but I was pretty pleased with the pretty diverse selection (especially of classic lit) they offer.

http://freeclassicaudiobooks.com/

http://www.openculture.com/2006/10/audio_book_podc.html

http://www.booksshouldbefree.com/

My dearest, darling, beloved NewShoes,
No, I hadn't. What riches you set before me.
If you ever want my head on a plate...just ask.
Swooning,
YG

::giggle:: Aw, shucks. It twas nothin'!  :winktongue:

Silly, Yabbit.  :bunny: I'd never want your head on a plate. I'm a veggie, remember?  :biggrin: Your lovely presence on VW is plenty for me. Plus, I owe you for that French audiocite site you posted a while back. Mon Français va bien mieux!

I have read tons and tons of Stephen King - used to be my fav author as a kid.  Haven't got Under the Dome - still too new and only in hardback here, and I like to wait until things are cheaper and available 2nd hand.

awesome.  I'd not read any but my husband and his parents are really into them, so he started me with The Stand and so far I've read The Stand, Cujo, Duma Key, and now Under the Dome.
It's not our book though, it's my father-in-law's, even though he hasn't read it yet .  And it's a paperback, I don't like hardback books usually either, well, not when they're this big!

You haven't read The Shining yet?! It's one of my all time favorite movies, and a good book. My dad has like all (except recent) Stephen King books. I don't think I've read that many.

I've finally decided to skip Anna Karenina for now, and I've started the new John Irving book-Last Night In Twisted River.

I've been reading a ton of nonfiction lately. Since coming to Berlin I've read:

The Orchid Thief by Susan Orlean. Now I want to watch Adaptation again. I love that movie.

Blink and The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell. I liked Outliers best though. Soo good.

Omnivore's Dilemma annoyed the hell out of me.

Hillary Carlip is my new favorite person. I read her memoir Queen of the Oddballs in 2 days. Check her out. Awesome woman.

Now I'm reading fiction, finally! My bf insisted I try The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro. It's ok so far.

Omnivore's Dilemma annoyed the hell out of me.

Me tooooooo. I think it was the combination of Pollan's inconsistent reasoning, vast overgeneralizations, and untenable conclusions about the scientific research he cited that drove me mad. I could hardly bring myself to stick with that book through to the end. I know Pollan's intentions are good, and he has achieved a lot by way of bringing concerns about sustainability to the minds of the masses; I'm just not always in agreement with him on the whys and hows he advocates for regarding societal change. Meh. To each his/her own, I suppose. If nothing else he's inspiring people to think about the consequences of their behaviors a little bit more than they used to, and for that I'll tip my hat to him.

Ah, thank you for summing that up so well!