very addicted to audio books

Book-on-tapes or CD never really appealed to me before; where was the fun in THAT?
I love books. I love buying, selling, trading, flipping through, stacking , organizing , smelling... books.

But there was a KnitPicks podcast where she talks about listening to audiobooks on her iPod, especially mystery/thriller type.. And then there was a post on Knitting Law Students on Ravelry about listening to legal podcasts while knitting.

So I had to try.

I used to listen to podcasts back in my first year as a law student. There was a really helpful podcast "Life of a Law Student," I especially needed one for Civ Pro class since I struggled with the Erie Doctrine for the entire semester.

But it was so boring! Plus, I had no idea what to do with myself while listening to the podcasts.

Should I be taking notes? Should I listen to them before going to bed, as a review? Or should I just leave it on like radio? I even tried burning them onto a CD and listened while driving. Didn't really help.

So I ditched the idea..

Now two years later, I see many progress made on podcast community. There were many more legal podcasts and lectures. Even SYMPOSIUM. I got a bunch of knitting podcasts too. But I love the legal podcasts.   When I have to do work, I listen to knitting podcasts so I don't miss knitting too much; when I knit, I listen to legal podcasts so I don't feel too guilty since I'm kind of studying at the same time.

Then on to audiobooks.

I checked out some audiobooks and found that free ones online are all classics that ran out on copyrights.. So now I checked my local library website. What do you know, they had A LOT of audiobooks for download. They work like regular library system. You put the titles on your eCart, and then check out, using your library card. Then you download those titles using a special audiobook program your library might use (probably keeps track of licensing). You can listen to the books for 2 weeks or so, during which time you can burn them on a CD or put them on your MP3 player.

I checked out:

Blink - Malcolm Gladwell

Lovers and Players by Jackie Collins

Twilight (!!!) - Stephenie Meyer

I gotta say, I am HOOKED. I'm listening to Lovers and Players these days and it's the type of book I enjoy ("chicklit"), perfect when knitting complicated designs or doing mindless homework/work, running errands.. I love classics too, so I might try those for less complicated knitting and yoga or something.

So check out your library for "free" audiobooks! =) No late fees (since you simply won't be able to listen to them after the license expires), no hassle of going back and forth the library, you'll know what titles are available right away.