I haven't had anything nice to say about my time in World of Warcraft this past couple of weeks. Pardon me for being absent. I tried posting, really I did, but all the posts ended up sounding like a whine fest,and not the kind that goes well with cheese, so they will sit, partially written my in folders, unused. Guild drama is entertaining sometimes, but mostly, it's just sad, and so, that is all I will be saying about that .
I have been enjoying some really well read books on iTunes lately. Well, one, I'm slow, but I am looking forward to enjoying at least 3 others I have loaded on my iPod Touch. The one I am listening to now is A Princess of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs. It's about a middle aged guy who was part of the confederate army, who struck out to prospect gold with a partner after the war. They found a nice chunk, and the partner was sent to get better equipment. He didn't make it, and after saving his body from Indians, our hero holes up in a cave and his adventures begin.
The book I downloaded was in podcast form, with about every other chapter voiced by a different reader. Does anyone know how to make your iPod play things in reverse order? This is the part that is slowing me the most, as I have to quickly bring up the interface and click on the next chapter before it reads one I have already listened to. Imagine trying to do that in the middle of assembling 96 turkey subs. My poor screen was pretty gross looking, even after taking off the gloves, a mix of perspiration and glove powder smeared across the screen.
Librivox is the service that made this available through iTunes. They, with the help of volunteers, record works in the public domain and make them available to the public for their consumption. I just love it because, well, I love to read, but I don't have the time to sit down with a book all the time. Their books read in podcast version are read by a variety of readers. This doesn't bother me, it just adds more color to the reading. One chapter I get English with a middle eastern accent, the next I get a lovely southern drawl. Aside from that,the only other distraction during the recording is the required "This is a Librivox Recording" at the start of every chapter, introducing the book, chapter, author, and reader. I believe this a small price to pay for their product.
In comparison, I recently joined Audible.com for their promise of keeping Stormrage for just trying them out. Well, like most free trials, I always end up paying for another month, so I have credit there to spend. Their book was good, but the reader annoyed me with their pronunciation of things like Sylvanas and Teldrassil. You'd think they would ask how to pronounce something before committing it to a sound file and charging for it.
Aside from World of Warcraft books and free science fiction novels, I have been enjoying the series on the ship captain Honor Harrington by David Weber. I spent my 1 credit from Audible this month on The Honor of the Queen. I expect it to be a good listen, as I enjoy reading about Honor's adventures in her universe, and that should be enough.
Another series I would love to get into is the Dr. Who book series. One I got my hands on was read by David Tennant, so it was almost like listening to the show while out of the room. I see that Audible has these available as well, though I am not sure who reads them. So, I suppose I could recommend Audible if you have an extra 15 bucks a month. It translates to one book a month, and if you don't use it, you can roll over up to 6 credits. If you wanted to buy another in a month, you get up to 30% off. Not a bad deal, just not the best for me, when 15 means I feed my family for the day.
Check out Librivox or Audible. Pick up some food for your imagination.
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