Hello Ladies. Do any of you listen to audio books while knitting? I have found that I feel much more productive if I can knit or type entries on my blog, etc., if I can āreadā a book, too. We are enjoying it quite a lot!
I searched for our first audio book about two months ago and found Pride and Prejudice. I found a place that lets you preview the audio book to see with narrator you like best. I have really enjoyed P & P and have listened to it twice through! (Itās over 13 hours long)
Our second audio book was Sarah, Plain and Tall, which included all three books by Patricia M. And, even better, it is read by Glenn Close! She does a wonderful job.
The third one we chose was Charlotteās Web. Oh! It is wonderful. It is read by the author, E.B. White and is fabulous. I am listening to it right now. Charlotteās Web is special to us. Iāve had the book and movie since my 16-year old was a baby. I would watch it over and over and it has become our absolute favorite cartoon and is in my top five favorites of movies overall. It was no surprise that we have enjoyed the audio c.d. so.
Last week we were able to get two new ones. I chose Sense and Sensibiblity, which I am listening to now. The other we chose today is Joni, which is read by Joni Eareckson Tada herself! We listened to that on Friday and it was wonderful. My next audio book will be another Jane Austen book (Persuasion or Mansfield Park).
If you also listen to audio c.d.s while knitting, what are your favorites? :XX:
Angelaās Ashes is SO good, read by the author, Frank McCourt. I would also highly recommend any of the Harry Potter books, which are read by Jim Dale. Really fun.
Iāve listened to all the Harry Potter books and Iām on the last Wheel of Time book. I love listening to audio books while knitting!
I need some more ideas about what books to listen to next. A few ladies at my knit group like listening to the Janet Evanovich books, so I might try those out if my local library has them.
I love audio books! Our library has a pretty good selection, so I generally just browse the shelf and find something by an author I enjoy. Before children, I was well read. But now, if I start reading, I fall asleep. The only way I can get in any literature are audio books.
Sounds like you need books that the children would enjoy as well. What aboutā¦
Anne of Green Gables
Little House on the Prarie
anything by Frances Hodgson Burnett (by the way, my maiden name was Burnett, I used to pretend I was related to her)
Mrs. Piggle Wiggle
Babe The Galliant Pig
Beverly Cleary books (the Mouse and the Motorcyle, Ramona books)
Dahl books
I also like to listen to NPR downloads-the Prairie Home Companion, Infinite Mind, Parentās Journal,etc.
Iām a bibliophile to the bone, so I donāt know if I would have taken knitting up at all if I didnāt have audio books!
The public library here has quite a selection, so I get a chance to explore new authors while Iām tangling myself up in yarn. Currently in the CD player is The St. Valentineās Day Murders by Ruth Dudley Edwards. Not only is it an interesting and funny book, but the reader is marvelous!
Other favorites:
All the Harry Potter Books
The Mists of Avalon
The Guns of August
Anything by Reginald Hill
Thatās all I can come up with right off the top of my head, but I sure do love me them audio-books!
I knit and āreadā at the same time ALL the time (and every moment I can!!)! Mostly though it is in bed at the end of the night to unwind (I donāt have a DH to keep me company or wind down with!!). I have read a lotā¦but my favorites are the ones that have the different characters in different voices, and for that you just have to experiment, Iām afraid.
Although, speaking of audio books, I have had my share of nightmares too. The newest Diana Gabaldon book (highly, highly recommendedāsynopsis here for the first book) is available on cd, but there are the abridged and nonabridged versions. The abridged version is 13 cds, and available everywhere (btw, her books are very detailed and complexāyou need the ENTIRE book)-however, the unabridged version is 48 cds and was specially recorded for the visually impaired, hence it is in the āspecialā collections at our local library, and I canāt get at it!! Add to that saga that the library doesnāt interlibrary loan their cds or books less than a yr old, and I am fubarred!!
This subject is so close to my heart. Knitting and Reading are my favorite things, so I am ALWAYS listening to an audio book. I am a member at two county libraries, so I have quite a selection available to me. My favorite audiobooks are either āThe Cat Whoā¦ā series by Lilian Jackson Braun, or any of the Star Trek tapes with āScottieā narrating them. Itās so relaxing to knit while escaping to one of the imaginary worlds in those books.
My husband and I go to consignment and thrift stores quite a bit, so when I find audiobooks for a good price, Iāll nab them. Sometimes, after listening to them, Iāll give them to the library.
I prefer to actually read books, but I enjoy listening to recorded lectures by The Teaching Company. They have university professors putting together courses, which are then recorded in the Teaching Company studio. Theyāre pretty expensive, but if you catch one on sale, you can usually get the audio download versions for $35 each. (The video DVD versions can go for $800 at normal price :shock: )Well worth it in my opinion! Right now Iām listening to the Roman History lectures. I miss the cameraderie you get actually interacting with a good professor, but I donāt miss high tuition costs! :lol:
Woohoo!! Other bibliophiles!!! I listend to audio books and knit tooā¦it started with the Debbie Macomber books A Good Yarn and The Shop on Blossom street (just not in that order!). I had just started knitting and wanted to read them badlyā¦I couldnāt put down the needles to pick up a book so I downloaded them to my ipod. Many of you know that I work with students with autismāwell one of my long time kiddos (my first student and he graduated on Friday!!!) really reads well but doesnāt comprehend very wellāwe started working on the technique of visualizing (since thatās really what comprehension is all about) and found that for him, listening to the stories helps him to visualize themāhis eyes arenāt distracted by the wordsā¦anyhowā¦I read my next books with himāEragon and Eldest. Then I downloaded To Hell with all thatā¦Livin and Loving your inner housewife by Caitlin Flanagan. I havenāt finished it yetāI got interested in it after hearing a radio interview with herā¦and Iāve also downloaded By the Rver Piedra I sat down and wept by Paulo Coelho. I donāt know anything about the last one but I loved The Alchemist so I thought Iād give it a try!
Sorry to ramble onā¦itās so good to hear that there are others who listen to books while they knit!
Oh, donāt worryā¦I actually read as well. My husband and I are constantly tripping over the books piled up in our house. I think we each have at least 6 books going at once!
They are in the bathroom (the designated āreading roomā), the bedroom, the living room, and my craft room. Iāve told him many times that we need to invest in creating a room full of bookcases just to store our collection!
I read/listened to the Poisonwood Bible. Very good, but I donāt think I would have found the opportunity to sit and read it and find time to knit! Audiobooks are very efficient.
Not a complete threadjack, but Iām a member of Paperback Swap. The concept is that you list books with which you are willing to part, and others do the same. If someone wants a book on your list, you send to them and if you find a book that you want, you can request it and the member will ship it to you. Itās all on a point system. The only expense that you have is shipping book requests. Sometimes audio books are listed, but they count as 2 points. Itās definitely worth a try if book buying is causing problems with your yarn buying account!
I was āreadingā while knitting for a while then I just ran out of steam because my library doesnāt have a very large selection. I love Janet Evanovichās Stephanie Plum novels. They all have the number of the book in the title. The first one is One for the Money. You do not have to read them in order though. They are pure āpotato chipā books. Fun and you canāt read just one. My library had some and my mom got the others from her library. I enjoyed listening to most of them. I could not stand the narrator for the seventh one. I am going to save this thread for future reference.
Oh I wanted to add that I had not even thought of listening to Jane Austenās book :rollseyes: . She is by far my favorite author . Every once in a while I just get into a āJane Austen kind of moodā. I am going to check into those.
My other favorite thing to do while knitting is watching DVDs or videos. Iāll check them out from the library, or rent them, or buy them at thrift stores. I usually go for the LONG moviesā¦you know, like the āmade for tvā mini-series things? Iāll also get PBS videos or ātouristā movies. Itās pretty cool to watch the ones about travel, because it almost feels like Iām taking a little vacation!
Hi Ladies. You all have given me a lot of really great ideas - thank you so much. :mrgreen:
Someone on my blog gave me the idea of listening to The Pilgrimās Progress. Iām going to work on ordering that one, the entire set of Narnia books and a few listed way up in this thread that I canāt remember the name of. :lol:
Lindsey, a good friend of mine got me started on Jane Austenās books. Oh! I didnāt know what I was missing! I have now seen three of the movies and am on my second audio book - S & S. It took me a little longer to get into it compared to P & P, but I am enjoying it very much. I am about half way through it.
This is just so nice - listening to these books that I have wanted to read for so long! I was an avid reader before I had children. Over the years I ended up reading less and less unless it was to them. Now we are all enjoying listening to these wonderful books. My children also read a lot on their own. One is into Trixie Beldon mysteries and is on book #10.
Thanks for sharing which books youāve enjoyed, ladies.
I belong to Audible and have for years. Originally audio books were my way of coping with housework, then they helped make my commute bearable. These days most of my knitting is done on the bus or in waiting rooms, and I canāt mix in an audiobook as well. When I get the chance to knit and listen at home, though, I enjoy it.
If youāre enjoying Jane Austin, might I suggest you add Dickens to your listening list? A fantastic one to start with is Great Expectations ā unabridged of course!
If youāre an English lit buff and havenāt read the Thursday Next Novels (starting with the Eyre Affair), you donāt know what youāre missing.
P.G. Wodehouse is a scream. I especially like the ones set at Blandings Castle.
A sweet listen is All Creatures Great and Small plus the sequels.
For non-fiction, A Short History of Nearly Everything is entertainingly written. And āGetting Things Doneā is the only time management book that ever worked in real life for me.
Twoleftneedles - thanks! We have gotten most of our audiobooks from audible.com as well. Iāve been a member for about two months.
Dickens is on my list! :mrgreen: The only way to go is unabridged, huh? :lol: I wonāt even listen to a sample or consider a book that is abridged. Who wants half the book, half of the authorās ideas, plot, point? Not I!
How cool that your daughter reads Trixie Belden! I LOVE Trixie and Jim and Di and Honey andā¦wellā¦ALL of them! I used to wish I could live in Trixieās house when I was a girl, and sometimes I still do.
I would love to try this but Iām afraid it would have to be a VERY easy read type book. If I have to pay attention too much Iām afraid of losing track of my knitting and mess it up somehow. I really want to read āNightā by Elie Wiesel after I saw Oprah interview him last week. I wouldnāt mind listening to it while I knit but I donāt think it would be easy to read a book like that and concentrate on knitting at the same time. The subject matter (Auschwitz) is very serious so I am not sure if it would be easy or even appropriate to do something else while listening to it. If any of you have read this book I would love some input on this idea.
This thread was a total ah ha moment for me. I had never thought of listening to audio books and knitting. I love audio books in the car for my commute. I am an avid reader and this would be a great way for me to āreadā some of the books I have always wanted to read but have never gotten around to!
Now I have to hit the library!
Do any of you listen to audio books while knitting? I have found that I feel much more productive if I can knit or type entries on my blog, etc., if I can āreadā a book, too. We are enjoying it quite a lot!
. Every once in a while I just get into a āJane Austen kind of moodā. I am going to check into those.
