Last Saturday I was full of ambition. At least I worked up a mild ambition to work on a few housekeeping chores. I’m proud to report back to you this morning that of the five audio books downloaded last week, which probably all told add up to about 90 hours of listening time, I have in fact listened to the first three hours of one book. That should tell you a little bit about how much I managed to accomplish on housework. I believe we can call the desire to nap the winner in that particular battle.
Nevertheless, I’ve downloaded four more books this morning. Yes, I know this is somewhat crazy. You can’t really speed read audio books after all. If it takes 90 hours, it takes 90 hours, and clearly I don’t have those hours on hand.
But you see what it is is…
I did have on hand two new credits and an offer for a $10 coupon if I purchased four books before a certain date. My self-censoring powers on book purchases were far too weak to withstand an offer like that.
And who knows? Maybe this time I really will get some housework done by distracting myself with a good story or two or eight or nine.
Regardless, here’s my list for today:
First Family: Abigail and John Adams by Joseph J Ellis–I think this one is self-explanatory. I experienced some sort of fleeting urge to educate myself on the history of my country. Plus, John Adams was never home with his family. I admit to some curiosity about just how grumpy this made Abigail and whether she said so in the letters she left behind.
The Autobiography of Mark Twain, Volume 1 by Mark Twain–I’m really excited about this. A hundred years after his death, Mark Twain’s “complete and authoritative” autobiography is to be released in three volumes. It seems old Sam had quite a lot to say about his life. Volume 1 alone is nearly 25 hours in the audio version. I could probably clean out every closet in my house before I got to the end.
Even Silence has an End by Ingrid Betancourt–This is a captivity narrative by someone who survived to tell her story on Oprah. She went to Columbia as your everyday average do-gooder and ended up captured and no doubt tormented in ways that will be painful to imagine much less hear about. A friend suggested this book. She says it is fascinating. I’m looking forward to it.
Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk by David Sedaris–We were getting a little too serious, weren’t we? Nothing like a little Sedaris to put it all back in perspective.
