So on the road: my last trip out had me listening to Jane Austen’s Northanger Abbey. This time around I’ve got two books to ‘read’: Beowulf, which I see is coming out as a movie, and Just a Geek by Wil Wheaton. Beowulf looks to be only 2.5 hours in length, so it will be interesting to see whether how the movie will compare since the book can be finished in about the same amount of time. Unfortunately after about 5 minutes of listening to it, I had to turn it off for fear of falling asleep. I’ve never been a great listener; I’m much more of a visual person. So listening to an epic poem wasn’t working too well for me. I think this may be one where I’ll just see the movie and then read it later if the movie appeals to me enough.
Just a Geek is one I’ve been meaning to read for several years. I’ve been a lurker on Wil’s blog for about 5 years– ever since I found it while at my first real-world job out of college. I can’t recommend his blog enough, especially to geeks at heart. Or anyone with a family. Or who likes hearing well-composed stories about family… with a splash of celebrity every once-in-a-while. So far I’ve listened to the first 6 chapters and am pleased to see I have plenty left to listen to on my drive home. That is if I can manage not to listen to it the rest of this week while I’m home.
Incidentally, if you’re looking for something to listen to to kill some time, I pulled both Northanger Abbey and Beowulf free from iTunes U. Many universities are set up there and offer educational lectures and courses– as well as some novels such as these. These were from Lit2Go, from the Florida Center for Instructional Technology (grades 12 and 11, respectively).