Reading with Your Ears

People always ask me how I find the time to read so much. Apart from the fact that it’s a priority in my life so I make the time, the fact is, audiobooks help a lot. I first discovered them a couple of years ago, and I’ve become a veritable junkie ever since. I can’t get into my car without the assurance that I have CDs to last me the way to work. Once you start with them, you really can’t do without them. Traffic becomes meaningless and stress-free. Empty time is filled with delicious words.

Besides the car, I listen to audiobooks on my walks, when I cook and clean, and when I’m in bed during bouts of insomnia. We have a great collection of them in the library, although a huge chunk of them are out at any given time because of their popularity. As a format, they’ve come a long way. We still have the cassette versions although we no longer buy them, and we are looking into the viability of the downloadable kind. Besides fiction and non-fiction, we also have these absolutely amazing audio courses which I recommend wholeheartedly.

One positive offshoot of audio addiction is that you discover new genres and authors. Often enough, you end up taking out books you normally wouldn’t because of availability and are happily surprised. Also, some of the actors are just fantastic, and make listening to the book a more delightful experience than reading it. The Harry Potters are a case in point: Jim Dale is so incredible I had to buy a set for the Adult side of the library. Even my Dad loves them!

I urge everyone to try just one audiobook and see what happens. You will never be the same.

Latin Gusto

I like to think of our library as more of a cultural centre as opposed to place where you just take out books. After all, we do house our very own art gallery with artwork from all corners of the world. We also offer history lectures, book clubs, author visits and language courses. And we even have an auditorium where we hold music concerts which brings me to my next point.

For those wishing to add a little Latin gusto into their lives, the highly renowned Venezuelan musical group Ensemble Çavana is performing at our library on Thursday April 26th at 7:30 pm. Tickets cost $3.00 and I assure you are worth every last cent so come on by!

What will you do?

With Oscar fever long gone and Passion for Film not due till June, what will you do to pass the time? Visit us at the library but of course, venturing forth to the Audio Visual Department where there are tonnes of entertainment options at hand.

And what fresh excitement to see the music collection blooming for this Passover and Easter season; at long last there are hundreds of compact discs on display and in drawers just waiting for you to take four home for three weeks. Whether it be Bach, Mozart or Schubert who floats your boat or you need a fix of Barry Manilow, Barbara Streisand or Yanni, the collection has an impressive scope and variety. Some of my favourites are Baroque, Choral and Renaissance works but I do so adore present day pop culture. Rocking music groups from the United Kingdom like Bloc Party and Hard-Fi, trip hop superstars like Massive Attack or the eclectic sounds of Gorillaz please me intensely and it is super groovy to find them in our favourite local library.

With such voluminous amounts of marvelous music being released, we are often delighted with what is available and inundated with ideas for the expansion of the collection. If ever there should be an occasion where you know of something fantastic we do not have, do, by all means, use our Suggestion Book in Audio Visual or make a recommendation through our online catalogue and we will certainly take it into consideration the next time we plan a trip to the shops.