I did it. I listened to my first book on tape (or rather, cd). I have no idea why I avoided them for so long, but I've always had an aversion to listening to books instead of reading them.
When I read, I develop a really vivid picture in my mind. I'm addicted to detail in stories because I want to form the most complete picture possible. I'm all for writers allowing readers to fill in the minutia, but I will always take more detail instead of less. I want my reading experience to be authentic, and I think the best way to achieve this is by the writer giving me a thorough description of what they see.
How does this rambling relate to books on tape? Well I'll tell you, smartypants. I was afraid, literally scared, that my experience as a reader would be diminished if I listened to the words instead of read them on a page. You know in elementary school where they teach you about the different kinds of learning - visual, verbal, and physical? I am a visual learner. I can't learn anything from listening to someone explain it. I need to see them do it or I'll never retain it. With this knowledge of how I interact with things and that awful episode of Seinfeld where George tries to listen to a book on tape, I just wrote audio books off altogether.
Fast forward to today: I'm a mom who works full-time and I drive my son to daycare everyday. I spend a lot of time in my car commuting. I used to waste this time listening to news radio for traffic updates, now I fill it with books I want to read. The only problem? Getting to a point where you can't stop listening so you have to sit in your car in the parking lot of your office building until you can tear yourself away. Needless to say, I've been a few minutes late recently.
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